Centrifugal separators

Claim 2

A centrifugal separator for separating liquid particles from a gas, comprising: as tubular member provided with a gas inlet at one end thereof and a gas outlet at the other end; a casing having an inlet and an outlet for gas, the tubular member, being housed in the casing, the inlet and outlet of the tubular member being connected to the inlet and outlet of the casing, and at least one liquid outlet in the casing: and means within the tubular member disposed adjacent said inlet of the tubular member imparting a swirl to the gas, the improvement comprising the tubular member being provided with elongated spaced apart slots, which extend substantially parallel to the tubular member axis and for substantially the entire length of the tubular member about the periphery thereof, the longitudinal inner edges of the slots lying on a common surface of revolution which also defines the inner surface of the tubular member; said means imparting a swirl to the gas having A radius substantially equal to the radial dimension of the tubular member; and, the slot-ends situated nearest the gas inlet end of the tubular member being disposed directly adjacent to said swirl imparting means.

Claim 3

The centrifugal separator according to claim 1, which includes a water collection chamber located beneath said at least one casing and connected to said liquid outlet to collect water passing through said slots.

Claim 4

The centrifugal separator according to claim 1, wherein each slot is defined by leading and trailing wall edges, one of said edges defining each slot being shaped to reduce the risk of rebound of droplets from said trailing edges.

Claim 5

The centrifugal separator as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said slot includes a strip of surface forming at least part of one of its longitudinal sides and disposed at an acute angle to a plane which is radial to the tubular member and contains a longitudinal edge of the respective slot, to reduce any risk of droplets of said liquid from rebouncing and re-entraining the gas flow.

Claim 6

A centrifugal separator for separating liquid droplets from a gas, comprising a tubular member provided with a gas inlet at one end thereof and a gas outlet at the other end, a casing housing the tubular member, said casing having an inlet and an outlet for gas and at least one liquid outlet, the inlet and outlet of the tubular member being connected to the inlet and outlet of the casing, and means withing the tubular member disposed adjacent said inlet of the tubular member for imparting a swirl to the gas, said swirl imparting means having a radius substantially equal to the radial dimension of the tubular member, the tubular member having a row of elongated slots extending from directly adjacent to said swirl imparting means for substantially the entire length of the tubular member about the periphery thereof, the longitudinal inner edges of the slots lying on a common surface of revolution which also contains the inter-slot inner wall surface of the tubular memberm upon which surface, films of liquid are formed by collection of the liquid droplets, the longitudinal direction of the slots being disposed transverse to the direction of flow of the films under the influence of said gas swirl.

Claim 7

A centrifugal separator for separating liquid droplets from a gas, comprising a tubular member provided with a gas inlet at one end thereof and a gas outlet at the other end, a casing housing the tubular member, said casing having an inlet and an outlet for gas and at least one liquid outlet, the inlet and outlet of the tubular member being connected to the inlet and outlet of the casing, and means withing the tubular member disposed adjacent said inlet of the tubular member for imparting a swirl to the gas, said swirl imparting means having a radius substantially equal to the radial dimension of the tubular member, the tubular member having a row of elongated slots extending from directly adjacent to said swirl imparting means for substantially the entire length of the tubular member about the periphery thereof, the longitudinal inner edges of the slots lying on a common surface of revolution which also contains the inter-slot inner wall surface of the tubular memberm upon which surface, films of liquid are formed by collection of the liquid droplets, the longitudinal direction of the slots being disposed transverse to the direction of flow of the films under the influence of said gas swirl.

Claim 8

The centrifugal separator according to claim 5, wherein the slots are arranged so that the films of liquid are drawn into the slots, being carried around the leading longitudinal edge of each slot.