US2911289A

US2911289A - Diesel exhaust gas filter

Info

Publication number: US2911289A
Application number: US623049A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leonard E Forry
Original assignee: GETMAN BROTHERS Manufacturing DIVISION I
Current assignee: GETMAN BROTHERS Manufacturing DIVISION I; GETMAN BROTHERS MANUFACTURING DIVISION Inc
Priority date: 1956-11-19
Filing date: 1956-11-19
Publication date: 1959-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 1976-11-03

Description

Nov. 3, 1959 1.. E. FoRR'Y 2,911,289

DIESEL EXHAUST GAS FILTER I Filed Nov. 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

LEONARD E. FORRY 7 replacement.

United States PatentO 2,911,289 DIESEL EXHAUST GAS FILTER Leonard E. Forry, South Haven, Mich., assignor to Getman Brothers Manufacturing Division, Inc., South Haven, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application November 19, 1956, Serial No. 623,049

2 Claims. (Cl. 23-284) This invention relates in general to an apparatus and method for filtering the exhaust gases from a diesel engine and, more particularly, to a formof apparatus and method whereby the solid carbon and objectionable odors are substantially removed from, and the organic acids are neutralized in, the "exhaust gases produced by the operation of a diesel engine.

It is well known that the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines, such as diesel engines, contain many noxious and deleterious components. As long as these exhaust gases can escape substantially immediately into an unconfined free air space, no particular problem arises from the undesirable components in said exhaust gases.

However, where the engine is being operated where forced draft ventilation is required, for example, underground, the undesirable components in said exhaust gases become a real problem. This is particularly true where it is desirable to have a portable engine which cannot be advantageously connected to any type of permanent stack arrangement venting to atmosphere. These problems arise with particular frequency in the operation of diesel engines in mines. v

In the case of'diesel engines, particularly, the amount of solid carbon and organic acids, if not properly vented or filtered, can be highly injurious both to personnel and equipment used within the mines. Since the venting of the engine exhaust gases to atmosphere is both costly and limiting upon the operation and mobility of the diesel engine, particularly at low levels in the mine, a completely satisfactory means has long been sought whereby said noxious and deleterious components, such as said carbon and organic acids, can be effectively removed from said exhaust gases right at the location of the diesel engine, after which the remaining, unharmful components of said exhaust gases are discharged back into the, mine shaft. Due to the deleterious components in the exhaust gases from diesel engines, existing mechanisms utilized for the purpose of filtering said exhaust gases have never been completely satisfactory. This lack of satisfaction has been in part due to the fact that the organic acids in the exhaust gases will damage the materials in the filter device, thereby necessitating frequent Where special materials, substantially impervious to such deleterious attacks, have been utilized in the filtering device, the cost has been so high as to discourage widespread usage. I

It will be recognized that reference is specifically made to a mine shaft and a diesel engine for illustrative purposes, only, since the problem which this invention seeks to overcome can arise wherever it is'desirable to operate a device emitting fumes of this general character into a relatively confined zone, which is located a substantial distance from, or is relatively inaccessible to, free air.

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention has been the provision of an apparatus and method for removing the harmful components, or at least the harmful Patented Nov. 3, 1959 amounts thereof, from the exhaust gases of a device, such as a diesel engine, whereby said harmful components are removed at the location'of the diesel engine, so that the remaining components of said exhaust gases can be safely returned to the air spaced in the vicinity of said engine.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of an apparatus and method, as aforesaid, which does not materially limit the mobility of the diesel engine; which does not require any type of permanent or temporary connection to free air or atmosphere; which operates automatically; which requires little or no main-,

fabricate, automatic in its operation, can be regenerated quickly and easily, is positive in its action, and eliminates substantially all of the undesirable components from the exhaust fumes of a diesel engine.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of equipment upon reading the following specification and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation view of a filtering apparatus characterizing the invention, and including a sche? matic showing of a diesel engine.

Figure 2 is a sectional view, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken along the line HI III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view, taken along the line IV-IV of Figure l. I

For the purposes of convenience in description, the terms upper, lower, and derivatives thereof, will have reference to the apparatus asappearing in Figure 1.

The terms front,. rear, and derivatives thereof, will have reference to the left and right sides, respectively, of the apparatus as appearing in Figure 1. The terms inner, outer, and derivatives thereof, will have ref- One form of apparatus 10 (Figures 1 and 2), characterizing the invention, and by means of which the meth- 0d of this invention may be carried out, includes an enclosed casing 11, which may be fabricated from sheet or plate material, such as steel. A drain plate 12 is disposed within the casing 11 and extends from the rear wall 13 toward the front wall 14, with a slight, gradual downslope. Said drain plate 12, which is preferably disposed approximately midway between the upper wall 15 and the lower wall 16 of the casing 11, elfects a partitioning of the spaced enclosed by the casing 11 into an upper zone 17 and lower zone 18. An exhaust gas inlet 19 extends through the rear wall 13 and communicates with the lower zone 18. An exhaust gas outlet 20 communicates with the upper zone 17. A basic solution 22 is placed in the lower zone 18, so that the exhaust gas inlet 19 will discharge thereinto. A filter compartment 23 is provided in the upper zone 17, through which said exhaust gases must pass when moving from said lower A Detailed construction As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the casing 11 is preferablysrectangular in shape and has, in addition to the above mentioned rear, front, upper and lower walls, a pair of end wallss25 and 26. The drain plate 12 extends between, and is secured, as 'by means of welding, to the

end walls

25 and 26 and is also secured, as by welding, to the rear wall 13. The lower, front edge 27 of the drain plate 12 is spaced from the front wall 14. A substantially vertical bafile plate 28 is secured to, and extends between, the

end walls

25 and 26, and extends downwardly from the-upper wall toward, but spaced from, the drain plate 12 about midway between the front and rear edges thereof. A porous partition 29 extends downwardly from the plate 28 and is secured, as by welding, at its upper and lower edges to the bafile plate 28 and drain plate 12, re spectively. A porous partition 31 is secured to, and extends upwardly from, the drain plate 12 near the front edge 27 thereof and is arranged substantially parallel with the bafile plate 28 and porous partition 29 extending downwardly therefrom. The two, porous partitions 29 and 31,

like the bafie plate 28, extend between the end walls 25 p and 26 and combine therewith to define the filter compartment 23, the lower wall of which is provided by the adjacent portion of the drain plate 12. The porous partitions 29 and 31 are conveniently constructed from heavy screen or from expanded metal in a conventional manner.

Flanges 32 are secured to, and extend inwardly from, the upper edges of the front, rear and end walls of the casing 11. A sealing member, such as a gasket 33, is disposed between said flanges 32 and the upper wall 15, which is removably mounted upon said flanges by means of the bolts 34.

The exhaust gas outlet is supported upon the upper wall 15 and communicates through an opening therein with the upper zone 17 between the baflle plate 28 and the rear wall 13.

The exhaust gas inlet 19, which may be connected to the exhaust pipe 35 of the diesel engine 24 through a check valve 36, extends, in this particular embodiment, through the rear wall 13 into the upper zone 17 and then downwardly into the lower zone 18 through an appropriate opening in the drain plate 12. The lower end of said exhaust gas inlet 19 is connected to a horizontally disposed, dispersing pipe 37 which extends between, and is supported" upon, the end walls and 26. Clean-out plugs 38, which are accessible from the exterior of said casing 11, are removably disposed within the ends of said dispersing pipe 37. Said pipe 37, which is located near to, but spaced from, the lower wall 16, is provided with a plurality of ports 39 through which the exhaust fumes conducted by the exhaust gas inlet 19 may escape into the lower zone 18. The exhaust gas inlet 19 is provided with a clean-out plug 41 at its upper end within the casing 11 and accessible when the upper wall 15 is removed from said casing.

The end wall 26 is provided with a removable filler plug 42 adjacent to, and just below, the front edge 27 of the drain plate 12. A removable drain plug 43 is provided in said end wall 26 near the lower edge thereof. 7

In this particular embodiment of the invention, the lower zone '18 of the casing 11 is filled with water up to the lower edge of the filler plug 42, as shown in Figure 3. Lime rock 44 is placed in the lower zone 18, hence in the lower end of the casing'll, up to a level which is approximately midway between the filler plug 42 and the bottom wall 16, thereby covering, or substantially covering, the dispersing pipe 37. The water combines with the lime rock 44 to provide a basic solution 22. Lime rock 44 is also placed within the filter compartment 23, so that it extends at least above the lower edge of the baffle plate 28, and'conipletely between the end walls 25- and 26.

partrnent 23, before discharging through the exhaust gas outlet 20.

The liquid capacity of the lower zone 18, hence the distance between the filler plug 42 and bottom wall 16, appears to depend in part upon the size and horsepower of the diesel engine with which the apparatus 10 is intended to operate. In one installation involving a 60 horsepower engine, it was found that the filter 10 would operate satisfactorily for about one day when the lower zone contained about 24 gallons of water and was about half full of lime rock derived from Indiana limestone. This result suggested an operating proportion of about one gallon of water to 2.5 horsepower.

Operation Before using the apparatus described hereinabove for the purpose of carrying out the method of this invention, the upper wall 15 is removed from the casing 11 so that lime rock may be placed in the filter compartment 23 and in the lower zone 18 adjacent to the lower wall 16; The upper wall 15 is then replaced on the casing l land."

secured in position by means of the bolts 34. The filler plug 42 is removed, the lower zone 18 is filled with water.

is connected to the exhaust pipe 35 of said diesel engine 24 and the apparatus 10 is ready for operation.

When the diesel engine 24 is operating, the exhaust fumes therefrom will pass through the exhaust pipe 35 and exhaust gas inlet 19 to the dispersing pipe 37, where they will escape through the ports 39 and bubble up through the basic solution 22. The water in said. solution: etfectively captures the free carbon in the engine exhaust fumes. Certain components of said exhaust fumes tend to produce an acid solution as they mix with the water in the lower zone 18. However, the solution 22 created by the lime rock immediately neutralizes any such tendency. Thus, any water vapor which moves upwardly with the exhaust gases emitted from the lower zone will be substantially non-acidic. This is very important because it permits the use of ordinary ferrous metals, such as steel plate, in the apparatus, thereby greatly reducing the cost of its fabrication.

The gases escaping from. the lower zone 18 pass up wardly between the front wall 14 and the adjacent edge 27 of the drain plate 12 into the upper zone 17. Said gases then pass through the porous partition 31 into the filter compartment 23 containing more lime rock.

said gases pass through the lime rock in the filter com.- partment 2.3,v a substantial portion of the water vapor therein is deposited upon the lime rock, after which said gases, less said deposited water vapor, pass through the porous partition 29 and then discharge through the exhaust gas outlet 20. The gases thus discharged from the outlet 20 are relatively odorless and harmless. Normally, they actually constitute little more than warm air. Analysis of the exhaust fumes before and after passing through the filter 10 indicates that it removes all but immaterial amounts of the undesirable components in the plate 12 until they run over the front .edge 27 thereof back into the lower zone 13. In lime rock in the lower zone 18 prevents the formation of an acid solution in the water which is utilized to absorb the carbon in the exhaust fumes. The lime rock in the upper zone 17 is believed to function partly as a filter, partly as an absorbent and partly as a neutralizing agent. The lime rock in said upper zone 17 serves to remove much of the water vapor from the gases passing therethrough.

By having the upper portion of the exhaust gas inlet 19 pass through the upper zone 17, the gases passing between the compartment 23 and the exhaust outlet 20 will circulate around said gas inlet 19, thereby tending to cool the exhaust fumes passing therethrough.

Under normal conditions of operation, the water in the lower zone 18 is replaced after each day of operation by manipulation of the

plugs

42 and 43 in a conventional manner. The lime rock in the lower zone 18 is regenerated after approximately 50 hours of operation of the apparatus 10, by placing a relatively small amount, such as a handful, of slaked lime into the solution 22. This is accomplished by removing the upper wall 15, or more easily, the filler plug 42. Regeneration, in this particular instance, amounts to removal of the deposits on the lime rock, which occur as a result of, and are produced by, certain undesirable components in the exhaust fumes from said diesel engine 24. The cleansing eifect of the slaked lime is carried up to the lime rock in the upper zone 17 by the water vapor moving through the filter compartment 23 during succeeding operation of the apparatus following the application of said slaked lime to the solution 22. However, under circumstances of severe operation, it may be necessary to treat the lime rock in the upper zone 17 with an independent supply of slaked lime.

The dispersing pipe 37 and exhaust inlet pipe 19 may be cleaned by removing the clean-out

plugs

38 and 41, respectively. For convenience in operation, the apparatus 10 and diesel engine 24 associated therewith may be mounted upon a single supporting device, not shown, for the purpose of moving the two units simultaneously from one location to another. Because the filter apparatus 10 substantially eliminates the harmful components from the exhaust fumes of the diesel engine said exhaust gas outlet may discharge the gases from the casing 11 directly into the air surrounding the apparatus 10.

It has been found that either lime rock (CaCO or dolomite (MgCO CaCO can be used to produce substantially the same satisfactory results. Furthermore, it appears that certain other carbonate salts and hydroxides of monovalent and bi-valent alkaline metals, such as baking soda (NaHCO and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), can be utilized, but often with varying degrees of success in that they were found generally to work qualitatively but were less desirable quantitatively. Thus, the carbonate salts of the alkaline earth metals with the lower atomic numbers appear to produce the most desirable results.

Although a particular, preferred embodiment of the invention has been described hereinabove for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications thereof, which do not depart from the substance of such description, are fully contemplated unless specifically stated to the contrary in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for purifying the exhaust gases of a diesel engine comprising: a closed casing having a quantity of water in the lower portion thereof and a first bed of broken lime rock submerged in said quantity of water; an elongated inlet pipe extending transversely of said casing in the lower portion thereof and submerged in said quantity of water and received within said first bed and having axially spaced apertures therethrough through which exhaust gases may pass; a planar, imperforate plate fixed to said casing above said quantity of water, said plate extending part way across said casing so as to define a passage between the free edge thereof and the opposing wall of said casing for gases exiting from said quantity of water, said plate being sloped downwardly with said free edge thereof being lowermost so that water vapor collecting thereon will drain downwardly into said quantity of water; a pair of transversely spaced perforate partitions extending upwardly from said plate and a second bed of broken lime rock being received therebetween, the partition remote from said free edge of said plate having an imperforate portion extending upwardly from below the upper surface of said second bed to the top wall of said casing, gases passing upwardly through said passage also passing through said partitions and said second bed into a compartment located between said remote partition and the adjacent side and top walls of said casmg; and an outlet conduit communicating with said compartment whereby purified exhaust gases may exit therefrom.

2. A device for purifying the exhaust gas of a diesel engine comprising: a closed rectangular casing having a quantity of water in the lower portion thereof and a first bed of broken lime rock resting on the bottom wall of ,said casing submerged in said quantity of water; an

elongated inlet pipe extending transversely of said casing between the side walls thereof, said inlet pipe being adjacent the bottom wall of said casing and submerged in said quantity of water and received within said bed, said inlet pipe having a series of axially spaced apertures therethrough through which exhaust gases may pass into said quantity of water; a planar, imperforate drain plate secured to said casing above said quantity of water and extending part way thereacross, said plate sloping toward the bottom of said casing so that the free edge thereof is lowermost, said free edge and said casing defining a passage for upward movement of the gases between the free edge and the opposing wall of said casing; a first perforate partition extending upwardly from said plate adjacent the free edge thereof substantially to the top or sa1d casing; a second partition extending upwardly from said plate and being spaced transversely from said first partition, said second partition including a first perforate portion located adjacent said plate and a second imperforate portion extending from the upper edge of said first portion to the upper wall of said casing; a second bed of broken lime rock confined between said first and second partitions and resting on said plate, said bed extending above the upper edge of said first portion of said second partition so that exhaust gases pass through said second bed as they move between said first and second partitions; the uppermost portion of said plate, said second partition and the adjacent walls of said casing defining a compartment in the upper portion of said casing into which exhaust gases move after passing through said second bed; and an outlet conduit communieating with said compartment whereby purified exhaust gases may exit therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,611,680 Ruth Sept. 23, 1952 2,677,601 Ruth May 4, 1954 2,785,962 Ruth Mar. 19, 1957 2,789,032 Bagley et a1. Apr, 16, 1957

Claims

1. A DEVICE FOR PURIFYING THE EXHAUST GASES OF A DIESEL ENGINE COMPRISING: A CLOSED CASING HAVING A QUANTITY OF WATER IN THE LOWER PORTION THEREOF AND A FIRST BED OF BROKEN LIME ROCK SUBMERGED IN SAID QUANTITY OF WATER; AN ELONGATED INLET PIPE EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY OF SAID CASING IN THE LOWER PORTION THEREOF AND SUBSMERGED IN SAID QUANTITY OF WATER AND RECEIVED WITHIN SAID FIRST BED AND HAVING AXIALLY SPACED APERTURES THERETHROUGH THROUGH WHICH EXHAUST GASES MAY PASS; A PLANAR, IMPERFORATE PLATE FIXED TO SAID CASING ABOVE SAID QUANTITY OF WATER, SAID PLATE EXTENDING PART WAY ACROSS SAID CASING SO AS TO DEFINE A PASSAGE BETWEEN THE FREE EDGE THEREOF AND THE OPPOSING WALL OF SAID CASING FOR GASES EXITING FROM SAID QUANTITY OF WATER, SAID PLATE BEING SLOPED DOWNWARDLY WITH SAID FREE EDGE THEREOF BEING LOWERMOST DOT THAT WATER VAPOR COLLECTING THEREON WILL DRAIN DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID QUANTITY OF WATER, A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED PERFORATE