Patent Description:
A static mixer is a kind of mixing device continuously mixing a fluid which passes through a piping, without a moving part. The static mixer has excellent mixing efficiency, is free of noise and vibration because it does not have a moving part, and does not require maintenance. Therefore, a mixing system using the static mixer is used in various fields.

<FIG> schematically illustrates a general static mixer. As illustrated in <FIG>, the static mixer is installed in a piping <NUM> to mix fluid introduced from one side of the piping <NUM>. The fluid introduced from one side of the piping <NUM> is mixed, while passing through a right side mixing element <NUM> and a left side mixing element <NUM> which are arranged alternately.

The right side mixing element <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> has a rear end rotated to be twisted by <NUM> degrees to the right as compared with a front end thereof, and the left side mixing element <NUM> has a rear end rotated to be twisted by <NUM> degrees to the left as compared with a front end thereof (the front end is an edge close to a side to which the fluid is introduced and the rear end is an edge away from the side to which the fluid is introduced). The rear end of the right side mixing element <NUM> is disposed at the rear and crisscrosses the front end of the left side mixing element <NUM> in contact therewith and the rear end of the left side mixing element <NUM> and the front end of the right side mixing element <NUM> disposed at the rear also crisscross each other. That is, the right and left side mixing elements are alternately installed so a flow direction of the fluid is reversed (rotational circulation) and flow of the fluid is changed (radical mixing), and accordingly, the fluid is easily mixed.

Meanwhile, recently, techniques of increasing efficiency of a mixing system by disposing a mixing element having a different shape from that of a static mixer in front of the static mixer, such as disclosed in <CIT>) (hereinafter, referred to as "related art <NUM>") have been introduced.

<CIT> discloses a mixing system according to the preamble of claim <NUM>.

An object of the present invention is to provide a mixing system to improve mixing efficiency.

In one general aspect, a mixing system is provided, the mixing system comprising: a piping which a first fluid is supplied; a mixing part including a plurality of mixing members installed in the piping, installed in a flow direction of the first fluid, having a plate-like shape in which a rear end thereof is twisted by a predetermined angle from a front end thereof, and disposed to be spaced apart from each other; and a supply part supplying a second fluid to a space between adjacent mixing members or a space between internal surface of the piping and each of the mixing members.

Also, the rear end of each mixing member may be twisted at an angle of <NUM> to <NUM> degrees from the front end thereof.

A length of each mixing member from the front end to the rear end may be <NUM> to <NUM> times a diameter of the piping.

A distance between the mutually adjacent mixing members may be <NUM> to <NUM> times a diameter of the piping.

The supply part may supply the second fluid to the inside of the piping through a plurality of flow paths.

The supply part may supply the second fluid to a curved surface form on each side of each mixing member through at least one or more pairs of flow paths.

With respect to the length of the piping, a position of an end of the supply part through which the second fluid is discharged may be the same as a position of the front end of each mixing member or the end of the supply part may be positioned on a rear side, relative to the front end of each mixing member.

The first fluid may have viscosity higher than viscosity of the second fluid.

The first fluid may have viscosity <NUM> to <NUM> times viscosity of the second fluid.

The first fluid may be supplied in an amount larger than the second fluid.

The amount of the second fluid supplied to the piping may be <NUM> wt% or less of the first fluid.

The mixing system may further include: a static mixer disposed at a rear end of the mixing part.

According to the mixing system including an extensional mixing element of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, since the first fluid and the second fluid introduced into the piping are mixed first through the curved surface formed inside the mixing part and subsequently mixed by the static mixer, mixing efficiency is improved.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments of a mixing system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The mixing system including an extensional mixing element according to the present invention has a plurality of exemplary embodiments according to exemplary embodiments of the added mixing element, and thus, the mixing system will be first described, and thereafter, exemplary embodiments of the extensional mixing element will be described.

<FIG> schematically illustrates a mixing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a mixing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which is to mix a first fluid A and a second fluid B introduced into the piping <NUM>, may include the piping <NUM>, a mixing part <NUM> and a supply part <NUM> connected to the inside of the piping <NUM> from the outside, and may further include: a static mixer installed at a rear end of the mixing part <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in <FIG>, the first fluid A may be a relatively large amount of fluid having high viscosity and the second fluid B may be a relatively small amount of fluid having low viscosity. Specifically, when the first fluid A and the second fluid B are mixed, the second fluid may be less than <NUM>% in a mass ratio with respect to a total mass of the mixed fluid as <NUM>%, and viscosity of the first fluid A may be <NUM> to <NUM> times that of the second fluid B.

The static mixer is the same mixer as that described above in the Background Art. As illustrated in <FIG>, the right side mixing element <NUM> and the left side mixing element <NUM> are alternately arranged at the rear end of the mixing part <NUM> to mix the fluids introduced through the mixing part <NUM>.

The extensional mixing element, which is a main feature of the present invention, may include the mixing part <NUM> and the supply part <NUM> and have various exemplary embodiments according to shapes or positions of the mixing part <NUM> and the supply part <NUM>. Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiments of the extensional mixing element of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> illustrates an extensional mixing element according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the extensional mixing element of the present invention is installed at a front end of the mixing system, and thus, <FIG> illustrates only a portion of an upper part of <FIG>.

The mixing part <NUM> serves to mix the first fluid A and the second fluid B supplied to the inside of the piping, before the first fluid A and the second fluid B are mixed in the static mixer. The mixing part <NUM> may change flow of the first fluid A and the second fluid B supplied thereto, and may include a plurality of mixing members.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the mixing part <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the mixing part <NUM> may include a first mixing member <NUM> and a second mixing member <NUM>.

The first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> may have the same structure, may be installed inside the piping <NUM> and may be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval. The first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> may be fixed to and installed in the inside of the piping <NUM> in various manners, and in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> may be fixed to the piping <NUM> by welding.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> have a twisted plate-like shape and may be installed in a flow direction of the first fluid A supplied to the piping <NUM>. Hereinafter, for the purposes of description, an end of a portion to which the first fluid A is introduced will be referred to as a front end and an end of a portion from which the first fluid A is discharged will be referred to as a rear end.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the first mixing member <NUM> includes a first outer side curved surface <NUM> and a first inner side curved surface <NUM> formed on both twisted side surfaces in which a first rear end <NUM> is rotated at a predetermined angle from a first front end <NUM> so as to be twisted.

<FIG> illustrates the mixing part <NUM> and the supply part <NUM> of <FIG> viewed from the upper side to the lower side with respect to <FIG>. As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first rear end <NUM> of the first mixing member <NUM> may be rotated to be twisted by a <NUM> degrees angle from the first front end <NUM>.

Since the second fluid B is supplied from the supply part <NUM> (to be described hereinafter) to the first inner side curved surface <NUM> formed as the first rear end <NUM> of the first mixing member <NUM> is rotated to be twisted by <NUM> degrees, relative to the first front end <NUM>, and flow of the first fluid A and the second fluid B is changed through the first inner side curved surface <NUM>, efficiency of mixing the two different fluids may be improved.

However, in the present invention, the degree to which the first rear end <NUM> of the first mixing member <NUM> is rotated to be twisted at a predetermined angle from the first front end <NUM> is not limited to <NUM> degrees, and the first rear end <NUM> may be rotated to be twisted from the first front end <NUM> within a range of <NUM> to <NUM> degrees.

As described above, since the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> have the same structure, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the second rear end <NUM> of the second mixing member <NUM> may be rotated to be twisted by <NUM> degrees, relative to the second front end <NUM>, and since the second rear end <NUM> of the second mixing member <NUM> may be rotated to be twisted by the predetermined angle, a second outer side curved surface <NUM> and a second inner side curved surface <NUM> are formed on both sides of the second mixing member <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> may be fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the piping and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, an internal mixing space <NUM> may be formed between the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a distance between the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM>. A width of the internal mixing space <NUM>, i.e., a distance L2 between the first front end <NUM> and the second front end with respect to <FIG>, may be <NUM>/<NUM> times an inner diameter L1 (diameter of the inner circumference) of the piping <NUM>, and a distance L3 between the first front end <NUM> and the inner circumferential surface of the piping <NUM> and a distance L4 between the second front end <NUM> and the inner circumferential surface of the piping <NUM> may be <NUM>/<NUM> times the inner diameter L1 of the piping <NUM>. However, in the present invention, the distance L2 is not limited to the <NUM>/<NUM> times the inner diameter of the piping <NUM> and may be <NUM> to <NUM> times. The distances L3 and L4 may each be a length obtained by subtracting the distance L2 from the distance L1.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the supply part <NUM> supplies the second fluid B to the internal mixing space <NUM>. Here, the supply part <NUM> may supply the second fluid B to the internal mixing space <NUM> through a plurality of flow paths, and in order to realize the plurality of flow paths, the supply part <NUM> may include a first nozzle <NUM> and a second nozzle <NUM>.

The first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> may supply the second fluid B by the same amount and at the same supply rate by stopping the piping <NUM> from the outside.

As described above, the second fluid B supplied from the first nozzle <NUM> and the second fluid B supplied from the second nozzle <NUM> are mixed as flows thereof are changed along the first inner side curved surface <NUM> of the first mixing member <NUM> and the second inner side curved surface <NUM> of the second mixing member <NUM>. Thus, the second fluids B supplied from the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> need to be supplied to the first inner side curved surface <NUM> and the second inner side curved surface <NUM>, respectively. To this end, positions of the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> may overlap the areas of the first inner side curved surface <NUM> and the second inner side curved surface <NUM> respectively in <FIG> and may be symmetrical to each other with respect to the center C of the piping <NUM>. That is, the distance D1 from the first nozzle <NUM> to the center C of the piping <NUM> and the distance D2 from the second nozzle <NUM> to the center C of the piping <NUM> may be equal to each other.

In the extensional mixing element according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in <FIG>, the method of supplying, by the supply part <NUM>, the second fluid in the two flow paths using the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> has been described, but the supply part <NUM> of the present invention is not limited thereto and the position and the number of the supply part <NUM> do not matter as long as the second fluid B is supplied to the internal mixing space <NUM> through the even number of flow paths and the supplied second fluid B is supplied to the inner side curved surfaces formed by the mixing members. Alternatively, in an embodiment, the second fluid supplied from the supply part <NUM> through the flow path may be supplied to a space between each of the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> and the piping <NUM>, that is to the first outer side curved surface <NUM> and the second outer side curved surface <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a side view of the extensional mixing element according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. With respect to the length of the piping, a length L5 of the mixing part <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> may be <NUM> times the inner diameter of the piping <NUM> but it not limited thereto and the length L5 of the mixing part <NUM> may be <NUM> to <NUM> times the inner diameter of the piping <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, with respect to the length of the piping, positions of the ends of the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> are the same as positions of the front end of the mixing element or may be lower than the position of the front end of the mixing element in <FIG> (rear side with respect to the piping). This is to supply the second fluids supplied through the first and second nozzles <NUM> and <NUM> directly to the curved surface formed by the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM>, without being spread to other parts.

The extensional mixing element according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in <FIG> is installed at the front end of the static mixer and used for the purpose of preliminary mixing, which obtains a high mixing effect within a relatively short interval, while less differential pressure is applied, when two different types of fluids having a significantly high difference in viscosity.

Hereinafter, an extensional mixing element according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The extensional mixing element according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is different from the extensional mixing element according to the first exemplary embodiment in that the rear ends of the first and second mixing members are twisted at different angles, relative to the front ends. Here, components not described in the second exemplary embodiment are regarded as being the same as those of the first exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> illustrates a cross-section of an extensional mixing element according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in the extensional mixing element according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first mixing member <NUM> has a twisted plate-like shape and the first rear end <NUM> is rotated by about <NUM> degrees from the first front end <NUM> so as to be twisted to form the first outer side curved surface <NUM> and the first inner side curved surface <NUM> on both twisted side surfaces of the first mixing member <NUM> and as in the first exemplary embodiment. Since the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> have the same structure, the second rear end <NUM> of the second mixing member <NUM> is rotated by about <NUM> degrees from the second front end <NUM> so as to be twisted to form the second outer side curved surface <NUM> and the second inner side curved surface <NUM>.

In the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> are twisted more than in the first exemplary embodiment, so that the curvature of each of the outer side curved surface and the inner side curved surface may be increased. Here, efficiency of mixing the first fluid and the second fluid may be improved, relative to the first exemplary embodiment, but a higher differential pressure than that of the first exemplary embodiment may be applied. Thus, the twisted degree of the first mixing member <NUM> and the second mixing member <NUM> may be variously used depending on viscosity and a supply rate of the first fluid and the second fluid.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> supply the second fluid to the internal mixing space <NUM> in the same manner as in the first exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> illustrates an extensional mixing element according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention is different from the first exemplary embodiment in that positions of the first and second nozzles <NUM> and <NUM> are changed. Thus, only the first and second nozzles <NUM> and <NUM> will be described, and the other components not described herein are regarded as being the same as those of the first exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in the extensional mixing element according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first and second mixing members <NUM> and <NUM> are twisted by <NUM> degrees as in the first exemplary embodiment but the second fluid is discharged from the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> to an external mixing space <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the external mixing space <NUM> is a space between the first outer side curved surface <NUM> and the second outer side curved surface <NUM> and the piping <NUM>, and the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> may supply the second fluid to the first outer side curved surface <NUM> and the second outer side curved surface <NUM>, respectively, so that the first fluid and the second fluid may be mixed with each other.

A distance from each of the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> to the center C of the piping <NUM> may be equal.

In the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in <FIG>, the supply part supplies the second fluid to the external mixing space <NUM>, but the present invention is not limited thereto and, as in the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated in <FIG>, the first nozzle <NUM> and the second nozzle <NUM> may supply the second fluid to the first inner side curved surface <NUM> and the second inner side curved surface <NUM> of the internal mixing space <NUM> and the third nozzle <NUM> and the fourth nozzle <NUM> may supply the second fluid to the first outer side curved surface <NUM> and the second outer side curved surface <NUM> of the external mixing space <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A mixing system, the mixing system comprising:
a piping (<NUM>) for supplying a first fluid (A);
a mixing part (<NUM>) including a first mixing member (<NUM>) and a second mixing member (<NUM>) installed in the piping (<NUM>), installed in a flow direction of the first fluid (A), wherein the first mixing member (<NUM>) and second mixing member (<NUM>) each have a twisted-plate like shape, wherein the first mixing member (<NUM>) includes a first outer side curved surface (<NUM>) and a first inner side curved surface (<NUM>) formed on both twisted side surfaces in which a first rear end (<NUM>) is rotated at a predetermined angle from a first front end (<NUM>) so as to be twisted, wherein the second mixing member (<NUM>) includes a second outer side curved surface (<NUM>) and a second inner side curved surface (<NUM>) formed on both twisted side surfaces in which a second rear end (<NUM>) is rotated at a predetermined angle from a second front end (<NUM>) so as to be twisted, and wherein the first mixing member (<NUM>) and the second mixing member (<NUM>) are fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the piping (<NUM>) and disposed to be spaced apart from each other to form an internal mixing space (<NUM>);
wherein the front end of each of the first mixing member (<NUM>) and the second mixing member (<NUM>) is disposed in a direction that the first fluid (A) is supplied, and the rear end thereof (<NUM>, <NUM>) is disposed in a direction that the first fluid (A) is discharged; and inner side curved surfaces (<NUM>, <NUM>) formed on each side are disposed to face each other,
characterized in
a supply part (<NUM>) for supplying a second fluid (B) to the internal mixing space (<NUM>) or the space between internal surface of the piping (<NUM>) and each of the first mixing member (<NUM>) and the second mixing member (<NUM>).