Search/Browse Tech
3D-printed apparatus for efficient fluid-solid contact
United States Patent
| 10,493,693 | |
| December 3, 2019 | |
| View the Complete Patent at the US Patent & Trademark Office | |
| Additively manufactured monolithic structures for containing and directing flows of fluids are described herein, which can achieve high contact area between fluids and solids while maintaining uniform flow conditions and requiring low applied pressures to yield desired flow rates, for use in heat exchangers, chromatography columns, catalytic converters, etc. An exemplary monolithic structure comprises a plurality of tiled unit cells having a same shape, where the tiled unit cells are integrally formed as a single component. The tiled unit cells are arranged to define one or more interior regions of fluid flow, one or more inlets to each interior region of fluid flow, and one or more outlets to each interior region of fluid flow. The structures and methods of tiling herein are suited to additive manufacturing technologies such as projection stereolithography, multiphoton lithography, etc. | |
| 15/794,413 | |
| October 26, 2017 | |
| 1/1; | |
| B29C 64/153 (20170101); F28D 15/04 (20060101); B29C 64/268 (20170101); B29C 64/118 (20170101); | |
| ;165/164,159,160,165,166,167 | |
| STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENTAL INTEREST This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The U.S. Government has certain rights in the invention. |