EA041842B1 - CYCLONE AIR FILTRATION EQUIPMENT - Google Patents

Description

The field of technology to which the present invention relates

The invention relates to equipment for ventilation, filtration and/or air conditioning. More specifically, the invention relates to an air filtration system comprising cyclone air separators for separating large or heavy particles, such as dust particles or other impurities, from an air stream due to the centrifugal effect of the separator.

Background of the Invention

Different industries use different shapes of cyclones. For example, hydrocyclones are often used in the mining industry to separate heavy particulate solids from tailings by subjecting the tailings or suspension to centrifugal forces in the cyclone. In a vertical orientation, heavier particles are forced radially outward and slide down the inside of the cyclone to the bottom opening towards the bottom, where they are discharged from the cyclone and are typically used as sealing material for the construction of a tailings dam, while finer material and liquids are sucked in from the top central hole, known as the overflow hole. Cyclones are not always oriented vertically, they can also be used in a horizontal orientation.

Applicant is also aware of existing air cyclones or separators that use the same principles to remove dust particles or other impurities from an air stream. In existing air ventilation systems, cyclones are used in the pre-filtering stage before fabric air filters to extend the life of these filters. The inventor has determined through hydrodynamic analysis of a number of different air cyclone configurations that the particular geometry of the air cyclone is critical to its performance in terms of particle separation efficiency and energy efficiency. The inventor considers that the performance of existing air cyclones or separators is unsatisfactory, since most separators either show low energy efficiency, i.e. a large pressure drop is created in the cyclone, or there is an unsatisfactory separation of particles in the range of particle sizes.

The present invention is directed to eliminating, at least to some extent, the above disadvantages.

Disclosure of the present invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an air filtration unit is provided that includes at least two adjacent cyclone air separators, each cyclone air separator includes a separator hollow body including a swirl inlet port at the inlet, the separator hollow body defining a longitudinal axis;

a cylindrical outlet pipe located downstream of the inlet, the outlet pipe defining an outlet that is axially aligned with the inlet; and an at least partially conical diffuser that extends from the inlet channel to the outlet pipe so that the downstream end of the at least partially conical diffuser and the outlet pipe together define a waste outlet in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the separator hollow body ; and a frame on which the cyclone air separators are mounted, in which the swirl inlet channels of the adjacent cyclone air separators are configured to induce oppositely oriented vortices in the respective hollow separator housings of the adjacent cyclone air separators, and in which, at least in part, the conical diffusers of the adjacent cyclone air separators separators are unequal in length so that their respective waste outlets are non-coplanar and spaced longitudinally along the air filter unit, which serves to limit interference with the outgoing waste stream and results in less pressure drop across the air filter unit, which in turn results in for more efficient particle removal.

A cyclone air separator having a shorter conical diffuser compared to the length of the other conical diffuser may include a baffle that is connected to the outer surface of the discharge pipe behind the waste outlet. The baffle may extend radially outward from the discharge pipe, thereby further limiting interference with the outgoing waste stream between adjacent cyclone air separators.

The air filtration unit can be modular. The air filtration unit can be connected to adjacent air filtration units. The air filtration unit may include a 2x2 array of four cyclone air separators, wherein the inlets of diagonally opposite cyclone air separators in the array are configured to induce vortices in their respective separator hollow bodies in the same direction.

The air filtration unit may include an outwardly inclined functional top wall attached to the frame. The top wall may define an internal cavity around the waste outlets of the top cyclone air separators in the 2x2 group. The interior cavity may be configured to prevent excessive pressure buildup near the waste outlets. The functionally inclined outward top wall may have an opening inspection hatch.

Each inlet channel may include a plurality of angled vanes evenly distributed around the circumference. The vanes may be configured to create a vortex within the hollow body of the separator, and the configurations of the cyclone air separator vanes of the air filtration unit alternate in orientation, top to bottom, and side to side, so that the vanes of adjacent cyclone air separators are operable to create vortices in their corresponding hollow separator housings in opposite directions.

Each inlet can be connected with the possibility of separation with a partially conical diffuser. Each inlet can include eight angled vanes evenly distributed around the circumference.

Each inlet can include an inlet shroud with a square adapter. The inner edges of adjacent casings are located with fit. Each inlet may include an axially extending annular cylindrical casing located around the blades. The inlet shroud with a square adapter may be concave and may be releasably connected to an annular cylindrical shroud. Functionally, the upper pair of cyclone air separators may have conical diffusers that are shorter than the diffusers of the functionally lower pair of cyclone air separators.

The inlet may include an axially aligned hub having a central conical cap to provide uniform airflow. The plurality of vanes may extend radially outward from uniformly circumferentially spaced positions on the hub. Each blade may have a straight leading edge facing axially and orthogonal to the longitudinal axis. Each blade may have a trailing or trailing edge that is inclined at an angle of about 60 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the separator housing. Each blade may diverge from the hub towards a radially outward distal end or tip of the blade.

The air filtration unit may include a solids collection trough or hopper that is connected downstream to the annular waste outlets of the cyclone air separators to collect discarded particles ejected from the cyclone air separators.

The conical part of the diffuser diverges in the downstream direction. The diameter of the inlet may be substantially identical to the diameter of the outlet. The bypass pipe may extend at least partially into the diffuser and may be concentric with the diffuser. The axially outer end of the outlet pipe is connected to a rear wall which serves to isolate the outlet from the waste outlet.

The present invention extends to an air filtration system which includes a plurality of air filtration units as described above arranged in a row in line in an air duct; and at least one solids collection trough or hopper that is in fluid communication with the waste outlets of the respective cyclone air separators.

The solids collection chute may include an auger or screw conveyor that is configured to discharge the solids collected in the recess of the chute. The solids collection chute may include at least one openable inspection hatch. The solids collection chute can be hermetically connected to the air filtration unit to prevent backflow of air preventing particles from being discharged from the waste outlets into the chute.

The air filtration unit may include a group of four cyclone air separators. The inlets of diagonally opposite cyclone air separators in a group are configured to induce vortices in their respective hollow separator bodies in the same direction. The group may be a 2x2 layout. The vane configurations of the cyclone air separators of the air filtration unit can alternate in top-down and side-to-side orientation.

The air filtration unit may include cyclonic air separators having partially conical diffusers of different lengths so that the air filtration unit is configured to filter particles of different sizes.

The conical diffuser of each separator may define an annular waste outlet around the bypass pipe through which rejected particles are promptly removed, the waste outlet in fluid communication with a solids collection trough below.

The inlet may be round. Likewise, the outlet may be round.

The air filtration unit can be functionally connected in one line with one or more air filters. The air filtration unit may include an outer housing enclosing the frame. The outer casing may include an openable inspection hatch.

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The separator can be made of a polymeric material. Preferably, it may be made of metal, for example 5 mm thick steel.

The solids collection chute may include any of a screw conveyor, a paddle feeder, or a flap valve to discharge the removed particles.

Brief description of the figures

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures.

On the drawings:

fig. 1 is a three-dimensional view of an air filtration unit in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a three-dimensional rear view of the air filtration unit of FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a side view of the air filtration unit of FIG. 1;

fig. 4 is a three-dimensional view of a plurality of air filtration units connected together;

fig. 5 is a longitudinal section along the lines A-A shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 6 is a side view of an air filtration system in accordance with another aspect of the present invention; and fig. 7 is a front view of the air filtration system of FIG. 6.

Detailed disclosure of the present invention with reference to the figures

The following description of the invention is provided to provide an understanding of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many changes can be made to the described embodiments of the present invention while still achieving the benefits of the invention. It will also be apparent that some of the desired advantages of the present invention can be achieved by selecting some of the features of the invention without using other features. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications and adaptations of the present invention are possible and may even be desirable under certain circumstances and are part of the present invention. Thus, the following description is provided to illustrate the principles of the present invention and not to limit it.

In the figures, reference numeral 100 generally refers to the modular air filtration unit according to the first aspect of the present invention, which includes an array of four cyclone air separators 10 arranged in a 2x2 arrangement as shown in FIG. 1-3. As shown in FIG. 4, a series of modular air filtration units 100 arranged in a row functionally form part of an air filtration system 50 in accordance with another aspect of the present invention (see FIGS. 6 and 7). The air filtration system 50 is used in air conditioning and/or filtration installations to remove excessively large particles of dust or other impurities from the air stream, optionally before it passes through a fabric filter. The direction of air flow through the air filtration system 50 and the air filtration units 100 is indicated by arrow 30 in FIG. 5 and 6. Arrows 31, 32 in FIG. 5 and 6 indicate the direction of ejection of the heavy particles filtered by the air filtration units 100 into the chute or hopper 5 for collecting solids below.

Briefly, when an air stream with entrained dust particles or other impurities passes through the cyclonic air separator 10 of the block 100, a vortex (spiral or cyclonic movement) is created by a swirling inlet 13 having a plurality of curved blades 21 evenly distributed around the circumference provided on the inlet. holes of the hollow body 12 of the separator. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1-5, eight equally spaced circumferentially curved or angled vanes 21 are provided in each inlet 13. The vanes 21 overlap each other in the circumferential direction so that when viewed in the axial direction, no gaps between the vanes 21 are visible. It is understood that air cannot pass directly through the inlet 13 unless the vanes 21 create a vortex. As a result, heavy dust particles or impurities are deflected radially outward under the influence of centrifugal forces and are discharged from the separator 10 through the round waste outlet 25 (see Fig. 2 and 5), while finer particles of clean air are removed from the separator housing 12 through the central outlet 17 formed by the cylindrical outlet pipe 16.

Each hollow body 12 of the separator defines a longitudinal axis X (see Fig. 5). Each inlet duct 13 includes an inlet shroud 14 with a square adapter that directs airflow to the vanes 21. The inner edges of adjacent inlet shrouds 14 are adjacent to each other to ensure smooth airflow through the air filter unit 100. Each inlet channel 13 also includes an annular cylindrical casing 9 located concentrically around the blades 21. The inlet casing 14 with a square adapter is concave and connected to the annular cylindrical casing 9. Behind the inlet channel 13, the separator housing 12 includes a conical diffuser 15, which is connected to the inlet channel 13 at one end and with the back wall 8 located downstream, at the other end through a series of protruding legs or brackets 7. The cone diffuser 15 diverges into

- 3 041842 downstream direction. The swirling inlet 13 is detachably connected to the conical diffuser 15, which means that the inlet 13 can be easily removed and replaced in case of wear. Thus, this precludes the replacement of the entire separator body 12 when only the inlet 13 is worn. The same applies to the inlet housing 14 with a square adapter.

Each separator 10 has a cylindrical outlet pipe 16 (see Fig. 5), located downstream of the inlet, concentric with the conical diffuser 15 and partly inside it. The outlet 17 is axially aligned with the inlet. The air filtration unit 100 further includes a frame 18 on which each of the cyclone air separators 10 is mounted. Each air filtration unit 100 includes an inclined, functional top, outwardly protruding wall 23 attached to the frame 18 which defines an internal cavity 33 around the outlets 25 for waste from the upper cyclone air separators 10 in a group or 2x2 pattern. The inclined top wall 23 comprises an inclined main wall 23.1 and an oppositely inclined minor wall 23.2 which intersect at a apex 23.3. On the inclined main wall 23.1 there is an openable inspection hatch 24, as shown in FIG. 1. Waste outlets 25 lead to a particle removal zone 22 (see Fig. 6), which is formed between the front wall 6, provided in the contact zone of the annular cylindrical casing 9 and the conical diffuser 15 of the separator housing 12, at one end - the lower rear wall 8, at the other end with an inclined top wall 23 at the top and a chute 5 for collecting solids at the bottom (see Fig. 6). The interior cavity 33 is in fluid communication with the particle removal zone 22 and is configured to prevent overpressure from forming near the upper waste outlets 25, thereby improving particle removal and air flow through the filter unit 100.

In order to achieve an optimal air flow through the air filtration unit 100, the swirling inlet channels 13, in particular the curved blades 21 of adjacent cyclone air separators 10, are designed to create oppositely oriented vortices in the respective conical diffusers 15.

Accordingly, the blades 21 of adjacent cyclone air separators 10 are positioned so as to induce vortices in their respective hollow separator bodies 12 in opposite directions.

In addition, functionally, the upper 15.1 and lower 15.2 pairs of conical diffusers 15 of each air filtration unit 100 have different lengths, as seen in FIG. 3 and 5. This results in the waste outlets 25 of the respective pairs 15.1, 15.2 being non-coplanar and longitudinally spaced along the air filtration unit 100. This serves to limit interference with the outgoing waste stream and results in less pressure drop across the air filter unit 100, which in turn results in more efficient particulate removal. In addition, due to the different lengths of the cone diffusers 15.1, 15.2, the air filtration unit 100 is configured to filter particles of different sizes. As can be seen, the functionally upper pair of cyclone air separators 10 has conical diffusers 15.1 which are shorter than the conical diffusers 15.2 of the functionally lower pair of cyclone air separators (see FIG. 3).

As already mentioned, each conical diffuser 15 defines an annular waste outlet 25 around the discharge pipe 16, through which the rejected particles are promptly removed to the particle removal zone 22. The particle removal zone 22 and the internal cavity 33 connect the waste outlets 25 downstream to the solids collection chute 5 below. In addition, cyclone air separators 10 having shorter conical diffusers 15.1, i. e. functionally top separators include each annular deflector 34 which is connected to the outer surface of the discharge pipe 16 behind the waste outlet 25 . The baffle 34 extends radially outward from the discharge pipe 16, thus serving to further limit interference with the outgoing waste stream between the upper and lower cyclone air separators 10 in the air filtration unit 100, as can be seen in FIG. 5. The deflector 34 is more or less longitudinally aligned with the downstream end of the cone diffuser 15.2 below.

As shown in FIG. 1 and 5, each inlet 13 includes an axially aligned hub having a central tapered cap 35 to ensure uniform airflow. Each of the blades 21 extends radially outward from evenly spaced circumferential positions on the hub. Each blade 21 has a straight leading edge that is axially facing and orthogonal to the longitudinal axis X, and a trailing or trailing edge that is inclined at an angle of about 60 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis X of the separator housing 12. Each vane 21 diverges from the hub towards the radially outer distal end or tip of the vane 21.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the air filtration system 50 is operatively in-line connected to the air duct. The direction of airflow through the system 50 is indicated by arrow 30. One or more fabric filters may be provided after the filtration system 50 to filter out smaller particles not removed by the air separators 10. A pair of mounting brackets 28 are provided on top 23.3 of the functional top wall 23 for attaching the unit 100 air filtration to the supports. In the exemplary embodiment,

Claims (14)

of the present invention and as shown in FIG. 7, the air filtration system 50 includes a main particulate collection chute 5.1 and an adjacent secondary particulate collection chute 5.2. A screw conveyor or auger 26.1, 26.2, apron feeder or flap valve is located in a recess 27 connected to the distal end of each chute 5.1, 5.2. The screw conveyors 26.1, 26.2 are configured to discharge solids collected in recesses 27. Each solids collection chute has two openable inspection hatches 24. The distal end of each chute 5.1, 5.2 is sealed with screw conveyors to prevent heavy particles from being obstructed by reverse airflow. from the air stream passing through the filtration system 50. The applicant believes that a particular configuration of the air filtration system 50 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, including a series of modular air filtration units 100 in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, arranged in a row, each of which includes a group of cyclone air separators 10 with conical diffusers 15.1 , 15.2 of various lengths and oppositely oriented swirl inlet passages 13, among other features as described above, provide significantly improved separation or filtration of particles and serve to limit interference with the waste outlet stream, which results in a lower pressure drop in the air filtration unit 100, which, in turn leads to more efficient particle removal. Due to the modularity of the air filtration unit 100, the air filtration system 50 can be designed to meet various operational and installation requirements. For example, the filter blocks 100 of the air filtration system 50 can filter out particles as small as 10 microns. From a maintenance point of view, the air filtration system 50 has the advantage that it does not have moving parts, such as rotors, which may require frequent maintenance to prolong its service life. In addition, as described above, the swirl inlets 13 can be easily replaced when worn without having to remove the remainder of the cyclonic air separator 10. The inlet shrouds 14 with a square adapter provide uniform laminar airflow to the blades with no dead spots between the blade inlets and less wear. inlet 13. They also improve the aerodynamics of the inlet by reducing the resistance to airflow. In addition, the applicant believes that the angle, curvature and number of blades (eight) provide increased efficiency by maximizing the centrifugal vortex of the air flow. In addition, the divergent cone 15 provides the highest level of cyclonic swirl, maximizing overall efficiency. The baffle 34 further restricts airflow obstruction at the waste outlet 25 between the upper and lower air separators. Finally, the solids collection chute or hopper 5 prevents the accumulation of particles and ensures the most efficient and rapid removal of particles from a single outlet. CLAIM 1. An air filtration unit that includes at least two cyclone air separators, each cyclonic air separator includes a hollow separator housing including a swirling inlet channel at the inlet, the hollow separator housing defining a longitudinal axis; a cylindrical outlet pipe located downstream of the inlet, the outlet pipe defining an outlet that is axially aligned with the inlet; and an at least partially conical diffuser that extends from the inlet channel to the outlet pipe so that the downstream end of the at least partially conical diffuser and the outlet pipe together define a waste outlet in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the separator hollow body ; and a frame on which the cyclone air separators are mounted, in which the swirl inlet channels of the adjacent cyclone air separators are configured to induce oppositely oriented vortices in the respective hollow separator housings of the adjacent cyclone air separators, and in which, at least in part, the conical diffusers of the adjacent cyclone air separators separators are unequal in length so that their respective waste outlets are non-coplanar and spaced longitudinally along the air filter unit, which serves to limit interference with the outgoing waste stream and results in less pressure drop across the air filter unit, which in turn results in to more efficient particle removal, in which the cyclone air separator having a shorter conical diffuser compared to the length of the other conical diffuser includes a deflector that is connected to the outer surface of the discharge pipe behind the waste outlet , and in which the baffle extends radially outward from the discharge pipe, thereby further limiting interference with the outgoing waste stream between adjacent cyclone air separators. 2. Air filtration unit according to claim 1, which is modular and can be connected to - 5 041842 adjacent air filtration units and which includes a 2x2 group of four cyclone air separators, while the inlet channels of diagonally opposite cyclone air separators in the group are configured to induce vortices in their respective hollow separator bodies in the same direction. 3. An air filtration unit according to claim 2, which includes an outwardly inclined functional top wall attached to the frame, and the top wall defines an internal cavity around the waste outlets for the waste outlets of the upper cyclone air separators in a 2x2 group, while the internal cavity is configured to prevent excessive increasing pressure near the waste outlets. 4. An air filtration unit according to claim 3, wherein the functionally outwardly inclined top wall has an openable inspection hatch. 5. An air filtration unit according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein each inlet channel includes a plurality of angular blades evenly distributed around the circumference, the blades being configured to create a vortex inside the hollow separator body, and in which the configurations of the blades of the cyclonic air separators of the filter unit of air alternate in orientation, from top to bottom and from side to side, so that the blades of adjacent cyclone air separators are configured to create vortices in their respective hollow separator bodies in opposite directions. 6. An air filtration unit according to claim 5, wherein each inlet passage is separably connected to a partially conical diffuser and includes eight angled vanes evenly distributed around the circumference. 7. Air filtration unit according to claim 5 or 6, in which each inlet channel includes an inlet casing with a square adapter, the inner edges of adjacent casings are adjacent, and in which each inlet channel includes an axially extending annular cylindrical casing located around the blades . 8. The air filtration unit according to claim 7, wherein the square adapter inlet casing is concave and releasably connected to an annular cylindrical casing. 9. An air filtration unit according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the functionally upper pair of cyclone air separators has conical diffusers that are shorter than the diffusers of the functionally lower pair of cyclone air separators. 10. An air filtration unit according to any one of claims 5 to 9, depending on claim 5, wherein the inlet duct includes an axially aligned hub having a central conical cap to provide uniform airflow, and wherein a plurality of vanes extend radially outward from positions on the hub that are evenly distributed circumferentially, with each blade having a straight leading edge facing axially and orthogonally to the longitudinal axis, and a trailing or trailing edge that is inclined at an angle of about 60° relative to the longitudinal axis of the separator housing, and in which each blade is deflected from the hub to the radially outer distal end or tip of the blade. 11. An air filtration unit according to any one of claims 2-10, which includes a solids collection chute or hopper that is connected downstream to the annular waste outlets of the cyclone air separators to collect reject particles ejected from the cyclone air separators. 12. An air filtration unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conical portion of the diffuser diverges in a downstream direction, and wherein the diameter of the inlet is substantially identical to the diameter of the outlet, and wherein the discharge pipe extends at least partially, into the diffuser and concentric with the diffuser, and wherein the axially outer end of the discharge pipe is connected to a rear wall which serves to isolate the outlet from the waste outlet. 13. Air filtration system, which includes a plurality of air filtration units according to any of the preceding paragraphs, arranged in a row on the same line in the duct; and at least one solids collection trough or hopper that is in fluid communication with the waste outlets of the respective cyclone air separators. 14. The air filtration system of claim 13, wherein the solids collection chute includes an auger or screw conveyor that is configured to discharge solids collected in a recess in the chute, wherein the solids collection chute includes at least one openable viewing window. a manhole, and wherein the solids collection chute is hermetically connected to the air filtration units to prevent backflow of air preventing particles from being discharged from the waste outlets into the chute. -