1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to filters, and more particularly, to a filter having a filter material for capturing hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
2. Related Art
Filter systems are commonly used for a large number of purposes and applications. In some applications, the use of a filter system is necessary for removing undesired elements that may contaminate a reaction or reduce the performance of a device/product/machine/system. Such applications may include a fuel cell system, a filtration system for a particular fuel (e.g., petroleum gas, natural gas, etc.), a water filtration system, an air filtration system, etc. A filter system for a fluid may include a particulate filter and a chemical filter. The particulate filter serves to remove dust, particles, granules, gravel, debris, etc., while the chemical filter serves to remove specific chemicals, not desired in the fluid. Examples of such undesirable chemicals or contaminants include hydrocarbons, oxides of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of carbon and hydrogen sulfide, etc.
Filters for removing particulates may use membranes or layers of granular materials. As to filters for chemical contaminants, some commonly used filtration and/or purification techniques include: ion-exchange, distillation, osmosis, reverse osmosis, chemical adsorption, precipitation, coagulation, oxidation, flocculation, etc.
Chemical contaminants may be toxic and the removal of such contaminants requires careful handling in view of environmental concerns and governmental restrictions as to the release/disposal of such contaminants. Industrial retrieval of hydrocarbon fuels requires the filtration of contaminants like hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic and hazardous when released into the environment. For example, hydrogen sulfide is usually converted into molten sulfur or other stable compounds before disposal.
A filter and filter system for the removal and/or disposal of particulates and/or chemical(s), including hydrogen sulfide (H2S), is disclosed. An embodiment of the filter system includes a filter material between two filter media, each filter media providing coalescing of liquid and particulate for removal thereof. The filter material includes an absorbent material having a surface configuration that exposes the absorbent material to a fluid passing there through. The absorbent material may include various chemical components and take the form of an absorbent fill, a single or multi-layered composite pack, and/or the like. The filter system may include a casing for housing the filter material and filter media.
A first aspect of the disclosure provides a filter material comprising: an absorbent material including: quartz, magnesium oxide, sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, aluminum oxide, sodium oxide, silicon oxide, and carbon.
A second aspect of the disclosure provides a filter system comprising: a first and a second filter media for removing particulates from a fluid passing there through; and a filter material disposed between the first and second filter media, wherein the filter material includes an absorbent material configured to capture hydrogen sulfide.
A third aspect of the disclosure provides a method for filtering a fluid, the method comprising: passing the fluid through a first filter media for removing particulates; passing the fluid through an absorbent material for removing hydrogen sulfide; and passing the fluid through a second filter media for removing particulates.
These and other features of this disclosure will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the disclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that depict various embodiments of the disclosure, in which:
It is noted that the drawings of the disclosure are not to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the disclosure, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements between the drawings.
Returning to
When filter material 120 comprises one or more layers, surface 128 may include, but is not limited to: a flat configuration or an undulating configuration. For example,
Absorbent material 130 may include one or more absorbent materials including, but not limited to: activated carbon, molecular sieve, sodium dihydrate, quartz, magnesium oxide, sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate (Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O), aluminum oxide, sodium oxide, silicon oxide, carbon, and/or the like. Activated carbon may be a vapor phase activated carbon (from coal), for example, AP4-60 (4 mm activated carbon pellet) offered by Calgon Carbon Corporation. An alternative to sesquicarbonate dihydrate may be sodium tartrate dihydrate (Na2C4H406.2H20). In one embodiment, filter material 120 may include substantially equal parts (by percentage volume) of activated carbon and molecular sieve. In another embodiment, absorbent material 130 may include substantially equal parts of molecular sieve and sodium dihydrate. Another embodiment of absorbent material 130 may include substantially all activated carbon.
Other embodiments of absorbent material 130 may include various combinations of several of the absorbent materials described above. In one embodiment, absorbent material 130 comprises a combination of: approximately (0-4)% by volume of quartz; approximately (0-5)% by volume of magnesium oxide; approximately (9-15)% by volume of sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate; approximately (10-16)% by volume of aluminum oxide; approximately (10-16)% by volume of sodium oxide; approximately (21-27)% by volume of silicon oxide; and approximately (32-38)% by volume of carbon. In another embodiment, absorbent material 130 may include a combination of: approximately 1% by volume of quartz, approximately 2% by volume of magnesium oxide, approximately 12% by volume of sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate (Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2(H2O)), approximately 13% by volume of aluminum oxide, approximately 13% by volume of sodium oxide, approximately 24% by volume of silicon oxide, and approximately 35% by volume of carbon. It is understood that this combination is only illustrative. To this extent, one or more of the percentages could be varied. For example, a combination could include more sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate and less carbon. The compositions in these embodiments may be modified to include activated carbon, molecular sieve and/or sodium dihydrate.
In one embodiment, activated carbon may include carbon pellets. Molecular sieve may include zeolite or other porous material. An embodiment of filter material 120 has demonstrated an ability to remove at least approximately 40% by volume of the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from a fluid passing there through, and may remove hydrogen sulfide from the fluid up to as high as approximately 99.5% by volume. For example, a gas including 50 parts per million (ppm) hydrogen sulfide exited an embodiment of filter system 100 (
Referring to
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Any embodiment disclosed herein is for the purposes of explaining the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure and is not intended to be limiting to the particular use contemplated.
The present application claims the benefit of co-pending provisional application No. 60/984536, filed on Nov. 1, 2007 and co-pending provisional application No. 61/026274 filed on Feb. 5, 2008, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.