Gas and liquid contact apparatus – With liquid separations
Patent
1984-10-05
1986-04-29
Lacey, David L.
Gas and liquid contact apparatus
With liquid separations
261 18R, 261 29, 261 36R, 55228, 55239, 55247, 55421, 210799, B01D 4702
Patent
active
045855994
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to air cleaners, and, in particular, to air cleaners which scrub dirty air by passing it over the surface of a liquid.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A variety of air cleaners which operate on the principle of passing dirty air over a surface of a liquid (the liquid to trap the dirt in the air) are known. For example, Pando U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,265 discloses a device which directs a stream of dirty air perpendicularly onto the surface of a chamber of water over which is mounted a screen, and the dirt suspended in the air is trapped by the screen and subsequently dissolved by the water which moves in and out of control with the screen. Hopkins U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,673 discloses a device which directs a stream of dirty air perpendicularly onto the surface of a quantity of oil plus gives the incoming air stream a spiral or cyclone movement about the axis perpendicular to the oil surface; the dirt in the air adheres to the oil and is thereby scrubbed clean. Mare U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,745 discloses a dirty air scrubber which employs a plurality of nozzles for directing the air perpendicularly against the surface of a scrubbing liquid such as water; the close proximity of the nozzles to each other together with baffles at the ends of the nozzles and parallel to the liquid surface creates extra turbulence as the scrubbed air from adjacent nozzles collides. Carlson U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,999, discloses a air cleaner which includes repeated circulation of the dirty air perpendicularly onto the surface of a scrubbing liquid, the air escaping after the first scrubbing being redirected to a second scrubbing, and so forth.
All of these prior-art devices suffer from the problem of the water, oil, or other scrubbing liquid becoming saturated with the dirt near the surface upon which the dirty air impinges, and thereby lessening the effectiveness of the scrubbing liquid.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an air cleaner which directs dirty air onto the surface of a scrubbing liquid plus recirculates the scrubbing liquid by forcing the scrubbing liquid, near the point of impact with the dirty air, down and into a cleaning liquid which is denser than the scrubbing liquid and immiscible with it. Additionally, scrubbing filters may be provided across the recirculation path of the scrubbing liquid. For example, in a two liquid system such as oil floating on water, the oil is the air scrubbing liquid and the water in turn cleans the oil. This also minimizes the amount of scrubbing liquid, yet still provides a sufficient volume to establish a good recirculation pattern for best cleaning.
The recirculation of the scrubbing liquid solves the problem of build-up of dirt near the point of impact of the dirty air on the scrubbing liquid.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a view of a first embodiment of the invention along line 2--2 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 2 shows a feedback means for use in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a second preferred embodiment;
FIG. 5 shows a cover for use in the second preferred embodiment; and
FIG. 6 shows other views of the top of FIG. 5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 3 shows a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Chamber 11 is partially filled with scrubbing liquid 13 (such as oil, water, or a combination as described below). Two baffles 15 are positioned in chamber 11, hold filters 17, and permit scrubbing liquid 13 to flow both under their bottoms and over their tops as indicated by arrows 19. Chamber 11 has inlet 21 and outlet 23; fan 25, driven by electric motor 27 is included in inlet 21. Impeller 31 is also attached to electric motor 27; electric motor 27 drives fan 25 to force air down inlet 21 as shown by arrows 33, and drives impeller 31 to force scrubbing liquid frm the surface downwards usually spirally as shown by arrows 35. Impeller 31 has a straight shaft plus vanes at the
REFERENCES:
patent: 2208673 (1940-07-01), Hopkins
patent: 2788954 (1957-04-01), Paasche
patent: 3011769 (1961-12-01), Umbricht
patent: 3733787 (1973-05-01), Winningham
Lacey David L.
Silverman Melvin K.
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