# US 10,245,561 B2 · Tangential filter with a supporting element including a set of channels > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,245,561 B2 - Document ID: US10245561B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/312,997 - Filed: 2015-05-21 - Published: 2017-06-29 - Granted: 2019-04-02 - Earliest claimed: 2014-05-22 - Assignees: Saint-Gobain Centre De Recherches Et D'Etudes Europeen - Applicants: Saint-Gobain Centre De Recherches Et D'Etudes Europeen - Inventors: Fabiano Rodrigues; Ronald Neufert; Malte Moeller; Adrien Vincent - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10245561B2 ## CPC - B01D 71/02: Inorganic material - B01D 39/20: of inorganic material, e.g. asbestos paper, metallic filtering material of non-woven wires (porous ceramic material {C04B38/00} ; sintering metals C22C1/04; {making porous sintered metal bodies B22F3/10, honeycomb filters B01D46/2418, materials used for filtering exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine F01N3/022, ceramic honeycomb structures C04B38/0006}) - B01D 46/0002: {Casings; Housings; Frame constructions} - B01D 63/066: {with a porous block having membrane coated passages} - B01D 69/046: {characterised by the cross-sectional shape of the tube} - F16C 33/121: {Use of special materials} - F16C 33/14: Special methods of manufacture; Running-in - F16C 33/201: {Composition of the plastic} - F16C 33/208: {Methods of manufacture, e.g. shaping, applying coatings} - F16C 35/02: in the case of sliding-contact bearings - F16C 17/02: for radial load only - F16C 29/02: Sliding-contact bearings - F16C 35/077: between housing and outer race ring - F16C 2226/74: with snap-fit, e.g. by clips - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) - F16C: SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS ## Abstract A tangential filter for filtration of a fluid includes a support element, wherein, along a transverse plane perpendicular to the central axis of the support element a) the support element includes in its central portion only inner channels that do not share a common wall with its outer surface, the inner channels having a substantially equivalent hydraulic diameter, b) the support element includes peripheral channels, including at least first and second adjacent peripheral channels, each of the two channels sharing a common wall with the outer surface, c) the ratio of the hydraulic diameter of the first channel to the hydraulic diameter of the second channel is greater than or equal to 1.1, d) the number of peripheral first channels is greater than or equal to the number of peripheral second channels, e) the second channel has a hydraulic diameter substantially identical to the hydraulic diameter of the inner channels. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A tangential filter for the filtration of a fluid, comprising a support element made from a porous inorganic material, said element having a tubular shape delimited by an outer surface and comprising in its inner portion a set of adjacent channels, having axes that are parallel to one another and separated from one another by walls of said porous inorganic material, wherein said channels are covered over their inner surface with a membrane separation layer intended to come into contact with said fluid to be filtered circulating in said channels, wherein, along a transverse plane perpendicular to a central axis of said tubular support element: a) said support element comprises in its central portion only inner channels that do not share a common wall with its outer surface, said inner channels having a substantially equivalent hydraulic diameter, b) said support element additionally comprises peripheral channels, including at least two adjacent peripheral first and second channels, each of said first and second channels sharing a common wall with said outer surface, c) a ratio Dh of: a hydraulic diameter DhA of the first channel to a hydraulic diameter DhB of the second channel, is greater than or equal to 1.1, d) a number of peripheral second channels is greater than or equal to a number of peripheral first channels, e) the second channel has a hydraulic diameter DhB substantially identical to a hydraulic diameter of the inner channels, wherein at least one inner channel does not share a common wall with a peripheral first channel. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second channel of smaller hydraulic diameter has, along said transverse plane, a shape substantially equivalent to that of said inner channels. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein, along said transverse plane, a ratio Rs=SA/SB of internal surface areas SA and SB, respectively of the peripheral first and second channels, is between 1.1 and 3.5. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein, along said transverse plane, the inner channels and the second channel have a substantially elliptical cross section, a ratio of a large axis to a small axis of the ellipse being between 2 and 1. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ratio of the large axis to the small axis of the ellipse is between 1.5 and 1. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner channels have a substantially circular cross section, along said transverse plane. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second channel has a substantially circular cross section, along said transverse plane. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first channel is of flared shape, or else of elliptical shape, and wherein a surface of the first channel, along said transverse plane, extends principally along an axis from a periphery of the support element to its central axis. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surface of the common wall between the first channel and the outer surface is curved. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support element has a polygonal base or a circular base. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support element comprises in its peripheral ring only the first and second channels. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the porous support element comprises a material selected from silicon carbide, SiC, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon aluminum oxynitride, or a combination thereof. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 12, wherein the silicon carbide SiC is liquid-phase or solid-phase sintered SiC or recrystallized SiC, the silicon nitride is Si3N4, and the silicon oxynitride is Si2ON2. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the membrane separation layer comprises a ceramic material. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 14, wherein the ceramic material is selected from the list consisting of silicon carbide SiC, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon aluminum oxynitride, boron nitride BN, or a combination thereof. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a porosity of the material constituting the support element is between 20% and 60%, a median pore diameter of the material constituting the porous support being between 5 and 50 micrometers. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein an equivalent median pore diameter of the material forming the membrane separation layer is between 1 nm and 5 micrometers. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fluid is a liquid. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The tangential filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support element is made from a non-oxide inorganic material.