US3711071A - Humidifier - Google Patents

Humidifier Download PDF

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Publication number
US3711071A
US3711071A US00150488A US15048871A US3711071A US 3711071 A US3711071 A US 3711071A US 00150488 A US00150488 A US 00150488A US 15048871 A US15048871 A US 15048871A US 3711071 A US3711071 A US 3711071A
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United States
Prior art keywords
disc
chamber
gas
apertures
ring
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
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US00150488A
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English (en)
Inventor
N Urbanowicz
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Individual
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Individual
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
    • A61M15/00—Inhalators
    • A61M15/0001—Details of inhalators; Constructional features thereof
    • A61M15/0005—Details of inhalators; Constructional features thereof with means for agitating the medicament
    • A61M15/0006—Details of inhalators; Constructional features thereof with means for agitating the medicament using rotating means
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
    • A61M16/00—Devices for influencing the respiratory system of patients by gas treatment, e.g. mouth-to-mouth respiration; Tracheal tubes
    • A61M16/10—Preparation of respiratory gases or vapours
    • A61M16/14—Preparation of respiratory gases or vapours by mixing different fluids, one of them being in a liquid phase
    • A61M16/16—Devices to humidify the respiration air
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F23/00—Mixing according to the phases to be mixed, e.g. dispersing or emulsifying
    • B01F23/20—Mixing gases with liquids
    • B01F23/21—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing liquids into gaseous media
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
    • B01F23/00—Mixing according to the phases to be mixed, e.g. dispersing or emulsifying
    • B01F23/20—Mixing gases with liquids
    • B01F23/21—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing liquids into gaseous media
    • B01F23/213—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing liquids into gaseous media by spraying or atomising of the liquids
    • B01F23/2131—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing liquids into gaseous media by spraying or atomising of the liquids using rotating elements, e.g. rolls or brushes
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F6/00—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification
    • F24F6/02—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification by evaporation of water in the air
    • F24F6/06—Air-humidification, e.g. cooling by humidification by evaporation of water in the air using moving unheated wet elements

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A device for controllably increasing the relative vaporcontent, particularly the humidity of a gas comprising, a body having a chamber with a sump in the lower portion, means for admitting fluid opening into said sump, disc means in said chamber rotatable with a sector of its marginal edge in said sump, means for rotating said disc at a speed which is sufficiently high to nebu 1ize fluid within said chamber by the agitating action of the rotating disc member so as to increase the relative humidity of a gas passing through the chamber, inlet means opening into said chamber for admitting gas to said chamber and outlet means opening out of said chamber for withdrawing gas therefrom, said inlet and outlet means being disposed on opposite sides of said disc member.
  • ATTORNEYS sum 0r 6 m N ukamvow/rz ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJAN 16 1915 3.711.071
  • This invention relates to a device for controllably increasing the vapor content of a gas.
  • this invention relates to a device which is particularly suitable for increasing the relative, humidity of anaesthesia gases to prevent dehydration of a patient under an anaesthetic.
  • the problem of increasing the vapor content ofa gas or air is one which is encountered in many fields other than the one described above.
  • industrial applications such as vaporization of fuels, the curing of tobacco,.water washing and humidifying ventilating air and chemical spraying in which large volumes of air may be processed and in which large droplet sizes are acceptable.
  • Conventional vaporizers such as domestic vaporizers rely exclusively on evaporation.
  • a drum which is covered with an absorbent material is adapted to rotate in the air intake of a domestic furnace.
  • the humidifying action which takes place is the direct result of the evaporation of the moisture from the surface of the drum, in that, it relies to a large extent upon the fact that the air is drawn rapidly over the moist surface of the drum.
  • This type of apparatus is not capable of increasing the relative humidity of the air very rapidly and it relies upon the fact that in domestic applications the air is recirculated numerous times to step up the humidity in each pass. This type of gradual increase in humidity is not suitable for many industrial applications.
  • FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device of FIG. 1 showing a pair of discs mounted for rotation within its chamber.
  • FIG. 2a is another embodiment of FIG. 2 including fixed baffles.
  • FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of a pair of discs and the inlet and outlet passages of the chamber illustrating a typical flow path for I a gas passing through the chamber;
  • FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of an anaesthetic circuit illustrating the manner in which the device of the present invention may be used in anaesthetic applications.
  • FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of a valve for proportionally controlling the amount of gas passing through the device of FIG. 1.
  • FIGS. 7 to 12 inclusive are plan views illustrating alternative disc construction.
  • FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2a.
  • the reference numeral 10 refers generally to a device (nebulizer) for controllably increasing the relative humidity of a gas according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the device 10 comprises a housing 12, a frame 14, and a motor 16.
  • the frame 14 consists of a horizontal platform 18 which has an upright flange 20 at the front end thereof and an archshaped support bar 22 at the rear end thereof. Flange 20 and arch support 22 serve to support the motor 16.
  • the motor 16 is secured at the front end to the flange 20 by set screws 24.
  • the lower edge of the housing 12 may be supported by a platform 18 and the housing is adapted to be mounted to prevent rotation by being secured to arms 21 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1) which extend upwardly from the base plate 18 and are secured to the upright support 20.
  • chamber 44 which is encompased within the housing 12 is generally cylindrically shaped-When the demand on the device is very high, chamber 44 may be filled with a substantial amount of liquid with the result that the lower portion of the chamber may and shall be referred to hereinafter as sump 46.
  • FIG. 6 a disc 110 which is suitable for use with a nebulizer of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawings.
  • the disc has a central opening 112 adapted to be fitted over the drive shaft 52 in a manner similar to the discs previously described.
  • the disc 110 has a V-shaped groove 114 formed at the peripheral edge thereof.
  • a plurality of small diameter passages 116 extend through the thickness of the disc and open into the lower end of the V-shaped groove 114.
  • the passages 116 are located at uniformly spaced intervals at a predetermined radius from the axis of rotation.
  • a second row of larger diameter passages 118 extend through the body of the disc and they are spaced radially inwardly from their passages 116. It has been found that a disc of this type may be used in the apparatus previously described to effectively nebulize water which is charged into or contained within the chamber 44.
  • FIG. 8 of the drawings illustrates a further form of disc 130 which has notches 134 and passages 136 and 138, all circumferentially spaced relative to one another.
  • all of the notches 134 and all of the passages 136 and 138 have a tapered recess 139 formed in the front face 133 extending from front to back so that the opening at the back face of the disc is smaller than the opening at the front face of the disc.
  • All of the passages l48 decrease in diameter from the front face to the back face.
  • FIG. 12 A simple form of disc is illustrated in FIG. 12.
  • the notches 164 and passages 176 and 178 extend straight through the body of the disc and they are not tapered in any way.
  • an additional circumferentially spaced series of passages may be located radially inwardly of the innermost ring shown in FIGS.
  • the dry gas which may be any one of the well known anaesthetic gasses such as 0 He or anaesthetic agents as N or C0, is delivered to the nebulizer by way of the proportional control valve 82.
  • Water may either be charged into the sump 46 before the nebulizer is activated or it may be added continuously or in droplet form by way of an input passage 62. It will be understood that a combination of water stored in the sump and a continuous or drip supply may be used.
  • the motor 16 is activated, the discs 56, 57, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, will be rotatably driven within the housing 44.
  • each of the discs is adapted to pass through any liquid (water) 60, which is located in the sump 46.
  • any liquid (water) 60 which is located in the sump 46.
  • only a very small clearance 49 is provided between the outer peripheral edge of the discs and the inner face of the cylindrical wall 26. It has been found that using any of the discs previously described it is possible to nebulize and transfer approximately 1.4 grams of water to oxygen passing through the chamber at a rate of 5 liters per minute when the chamber is initially filled with 20 grams of distilled water. Very similar results have been obtained with each of the disc structures illustrated in the drawings.
  • a plain disc (not shown) without any vent holes has been found to be capable of providing a relatively low increase in relative humidity.
  • This structure is, however, not suitable for use when it is necessary to effect a higher rate of increase in relative humidity of gas.
  • the plain disc does not permit a gas to pass freely through the chamber at a sufficiently high volume or speed nor does it provide the sufficiently effective milling action of the discs through the liquid 60 to increase the humidity of a large volume of gas passing through the chamber 44.
  • the discs which are formed with the holes such as those illustrated in FIGS.
  • FIGS. 7 through 10 act as a weak fan tending to increase the turbulence of the gas passing through the chamber 44 without substantially increasing the pressures within the milling chamber 44.
  • This structure permits a very low fresh air (gas) circulation of the type commonly required in clinical .practice without the need to provide a subsidiary circulating fan.
  • the fluid between the disc and the chamber wall is sheared by the differential velocity of the fluid at these surfaces. This differential velocity is proportional to the rotating speed of the disc.
  • the milling action thereby created has been found to cause molecules or minute droplets of fluid such as water to be dispersed into the atmosphere within the chamber and to be intermingled with the gas flowing therethrough.
  • the input passage for the gas is located adjacent to the axis of rotation of the disc.
  • the centrifugal forces at work within the chamber tend to cause a decrease in pressure in the area of the chamber adjacent the axis of rotation and consequently this action assists in the feeding of gas or air into the chamber.
  • a feature of the apparatus of the present invention which distinguishes it from the conventional room humidifiers is that the rotating disc action on the liquid within the chamber is in the form of a milling" action. It is this milling action which causes the mechanical rupture of the molecular binding forces in the fluid.
  • the air or gas stream which passes through the chamber picks up the fine ruptured particles of the liquid and carries them away, thereby the relative humidity of the gas is increased very rapidly.
  • a number of tests have been carried out in order to illustrate the amount of liquid which can be nebulized by the embodiments of the present invention in a predetermined time period;
  • two discs measuring 6 inches in diameter and one eighth of an inch in thickness were mounted on the shaft of the nebulizer and rotated at 1,640 r.p.m. therein.
  • the peripheral edge was formed with 30 recesses of the type illustrated in FIG. 8.
  • the first ring of passages were arranged one between each of the edge recesses and numbered thirty in all.
  • the second row of passages were arranged between every second pair of passages in the first row and radially inwardly thereof and numbered 15 in all.
  • the third row numbering 15 in all were located in a staggered relationship with respect to the second row.
  • TEST 1 The first test was carried out using 35 grams of distilled water in the sump and test results were measured after 10 minutes. Oxygen was passed through the device at a rate of 6 liters per minute and on an average of three such tests the amount of water picked up.by the oxygen was found to be 5.4 grams which expressed in mg/liter amounts to about 91 mg/liter. A further feature noted in these tests was that, whereas the ambient temperature of the input gas was 76 F, the output temperature of the gas from the nebulizer increased to 88 F.
  • the relative humidity is determined generally according to the above formula. Where water vapor is in equilibrium over a body of water the relative humidity is said to be 100 percent. More particularly, however, the relative humidity is 100 percent at various temperatures and the amount of water vapor within any given gas can be determined from standard tables which are available in the art.
  • the nebulizer 10' has a series of fixed baffles disposed in close proximity to the rotating discs 56 and 57.
  • the baffie may be in the form of lugs 200 projecting inwardly from the cylindrical walls of the chamber 44, particularly in the upper portion thereof (above the axis driveshaft 52 of rotation of the discs). Further, referring to FIGS. 1
  • a device for controllably increasing the relative humidity of a gas comprising, a body having a chamber with a sump in the lower portion, means for admitting water opening into said sump, disc means in said chamber rotatable with a sector of its marginal edge in said sump, means for rotating said disc means at a speed which is sufficiently high to nebulize water within said chamber by the agitating action of the rotating disc means so as to increase the relative humidity of a gas passing through the chamber, said disc means extending substantially across the entire flow passage and having a plurality of apertures extending through the said body thereof and a plurality of substantially uniform recesses extending inwardly from the peripheral edge thereof at circumferentially spaced intervals to permit gas to flow from one side of said disc to the other by way of said apertures and recesses during rotation, inlet means opening into said chamber for admitting gas to said chamber and outlet means opening out of said chamber for withdrawing gas therefrom, said inlet and outlet means being disposed on opposite sides of said disc means.
  • a device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a first ring of uniformly circumferentially spaced apertures is spaced inwardly from the peripheral edge of said disc.
  • each of said apertures has an inlet orifice at one face of said disc and an outlet orifice at the other face of said disc, inlet orifice being substantially smaller than said outlet orifice.
  • a device as claimed in claim 2 where a second ring of uniformly circumferentially spaced apertures is located radially inwardly of said first ring of apertures.
  • a device as claimed in claim 4 wherein the outer peripheral edge of said disc is formed with a segmented circumferentially extending V-shaped groove extending radially inwardly a distance sufficient to open into said first ring of apertures, said first ring of apertures being substantially smaller than said second ring of apertures.
  • each of said apertures has an inlet orifice and an outlet orifice, the inlet orifices of the apertures arranged in said second ring all being disposed at one side of said disc and the outlet orifices being disposed at the other side of said disc, the inlet and outlet orifices of each adjacent aperture in said first ring of apertures being disposed on opposite sides of said disc whereby the flow of gas through one orifice in the first ring of orifices is in a direction opposite to the flow of gas through adjacent orifices in the first row of orifices.
  • a device as claimed in claim 1 having at least two disc members mounted for rotation in said chamber about a common axis of rotation, said discs being arranged in a spaced parallel relationship.
  • a device as claimed in claim 10 having at least two disc members mounted for rotation in said chamber about a common axis of rotation, said discs being arranged in a spaced parallel relationship.
  • baffle means and liquid trap means at said gas outlet means to prevent the passage of heavy particles of liquid from the chamber said baffle means extending to within close proximity of a rotating disc such that the flow of liquid adjacent to the surface of the rotating disc is disrupted.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
  • Biomedical Technology (AREA)
  • Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
  • Hematology (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • Pulmonology (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Anesthesiology (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Emergency Medicine (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Bioinformatics & Cheminformatics (AREA)
  • Air Humidification (AREA)
US00150488A 1970-07-30 1971-06-07 Humidifier Expired - Lifetime US3711071A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US00150488A US3711071A (en) 1970-07-30 1971-06-07 Humidifier

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US5948770A 1970-07-30 1970-07-30
CA114908 1971-06-07
US00150488A US3711071A (en) 1970-07-30 1971-06-07 Humidifier

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US (1) US3711071A (it)
AU (1) AU3116871A (it)
BE (1) BE770229A (it)
CH (1) CH528309A (it)
DE (1) DE2134947A1 (it)
IT (1) IT941578B (it)
NL (1) NL7109354A (it)
SE (1) SE7109697L (it)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1981002676A1 (en) * 1980-03-25 1981-10-01 H Malem Medical nebulising apparatus
US4452239A (en) * 1980-03-25 1984-06-05 Hilal Malem Medical nebulizing apparatus
US20060011062A1 (en) * 2002-09-20 2006-01-19 De La Fuente Ruben R System and device for mass transfer and elimination of contaminants
US20110048237A1 (en) * 2009-08-28 2011-03-03 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Air cleaning humidifier

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1778571A (en) * 1927-06-09 1930-10-14 Paul A Bachor Air purifier
US2099667A (en) * 1934-05-24 1937-11-16 Diamond Power Speciality Gas treating apparatus
US2243839A (en) * 1940-05-23 1941-06-03 Ind Sheet Metal Works Inc Spray booth
US2246876A (en) * 1939-11-21 1941-06-24 Ernest A Carper Fuel feeding attachment for carburetors
US2471724A (en) * 1944-12-30 1949-05-31 Niels C Christensen Gas washer
US2737376A (en) * 1951-03-16 1956-03-06 Hedemora Verkst Er Ab Contacting apparatus for gases or vapours and liquids
US2871250A (en) * 1955-08-12 1959-01-27 Eddy W Eckey Method for continuous multistage countercurrent contacting of liquids with vapors
US3171600A (en) * 1962-12-31 1965-03-02 Eddy W Eckey Liquid spraying apparatus
US3353337A (en) * 1964-09-14 1967-11-21 Allis Chalmers Mfg Co Two-phase contactor

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1778571A (en) * 1927-06-09 1930-10-14 Paul A Bachor Air purifier
US2099667A (en) * 1934-05-24 1937-11-16 Diamond Power Speciality Gas treating apparatus
US2246876A (en) * 1939-11-21 1941-06-24 Ernest A Carper Fuel feeding attachment for carburetors
US2243839A (en) * 1940-05-23 1941-06-03 Ind Sheet Metal Works Inc Spray booth
US2471724A (en) * 1944-12-30 1949-05-31 Niels C Christensen Gas washer
US2737376A (en) * 1951-03-16 1956-03-06 Hedemora Verkst Er Ab Contacting apparatus for gases or vapours and liquids
US2871250A (en) * 1955-08-12 1959-01-27 Eddy W Eckey Method for continuous multistage countercurrent contacting of liquids with vapors
US3171600A (en) * 1962-12-31 1965-03-02 Eddy W Eckey Liquid spraying apparatus
US3353337A (en) * 1964-09-14 1967-11-21 Allis Chalmers Mfg Co Two-phase contactor

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1981002676A1 (en) * 1980-03-25 1981-10-01 H Malem Medical nebulising apparatus
US4452239A (en) * 1980-03-25 1984-06-05 Hilal Malem Medical nebulizing apparatus
US20060011062A1 (en) * 2002-09-20 2006-01-19 De La Fuente Ruben R System and device for mass transfer and elimination of contaminants
US7399343B2 (en) * 2002-09-20 2008-07-15 Ruben Ramos De La Fuente System and device for mass transfer and elimination of contaminants
US20110048237A1 (en) * 2009-08-28 2011-03-03 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Air cleaning humidifier
CN102003763A (zh) * 2009-08-28 2011-04-06 三星电子株式会社 空气清洁加湿器

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU3116871A (en) 1973-01-18
BE770229A (fr) 1971-12-01
IT941578B (it) 1973-03-10
DE2134947A1 (de) 1972-02-03
CH528309A (de) 1972-09-30
SE7109697L (sv) 1972-01-31
NL7109354A (it) 1972-02-01

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