Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06B—TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
  • D06B19/00—Treatment of textile materials by liquids, gases or vapours, not provided for in groups D06B1/00 - D06B17/00
  • D06B19/0088—Treatment of textile materials by liquids, gases or vapours, not provided for in groups D06B1/00 - D06B17/00 using a short bath ratio liquor
  • D06B19/0094—Treatment of textile materials by liquids, gases or vapours, not provided for in groups D06B1/00 - D06B17/00 using a short bath ratio liquor as a foam
• • 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
  • B01F23/23—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids
  • B01F23/235—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids for making foam
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
  • B01F25/00—Flow mixers; Mixers for falling materials, e.g. solid particles
  • B01F25/40—Static mixers
  • B01F25/42—Static mixers in which the mixing is affected by moving the components jointly in changing directions, e.g. in tubes provided with baffles or obstructions
  • B01F25/43—Mixing tubes, e.g. wherein the material is moved in a radial or partly reversed direction
  • B01F25/431—Straight mixing tubes with baffles or obstructions that do not cause substantial pressure drop; Baffles therefor
  • B01F25/4314—Straight mixing tubes with baffles or obstructions that do not cause substantial pressure drop; Baffles therefor with helical baffles
  • B01F25/43141—Straight mixing tubes with baffles or obstructions that do not cause substantial pressure drop; Baffles therefor with helical baffles composed of consecutive sections of helical formed elements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
  • B01F25/00—Flow mixers; Mixers for falling materials, e.g. solid particles
  • B01F25/40—Static mixers
  • B01F25/45—Mixers in which the materials to be mixed are pressed together through orifices or interstitial spaces, e.g. between beads
  • B01F25/452—Mixers in which the materials to be mixed are pressed together through orifices or interstitial spaces, e.g. between beads characterised by elements provided with orifices or interstitial spaces
  • B01F25/4524—Mixers in which the materials to be mixed are pressed together through orifices or interstitial spaces, e.g. between beads characterised by elements provided with orifices or interstitial spaces the components being pressed through foam-like inserts or through a bed of loose bodies, e.g. balls
  • B01F25/45241—Mixers in which the materials to be mixed are pressed together through orifices or interstitial spaces, e.g. between beads characterised by elements provided with orifices or interstitial spaces the components being pressed through foam-like inserts or through a bed of loose bodies, e.g. balls through a bed of balls
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
  • B01F33/00—Other mixers; Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
  • B01F33/80—Mixing plants; Combinations of mixers
  • B01F33/834—Mixing in several steps, e.g. successive steps

Definitions

• a technology which has developed as a result of energy conservation research in the textile field is the use of foams for wet processing.
• foaming tech ⁇ niques By foaming tech ⁇ niques, the amount of liquid applied to the textiles is reduced substantially thereby greatly lowering the amount of energy required to dry the product. Not only is there a saving of energy, but foaming also permits increased productivity and a variety of other advan ⁇ tages.
• foam having uniform properties such as density, viscosity, stability and bubble size. Such uniformity is particularly critical when dyeing with foam since variations in the foam' s physical prop ⁇ erties will produce an unacceptable result readily ap ⁇ parent to the observer.
• One type of device for producing foam is a so- called "static foamer". Such a device operates on the principle that when air and a liquid/soap solution are forced together through a porous medium, such as beads, screens or the like, a small bubble dispersion (i.e. foam) is produced.
• Static foamers are well known. For example.
• United States Patent 2,090,727 granted to alther Gosmann on August 24, 1937, discloses an arrangement in which liquid and gas are delivered under pressure to a chamber containing a mass of balls of noncorros- ive material, such as glass, which causes an intimate mixture of the liquid and gas to produce foam composed of small bubbles of gas.
• OMPI stabilize the air phase in the liquid phase as a bubble but does nothing to ensure that the air/liquid ratio is constant throughout the foam dispersion. Therefore, uniformity of the foam requires proper flow dynamics as the air/liquid mixture passes through the foamer.
• the present invention constitutes a structural ar ⁇ rangement in which the air and liquid are introduced to apparatus which controls the flow of these materi ⁇ als in such a manner that an extremely uniform foam is produced.
• each comprises a cylindrical casing which houses a plurality of convoluted elements arranged in line within the casing.
• the premixer combines the air and liquid in a continuous, predict- able manner.
• the combined effects of the convoluted elements and the spherical beads are to divide and radially mix the developing foam flow to prevent air- liquid concentration gradients across the diameter of the foamer.
• the result is a foam of excellent uniformity, even when the foam has a high air— o-liquid ratio (frequently called a "blow-ratio") .
• FIGURE 1 diagrammatically illustrates the basic components of the improved foam generating apparatus according to the invention
• FIGURE 2 is a perspective view, partially in sec- tion, illustrating details of the premixer portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;
• FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of the static foamer portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.
• a source of liquid under pressure is illustrated as a pump 10 which directs the liquid (a mixture of water and a surfactant) to a premixer 12.
• Pressurized air is supplied by suit ⁇ able connections to opposite sides of the path of liquid flow immediately upstream of the premixer.
• the air/liquid blend passes through the premixer 12 and then is directed by conventional couplers in an in-line fashion to a static foamer 14.
• foamer 14 Within foamer 14, the blend is further mixed to produce a foam discharge for supplying a suitable foam applicator (not shown) .
• the details of the premixer 12 can be appreciated with reference to Figure 2.
• the premixer is a commer ⁇ cially available device known as a Kenics MOD-60 sold by the Kenics Corporation, a division of Chem ⁇ neer, Inc. of Dayton, Ohio. It comprises a cylindrical cas ⁇ ing 16 suitably threaded at its ends so as to permit its connection to the liquid/air supply. Within casing 16, a plurality of convoluted elements 18 are provided. Each of these elements comprises a rectangular piece of metal to which a 180° twist has been imparted. The elements are arranged end-to-end to extend in line along the longitudinal axis of casing 16. Adjacent ends of the elements are oriented at 90° with respect to one another, as can be appreciated from Figure 2.
• a premixer of the type just described mixes the air and liquid in a continuous predictable manner.
• the elements 18 create uniform flow dynamics which help prevent surging or pulsating of the feed compon ⁇ ents which, in other types of premixers, produces vari ⁇ ations in the uniformity of the air/liquid blend, par ⁇ ticularly as they occur along the direction of flow of the blend from the premixer.
• An additional character- istic of the present premixer 12 is that it is essen ⁇ tially a free-flow system having no nozzle effect, baffle plate or the like such as are found in other types of premixers. Accordingly, air/liquid flows can occur over a large range with minimal back pressure.
• the static foamer 14 is ' similar in construction to the premixer 12.
• the casing 20 of the foamer is of larger diameter than casing 16. Additionally, the casing 20 is provided with flanges 22 at its end which cooperate in conventional fashion with flanges 24 pro- vided on the adapters 26 and 28 at opposite ends of casing 20.
• the lat ⁇ ter further includes .a porous bed comprising spherical beads 30 occupying the spacing between the convoluted elements 32 and casing 20. Preferably, these beads have a diameter of approximately 1.4mm.
• screens 34 are pro ⁇ vided between the flanges at opposite ends of the cas ⁇ ing 20.
• the beads 30 provide the porosity for generating foam from the air/liquid blend supplied to the foamer in a direction along the foamer*s longitudinal axis.
• the convoluted mixing elements 32 produce a rotational circulation of the developing foam around -the elements' hydraulic centers, thus causing radial mixing. This type of mixing is essential to preventing air/liquid gradients between the material close to the center of casing 20 and that adjacent the casing's interior wall.
• the elements 32 split the flow according to the number of elements present in the foamer. In a typical foamer 14, four mixing elements are utilized. This produces 16 flow splits inasmuch as the disclosed foamer oper ⁇ ates in accordance with the formula that the number of splits equals 2 , where n is the number of elements em- ployed.
• a foam is produced having uniform, predictable and reproducible density, viscosity, stability and bubble size properties.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Nozzles (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=23208395

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (11)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 1982
  • 1982-10-14 IN IN1203/CAL/82A patent/IN156672B/en unknown
  • 1982-10-14 BR BR8207931A patent/BR8207931A/pt unknown
  • 1982-10-14 WO PCT/US1982/001472 patent/WO1983001395A1/en unknown
  • 1982-10-14 JP JP57503429A patent/JPS58501710A/ja active Pending
  • 1982-10-14 EP EP82305475A patent/EP0077652B1/en not_active Expired
  • 1982-10-14 DE DE8282305475T patent/DE3263150D1/de not_active Expired
• 1983
  • 1983-06-15 DK DK276283A patent/DK276283A/da not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (4)

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