Wet Atomizer Pressure Stabilization via Check Valve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small-sized wet atomizers face instability in pressure and reproducibility due to external air ingress and clogging issues when processing high-viscosity raw materials, leading to inconsistent processing characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A wet atomizer design featuring a motor-driven power transmission system, a high-pressure cylinder, a plunger, a drive controller, a nozzle, and strategically placed check valves and elastic members to stabilize pressure and prevent clogging, ensuring reproducible processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a nozzle with a relatively large diameter is used to increase throughput, then the amount of raw material passing through the nozzle increases, but outside air is taken in from the nozzle or ejection portion, causing a blur in pressure increase in the high-pressure cylinder and making the processed raw material characteristics unstable
Solution Approach 1:
A check valve is introduced as an intermediary component between the high-pressure cylinder and the nozzle. This check valve selectively allows the raw material to pass through while blocking outside air from entering the high-pressure cylinder, thus maintaining pressure stability even when using a larger diameter nozzle for increased throughput
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into distinct functional zones: the high-pressure cylinder for pressurization, the check valve for selective flow control, and the nozzle for atomization. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each component, enabling the use of a larger nozzle diameter without compromising the pressure stability in the high-pressure cylinder
2Ease of manufacture
If a conventional valve structure is used for water or low viscosity fluids, then the valve structure works for low viscosity fluids, but raw materials having high viscosity adhere to the inside of the valve causing clogging
Solution Approach 1:
The valve structure parameters are changed to accommodate high viscosity raw materials. Specifically, the valve internal geometry is optimized and the elastic member properties are selected to ensure proper sealing and flow characteristics for high viscosity fluids, preventing adhesion and clogging while maintaining structural simplicity
3Stress or pressure
If a hydraulic drive booster type is used to obtain high pressure of 245 MPa, then high pressure is achieved, but driving oil is used which causes pollution and is undesirable in pharmaceutical and electronic component manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The hydraulic drive system is replaced with a direct mechanical drive system using a motor-driven plunger. This substitution eliminates the need for hydraulic oil, thereby preventing pollution while still achieving the required high pressure of 245 MPa through direct mechanical pressurization
4Volume of moving object
If an electric motor is used as drive source to create a small-sized atomizer, then the size is reduced and it can be used in a simple laboratory, but the pressurization and depressurization energy increases when the plunger reciprocates
Solution Approach 1:
The check valve enables continuous pressurization by preventing backflow and air ingress. This continuity of useful action allows the electric motor to maintain high pressure more efficiently, reducing the overall energy consumption for pressurization and depressurization cycles in the compact atomizer system
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 solution effectively stabilizes pressure in the pressurizing chamber, prevents clogging, and enhances the reproducibility of the raw material processing, even with larger nozzle diameters, by reducing external air ingress and managing valve loads.
Implementation Method 1
a first elastic member configured to press the first check valve
Implementation Method 2
a plunger configured to reciprocate inside the high-pressure cylinder by the power transmission device to pressurize raw materials
Implementation Method 3
by colliding particles with other particles or hard members at the time of jetting, the shearing force generated by the nozzle passage and the counter flow, or the impact force by the jet cavitation
Implementation Method 4
the shearing force generated by the nozzle passage and the counter flow
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a wet atomizer capable of stably increasing a pressure in a pressurizing chamber and performing highly reproducible raw material process. A wet atomizer includes a motor; a power transmission device that converts a rotational motion of the motor into a reciprocating motion; a high-pressure cylinder; a plunger that reciprocates inside the high-pressure cylinder by the power transmission device to pressurize raw materials; a drive controller that controls the reciprocating motion of the plunger; a nozzle that atomizes pressurized raw material; a first check valve disposed downstream of the nozzle; and a first elastic member that presses the first check valve.