E-1 air dryer liquid separator with baffle

• US 6,071,321 A
• Filed: 11/26/1997
• Issued: 06/06/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
• Inventors: Castle, T. Kevin, Kazakis, Michael V., Trapp, Scott M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Simmons, David A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hopkins, Robert A.
• Application Number:
  US08/978,796
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 55/337, 55/413, 55/424, 55/426, 55/432, 55/459.1, 55/DIG. 17, 55/318, 55/419, 96/134, 96/209, 96/188, 34/80
• US Class Current: 55/318
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 45/16 generated by the winding course of the gas stream , the centrifugal forces being generated solely or partly by mechanical means, e.g. fixed swirl vanes
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/261 by adsorption
• CPC Class Codes: B04C 5/103 Bodies or members, e.g. bulkheads, guides, in the vortex chamber cores B04C5/107
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 55/17 Compressed air water removal

Abstract

In a centrifugal separator for separating a liquid from a compressed gas, a baffle is provided to separate the centrifugal chamber into an upper sub-chamber and a lower sub-chamber but does not contact the walls of the chamber thereby being insufficient to prevent downward flow of separated liquid along the interior wall of the two sub-chambers, and insufficient to prevent flow of compressed gas from one sub-chamber to the other sub-chamber, the baffle nevertheless being sufficient to prevent turbulent gas flow in the lower sub-chamber when collected liquid is drained therefrom.

Claims

1. In an air drying system for drying and cleaning compressed air wherein compressed air from a conventional air compressor is passed through at least one porous cartridge containing a desiccant material for removing water from said compressed air, the improvement comprising passing said compressed air through a centrifugal separator to separate water from said compressed air before said compressed air is passed through said at least one porous cartridge, said centrifugal separator comprising;

a chamber having a generally circular interior wall with a vertically disposed axis, a cover member to close the top of said chamber, at least one tangential inlet under said cover member for admitting a mixture of said liquid and said compressed gas into said chamber such that said mixture is caused to cyclonically revolve within said chamber at a velocity sufficient to cause said liquid to collect on said cylindrical interior wall as a result of centrifugal forces, and flow downwardly along said interior wall as a result of gravitational forces, a closure wall member at the bottom of said chamber forming a sump within said chamber adapted to collect said liquid flowing downwardly along said interior wall, an outlet for draining said collected liquid from said sump, an air vent extending generally through the center of said cover member for permitting said compressed air to exit from said chamber, a baffle in the shape of a circular disk horizontally disposed within said chamber having a generally circular edge spaced from said interior wall to separate said chamber into an upper sub-chamber and a lower sub-chamber and spaced from said interior wall to allow downward flow of said liquid along said interior wall from said upper sub-chamber into said lower sub-chamber, and said baffle having a plurality of apertures circumferentially spaced around the perimeter adjacent to said generally circular edge for permitting non-turbulent flow of said compressed gas from said lower sub-chamber to said upper sub-chamber.

2. An air drying system, according to claim 1, in which said generally circular wall is cylindrical.

3. An air drying system, according to claim 1, in which said generally circular wall is conical.

4. An air drying system, according to claim 1, in which said air vent is adapted to vent compressed air from the axial upper center of said chamber.

5. An air drying system, according to claim 4, in which said air vent is provided with an air scoop having the general shape of an inverted funnel with a large diameter opening axially aligned with said air vent, and having a filter screen disposed over said large diameter opening adapted to filter particulate matter from the compressed air exiting said air vent.

6. An air drying system, according to claim 1, in which said outlet for draining separated liquid from said sump includes a valve for selectively draining said collected liquid from said sump at predetermined intervals.

7. In an air drying system for drying and cleaning compressed air wherein compressed air from a conventional air compressor is passed through at least one porous cartridge containing a desiccant material for removing water from said compressed air, the improvement comprising passing said compressed air through a centrifugal separator to separate water from said compressed air before said compressed air is passed through said at least one porous cartridge, said centrifugal separator comprising;

a chamber having a generally circular interior wall with a vertically disposed axis, a cover member to close the top of said chamber, at least one tangential inlet under said cover member for admitting a mixture of said liquid and said compressed gas into said chamber such that said mixture is caused to cyclonically revolve within said chamber at a velocity sufficient to cause said liquid to collect on said cylindrical interior wall as a result of centrifugal forces, and flow downwardly along said interior wall as a result of gravitational forces, a lower cover member to close the bottom of said chamber and to form a sump within said chamber adapted to collect said liquid flowing downwardly along said interior wall, an outlet for draining said collected liquid from said sump, an air vent extending generally through the center of said cover member for permitting said compressed air to exit from said chamber, said air vent provided with an air scoop having the general shape of an inverted funnel with a large diameter opening axially aligned with said air vent, a baffle in the shape of a circular disk horizontally disposed within said chamber having a generally circular edge spaced from said interior wall to separate said chamber into an upper sub-chamber and a lower sub-chamber and spaced from said interior wall to allow downward flow of said liquid along said interior wall from said upper sub-chamber into said lower sub-chamber, and said baffle having a plurality of apertures circumferentially spaced around the perimeter adjacent to said generally circular edge for permitting non-turbulent flow of said compressed gas from said lower sub-chamber to said upper sub-chamber.

8. An air drying system, according to claim 7, in which said generally circular wall is cylindrical.

9. An air drying system, according to claim 7, in which said generally circular wall is conical.

10. An air drying system, according to claim 7, in which said air vent is adapted to vent compressed air from the axial upper center of said chamber.

11. An air drying system, according to claim 7, in which said air scoop is provided with a filter screen disposed over said large diameter opening adapted to filter particulate matter from the compressed air exiting said air vent.