There is an increasing trend in the fluid power industry to design small, more compact systems. Although such systems are smaller, thus less expensive and typically more energy efficient, they so suffer from a very serious limitation - the increased probability of air entrainment problems because of the smaller reservoirs used.

The Bubb-Less Eliminator is a tapered-tube device with a chamber of circular cross-section that becomes smaller (in relation to its length) , and is connected to a cylindrical shaped chamber. A fluid with bubbles flows tangentially into the larger end of the tapered tube from an inlet port and forms a swirl flow that circulates fluid through the flow passage. The swirl flow accelerates downstream, and the fluid pressure along the central axis decreases downstream. From the end of the tapered tube, the swirl flow decelerates downstream and the pressure increases toward the outlet port. Bubbles are trapped in the vicinity of the central axis and collected near the area where the pressure is lowest. When backpressure is applied by a check valve or an orifice located at the downstream side of the bubble eliminator, the bubbles are ejected through vent port.

The use of such a device may allow the hydraulic engineer to obtain the following benefits:

• A reservoir with lighter weight, smaller space, lower cost
• Slower fluid degradation, which extends the fluid's useful life
• Reduces pump cavitation and noise
• Requires less fluid in the reservoir, reducing cost and increasing safety
• Shorter heating time in cold weather
• Decrease in fluid compressibility
• Easier contamination control

• Applicable Fluids
• Typical Application

• Bubble Eliminator Catalog
• Bubble Eliminator Paper for FP Expo 2003