Gas separation: apparatus – With gas and liquid contact apparatus – Movably mounted contact liquid distributor
Patent
1996-08-02
1998-12-22
Chiesa, Richard L.
Gas separation: apparatus
With gas and liquid contact apparatus
Movably mounted contact liquid distributor
96291, 96294, 96297, 261 89, 261 90, B01D 4716, B01D 4718
Patent
active
058512713
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention pertains to a device for filtering and humidifying an air flow. The device simultaneously performs: the function of retention of particles in suspension in the flow, the function of gathering and transporting those particles to the exterior, and the function of humidifying the air flow.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In devices already known, the filtering and humidifying functions are performed separately, by different devices, each requiring periodic maintenance.
In filtering devices for air suspended particles, the process for the retention of the particles consisted until now, in the interposition of a filtering material on the air flow. The filtering material is made up of a reticulation of appropriate fibers, arranged in a way to have smaller pores than the dimension of the particles whose retention is intended.
However, the efficiency of this process is poor, because particles that are smaller than the pores of the filter material are not retained. The efficiency further degrades due to the accumulation of particles which fill the area of the reticles, making the flow of air increasingly difficult, if the replacement of the filtering material does not take place.
In air humidifying devices, a process has been used which consists of submitting water to a high frequency movement, obtained by electromagnetic action.
In the processes included in previous techniques, in which water is used for the retention of the particles, the water is sprayed, thus resulting in formation of droplets of water with different volumes, from micro to macro-droplets.
Another technique is the use of high rotational speed of a processing chamber which creates a high centrifugation effect. The retention of particles is obtained from being absorbed by the water droplets which undergoes strong impacts and repeated rebounds as a consequence of the kinetic energy related to the speed of the rotation movement which is applied.
The result of this system is that an important fraction of water involved is transformed in micro-droplets which retain part of the particles because the surface tension of these micro-droplets has a high value due to its very small mass.
These micro-droplets remain in suspension and go along with the air in its path thus constituting a kind of "fog" with physical characteristics similar to those of the well known "London smog".
This heavily diminishes the efficiency of any process that adopts the system of using, side by side, the spraying of water with an high centrifugation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, all the problems which are mentioned above, related to filtering devices, are avoided with the substitution of the static process of interposition of a porous material by a dynamic process, which consists of the simultaneous performance of the function of retention of the particles in suspension in the flow, the function of their gathering and transportation, and the function of humidifying the air of the flow, by the action of the movement of the flow itself and the action of water jets and the use of rotating structures.
The function of retention of the particles is fulfilled, by a reticulated structure and by a set of narrow paths, whose walls exhibit rugosities, collecting and distributing the circulation of the air flow. Each one of these paths is shaped in a way that produces at least one sudden change in the direction of the flow circulation, with a very marked angle in a small radius. This causes the collision of the particles against the walls of the circulation paths, and from this, since the value of the inertia of the particles is greater than the inertia of the air, the particles will not be able to change direction according to the same angle and the same radius as the path.
This effect is complemented by the humidification of the paths, which produces an attractive action over the particles that corresponds to the surface tension of the water.
The movement action resulting from the emission of water jets directed against the ret
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Baptista Fernando A.
Pereira Dias Baptista Joao M.
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