US2687287A

US2687287A - Fluid liquid contacting device

Info

Publication number: US2687287A
Authority: US
Inventors: Coppock Philip Dalton
Original assignee: Distillers Co Yeast Ltd
Current assignee: Distillers Co Yeast Ltd; Distillers Co Ltd
Priority date: 1950-06-08
Filing date: 1951-06-08
Publication date: 1954-08-24
Anticipated expiration: 1971-08-24

Description

All@ 2.4, 1954 L P. D. coPPocK 2,687,287

FLUID LIQUID coNTAcIING DDvIcE Filed June 8, 1351A INVENTOR PHI-LIP `DALTON COPPOCK,

ATTORNEYS Patented ug. 24, 1954 FLUID LIQUID CONTACTING DEVICE Philip Dalton Coppock, Epsom Downs, England,

assignor to The "Distill Edinburgh, Scotland, a

ers Company Limited,

British company Application June 8, 1951, Serial No. 230,666

Claims priority, application Great Britain June 8, 1950 Claims.

production of relatively coarse dispersions when large orifices are used, the necessity for high orifice velocities and consequent high power consumption, wear and tear of moving parts and unsuitability for high pressure or corrosive conditions.

It has now been found that the difficulty associated with blockage of the ne apertures previously used for the dispersal of uids into liquids by means of permeable diaphragms can greatly be reduced by means of a diaphragm having a multiplicity of apertures provided with closure means, actuated by the pressure differential across the diaphragm, to open progressively with increase in the relative pressure of the uid to be dispersed.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a disperser comprising a container fitted with an air or fluid inlet means and covered with a diaphragm which consists of a sheet of a substantially rigid material bearing one or more apertures wherein each aperture is provided with closure means which open or close in response to variations in the pressure differential across the diaphragm. The closure means may preferably be a rectangular flexible flap xed at one end and operatively biased at the other end to remain closed in the absence of a suflicient differential pressure across the diaphragm and to providean inherent non-return means by virtue of the overlap of its opposite biased edge with respect to the aperture which it covers. Preferably the diaphragm bears at least 25 such apertures and bears at least one such aperture per square centimetre of diaphragm area. The present invention also relates to a process for the dispersion of fluids in liquids which comprises passing the fluid to be dispersed through a diaphragm as dened above, immersed in the liquid.

The term aperture as used in the specification and claims is intended to mean any hole or orice made in the diaphragm by removal of diaphragm material. It is preferred that the diameter of the apertures is in the range 116 inch to 1A, inch. The diaphragm may consist of a rigid plate of a metal such for example as steel, stainless steel, brass, copper, bronze, aluminum and aluminum alloys, or of a non-metallic material such as Bakelite or other plastic materials, inert to the fluids in use.

It is preferred that the closure means should not incorporate any sliding mechanism such as the retaining means of mushroom or similar valves. To prevent the liquid from flowing back to any substantial extent on reversal of the pressure differential, a non-return means may ad Vantageously be incorporated where this is not inherently present. The closure means prefer ably comprises a flexible flap or strip which overlies the aperture. The flexible flap is suitably made of a metal of a thickness in the range 0.005 inch to 0.025 inch.

The accompanying diagrams illustrate various embodiments of the invention.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View of a fragment of a diaphragm, and Figure 2 is a crosssection of Figure 1 along line X-X.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a disperser.

In Figures 1 and 2, the aperture A in the fragment B of the diaphragm is closed by an overlaying strip CDEF of flexible material such as thin steel plate secured to the diaphragm in the region of the edge CF. On supplying fluid under pressure the overlaying strip CDEF lifts slightly to allow a thin stream to pass through and disintegrate into small bubbles or globules in the liquid disposed on the other side of the diaphragm. Anumber of such apertures and closure means are provided on one diaphragm and should a substantial proportion become blocked by solid matter, the resultant increased backpressure effects a wider opening of the closure means to allow the solid to pass through whereby the diaphragm is self-cleaning. A non-return means is inherently present by virtue of the overlap of strip CDEF with respect to aperture A.

The process and apparatus of this invention nd application generally for the dispersion of a uid into an incompletely miscible or immiscible liquid to give an intimate contact between the tworesulting phases, and may be applied to the aeration of liquids, as in the aeration of fermeny tation broths, and as in froth flotation processes, in gas washing by passing the gas through a liquid, in the absorption of gases in liquids, in degassing liquids by blowing through an inert gas and in chemical processes involving reacting a gas with a liquid, to vapour liquid contacting,

as in distillation processes for the construction and operation of bubble trays, and to liquidliquid contacting, as in solvent extraction processes.

The diaphragm is suitably mounted in a disperser comprising a container I provided with a iiuid inlet l l, said diaphragm forming the fluid outlet of the container, as shown in Figure 3.

I claim:

1. A disperser for the intimate dispersion of iluids into a liquid comprising, a container, a diaphragm mounted on the top of said container, a fluid inlet means for the container, said diaphragm forming the fluid outlet of the container and consisting of a substantially rigid sheet bearing at least one aperture per square centimeter of diaphragm area, each aperture: being provided with a rectangular flexible iiap Which opens and closes in response to variations in the pressure differential across the diaphragm, said iiap fixed at one end to the sheet and operatively biased for closure at the other end, and said nap having a cross sectional area substantially greater than that of said aperture to thereby provide an inherent non-return means for the liquid int Which said disperser is immersed` 2. A disperser as in claim 1 wherein said sheet bears at least 25 apertures.

3. A disperser as in claim 1 wherein said aperture is rectangular and the short and long dimensions thereof are about 11;; inch and 1/4 inch respectively.

4. A disperser as in claim 1 wherein said iiap is made of metal having a thickness in the range of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.025 inch.

5. In a disperser adapted to be immersed into a liquid for the intimate dispersion of fluids into said liquid, formed of a container, a diaphragm mounted on the top of said container and a fluid inlet means for the container, said diaphragm consisting of a substantially rigid sheet bearing at least one aperture per square centimeter of diaphragm area, each aperture being covered with an overlying rectangular flexible ilap which opens and closes in response to the pressure diiferential across the diaphragm, said flap xed at one end to said sheet and operatively biased for closure at the other end, and said flap having a cross sectional area substantially greater than that of said aperture to thereby provide an inherent non-return means for the liquid and the outletl means for the fluid Which is dispersed into the liquid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 148,183 Crutchfield Mar. 3, 1874 249,557 Truesdell Nov. 15, 1881 1,453,735 Twining May 1, 1923 1,759,983 Houston May 27, 1930