Patent ID: 8740600

Claim:
In apparatus used for treating a non-conducting liquid stream to enable removal of particles suspended in the liquid, which comprises means for dividing a stream of liquid into two separate flow stream halves; means for contacting a first flow stream half with an electrode charged to a positive voltage while flowing the liquid along a first charging channel flow path having a circular cross section and a width, to thereby positively charge particles within the liquid; means for contacting a second flow stream half with an electrode charged to a negative voltage while flowing the liquid along a second charging channel flow path having a circular cross section and a width, to thereby negatively charge particles within the liquid; means for merging the first and second flow stream halves, positioned downstream from said means for contacting, to form a merged stream; and, means for flowing said merged stream along a mixing flow path; wherein an improvement which comprises: electrodes within each said charging channel flow path, wherein each electrode is comprised of a multiplicity of metal wire bristles arranged in a row which runs helically along a length of a conductive post; wherein, bristle portions of each electrode have a width which is the same as a width of the circular cross section of the charging channel flow path with which each electrode is associated; and wherein, helical turns of the row of bristles are spaced apart about one-quarter inch, center to center.