Apparatus and method for electrocoriolysis the separation of ionic substances from liquids by electromigration and coriolis force

A method for a continuous separation of ionizable substances from liquid solution into a concentrated solution of solute and of a depleted solution containing mainly solvent comprising the steps of:

• continuously feeding said liquid solution into a rotatable chamber containing one or a plurality of electrolytic cells, capable of separation of ionizable substances from liquid solutions by the combined action of electric current passing through the liquid solution and of Coriolis force;
• rotating said chamber to create centrifugal force greater than two times the magnitude of the gravitational force;
• establishing a d.c. current flow through said cell or cells;
• periodically changing the polarity of the current to facilitate a continuous operation;
• separately and continuously discharging the concentrated and depleted solutions;
• and
• controlling the process by monitoring of process parameters including the voltage, current, and the flow rates, temperature and the ionic concentration of the solutions.

A method for a continuous separation of ionizable substances from liquid solutions into concentrated and depleted solutions comprising the steps of continuously feeding said liquid solution into a rotatable chamber containing one or a plurality of electrolytic cells capable of separation of ionizable substances from a liquid solution by the combined action of electric current passing through the solution and of centrifugal force;

• rotating said chamber to create centrifugal force greater than two times the magnitude of the gravitational force;
• establishing a d.c. current flow through said cell or cells;
• separately and continuously discharging the concentrated and depleted solutions, controlling the process by monitoring of process parameters including the voltage, current, and the flow rates, temperature and the ionic concentration of the liquids;
• the improvement comprising:
• performing the deionization of the liquid solution in a rotatable cylindrical deionization apparatus that takes advantage of the Coriolis force in the deionization process;
• performing the deionization with the cells arranged in electrical series, thereby circumventing problems with a high current operation;
• periodically changing the polarity of the current to facilitate a continuous operation;
• conducting the deionization utilizing automated monitoring and control provisions, leading to improved quality control and low labor costs;
• conducting deionization either in the electrolytic mode that enables the separation of individual platable metal ions from a complex solution or conducting deionization in the electrostatic mode that enables the removal of most ionic species from simple or complex solutions.

An apparatus for removing ionizable substances from fluids comprising:

• a container having a rotational axis;
• one or more annular chambers in the container, each chamber having a first wall and a second wall;
• the first wall comprising an electrode and the second wall comprising an electrode of opposite polarity to the electrode of the first wall;
• a radial wall extending through each chamber;
• at least one inlet into each chamber to supply on a continuous basis feed fluid to the chamber;
• a first outlet from each chamber positioned to remove portions of the feed fluid that have been separated by electromigration and Coriolis force;
• a second outlet from each chamber positioned to remove remaining portions of the feed fluid;
• and
• the first outlet placed along the outer perimeter of the chamber, the second outlet placed along the inner portion of the chamber.

A method of removing ionizable substances from fluids comprising:

• feeding a feed fluid comprising a solution which contains said ionizable substances dispersed throughout said solution between two electrodes;
• causing electrical current to flow from one electrode through the feed fluid, and to the other electrode;
• imparting centrifugal force and motion, centered about an axis of rotation, to the feed fluid;
• causing electromigration of ionizable components towards said electrodes;
• at intervals of time reversing the polarity of the electrodes;
• utilizing compound centrifugal force and motion on the feed fluid to cause separation of denser components from less dense components;
• removing the denser components to a separate place;
• and
• removing the less dense components to a separate place.

A rotary apparatus for continuous separation of ionizable substances from liquid solutions to form a concentrated solution containing the solute and of a depleted solution containing mainly the solvent, said apparatus comprising a cylindrical, rotatable deionization chamber containing two or more electrodes electrically insulated from each other, each adjacent pair of said electrodes forming an electrolytic cell in between;

• a motor for rotating said chamber to produce centrifugal force substantially greater than gravitational force;
• a means of feeding and metering of said liquid solution and a means of exhausting the concentrated and the depleted liquids;
• a means of delivering a d.c. electrical current to flow through the cells;
• a means of periodically changing the polarity of said current;
• said apparatus comprising;
• (a) a deionization chamber comprising
• (a1) an enclosure consisting of outer and inner cylindrical members and two annular end plates, the inner surfaces of said chamber being electrically insulating;
• (a2) two or more planar, annular electrodes, mounted coaxially with the deionization chamber, equidistantly from each other and with their planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the chamber;
• said electrodes having a specific surface area higher than the apparent geometric area, and adjacent electrodes being separated from each other by electrically insulating and fluid sealing ring spacers located at the outer and inner peripheries and by a radially-disposed bar spacer touching said rings, that provides a radial wall inside the cell compartment to define front and rear ends of the cell compartment;
• (b) a pair of electrical current leads and a pair of voltage probe leads, communicated to the deionization chamber via a slip-ring assembly and being attached to the first and to the last electrodes mounted on the inner side of the end plates of the chamber, whereby in the case of two or a plurality of cells in the electrode assembly, the cells are arranged in electrical series, thereby minimizing the process current and circumventing the need for extra hardware for contacting the rest of the electrodes that would be required for cells interconnected in parallel;
• wherein during operation, the first and the last electrodes, each having only one side facing another electrode, acquire charges of opposite polarity;
• upon polarity reversal the electrode polarities are reversed;
• and all intermediate electrodes assume positive polarity on one side and negative polarity on the other side and vice versa upon polarity reversal by the power supply;
• and
• (c) said electrodes having orifices for communicating the feed and the effluent liquids into and out of the cell compartments and the chamber;
• (d) said electrodes and cell compartments and feed and effluent orifices are axially and radially co-aligned, and in order to take advantage of the beneficial effects of the Coriolis forces in the deionization process, said feed and effluent orifices of the electrodes are situated as follows:
• for the feed liquid--in the general proximity of the rear of the electrode compartment and adjacent to its inner periphery;
• for the concentrate liquid--adjacent to the rear of the electrode compartment and to its outer periphery;
• for the diluent liquid--adjacent to the front of the electrode compartment and to its inner periphery.

A multi-stage deionization apparatus comprising:

• two or more single-stage electrocoriolysis modules, each module containing one or a plurality of cells, the cells being arranged in an electrical series, having one electrical lead attached to the first electrode and a second lead to the last electrode, and in each single-stage module the flow of the liquid in the cells is in parallel, and each cell in each single-stage has a provision for two inlets and two outlets for the process fluids, with one inlet for the feed or the diluent situated in a rear portion of the cell near the inner periphery, a second inlet for the concentrate situated in a front portion of the cell near the outer periphery, one outlet for the diluent situated in the front portion of the cell near the inner periphery and and a second outlet for the concentrate situated in the rear portion of the cell and near the outer periphery;
• the single-stage modules being attached to each other for the process liquids to flow through the assembly in series and with the diluent and the concentrate streams counter-current to each other, and
• the single-stage modules being connected electrically in parallel or connected separately to individual power supplies;
• and
• the single-stage modules being added in a manner where the number of cells in each module may be the same or different compared with the other modules in the device, and wherein the modules are mounted on a common hub.