The VAS is continuous flow turbo machine that generates a strong centrifugal action or Vortex capable of separating light and heavy liquids such as oil and water, or any other combination of liquids and solids at extremely high flow rates. The VAS accomplishes this separation through the creation of a strong vortex in the flow as the fluid flows through the machine. In oil and water mixtures, this vortex causes the heavier elements (water) to gravitate to the outside of the flow and the lighter elements (oil) to move to the center which forms an inner core.
If solids are present and they are heavier than the liquid, they too will be drawn to the outside of the flow and follow the walls of the exit pipe or tube. The stream exiting the machine will be divided as shown into two separate streams of the heavier liquid (water) and lighter liquid (oil). As a result, separation is achieved.
The VAS is similar to a pump (axial flow type) and utilizes power (usually an electric motor) to turn the input shaft which drives the impeller blades of the separator through a set of gears. While the device is separating it also acts as its own pump, moving the fluid mixture through the machine. The open design of the impeller blades make the separator virtually non clogable.
The Centrifugal force generated by causing the flow to rotate rapidly in a vortex about the centerline of the impeller, is the fundamental separation mechanism for the VAS.
The conventional way of rating machines that achieve separation using centrifugal force is to express the separation force in terms of the number of "g's", for example, one "g" represents the equivalent of the force of the earth's gravity. Therefore, a machine with a 10 "g" rating would exert a separation of 10 times the force due to the earth's gravity.
A common separation device is the settling basin where the fluid mixture is allowed to separate in a large stagnant tank under the influence of gravity (or 1"g"). The lighter elements rise to the surface over time and the heavier elements sink to the bottom. This process is very time consuming and may take extremely large tanks or holding ponds. This ultimately adds to the expense of the operation, and requires large space for the separation process.
Devices such as hydro-cyclones and centrifuges are used to increase the "g" forces and accelerate the process of separation. In the design of centrifuges, as the "g" force increases, the allowable flow rate drops. Hydryo-cyclones produce separations up to 200 "g" 's and allow for large flow rates. A practical 150 g.p.m., flow centrifuge can operate at 5000 to 7000 "g" 's. For more active separations at higher "g" forces, machines requiring batch removal of solids are required. For even higher "g" machines, (ultra centrifuges of 200,000 +), only minute amounts of material can be processed in single batches only.
The uniqueness of the VAS is its ability to expand the operational envelope of liquid and liquid, as well as liquid and solid separations to include high "g" separation forces and high flow rates simultaneously. To date, the Voraxial Separator is the only separation technology which can operate in this regime.
In the industrial environment, separations of solids form liquids is commonly accomplished by filtration. This is a simple and direct approach to removing solids of a specific size determined by the filter material. However, large flow rates through filters require corresponding large filter surface areas. The filtered material must be changed or back flushed frequently as solids accumulate on the filter surface. Recovery of these solids is often cumbersome and elaborate back flushing must be used. The VAS can effectively replace the conventional filtration process where the solids to be separated are of different density than the fluid transporting the solids. The recovered solids are readily available form the Voraxial Separator in the form of a highly concentrated slurry.
To further emphasize the superiority of the VAS, Frost & Sullivan categorized separations in the following method to which they are employed as: 52% of all filtration, 27% settling, with the remainder to centrifuging and hydrocycloning. The VAS can be used to replace 50% of all filtration, 90% of all settling processes, and 75% centrifuging and hydrocycloning processes! Very simply put, the VAS is far superior to anything available on the market today.
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