A skimmer device for concentrating an
aerosol from a flowing gas
stream, having an inlet with inlet aperture and inlet raceway, an outlet with virtual
impact void and collector channel, and bulk flow divertors symmetrically disposed on either side of the
long axis of flow, further characterized in that the downstream walls of the bulk flow divertors are concavedly curved and reverse the direction of bulk flow. In section, the four channels or passages of the “skimmer” thus form a “crossed tee” with concavedly contoured lateral arms curving back around. The lateral flow channels are for diverting the bulk flow into exhaust
chimney spaces, and the
chimney spaces are positioned
proximate to the inlet element and anterior to the collection channel. In operation, the bulk flow streamlines are thereby folded more than 90 degrees away from the
long axis of flow on the laterally disposed concave walls of the bulk flow channels. While counterintuitive, this was found using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimentation to dramatically reduce wall separation and related instabilities and to improve particle recoveries. Large two-dimensional arrays of closely stacked inlet and skimmer elements are thus achieved by fitting the chimneys into spaces between parallel inlet elements. The interlinked problems of
flow instability, manufacturability of arrays, and scale-up of
chimney cross-sectional area to equalize pressure differentials in the bulk
flow diverter exhaust ducts, particularly in two-dimensional arrays at high
throughput, are uniquely solved with this geometry.