WO2011002426A2

WO2011002426A2 - A cyclone separator

Info

Publication number: WO2011002426A2
Application number: PCT/TR2010/000147
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ahmet CİVAN
Original assignee: Durmazlar Maki̇na Sanayi̇ Ve Ti̇caret Anoni̇m Şi̇rketi̇
Priority date: 2009-05-22
Filing date: 2010-07-01
Publication date: 2011-01-06
Also published as: TR200903943A2; WO2011002426A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a cyclone separator comprising a cyclone reservoir (10) with a particle output (121) and a clean air output (111) and a particle accumulation reservoir (40) which is positioned at the output end of said cyclone reservoir (10), characterized by comprising a vortex delimiter (30) positioned between the particle accumulation reservoir (40) base and the particle output (121) of the cyclone reservoir (10) so that a virtual body (50) forms with no walls.

Description

A CYCLONE SEPARATOR

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to cyclone separators used for separating particles from a gas-particle mixture flow. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND KNOWN APPLICATIONS

Cyclone separators are used widespread for years for separating the particles particularly in environments like air, gaseous or water from these environments. As can be seen from the figure regarding the prior art, cyclone separators comprise a cyclone reservoir (A) which has conical and/or cylindrical parts and wherein a flow rotating with high speed is formed, an input channel (B) which provides gaseous-particle mixture input to said cyclone reservoir, and a particle accumulation reservoir (C) where the particles falling downwardly from the end of the conical part after being separated from the gaseous-particle mixture flow are accumulated. Accordingly, gaseous-particle mixture suctioned by the fan enter into the cyclone from the lateral side tangentially and by advancing along spiral direction, the gaseous-particle mixture flows towards the end of the cyclone reservoir with conical form from the cyclone input (B) and afterwards, it changes the direction thereof, it flows towards the output end (F) and goes out. This spiral flow formed is called outer vortex (D) in the related technical field. Said particles with a high inertia value so as to prevent movement together with said vortex in said outer vortex hit the walls of the cyclone and they fall downwardly from the outer end and here they are accumulated in a particle reservoir (C). On the other hand, the termination of said outer vortex in the narrow end leads to an upward air flow and this air flow which is called inner vortex (E) in the related technical field and which is substantially purified from any particle moves upwardly from the center of the outer vortex and it goes out from the clean air output (F) of the cyclone separator. Thus, a gaseous or air is discharged to the environment, which is purified from dust and similar harmful particles which gives harm to human health.

In conical systems, as the cross section of the cyclone decreases, the diameter of the outer vortex also decreases naturally and thus, in each time, smaller particles can be separated from the gaseous-particle mixture flow. Cyclone separators are used widespread, they can be used in vacuum cleaners or they can be used in separating dust from dusty environments in industry, they can be used in a plurality of applications. The main object which is desired to be obtained in cyclone separators is to separate maximum amount of particles from the gaseous-particle mixture naturally and thus to provide the cleanest air possible to the environments where cyclone separators are used. In connection with the mentioned object, another object is to realize this efficient separation process with as little energy as possible. One of the factors which most affects the efficiency in these embodiments is the friction losses resulting from the inner walls of the cyclone reservoir. Since during spiral flow, the velocity of the outer vortex which hits these walls decreases, thus, for an efficient separation process, the velocity has to be preserved, and this requires the usage of fans which consume more energy. The longer the cyclone reservoir, the bigger the friction loss.

On the other hand, depending on the design, the particle accumulation reservoirs used in the present art can decrease particle separation efficiency. In more details, as also can be seen from the figure regarding the prior art, the present particle accumulation reservoirs have a closed form. Thus, the particles hitting the inner walls of this closed form bounce back, they again join the inner vortex and they can be carried to the clean air output. Naturally this decreases the separation efficiency. Moreover, depending on the design of said particle accumulation reservoirs, the pressure losses formed lead to power losses. As a result, in the related technical field, a novelty is required because of the abovementioned drawbacks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a novel cyclone separator that eliminates above mentioned disadvantages and brings new advantages to the relevant technical field.

Under the light of the known state of the art, the main object of the present invention is to provide a cyclone separator which can separate maximum amount of particles from a gaseous-particle mixture flow and which can operate with much more efficiency when compared with similar devices. Another object of the subject matter invention is to provide a cyclone separator where pressure loss is decreased and by means of this, which can realize the separation process by consuming less energy.

Another object of the subject matter invention is to clean gaseous which has higher flow rate by means of a cyclone with the same size. By means of this, the number or the size of cyclones can be decreased and thereby cost can be decreased. In more details, in order to obtain said object the present invention is a cyclone separator comprising a cyclone reservoir with a particle output and a clean air output and a particle accumulation reservoir which is positioned at the output end of said cyclone reservoir, characterized by comprising a vortex delimiter positioned between the particle accumulation reservoir base and the particle output of the cyclone reservoir so that a virtual body with no walls is formed in between and so that it provides the advancing of the outer vortex which goes out of the particle output, along said virtual body, and the termination of the outer vortex in said vortex delimiter and it provides the passage through the virtual body without interacting with the outer vortex as a result of this termination, and it provides the formation of an inner vortex directed towards the clean air output.

The structural and the characteristic features and all the advantages of the subject matter invention can be understood more precisely by means of the detailed explanation which is written with references to these figures and therefore, it had to be evaluated with the detailed explanation and figures that are explained below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In Figure 1 , a view of the prior art is given.

In Figure 2, the lateral cross sectional view of the subject matter cyclone separator is given.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 Cyclone reservoir 11 Cylindrical part

111 Clean air output

112 Clean air output pipe

12 Conical part

121 Particle output

20 Input channel

30 Vortex delimiter

40 Particle accumulation reservoir

401 Connection gate

402 Support

50 Virtual body

60 Housing

D1 : Cylindrical part diameter

D2: Clean air output diameter

D3: Cone end diameter

L: Cyclone length

a: Input channel width

b: Input channel height

c: Virtual body length

h: Cylindrical part height

hi : Conical part height

s: Air output pipe length

D: Outer vortex

E: Inner vortex

THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed explanation, the subject matter cyclone separator is explained with figures in order to make the subject more understandable without forming any restrictive effect. In this explanation, the gaseous-particle mixture expression means air-particle or any gaseous and particle mixture.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the subject matter cyclone separator essentially comprises a cyclone reservoir (10), a tangential input channel (20) providing the input of gaseous-particle mixture to said cyclone reservoir (10), a particle accumulation reservoir (40) where the held dusts are accumulated, and a housing (60). In more details, in this preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, said cyclone reservoir (10) comprises a cylindrical part (11) where the gaseous-particle mixture enter and whereon clean air output (111) is embodied and a conical part (12) which is formed at the continuation of said cylindrical part (11) and where particle output (121) is embodied at the narrow end thereof. The input channel (20) is positioned into a slot opened at the top part of the lateral wall of the cylindrical part (11). Said housing (60) has also a cylindrical structure and it extends as the continuation of the cylindrical part (11) and it is connected to the particle accumulation reservoir (40) so as to be substantially air-tight. Said housing (60) can be all of one piece to the cylindrical part (11), or it may be a separate part.

In this preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, the particle accumulation reservoir (40) is connected to the housing (60) in a removable manner. In more details, the particle accumulation reservoir (40) is in cylindrical form where the base diameter is preferably substantially bigger than the diameter of the cylindrical part (11) and it has a connection gate (401) which extends upwardly and which has a narrow diameter. Thus, the particle accumulation reservoir (40) can be connected to the housing in a dismountable and mountable manner so that the connection gate (401) firmly engages to the lateral walls of the housing (60) from the outer side or from the inner side. However, in alternative embodiments, these forms can change. Moreover, in another alternative embodiment, the housing (60) and the particle accumulation reservoir (40) can also be all of one piece. As a novelty of the subject matter invention, the cylindrical part (11) and the conical part (12) are shortened and a vortex delimiter (30) is positioned in the lower alignment of the particle output (121), where the vortex delimiter is positioned so that there is a certain space in between where the outer vortex will continue. Said space realizes a virtual body (50) function as if the space was the continuation of the cyclone reservoir (10), in other words, it acts to be a cyclone reservoir (10) which does not have walls. Thus since there is no wall, there is no friction loss along the virtual body (50), and this increases efficiency since this increases the vortex intensity with respect to prior art. Moreover, since there is no wall in the virtual body (50), the efficiency is increased by preventing particle input from the wall to the vortex. On the other hand, thanks to said housing (60) which encompasses the virtual body (50) and the vortex delimiter (30) part from outside, the effects of the outer factors on this region is prevented, moreover, thanks to the widened volume obtained around the virtual body (50), the particles escaping outside from the virtual body (50) are provided to fall into the particle accumulation reservoir (40) in a controllable manner. In this preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, the vortex delimiter (30) is connected to the base of the particle accumulation reservoir (40) through a support (402). However, in an alternative embodiment, the vortex delimiter (30) can be connected to the lateral wall of the particle accumulation reservoir or it may be connected to the housing (60) somehow.

The clean air output (111) is embodied in the middle of the ceiling of the cylindrical part (11) and air is guided to this output by means of an air output pipe (112) which extends partially towards the cylindrical part (11). Said particle output (121) is on the end of the conical part (12) which becomes narrower. In another preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, the diameter of said particle output (121) is greater than the diameter of the clean air output (111). On the other hand, the diameter (D1) of said cylindrical part (11) is preferably at least 1.25 times greater than the diameter (D3) of the particle output. Thus, the separated dusts can be dropped more easily. The vortex delimiter (30) preferably has a flat plate form and when desired, it can be approached to and diverged from the particle output (121). This approaching and diverging process can be realized manually or it may be realized by means of an electronic controlled distance adjustment mechanism. Moreover, the diameter of said vortex delimiter (30) and the diameter of the particle output (121) are preferably equal to each other. In an alternative embodiment, said vortex delimiter (30) can have a conical form or it may be flat, concave, convex or it may have a spherical form.

Thus, when operated with a lower power, in other words, when operated with a lower air flow rate; in order for the system to operate more effectively, the vortex delimiter (30) is approached to the particle output (121), and as the flow rate increases, it can be diverged from the particle output (121) within predetermined values.

In order for the subject matter cyclone separator to operate with a high efficiency, the dimensioning of the pieces and the relative proportions are also very important. Accordingly, in this preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, in some of the dimensioning, the following criteria should be taken into consideration. The height (b) of the input channel is equal to or smaller than the length (s) of the air output pipe. The cyclone length (L) is equal to at least 1.5 times and at most 3 times the cylindrical part diameter (D1). The length (c) of the virtual body is greater than or equal to the cylindrical part diameter (D1). The cylindrical part height (h) is greater than or equal to the air output pipe length (s). The cylindrical part height (h) is greater than or equal to the length (s) of the air output pipe. The conical part height (M) is at least half times more than or substantially more than the cylindrical part diameter (D1). The proportion of the clean air output diameter (D2) to the cylindrical part diameter (D1) is between 0.4 and 0.6. The input channel width (a) is equal to or substantially smaller than the half of the difference between the cylindrical part diameter (D1) and the clean air output diameter (D2).

In a preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, the air movement is realized by means of a vacuum mechanism which will be positioned at clean air output (111). In an alternative embodiment of the subject matter invention, in order to provide air movement, a spiral fan can be positioned which is embodied on the input channel (20).

Under the light of the structural details and under the light of Figure 2 and 3, the operation of the subject matter invention is as follows. The gaseous-particle mixture suctioned into the cyclone reservoir (10) by the tangential input channel (20) gains a spiral direction thanks to the tangential input and by means of this, it forms an outer vortex (D) first of all it advances along the cylindrical part (11) and afterwards it advances along the conical part (12). As a novel characteristic of the subject matter invention, the cyclone length (L) is shorter than the known cyclones, thus the friction resistance is decreased and the tangential velocity is increased and the length of the outer vortex (D) is increased. Some of the particles separate from the air flow in this part because of inertia and they hit the cyclone walls and they fall into the particle accumulation reservoir (40). The outer vortex (D) going out of the particle output (121) advances along the virtual body (50) until the vortex delimiter (30) with the same diameter and it ends in the vortex delimiter (30) and it takes the form of inner vortex (E) and it advances upwardly, in other words, it advances towards the clean air output (111).

In the embodiments regarding the prior art, since the outer vortex (D) is ended at the base of the particle accumulation reservoir (40), it interacts with the particles accumulated in the reservoir (40) and these particles join the inner vortex (E). However, by means of the vortex delimiter (30) in the present invention, the termination point of the outer vortex (D) is taken to a high point where there is no particle. By means of this, the interaction of the outer vortex with the particles is decreased seriously, along the virtual body (50) the particles separate from the flowing environment and they fall downwardly, in other words, they fall towards the particle accumulation reservoir (40). Moreover, thanks to this, the separated particles do not hit any wall and they do not join the air flow again. Thus, a cyclone separator is provided which can operate much more efficiently when compared with similar devices. In the tests made by the applicant, it is seen that the particles are separated more when compared with similar devices. On the other hand, since there is no preventive surface on the virtual body (50), the friction resistance is very low and the tangential velocity is at a high level, thus thanks to the increased centrifugal force, the particle separation is much more efficient. Moreover, the distance between the vortex delimiter (30) and the particle output (121), in other words, the length of the virtual body (50) can be changed depending on the air suctioning power, thus the efficiency can be kept at maximum level with different powers. Moreover, in this system, by changing the air input cross section (b), more fluids (gaseous-particle mixture) can be cleaned using the same cyclone separator without a decline in efficiency.

The cyclone separator provided in the subject matter invention can be used in a plurality of different areas. One of these areas is the cleaning of the sawdust which is formed during the operation of the metal processing machines and which mixes to the ambient air. In addition to this, the invention can be applied to vacuum cleaners.

The protection scope of the present invention is set forth in the annexed Claims and cannot be restricted to the illustrative disclosures given above, under the detailed description. It is because a person skilled in the relevant art can obviously produce similar embodiments under the light of the foregoing disclosures, without departing from the main principles of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cyclone separator comprising a cyclone reservoir (10) with a particle output (121) and a clean air output (111) and a particle accumulation reservoir (40) which is positioned at the output end of said cyclone reservoir (10), characterized by comprising a vortex delimiter (30) positioned between the particle accumulation reservoir (40) base and the particle output (121) of the cyclone reservoir (10) so that a virtual body (50) with no walls is formed in between and so that it provides the advancing of the outer vortex (D) which goes out of the particle output (121), along said virtual body (50) and the termination of the outer vortex in said vortex delimiter (30) and it provides the passage through the virtual body (50) without interacting with the outer vortex (D) as a result of this termination, and it provides the formation of an inner vortex (E) directed towards the clean air output (111).

2. A cyclone separator according to Claim 1 , wherein the vortex delimiter (30) is connected to the lateral wall or to the base of the particle accumulation reservoir (40).

3. A cyclone separator according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the vortex delimiter (30) is movable so that it can be approached to the particle output (121) and moved away from it when necessary.

4. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the vortex delimiter (30) may have a flat plate form, conical, concave, convex or spherical form.

5. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the diameter of the vortex delimiter (30) and the diameter of the particle output (121) are equal to each other.-

6. A cyclone separator according to Claim 1 , wherein the diameter of said particle output (121) is greater than the diameter of the clean air output (111). 7. A cyclone separator according to Claim 1, wherein said cyclone reservoir (10) comprises a cylindrical part (11) where air enter and whereon clean air output (111) is embodied and a conical part (12) which is formed at the end of said cylindrical part (11) and where particle output (121) is embodied at the narrow end thereof.

8. A cyclone separator according to Claim 7, wherein the diameter (D1) of said cylindrical part (11) is at least 1.25 times greater than the diameter (D3) of the particle output.

9. A cyclone separator according to Claim 1 or 7, wherein it comprises a housing (60) which has a cylindrical structure and which extends as the continuation of the cylindrical part (11) and which is connected to the particle accumulation reservoir (40) so as to be substantially air-tight.

10. A cyclone separator according to Claim 9, wherein the particle accumulation reservoir (40) is connected to the housing (60) in a removable manner.

11. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the height (b) of the input channel is equal to or smaller than the length (s) of the air output pipe. 12. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cyclone length (L) is equal to at least 1.5 times and at most 3 times the cylindrical part diameter (D1).

13. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the length (c) of the virtual body is greater than or equal to the cylindrical part diameter (D1).

14. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cylindrical part height (h) is greater than or equal to the air output pipe length (S).

15. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the conical part height (hi) is at least half times more than or substantially more than the cylindrical part diameter (D1).

16. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the proportion of the clean air output diameter (D2) to the cylindrical part diameter (D1) is between 0.4 and 0.6.

7. A cyclone separator according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the input channel width (a) is equal to or substantially smaller than the half of the difference between the cylindrical part diameter (D1) and the clean air output diameter (D2).