The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 13, 2025
Filed:
Dec. 09, 2020
Hellenes Holding As, Førde, NO;
Agnar Hellenes, Førde, NO;
Grant Prideco, Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A method for thermal separation of a substance flowing into a treatment chamber by use of a separation apparatus includes a vessel and a heating device. The vessel has a vessel wall with an inner surface enclosing a treatment chamber of a length l, a height H and a width W. The vessel includes at least one substance inlet and at least one first outlet and at least one second outlet for non-evaporable and evaporable parts, respectively. The heating device is arranged outside the treatment chamber and a rotary mechanism includes a rotatable axle arranged within the treatment chamber directed along the treatment chamber's length h and a mixing device of radial diameter dand axial length Ifixed to the rotatable axle and extending perpendicular to the rotatable axle. The method includes: A. heating the inner surface (la) by use of the heating device to transfer thermal energy to a minimum peripheral volume (V) of the treatment chamber confined between the mixing device and the inner surface (la), B. rotating the rotary mechanism by use of a rotary drive operably fixed to the rotatable axle to a peripheral rotation velocity (v) measured at a radial outer boundary of the mixing device's which exceeds a minimum peripheral rotation velocity (v) of 5 meters per second, C. feeding the substance into the treatment chamber through the at least one substance inlet using a feeding device, wherein the substance includes two or more components, where at least one of the components is evaporable at an evaporation temperature (T), and D. adjusting at least one of an input power of the heating device, the flow of the substance fed into at least one of the at least one substance inlet, an input power of the rotary drive and an output flow of a non-evaporated part of the substance released from the at least one first outlet, such that a total thermal energy transferred into at least part of the minimum peripheral volume (V) results in an operational temperature (T) that exceeds the evaporation temperature (T) during operation, and wherein the amount of thermal energy transferred into the part of the minimum peripheral volume (V) by the heating device constitutes more than 60% of the total thermal energy transferred.