Combined pulp cleaning system including high and low pressure drop hydrocyclone cleaners

Claim 2

the upper side wall portion of said lower chamber containing a first inlet connected with said suspension supply means for supplying said suspension tangentially into said lower chamber;

Claim 3

the upper portion of said housing side wall containing an inlet opening connected with said suspension supply means for supplying said suspension tangentially into the upper end of said chamber;

Claim 4

the upper portion of said housing side wall containing an inlet opening connected with said suspension supply means for supplying said suspension tangentially into the upper end of said chamber;

Claim 6

The method as defined in claim 1, and further including the steps of h. supplying the fourth suspension tangentially at a pressure of about 5 psig. to the upper end of a second low-pressure chamber; i. withdrawing from the bottom of the second low-pressure chamber the suspension including reclaimable pulp fibers and returning this suspension to the original suspension; and j. withdrawing from the upper end of the second low-pressure chamber the final light impurity particles.

Claim 7

the lower end of said housing containing a first outlet opening;

Claim 8

the lower end of said housing containing a first outlet opening;

Claim 9

the lower end of said lower chamber containing a first outlet;

Claim 10

the lower end of said lower chamber containing a first outlet;

Claim 11

the central portion of the upper end of said lower chamber containing a second outlet;

Claim 12

the central portion of the upper end of said lower chamber containing a second outlet;

Claim 13

the central portion of the upper end of said housing containing a second outlet opening; c. upwardly convergent conical diverter means centrally mounted on the bottom wall of said vertical hydrocyclone chamber, said diverter means including an upwardly convergent conical diverter member, and cylindrical support means supporting said conical diverter member a given distance above said housing bottom wall and above said first outlet opening, said cylindrical support means having an outer diameter which correponds with the maximum diameter of said conical diverter member; and d. tubular baffle means connected with the central portion of the housing top wall and communicating at its upper end with the second outlet opening, the lower end of said baffle means extending downwardly in said chamber to a level slightly below that of said inlet opening; e. the pressure of said suspension supply means being such as to establish a pressure difference of about 5 psig. between said inlet opening and said first outlet opening, whereby the pulp fibers are separated from the suspension by centrifugal force and pass downwardly in the chamber in an outer helical path adjacent the side wall surface of the chamber for discharge via said first outlet, said diverter means establishing in the central portion of the chamber within the outer helical path an upwardly directed small helical vortex flow of the impurity particles of the suspension for discharge via said second outlet opening.

Claim 14

the central portion of the upper end of said housing containing a second outlet opening; c. upwardly convergent conical diverter means centrally mounted on the bottom wall of said vertical hydrocyclone chamber, said diverter means including an upwardly convergent conical diverter member, and cylindrical support means supporting said conical diverter member a given distance above said housing bottom wall and above said first outlet opening, said cylindrical support means having an outer diameter which correponds with the maximum diameter of said conical diverter member; and d. tubular baffle means connected with the central portion of the housing top wall and communicating at its upper end with the second outlet opening, the lower end of said baffle means extending downwardly in said chamber to a level slightly below that of said inlet opening; e. the pressure of said suspension supply means being such as to establish a pressure difference of about 5 psig. between said inlet opening and said first outlet opening, whereby the pulp fibers are separated from the suspension by centrifugal force and pass downwardly in the chamber in an outer helical path adjacent the side wall surface of the chamber for discharge via said first outlet, said diverter means establishing in the central portion of the chamber within the outer helical path an upwardly directed small helical vortex flow of the impurity particles of the suspension for discharge via said second outlet opening.

Claim 15

The method as recited in claim 2, and further including the steps of k. feeding a suspension including the heavy impurity particles discharged from the high-pressure centrifugal hydrocyclone chamber to the upper end of a second high-pressure centrifugal hydrocyclone chamber; l. withdrawing final heavy impurity particles from the lower end of the second hydrocyclone chamber; and m. returnIng to the suspension source of at least one of the high-pressure hydrocyclone chambers from the upper end of the second high-pressure hydrocyclone chamber the suspension which includes reclaimable cellulose pulp fibers.

Claim 16

Low-pressure drop apparatus for separating from a liquid suspension cellulose pulp fibers and particles of impurities having a specific gravity less than that of the cellulose pulp fibers, comprising a. means for supplying said suspension under pressure; b. a housing having top, bottom and side walls defining a vertical hydrocyclone chamber, said housing being cylindrical and having a uniform diameter throughout its length,

Claim 17

Low-pressure drop apparatus for separating from a liquid suspension cellulose pulp fibers and particles of impurities having a specific gravity less than that of the cellulose pulp fibers, comprising a. means for supplying said suspension under pressure; b. a housing having top, bottom and side walls defining a vertical hydrocyclone chamber, said housing being cylindrical and having a uniform diameter throughout its length,

Claim 18

the central lower portion of said intermediate chamber containing a second inlet communicating with said second outlet;

Claim 19

the central lower portion of said intermediate chamber containing a second inlet communicating with said second outlet;

Claim 20

the side wall portion of said intermediate chamber containing a third outlet;

Claim 21

the side wall portion of said intermediate chamber containing a third outlet;

Claim 22

Combined high-pressure-drop low-presure-drop apparatus for separating from a liquid suspension cellulose pulp fibers, and first and second groups of impurities having specific gravities greater than and less than that of said pulp fibers, respectively, comprising a. means for supplying said suspension under pressure; b. a unitary housing including a lower portion containing a vertically arranged downwardly convergent conical high-pressure-drop hydrocyclone separation chamber, an upper portion containing a vertically arranged generally cylindrical low-pressure-drop separation chamber, and a middle portion containing an intermediate chamber,

Claim 23

Combined high-pressure-drop low-presure-drop apparatus for separating from a liquid suspension cellulose pulp fibers, and first and second groups of impurities having specific gravities greater than and less than that of said pulp fibers, respectively, comprising a. means for supplying said suspension under pressure; b. a unitary housing including a lower portion containing a vertically arranged downwardly convergent conical high-pressure-drop hydrocyclone separation chamber, an upper portion containing a vertically arranged generally cylindrical low-pressure-drop separation chamber, and a middle portion containing an intermediate chamber,

Claim 24

Apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said fourth outlet is connected with atmosphere and said suspension supply means has a pressure of about 30 to 50 psig, said lower chamber having a discharge pressure at said second outlet of about 5 psig.

Claim 25

the upper side wall portion of said upper chamber containing a third inlet connected with said third outlet for introducing the suspension tangentially into the upper end of said upper chamber;

Claim 26

the upper side wall portion of said upper chamber containing a third inlet connected with said third outlet for introducing the suspension tangentially into the upper end of said upper chamber;

Claim 27

the lower side wall portion of said upper chamber containing a fourth outlet; and

Claim 28

the lower side wall portion of said upper chamber containing a fourth outlet; and

Claim 29

Apparatus as defined in claim 5, and further including second-stage heavy particle hydrocyclone separator means for recleaning the heavy impurity particles discharged from first outlet, said second-stage separator means being of the two-body type including a conical housing which is divided into upper and lower chambers by a horizontal baffle, said separator means including a fourth inlet for introducing the heavy particles from said first outlet tangentially into the upper end of the upper chamber of said second-stage separator, a sixth outlet (162) for discharging the final heavy rejects from the lower end of the lower chamber of said second-stage separator, a seventh outlet (166) for returning to the heavy particle rejects discharged from the first outlet the lighter impurity particles that are displaced upwardly in the central portion of said lower chamber, and an eighth outlet (164) for returning to the first inlet the lighter particles that are directed upwardly in the central portion of said upper chamber.

Claim 30

Apparatus as defined in claim 5, and further including light particle second-stage separator means for recleaning the light impurity particles discharged from said fifth outlet, said light particle second-stage separator means comprising a second housing containing a chamber and having at its upper end a fifth inlet for tangentially introducing into the chamber the lighter particles to be cleaned, a ninth outlet at its lower end for returning to the first inlet the heavier particles separated in said second housing, and a tenth outlet for discharging from the upper central portion of said second housing the final light rejects.

Claim 31

the top wall portion of said upper chamber coNtaining a fifth outlet; and c. upwardly convergent conical diverter means centrally mounted on the bottom wall of said chamber, said diverter means including an upwardly convergent conical diverter member, and means supporting said diverter member a given distance above said housing bottom wall, whereby in said lower chamber the first group of impurities is separated from said suspension by centrifugal force for discharge via said first outlet, the remaining pulp fiber particles and second group of impurities having an upwardly directed vortex flow within said lower chamber for tangential introduction into said upper chamber via said second outlet, said second inlet, said intermediate chamber, said third outlet and said third inlet, whereby the pulp fibers are separated by centrifugal force from said suspension in said upper chamber for discharge via said fourth outlet, and said diverter means cause said second group of particles to form an upwardly directed vortex in the central portion of said upper chamber for discharge via said fifth outlet.

Claim 32

the top wall portion of said upper chamber coNtaining a fifth outlet; and c. upwardly convergent conical diverter means centrally mounted on the bottom wall of said chamber, said diverter means including an upwardly convergent conical diverter member, and means supporting said diverter member a given distance above said housing bottom wall, whereby in said lower chamber the first group of impurities is separated from said suspension by centrifugal force for discharge via said first outlet, the remaining pulp fiber particles and second group of impurities having an upwardly directed vortex flow within said lower chamber for tangential introduction into said upper chamber via said second outlet, said second inlet, said intermediate chamber, said third outlet and said third inlet, whereby the pulp fibers are separated by centrifugal force from said suspension in said upper chamber for discharge via said fourth outlet, and said diverter means cause said second group of particles to form an upwardly directed vortex in the central portion of said upper chamber for discharge via said fifth outlet.