US 12,251,669 B2
Shear flow nanobubble generator
Alex Edward Athey, Austin, TX (US); and Dirk Thiele, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to EN SOLUCIÓN, Austin, TX (US)
Filed by En Solución, Inc., Austin, TX (US)
Filed on Apr. 16, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/233,221.
Prior Publication US 2022/0331750 A1, Oct. 20, 2022
Int. Cl. B01F 23/23 (2022.01); B01F 23/231 (2022.01); B01F 23/2373 (2022.01)
CPC B01F 23/23123 (2022.01) [B01F 23/231264 (2022.01); B01F 23/2373 (2022.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
a gas source;
a nanobubble generator including a fluid inlet to receive a fluid, a gas inlet coupled to the gas source to receive a gas from the gas source, and a nanobubble generator outlet, the nanobubble generator further including a porous component fluidly coupled to the gas inlet and including a plurality of gas-permeable openings across which the fluid flows from the fluid inlet through a fluid channel past the porous component towards the nanobubble generator outlet; and
a pump coupled to the nanobubble generator;
wherein a gas pressure and a pressure provided by the pump cooperate to shear nanobubbles from the plurality of gas-permeable openings to form a first nanobubble solution in the fluid channel;
wherein the nanobubble generator further includes an expansion region, disposed between the porous component and the nanobubble generator outlet, through which the fluid flows after flowing through the fluid channel past the porous component, wherein the expansion region is larger in at least one dimension than the fluid channel in the same at least one dimension and operates to allow bubbles to separate from each other within the fluid while flowing through the expansion region.