Claims
- 1. A filter assembly for filtering natural gas, the filter assembly comprising:
(a) a filter head having an inlet and an outlet, and a first filter receiving threaded area and a second filter receiving threaded area, the first filter receiving threaded area in parallel flow with the second filter receiving threaded area from inlet to outlet; and (b) a first filter and a second filter, each of the filters comprising:
(i) a housing having a first open end, an outer periphery at the first end, a second closed end, and an interior; (ii) a baffle plate sealingly connected to the outer periphery of the housing with a perimeter seal, the baffle plate defining a plurality of inlet apertures and a central outlet fluid port having internal threads constructed to engage with the filter receiving threaded area, a seal present at the internal threads, and a seal circumscribing the plurality of inlet apertures, the baffle plate in fluid communication with the housing interior via the inlet apertures; (iii) a filtering material present within the housing, the filtering material comprising a first filtering material selected to remove mercaptans from natural gas by adsorption and a second filtering material selected to remove sulfur compounds from natural gas by adsorption; and (iv) a central tube extending from the central fluid port to the second end of the housing through the filtering material, the central tube having at least one aperture proximate the housing second end and positioned between the housing second end and the filtering material, with no aperture present in the central tube within the filtering material.
- 2. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first filtering material is present in a first portion of the housing and the second filtering material is present in a second portion of the housing.
- 3. The filter assembly according to claim 2, wherein the first filtering material is separated from the second filtering material by a perforated member.
- 4. The filter assembly according to claim 3 comprising three perforated members: a first perforated member proximate the baffle plate; a second perforated member proximate the housing second end; and a third perforated member separating the first filtering material from the second filtering material.
- 5. The filter assembly according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the first perforated member, the second perforated member, and the third perforated member is attached to the central tube.
- 6. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the housing and the baffle plate are joined at a seam formed by laser welding.
- 7. The filter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the housing and the baffle plate are joined at a seam formed by roll seaming.
- 8. A method for filtering natural gas; the method comprising:
(a) providing a filter assembly comprising:
(i) a filter head having an inlet and an outlet, a first filter receiving threaded area and a second filter receiving threaded area, the first filter receiving threaded area in parallel flow with the second filter receiving threaded area from inlet to outlet; and (ii) a first filter and a second filter, each of the filters removably connected to the filter head via the filter receiving threaded areas, the filters each comprising
(A) a housing having a first open end, an outer periphery at the first end, a second closed end, and an interior; (B) a baffle plate sealingly connected to the outer periphery of the housing with a perimeter seal, the baffle plate defining plurality of inlet apertures and a central outlet fluid port having internal threads constructed to engage with the filter receiving threaded area, a seal present at the internal threads, and a seal circumscribing the plurality of inlet apertures, the baffle plate in fluid communication with the housing interior via the inlet apertures; (C) a central tube extending from the central fluid port to the second end of the housing, the central connected to the housing second end; (D) a first filtering material and a second filtering material each present within the housing; (b) providing unfiltered natural gas to the filter head via the inlet and splitting the unfiltered natural gas into a first stream and a second stream; (c) passing the first stream through the first filter and passing the second stream through the second filter, the step comprising:
(i) passing the unfiltered natural gas through the plurality of inlet apertures into the first filtering media to remove mercaptans from the unfiltered natural gas and then passing the natural gas through the second filtering media to remove sulfur compounds to provide a filtered gas; (ii) flowing the filtered gas through the central tube through the central outlet port; and (d) collecting the filtered gas from the filter head outlet.
- 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of passing the unfiltered natural gas through the plurality of inlet apertures is done before the step of flowing the filtered gas through the central tube.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/443,301, filed Jan. 28, 2003 and entitled “Filter Arrangement and Methods”. The entire disclosure of 60/443,301 is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60443301 |
Jan 2003 |
US |