Centrifugal mechanical separator produced by additive manufacturing
OwnerTobi D. Mengleinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A centrifugal mechanical separator comprises a disk stack formed by an additive manufacturing process (i.e., 3D printing), where the stack comprises a plurality of disk elements (which may range anywhere from a few to a few hundred). The disk stack is positioned within a proper-sized bowl (with proper inlet and outlet ports), which may also formed using an additive manufacturing process. A bowl cover and inlet/outlet assembly may also be formed using additive manufacturing, where the various dimensions and tolerances of each component (disk stack, bowl, bowl cover, and inlet/outlet assembly) are carefully controlled by the additive manufacturing process, reducing the costs and complexities associated with traditional centrifuge manufacture.
Claims17
An additively manufactured centrifugal mechanical separator comprising
- a rotatable bowl enclosure including at least one outlet port for directing a first separated component of a first density out of the centrifugal mechanical separator;
- a plurality of additively manufactured frusto-conical disks disposed as a disk stack within the rotatable bowl enclosure, the disk stack include a central aperture for receiving incoming material to be separated;
- an inlet channel disposed through an opening in the rotatable bowl enclosure and extending into the central aperture for introducing incoming material into the centrifugal mechanical separator, and
- an outlet channel disposed through the opening in the rotatable bowl enclosure for directing a second separated component of a second density out of the centrifugal mechanical separator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.