Dixon rings

Dixon rings provide a large surface area and low pressure drop while maintaining a high mass transfer rate, making them useful for distillations and many other applications.

In the early 20th century Friedrich Raschig realized the importance of a high void fraction and having the internal surface of the packing media take part in the mass transfer.

He designed the Raschig ring, which was more effective than previous forms of random packing and became very popular.

Raschig rings are usually built from ceramic or metal and provided a large surface area within the column for interaction between liquid and gas vapors.

In 1943 Dr Olaf George Dixon of ICI applied for a patent of a new product for column distillation.