Abstract:
A container for receiving wet exhaust from a deisel engine into an inlet pipe leading into the container. The inlet pipe has a closed bottom and slot in the side thereof intermediate the top and bottom for discharging exhaust into the container. The container has a false bottom spaced above its closed bottom with a fluid access opening in the false bottom. An overflow pipe extends from below the false bottom to a location above the latter and then out the side of the container; this pipe controlling the water level within the container. A pump out pipe is disposed with its inlet end at this water level and removes sheen from the surface of the water to a location outside of the container.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to structures for processing wet exhaust from diesel engines and more particularly to devices for quieting the exhaust and for removing the water and other impurities from the wet exhaust gases by entrapping them in a water bath so that cleaner gases are discharged into the atmosphere while the device removes the sheen, excess water, and impurities from the water bath so that fairly clean water is discharged from the device. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,630 discloses a housing having a tangential inlet for inducting exhaust flow and a first outlet for dried exhaust gas and a second outlet near the bottom for draining water from the housing. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,196,655; 5,554,058; and other patents also shows a muffler device for silencing exhaust and removing impurities. However, none of these devices does it in the manner of or as well as my invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention includes a container for receiving diesel engine wet exhaust through an inlet tube having a slot therein intermediate the ends thereof. The lower portion of the container has a false bottom therein which has an access opening therethrough in fluid communication with the portion of container above the false bottom. The wet exhaust gases enter the container above the false bottom and a pool of water overlying the false bottom and extending into the false bottom entraps water, oil and particles from the incoming exhaust gases in the portion thereof above the false bottom while an exhaust outlet above the water level carries “cleaned” exhaust gases form the unit. Oil and particles, such as carbon from the exhaust are entrapped as a layer of sheen on top of the water pool and a pick up tube confluent with the surface of the pool removes these impurities for further processing in another device not a part of this invention. A water over-flow tube, which extends from below the false bottom to a level above the lower end of the pick up tube, drains excess “cleaned” water from the pool at the bottom thereof and discharges the water from the device to thereby control the water level of the pool and discharge “clean” water. In a first embodiment angled baffle plates in the water pool above the false bottom are impinged upon by the circulating water so that oil and other particle matters are forced to the surface of the water as a layer of sheen which is picked up by the pick-up tube. A second embodiment utilizes a weir and dam arrangement to force the sheen to the surface so that the pick up tube may withdraw the sheen from the surface. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a first embodiment of this invention which is shown partially in section and partially broken away; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines  2 — 2  in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view of a second embodiment of this invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines  5 — 5  in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines  6 — 6  in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the exhaust receiving pipe; and 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 are cross sectional views taken along the lines  8 — 8  and  9 — 9 , respectively, in FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, a diesel wet exhaust processing system (ESP) is shown generally at  10  and has an exhaust receiving pipe  12  connected to the wet exhaust manifold of a diesel engine shown fragmentarily at  13 . The exhaust receiving pipe  12  extends downardly and into a cylindrical housing  14  forming the external wall of the ESP  10 . The top of the housings  14  is in the form of a truncated cone  15  intimately secured to the housing  14  as by welding and the bottom  16  thereof is flat and also intimately secured to the housing as by welding. The pipe  12  is spaced from the housing  14  and extends to lie close to the bottom  16  and the lower end of the pipe is closed as shown at  17 . 
     A false annular bottom  18  is secured in the housing  14  and spaced above the bottom  16  sufficiently to form a lower reservoir  19  therebetween. The lower end of the pipe  12  extends through the false bottom so that the lower end  17  of the pipe is below the false bottom. The height of the water within the housing  14  is controlled by an overflow pipe shown generally at  20 , which pipe has a lower segment  21  extending from below and through the false bottom,  18  to a location slightly below the midpoint of the housing  14 . The lower segment is connected to a laterally and then downwardly extending segment  22  which has a conventional ball type stopcock  23  therein from which a discharge line  24  extends out of the hull of a vessel  26 . A vent pipe  25  confluently extends upwardly from the lower segment  21  and serves as a conventional vent for the overflow pipe  20 . 
     An exhaust discharge pipe  27  extends from the housing  14  at a location above the top of the lower segment  21  of the overflow pipe  20  and conducts dried “cleaned” exhaust out of the system  10 . An axially elongated and vertically extending discharge slot  28  is formed in the pipe  12  and extends vertically from a location just above the exhaust discharge opening downwardly so that its lower end is on a line with the inner bottom  30  of the upper portion of the lateral segment over the over flow pipe  20 , such inner bottom  30  being the determinant of the water level within the housing  14 . 
     A vacuum tube  31  extends into the housing  14  and has a plurality of small sucking openings  32  at the water level in the housing  14 . A conventional vacuum device (not shown) draws the contaminants on the surface of the reservoir within the housing  14  out of the device  10 . The vacuum device is preferably cycled on and off as needed. These contaminants are then directed to an oil/water separator which is not a part of this invention. A radially extending barrier member  33  extends from the top of the false bottom  18  to the inside of the top of the housing  14  and its lateral outer edge is secured to the inside of the housing  14  and its lateral inner edge is secured to the periphery of the pipe  12 . When exhaust enters the system  10  through receiving pipe  12 , it is discharged radially outwardly into the housing  14  through the slot  28 . As seen in FIG. 2, the barrier  33  prevents the exhaust from going clockwise and thus it moves counter clockwise entirely about the interior of the housing through the exhaust discharge  27 . During this travel, the velocity of the gasses decreases substantially and most of the oil and particulate contaminates therein fall upon the surface of the water in the housing. The counter clockwise movement of the exhaust gases, in their engagement with the surface of the water urges the water to also rotate counter clockwise. 
     Angle plates  34  and  35  are secured to the inner surface of the housing  14  and to the outer surface of the exhaust pipe  12  at their lateral edges, and to the false bottom  18  on their bottom edges. The top edges are free and are coterminous with the top of the lateral segment  22 . These plates are angled upwardly in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, and when the counterclockwise moving water engages the same, any oil or particles therein move up the inclined plates and form a sheen on the top of the oil which is then removed by vacuum tube  31 . 
     A pair of drain holes  36  and  38  are formed in the false bottom  18  and the water from the reservoir above the false bottom moves through these holes and into the reservoir  19  therebelow. This cleaned water is then discharged from the system through the overflow pipe  20 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 3 to  9 , a second embodiment of this system is shown generally at  36  and includes upper and lower housing surfaces  37  and  38 , respectively, with each of these secured to a hollow cylindrical portion  39  forming a housing  39 A. A false bottom  40  is secured to the portion housing  39  in a spaced relationship with the lower surface  38  and a short pipe or transfer tube  41  extends through the false bottom  40  and projects slightly above and below the same to confluently connect the upper and lower portions of the system  36 . An exhaust receiving pipe  42  from a wet exhaust manifold (not shown) extends from above the system and through the upper surface  37  thereof and terminates at its lower closed end immediately above the false bottom  40 . The pipe  42  has a slot  43  which is below the surface  37  and extends circumferentially through the periphery of the pipe  42  for approximately 180 degrees. The slot, as shown is approximately ⅙ the vertical height of the portion of the pipe  42  below the surface  37 . 
     An exhaust outlet pipe  44  for the system  36  extends into the housing  39 A through the upper surface  37  and projects confluently into the housing for a relatively short distance as seen in FIGS. 4,  6  and  9 . An over-flow pipe  45  extends from the reservoir  47  below the false bottom  40  and spaced from the bottom  38  and extends out of the top of the housing  39 A. The over-flow pipe has a lower portion  48 , a lateral portion  49  and a vent portion  50 ; the lateral portion  49  extending the into the housing  39 A a distance so that it overlaps the water level in the housing  39 A an amount which is controlled by the overflow pipe  45 . 
     A main wall  52  extends cordially across the housing  39 A at a location between the exhaust inlet and the exhaust outlet and is laterally secured at both its lateral ends to the cylindrical portion  39  and vertically secured at the top thereof to the upper wall  37 . The lower side of the main wall  52  rests on and is secured to the top of the false bottom  40  and the wall has an opening  53  therethrough at the outer top thereof which, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, and is located clockwise from the slot  43 , the latter slot being directed toward the inner surface of the cylindrical portion  39  at a location counter clockwise of the opening  53 . A secondary wall  54  is secured to the wall  52  and extends cordially therefrom to the inner surface of the housing  39  and extends vertically downwardly from the upper surface  37  to location below the vacuum tube  51  (see FIG.  9 ). 
     Wet exhaust gases enter the system  36  through the slot  43  in the exhaust receiving pipe  42 . This exhaust cannot move counter clockwise because of the wall  52  and does move clockwise through the opening  53  in the wall  52  and then out through the exhaust outlet pipe  44 ; the wall  54  preventing further clockwise movement of the exhaust. The water, oil and particulate waste in the exhaust is deposited on the water and forms a sheen on the water as the water moves clockwise. The sheen developed on the surface of the water moves clockwise with the water through the opening  53  in the plate  52  until the surface of the water with the sheen thereon abuts the wall  54 . The sheen is withdrawn periodically, by the vacuum tube  51  which is positioned just counterclockwise of wall  54 . Substantially clean water is withdrawn from the reservoir  47  through the overflow pipe  45  and discharged overboard through the vessel&#39;s hull 
     While the preferred embodiments have been shown and described, many changes can be Made therein without departing from the scope of this invention as defined by the following claims.