Patent ID: 7776139

Claim:
A coalescer comprising a housing having a separator chamber and a coalescer chamber, a separator in said separator chamber separating gas and liquid by inertial impaction, a coalescer filter element in said coalescer chamber separating gas and liquid by coalescence, said housing having a gas-liquid inlet delivering a gas-liquid mixture to said separator for at least partial pre-separation of said gas and liquid, said housing having a transfer passage transferring said partially pre-separated gas and liquid from said separator chamber to said coalescer chamber, at least a portion of said pre-separated liquid remaining in said separator chamber, said coalescer filter element dividing said coalescer chamber into an upstream subchamber and a downstream subchamber, said coalescer filter element having an upstream face facing said upstream subchamber and receiving said partially pre-separated gas and liquid through said transfer passage from said separator chamber, said coalescer filter element having a downstream face facing said downstream subchamber and discharging gas and separated coalesced liquid, the gas-liquid flow through said housing experiencing a pressure drop between said separator chamber and said downstream subchamber, said housing having a gas outlet discharging gas from said downstream subchamber, said housing having a drain outlet draining liquid from said downstream subchamber, a transfer tube extending between said separator chamber and said downstream subchamber and supplying said pre-separated liquid from said separator chamber through said transfer tube to said downstream subchamber as driven by the pressure differential between said separator chamber and said downstream subchamber, wherein said transfer tube is different than said transfer passage, said transfer passage has an inlet from said separator chamber, and an outlet to said upstream subchamber, said transfer tube has an inlet from said separator chamber, and an outlet to said downstream subchamber.