Method for cleaning porous metallic filters using a steam-ultrasonic technique

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9789520-B2
Application number	US-201113160220-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2011
Priority date	Jun 22, 2010
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

A method of cleaning plugged or dirty porous metallic filter elements to regain filter activity, comprising the steps of: steaming a filter element for a first period of time; submerging the filter element in a first solution; and exposing the first solution to ultrasound waves for a second period of time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for cleaning plugged or dirty porous sintered metal filter coupon to regain filter activity comprising the following steps in sequence:
i. arranging a filter coupon to be held at an angle between 10° to 40° from horizontal;
ii. steaming said filter coupon for a first period of time by blasting about 100 psig steam against the filter coupon in a back flushing orientation for about 10 to 20 minutes so as to dislodge fine particles from pores within the filter coupon;
iii. drying the filter coupon for about three hours with a device selected from the group consisting of: an oven, a dehumidifier, a heater or combinations thereof and where the filter coupon is heated to about 150° C.;
iv. submerging the filter coupon in a first solution at a depth of about 1 to 1.5 inches below the surface of the first solution wherein the first solution comprises at least water and citric acid;
v. exposing the filter coupon to ultrasound waves within the first solution for a second period of time of about 15 to 90 minutes wherein the ultrasound waves are applied to the filter coupon at a range of about 50 to 60 Hz; and
vi. soaking the filter coupon in a second solution for a third period of time being about one hour wherein the second solution is about 10 wt % citric acid in water.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activity of the cleaned filter coupon regains about 90% of its original activity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activity of the cleaned filter coupon regains about 94% of its original activity.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plugged or dirty porous metallic filter coupons occur from liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon streams.

Assignees

• Uppili Sundararajan
• Phillips 66 Co

Inventors

• Uppili Sundararajan

Classifications

• B01D41/00

  Regeneration of the filtering material or filter elements outside the filter for liquid or gaseous fluids · CPC title

• B08B7/028

  Using ultrasounds · CPC title

• B08B3/00

  Cleaning by methods involving the use or presence of liquid or steam (B08B9/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B08B2230/01

  Cleaning with steam · CPC title

• B08B3/12 Primary

  by sonic or ultrasonic vibrations · CPC title