Method of conditioning hydrocarbon liquids and an apparatus for carrying out the method

A device for conditioning a hydrocarbon liquid with the aid of mechanical effects, which includes:

• a. a rotor, including a shaft, installed in bearings,
• b. at least one rotating wheel attached to the shaft and made in the form of a disk with a peripheral annular wall, in which there has been placed a series of outlet apertures for the hydrocarbon liquid, which apertures are uniformly distributed along the periphery of said annular wall,
• c. a stator in which the rotating wheel to revolves, and which has an inlet aperture for receiving the liquid and an outlet aperture for expelling the liquid, and also
• d. a wheel cavity of the rotating wheel for the liquid undergoing processing communicates with the inlet aperture of the stator, and
• e. an annular chamber for the liquid undergoing conditioning that is constrained in a radial direction by the peripheral annular wall of the rotating wheel and a concentric wall of the stator, said annular chamber communicating with the outlet aperture of the stator for expelling the liquid, the characteristic geometrical dimensions of the rotating wheel and of the annular chamber are defined as follows:
• i. a radius R of the cylindrical exterior surface of the peripheral annular wall of the rotating wheel is defined by the relationship
• R=(1.05 . . . 1.28) K (mm),
• where
• K--is the number of outlet apertures in the rotating wheel, and
• ii. where a radial dimension .DELTA.R of the annular chamber is defined by the relationship
• .DELTA.R=(1.05 . . . 1.28) B (mm),
• where
• B--is an integer selected within the range of 1 . . . K/2;
• and
• g. a means for driving the rotor at a rate of revolution n of about
• n=(3.6 . . . 4.1) K.sup.-1.5 .times.10.sup.6 (revs./min.).
• 5.

A method conditioning of a hydrocarbon liquid by mechanical effects comprising the following steps:

• a. rotating a wheel relative to a stator, said wheel having at least one wheel cavity defined by a peripheral cylindrical surface attached to said wheel concentric with the rotational axis of said wheel, said stator communicating with a discharge aperture having at least one concentric surface concentric with said peripheral cylindrical surface of said wheel, defining an annular chamber between said at least one concentric surface and said cylindrical surface;
• said cylindrical surface further having a plurality of outlet apertures arranged equidistant on the periphery of said cylindrical surface, and said stator concentric surface having a plurality of outlet apertures spaced equidistant along the circumference of said concentric surface of said stator,
• b. introducing said hydrocarbon liquid into a said cavity of said wheel during rotation thereof,
• c. discharging the hydrocarbon liquid from the cavity of the wheel into said annular chamber through the plurality of outlet apertures arranged on the peripheral cylindrical surface of the wheel,
• d. inducing sonic vibrations in said liquid at a predetermined rotation rate of said wheel, and
• e. discharging the hydrocarbon liquid from said annular chamber through at least one of said outlet apertures in the concentric surface of the stator.

A device for conditioning of a hydrocarbon liquid by mechanical effects, comprising

• a. a housing having an intake aperture for receiving the hydrocarbon liquid into said housing and a discharge aperture for discharging the hydrocarbon liquid from said housing;
• b. at least one wheel, rotatably mounted in said housing and adapted for rotation comprising at least one circular disk and disposed adjacent the intake aperture of said housing, said disk having a peripheral annular wall in the form of a hollow wheel cylinder attached to the outer circumference of said disk, said first cylinder having a plurality of outlet apertures in the surface thereof spaced apart along the circumference of said cylinder, wherein a radius R of the cylindrical outer surface of the peripheral annular wall of the wheel is within the range of about
• R=(1.05 . . . 1.28) K (mm),
• where
• K is the number of the outlet apertures of the wheel, and
• c. a stator, said stator comprising at least one concentric surface in the form of a hollow stator cylinder with a plurality of outlet apertures equidistant along the circumference of said stator cylinder attached to said housing and disposed concentric with said wheel cylinder to form an annular chamber between said wheel and said stator cylinders, said outlet apertures of said stator communicating with the discharge aperture of the housing, wherein the radial size .DELTA.R of the annular chamber in within the range of about
• .DELTA.R=(1.05 . . . 1.28) B (mm),
• where B is the selected integer in the range of 1 . . . K/2.

A device for conditioning of a hydrocarbon liquid with sonic vibrations, comprising

• a. a housing having an intake aperture for supply of the hydrocarbon liquid and a discharge aperture for discharge of the hydrocarbon liquid,
• b. at least one wheel adapted for rotation comprising at least one circular disk disposed adjacent the intake aperture of said housing, said disk having a peripheral annular wall in the form of a hollow wheel cylinder attached to the outer circumference of said disk and forming at least one cavity, said wheel cylinder having a plurality of outlet apertures in the surface thereof spaced apart along the circumference of said cylinder,
• c. a stator, comprising at least one concentric surface in the form of a hollow stator cylinder attached to said housing and disposed concentric with said wheel cylinder to form an annular chamber between said wheel cylinder and said stator cylinder for receiving said hydrocarbon liquid, said stator cylinder having a plurality of outlet apertures equidistant along the circumference of the stator cylinder which communicate with the discharge aperture of the housing, and
• d. means for rotating said wheel at a rotation rate sufficient to induce sonic vibrations in the hydrocarbon liquid in said annular chamber.