Cyclone Separator (Patent No: 827484)

Inventor: Beattie, David L.G.

Location: Edmonton

Comments: N/A

Description: The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A centrifugal separator for separating liquid and gas comprising, in combination:
a vertical shell of circular cross section having top, bottom and side walls which define a chamber;
said side wall defining an inlet, opening into the chamber adjacent its upper end, through which a mixture of liquid and gas may be fed thereinto under pressure;
one of said walls defining an outlet at the lower end of the shell for discharging liquid therefrom;
means associated with the inlet adapted to establish a flow, of the mixture fed therethrough, about the longitudinal axis of the shell for the centrifugal separation of gas and liquid into an inner vortex of gas and an outer layer of liquid;
a vortex finder extending into the chamber, to a point below the inlet, for the exhaust of gas therefrom, said vortex finder being co-axial with the shell and comprising two substantially co-axial conduit sections maintained in spaced- apart relation to define a gap;
a baffle member, fixed within the chamber intermediate the shell's top and bottom ends and disposed transversely to its longitudinal axis, said baffle member defining an opening, communicating with the upper portion of the chamber, whose centre is substantially coincident with the shell's longitudinal axis, said baffle member extending outwardly from the opening toward the inner surface of the side wall and adapted to permit communication between the portions of the chamber above and below it while isolating the liquid collected in the lower portion from the gas vortex; and
a sealed conduit connecting the vortex finder gap and the baffle member opening whereby the low pressure zone within the gas vortex can provide suction at the gap for the recovery of liquid moving through the vortex finder;
the ratio of the diameter of the baffle member opening to the interior diameter of the vortex finder being selected to ensure a flow of gas and liquid from the gap to the opening.

2. The separator defined in Claim 1 wherein:
the ratio of the diameter of the baffle member opening to the interior diameter of the vortex finder is between .1 and .5.

3. The separator defined in Claim 2 wherein:
the gap is located at a point outside the shell; and the shell is cylindrical.

4. The separator defined in Claim 2 wherein:
the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the vortex finder gap to the cross-sectional area of the baffle member opening is between 0.2 and 2.0.

5. A centrifugal separator for separating liquid from gas comprising, in combination:
a vertical, cylindrical shell having top, bottom and side walls which define a chamber;
said side wall defining an inlet, opening into the chamber adjacent its upper end, through which a mixture of liquid and gas may be fed thereinto under pressure;
said side wall extending upwardly from the top wall;
a top member extending across the extended side wall to cooperate therewith to define a closed suction chamber;
a conduit connected to the inlet, adapted to feed the mixture tangentially into the chamber to establish a flow, of the mixture fed therethrough, about the longitudinal axis of the shell for centrifugal separation of gas and liquid into an inner vortex of gas and an outer layer of liquid;
a vortex finder, extending downwardly through the suction chamber into the shell chamber, to a point below the inlet, for the exhaust of gas therefrom, said vortex finder being co-axial with the shell and comprising two substantially coaxial conduit sections maintained in spaced- apart relation to define a gap within the suction chamber;
a baffle member, fixed within the chamber intermediate the shell's top and bottom ends and disposed transversely to its longitudinal axis, said baffle member defining an opening, communicating with the upper portion of the chamber, whose centre is substantially coincident with the shell's longitudinal axis, said baffle member extending outwardly from the opening toward the inner surface of the side wall to define an annular gap between the baffle member edge and the said inner surface through which liquid may move between the portions of the chamber above and below the baffle member, said baffle member adapted to isolate the liquid collected in the lower portion from the gas vortex;
a sealed conduit connecting the suction chamber and the baffle member opening whereby the low pressure zone within the gas vortex can provide suction at the gap for the recovery of liquid moving through the vortex finder;
the ratio of the diameter of the baffle member opening to the interior diameter of the vortex finder being between .2 and .4;
the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the vortex finder gap to the cross-sectional area of the baffle member opening being between 0.2 and 2.0.