Combined degassing and circulation of liquid
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorKonstantin Shoykhet
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A degasser for at least partially degassing a gas-containing liquid, in particular for a sample separation device, includes a circulation path along which the liquid can be circulated between a liquid accommodation volume and one of an inlet to a consumer unit consuming degassed liquid or a conduit leading to the inlet, a drive unit configured for circulating the liquid in the circulation path, and a filter in the circulation path for filtering particles or debris out of the liquid, wherein the liquid is forced through the filter by the drive unit. The drive unit includes a movable body, in particular a movable piston or a movable membrane, configured for at least partially degassing the liquid by generating a negative pressure in the liquid.
Claims21
A system for at least partially degassing a liquid, the system comprising:
- a consumer unit configured to consume degassed liquid, wherein the degassed liquid is at least a portion of the liquid that has been at least partially degassed;
- and
- a degasser, comprising:
- a circulation path along which the liquid can be circulated between a liquid accommodation volume and one of an inlet to the consumer unit or a conduit leading to the inlet, the circulation path comprising a splitting point located upstream of or at the inlet of the consumer unit,
- wherein the degasser is configured to split the at least partially degassed liquid at the splitting point to thereby form a first partial flow of the at least partially degassed liquid out of the degasser and into the consumer unit and a second partial flow of the at least partially degassed liquid back to the liquid accommodation volume;
- and
- a drive unit configured for circulating the liquid in the circulation path,
- wherein the drive unit comprises a movable body configured to at least partially degas the liquid by generating a negative pressure in the liquid.
A method for at least partially degassing a liquid, the method comprising:
- circulating the liquid in a circulation path between a liquid accommodation volume and an inlet to a consumer unit consuming degassed liquid or a conduit leading to the inlet to the consumer unit;
- at least partially degassing the liquid by generating a negative pressure in the liquid, by operating a movable body of a drive unit;
- and
- splitting the at least partially degassed liquid at a splitting point located in the circulation path upstream of or at the inlet of the consumer unit, to thereby form a first partial flow of the at least partially degassed liquid out of the degasser and into the consumer unit and a second partial flow of the at least partially degassed liquid back to the liquid accommodation volume.
A sample separation device for separating a fluidic sample, the sample separation device comprising:
- a pump for driving a mobile phase;
- a sample separation unit for separating the fluidic sample in the mobile phase;
- and
- a system for at least partially degassing a liquid, the system comprising:
- a consumer unit configured to consume degassed liquid, wherein the degassed liquid is at least a portion of the liquid that has been at least partially degassed;
- and
- a degasser, comprising:
- a circulation path along which the liquid can be circulated between a liquid accommodation volume and one of an inlet to the consumer unit or a conduit leading to the inlet, the circulation path comprising a splitting point located upstream of or at the inlet of the consumer unit,
- wherein the degasser is configured to split the at least partially degassed liquid at the splitting point to thereby form a first partial flow of the at least partially degassed liquid out of the degasser and into the consumer unit and a second partial flow of the at least partially degassed liquid back to the liquid accommodation volume;
- and
- a drive unit configured for circulating the liquid in the circulation path, wherein:
- the drive unit comprises a movable body configured to at least partially degas the liquid by generating a negative pressure in the liquid;
- the consumer unit comprises the pump;
- the pump is configured to drive the mobile phase, and the fluidic sample when injected in the mobile phase, toward the sample separation unit;
- and
- the at least partially degassed liquid is supplied for creation of the mobile phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.