Pressure-Balanced Valve for Separator Cleaning with Low External Force
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning valves for separators, particularly in heavy-duty vacuum cleaners, require significant external force to open and are not easily automated, making them inefficient and costly to maintain.
Innovation Solution
A valve design featuring a main valve closure body, a control body, a control chamber with variable volume, and a trigger valve that balances pressures to facilitate rapid opening with low external force, allowing for efficient automation and low-cost manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a traditional cleaning valve design is used, then the valve can open to allow reverse flow, but significant external force is required to open it
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies pressure balancing to counteract the force required to open the valve. The control chamber receives pressurized fluid that creates a counterbalancing force on the control body, offsetting the external force needed to overcome the sealed closure body and open the valve. This allows the valve to open with minimal external force when control pressure is applied.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses pressurized fluid (pneumatic or hydraulic) applied to the control chamber to generate the force needed to move the control body and open the valve. The control fluid connector delivers pressurized fluid that acts on the control body, enabling automated or remote operation without requiring significant manual external force.
2Speed
If a traditional cleaning valve design is used, then the valve can be opened, but rapid opening is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The control chamber is pre-filled with pressurized fluid through the control fluid connector before the valve needs to open. When the trigger valve opens, the pre-stored pressurized fluid immediately acts on the control body, causing rapid valve opening without delay for pressure buildup. This preliminary pressurization enables quick response when cleaning is needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve design incorporates a trigger valve that can rapidly transition from closed to open state, dynamically changing the pressure distribution in the control chamber. This dynamic operation allows the valve to switch from a closed state to an open state very quickly, achieving rapid opening when needed for cleaning operations.
3Extent of automation
If automation is implemented for valve control, then operational efficiency improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control body and control chamber act as intermediaries between the automated control system and the main valve closure body. The trigger valve and control fluid connector serve as simple intermediary components that translate automated signals into pressure changes, which then move the control body to open or close the valve. This intermediary approach enables automation while keeping individual components simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve system uses the process fluid itself (air or gas from the separator) as the control medium through the control fluid connector. The system self-regulates by using its own operational fluid to provide the pressure needed for control, eliminating the need for separate complex control systems or external power sources, thereby enabling automation without significant complexity increase.
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 valve design reduces the external force required to open, enables rapid valve operation, and allows for automated control, improving the efficiency and maintainability of the cleaning process in separators.
Implementation Method 1
a trigger valve which is movable between an open state and a closed state and which, in its open state, connects the control chamber to a pressure which is sufficiently high to allow the main valve closure body to open, wherein said trigger valve is a pressure balanced valve
Implementation Method 2
a suction generator, connected to the separator housing at a downstream side of the separator body... applying a suction to the separator space outlet
Implementation Method 3
air is caused to rapidly flow backwards through the separator body, whereby particles that are trapped on the separator body side which is upstream in normal operation are released from the separator body
Data Source
AI summary
This document discloses a valve comprising a main valve closure body, arranged on a low pressure side of the valve and moveable to open towards the low pressure side, a control body, fixedly connected to the main valve closure body, such that a position of the main valve closure body is fixed relative to a position of the control body, a control chamber, partially defined by the control body, whereby a volume of the control chamber is variable in relation to the position of the control body, and a control fluid connector for controlling a pressure in the control chamber. The document also discloses use of the valve in a separator for separating dust and debris from an airflow, a separator comprising such a valve and a method of operating a separator.