Apparatus for separating solids from liquids

Abstract

An apparatus for separating solids, such as metal cuttings, from liquids, such as machine coolant, the apparatus having an upwardly inclined elongated housing which in cross-section is U-shaped with a semi-circular bottom and parallel sides, the housing being opened at the top and covered throughout its length by a removable lid, a helix rotated in the housing and extending from the lower end to the upper end, the housing having a solids discharge chute near the upper end, a gear motor mounted on the upper end of the housing for rotation of the helix and having at the lower end an upwardly extending fluid inlet chamber, the open top serving as an inlet by which solids containing liquids is conducted into the apparatus and having an upwardly extending overflow chamber connected with the lower portion of the housing, the walls of the overflow chamber being of less height than the inlet chamber, the inlet chamber, the overflow chamber and the lower portion of the housing together forming a quiescent zone in which solid particles can settle into the lower portion of the housing where they are picked up by the rotating helix and carried upwardly to the discharge chute, the liquid flowing out of the overflow chamber being collected for recirculation. To augment the separation of paramagnetic particles, permanent magnets may be secured to the bottom of the lower portion of the housing.