Patent ID: 6234949
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: B04B

Abstract:
A centrifugal separator for separating non-cohesive particulate contaminants from a liquid supplied thereto comprising a housing enclosure, an axis extending through the housing enclosure in an operationally substantially vertical orientation, a rotor arranged to receive a liquid at elevated pressure and, in reaction to ejection of the liquid therefrom substantially tangentially, spin about the axis at at least a predetermined minimum speed to effect separation of said non-cohesive contaminant particles from contaminated liquid therein, the rotor comprising a container having(i) an outer, peripheral wall including a peripheral side wall displaced from the axis,(ii) an internal partition wall extending radially inwardly from the peripheral wall dividing the container into a separation chamber and an outflow chamber and defining at its radially inner periphery a transfer aperture between the separation and outflow chambers, said separation chamber including an inlet aperture to admit contaminated liquid thereto from the rotation axis and the outflow chamber having at least one nozzle to eject liquid from the container, and(iii) barrier wall means, within the separation chamber, comprising a barrier wall extending upwardly from the partition wall to terminate in a barrier wall edge and disposed radially inwardly of the peripheral side wall, to define with said peripheral side wall and partition wall a containment retention region, said barrier wall being inclined towards the peripheral side wall such that said barrier wall edge is spaced therefrom to form a radially restricted neck to the containment retention region at such inclination and spacing, when the rotor is spinning about the axis at least said predetermined minimum speed, that non-cohesive contaminants deposited on the barrier wall by centrifugal separation force are caused by said force to flow from the barrier wall edge to the peripheral side wall, and, when the rotor is not spinning at least said predetermined speed, to permit the separated non-cohesive contaminants deposited on the peripheral side wall to slump into said contaminant retention region and be inhibited from being entrained into liquid flowing between the inlet aperture and the transfer aperture.