Arrangement for aerating of liquids

Claim 1

In an arrangement for aerating fluids, a combination comprising a vessel for a fluid; centrifugal aerating means, including a hollow substantially disc-shaped rotor having two axially-spaced end walls mounted for rotation in said vessel and having a hub, a periphery of said rotor being formed with a plurality of outlet openings communicating with the interior of said rotor, said rotor and hub bounding a Venturi-shaped passage of hourglass configuration having an inlet opening formed in an axial end of said rotor which communicates with said interior having an upstream converging portion, a downstream diverging portion, and a throat portion intermediate said upstream and downstream portions and having a transverse section of cross-sectional area smaller than any cross-sectional area of said upstream and downstream portions; a first and a second set of elongated blades, each set being mounted on a respective end wall and extending generally in direction radially outwardly of said rotor; means for mounting said first set in surface contact with said second set so that respective ones of said blades of said first set are in sliding abutting engagement with and at least partially overlap respective ones of said blades of said second set in axial direction of said rotor; passage means extending in part through said hub and communicating said interior with a source of gas; said passage means having one open end in communication with a source of gas, and another open end at said transverse section of said throat portion for admitting the gas directly into the fluid flowing through said passage so as to obtain a thorough intermixing of the fluid and the gas; and means for generating a suction Venturi-type effect by rotating said rotor in said vessel so that centrifugally created suction will aspirate fluid through said inlet opening and gas through said passage means into said interior, wherein the gas and fluid become mixed prior to centrifugal ejection of the thus-aerated fluid through said outlet openings.