1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a novel choke flow bean and a choke nipple assembly containing an adaptor and the choke flow bean.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of mechanical devices have been used to control the flow of fluids (liquids and/or gases) through a pipe. The various engineers handbooks describe various orifices, nozzles, and short tubes as means for reducing pressure of a fluid. See, for example, Chemical Engineers Handbook, 5th Edition, by R. H. Perry et al., McGraw-Hill Book Company (1973) and Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, 3rd Edition, by W. L. McCabe et al., McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1976).
These handbooks show or describe a variety of "Venturi nozzles" where the fluid passes through a converging truncated cone into usually a short, straightwalled tube from which it is discharged into a diverging truncated cone, often called a diffuser. See, for example, the disclosure by McCabe et al., supra, at pages 203,212.
In other instances, simple flow nozzles have been used to regulate the flow of fluids. Nozzles with a well-rounded throat generally have a higher average coefficient of discharge than orifices having a square edge or a thin plate with a sharp edge. Flow measurements through such nozzles are described in Chapter 14 of the text, "Mechanical Measurements", by T. G. Beckwith et al., Addison-Wesley Publishing Company (1973), at pages 417-419.
The flow of fluids through convergent-divergent nozzles (DeLaval nozzles) has also been studied and is reported, for example, by R. H. Perry, supra, at pages 5-29 et seq. None of the DeLaval-type nozzles have been used, so far as the applicant knows, as a choke flow bean capable of handling fluids with entrained particulate solids.