Oil Separator Segmented Housing for Easy Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air systems in vehicles, such as trucks and construction machines, face operational defects due to compressed air containing water and oil, which leads to rust and swelling of rubber components, and current oil separators require frequent maintenance and cleaning, making them cumbersome to disassemble and reassemble.
Innovation Solution
An oil separator design with a housing, expansion chambers, and a mounting mechanism that allows easy separation and cleaning, featuring impingement plates and a liquid communication system to efficiently separate and store oil and water, facilitating the recovery of oil from compressed air while allowing for easy maintenance by dismounting the collected liquid storage portion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an oil separator is provided to separate oil from compressed air, then oil recovery and environmental protection are improved, but the housing requires periodic cleaning and maintenance which increases operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The oil separator housing is divided into an upper housing and a lower housing that can be separated from each other. The impingement member is segmented into multiple plates arranged in series. This segmentation allows the lower housing to be easily removed for cleaning and maintenance without disassembling the entire device, resolving the contradiction between effective oil separation and ease of maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower housing containing the collected liquid storage portion is extracted as a separate removable component from the upper housing. This extraction allows maintenance personnel to access and clean the oil collection area without affecting the upper housing and inlet structure, improving maintenance accessibility while maintaining separation effectiveness.
2Reliability
If the transverse cross-sectional area of the expansion chamber is greater than the inlet opening area, then oil separation efficiency is improved, but the housing volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion chamber is designed with a vertical arrangement of multiple impingement plates rather than expanding horizontally in all directions. This dimensional change allows the separation process to occur through the vertical stack of plates, achieving high separation efficiency while minimizing the overall housing volume footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple impingement plates are nested vertically within the housing, with each plate contributing to the separation process. This nested arrangement maximizes the separation surface area within a compact volume, achieving high oil separation efficiency without proportionally increasing housing size.
3Loss of substance
If liquid containing separated oil is stored in the housing, then oil recovery is improved, but the interior requires periodic cleaning and impingement member replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into upper and lower portions that can be separated. The lower housing contains the collected liquid storage portion and can be removed independently for cleaning. This segmentation allows oil recovery functionality to be maintained while making cleaning and impingement member replacement accessible and straightforward.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower housing with the liquid storage portion is extracted as a removable unit. This extraction enables maintenance personnel to easily access and clean the oil collection area and replace impingement members without disassembling the entire oil separator, improving ease of repair while maintaining effective oil recovery.
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 oil separator effectively separates oil and water from compressed air, reduces maintenance needs by allowing easy disassembly and cleaning of components, and prevents oil from being redeposited into the air stream, enhancing operational reliability and reducing maintenance frequency.
Implementation Method 1
The transverse cross-sectional area of the expansion chamber is greater than the opening area of the inlet, causing air to expand and slow down, enabling oil particles to settle out of the air stream
Implementation Method 2
air that contains oil to strike an impingement member provided in the housing to separate the oil from the air
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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AI summary
An oil separator is provided with a housing having an inlet for air, and an expansion chamber located inside the housing. The oil separator introduces air containing oil that has passed through the inlet into the housing, and separates and recovers the oil from the introduced air. The transverse cross-sectional area of the expansion chamber is larger than the opening area of the inlet. The oil separator is further provided with a collected liquid storage portion that is located below the expansion chamber and collects the separated oil, a liquid communication portion having a communication hole that connects the expansion chamber to the collected liquid storage portion, and a mounting and dismounting mechanism for mounting and dismounting the collected liquid storage portion to and from the housing.