FLUID DIVERTING MODULE

• US 20190310278A1
• Filed: 04/04/2019
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Total Synthesis Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Total Synthesis Ltd.
• Inventors: Organ, Michael, Mallik, Debasis, Zhang, Wenyao
• Granted Patent: US 11,680,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/4077 by other techniques involving separation of suspended solids
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/4088 filtration
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2035/00346 Heating or cooling arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/1004 Cleaning sample transfer devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/1097 characterised by the valves valves in general F16K

Abstract

A fluid diverting module includes a multi-position fluid diverting device comprising three-dimensional movable flow-paths with minimal tortuosity in the movable portion (the rotor) of the fluid diverting device. In some embodiments, the device is also equipped with a filtration module that is capable of filtering solid particulates from fluidic samples. The invention relates to an area of non-disruptive sampling from various sample sources including ones containing solids. The fluid diverting device maintains fluid communication between the sample source and a pressure creating device in all positions of the fluid diverting device, thus conserving the pressure inside the sample source during sampling. The sampling operation is controlled from a controller, which is equipped with a software for manual or intelligent control.

Claims

1. A fluid diverting device of a fluid diverting module comprising a movable portion (the rotor) which is equipped with a plurality of three-dimensional movable flow-paths with minimal tortuous turns inside the three-dimensional boundary of the rotor.

2. The fluid diverting device of claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional movable flow-paths are branched and establish fluid communications with more than two stationary flow-paths from the load or the inject configuration of the fluid diverting device.

3. The fluid diverting device of claim 1, wherein the stationary (the stator) and the movable (the rotor) portions are comprised of ports distributed in more than one concentric ring in an annular fashion.

4. The fluid diverting device of claim 1, wherein at least one stationary or movable flow-path of the fluid diverting device is equipped with at least one spatial extension in its flow-path so that the movable flow-path forms a lumen either with two stationary flow-paths from one (the load and the inject) configuration, or with one of the two stationary flow-paths from at least one other (‘

isolation’

) position of one other (‘

isolation’

) configuration, or with neither of the two stationary flow-paths from at least a second isolation position of the isolation configuration.

5. A fluid diverting module comprising:

a) a fluid diverting device which receives at least a portion of a fluid from a sample source from at least two asynchronous configurations (load and inject);

b) a sample collection module which is in fluid communication with the fluid diverting device in all configurations;

c) a filtration module which is equipped with a semipermeable flow-path which allows at least a portion of a liquid to pass through and prevents at least a portion of solids to permeate through;

d) at least one fluid holding device which is in fluid communication with the sample source and the filtration module when the fluid diverting device is in the load configuration;

e) a fluid moving device, which moves fluid from the sample source directly to the sample collection module in the inject configuration of the fluid diverting device and via the filtration module and the fluid holding device in the load configuration of the fluid diverting device;

f) a second fluid moving device, which is in fluid communication with the filtration module when the fluid diverting device is in the inject configuration;

g) a third fluid moving device which is in fluid communication both with the fluid holding device(s) and a sample delivery module when the fluid diverting device is in the inject configuration;

h) a stationary portion (the stator) in the fluid diverting device, which hosts stationary flow-paths to connect the sample source, the sample collection module, the filtration module, the fluid holding device(s), and the fluid moving devices to the fluid diverting device; and

i) a movable portion (the rotor) in the fluid diverting device, which is equipped with a plurality of three-dimensional movable flow-paths capable of establishing fluid communications among the devices and modules of the stator.

6. The fluid diverting module of claim 5, wherein the fluid diverting module is equipped with a fourth fluid moving device which moves fluid from a second sample source into an additional fluid holding device in the load configuration of the fluid diverting device.

7. The fluid diverting module of claim 5, wherein the third fluid moving device moves fluids from all fluid holding device(s) to the sample delivery module in the inject configuration of the fluid diverting device.

8. The fluid diverting device of claim 5 further comprising a second set of stationary and movable flow-paths for a second fluid stream which is not in fluid communication with the fluid streams of claim 5.

9. A method of using the fluid diverting module comprising:

a) configuring a fluid diverting device of the fluid diverting module to be in the load configuration;

b) actuating a fluid moving device of the fluid diverting module to move at least a portion of a fluid stream from a sample source of the fluid diverting module to at least one fluid holding device via a filtration module for a period of time (loading);

c) configuring the fluid diverting device to be in the inject configuration;

d) actuating a second fluid moving device of the fluid diverting module to move fluid through the filtration module (first injecting) to a sample delivery module of the fluid diverting module; and

e) actuating a third fluid moving device of the fluid diverting module to move fluid from the fluid holding device(s) (second injecting) to the sample delivery module.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first and the second injecting steps are synchronous.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the loading or injecting steps comprise more than one load or inject positions respectively.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the same movable flow-path does not receive fluid from the first sample source in any two consecutive positions of the fluid diverting device.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein a movable flow-path, which was receiving fluid from the first sample source in a specific position, is moved to a new position wherein the second fluid moving device establishes fluid communication with the movable flow-path and moves fluid through it.

14. The method of claim 9, the fluid from the second fluid moving device is for cleaning of the movable flow-path and the semipermeable flow-path of the filtration module.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising configuring the fluid diverting device to adopt a third configuration of the fluid diverting device (‘

isolation’

configuration) to connect at least one movable flow-path to only one of the two stationary flow-paths or to neither of the two stationary flow-paths.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising actuating a fourth fluid moving device of the fluid diverting module to move fluid from a second sample source to an additional fluid holding device during loading and actuating the third fluid moving device to move fluids from all fluid holding devices to the sample delivery module during second injecting.

17. The method of claim 9 further comprising flowing a secondary fluid stream through a secondary flow-path, which is not in any fluid communication with the fluid streams of claim 9, in all configurations of the fluid diverting device of the fluid diverting module.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the secondary fluid stream is a heat-transferring fluid that transfers heat from the secondary flow-path to the fluid diverting device or vice versa.