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US 4,378,289 AGranted
Method and apparatus for centrifugal separation
OwnerA. Bruce Hunterinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A centrifugal separator of the type commonly used in the papermaking industry is modified to discharge both the accept and reject flows from the smaller end of a frusto-conical chamber. The reject flow takes place through a peripheral opening and the accept flow through an axial opening. The method is also applicable to the separation of other fluid mixtures.
Claims21
Apparatus for centrifugal separation comprising
- (a) an elongated chamber of circular internal cross-section diminishing in diameter from an inlet end to an outlet end,
- (b) the inlet end being closed except for means for discharging pressurized fluid mixture into said inlet end with at least a tangential component of velocity whereby to cause such fluid mixture to flow around and along said chamber towards the outlet end with at least partial separation of the fluid mixture into a heavier, radially outwardly located fraction and a lighter, radially inwardly located fraction, and
- (c) the outlet end having an axially located, first circular opening to receive predominantly the lighter fraction and a peripherally located, second opening to receive predominantly the heavier fraction, said second opening being formed as an interruption in an outer wall that is otherwise smoothly continuous in the longitudinal direction of flow, and said outer wall maintaining in the longitudinal direction of flow from said second opening to said first opening a diameter at least as large as at the second opening.
A method of centrifugal separation of heavier and lighter fractions from a fluid mixture comprising
- (a) discharging said fluid mixture under pressure with at least a tangential component of velocity into an inlet end of an elongated chamber of circular internal cross-section that diminishes in diameter from the inlet end to an outlet end whereby to cause all said fluid mixture to flow around and along said chamber towards the outlet end and at least partially to separate into a heavier, radially outwardly located fraction and a lighter, radially inwardly located fraction, and
- (b) extracting said heavier fraction at a periphery of the outlet end substantially without interference with a smooth flow path of said lighter fraction in the longitudinal direction, while maintaining at least the full diameter of said flow path of said lighter fraction.
A method of centrifugal separation of finely divided particles from a gaseous medium comprising
- (a) discharging said gaseous medium containing said particles under pressure with at least a tangential component of velocity into an inlet end of an elongated chamber of circular internal cross-section that diminishes in diameter from the inlet end to an outlet end, and simultaneously discharging a liquid into said inlet end, whereby to cause said gaseous medium, particles and liquid to intermingle while flowing around and along said chamber towards the outer end and at least partially to separate into a heavier, radially outwardly located fraction containing primarily said liquid and said particles and a lighter, radially inwardly located fraction containing primarily said gaseous medium, and
- (b) extracting said heavier fraction at a periphery of the outlet end substantially without interference with a smooth flow path of said lighter fraction in the longitudinal direction, while maintaining at least the full diameter of said flow path of said lighter fraction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.