Electrostatic coalescing device

Claim 1

1 . A system for coalescing droplets of a relatively polar liquid which are finely dispersed within a body of an immiscible relatively non-polar liquid, including, at least two sources of DC voltage pulses, a pair of electrodes spaced within a mixture of polar and non-polar immiscible liquids, an electrical connection between the pair of electrodes and the DC voltage sources being the means with which each of the electrodes have voltage pulses of one of the sources applied to them to generate an electrostatic field in which the polar liquid droplets will coalesce to a size which will cause their gravitation within the non-polar liquid, means for forming a body of the coalesced and gravitated polar liquid droplets below the pair of electrodes, and a rectifier connected between one of the electrodes and ground potential to maintain a differential of DC potential between the electrodes as the proportion of polar and non-polar immiscible liquids of the mixture changes to reduce the dielectric strength of their mixture.

Claim 5

A system for coalescing water which is dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second liquid, including, at least one pair of electrodes spaced from each other within a mixture of water dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second liquid, a body of water spaced below one of the electrodes and connected to ground potential, a transformer energized by AC voltage for supply of electrical potential to the electrodes, a first electrical connection between the secondary of the transformer and ground potential, a second electrical connection between the secondary and one of the pair of electrodes controlled by a first rectifier, a third electrical connection between the secondary and the other of the pair of electrodes controlled by a second rectifier oppositely poled from the first rectifier, and two rectifiers with each connected between one of the two electrodes and ground potential with the two rectifiers being poled to maintain a predetermined minimum DC potential between the electrodes as the proportion of water in the mixture increases to reduce the dielectric strength of the mixture.

Claim 6

A system for coalescing water which is dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second liquid, including, at least one pair of electrodes spaced from each other within a mixture of water dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second liquid, a body of water spaced below one of the electrodes and connected to ground potential, a transformer energized by AC voltage for supply of electrical potential to the electrodes, a first electrical connection between the secondary of the transformer and ground potential, a second electrical connection between the secondary and one of the pair of electrodes controlled by a first rectifier, a third electrical connection between the secondary and the other of the pair of electrodes controlled by a second rectifier oppositely poled from the first rectifier, and two rectifiers with each connected between one of the two electrodes and ground potential with the two rectifiers being poled to maintain a predetermined minimum DC potential between the electrodes as the proportion of water in the mixture increases to reduce the dielectric strength of the mixture.

Claim 8

A system for coalescing water which is dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second liquid, including, a set of three electrodes within a mixture of water dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second l.iquid, a source of DC voltage, an electrical connection between the set of electrodes and source through which the set has voltage pulses of the source applied to the electrodes to generate a plurality of electrostatic fields in which the water droplets will coalesce to a size which will cause their gravitation to below the fields, and a pair of oppositely poled rectifiers in a circuit between the electrodes and ground potential wherein each rectifier of the pair is connected between its electrode and ground potential to prevent the collapse of the DC potential between the electrodes as the dielectric strength of the water and liquid mixture decreases.

Claim 9

A system for coalescing water which is dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second liquid, including, a set of three electrodes within a mixture of water dispersed in the form of droplets throughout a second l.iquid, a source of DC voltage, an electrical connection between the set of electrodes and source through which the set has voltage pulses of the source applied to the electrodes to generate a plurality of electrostatic fields in which the water droplets will coalesce to a size which will cause their gravitation to below the fields, and a pair of oppositely poled rectifiers in a circuit between the electrodes and ground potential wherein each rectifier of the pair is connected between its electrode and ground potential to prevent the collapse of the DC potential between the electrodes as the dielectric strength of the water and liquid mixture decreases.