Foseco International Limited

Frank Ernest Ravault

Colin Washbourne

Robert Anthony Fishburn

Godfrey V Jeffreys

Clive J Mumford

This invention relates to the treatment of droplet dispersions employing a novel device which is a coalescer element consisting of a body of porous material having communicating porosity and two opposite faces, the pore size increasing progressively from a region at or adjacent one face of the body to the opposite face. In the treatment according to the invention the dispersion is passed through the coalescer element in a direction of increasing pore size and the disperse phase is coalesced by the element. The progressive increase in porosity of the novel coalescer is advantageous in that it provides a large target area at the inlet and hence a high collection efficiency for droplets of disperse phase below 100.mu.m in diameter, without the disadvantage of the high resistance to liquid flow normally associated with devices having a high target area.

Treatment of droplet dispersions

A method of bonding particulate material, especially such material which contains iron or zinc oxides, e.g. steelmaking fume or blast furnace dust, by treating the material with at least aqueous formic acid to produce an acid solution containing metal ions, and then allowing or causing the pH of the solution to increase so as to form a metal hydroxide to bond the material to consolidated form.

Bonding of particulate materials

Porous ceramic materials are made by impregnating a foam with a slurry of finely divided ceramic material, drying and firing the foam. Prior to impregnating the foam it is treated so that the particulate material of the slurry will adhere to the foam.

Growing community of inventors

Birmingham, United Kingdom

Frank Ernest Ravault