Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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EXHAUST GAS TREATING DEVICE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the art of exhaust gas filtration
and more
particularly to the cleaning of exhaust gases of an engine or a chimney.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pollution from the exhaust of vehicles or plant's chimneys has caused serious
air
quality problems. Moreover, it is a well known fact that such pollution is a
major factor
of the "greenhouse" effect. It is also a well known fact that vehicle and
plant's
chimneys exhaust are both major causes of poor air quality, especially in
large and
industrial countries.
Many of such countries have adopted environmental policies in order to improve
the
air quality. For instance, certain governments have strongly suggested the use
of
unleaded gasoline and firmly required the use of catalytic converters for
vehicles.
2 0 Furthermore, the governments have set up environmental protocols and
restrictions
to decrease air pollution emanating from plant's chimneys. However, these
policies,
protocols and restrictions have not completely resolved the .air pollution
problem.
Known in the art are devices for filtering exhaust gas emanating from an
engine or
chimneys of industrial plants that have been also used in order to improve the
air
quality. Examples of such prior art devices are described in US patents nos.
5,209,912; 6,074,620 and 6,185,934 B1. While these devicEa have resulted in
the
advancement within the present field, most of these prior art devices have not
been
successful or sufficiently efficient to filter the exhaust gases emanating
from these
sources.
Therefore, there is still a need for an improved device for filtering exhaust
gases of
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an engine,or a plant's chimney.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved
device for
treating an exhaust gas.
In accordance with the invention, that object is achieved with a device for
treating an
exhaust gas, the device comprising:
- a housing having a treatment chamber defined therein, an inlet port for
receiving an exhaust gas to be treated, and an outlet port for releasing a
treated gas, the gas being allowed to flow in the treatment chamber from the
inlet port to the outlet port defining a flowing direction; and
- treating means in said treatment chamber comprising layers of granite
containing material alternating with layers of carbon-containing material,
said
layers extending substantially in perpendicular to the flowing direction of
the
gas.
The present invention is also directed to a combination of a first and a
second device
2 o as defined above. The combination comprises connecting means for fluidly
connecting the outlet port of the first device to the inlet port of the second
device.
The present invention also proposes a method for treating an exhaust gas,
comprising the steps of:
2 5 a) providing a device as defined above;
b) feeding the inlet port of the device with an exhaust gas;
c) treating the exhaust gas in the treatment chamber; and
d) releasing from the outlet port of the treatment chamber a treated gas.
30 A device for treating an exhaust gas according to the present invention
proposes
innovative features that makes it compact and easy-to manufacture and use.
More
importantly, the device of the present invention makes it possible to treat
exhaust gas
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in a simple and efficient way. As a matter of fact, an important feature of
the device
resides in that layers of granite disposed between each layers of charcoal
help
reducing the temperature of the gas flowing in the treatment chamber. Such a
reduction in the gas temperature will prevent the charcoal used to filter the
exhaust
gas from accelerated damage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
1 o The present invention and its advantages will be more easily understood
after
reading the following non-restrictive description of a preferred embodiment
thereof,
made with reference to the following drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic view of a device for treating an exhaust gas according
to a
preferred embodiment of the invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a device for treating an e~:haust gas
according to
another preferred embodiment of the invention.
2 o Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the device o~f figure 2.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
2 5 The present invention is directed to a device for treating an exhaust gas.
By "treating
an exhaust gas" as that term is used therein, it is meant trE:ating either
through a
chemical and/or a physical process. However, a particular advantageous
treatment
process in which the device of the present invention may find application is
in the
field of filtration of exhaust gas emanating from motorised vehicles, such as
cars,
3 0 motorcycle, trucks, snowmobiles, boats or the like. The device of the
present
invention may also be used for treating polluted air emanating from a chimney
of an
industrial plant.
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Referring to Figure 1, the device (10) for treating an exhaust gas of the
present
invention comprises a housing (12) having a treatment chamber (14) defined
therein.
The housing (12) also comprises an inlet port (16) for receiving an exhaust
gas to be
treated, and an outlet port (18) for releasing a treated gas. The gas is
allowed to flow
in the treatment chamber (14) from the inlet port (16) to they outlet port
(18) defining
a flowing direction indicated with the arrows in figure 1. Furthermore, the
device (10)
of the present invention comprises treating means in the treatment chamber
(14).
Such treating means comprises layers of granite-containing material (20)
alternating
l0 with layers of carbon-containing material (22). As it can be seen in
figures 2 and 3,
the layers (20, 22) extend substantially in perpendicular to the flowing
direction of the
gas. In order to keep the layers (20, 22) substantially perpendicular to the
flowing
direction of the gas, it may be preferable, though not essential, to separate
each
layers (20, 22) with a mesh-like material (26). Preferably, the layers of
granite-
containing material (20) comprise rocks of granite, whereas the layers of
carbon-
containing material (22) may be charcoal or any other type of coal preferably
made
in the form of rocks.
In a situation where the device (10) of the present invention is used to treat
exhaust
gas emitted by a vehicle engine, the rocks of granite (20) have preferably a
diameter
of approximately 3/ inch and the rocks of charcoal (22) preferably have a
diameter
ranging approximately from '/2 to 1 inch. Each layers of both granite (20) and
charcoal (22) have preferably 6 ounces of material.
2 5 As can be appreciated, the important feature of the device (10) resides in
that layers
of rocks of granite (20) help reduce the temperature of the gas flowing in the
treatment chamber (14). Such a reduction in the gas temperature prevents the
rocks
of charcoal (22) used to filter the exhaust gas from accelerated damage. Thus,
by
alternating layers of granite (20) and charcoal (22), it was surprisingly
found that
while the treatment of the exhaust gas was proceeding, the treating capacity
of the
rocks of charcoal (22) was maintained and prolonged over time.
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According to a preferred embodiment, the housing (12) rnay comprise
ventilating
means for ventilating the treating chamber (14). Preferably, the ventilating
means
comprises an air conduit (28) in fluid communication with the treatment
chamber
(14). For instance, when the device (10) is used on a motorised vehicle, the
device
5 (10) is preferably installed at the back of the vehicle or moue preferably
the farthest
from the engine so that the heat coming from the engine does not damage the
device (10). On such situation, the flow of air is provided when the vehicle
runs at
high speed. Therefore, the air flow enters through the air conduit (28).
Alternatively,
in order to propel or inject the air through the air conduit (28), the latter
(28) may
have an air inlet (30) adapted to be fluidly connectable to <~ fan outlet (not
shown).
in this case, a 12 volt motor with a fan (similar to a car heater) is
preferably used,
but any other kind of air blower known to one skilled in the art may be used.
The flow
of air provided into the air conduit (28) is preferably controlled by a
control means
which may comprise a heat sensor linked to a fan controller in order to
maintain the
temperature inside the device (10) of approximately between 160 ° and
170 ° F when
the engine is running slowly or in the case that the outside temperature is
substantially hot. In such a case, the heat sensor is preferably and
operatively
connected to the inlet port of the device (not shown). Preferably, the air
blower starts
when the temperature inside the device (10) is between 120° to
140° F.
Advantageously and as shown in figures 2 and 3, the device (10) of the present
invention may also comprise a reception chamber (32) upstream from the
treatment
chamber (14). As best viewed in figure 3, the reception chamber (32) is in
fluid
communication with the treatment chamber (14) and comprises regulating means
for
regulating the flow of exhaust gas before treatment in the treatment chamber
(14).
In such a case, the exhaust gas to be treated enters through the inlet (42) of
the
reception chamber (32). The regulating means comprises a plurality of baffle
walls
(34) disposed in a way to split the exhaust gas into flows of gases.
Therefore, the
gases are then forced to meet prior entering in the treatment chamber (14).
Such a
contact will result in a substantial decrease of the gas temperature.
Moreover, the
contact of these flows of gases will also get rid of some of the impurities
contained
in the exhaust gas. The reception chamber (32) may also rave an indirect role
of
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reducing or muffling the sound produced within the device (10) of the present
invention.
Referring back to Figures 2 and 3, the present invention is also directed to a
combination of a first (10a) and a second (10b) device as defined above. The
combination further comprises connecting means for fluidly .connecting the
outlet port
(18) of the first device (10a) to the inlet port (36) of the second device
(10a). It will
be understood that any type of connectors or fasteners known to one skilled in
the
art will suffice. It is preferable that the second device (10ib) comprises
regulating
l0 means for regulating the flow of gas in its treatment chamber (14). The
regulating
means of the second device (10b) are preferably downstream from the treatment
chamber (14) and upstream from the outlet port (38) of the second device
(10b). The
regulating means of the second device (10b) comprises at least one baffle wall
(40).
These baffle walls (40), as seen in figure 3, are disposed in a way to force
the
contact of the gas before its release through the outlet (38) of the second
device
(10b). As mentioned above, the contact of the gases will .get rid of the
remaining
impurities, if any, contained in the treated gas.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for treating an
exhaust gas is proposed. The method comprises the steps of:
a) providing a device (10) as defined above;
b) feeding the inlet port (16) of the device (10) with .an exhaust gas;
c) treating the exhaust gas in the treatment chamber (14); and
d) releasing from the outlet port (18) of the treatment chamber (14) a treated
2 5 gas.
The method may comprise the additional step of ventilating the treatment
chamber
(14). Advantageously, the method may also comprise prior to step b), a step of
regulating the flow of exhaust gas.
According to a preferred embodiment, the method may further comprise after
step
d), the step of treating the gas released in step c), in another device (10b)
as defined
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10
above. In such a situation, it may be preferable that the method comprise the
step
of regulating the flow of gas in the second device (10b).
Example
It will be understood that the dimensions of a device (10) according to the
present
invention described hereinbelow are only given as an example when used to
treat
exhaust gas emitted by a vehicle engine. However, in order to increase or
decrease
the size of the device (in height, length, size), the same ratio referring to
the
dimensions of the parts is preferably kept.
PARTS DIMENSIONS
Reception chamber 16" x 6" x 4"
Inlet and outlet of the receptionr 2%" (diameter)
chambe
First housing ???? (a completer par
le client)
Treating chamber of the first
housing:
5 layers of granite Rocks of 3/" (diameter);layer
a
6 ounces of granites
5 layers of charcoal Rocks of 1" (diameter); layer
a
6 ounces of charcoal
Inlet and outlet of the first 2'/4" (diameter)
housing
Second housing ???? (a completer par
le client)
Treating chamber of the second
housing:
2 layers of granite Rocks of 3/" (diameter);layer
a
6 ounces of granite
2 layers of charcoal Rocks of '/" (diameter);layer
first =
6 ounces of charcoal; layer
second =
12 ounces of charcoal
Inlet and outlet of the second 2'/" (diameter)
housing
Air conduit 1 %" (diameter)
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It will be understood that the device (10) of the present invention may also
be
equipped with control means which will signal a malfunction of the device. For
instance, the device may be equipped with an odour sensor operatively
connected
to its outlet port (18) in order to make sure that no bad odours are released
in the
environment. In a situation that the odour sensor has detected something, a
signal
will be sent to a controller and a warning light will be displayed, for
instance, on the
dashboard of the vehicle.
It will be also understood that the housing (12) of the dewice (10) may be
mounted
1 o in such a way that the maintenance of the device is facilitated. For
instance, the
device may be so designed as to allow an easy access ~of the treatment chamber
(14) in order to clean or change the rocks of granite (20) or charcoal (22).
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in
detail herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be
understood that
the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments and that various
changes
and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or
spirit
of the present invention.
