Air washer particularly for paint spray booths

Abstract

Air or other gases containing contaminants or requiring treatment are moved into at least one substantially continuous sheet of treating liquid at the entrance to a streamline flow passage having a smoothly curved convex interior surface progressively decreasing in cross-sectional area in direction of flow. A nozzle mounted adjacent the entrance end of the flow passage generates one or more substantially continuous sheets of treating liquid covering the entrance to the passage. The passage has a convex throat and an exit smaller than the entrance so that the gas and treating liquid entrained therein move through the passage at an accelerating velocity with smooth, substantially unidirectional flow, and are discharged therefrom with no discernible turbulence or splashing. The gas and the treating liquid are discharged from the flow passage into an eliminator chamber of large volume, whereupon the treating liquid and any entrained contaminants drop out of and are separated from the gas. The invention is particularly adapted to paint spray booths for removal of paint overspray from the booth ventilating air prior to discharge of the air to atmosphere.