Impact particulate collector using a rotary impeller for collecting particulates and moving a fluid

Abstract

A particle collector includes a combined impact collector and fan, which is usable for both drawing air or other gaseous fluid in which particulates are entrained into a cavity, and then separating the particulates from the gaseous fluid by providing a rotating surface that impacts the particulates. The particulates also impact on other surfaces within the cavity, including its inner surface, and are washed from these surfaces, which are wetted with water or other liquid injected into the cavity. The cavity is defined by a housing having an inlet port through which the air or other gaseous fluid is drawn. The combined impact collector and fan includes a plate on which a plurality of spaced-apart impeller vanes are disposed. The shape of the impeller vanes produces a centrifugal fan effect when they are rotated within the cavity. The water or other liquid is either continuously or intermittently injected into the cavity to wash the particulates from the impeller vanes and other surfaces on which they have impacted. The particulates are carried by the liquid through a threaded drain port, into a receiver that includes an exhaust port for the air or gaseous fluid. A pump recirculates the liquid from the receiver through a conduit that sprays the liquid into the cavity through the inlet port. The particulates collected in the receiver provide a specimen that can be analyzed to detect or identify the particulates that were entrained in the air or other gaseous fluid.