Weldless Conical Flow Mixer for Hydrocarbon Processing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mixers for processing hydrocarbons and fine chemicals are complex and expensive to manufacture, making them difficult to simplify or cost-reduce, especially for smaller installations.
Innovation Solution
The development of a simpler, weldless in-line injection mixer with a mixer body and conical flow member that narrows and expands to create turbulence, featuring support arms and differential pressure ports, allowing for efficient fluid mixing and chemical injection without pipe flanges or threaded ends, facilitating cost-effective production and installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional mixers are used for hydrocarbon processing, then mixing effectiveness is maintained, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mixer body is divided into distinct functional sections: a conical flow member with narrowing and expanding portions, support arms extending radially inward, and injection passages. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured separately using standard machining operations and then assembled, significantly reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining mixing effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The conical flow member and support arms are integrated into a single unitary structure that forms an integral part of the mixer body. This merging eliminates the need for separate manufacturing and assembly of multiple components, reducing both manufacturing steps and potential leak points, thereby simplifying the overall device
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional mixers with flanges and threads are used, then connection reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The design eliminates traditional pipe flanges and threaded connections by integrating the mixer body directly into the pipeline system using weldless coupling methods. This extraction of unnecessary components reduces manufacturing complexity and assembly steps while maintaining reliable fluid-tight connections through the integral design
Solution Approach 2:
The mixer body is designed to be self-containing, with all injection passages, support arms, and flow control features integrated into a single unit that requires no external flanges or threaded attachments. This self-service design reduces the number of parts that need to be manufactured and assembled, thereby simplifying manufacturing while maintaining connection integrity
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 mixer design reduces manufacturing complexity and costs while maintaining effective mixing and injection capabilities, suitable for smaller installations and various chemical processing applications.
Implementation Method 1
a first portion of the passage narrows in the direction of flow from the inlet to a point of constriction; a second portion of the passage expands in the direction of flow from the point of constriction to the outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A mixing apparatus for in-line mixing of fluids is described herein. In some embodiments, the mixing apparatus comprises a mixer body defining a plurality of support arms and a substantially conical flow member that can be coupled to the plurality of support arms. In other embodiments, the mixer body defines at least one body injection passage extending from an injection inlet on the exterior surface of the mixer body through one of the support arms; the flow member defines a flow member injection passage extending through at least a portion of the flow member to an injection outlet defined at the leading end or the peripheral surface of the flow member; and the flow member is coupled to the support arms such that the injection inlet is in fluid communication with the injection outlet via the mixer body injection passage and the flow member injection passage.