Method and apparatus for separating particulate matter from a fluid
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsStuart C. Dickinson, Robert Kuklinski
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for filtering particulate matter entrained in a fl entering a port from a reservoir. First and second ultrasonic wave generators produce ultrasonic waves to define a composite wave pattern. The patterns produce nodes and antinodes in a region through which fluid entering a port passes. The particulate matter in the portion of the fluid passing through the region accumulates along the nodes and antinodes. The accumulating particulate matter is thereby separated and is displaced from the fluid entering the port.
Claims20
A method for filtering particulate matter of a preselected size and density from fluid passing through a port along a flow axis from a fluid reservoir, said method comprising the steps of:
- generating a first ultrasonic wave pattern through the fluid entering the port;
- generating a second ultrasonic wave pattern of substantially the same frequency as the first ultrasonic wave pattern through the fluid entering the port;
- directing the first and second ultrasonic wave patterns along first and second directions that are oblique to the flow axis so as to superpose the first and second ultrasonic wave patterns in the fluid to define a composite wave pattern in a region through which the fluid entering the port passes from the reservoir thereby to move the particulate matter therealong and away from the port;
- and
- urging particulate matter entrained in the fluid passing through the region to a position remote from the composite wave pattern and the port such that the fluid entering the port is substantially free of such particulate matter.
A filtering apparatus, said apparatus defining means for filtering particulate matter from a fluid passing through a port disposed in a boundary surface of a reservoir, said apparatus comprising:
- support means circumscribing the port whereby all fluid passing into the port passes through said support means and enters the port along a flow axis;
- a first generating means disposed on said support means for generating a first ultrasonic wave of a given frequency in a first direction that is oblique to the flow axis and that travels through the fluid entering the port;
- a second generating means disposed on said support means for generating a second ultrasonic wave in a second direction that is oblique to the flow axis and to the first direction and that travels through the fluid entering the port, the disposition of the first and second generating means defining means for superposing the first and second ultrasonic waves to form a composite wave with nodes and antinodes lying along axes oblique to the flow axis in a region through which the fluid drawn into the port passes for moving the particulate matter therealong and away from the port;
- and
- urging means for moving particulate matter generally collecting at the nodes and antinodes of the composite wave to a position remote from the composite wave and the port.
A filtering system, said system defining means for preventing entrained particulate matter from entering a port receiving a fluid from a reservoir along a flow axis, said system comprising:
- support means circumscribing the port whereby all fluid passing into the port passes through said support means and enters the port along a flow axis;
- first acoustic wave generating means disposed on said support means for generating first acoustic waves;
- and
- a second acoustic generating means disposed on said support means for generating second acoustic waves of substantially the same frequency as the first acoustic waves that, the disposition of the first and second acoustic generating means defining means for superposing the second acoustic waves with the first acoustic waves to define a composite wave in a region through which the fluid entering the port passes for urging particulate matter in the fluid passing through the region to a position remote from the composite wave and the port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.