Cavitation reactor comprising pulse valve and resonance chamber

摘要

A cavitation reactor having a pulse valve for receiving an input fluid flow and generating a pulsed output flow that is provided to the input of a resonance chamber, such as a tube. The pulse valve uses a shaft with a number of regularly spaced lands to form fluid conduits between an input port and the output port connected to the resonance tube to cause fluid communication between the input and output ports to be regularly opened and closed, thereby producing a pulsed output that drives the formation of resonance waves in the resonance chamber. The shaft is rotated at a suitable frequency to produce cavitation bubbles that collapse in the resonance chamber without damaging the valve shaft.

主权项

1. A cavitation reactor comprising:
(a) a pulse valve comprising:
(i) a housing having a cylindrical bore extending laterally along the axis of the bore, the cylindrical bore being defined by an inner cylindrical surface of the housing, the housing having an input port and a pulse valve output port, each port providing a separate fluid communication path between an outer surface of the housing and the bore; and(ii) a valve shaft coaxially positioned in the bore and having a central portion and at least two lands extending radially therefrom, each land having a surface and having an end proximate to the cylindrical inner surface of the housing, the central portion having a surface, the valve shaft being rotatable inside the bore around the bore axis,wherein the lands extend laterally, along the bore axis, so that the surfaces of the valve shaft, in combination with the housing, define one or more fluid conduits, each fluid conduit having a bottom portion defined by the surfaces of two adjacent lands and the central portion therebetween,wherein the valve shaft is continuously rotatable so that each fluid conduit repeatedly moves between a position in which the input port and the pulse valve output port are not in fluid communication with each other, so that the fluid communication path is closed, to an open position in which the input port and the pulse valve output port are in fluid communication with each other, so that the fluid communication path is open and fluid flows from the input port, through the conduit and out the pulse valve output port; and (b) a resonance chamber having a fundamental frequency, the resonance chamber being in fluid communication with the pulse valve output port, the resonance chamber having a resonance chamber output port,wherein continuously rotating the valve shaft results in repeated opening and closing of the fluid communication path so that when fluid is injected into the input port, a pulsed fluid flow is produced at the pulse valve output port, which drives a resonant wave in the resonance chamber, and the fluid moves through the resonance chamber from the pulse valve output port to the resonance chamber output port.