Gas-liquid separator

Claim 1

A separator for liquid and gas, including, a cylindrical vessel mounted vertically, an inlet in the vessel wall through which a mixture of liquid and gas is directed, a cylindrical compartment mounted in the upper portion of the vessel and having a plurality of tangential inlet openings through its vertical wall and near the top of the compartment through which gas and entrained liquid is directed to flow tangential to the surface of the vertical internal wall of the compartment, a cylindrical baffle mounted concentric to the vertical internal compartment wall and extending downward from the top of the compartment and spaced from the plurality of openings into the compartment so as to form a flow path for liquids of the mixture, the liquids flowing downward in the compartment and disengaging from the lower edge of the baffle, an outlet for gas from the cylindrical compartment located coaxial with the compartment to remove the gas flowing vertically upward, a circular plate mounted horizontally below the baffle and the gas outlet and spaced from the internal wall of the compartment and having holes through which gas of the mixture flows from beneath the plate to the outlet for gas, and an outlet for liquid of the mixture from the compartment below the plate and in the lower portion of the compartment, whereby the liquid disengaging from the lower edge of the baffle is carried by a portion of the gas through the space between the edge of the circular plate and internal wall of the compartment to the lower portion of the compartment and the gas portion then disengages from the liquid as the gas flows up through the plate holes and through the gas outlet.