DESC:
PRIORITY DETAILS

The present application is a cognate application and derives priority from Indian Application no. 202041054982 dated 17th December 2020 and Indian Application No. 202041054983 dated 17th December 2020.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to mist cannons, and more particularly, to a mist cannon used to spray a liquid to suppress and extract dust particles via an air duct provided with a fan.

BACKGROUND

It is generally known that pollution is continuously and gradually increasing in our living environment. The term “pollution” refers to addition or introduction of contaminants in the environment that results in adverse effects. The reason for the pollution is related to one or more unsafe gases, dust, smoke, and the like that make the living environment unsafe for human beings, plants, wildlife, and the like.

Of the above-mentioned reasons, dust plays an important role in affecting health of an individual. The term “dust” refers to fine particles or dry particulates of solid matter. Dust can be pollen, minerals, soil, and many other such particulates found in our surroundings/environment. Dust particularly includes particles in the atmosphere that are generated from a plurality of sources such as but not limited to soil lifted by wind, one or more types of pollution, and the like.

Dust is responsible for a plurality of diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, infections in eyes, and the like. Hence, it is very important to monitor and control dust. It is typically found that industries engaged in mining tasks are responsible to a great extent in generation of dust. Generally, in the mining industry, dust is created at every step of the mining process such as during extraction, processing, storage, transportation, and the like. Dust can cause multiple types of problems for mining operations such as low visibility in the work area and equipment failure, and can also be associated with health problems, such as asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, and the like. Airborne dust can adversely affect employees working at mines or at transportation facilities, residents who live nearby, and the surrounding environment. Hence, it is very important to control dust.

In practice, one method to control airborne dust at mineral processing operations is the use of a wet spray system. In essence, as the dust particles (i.e., fines) are wetted, each dust particle’s weight increases, thus decreasing the dust particle’s ability to remain airborne. As the dust particles become heavier, it becomes more difficult for the surrounding air to carry them off, causing the dust to settle down on the ground.

Conventionally, it is known that the use of a fog or a mist cannon for spraying a finely atomized liquid (i.e., water) is effective in suppressing airborne dust. Also, conventionally it is known that the use of one or more dust extraction machines which are used to suck the dust out of the air using a suction fan, a filter, and the like is also an effective means of controlling flying dust.

The fog or the mist cannon includes an air blower with a conical attachment and a series of spray nozzles provided along a circumference of the conical attachment. As pressurized water is passed through the nozzles, the high velocity air from the blower blows the water droplets to the dust affected location, that may be about approximately in a range of 10 to 100 meters away from the mist cannon. However, the conventional mist cannons have one or more drawbacks. The conventional fog or the mist cannon sprays the water in a particular direction (i.e., in a single direction) over only a smaller area. Hence, the entire dust affected area does not get sprayed upon simultaneously.

In addition, the conventional mist cannon or the mist cannon is not suitable for use in a region where adequate water is not available and generally during summer months when there is a shortage of water. Hence, complete suppression of the dust may not be achieved using conventional mist cannon or the mist cannon available in the market. Therefore, there is a need for more effective dust control in an energy efficient manner. This can be achieved by utilizing the mist cannon fan for not only suppressing dust in the affected area using sprays but also for extracting flying dust from the atmosphere.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the invention and nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.

The present subject matter relates to a mist cannon system for suppression and extraction of impurities from a space defined by a plurality of walls. The mist cannon includes at least one air duct having an upstream end adapted to intake impure air and a downstream end adapted to discharge purified air. The mist cannon includes an air particulate filter coupled to the upstream end and adapted to capture particulates in the impure air to produce purified air. The mist cannon also includes a wind tunnel coupled at the downstream end and adapted to receive purified air and pressurize the purified air. Further, the mist cannon includes a plurality of nozzles connected to an end of the wind tunnel and adapted to spray a liquid into the pressurized purified air exiting the wind tunnel to form mist for dispensing in the space.

The mist cannon of the present disclosure not only supresses the dust but also uses air filters to simultaneously filter out the particulate impurities the from the air. This helps in maximizing the cleaning efficiency of the mist cannon by cleaning the air from multiple directions at a time.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic view of a mist cannon installed in a space having a wind tunnel and a duct provided with a fan, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of a mist cannon installed in a space having a wind tunnel and a duct provided with a fan, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 3 illustrates an enhanced view showing the wind tunnel and the air duct of the mist cannon, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 4 illustrates an enhanced view of attachment structure of a flexible portion of the air duct, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 5 illustrates a cross-section of the attachment structure of a flexible portion of the air duct taken along lines 1-1 in Figure 4, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 6 illustrates a detailed view of the air duct and the wind tunnel of the mist cannon, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 7 illustrates a schematic view of linear actuator in the wind tunnel, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 8 illustrates a schematic view of a mist cannon having a plurality of wind tunnels, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

For example, the term “some” as used herein may be understood as “none” or “one” or “more than one” or “all.” Therefore, the terms “none,” “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would fall under the definition of “some.” It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching, and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and therefore, should not be construed to limit, restrict or reduce the spirit and scope of the present disclosure in any way.

For example, any terms used herein such as, “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” “consists,” and similar grammatical variants do not specify an exact limitation or restriction, and certainly do not exclude the possible addition of one or more features or elements, unless otherwise stated. Further, such terms must not be taken to exclude the possible removal of one or more of the listed features and elements, unless otherwise stated, for example, by using the limiting language including, but not limited to, “must comprise” or “needs to include.”

Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only once, it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore, the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do not preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by limiting language including, but not limited to, “there needs to be one or more...” or “one or more elements is required.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person ordinarily skilled in the art.

Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features and/or elements of the present disclosure. Some embodiments have been described for the purpose of explaining one or more of the potential ways in which the specific features and/or elements of the proposed disclosure fulfil the requirements of uniqueness, utility, and non-obviousness.

Use of the phrases and/or terms including, but not limited to, “a first embodiment,” “a further embodiment,” “an alternate embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “multiple embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “other embodiments,” “further embodiment”, “furthermore embodiment”, “additional embodiment” or other variants thereof do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, one or more particular features and/or elements described in connection with one or more embodiments may be found in one embodiment, or may be found in more than one embodiment, or may be found in all embodiments, or may be found in no embodiments. Although one or more features and/or elements may be described herein in the context of only a single embodiment, or in the context of more than one embodiment, or in the context of all embodiments, the features and/or elements may instead be provided separately or in any appropriate combination or not at all. Conversely, any features and/or elements described in the context of separate embodiments may alternatively be realized as existing together in the context of a single embodiment.

Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of some embodiments and therefore should not necessarily be taken as limiting factors to the proposed disclosure.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For the sake of clarity, the first digit of a reference numeral of each component of the present disclosure is indicative of the Figure number, in which the corresponding component is shown. For example, reference numerals starting with digit “1” are shown at least in Figure 1. Similarly, reference numerals starting with digit “2” are shown at least in Figure 2.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying figures.

The present disclosure related to a mist cannon 100 used to spray a liquid to suppress and extract dust particles from air via an air duct provided with a fan 105. Figure 1 illustrates a schematic view of a mist cannon 100 installed in a space 200 for suppression and extraction of impurities from the air of space 200. Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the mist cannon 100 installed in the space 200. As depicted in Figures 1 and 2, the mist cannon 100 is installed in a space 200 which includes a plurality of walls 200A. It should be noted herein that the mist cannon 100 can be installed at any location which may require enhanced dust control through dust extraction and dust suppression. The location, design, configuration of the mist cannon 100 may vary depending on the application. The mist cannon 100 includes, but is not limited to, an air duct 110, an air particulate filter 120, a conical frustrum shaped wind tunnel 115, a plurality of nozzles 119, a fan 105 mounted on upstream end 118 of the air duct by a mounting structure 125, a pump 130, a hose 135, and a control panel 140. Once the operation of the mist cannon 100 starts, the fan 105 generates suction and impure air from the space 200 ingresses through an upstream end 116 of the air duct 110, which is then filtered by the air particulate filter 120 installed in the upstream end 116. The clean air so produced then traverses through the air duct 110 and is blown out of the downstream end 118 by the high velocity fan 105. The control panel 140 is configured to electrically control the fan 105 and the pump 130, and any other fail-safe devices built into the mist cannon system 100. The functioning of the control panel 140 has been explained in detail in the later sections.

The air duct 110 of the mist cannon 100 includes a rigid portion 112 and a flexible portion 114, as depicted in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Referring now to Figure 3 that depicts an enhanced view of the wind tunnel 115 and the air duct 110, the rigid portion 112 is disposed within the space 200 and the flexible portion 114 protrudes outwards from a roof 201 of the space 200. The flexible portion 114 is attached to the fan housing 105 via a flanged connection 117 as depicted in detail in Figures 4 and 5. The flanged connection 117 includes a duct flange 117-1 and a mating flange 117-2 which are bolted to each other using nuts and bolts. The fan 105 is supported on the roof 201 of the space 200 using a suitable mounting structure 125. In one example, the mist cannon 100 may include a plurality of air ducts instead of a single air duct 110. In such a case, the plurality of ducts would be connected to the fan 105 via a duct splitter. The conical frustum shaped wind tunnel 115 is connected to a housing of the fan 105 via a flange 125. The conical frustum shaped wind tunnel 115 is disposed within the space 200. In other embodiments, the design and configuration of the air duct 110 may vary depending on the application.

As mentioned before, the air duct 110 in the mist cannon includes the upstream end 116 and the downstream end 118. The upstream end 116 may include a suction unit 126 for sucking in the impure air from the space 200. The upstream 116 end further includes an air particulate filter 120, which is configured to filter dust particles such as such as pollen, any airborne particles, and the like from the incoming air into the upstream end 116. In an example, the air particulate filter 120 may be one of a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filters, Activated Carbon Filters, Electrostatic Filters, Ultraviolet (UV) Air Filters, among other types of air particulate filters. Furthermore, in another example, multiple air filters 120 may be used with the air duct 110 for greater effectiveness in filtering the dusty air.

The conical frustum shaped wind tunnel 115 is detachably coupled to the downstream end 118 of the air duct 110 with the help of a mounting structure 121 with hinges 121A, as depicted in detail in Figure 6. In an example, the wind tunnel 115 may be of any shape as required by the space it is installed in or the application requirement. The direction of the wind tunnel 115 may be changed with the help of a linear actuator 122, mounted on the wind tunnel 115 with the help of a linear actuator mounting structure 123 as depicted in Figures 6 and 7. The linear actuator mounting structure 123 is bolted to the roof 201 and has a hinge for mounting the linear actuator 122. The wind tunnel 115 includes a pipe header 119 with an array of holes. In one example, the pipe header 119 may be a ring-shaped pipe header or any other shape of pipe header, as required by the application. The pipe header 119 may be detachably connected to an end of the wind tunnel 115. In addition, the pipe header 119 may also have nozzles 119A fitted inside the holes configured to spray a liquid. Also, the pipe header 119 is coupled to a liquid source (not shown) via a hose 135. The liquid source is configured to supply the liquid (i.e., water) to the pipe header 119. In addition, a pump 130 is used to feed pressurized liquid from the liquid source to the pipe header 119 via the hose 135.

Referring back to Figure 1, the fan 105 is mounted inside the air duct 110 at its downstream end 118. In one example, the suction by which the impure air is sucked into the upstream end 116 is generated by the fan 105 which is mounted at the downstream end 118 of the air duct. It should be noted herein that the location of the fan 105 and the particulate air filter 120 may vary depending on the application. The number of fans 105 may vary depending on the application. Once the particulate impurities are eliminated from the impure air, the clean air so produced passes through the air duct 110 towards the downstream end 118. The fan 105 mounted on the downstream end 118 of the air duct is configured to blow high velocity air. The speed of fan 105 may be controlled by the control panel 140 so as to control the velocity of air, and the intensity of suction to be generated. In one example, different types of air blowers such as radial air blowers may be used instead of the fan 105. When the high velocity air from the fan 105 hits the water droplets from the nozzles 119A, the droplets together with high velocity air produce mist, which is sprayed over a large area of the surrounding environment/ the space 200, thereby suppressing the dust particles in the surrounding environment/ the space 200.

In one example, the mist cannon 100 may have multiple wind tunnels instead of a single wind tunnel with a linear actuator for changing their direction. Such a configuration may help in spreading the mist in multiple directions simultaneously, with/without the need of a linear actuator or any other directing mechanism for the wind tunnel. Figure 8 illustrates a mist cannon including multiple wind tunnels 115 directed in different directions, as required by the application/ the space where the mist cannon 100 is installed. Such a mist cannon 100 including two or more wind tunnels 115 may also be termed as a forked mist cannon. In such a case, a two-way duct connector is required to be integrated or detachably connected to the converging wind tunnels 115. The angle between such converging wind tunnels 115 may be selected as per the required coverage area, but preferably such that there is a small overlap between the flow streams of the multiple wind tunnels 115. Each of the wind tunnels 115 in a fork mist cannon shall include a pipe header 119 with array of holes/nozzles 119A (as depicted in previous figures) for spraying the mist into the space 200. Further, each such pipe header 119 shall be connected to at least one liquid source through hoses 135, and at least one pump 130 shall be installed for pumping water to the pipe headers 119. The actuation of pump 130 and its deactivation may be controlled by the control panel 140, depending upon the requirement of liquid at the pipe header 119. The control panel 140 may also control the pump 130 to pump the required amount of liquid to the pipe header 119. In one embodiment, the control panel 140 may actuate a fail-safe system that may be installed in the mist cannon 100 to protect the mist cannon 100 from any damage or operator of the mist 100 cannon from any injury or hazard.

The mist cannon 100 disclosed herein is used to simultaneously suppress dust and extract dust particles that do not get suppressed from the space 200. The sprayed liquid suppresses the dust particles in the space and the dust particles that are not suppressed is sucked in along with air via the air duct 110 by the fan 105 for filtration. The fan 105 serves the dual purpose of sucking in dusty air and contributing to dust suppression by blowing filtered air for transporting liquid spray droplets to the dust affected area.

The embodiments discussed herein disclose an exemplary mist cannon having a conical frustum shaped converging wind tunnel for spraying liquid to suppress dust, and to extract dust via an air duct attached to a fan of the mist cannon. The fan disclosed herein serves dual purposes i.e., sucking in dusty air and contributing to dust suppression by throwing out clean air meant for spraying the water to the dust affected area.

While specific language has been used to describe the present disclosure, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.
,CLAIMS:
1. A mist cannon system (100) for suppression and extraction of impurities from a space (200) defined by a plurality of walls (200A), the mist cannon system (100) comprising:
at least one air duct (110) having an upstream end (116) adapted to intake impure air and a downstream end (118) adapted to discharge purified air;
an air particulate filter (120) coupled to the upstream end (116) and adapted to capture particulates in the impure air to produce purified air;
a wind tunnel (115) coupled at the downstream end (118) and adapted to receive purified air and pressurize the purified air; and
a plurality of nozzles (119A) connected to an end of the wind tunnel (115) and adapted to spray a liquid into the pressurized purified air exiting the wind tunnel (115) to form mist for dispensing into the space (200).

2. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wind tunnel (115) comprises at least one fan (105) fixed therein and adapted to generate suction for directing the impure air from the space (200) into the upstream end (116).

3. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 1, comprising:
a liquid storage tank for storing the liquid;
a pump (130) in fluid communication with the liquid storage tank and adapted to provide pressurized feed of the liquid from the liquid storage tank to the wind tunnel (115); and
a hose (135) with a first end connected to the liquid storage tank and a second end connected to the plurality of nozzles (119A) and adapted to supply pressurized liquid to the plurality of nozzles (119A).

4. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of nozzles (119A) is disposed circumferentially around the discharge end of the wind tunnel (115) and adapted to spray the liquid into the space (200).

5. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upstream end (116) of the air duct (110) comprises a suction unit (126) for sucking in impure air from the space (200), and the suction unit (126) includes the air particulate filter (120) for capturing particulates in the impure air to produce purified air.

6. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the wind tunnel (115) comprises:
a conical frustrum shaped housing having a receiving end detachably coupled to the downstream end (118) of the air duct (110) and a discharge end, wherein the at least one fan (105) is at the receiving end and adapted to pressurize the purified air received from the downstream end (118).

7. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air duct (110) comprising:
a rigid portion (112) disposed within the space (200); and
a flexible portion (114) disposed protruding outwards from a roof (201) of the space (200), wherein the protruding end of the air duct (110) is fixed into a roof (201) of the space (200) by a flanged connection (117) leading to the downstream end (118) disposed within the space (200).

8. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 1, comprising a duct splitter adapted to transfer purified air from the at least one air duct (110) to the wind tunnel (115).

9. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 6, comprising at least one linear actuator (122) coupled to the conical frustrum shaped housing and adapted to pivot the conical frustrum shaped housing relative to the wall (200A) to change the direction of mist flow.

10. The mist cannon system (100) as claimed in claim 6, comprising a control panel (140) adapted to control an operation of the fan (105), the pump (130), and the at least one linear actuator (122).