Patent ID: 7179379

Claim:
An apparatus for separating particulates from a fluid in a suspension, comprising: a housing defining a frusto-conically shaped inner chamber with an inner wall, an inlet and a first outlet communicating with said chamber, and a second outlet; and a spinning assembly with a hollow interior mounted in the chamber, said assembly being shaped to define an annular gap with the chamber inner wall, said hollow interior communicating with the second outlet, and said hollow interior communicating with said annular gap for flow of fluid materials from said gap into said interior and out of said second outlet in response to rotation of the spinning assembly, wherein said spinning assembly comprises a hollow spindle forming a tube-like structure extending inside of said spinning assembly and defining a spindle inlet located within the spinning assembly and a spindle outlet, said spindle outlet communicating with said housing second outlet, and a tapered, porous cylindrical wall mounted on said hollow spindle to define said hollow interior, the hollow interior communicating with said hollow spindle through said spindle inlet, wherein the hollow spindle forms a tube-like structure that extends along the entire length of the porous cylindrical wall and the spindle inlet is thereby disposed within said porous cylindrical wall and wherein the spindle inlet is disposed at a level below the inlet and above the first outlet.