Patent ID: 8541758

Claim:
An ultraviolet reactor for irradiating a flow of fluid with ultraviolet light, the reactor comprising: a chamber comprising a tubular housing and an end wall, the housing defining an interior and extending along a longitudinal axis between upper and lower ends, the end wall closing the lower end of the housing, an inlet opening adjacent the lower end of the housing and a discharge opening adjacent the upper end the housing, the housing axis defining a radial direction perpendicular to the axis; a plurality of ultraviolet lamps and a plurality of elongate rods in the housing, each lamp and each rod extending along a respective axis parallel with the housing axis; a plurality of baffles in the housing, the baffles longitudinally spaced apart from one another and attached to the rods, the baffles comprising a lowermost baffle closest to the end wall, the rods extending through the other one or more baffles to the lowermost baffle; each baffle comprising an annular body disposed generally transverse to the longitudinal axis and a plurality of blades extending in the radial direction away from the body, the blades circumferentially spaced apart around the body, each blade inclined or twisted with respect to the body; each baffle body comprising a first set of through-holes extending through the baffle body, the lamps extending through and closely received in the first set of holes whereby the baffle body resists radial motion of the lamps passing therethrough, and the blades of each baffle cooperating with one another to urge rotational flow of fluid flowing in the longitudinal direction from the inlet opening towards the upper end of the housing that impinges the blades.