Segmented Filter Resolves Pore Size and Strength Trade-off
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional porous filters used in liquid flow-based devices, such as those in liquid chromatography systems, face challenges in maintaining small pore sizes and high mechanical strength under high pressure, leading to issues like particle leakage and uneven flow distribution.
Innovation Solution
A filter design featuring a body with a first and second substrate and a channel region, where the outlet holes are not in direct fluid communication with the inlet holes, providing a series of angled fluid flow paths through the filter, ensuring precise and uniform pore sizes to prevent particle passage while maintaining mechanical integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If sintered filters with small pore sizes are used, then filtration performance is improved, but mechanical strength and pressure resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is divided into multiple layers with different pore sizes. The first layer has larger pores for structural support, while the second layer has smaller pores for fine filtration. This segmentation allows each layer to optimize its function independently, resolving the contradiction between small pore size and mechanical strength.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the filter have different pore sizes and structural properties. The first layer near the inlet has larger pores for strength, while the second layer near the outlet has smaller pores for filtration. This local differentiation allows the filter to simultaneously achieve both mechanical strength and fine filtration capability.
2Manufacturing precision
If sintered filters with small pore sizes are used, then filtration performance is improved, but pressure drop increases
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is divided into multiple layers with different pore sizes. The first layer has larger pores that maintain open flow paths, while the second layer has smaller pores for fine filtration. This segmentation reduces overall pressure drop while maintaining effective filtration.
Solution Approach 2:
The first layer has larger pores optimized for low resistance flow, while the second layer has smaller pores for fine filtration. This local quality differentiation allows the filter to minimize pressure drop in the bulk flow while maintaining effective particle removal at the filtration interface.
3Ease of manufacture
If sintered filters are used, then manufacturing is simplified, but flow distribution uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is segmented into multiple layers with different pore sizes and flow characteristics. This segmentation creates distinct flow paths that promote uniform flow distribution across the filter surface, preventing channeling and improving overall flow uniformity while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The first layer has structural properties optimized for uniform flow distribution, while the second layer has filtration properties optimized for particle removal. This local quality differentiation ensures uniform flow distribution in the first layer while maintaining effective filtration in the second layer.
4Ease of manufacture
If sintered filters are used, then fabrication is easier, but particle retention reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is divided into two functional layers: a first layer for structural support and flow distribution, and a second layer for reliable particle retention. This segmentation ensures that the second layer can be optimized specifically for particle retention with controlled pore sizes, improving reliability while keeping the overall fabrication process manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The second layer has local quality optimized for particle retention with controlled pore sizes smaller than the particles to be removed. This localized optimization ensures reliable particle retention at the critical filtration interface while the first layer provides structural support and flow distribution.
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 filter effectively retains particles larger than the critical dimension, enhances flow distribution, and withstands high pressures, improving the efficiency and reliability of liquid chromatography systems by ensuring consistent and high-resolution separation.
Implementation Method 1
a body having a thickness along a main axis between the inlet side and the outlet side, and a planar area in a transverse plane orthogonal to the main axis, the body comprising: a first substrate comprising a first outside surface at the inlet side, a first inside surface, and an array of inlet holes passing through the first substrate from the first outside surface to the first inside surface
Implementation Method 2
As liquid flows through the pores of the filter, particles carried in the liquid that are smaller than the size (cross-sectional dimension) of the pores are able to pass through the filter, while particles greater than the pore size are prevented from passing through the filter
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A filter includes an inlet side, an outlet side, and a body. The body includes a first substrate that includes an array of inlet holes passing through the first substrate, and a second substrate that includes an array of outlet holes passing through the second substrate. The body further includes an intermediate region that includes a plurality of channels extending along a plane that is transverse or at an angle to a main axis of the filter. Each channel communicates directly or indirectly with at least one of the inlet holes and at least one of the outlet holes. The filter provides a plurality of fluid flow paths through the body from the inlet side to the outlet side.