Double wall flow shifter baffles and associated static mixer and methods of mixing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10245565-B2
Application number	US-201615074013-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2016
Priority date	Aug 7, 2015
Publication date	Apr 2, 2019
Grant date	Apr 2, 2019

Abstract

A flow shifter baffle for mixing a fluid flow having at least two components, a static mixer and method of mixing. The flow shifter baffle includes a double divider wall element adjacent to a leading edge and a plurality of occluding walls coupled to the double divider wall element. The double divider wall element includes first and second generally parallel walls which extend across the entire transverse flow cross-section. The double divider wall element is configured to divide the fluid flow into a central flow portion and first and second peripheral flow portions. This division of the fluid flow using the double divider wall element and the plurality of occluding walls improves the mixing of separate components by producing a greater number of layers with less jumbling of the layers, when a layered composition of multiple components is delivered into the flow shifter baffle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flow shifter baffle for mixing a fluid flow having at least two fluid components, the flow shifter baffle comprising:
a leading edge and a trailing edge, the flow shifter baffle defining a transverse flow cross-section perpendicular to the fluid flow along an entire length between the leading and trailing edges and an axis perpendicular to and centered with respect to the transverse flow cross-section, with the transverse flow cross-section having an outer periphery;
a double divider wall element adjacent to the leading edge, the double divider wall element including first and second generally parallel walls that extend across an entirety of the transverse flow cross-section and define a central opening from the first wall to the second wall at the leading edge such that the axis extends through the central opening, wherein the double divider wall element is configured to divide the fluid flow into a central flow portion that flows through the central opening and first and second peripheral flow portions;
a plurality of occluding walls coupled to the double divider wall element and positioned to force movement of the first and second peripheral flow portions; and
a dividing panel adjacent to the trailing edge and extending substantially perpendicular to the transverse flow cross-section, the dividing panel defining a first side, a second side opposite the first side, and an opening extending therethrough from the first side to the second side.

2. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1
wherein the dividing panel is coupled to the double divider wall element, and the first and second sides face opposite directions and are oriented transverse from the first and second generally parallel walls,
wherein the plurality of occluding walls force the first peripheral flow portion to flow along the first side of the dividing panel and the second peripheral flow portion to flow along the second side of the dividing panel, thereby shifting the central flow portion towards an outer periphery of the flow shifter baffle as the first and second peripheral flow portions flow along the first and second sides of the dividing panel respectively.

3. The flow shifter baffle of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of occluding walls further comprise first, second, third, and fourth occluding walls,
wherein the first occluding wall located in a lower left quadrant forces the first peripheral flow portion to shift upwardly, and the second occluding wall located in an upper left quadrant forces the first peripheral flow portion to shift downwardly along the first side of the dividing panel, and
wherein the third occluding wall located on an upper right quadrant forces the first peripheral flow portion to shift downwardly, and the fourth occluding wall located in a lower right quadrant forces the second peripheral flow portion to shift upwardly along the second side of the dividing panel.

4. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1 , wherein the double divider wall element further comprises a first central occluding wall surface located along an upper portion of space defined between the first and second parallel walls.

5. The flow shifter baffle of claim 4 , wherein the first central occluding wall surface is angled with respect to the transverse flow cross-section.

6. The flow shifter baffle of claim 4 , wherein the double divider wall element further comprises a second central occluding wall surface integrally formed to one of the plurality of occluding walls.

7. The flow shifter baffle of claim 6 , wherein the first and second central occluding wall surfaces do not overlap.

8. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1 , wherein the first and second generally parallel walls include a tapered or sharpened end at the leading edge to help reduce backpressure and guide the fluid flow into spaces around the double divider wall element.

9. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1 , further comprising:
a central X-shaped structure extending between the first and second parallel walls and including first and second angled walls, the first angled wall extending from the first parallel wall at the leading edge to a back end of the second parallel wall and the second angled wall extending from the second parallel wall at the leading edge to a back end of the first parallel wall.

10. The flow shifter baffle of claim 9 , wherein the first angled wall is located at a top portion of the transverse flow cross-section of the flow shifter baffle, while the second angled wall is located at a bottom portion of the transverse flow cross-section of the flow shifter baffle.

11. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1 , wherein there are no walls or other structure extending between the first and second parallel walls, such that the central flow portion does not shift between the first and second parallel walls.

12. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of occluding walls is substantially parallel to the transverse flow cross-section.

13. The flow shifter baffle of claim 1 , further comprising:
a central occluding wall positioned between the first and second walls of the double divider wall element, wherein the central occluding wall defines an opening extending therethrough such that the axis extends through the opening and the opening is configured to receive the central flow portion.

14. A static mixer for mixing a fluid flow having at least two fluid components, the static mixer comprising:
a mixer conduit configured to receive the fluid flow; and
a mixing component defined by a plurality of mixing elements positioned in the mixer conduit, the plurality of mixing elements including at least one flow shifter baffle according to claim 1 .

15. The static mixer of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of mixing elements are configured to mix the at least two fluid components.

Assignees

• Nordson Corp

Inventors

• Pappalardo Matthew E

Classifications

• B01F2215/0039

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F5/0641

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F5/0606 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F3/10

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F13/0023

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic