Patent ID: 7470363

Claim:
A separation device for removing microbubbles and/or microparticles from a flowing stream, which device comprises conduit means for carrying a liquid stream containing microbubbles and/or microparticles, which conduit means includes a main inlet, a main outlet and a side outlet, transducer means upstream of said side outlet for deflecting microbubbles and/or microparticles in a flowing stream to said side outlet, receiving means having a valve outlet at its top and a lower liquid outlet nears its bottom with a major portion of said receiving means being filled with inert fibrous material, and a side outlet conduit which connects said side outlet to an upper location in said receiving means so that liquid diverted from said main stream through said side outlet enters said mass of fibrous material causing the separation of microbubbles and/or microparticles therefrom with cleansed liquid moving downward by gravity and exiting through the lower outlet while microbubbles gravitate upward into the top region of the receiving means from whence they can be removed through the valved outlet.