| abstract |
It is proposed to use a synthetic granulate or powder with a particle size of 0,1 to 10 mm as packing material for the removal of liquid, gaseous and/or dissolved constituents from a process stream, which packing material is made up of a porous, preferably dimensionally stable polymer having an overall porosity of 50 to 95% by volume, which when used as an extracting medium has pores of a diameter of 0,01 to 50 mu m, with an extracting liquid immobilised therein, or when used as a coalescence medium has a cellular body/window structure with the diameter of more than 50% by volume of the bodies being in the range of 100 to 700 mu m, which materials can be obtained by dissolving a polymer in one or more liquid and miscible compounds at a temperature above the upper critical phase separation temperature Tc, followed by a lowering of the temperature and mechanical diminution of the polymer filled with the liquid compounds, optionally followed by removal of the liquid therefrom and, optionally, refilling of at least 10% of the pore volume with an extracting liquid, characterised in that the polymer solution incorporates 5 to 60% by volume of filler, calculated on the overall solids content. The granulate or powder preferably is subjected to an aftertreatment by being coated with a powder or fibrous material having a softening temperature or melting temperature higher than that of the material to be coated. |