Title of Invention

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATINGFLUIDS WITH THAWING DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES & DIFFERENTDENSITIES

Abstract

A method of separating from a mixture, two fluids of different densities, where the denser fluid thaws at a lower temperature than the temperature at which the lighter fluid thaws, comprising the steps of (a) filling the mixture of the two fluids in a resiliency walled sealed bottle having a removable seal in the operative neck region a cup fitted over the seal and a tube element passing through the seal and opening into the operative top region of the bottle and leading into the operative upper region of the cup, (b) slowly cooling the bottle in an operative upright position upto a temperature less than the freezing point of the denser fluid such that the denser fluid during freezing settles at the operative bottom of the bottle; (c) slowly allowing the bottle containing the mixture to thaw in an operastiver upright position so that the frozen fluid at the bottom thaws first and the frozen fluid thereabove bears down on the fluid below forcing the denser fluid to rise along the sides of the bottle and collect at the said top region; and (d) further allowing the frozen lighter fluid to bear down on the denser fluid to force the denser fluid through the said pipe and collect into the said cup.

Full Text

FORM-2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & THE PATENTS RULES, 2003 COMPLETE (See section 10 and rule 13) A METHOD AND AN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING TWO FLUIDS OF DIFFERENT DENSITIES HAVING DIFFERENT THAWING TEMPERATURES NANO CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY PVT. LTD., an Indian Company of 79/87, D. Lad Path, Kalachowki, Mumbai 400 033, Maharashtra, India, 18 SEP 2006 THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED. ORIGINAL 18-9-2006 This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for separating two fluids of different densities having different thawing temperatures. In particular, this invention relates to a method of separating nano particles from a mixture of nano particles and a suspension media. The separation of desirable compound (metal salt, protein, metabolite, sugars) from medium is a difficult and costly affair. Ideally, one is trying to obtain desired compound in concentrated form as quickly as possible at an efficient recovery rate using minimum investment. Concentration is an enrichment of a desirable compound by removal of solvent and it is a very important step in the recovery of a desired substance from solution. This is usually achieved by centrifugation or ultrafiltration. With centrifugation large volume of samples cannot be handled effectively and it also requires high-speed centrifugal forces to separate small molecules (Nanoparticles, metal salt, proteins etc.) from a medium. Ultrafiltration is a pressure-modified process that uses semi¬permeable membranes to separate species in aqueous solutions by molecular size shape and charge. An object of this invention is to attempt to simplify the concentration procedure by separation of such mixtures on the basis of difference in densities and thawing temperature. This invention can be applied to a mixture, two fluids of different densities, where the fluid of greater density thaws at a higher temperature than the temperature at which the fluid of lower density thaws. Theory In theory, each and every particle (metal salt, nanoparticles) or macromolecule (protein, polysaccharide) has density. During a freezing procedure the fluid particles of higher density settle at the bottom because of their density and during thawing, this fraction of solution (present at the bottom) has lower thawing temperature (due to presence of high amount of solute) as compared to the surrounding medium. Hence it the fluid of higher density thaws first and gets separated first from the surrounding medium which is still frozen. The still frozen mass of the fluid of lighter density bears down on the fluid below which slowly rises to the top of the freezing container and collects at the top. Nano particles are part of an emerging science called 'nanotechnology'. The word nanotechnology comes from the Greek prefix 'nano'. In modern scientific parlance, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter, about the diameter of ten atoms placed side by side in a nanometer. Nanotechnology is about building things one atom at a time, and in doing so constructing particles and devices with unique capabilities. The possiblity of molecular engineering was first described by physicist Richard Feynman. In 1959 Feynman gave a lecture at the California Institute of Technology called "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" where he observed that the principles of physics do not deny the possibility of manipulating things atom by atom. He suggested using small machines to make even tinier machines, and so on down to the atomic level itself. Nanotechnology as it is understood now though, is the brainchild of Feynman's one-time student K. Eric Drexler. Drexler presented his key ideas in a paper On molecular engineering published in 1981, and expanded these in his books Engines of Creation, and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation, which describes the principles and mechanisms of molecular nanotechnology. In 1981 the invention of the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope or STM, by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM's Zurich Research Labs, and the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) five years later, made it possible to not only take photos of individual atoms, but to actual move a single atom around. Soon after, John Foster of IBM Almaden labs was able to spell "IBM" out of 35 xenon atoms on a nickel surface, using a scanning tunnelling microscope to push the atoms into place. Nano particles are particles smaller than 100 nanometers in diameter and generally spherical in shape. The synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles has received attention in recent years for their use in industry and chemistry. A range of nano particles has been produced by biological, chemical and physical methods. Nano particles formed in a media generally have to be separated from the media by different methods. Statement of invention According to this invention there is provided a method of separating from a mixture, two fluids of different densities, where the denser fluid thaws at a lower temperature than the temperature at which the lighter fluid thaws, comprising the steps of (a) filling the mixture of the two fluids in a resiliently walled sealed bottle having a removable seal in the operative neck region a cup fitted over the seal and a tube element passing through the seal and opening into the operative top region of the bottle and leading into the operative upper region of the cup, (b) slowly cooling the bottle in an operative upright position upto a temperature less than the freezing point of the denser fluid such that the denser fluid during freezing settles at the operative bottom of the bottle; (c) slowly allowing the bottle containing the mixture to thaw in an operastiver upright position so that the frozen fluid at the bottom thaws first and the frozen fluid thereabove bears down on the fluid below forcing the denser fluid to rise along the sides of the bottle and collect at the said top region; and (d) further allowing the frozen lighter fluid to bear down on the denser fluid to force the denser fluid through the said pipe and collect into the said cup. Particularly the fluid of greater density is a mass of nano particles and the fluid of lighter density is the suspension media. According to another aspect of this invention there is also provided an apparatus for carrying out the method as claimed in claim 1, said apparatus comprising a bottle having resilient walls and a neck region and an upper region below the neck region, a stopper for sealing the neck, said stopper having a perforation; a tube passing through the perforation in the stopper having two ends, the operative lower end opening in the said upper region; a perforated cup which is fitted around the said pipe such that the upper end of the pipe terminates in the upper region of the cup. Particularly, the cup is a funnel and the pipe passes through the tubular lower end of the funnel. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the apparatus of the invention in a frozen state; and Figure 2 shows the apparatus of the invention in a partially thawed state. The bottle 10 is typically of a synthetic polymeric material, typically polycarbonate, and hence is expandable. The bottle 10 is seen in a frozen state in figure 1, typically at -20 degrees Celsius. The container 10 has a lid 12 in which is fitted a sampling cup consisting of a funnel 14 in which a tube 16 is inserted through the cup 14 and into the bottle 10 through the lid or stopper 12. The tube 16 has one end 24 terminating close to the upper region of the bottle as seen in the figures. The dark portion 20 seen in figure 1 is the mass of frozen nano particles and the lighter portion 22 on the top is the frozen media. The nano particles mass typically thaws at - 8 degrees Celsius , the media thaws at 1 degree Celsius. The bottle is allowed to thaw, the nano particles fluidize and the frozen mass of media, which is heavier than the mass of nano particles fluid rises to the top by forcing its way through the sides of the container 10. This happens because the frozen mass of the media, i.e. the lighter fluid which is actually on the top of the fluidized denser fluid below, bears down on the fluid. Since the fluid is not compressible the force created by the frozen mass pushes the fluid upwards. This forcing is possible because of the resilience of the walls of the bottle of polycarbonate. Micro channels are formed along the sides of the bottle The nano particle fluid collects on the top of the bottle and further force on the fluid causes the fluid to travel up the pipe/tube 16. The fluid travels all the way up the pipe and pours out at the top open end and starts to collect in the cup or funnel 14. The sampling cup virtually acting as a non return valve. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying examples Example 1 The recovery of silver nanoparticles synthesized cell free spent broth was carried out in a above mentioned apparatus which could separate the silver particles from the medium on the basis of differences in their thawing temperatures (-8°C and 1°C, for silver nanoparticles and medium respectively). The synthesis of silver nanoparticles was carried out as mentioned below. Example 2 Cell-free medium with suspended silver particles was filled in the bottle up to the brim and kept in a freezer adjusted to -20°C in an upright position. During freezing, silver nanoparticles, being denser (1.0583) than the medium, settled at the bottom (as a distinctly visible black layer). The bottle was then transferred to another freezer adjusted to 0°C and the contents were allowed to thaw. The thawing of the frozen layer containing silver nanoparticles began at -8°C, and due to increase in volume the thawed suspension was pushed upwards (through micro-channels formed along the wall of the bottle) under the weight of the frozen block of the medium and got collected in the sampling cup. The concentrated colloidal suspension (100ml) in the sampling cup was subjected to silver estimation by atomic absorption spectrometry (Unicam, UK, Solar 929) and 3.21-fold increased concentration was achieved by this method. Example 3 (CuS04.5H20 mol wt 237.83) was prepared. This solution was treated in similar fashion as mentioned in example 1 to get concentrated salt solution. The density of solution was 1.02 and thawing temperature was 0°C as compare to surrounding medium (2-3 0°C). In collected 200 ml salt solution 1.26 fold increase in concentration was observed. Example 4 One-liter salt solution (25mM) of cobalt chloride (CoCl2.6H20 mol wt 237.83) was prepared. This solution was treated in similar fashion as mentioned in example 1 to get concentrated salt solution. The density of solution was 1.01 and thawing temperature was 0°C as compare to surrounding medium (2-3 0°C). In collected 250 ml salt solution 2.71 fold increase in concentration was observed. Example 5 One-liter salt solution (25mM) of zinc sulfate (ZnS04 mol wt 287.54) was prepared. This solution was treated in similar fashion as mentioned in example 1 to get concentrated salt solution. The density of solution was 1.02 and thawing temperature was 0°C as compare to surrounding medium (2-3°C). In collected 150 ml salt solution 1.56 fold increase in concentration was observed. Example 6 One-liter salt solution (25mM) of nickel chloride (NiCl2.6H20 mol wt 237.71) was prepared. This solution was treated in similar fashion as mentioned in example 1 to get concentrated salt solution. The density of solution was 1.01 and thawing temperature was 0°C as compare to surrounding medium (2-3°C). In collected 110 ml salt solution 4.99 fold increase in concentration was observed. Example 7 One-liter protein solution (2% tryptone) was prepared. This solution was treated in similar fashion as mentioned in example 1 to get concentrated protein solution. The density of solution was 1.032 and thawing temperature was 0.7°C as compare to surrounding medium (2-3°C). In collected concentrated 10 ml protein solution 5.72 fold increase in concentration was observed. Example 8 One-liter sugar solution (2% glucose) was prepared. This solution was treated in similar fashion as mentioned in example 1 to get concentrated sugar solution. The density of solution was 1.048 and thawing temperature was -2.7°C as compare to surrounding medium (2-3°C). In collected concentrated 30 ml sugar solution 3 fold increase in concentration was observed. We Claim: [1] A method of separating from a mixture, two fluids of different densities, where the denser fluid thaws at a lower temperature than the temperature at which the lighter fluid thaws, comprising the steps of (a) filling the mixture of the two fluids in a resiliency walled sealed bottle having a removable seal in the operative neck region a cup fitted over the seal and a tube element passing through the seal and opening into the operative top region of the bottle and leading into the operative upper region of the cup, (b) slowly cooling the bottle in an operative upright position upto a temperature less than the freezing point of the denser fluid such that the denser fluid during freezing settles at the operative bottom of the bottle; (c) slowly allowing the bottle containing the mixture to thaw in an operastiver upright position so that the frozen fluid at the bottom thaws first and the frozen fluid thereabove bears down on the fluid below forcing the denser fluid to rise along the sides of the bottle and collect at the said top region; and (d) further allowing the frozen lighter fluid to bear down on the denser fluid to force the denser fluid through the said pipe and collect into the said cup. [2] A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the denser fluid is a mass of nano particles and the lighter fluid is its suspension media. [3] Apparatus for carrying out the method as claimed in claim 1, said apparatus comprising a bottle(lO) having resilient walls and a neck region and an upper region below the neck region; a stopper for sealing the neck, said stopper having a perforation; a tube passing through the perforation in the stopper having two ends, the operative lower end opening in the said upper region; a perforated cup which is fitted around the said pipe such that the upper end of the pipe terminates in the upper region of the cup. [4] Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the cup is a funnel and the pipe passes through the tubular lower end of the funnel. [5] A method of separating from a mixture, two fluids of different densities as described herein with reference to the accompanying examples and drawings. [6] Apparatus for separating from a mixture, two fluids of different densities as described herein with reference to the accompanying examples and drawings. Dated this 4th day of May 2005. Mohan Dewan of R K Dewan & Co Applicants' Patent Attorney

Documents:

549-mum-2004-assignment(21-4-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-cancelled pages(18-9-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-claims(granted)-(18-9-2006).doc

549-mum-2004-claims(granted)-(18-9-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-correspondence(12-9-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-correspondence(ipo)-(3-2-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-drawing(18-9-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 1(18-9-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 13(18-09-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 18(8-7-2005).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 2(granted)-(18-9-2006).doc

549-mum-2004-form 2(granted)-(18-9-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 26(4-8-2006).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 3(12-5-2004).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 5(4-5-2005).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 6(21-4-2005).pdf

549-mum-2004-form 9(9-5-2005).pdf

549-mum-2004-power of attorney(12-5-2004).pdf

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