Agitating – Having specified feed means – Liquid injector within mixing chamber
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-31
2001-03-13
Soohoo, Tony G. (Department: 1723)
Agitating
Having specified feed means
Liquid injector within mixing chamber
C366S173100, C366S178100, C366S175200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200014
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Injection of high molecular weight materials, such as polymers, into the boundary layer of a fluid flow has been shown to reduce skin friction drag significantly for both vessels moving through water and for pipeline applications. The molecules of the high molecular weight material interact with turbulent activity in the near-wall region, absorbing energy and reducing the frequency of occurrence of burst and sweep cycles. Bursts, as used herein, refer to events when high energy fluid moves away from the wall, and sweeps refer to events when low energy fluid replaces the high energy fluid near the wall. The reduced occurrence of bursts results in less energy dissipation from the wall and can result in skin friction drag reductions up to 80%. Experiments have shown that the efficacy of polymer molecules for drag reduction is closely related to their molecular weight and the degree to which they have been unwound, lengthened, or stretched (hereinafter termed “conditioned”).
Unfortunately, typical high molecular weight drag-reduction polymers are difficult to mix with liquids and are very slow to dissolve into solution. Mixers designed for the task frequently require power sources to drive active mixing mechanisms and holding tanks to allow the polymer to dissolve. These mixers can be large, complex and expensive. In some applications, polymer mixtures have been premixed in batches and stored before ejection into a water flow to be treated. The significant time, weight, and space requirements of premixed polymer solutions have made many applications of their drag reduction characteristics impractical and expensive.
To be useful for practical applications, a more efficient method and apparatus for mixing, with liquids, polymers that have been concentrated for optimal storage had to be devised. Many mixers for various applications exist in the prior art, but no known mixer employs the structure or methods of the present invention for “conditioning” (i.e., unwinding, lengthening or stretching) the high molecular weight materials, such as polymer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to systems designed to rapidly and completely mix a substance into a liquid, particularly systems that mix/dissolve high molecular weight particulate material into a liquid and which require thorough hydration, as well as conditioning of the molecules of the particulate material in the liquid.
The innovative aspects of the mixer of the present invention allow high molecular weight drag-reducing materials, such as polymer or polymer mixtures, to be stored in a variety of forms so as to reduce storage and preparation volume requirements as compared to prior art systems by a factor of two to three. Use of a flow geometry and structures to condition the drag-reducing molecules prior to ejection into a fluid flow allows the drag-reducing material to be effective immediately upon ejection into the fluid flow, thus reducing consumption and providing drag-reduction efficiency that can further reduce the volume requirements of the drag-reduction system. Hereinafter, the mixer of the present invention will be referred to as a “volute” mixer, due to the “volute” shape (i.e., similar in shape to a cone-shaped, spiral sea shell) of the mixing chamber which serves as the primary mixing component within the mixer.
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Arnold Bruce Y.
Arnold International
Cortana Corporation
Soohoo Tony G.
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