Gas separation – With guide means effecting removal of constituent layer out... – At escape means for heavier constituent
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-23
2002-06-11
Hopkins, Robert A. (Department: 1724)
Gas separation
With guide means effecting removal of constituent layer out...
At escape means for heavier constituent
C055S432000, C055S459100, C055S466000, C096S188000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06402799
ABSTRACT:
This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP98/05924 which has an International filing date of Dec. 24, 1998, which designated the United States of America.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a gas-liquid separator for separating gas and liquid in gas-liquid two-phase fluid, i.e. gas containing liquid suspended therein, generated in an air conditioner, clothes dryer, internal-combustion engine, or the like, and more particularly to a vortex-stream gas-liquid separator for separating air and water in the fluid circulated in a clothes dryer by passing a circularly whirling vortex stream through the fluid passage inside the drying chamber of the clothes dryer.
BACKGROUND ART
Vortex-stream gas-liquid separators are used in various fields as a simple mechanism for separating gas and liquid in gas-liquid two-phase fluid. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H5-38408 discloses a vortex-stream gas-liquid separator for removing moisture from the steam used in a geothermal power plant, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H5-86831 discloses a vortex-stream gas-liquid separator for separating mist of lubricating oil from the blow-by gas generated in an internal-combustion engine.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
show the vortex-stream gas-liquid separator disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H5-38408 mentioned above.
FIG. 1A
shows a vertical sectional view of the vortex-stream gas-liquid separator
9
, and
FIG. 1B
shows a horizontal sectional view thereof taken along the line A—A shown in FIG.
1
A. This vortex-stream gas-liquid separator
9
is composed of a casing
10
having a fluid passage
1
having a cylindrical cross section, a fluid inlet
2
for introducing gas-liquid two-phase fluid, a gas outlet
3
, and a liquid outlet
5
.
The casing
10
is arranged vertically with the axis of the fluid passage
1
lying vertically. The fluid inlet
2
is provided substantially at the center, in the vertical direction, of the casing
10
in such a way as to introduce the gas-liquid two-phase fluid in the direction of a line tangential to the circular cross section of the fluid passage
1
. The gas outlet
3
is provided so as to be coaxial with the fluid passage
1
by being inserted into the casing
10
from below in such a way that an opening of the gas outlet
3
is located in an upper portion of the inside of the casing
10
. The liquid outlet
5
is provided in a lower portion of the casing
10
.
The gas-liquid two-phase fluid introduced through the fluid inlet
2
into the casing
10
collides with the inner wall of the casing
10
as it passes through the fluid passage
1
in the form of a vortex stream. As a result of this collision, the droplets of the liquid contained in the gas-liquid two-phase fluid are condensed on the wall surface, then flow downward along the wall surface, and are eventually discharged through the liquid outlet
5
. On the other hand, the gas that remains after the removal of the droplets of the liquid is discharged through the opening
3
a
of the gas outlet
3
.
FIGS. 2A
,
2
B, and
2
C show the vortex-stream gas-liquid separator disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H5-86831 mentioned above.
FIG. 2A
is a front view of the vortex-stream gas-liquid separator
9
,
FIG. 2B
is a side view thereof as seen from the direction B shown in
FIG. 2A
, and
FIG. 2C
is a horizontal sectional view thereof taken along the line A—A shown in FIG.
2
A. This vortex-stream gas-liquid separator
9
is composed of a casing
10
having a cylindrical cross section and having a fluid passage
1
, a fluid inlet
2
for introducing gas-liquid two-phase fluid, a gas outlet
3
, and a liquid collection reservoir
7
provided below the fluid passage
1
.
The casing
10
is arranged horizontally with the axis of the fluid passage
1
lying horizontally. The fluid inlet
2
is provided at one end of the casing
10
in such a way as to introduce the gas-liquid two-phase fluid in the direction of a line tangential to the circular cross section of the fluid passage
1
. The gas outlet
3
is provided so as to be coaxial with the fluid passage
1
by being inserted into the casing
10
from that end
1
a
of the casing
10
at which the fluid inlet
2
is provided in such a way that an opening
3
a
of the gas outlet
3
is located near the other end
1
c
of the casing
10
opposite to the fluid inlet
2
. Between the fluid passage
1
and the liquid collection reservoir
7
is provided a partition wall having slits
11
formed therein. The liquid collection reservoir
7
is provided with an outlet
8
for discharging the collected liquid.
The gas-liquid two-phase fluid introduced through the fluid inlet
2
into the fluid passage
1
forms a vortex stream that whirls circularly (in the direction indicated by an arrow J) along the inner wall of the casing
10
as it passes through the fluid passage
1
in the direction indicated by an arrow K. Meanwhile, the droplets of the liquid contained in the gas-liquid two-phase fluid collide with and are condensed on the inner wall of the casing
10
, then flow downward along the wall surface, and then drip through the slits
11
into the liquid collection reservoir
7
. The liquid collected in the liquid collection reservoir
7
is discharged through the liquid outlet
8
. While the droplets of the liquid are being removed in this way, the gas-liquid two-phase fluid advances horizontally until it reaches the opening
3
a
of the gas outlet
3
, through which the gas that remains after the removal of the droplets of the liquid is discharged.
In the vertical-type vortex-stream gas-liquid separator shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
, making the gas-liquid separator as a whole more compact requires making the fluid passage narrower. Thus, to treat the same amount of gas-liquid two-phase fluid, the fluid needs to be passed at an increased flow rate. However, as the flow rate increases, the droplets of the liquid that have condensed on the inner wall of the casing
10
increasingly tend to flow toward the opening
3
a
of the gas outlet
3
rather than flowing downward. This leads to lower gas-liquid separation performance. In other words, it is difficult to make this vertical-type vortex-stream gas-liquid separator more compact without sacrificing the gas-liquid separation performance.
On the other hand, in the horizontal-type vortex-stream gas-liquid separator shown in
FIGS. 2A
,
2
B, and
2
C, the gas-liquid two-phase fluid is allowed to flow freely through the slits
11
into the liquid collection reservoir
7
, and thus comes to contain again the droplets of the liquid that have once been separated. Accordingly, the gas discharged through the gas outlet
3
contains a large number of droplets of the liquid. This leads to unsatisfactory gas-liquid separation performance. Moreover, since the fluid inlet
2
and the gas outlet
3
are provided at the same end of the casing
10
, discharging the gas requires reversing the flow direction of the gas inside the fluid passage
1
. This causes pressure loss.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a compact vortex-stream gas-liquid separator that offers high gas-liquid separation performance with minimal pressure loss, and to provide a gas-liquid separation system employing such a gas-liquid separator.
To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a vortex-stream gas-liquid separator for separating gas and liquid contained in gas-liquid two-phase fluid is provided with a fluid passage having substantially the shape of a column and arranged with the center axis thereof lying substantially horizontally, a fluid inlet provided near a first end surface of the fluid passage so as to introduce the gas-liquid two-phase fluid into the fluid passage in such a way that the gas-liquid two-phase fluid passes through the fluid passage in the form of a vortex stream, a gas outlet provided at a second end surface of the fluid passage
Inoshiri Ryo
Kokubo Fumio
Takushima Akira
Hopkins Robert A.
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
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