Passive fluid mixing system

Claim 2

A passive fluid mixer comprising: a mixing chamber, a fluid entrance passageway, a fluid exit passageway, the mixing chamber being adapted to receive fluid from the fluid entrance passageway and to produce a net fluid flow through the chamber to the exit passageway, the entrance passageway and the exit passageway being located at opposite ends of the chamber and non-collinear with the axis of the net fluid flow through the chamber whereby the flow of the fluid entering the chamber is changed by the confines of the chamber such that its momentum superimposes upon the net fluid flow through the chamber a pattern of motion dominated by paired counter-rotating vortices.

Claim 3

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 1 wherein the entrance and exit passageways are each contiguous with an opposite end surface of the chamber.

Claim 4

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 1 wherein there is an entrance conduit communicating with the entrance passageway, the diameter of the entrance passageway being smaller than that of the conduit to cause the velocity of the fluid flowing from the conduit into the passageway to be accelerated.

Claim 5

A passive fluid mixer comprising a mixing chamber, a fluid entrance passageway, a fluid exit passageway, the passageways being: located at opposite axial ends of the chamber, displaced substantially 180° from each other and lying at least in part in a common plane including the axis of the chamber, whereby the momentum of the fluid entering the cylinder creates fluid motion within the cylinder moving from one end of the chamber to the other and dominated by paired counter-rotating vortices.

Claim 6

A passive fluid mixer comprising a mixing chamber, a fluid entrance passageway, a fluid exit passageway, the passageways being: located at opposite axial ends of the chamber, displaced substantially 180° from each other and lying at least in part in a common plane including the axis of the chamber, whereby the momentum of the fluid entering the cylinder creates fluid motion within the cylinder moving from one end of the chamber to the other and dominated by paired counter-rotating vortices.

Claim 7

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 4 wherein the entrance and exit passageways are each contiguous with an opposite end surface of the chamber.

Claim 8

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 4 wherein there is an entrance conduit communicating with the entrance passageway, the diameter of the entrance passageway being smaller than that of the conduit to cause the velocity of the fluid flowing from the conduit into the passageway and thence into the mixing chamber to be accelerated.

Claim 9

A passive fluid mixer comprising: a matrix block, a plurality of mixing chambers in the block connected in series, each chamber having: a fluid entrance passageway, a fluid exit passageway, the passageways being: located at opposite axial ends of the chamber, displaced substantially 180° from each other and lying at least in part in a common plane including the axis of the cylinder, the exit passageway of one chamber being the entrance passageway of the next adjacent chamber downstream, whereby the momentum of the fluid entering each successive chamber creates fluid motion within each chamber moving from one end of the chamber to the other and dominated by paired counter-rotating vortices.

Claim 10

A passive fluid mixer comprising: a matrix block, a plurality of mixing chambers in the block connected in series, each chamber having: a fluid entrance passageway, a fluid exit passageway, the passageways being: located at opposite axial ends of the chamber, displaced substantially 180° from each other and lying at least in part in a common plane including the axis of the cylinder, the exit passageway of one chamber being the entrance passageway of the next adjacent chamber downstream, whereby the momentum of the fluid entering each successive chamber creates fluid motion within each chamber moving from one end of the chamber to the other and dominated by paired counter-rotating vortices.

Claim 11

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 7 wherein the entrance and exit passageways are each contiguous with an opposite end surface of the chamber.

Claim 12

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 7 wherein there is an entrance conduit communicating with the entrance passageway of the first mixing chamber, the diameter of the entrance passageway being smaller than that of the conduit to cause the velocity of the fluid flowing from the conduit into the entrance passageway to be accelerated.

Claim 13

A passive fluid mixer comprising: a stack of mixing matrices, each matrix having a series of the same size mixing chambers connected in series, a source of both identical matrices and matrices which differ from each other by the size of their mixing chambers, the stack being selectively assembled from said source, whereby the stack may comprise one or more matrices having mixing chambers of the same size or of different sizes.

Claim 14

A passive fluid mixer comprising: a stack of mixing matrices, each matrix having a series of the same size mixing chambers connected in series, a source of both identical matrices and matrices which differ from each other by the size of their mixing chambers, the stack being selectively assembled from said source, whereby the stack may comprise one or more matrices having mixing chambers of the same size or of different sizes.

Claim 15

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 10 in which there are means for selectively connecting two or more matrices in series relationship.

Claim 16

A passive fluid mixer according to Claim 10 in which there are two or more stacks of mixing matrices and means for selectively connecting two or more matrices of both stacks in series relationship.