FLUID FLOW DISTRIBUTOR

摘要

Described herein is a flow distributor for modifying fluid flow across the flow area of a flow passage to obtain desired flow characteristics, e.g., desired volumetric flow rates across the flow area, desired residence times for fluid flow streamlines, desired pressure drops for fluid flow streamlines, etc. An exemplary application for such a flow distributor is as a header for a chromatography column, wherein it is generally desirable to obtain uniform volumetric fluid flow across the cross-sectional area of the column and uniform residence times for all fluid streamlines. The flow distributors include two or more sections wherein at least one of the sections, if provided alone and supplied with uniform volumetric flow, would supply a nonuniform volumetric flow rate distribution across the flow area and/or nonuniform streamline residence times. However, when two or more such sections are provided in combination in the manner described herein, they result in a flow distributor which supplies uniform volumetric flow across the flow area and uniform streamline residence times.