Air removal snorkel device
AssigneeAtara Corporation
InventorDeclan Murphy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This invention provides apparatus for creating circulation of liquid in a vertical direction within a standing body of such liquid, using a gas bubble generator, without creating excessive turbulence at the surface of the liquid, thus avoiding the formation of foam. A preferred embodiment of this apparatus provides for a vertically extending stackpipe, a gas bubble generator at a lower portion of the stackpipe and means for delivering gas bubbles under pressure to the stackpipe, and, at the upper portion of the stackpipe adjacent the upper discharge opening, means designed to laterally divert a flow of liquid and entrained gas bubbles into a substantially horizontal direction, to cause separation of the gas and liquid and to discharge the gas to a location above the level of the surface of the body of liquid.
Claims15
In apparatus for creating vertical circulation within a standing body of liquid, the apparatus comprising a substantially linearly extending stackpipe having a substantially constant nominal diameter ("D") and designed to be fully submerged in a longitudinally vertical orientation, within the standing body of liquid, the stackpipe having an upper discharge opening and a lower inlet opening;
- flow-generating means comprising a gas bubble generator in fluid-flow connection with the interior of the stackpipe and means for delivering gas under pressure to the bubble generator for passage into the stackpipe at a location and entraining in the liquid therein;
- the improvement comprising upper diversion means, in fluid-flow connection with the upper discharge opening of the stackpipe and designed to laterally divert a flow of liquid and entrained gas bubbles from the stackpipe into a substantially horizontal direction adjacent the upper surface of the liquid;
- flow-limiting means designed to prevent the vertically moving liquid-and-gas bubble flow from reaching the surface of the body of liquid and extending horizontally outwardly from the stackpipe;
- and gas discharging and collecting means, in fluid-flow connection with the flow-limiting means and designed to collect and discharge entrained gas bubbles to a space above the top surface of the body of liquid, the collecting means comprising a conduit having an inlet opening located below the surface of the body of liquid and in direct fluid-flow contact with the flow-limiting means, and having a discharge opening located above the surface of the body of liquid, the space between the inlet opening and the discharge opening being otherwise completely enclosed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.