FILTER

Abstract: The present invention relates to a refractory filter comprising a plurality of filter elements formed from a refractory material having openings therein, said elements being arranged so that openings in one element are substantially staggered with the openings in another element, whereby the fluid path through the elements is tortuous characterised in that (i) the openings in each element are elongate, and (ii) the elements are arranged so that the openings in at least one element are offset with respect to the openings in another element.

Description: FILTER This invention relates to a filter comprising a plurality of elements arranged in a stack, the elements being of a refractory material and the invention also includes within its scope elements for use in such a filter. Filters are widely used in industrial processes to purify fluids and the whole process of filtration is that fluid passes through pores in a membrane and that particulate material and impurities are retained in the membrane by adhesion to the material of the membrane by being unable to pass through the pores. In many industrial processes high temperature fluids are used and, in such cases, a refractory filter has to be used which is not affected by the temperature of the molten fluid. In particular, in metal moulding and casting processes where a high quality metal is to be cast, it is convenient to pass the molten metal directly into the cast or mould through a filter in the space or feed passage to the mould. The metal supplied to the space frequently includes impurities such as entrained solids and slag. Refractory filters have been proposed which present to , the molten metal a constricted and tortuous path or passage and one form of such a filter has been proposed which ' comprises two or more ceramic discs arranged in a stack in which each disc has a pattern of holes formed in it; the discs being juxtaposed 0 within the stack and each disc being disposed with respect to an adjacent disc so that each of one disc is offset with respect to the corresponding holes of said adjacent disc to define a tortuous passage. Indeed, a series of tortuous passages is formed 5 through the stack and the fluid flowing through the stack is required to change direction as it passes therethrough. .An arrangement has also been proposed in which 0 adjacent discs in the stack do not have arrays of holes arranged in the same configuration, but different arrays of holes to define the tortuous paths. In yet another arrangement, the holes are of uniform size for each disc, but the size of the holes is different in adjacent discs, so that when such discs are placed in a stack the smaller holes define a constricted area defining said tortuous path. In such filters it will be appreciated that certain of the passages may give a relatively unconstricted through passage. The extent of deviation of any particular passage from a mean path may vary from area to area of the filter assembly, thus allowing variations in flow rates and impurity retention across the disc area. European Patent Specification 0234979, discloses a filter assembly compris.ing a stack of refractory plates of a generally square configuration having holes perforated in lines of the whole area of the plate with alternate lines of holes being offset from the other lines; the alternate plates within the stack are. set at right angles to each other, and the plates are spaced apart to provide between each a void area for the material being filtered to gather. The effect of this type of filter is also to give a restricted path to the molten material, but a path which does allow certain areas to be "straight through" so that impurities can pass through the filter and into the cast or mould. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of filter comprising a plurality of plate elements which can be arranged in a stack to define a tortuous path type filter which provides substantially uniform filtration properties and fluid resistances -across the filter. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refractory filter comprising a plurality of filter elements formed from a refractory material having openings therein, said elements being arranged so that openings in one element are substantially staggered with the openings in another element, whereby the fluid path through the elements is tortuous characterised in that (i) the openings in each element are elongate, and (ii) the elements are arranged so that the openings in at least one element are offset with respect to the openings in another element. Each element may comprise a planar shape of refractory material having a plurality of longitudinal openings therein. The shape may comprise a perepheral frame supporting a plurality of longitundinal bars, adjacent pairs of which define an opening. The elements may be rectilinear and are preferably of a square or rectangular shape. In a preferred embodiment of an element the frame is thickened on one side of the bars so as effectively to offset the bars within the frame. Within such an embodiment the elements may be stacked alternately with the thickened part being on separate sides of the stack in different layers so that the tortuous path is created. In a typical embodiment the thickened part is l times the thickness of the bars. In one embodiment of the invention, the bars are parallel to the sides of the frame of the element; in an alternative embodiment, the bars are set at an angle thereto. In a variation, the elements of the stack may be arranged so that some of the bars are set at right angles to the bars of other elements so to form an effective grid pattern when viewed from one end. The bars may be of a square or rectangular cross- section but, in certain applications, they may be formed with a transverse cross-section representing a wedge or truncated triangle. Such a cross-section may help with flow patterns in certain applications. The elements of the filter may be made out of any suitable refractory material, such as the refractory clay or an alumino silicate material. The stack may be contained in a holder and loosely assembled therein, or the elements of the stack may be joined using a suitable adhesive, or by silica welding the elements of the stack. The stack will be placed in use in the path of liquid such as a molten metal and a ferrostatic back pressure will be established. This pressure will be determined by the number of elements in the stack and the nature of the tortuous path therethrough. Following is a description by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of methods of carrying the invention into effect. In the drawings : Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a stack of elements forming the filter of the present invention Figure 2 is a sectional view of the filter of Figure 1 on the lines II.II of Figure 1. Figure 3 shows a cross-section s ilar to Figure 2 but of a first alternative stack of elements, and Figure 4 shows a second alternative, again in cross- section. Referring now to the drawings, the filter comprises a stack 1 of, in this example, four elements 2 each of an identical construction. The elements each comprise a square frame 3 of refractory material, having a grid of bars 4 extending parallely across the frame and parallel with the sides thereof. The bars 4 are of a uniform size and of a rectangular cross- section and, in this example, are spaced from each other by gaps 6, whose dimensions are the same as the bars 4. Side 7 of the frame 3 is wider than the opposite side of the frame by an amount which is not a whole multiple of the width of the other side and in this embodiment about l times the width of the opposite side. The elements 2 can be stacked in a support frame (not shown) or, as in this example, they may be assembled together and secured by means such as a silica or ceramic welding technique. The disposition of the elements in the filter is illustrated in Figure 2, which shows where the elements are set with the bars of one at right angles to the bars of the adjacent element. In this example there are four elements 2 which are designated 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d. It can be seen from Figure 2 that the elements 2b and 2d have the bars 4 running at right angles to the elements 2a and 2c. In this example, the element 2b is turned by 90° with respect to the adjacent element 2a. The element 2c is turned through 180° with respect to element 2a and element 2d is turned through 270° with respect to element 2a. The effect of this is particularly noticeable in Figure 2, if attention is given to the elements 2b and 2d. It will be seen here that the thickened side 7 is to the left of the Figure in element 2b and in the right of the Figure in element 2d. This has the effect of offsetting the bars 4 in the two elements 2b and 2d which are parallel to each other by the distance equivalent to half that of the width of the gap of the bars. Similarly, the two elements 2a and 2b have their thickened sides 7 on opposite sides of the filter. Thus, a similar effect is obtained between these two elements. By this disposition of - the elements, it will be appreciated that a through-passage is obtained from the top to the bottom of the filter, but that fluid passing through the filter will not have a direct path from top to bottom but will have a tortuous path through the inter-connecting gaps of ad acent elements in the filter. This tortuous path increases the filtering effect obtained by the filter and maximizes the filter surface area to which particles of material, such as impurities, are exposed and thus ensures clear liquid only emerges from the exit of the filter. Although in this example, only four filter elements have been shown, it will be appreciated that the filter itself may be made up of a larger stack of elements and that their disposition may be varied. For example, if reference is made to Figures 3 and 4, a four-element stack is shown in these two Figures which are disposed in a different manner. For example, in Figure 3 the bars 4 are all disposed in the same direction, but the elements are alternately changed with the thick side 7 in each layer being on the opposite side to the side 7 of the adjacent layers. The effect of this is to give a sinuous path through the filter.- In Figure 4, a variation of the arrangement of the elements in Figure 2 is shown. In this Figure the elements 2a .and 2d are shown with the bars 4 parallel and the elements in 2b and 2c are at right-angles to the elements of 2a and 2d. The effect of varying the element disposition can also be used to effect a control or choking effect on the flow of material through the filter. Thus a controlled back pressure on the metal being fed to a casting or moulding may be designed into the whole of a casting or moulding operation by arrangement of the filter elements. In the elements of the filters above-described, the basic form of the element has been such that the gaps 6 and the bars 4 are of substantially the same size and are offset by a distance equivalent to half the width of a gap or bar. It will be appreciated that, according to any particular application for which a filter element is designed, that the relative sizes of the bars 4 and the gaps 6 and the side 7 may be varied. Also, it is not essential that the bars 4 are of a rectangular section. This is convenient for common moulding processes but the bars may be formed of a circular cross-section or conveniently of a wedge -shaped cross-section such as a truncated triangle. Thus many variations in the design of the element and the assembly of the element to form a filter are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. EXAMPLE In one particular example of an element 2, as previously described, the element is manufactured by pressing in a mould an alumino silicate composition having the following analysis: The green pressing was extracted from the mould and fired at a temperature of about 1120°C. The elements 2, when fired, were placed in a stack to form a filter and the elements were connected together by a ceramic welding technique. In one embodiment of the example, the elements were bonded together using a suitable high temperature adhesive.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A refractory filter comprising a plurality of filter elements formed from a refractory material having openings therein, said elements being arranged so that openings in one element are substantially staggered with the openings in another element, whereby the fluid path through the elements is tortuous characterised in that (i) the openings in each element are elongate, and (ii) the elements are arranged so that the openings in at least one element are offset with respect to the openings in another element. 2. A filter as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that each element comprises a planar shape of refractory material having a plurality of longitundinal openings therein extending in spaced parallel relationship across said shape. 3. A filter as claimed in claim 2 characterised in that the planar shape comprises a peripheral frame supporting a plurality of longitudinal bars adjacent pairs of which define an opening. 4. A filter as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the elements are rectilinear. 5. A filter as claimed in claim 3 and claim 4 wherein the elongate openings are assymmetrically with respect to the element, whereby on arranging a plurality of elements within a stack with at least one element having its assymmetry staggered, said openings are staggered to define a tortuous fluid path through said stack. 6. A filter as claimed in claim 5 ch-aracterised in that the assymmetry of the openings is effected by thickening of said frame on one side thereof to offset said bars within the frame. 7. A filter as claimed in claim 6 characterised in that the thickened part is approximately 1.5 times the thickness of the bars. 8. A filter as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7 characterised in that said openings are parallel to the sides of the frame. 9. A filter as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7 characterised in that said openings are at an angle to the sides of the frame. 10. A filter as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that said plurality of elements are arranged in a stack whereby the openings in at least one element are disposed at an angle to the openings in another stack. 11. A filter as claimed in claim 10 characterised in that the openings in said one element are disposed substantially perpendicular to the openings in said another element. 12. A filter as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the refractory material is a refractory clay or an alumino-silicate material .

Inventors: WHITE MICHAEL, WHITE, MICHAEL
Applicants: HEPWORTH IND CERAMICS LTD, HEPWORTH INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS LIMITED
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B01D29
IPC codes: B01D29, B01D39, B22C9