Patent ID: 7691235

Claim:
Apparatus for separating steam from a mixture of steam and fibers, comprising an elongated feeding compartment including a pair of short sides, and having an inlet arranged between the pair of short sides of the elongated feeding compartment, a conduit configured for feeding a mixture of steam and fibers through said inlet, and a conveyor worm arranged axially in the feeding compartment for the feeding of fibers, said conduit comprising a curved conduit section which is curved such that the mixture of steam and fibers during passage in the curved conduit section is separated under the influence of centrifugal forces into a substantially relatively heavy steam-less fraction of fibers in a radially outer layer and into a substantially light fiber-free fraction of steam in a radially inner layer, the curved conduit section is arranged in such a way that a heavy fraction of fibers is fed through the inlet peripherally into the elongated feeding compartment of the apparatus, where the separated fraction of fibers are conveyed further by means of the conveyer worm, while the separated light fraction of steam is fed through the inlet against the center of the elongated feeding compartment and removed through an outlet of the apparatus.