Patent ID: 8104362
Filing Date: 2012-01-31
Classification: B01D

Abstract:
1. An inline virtual impactor comprising: an outer housing having a housing inlet, a housing inner surface, a major flow outlet and a minor flow outlet; a flow accelerator member disposed in the upstream portion of the outer housing; and a flow stabilizer member disposed within the outer housing downstream of the flow accelerator member; wherein the disposition of the flow accelerator within the outer housing creates an annular flow passage between the flow accelerator and the outer housing, and wherein the inline virtual impactor is operable to separate a particle stream entering the housing inlet into a minor flow comprising primarily particles having a size greater than a cutpoint size and a major flow comprising primarily particles smaller than the cutpoint size; wherein the outer housing comprises a substantially cylindrical tube having a tube central axis and an inner cylindrical surface; wherein the flow accelerator member comprises an upstream apex pointing toward the housing inlet, a downstream base opposite the upstream apex, and an accelerator member central axis, wherein the downstream base is perpendicular to the accelerator central axis; wherein the accelerator central axis and the tube central axis are coincident; wherein the flow accelerator member substantially tapers inward from the downstream base to the upstream apex; wherein the flow stabilizer member comprises a stabilizer apex, a stabilizer base, an outer surface, and a stabilizer central axis; wherein the stabilizer base is perpendicular to the stabilizer central axis and the stabilizer apex is downstream of the stabilizer base and points away from the housing inlet.