Hydrocyclone
AssigneePetreco International Inc.
InventorsIan C. Smyth, Peter A. Thompson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved hydrocyclone provided with a back wall with at least two ramps, where the ramps impart a greater axial velocity component to the fluids at the periphery as measured radially from the longitudinal axis of the hydrocyclone and a lesser axial velocity component to portions of the incoming fluid stream closer to the longitudinal axis of the hydrocyclone. The ramps of the back wall correspond generally to the swirl pattern within the hydrocyclone, a combination of axial and tangential velocity components, enabling the incoming fluid stream to reach the desired flow pattern more quickly and efficiently than otherwise possible.
Claims10
A hydrocyclone comprising a body having a back wall at one end of the body, through which back wall there is a central overflow outlet, an inlet for intake of a stream of fluid, the inlet located at the periphery of the body proximate to the back wall, and a central underflow outlet at the opposite end of the body, where:
- the back wall presents an interior face with at least two ramps sloped relative to the back wall for redirecting the stream of fluid entering the hydrocyclone to flow axially along the hydrocyclone in at least two different paths having at least two axial velocity components for improved phase separation performance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.