THROTTLING VALVE AND METHOD FOR ENLARGING LIQUID DROPLET SIZES IN A FLUID STREAM FLOWING THERETHROUGH

摘要

A Joule-Thompson or other throttling valve comprises an outlet channel (7) inwhich swirl imparting means (10) impose a swirling motion (14) to the cooledfluid stream discharged by the valve, thereby inducing liquid droplets toswirl towards the outer periphery of the fluid outlet channel (7) and tocoalesce into enlarged liquid droplets which can be separated easily from agaseous or other carrier fluid.