Patent ID: 8414756

Claim:
An electrostatic coalescer for promoting glycerin coalescence in a biodiesel stream, the electrostatic coalescer comprising: an elongated, closed, vertically disposed vessel defining an interior volume and having a fluid inlet located at a lower portion of said vessel, a first fluid outlet located at a lower portion of said vessel, and a second fluid outlet located at a top portion of said vessel; at least one first electrode surface located in an upper portion of said interior volume of said vessel and arranged about a central longitudinal axis of said vessel, a portion of said first electrode surface being in communication with an interior surface of said vessel, such communication grounding said first electrode surface; at least one second electrode comprising a first surface of the second electrode and a second surface of the second electrode located in an upper portion of said interior volume of said vessel and arranged about the central longitudinal axis of said vessel and having a same planar orientation as said first electrode surface, said first and second electrode surfaces of the second electrode defining a horizontal cross section that becomes narrower toward the central longitudinal axis of said vessel; a horizontally disposed foraminous surface located in a lower portion of said interior volume of said vessel above said fluid inlet and below said first and second electrode surfaces and grounded through being in communication with an interior surface of said vessel; a power supply external to said vessel and being in communication with said second electrode surface; whereby said first and second electrode surfaces and said foraminous surface establish effectively a voltage field around a perimeter portion of said interior volume of said vessel and in a center portion of said interior volume of said vessel, the voltage field serving to coalesce and augment the separation of glycerin in the biodiesel stream as the biodiesel stream passes between and about said first and second electrode surfaces and through said voltage field.