Device and method for increasing evaporation rates of blow-down apparatus
AssigneeModular SFC, LLC
InventorsHerbert J. Hedberg, Brian A. Kangas, Michael A. Burns
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure reveals a combination of embodiments that increase the evaporation rate of liquid solutions when subjected to blow-down gas flows. Certain gas flow separator baffles or framed inserts with vanes may be especially effective to enhance evaporation when combined with aggressive blow-down flow rates and centrifugal force. The centrifugal force applied to the evaporating liquid protects sample integrity by preventing the solution(s) from splashing out of the drying container. Such splashing, when high blow-down gas flow rates are directed into the sample containers, affects yield and purity.
Claims8
An insert for a container for holding a liquid, the insert comprising:
- a frame sized to fit snugly but smoothly into an opening into and along at least part of the length of the container;
- the frame having first and second ends
- a top vane at the first end of the frame, the top vane having a width wider than the container opening, so that the insert when inserted into the container comes to rest with the top vane adjacent to the container opening;
- vanes spaced apart and attached to the frame, the vanes extending from one side to the opposite side of an internal width of the container;
- wherein the vanes are distributed along the length of the frame at a tilt angle and a pitch angle, wherein a gas may enter the container opening and, due to the vanes and their distribution, will travel along one side of the frame and reach and pass over the surface of a liquid in the container, wherein the gas, that may carry some of the liquid molecules along the other side of the frame and exit the container.
A process of drying a liquid within a container, a frame with vanes arranged within the container, the process comprising the steps of:
- flowing a gas into the container via container opening;
- directing the incoming gas along a first passage formed on one side of the frame with vanes spaced apart and extending from one side to the opposite side of an internal width of the container;
- wherein the vanes are distributed along the length of the frame at a tilt angle and a pitch angle with respect to the frame;
- striking the surface of a liquid in the container with the gas emerging from the first passage;
- directing the gas after it strikes the liquid along a second passage on the other side of the frame from the first passage;
- and
- separating the incoming and the exiting gases at the container opening with a top vane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.