US 5,695,644 AGranted

Fluid treatment device and method

AssigneeIon Enterprises Limited

InventorsJohn Christopher Sutherland Buchanan, Christopher Michael David Joslin

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Abstract

A fluid treatment device, especially for reducing or removing the effects of hard water, has a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a cavity extending between the inlet and the outlet. A dielectric channel separator (preferably of plastics material, more preferably PTFE) is located in the cavity between the inlet and the outlet and extends at least part way along the cavity. The dielectric channel separator divides thecavity into a plurality of elongate channels which are mutually coextensive for at least part of their length in the direction of fluid flow from the inlet to the outlet and are at least partially bounded by dielectric material. A metallic channel separator, preferably of zinc, can also be provided to provide a degree of protection against corrosion. The channel separators are preferably configured to encourage turbulence in the fluid flowing through the device.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A fluid treatment device comprising:

a fluid inlet;
a fluid outlet;
an enclosure defining a cavity extending between said inlet and said outlet;
a dielectric channel defining element comprising dielectric material located in said cavity between inlet and said outlet and extending part way along said cavity in the direction of flow from said inlet to said outlet, said dielectric channel defining element dividing said cavity into a plurality of first elongate channels which are mutually coextensive for at least part of their length in said flow direction and are at least partially bounded by dielectric material;
and
a further channel defining element located in said cavity and extending over a further part of said cavity in said flow direction, said further channel defining element dividing said cavity into a plurality of second elongate channels which are mutually coextensive for at least part of their length in said flow direction,
said dielectric and further channel defining elements being located adjacent to one another in said flow direction, and having opposed end faces configured to define a turbulence chamber therebetween.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.