Patent ID: 8459302

Claim:
A multiport valve apparatus for purifying, treating and separating fluids by directing multiple fluid streams into and out of a fluid-solid contacting apparatus having a plurality of fluid-solid contacting chambers, said multiport valve comprising: a rotating cylindrical-shaped head having a circular-shaped sealing base, a circular-shaped fastening base with an axis of rotation therethrough the center of said bases and a cylinder side surface connecting said bases, with said bases having a radius, said sealing base having an inner concentric circle with a radius that is substantially less than said sealing base radius and said sealing base having an outer concentric circle with a radius that is greater than said inner circle radius but less than said sealing base radius; said sealing base further comprising a plurality of first rotating ports centered on the outer concentric circle, spaced radially equidistant from one another and further comprising a plurality of second rotating ports centered on said inner concentric circle also spaced radially equidistant from one another, wherein the plurality of first rotating ports and the plurality of second rotating ports are equal to one another in number and wherein each of said rotating ports has a diameter; wherein each of said rotating ports further comprises an arcuate obround-shaped recess aligned along the respective inner and outer concentric circles with each recess having a width corresponding to the diameter of each port and having a length such that the space between each equidistant recess from an adjacent recess is approximately less than or equal to the cross-sectional area of each port; wherein each first rotating port is connected to its corresponding second rotating port via a transverse channel to provide a rotating flow pair and; wherein each flow pair are connected in the following manner: starting with any first rotating port and then connecting that first rotating port to the nearest radially adjacent second rotating port via a transverse channel to form the first rotating flow pair, then connecting the next immediately radially adjacent clockwise first rotating port from said starting first rotating port to the nearest immediately radially adjacent counterclockwise second rotating port from said starting second rotating port via a transverse channel to form the second rotating flow pair, and so on until each first rotating port is connected to a second rotating port and wherein the number of rotating flow pairs corresponds to the number of chambers; wherein upon rotation of said valve, each of said rotating flow pairs can be sequenced to connect to said plurality of fluid-solid contacting chambers to direct fluid streams into and out of said fluid-contacting chambers.