Conical Impeller and Applications Thereof

摘要

An conical impeller with a hub that has a conical surface extending into the interior of the impeller. The hub has spiral, slanting arms which are attached or integrally formed with a plurality of curved blades. The blades can be connected at the bottom by a ring. The intersection of the conical surface of the hub with the blade forms an upward path for fluids and their entrained particles or gases which have been brought into the interior of the impeller to effectively completely be ejected. The discharge edges of the blades and/or the conical surface of the hub may have openings for discharging gas into the fluid. The impeller imparts low shear to the fluid and its components, and the shear is independent or only depends slightly on the size of the impeller. The impeller minimizes or eliminates particle agglomeration and fouling of the impeller. The efficiency of and flow pattern produced by the impeller means that containers don't require the use of baffles. The high efficiency and low shear of the impeller is useful for applications such as mixing of biological fluids, decontamination of produced water, chemical mechanical polishing, and flotation cells.

主权项

1. An impeller comprising:
a hub comprising a lower conical surface and a plurality of spiral arms, each arm comprising an outwardly slanted outer slanted side; and a plurality of blades circumferentially mounted to said hub, an inner surface of a proximal edge of each blade attached to said outer slanted side such that a distal edge of each blade is flared out to define a circumference larger than that of said hub, thereby imparting a generally conical shape to the impeller.