Integrated Cavitation Rotor and Disc Pump for Low-Drag Fluid Mixing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cavitation devices require an external pump to force liquids through, leading to inefficiencies and potential damage, especially when handling gas volumes and sensitive polymers, and they suffer from viscous drag issues.
Innovation Solution
A combined disc pump and cavitation device design where a rotating disc facilitates both pumping and reduces drag, using the same motor to turn the cavitation rotor, eliminating the need for an external pump and minimizing pressure buildup.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If an external pump is used to force liquid through the cavitation device, then the liquid can be pumped through the device, but the device complexity increases and potential damage occurs to sensitive polymers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the pumping function and cavitation function into a single integrated device. The rotor with cavities serves dual purposes: it generates cavitation when rotating within the housing while simultaneously acting as the pumping element that moves liquid through the device, eliminating the need for a separate external pump.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor structure performs multiple functions: it generates cavitation in the liquid while also serving as the pumping mechanism. This multi-functional design reduces device complexity by consolidating what would traditionally require separate components.
2Productivity
If a centrifugal pump with impeller blades is used, then liquid can be pumped, but the impeller blades fracture and break solids into smaller particles that resist separation
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using sharp impeller blades that cut and fragment particles, the patent uses smooth cavities in the rotor that generate cavitation through pressure changes. This localized change in the rotor surface quality eliminates particle fragmentation while maintaining pumping capability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional cavitation devices with stationary end walls are used, then cavitation can be generated, but viscous drag against the stationary wall reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the end wall dynamic by integrating it with the rotating rotor structure. The end wall rotates with the rotor, eliminating the relative motion between the wall and liquid that causes viscous drag, while still maintaining the cavitation-generating geometry.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The combined device efficiently heats and mixes fluids without external pumping, handles high viscosity fluids, and is safer by preventing pressure buildup, making it suitable for oilfield applications without damaging sensitive materials.
Implementation Method 1
The phenomenon of cavitation in all previous devices relevant hereto is caused by the rapid passage of the liquid over the cavities, which creates a vacuum in them, tending to vaporize the liquid; the vacuum is immediately filled again by the liquid and created again by the movement of the liquid, causing extreme turbulence in the cavities, further causing heat energy to be imparted into the liquid.
Implementation Method 2
By the incorporation of at least one rotating disc having an open center for the passage of liquid, and with an appropriate housing design for intake and outflow, I am able to use the same motor that turns the cavitation device rotor to turn the disc also, thus utilizing the disc in combination with the cavitation rotor as a kind of disc pump to pass the liquid through the cavitation device.
Data Source
AI summary
A cavitation device is supplied by a disc pump with fluids for mixing. A cavitation rotor, having an array of cavities on its cylindrical surface, is fixed to a shaft for rotation by a motor. The disc pump and the cavitation device are beneficially in the same housing. At least one disc is spaced from and attached to the rotor near the inlet end of the cylindrical housing, so it will rotate with the rotor. A central hole in the (at least one) disc permits fluid to enter the space between the disc and the rotor; it is flung toward the peripheral space between the rotor and the cylindrical housing, where it is subjected to cavitation, and then passed to an outlet. The shaft may pass through one or both of the end walls of the cylindrical housing. The cavitation pump is especially useful for mixing oil field fluids.