US2592685A - Air separator for liquids - Google Patents

Description

April 15, I952 A. 1., GRISE 2,592,535

AIR SEPARA'I'OR FOR LIQUIDS Filed May 4, 1950 2 SHEETS SHEET 1 INVENTOIR flLF-WED L. 63165 ATTOR EYs BY ma myw A. L. GRISE.

AIR SEPARATOR FOR LIQUIDS April 15, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed May 4. 1950 INVENTOR A1. ma Lo GIT/6E BY CZQ MQ A TURN S Patented Apr. 15, 1952 AIR SEPARATOR FOR LIQUIDS Alfred L. Grise, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Company,

West Springfield, Mass.,

Massachusetts a corporation of Application May 4, 1950, Serial No. 159,924

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in air separators, such, for example, as are suitable for use in gasoline measuring and dispensing pumps for removing air from the pumped gasoline before it enters the meter.

The invention has for its object the provision of an air separator of improved construction which enables efiicient separation of air at a rapid rate with a substantially less volumetric capacity than has heretofore been necessary in separators for the purpose described.

The invention also has for an object the provision in an air separator of improved constructional features which enable substantial economies in manufacture to be efiected without impairing the efiiciency of separation of air from liquid.

These and other objects of the invention will more particularly appear from the following description of one illustrative example of the in vention in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an air separator embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the separator;

Figs. 4 and 5 are cross sectional views taken on the lines 44 and 5-5, respectively of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the separator; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Referring to these drawings; the separator includes a three part casing (Fig. 2) consisting of a hollow cylindrical body I, having flanges 2 and 3 one at each end thereof, and heads 4 and 5 having flanges 6 and I which match the flanges 2 and 3 and are respectively secured thereto, with gaskets 9 interposed between, as by a plurality of cap screws 8 (Fig. 3). This casing is intended to be supported with the axis of the cylindrical body horizontal or substantially so.

The pipe connections for the separator are all made with the body portion I, so that the heads may be removed if and when required without doing any more than removing the cap screws 8. Formed on the lower portion of the body I is a portion In which is outwardly offset from the outer periphery of the body and which extends from flange 2 longitudinally of the body to a point about midway between the two flanges 2 and 3, where it terminates with a pad II, having a plurality of tapped holes I2 therein for attaching the flanged outlet of a pump or the delivery pipe of a pump, as the case may be. This offset portion III has cored therein a longitudinal passage I3, having a vertical entrance I4 in pad II and a horizontal exit i5 in flange 2. A similar offset portion I6 is formed in the upper part of body I and has a pad IT with tapped holes I8 therein to enable attachment thereto of the flanged inlet end of a meter or a delivery pipe, as the case may be. This offset portion I3 has a cored passage I9 therein with a horizontal entrance 20 in flange 3 and a vertical exit 2! in pad I1.

Referring next to Fig. 4, the endless flange B of head 4 is annular, except for a single U- shaped offset portion 22 surrounding a recess 23, which leads outwardly from a larger and dish-shaped recess 24 in head 4, such recess being embordered by the annular portion of flange 6. This recess 24 is converted into a chamber by means of a segmented circular plate 25 of thin sheet metal. The head 4 has a shallow annular groove 25 therein, which is embordered by the annular portion of flange 6 and which receives the thin plate 25. The depth of groove 26 equals the thickness of plate 25 so that the outer face of the plate lies in the same plane as that face of flange 6, which is clamped against gasket 9 and to flange 2. The head 4 has two cylindrical posts 21 projecting from its inner face and extending to the inner face of plate 25, which is fixed to these posts by screws 28. The curved margin of plate 25 is pressed against the adjacent end of the cylindrical body I to close the right hand end of the opening therein, except for a segment-shaped opening 219 above the horizontal and weir-like edge 29 of the plate. This is the opening provided by the segmentation of the plate. This plate covers only a small portion of recess 23, which registers with the described exit l5 of passage I3. Thus, liquid containing air enters the separator at I4 and passes through passage I3, exit I5, recess 23, chamber 24, over Weir 29 and through opening 29 into the right hand portion of the cylindrical opening in body I, hereinafter called the inlet chamber 30.

Intermediate the ends of the body I and within its hollow interior, is an internal annular flange 32, against which abuts a roll 33 of crinkled wire-mesh fabric. This roll 33 partitions the hollow interior body I into two cylindrical chambers, one, the described inlet chamber 39 and the other, a chamber 34, located on the outlet side. The flange 32 may have upper and lower diametrically-opposite recesses 35 therein to receive, one in each, the ends of a thin bar 36, which extends diametrically across the chamber 34 and serves to prevent axial deflection of the central portion of roll 33 under the pressure of liquid and in the direction of liquid flow.

The head is an exact duplicate of head 4. This will be clear from Figs. 2 and 5. It has a similar thin segmented-circular plate 31, similarly mounted in a groove in 38 in the head and held in place by screws 39 threaded intoposts 46!. However, the head 5 is turned 180 from head 4 so that the segment-shaped opening 4! lies below the horizontal edge '42..- of" the..plate and communicates with the bottom of chamber 34. The chamber 43 in head 5 has its exit at its upper end in a recess 44, which is surrounded by an inverted U-shaped oifset 45 in the flange l of head 5 and which registers with the entrance 2B of passage l9. Thus, air-free liquid takenv from the bottom of outletv chamber 34 passes out. through opening 4|; chamber 43, re-

cess-44, entrance passage l9 through exit 21 -whichr ise'ttothe topof the chamber. The outer endof passage-46 receives the pipe-threaded end of a compression. coupling 48. The inner end 7 of this coupling is closed except for a single very small opening therethrough, having a diameter of. for example .12 inch. The coupling 48 is adapted to connect with copper tubing 50,

which leads to a suitable liquid recovery chamber, such for example as that shown in Fig. 3 of De Lancey PatentNo. 2,134,686, granted November l, 1938.

Thelbody at itslowest portion has a drainopening 5! normally closed'by apipe'plug 52.

The body I and theiheads 4 and 5 are designed so that they may be made by die casting. No machining operations are required except the tapping of such of the die-cast holes as require it (26 as herein shown). The plates 21 and 31 are stamped from sheet metal with the necessary holes therein. These plates are duplicates as are the heads 4' and 5. Thus, there are only three kinds of principal'parts needed to make up the separator casing and these may be constructedin quantities at low unit cost.

The roll 33 is' a crinkled, wire-mesh coalescing pack. Itis made up-of a suitable length of a fabric constructed of fine wire, preferably of non-corrosive metal, such as Monel metal. This metal is woven into a tubular fabric, which is flattened down, forming a two-ply strip, which is then crimped and finally wound into roll form. This roll is a standard article available in the market and can be procured in any diameters and widths desired. The roll presents a compact mass of interfitting and intertangled wires and provides a very great number of very small interstices. The passages through the mass are exceedingly fine and necessarily tortuous.

The coalescing roll 33 frictionally engages the peripheral wall of chamber 30. and is held in axial position againstfiange 32 by pressure of the liquid. The roll 33 may readily be removed liquid. flow through the separator.

uid. Very small bubbles are made into big ones.

The small bubbles are slow to rise in the liquid and, since separation is by gravity, a larger volume of the separating chamber would be necessaryto get outall the air at the same rate of However, if the small bubbles in the liquid in the right hand or inlet chamber 30 of the separator are made to combine with others during their passage through the roll 33 so that large bubbles emerge with the liquid into the left hand or outlet chamber 34, these-large bubbles will rise rapidly through the liquidand. enable the same degree of effectiveness of air separation to be effected at the same rateof flow. with a much smaller volumetric capacity of the separator. In the present-example, theseparator has a volume of 131 cubicinchesand liquid leaves its outlet at the rate of 15 gallons a. ;mi nute. The-described volume is a reduction of approximately twothirds in the volumetric capacity whichcould be necessary in a separator not having a coalescing pack, such as herein described;

The air bubbles, risin in chamber 34, collect in: the uppermost portionthereoi and." pass out through passagej46-and:finallythrough the very smallgexitopening;49- to' a suitable liquid recovery chamber. By elongating the inlet 41 ofpassage 46, the entrance of'airi'bubbles into the passage is fa-cilitated. The small exit opening ,49 presents littleresistance to the passage of air but much more resistance to liquid. In normal operation, after the separator chamber is once filled with liquid, someliquid will escape with the air through the exit 49: and be separated therefrom in the liquid recovery chamber in the well known manner.

The invention thus provides an air separator of improved construction and small volume,

each of the two opposite ends of the opening in said body, a coalescing pack in roll form located inside said body intermediate the ends thereof and dividing the interior of the body into two cylindrical chambers, each head having an endless flange of annular form except for a single U-shaped outward oifset therein and having a recess embordered by said flange, a thin segmerited-circular plate fixed to each head and forming therebetween a chamber closed except for a segment-shaped. opening provided by segmentation of said plate and a diametrically opposite opening beyond the periphery of the plate into the space within the offset portion of the flange, said heads being reversely arranged with the offset portion of the flange of one turned downwardly and the other turned upwardly, said body having in its lower and upper portions longitudinally-disposedinlet and outlet passages,

respectively, communicating at one end with the space within the downturned and upturned offset portions, said inlet and outlet passages terminating at locations between the ends of the body with downturned and upturned entrance and exit openings.

2. In an air separator, a body having a cylindrical opening therethrough and adapted to be supported with the axis of such opening disposed substantially horizontally, heads one for closing each of the two opposite ends of the opening in said body, a coalescing pack in roll form located inside said body intermediate the ends thereof and dividing the interior of the body into two cylindrical chambers, each head having an endless flange of annular form except for a single U-shaped outward oflset therein and having a recess embordered by said flange and having also an annular groove the outside diameter of which is greater than the diameter of either chamber and less than the outside diameter of the annular part of said flange, thin segmented-circular plates one for each head, each plate being mounted in the annular groove in its head with its inner face in the same plane as the inner face of said flange, the inner face of the circular marginal portion of the plate in each head and the inner face of the flange of such head adapted to abut an end face of the body to close the adjacent chamber in the body except for the single segment-shaped opening provided by the segmentation of the plate, posts on each head to which its plate is fixed, the head at one end of the body having its ofi'set extending downwardly and the head at the other end of the body having its offset extending upwardly, said body having an offset in the lower portion abutting at one end the downwardly extending offset in one head and extending longitudinally of the body to a point between the ends there, said body offset having an inlet passage with its entrance turned downwardly and its exit opening registering with the space within the offset portion of the flange in the last-named head, said body having in its upper portion an oiTset abutting at one end with the upturned offset in the other head and extending longitudinally and terminating at a point between the ends of the body, the last-named body offset having an outlet passage with its entrance communicating with the space within .iii

the U-shaped portion of the flange of the lastnamed head and its exit upturned.

3. An air separator, comprising, a body having a cylindrical opening therethrough and adapted to be supported with the axis of such opening substantially horizontal, heads fixed one to each end of said cylinder for closing said opening, one said head having therein an inlet passage for mixed liquid and air opening into the upper end of said opening, the other head having therein an outlet passage for air-free liquid connecting with said opening at the lower end thereof, a coalescing pack in roll form closely fitting in said cylindrical opening intermediate the ends thereof and dividing such opening into inlet and outlet chambers, said body having in its upper portion an outlet passage for separated air, said passage having a portion of relatively large diameter located with its axis at an acute angle to the axis of said opening and intersecting the uppermost portion of the periphery of said opening with an elliptical entrance located between said pack and the head having the outlet passage, the major axis of the elliptical opening being parallel to the axis of said cylindrical opening, said air outlet passage having a constantly open exit of very small diameter enabling free outflow of air but retarding the outflow of liquid, small air bubbles contained in the liquid in the inlet chamber being coalesced while passing through said pack into large bubbles which rise rapidly to the top of the outlet chamber and enter said elliptical opening and pass out through said air outlet passage.

ALFRED L. GRISE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record. in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,957,418 Willson May 1, 1934 1,962,631 Winter June 12, 1934 2,296,543 Steen et al Sept. 22, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 157,789 Great Britain Dec. 15, 1921

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