US3810348A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Scrubber arrangement
Assignee: American Air Filter Co Inc
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Filing: 1972-01-07
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Granted: 1974-05-14
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Expires: 1992-01-07
Abstract
Abstract An arrangement for mutual contact of fluids wherein the fluids pass through a contact zone, and fluid contact elements are continuously cycled between the contact zone and an element treating zone where they are treated with a treating fluid and forced from the element treating zone back into the contact zone.
Inventors
- 👤 R Ireland
- 👤 M Pasha
- 👤 T Byers
- 👤 F Dahlem
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 06:12
CPC Classifications
B; B01; B01D; B01D47/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
335 words
An apparatus for providing interphase contaCt between a liquid and a gas which comprises: a flow-through housing having a dirty gas inlet at its lower end and a clean gas outlet at its upper end defining a gas passageway therebetween; a first element restraining grid disposed across said lower end of said housing above said dirty gas inlet; a second element restraining grid disposed across said upper end of said housing below said clean gas outlet, said second element restraining grid allowing gas to pass through only certain portions thereof; baffle means attached to the inside of said housing and extending generally vertically from a point adjacent to and spaced from said first element restraining grid to a point adjacent to and spaced from said second element restraining grid; said baffle means dividing the passageway between the restraining grids into a contact zone and an element treating zone; a plurality of substantially spherical elements confined within said contact zone and said element treating zone, said substantially spherical elements being of a density which allows them to be buoyed upwardly in said contact zone and directed into said element treating zone as a consequence of a gas stream entering said dirty gas inlet and passing through said first and second restraining grids; said baffle means defining an element entrance and an element exit between its upper and lower ends and said restraining grids; at least one treating fluid inlet positioned in said element treating zone above said element exit to provide scrubbing liquid to scrub said substantially spherical elements, to deposit a thin layer of scrubbing liquid thereon and to force said substantially spherical elements from said element exit into the gas stream passing through said housing; nozzle means attached above said second restraining grid yet below said clean gas outlet to provide a scrubbing liquid stream in countercurrent flow to said gas stream passing through said housing; scrubbing liquid exit means located in the lower portion of said housing for removal of scrubbing liquid therefrom.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said second restraining grid comprises a gas impervious portion located above said element treating zone.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said treating fluid inlet is a nozzle.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
348 words
An apparatus for providing interphase contact between a liquid and a gas which comprises: a flow-through housing having a dirty gas inlet at its lower end and a clean gas outlet at its upper end defining a gas passageway therebetween; a first element restraining grid disposed across said lower end of said housing above said dirty gas inlet; a second element restraining grid disposed across said upper end of said housing below said clean gas outlet, said second element restraining grid allowing gas to pass through only certain portions thereof; at least two baffle means attached to the inside of said housing extending vertically from a point adjacent to and spaced from said first element restraining grid at the lower end of said housing to a point adjacent to and spaced from said second element restraining grid; said restraining grids and said baffle means defining a contact zone and at least two element treating zones; a plurality of substantially spherical elements confined within said contact zone and element treating zones, said substantially spherical elements being of a density which allows them to be buoyed upwardly in said contact zone and directed into said element treating zones as a consequence of a gas stream entering said dirty gas inlet and passing through said first and second element restraining grids; each of said baffle means defining an element entrance and an element exit between their respective upper and lower ends and said element restraining grids; at least one treating fluid inlet positioned in each of said element treating zones above said element exits to provide scrubbing liquid to scrub said substantially spherIcal elements, to deposit a thin layer of scrubbing liquid thereon and to force said substantially spherical elements from said element exits into said gas stream passing through said housing; nozzle means attached above said second restraining grid yet below said clean gas outlet to provide a scrubbing liquid stream in countercurrent flow to said gas stream passing through said housing; scrubbing liquid exit means located in the lower portion of said housing for removal of scrubbing liquid therefrom.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said second restraining grid is generally V-shaped with its apex pointing countercurrent to the flow of said gas stream.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said V-shaped second restraining grid includes, gas impervious portions located above each of said element treating zones.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 7 comprising a generally vertical partition attached to said apex of said V-shaped second restraining grid and extending downwardly to join said first restraining grid.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said apex of second restraining grid is nonperforated.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said nozzle means is comprised of two nozzles each of which has its longitudinal axis essentially normal to a different inclined surface of said V-shaped second restraining grid and lies in one of two different, generally parallel vertical plane.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said treating fluid inlets are nozzles.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said first restraining grid comprises fluid impervious portions located below said element treating zones.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 5 comprising water removing means contained within and attached to said housing above said second restraining grid barrier and said nozzle means to remove liquid droplets from the gas stream.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said water removing means comprises swirl veins.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein a portion of said substantially spherical elements have a first diameter and the remainder have a second diameter, and said substantially spherical elements are of a constant density within the range of between 0.1 and 0.9 grams per cubic centimeter.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
51 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said substantially spherical elements are all of the same diameter, and a portion of said substantially spherical elements are of one density and the remainder are of a second density, both densities being within the range of between 0.1 and 0.9 grams per cubic centimeter.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
261 words
A process for mutually contacting a gas and liquid comprising: passing a stream of upwardly flowing gas and a stream of downwardly flowing liquid through a contact zone of a housing; maintaining in said gas stream a substantially continuously moving bed of gas contact elements having a density less than that of said liquid and greater than that of said gas; directing said gas contact elements into an element treating zone wherein substantially no upwardly flowing gas is present by means of a shaped first element restraining grid at the upper end of said contact zone, said treating zone being defined by baffle means extending vertically from a point adjacent to and spaced from a second element restraining grid at the lower end of said housing to a point adjacent to and spaced from said first element restraining grid; scrubbing, moving and coating said gas contact elements in said element treating zone by directing a treating fluid onto said gas contact elements in said element treating zone, whereby said gas contact elements are, freed of foreign material, coated with a thin film of liquid, and moved again into said stream of upwardly flowing gas; said step of maintaining a substantially continuously moving bed in said contact zone being effected by passing said upward stream of gas at sufficient velocity to provide upward lift to said gas contact elements, said upward lift being sufficient to cause said elements to move upwardly tHereby causing the contact elements to be moved continuously in a circular path through the contact zone and the treating zone.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
48 words
The process of claim 17 wherein said step of directing said gas contact elements into said element treating zone is effected in part by passing said downwardly flowing liquid through said restraining grid with sufficient velocity to prevent said gas contact elements adjacent thereto from becoming congested thereunder.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
49 words
The process of claim 18 wherein the flow rate of said gas is between about 300 and about 1,800 feet per minute and the countercurrent flow of said liquid is between about 5 and about 100 U.S. gallons per minute per square foot of cross-section of said contact zone.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
48 words
The process of claim 18 wherein the flow rate of said gas is between about 550 and about 1,700 feet per minute and the countercurrent flow of said liquid is between about 10 and 75 U.S. gallons per minute per square foot of cross-section of said contact zone.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
153 words
The process of claim 18 wherein contacting said gas and said liquid in countercurrent flow comprises passing said gas upwardly through said contact zone at a rate of 300 to 1,800 lineal feet per minute and passing said liquid downwardly at a rate of between about 5 and 100 U.S. gallons per minute per square foot of cross-section of said contact zone, and wherein said step of maintaining a continuously moving bed of gas contact elements within said contact zone is effected by (a) employing a total apparent packed volume of said elements of less than 95 percent of the volume of said contact zone, and (b) maintaining and coordinating the relative flow rates of said gas and said liquid so that said elements are continuously moved in a circular path through said contact zone and said element treating zone whereby contact of said gas and liquid in said contact zone is achieved.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
25 words
The process of claim 21 wherein the apparent packed volume of said gas contact elements is in the range of between 10 and 80 percent.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
25 words
The process of claim 21 wherein the apparent packed volume of said gas contact elements is in the range of between 40 and 65 percent.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
300 words
A process for mutually contacting a gas and liquid comprising: passing a stream of upwardly flowing gas and a stream of downwardly flowing liquid through a contact zone of a housing; maintaining in said gas stream a substantially continuously moving bed of gas contact elements having a density less than that of said liquid and greater than that of said gas; directing said gas contact elements into an element treating zone wherein substantially no upwardly flowing gas is present by means of a first shaped element restraining grid at the upper end of said contact zone inclined at a suitable angle to promote the movement of said contact elements into said element treating zone, said treating zone being defined by baffle means extending vertically from a point adjacent to and spaced from said first element restraining grid at the upper end of said housing to a point adjacent to and spaced from a second element restraining grid at the lower end of said housing; passing said gas contact elements through said element treating zone back into said stream of upwardly flowing gas at the lower end of said housing; said step of maintaining a substantially continuously moving bed in said contact zone being effected by passing said upward stream of gas at sufficient velocity to provide upward lift to said gas contact element, said upward lift being sufficient to cause said elements to move upwardly and outwardly, thereby causing the contact elements to be moved continuously in a circular path through the contact zone and the treating zone, said step of directing said gas contact elements into said element treating zone being effected in part by passing said downwardly flowing liquid through said restraining grid with sufficient velocity to prevent Said gas contact elements adjacent thereto from becoming congested thereunder.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-05-13 | 1977-11-12 | 1978-05-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-05-13 | 1981-11-12 | 1982-05-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-05-13 | 1985-11-12 | 1986-05-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |