Patent ID: 6224757
Filing Date: 2001-05-01
Classification: B01F,B09C,E21B

Abstract:
A mass transfer device for use in the treatment of an impure liquid, the mass transfer device includinga housing into which the impure liquid and a reagent are to be introduced, the housing having a foraminous side wall that defines a plurality of openings for allowing the flow of the impure liquid and the reagent therethrough, the openings being sufficiently small to produce a shearing effect on the liquid and the reagent as it passes through the openings; andan impeller assembly that is rotatably mounted within the housing, the impeller assembly comprising a number of impeller blades having tips which are disposed and terminate in close proximity to the openings in an interior surface of the side wall, the impeller blades projecting radially outwardly, flaring outwardly towards the tips, and curved:to impart centrifugal forces to the liquid and the reagent in the housing for accelerating the liquid and the reagent in a radial direction towards the tips of the impeller blades for expelling the liquid and the reagent through the openings in the side wall of the housing;to impart shear forces to the liquid and the reagent in the region between the tips of the impeller blades and the side wall of the housing; andto generate a low pressure region at trailing ends of the tips of the impeller blades for encouraging the reintroduction, by a suction action, of the reagent and the liquid thereby to enhance mass transfer between the liquid and the reagent and hence to increase the reaction rate between the reagent and impurities in the liquid.