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Cartridge construction:

The cartridge or stacked type plate construction is used for column diameter smaller than 1 m as in such small diameter columns man entry to the column for the installation and necessary maintenance work is difficult. Cartridge constructions are employed for sieve, valve and bubble cap trays. The cartridge assemblies of 10 plates or so, are formed with the help of screwed rods and plate spacer bars. The tall column is divided into numbers of flanged sections and the prefabricated cartridge tray assemblies are installed in each flanged sections with suitable downcomer clearance. The plates are not fixed to the shell wall and leakage may occur. A vertical metal seal is frequently used around each tray to decrease leakage around the tray edge (Figure 8.2).

 

Figure 8.2. Common plate cartridge construction ( [1] page 562 ).