Patent ID: 7833329

Claim:
A plenum-based high-pressure blowback gas delivery system comprising: a filter vessel including and inlet and outlet for fluid; a tube sheet within the filter vessel dividing said filter vessel into a first vessel portion for unfiltered fluid and a second vessel portion, wherein the first vessel portion is in fluid communication with the inlet, wherein the second vessel portion is in fluid communication with the outlet, and wherein the second vessel portion encloses a plurality of plenums; a plurality of filter elements and venturis, attached to apertures in the tube sheet, through which the first vessel portion and the second vessel portion are in fluid communication; an instrumentation port to provide access for instrumentation to measure the pressure within the first vessel portion and the second vessel portion and to determine the pressure differential caused by accretion of particulate matter on the filter elements; a plurality of blowback valves, wherein each blowback valve is positioned between a source of high pressure blowback gas and a plenum and is controllably actuatable to open and closed states so as to provide and disrupt fluid communication between the source of high pressure blowback gas and the plenum; a plurality of nozzle tubes and nozzles within the second vessel portion aligned with the apertures in the tube sheet, wherein each plenum is in fluid connection with a subset of the nozzle tubes and nozzles; and wherein each plenum can independently deliver a surge of high-pressure blowback gas to the filter elements aligned with the associated subset of nozzle tubes and nozzles, and wherein each nozzle includes a nozzle orifice opening and is configured to provide a substantially uniform flow of high pressure gas from the plenum into each associated filter element, wherein the nozzles are sized to produce sonic or choked flow, and the mass flow rate depends only on the temperature and pressure on the upstream side of the nozzle and on the size of the nozzle orifice opening and is independent of the downstream pressure on the outlet side of the nozzle.