Claims
- 1. An apparatus for collecting liquid carbon dioxide in a carbon dioxide dry cleaning system employing a liquid carbon dioxide cleaning solution to clean articles, said apparatus comprising:
a vapor tank; a condenser; a working tank containing carbon dioxide cleaning solution; a wash tank; a liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank; a first piping system providing fluid communication between the condenser, the working tank, and the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank; a second piping system providing fluid communication between the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank and the wash tank; and a third piping system providing fluid communication between the wash tank and the vapor tank.
- 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising an injection port in fluid communication with the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank.
- 3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank is at a higher elevation than the wash tank such that fluid from the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank is gravity fed into the wash tank.
- 4. A method of supplying a liquid carbon dioxide solution to a wash tank for a carbon dioxide dry cleaning system, utilizing a vapor tank, a condenser, a liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank, a working tank containing carbon dioxide cleaning solution, and a wash tank, said method comprising the steps of:
draining a solution comprising liquid carbon dioxide from the wash tank leaving vapor carbon dioxide in the wash tank; transferring the carbon dioxide vapor from the wash tank to a vapor tank; condensing a portion of the carbon dioxide vapor transferred to the vapor tank to form liquid carbon dioxide; collecting the liquid carbon dioxide in the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank; and draining the contents of the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank into the wash tank.
- 5. A method according to claim 4 further comprising the steps of:
rinsing articles in the wash tank with liquid carbon dioxide after the draining step; and emptying the contents of the wash tank into the working tank.
- 6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the rinsing step comprises the steps of:
boiling the liquid carbon dioxide in the wash tank to generate carbon dioxide vapor; condensing the carbon dioxide vapor to form liquid carbon dioxide; and returning the liquid carbon dioxide to the wash tank.
- 7. A method according to claim 4 further comprising the steps of: washing at least one filter with the contents of the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank after the draining step;
- 8. A method according to claim 7 further comprising the step of:
injecting additives into the liquid carbon dioxide collecting tank to form a filter wash solution after the collecting step and before the draining step.
- 9. A method according to claim 7 further comprising the steps of:
draining the contents of the wash tank to a still; and distilling the filter wash solution to separate contaminants from the carbon dioxide.
- 10. A method according to claim 7 further comprising the steps of:
draining the contents of at least one filter to a still; and distilling the contents to separate contaminants from the carbon dioxide.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of and claims priority from U.S. patent application No. 10/696,612, filed Oct. 29, 2003, which is a divisional of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/044,382, filed Jan. 11, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,050, issued Dec. 23, 2003, which is a divisional of and claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/404,957, filed Sep. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,421, issued Jun. 4, 2002, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Divisions (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10696612 |
Oct 2003 |
US |
Child |
10893817 |
Jul 2004 |
US |
Parent |
10044382 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10696612 |
Oct 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09404957 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Child |
10044382 |
Jan 2002 |
US |