US4402818A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electrofiltration system for purifying organic liquids
Assignee: Baker Hughes Holdings LLC
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Filing: 1980-04-11
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Granted: 1983-09-06
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Expires: 2000-04-11
Abstract
Abstract Non-petroleum organic liquids (fats, animal and vegetable oils, etc.) containing solids (e.g., hydrogenation catalysts) are purified within a unique electrofiltration system wherein the organic liquids are passed through a selected bed material in which is established an intense electric field for removing the solids. Upon solids-fillup of the bed, selective cleaning restores the bed for continued purification of the organic liquid stream. The purified organic liquid stream is monitored for indicating when the selective cleaning of the bed is required. The electrofiltration system, both in a novel electrofilter and process, produces without aging a new organic liquid product having comparable properties to multistep processed prior art organic liquid.
Inventors
- 👤 Serafin B. Oberton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 15:07
CPC Classifications
B; B03; B03C; B03C5/00; B03C5/02; B03C5/022; B03C5/024; B01; B01D; B01D35/00; B01D35/06
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
192 words
An electrofilter for removing solids from an organic liquid stream of high resistivity comprising: (a) a vessel having an internal flow path extending between inlet and outlet means for passing the organic liquid stream through said vessel; (b) said vessel containing in said internal flow path a bed of chemically inert, hard granular particles of a rigid, substantially incompressible material, said particles being nonspheroidal with a relatively discontinuous surface configuration and a dielectric constant not in excess of about 7; (c) means for establishing a d.c. electrical field within said bed of an intensity sufficient for removing solids from the organic liquid stream by electrically induced adhesion of the solids on said particles and providing a purified organic liquid stream to said outlet means; and (d) means for selectively cleaning at least a portion of said particles of adhering solids comprising means for interrupting said electrical field, passing a cleaning liquid through said bed at a rate of flow insufficient to cause turbulence in said bed, to remove adhering solids from said particles without disruption of the particles, and removing the cleaning liquid with the removed solids from said particles being cleaned.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
192 words
An electrofilter for removing solids from an organic liquid stream of high resistivity comprising: (a) a vessel having an internal flow path extending between inlet and outlet means for passing the organic liquid stream through said vessel; (b) said vessel containing in said internal flow path a bed of chemically inert, hard granular particles of a rigid, substantially incompressible material, said particles being nonspheroidal with a relatively discontinuous surface configuration and a dielectric constant not in excess of about 7; (c) means for establishing a d.c. electrical field within said bed of an intensity sufficient for removing solids from the organic liquid stream by electrically induced adhesion of the solids on said particles and providing a purified organic liquid stream to said outlet means; and (d) means for selectively cleaning at least a portion of said particles of adhering solids comprising means for interrupting said electrical field, passing a cleaning liquid through said bed at a rate of flow insufficient to cause turbulence in said bed, to remove adhering solids from said particles without disruption of the particles, and removing the cleaning liquid with the removed solids from said particles being cleaned.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said particles have a dielectric constant between about 2 and about 5.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
16 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said particles are of a mineral containing crystalline silicon dioxide.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said particles are selected from the group consisting of flint, garnet, granite and fused quartz.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said particles have Tyler screen sizes in the range from about 2 mm to about 13 mm.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said particles are of crushed flint rock having an average size of about 2.5 mm.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 including (e) monitoring means for providing an indicating signal for undertaking the selective cleaning of said particles of adhering solids when the purified organic liquid stream approaches conditions of increased solids content by solid-fillup of said bed.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
56 words
The electrofilter of claim 2 wherein said monitoring means optically scans the purified organic liquid in said outlet means and provides an indicating signal for undertaking the selective cleaning of said material of adhering solids when the purified organic liquid stream degrades to a predetermined optical quality by increased solids content from solids-fillup of said bed.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said d.c. electrical field has a potential gradient above about 20 kv per inch spacing in said bed.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The electrofilter of claim 9 wherein said d.c. electrical field has a potential gradient of about 40 kv per inch spacing in said bed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
122 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said means (d) for selectively cleaning at least a portion of said particles of adhering solids comprises means for conducting in sequence the steps of (i) terminating the flow of said organic liquid stream, (ii) passing a dry, inert non-oxidizing gas downwardly through said bed with said d.c. field established therein to displace the purified organic liquid stream through said outlet means without displacing the adhering solids, (iii) interrupting said electrical field and (iv) passing a cleaning liquid through said bed at a rate of flow insufficient to cause turbulence in said bed, to remove adhering solids from said particles, and means for removing the cleaning liquid with the removed solids from said particles being cleaned.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
15 words
The electrofilter of claim 11 wherein said particles are of a mineral containing silicon dioxide.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
The electrofilter of claim 11 wherein said particles are selected from the group consisting of flint, garnet, granite and fused quartz.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
The electrofilter of claim 12 wherein said d.c. electrical field has a potential gradient above about 20 kv per inch spacing in said bed.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
41 words
The electrofilter of claim 11 including (e) monitoring means providing an indicating signal for undertaking the selective cleaning of said particles of adhering solids when the purified organic liquid stream approaches conditions of increased solids content by solids-fillup of said bed.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
56 words
The electrofilter of claim 15 wherein said monitoring means optically scans the purified organic liquid stream in said outlet means and provides an indicating signal for undertaking the selective cleaning of said particles of adhering solids when the purified organic stream degrades to a predetermined optical quality by increased solids content from solids-fillup of said bed.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
29 words
The electrofilter of claim 15 wherein controller means receives said indicating signal of said monitoring means and responsively activates said means for selectively cleaning said particles of adhering solids.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
55 words
The electrofilter of claim 17 wherein said monitoring means optically scans the purified organic liquid in said outlet means and provides an indicating signal for undertaking the selective cleaning of said particles of adhering solids when the purified organic stream degrades to a predetermined optical quality by increased solids content from solids-fillup of said bed.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
The electrofilter of claim 1 wherein said means for selectively cleaning said particles includes means for circulating said cleaning liquid in a closed loop, including reservoir means, through said bed.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
29 words
The electrofilter of claim 11 wherein said means (d) (iv) for passing a cleaning liquid through said bed is adapted to pass the cleaning liquid upwardly through said bed.
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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) | 1986-09-05 | 1987-03-07 | 1987-09-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1990-09-05 | 1991-03-07 | 1991-09-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1994-09-05 | 1995-03-07 | 1995-09-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |