Patent ID: 7182866

Claim:
An apparatus for separating impurities from a stream comprising: a rotor cone cap having an inner conical wall and an outer portion, said rotor cone cap comprising: an inlet for the stream; a baffle plate extending about the periphery of said inner conical wall to distribute the stream radially inward; a rotor bowl having an inner portion and an outer portion, said rotor bowl being connected to said rotor cone cap, and wherein said rotor bowl comprises: a plurality of impeller vanes arranged on the inner portion of said rotor bowl, wherein said baffle plate directs the stream to said impeller vanes, and wherein said impeller vanes comprise a plurality of vertically extending members; an array of cavities operatively arranged to receive the stream from said plurality of impeller vanes; a membrane, operatively positioned within said array of cavities, for separating the impurities from the stream; a permeate outlet for delivering a permeate from the rotor bowl; drive means, operatively connected to said rotor bowl, for rotating the rotor bowl so that the stream within said inner conical wall and the stream within said inner portion of said rotor bowl is exposed to a centrifugal force.