The invention describes a vortex finder for a cyclonic separator. The vortex finder includes a plurality of stationary vanes around which incoming air is guided into the vortex finder, in which a side of the vanes facing the incoming air is provided with a protrusion at a stagnation point. The protrusion is shaped so as to guide the incoming air into the vortex finder, and have a concave side following a shape of a neighboring vane, and a rounded top. Further, the protrusion has a height in a range between 70% and 130%, and in a range between 85% and 115% of a gap width between the vanes. The gap width between adjacent vanes increases from an outside to an inside of the vortex finder. A vacuum cleaner that includes a cyclonic separator has such a vortex finder.

The present invention refers to an accelerating cyclone that separates solid particles, comprising in its general structure a lower conical body (1) (17A and 17B), comprising a lower opening (18), a central cylindrical body (2) immediately above the conical body (1) whose diameter is smaller than the largest diameter of the conical body cone (1), and a third upper, also cylindrical, body (3) of smaller diameter than the diameter of the central cylindrical body (2), comprising a side opening for the acceleration air output (5); where the cylindrical central body (2) allows to accelerate the speed of the solid material particles and is the cyclone pressure chamber; and where said cylindrical central body (2) comprises a side opening for the acceleration air input (8) and at least one duct (9).

A cyclone separation device includes a cyclone chamber for separating dirt from incoming air, a dirt collecting chamber arranged adjacent to the cyclone chamber for collecting dirt particles separated from air, and a dirt duct between the cyclone chamber and the dirt collecting chamber for allowing dirt particles to exit the cyclone chamber into the dirt collecting chamber. To reduce the generation of noise-generating air vortices, the dirt duct has an edge protruding into a direction at an angle to the dirt duct at an exit ridge of the cyclone chamber that is first encountered by the air rotating in the cyclone chamber. Preferably, the edge is formed by a tangential extension of a wall of the cyclone chamber. A vacuum cleaner advantageously includes such a cyclone separation device.

A cyclone separation device includes a cyclone chamber for separating dirt from incoming air, a dirt collecting chamber arranged adjacent to the cyclone chamber for collecting dirt particles separated from air, and a dirt duct between the cyclone chamber and the dirt collecting chamber for allowing dirt particles to exit the cyclone chamber into the dirt collecting chamber. To reduce the generation of noise-generating air vortices, the dirt duct has an edge protruding into a direction at an angle to the dirt duct at an exit ridge of the cyclone chamber that is first encountered by the air rotating in the cyclone chamber. Preferably, the edge is formed by a tangential extension of a wall of the cyclone chamber. A vacuum cleaner advantageously includes such a cyclone separation device.

A hydrogen-water separator for a fuel cell includes an upper separation chamber having a first cylindrical sidewall defining an inlet port and a lower collection chamber configured to collect separated water. The collection chamber has a bottom and a second cylindrical sidewall defining a drain port disposed above the bottom. A divider is disposed between the separation chamber and the collection chamber. The divider spans the first cylindrical sidewall and defining one or more openings. An outlet tube is arranged vertically in the separation chamber and having an entrance that is disposed above the divider and below the inlet port.

A vortex finder, for a cyclonic separator, includes a plurality of stationary vanes having a round convex front end around which incoming air is guided into the vortex finder, wherein, where air separates from the plurality of stationary vanes inside of the vortex finder, a cross-section of the plurality of stationary vanes has only one sharp edge. Preferably, a mean line of the cross-section of the plurality of stationary vanes does not cross a chord line in an upstream half of the cross-section. Preferably, a side of the plurality of stationary vanes facing the incoming air is provided with a protrusion at a stagnation point. The protrusion may be shaped so as to guide the incoming air into the vortex finder, and may have a concave side following a shape of a neighboring vane, and a rounded top.

An integrated vortex separator (IVS) is disclosed. The IVS includes a housing in communication with a waste inlet via which a waste stream is drawn under suction into a waste tank. In a first stage, the waste stream is drawn into a centrifugal vortex flow to facilitate the removal of solid and liquid waste from the waste stream, leaving a primary airstream. Within the housing, a filter assembly includes outer and inner inverted cones with a conical cavity therebetween, the cavity serving as a second stage into which the vortex flow is redirected to remove additional liquid from the airstream. Radial vanes extending inward from the outer cone define portals between adjacent vanes, through which the redirected vortex flow is isolated from the original vortex flow. Exhaust ports in communication with the conical cavity allow the substantially moisture-free airstream to be drawn from the IVS via a vent line.

A bypass flow regulator for a vacuum waste system (VWS) is disclosed. The bypass flow regulator includes a valve assembly installable in an aircraft vent line leading outside the aircraft from an onboard VWS waste tank. The vent line directs an airstream pumped from the waste tank to an external outlet under suction (from which outlet the airstream is ejected from the aircraft). The valve assembly includes a group of valves (e.g., umbrella valves) set into the path of the airstream. The valves may collectively modulate the flow rate of the airstream by adjusting their effective flow area.

A cyclone for the separation of solid particles and/or at least one liquid from a fluid, featuring a housing, an inlet opening for introducing the fluid together with the solid particles and/or the at least one liquid into the housing, a discharge port for the solid particles and/or the at least one liquid, a dip tube for discharging the fluid from the housing, and at least two guide vanes. Each guiding vanes shows a geometrical form with at least three edges e1, e2, e3. Further, each guide vane is directly or indirectly fixed to the housing with at least one edge e3 at a fixing point, whereby an area a is defined as the cross-sectional area of the housing intersecting the fixed edges e3. In addition, each guide vane shows at least two edges e1 and e2 which are not fixed to the housing, whereby the first edge e1 has a distance d1 and the second edge e2 has a distance d2, and whereby d1<d2 to the centerline c of the housing. According to the invention, the first edge e1 shows a distance L1 to the area a and the second edge e2 shows a distance L2, whereby L2>1,25*L1.

The powder coating system according to the invention for coating workpieces with coating powder has a coating cubicle (3) and a cyclone separator (5), the coating cubicle (3) being connected to the cyclone separator (5) via a residual powder pipe (4). The cyclone separator (5) comprises in its inlet region an outlet tube (23) in which there is disposed a guide apparatus (50) that has multiple blades (51). These are designed so that the air vortex (28) impinging on the blades (51) can be deflected into a vertical air stream (30).