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A filtration vessel is shown for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor. The vessel utilizes a first stage vortex knockout region to remove bulk liquids through a circular motion which imposes centrifugal forces on the gas and liquid mix

A filtration vessel is shown for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor. The vessel utilizes a first stage vortex knockout region to remove bulk liquids through a circular motion which imposes centrifugal forces on the gas and liquid mixture. A coalescer region located above the vortex knockout region receives the relatively lighter fluids and separates any remaining entrained liquids from the fluids. The discharge from the filtration unit is an essentially liquid free compressed gas. The liquid discharge, in the case of lube oil can be recirculated to the compressor for another cycle.

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1. A filtration vessel for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor and which creates an essentially liquid free flow leaving the compressor, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out re

1. A filtration vessel for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor and which creates an essentially liquid free flow leaving the compressor, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein each rigid, vertical housing is a metal cylinder having a length and an internal diameter for receiving a porous coalescer element, the metal cylinders having louvered openings along the entire lengths thereof, whereby each of the coalescer element housings act as a gas flow conditioner by stabilizing the gas flow around the coalescer element contained therein. 2. The filtration vessel of claim 1, wherein the louvered openings provided along the length of each coalescer element housing provide a slight back pressure on fluid exiting the coalescer elements, thereby resulting in a more uniform gas flow.3. A filtration vessel for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor and which creates an essentially liquid free flow leaving the compressor, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein the porous coalescer elements are coreless elements having a central bore with internal sidewalls, the internal sidewalls being pleated to remove any entrained solids in the fluids passing through the elements. 4. A filtration vessel for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor and which creates an essentially liquid free flow leaving the compressor, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein the porous coalescer elements are solid, cored elements. 5. A filtration vessel for use with a rotary screw compressor which receives a compressed liquid/gas mixture from the compressor and which creates an essentially liquid free flow leaving the compressor, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pine centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein the filter elements are comprised of non-woven fabric, the fabric being made up of a substantially homogeneous mixture of a base fiber and a binder material compressed to form a first nonwoven fabric strip of selected porosity, the first nonwoven fabric strip being spirally wound upon itself in multiple overlapping layers to form a first band having a selected radial thickness, a second, similar nonwoven fabric strip of selected porosity which differs from the porosity of the first fabric strip being spirally wound being upon itself in multiple overlapping layers to form a second band having a selected radial thickness, the first and second bands being overlapped and bonded together to form the porous, self-supporting filter element. 6. A compression process for fluids, the process comprising the steps of:receiving a low pressure gas stream into a rotary screw compressor; compressing the low pressure gas stream with the rotary screw compressor while lubricating the compressor with a lube oil to thereby create a compressed gas/oil mixture; separating the compressed gas/oil mixture by first dropping out bulk liquids in a first filtration step conducted in a filtration vessel which utilizes a vortex knock out means utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on the gas/oil mixture entering the vessel, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier lube oil from relatively lighter gas constituents of the mixture to produce a compressed gas having entrained liquids; thereafter, subjecting the compressed gas having entrained liquids to a second filtration step in the same filtration vessel by passing the compressed gas through a plurality of coalescing filter elements; recirculating the separated lube oil back to the rotary screw compressor; discharging the compressed gas from the filtration vessel; wherein the filtration vessel is provided with a housing having generally cylindrical interior sidewalls and wherein a down-comer pipe communicates the vortex knock out means and the coalescing filter elements, the down-comer pipe having a generally cylindrical exterior and being located generally alone a vertical centerline of the vessel housing, the cylindrical sidewalls of the vessel housing and the exterior of the down-comer pipe serving to create the centrifugal force which is exerted on the gas/oil mixture entering the vessel housing; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein each rigid, vertical housing is provided in the form of a metal cylinder having a length and an internal diameter for receiving a porous coalescer element, the metal cylinders having louvered openings along the entire lengths thereof, whereby each of the coalescer element housings act as a gas flow conditioner by stabilizing the gas flow around the coalescer element contained therein. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of providing louvered openings along the length of each coalescer element housing, the openings serving to provide a slight back pressure on gas exiting the coalescer elements, thereby resulting in a more uniform gas flow.8. The method of claim 7, wherein the porous coalescer elements which are used in the method are provided in the form of coreless elements having a central bore with internal sidewalls, the internal sidewalls being pleated to remove any entrained solids in the fluids passing through the elements.9. The method of claim 7, wherein the porous coalescer elements which are used in the method are provided in the form of solid, cored elements.10. The method of claim 7, wherein the filter elements which are used in the method are comprised of non-woven fabric, the fabric being made up of a substantially homogeneous mixture of a base fiber and a binder material compressed to form a first nonwoven fabric strip of selected porosity, the first nonwoven fabric strip being spirally wound upon itself in multiple overlapping layers to form a first band having a selected radial thickness, a second, similar nonwoven fabric strip of selected porosity which differs from the porosity of the first fabric strip being spirally wound being upon itself in multiple overlapping layers to form a second band having a selected radial thickness, the first and second bands being overlapped and bonded together to form the porous, self-supporting filter element.11. A compressor system for use with fluid flows to create essentially liquid-free flows, the system comprising:a rotary screw compressor, including: (a) an inlet port for receiving a low pressure gas stream; (b) a main lubrication injection port for receiving a lube oil lubrication stream; (c) a prime mover for powering the rotary screw compressor; and (d) a discharge port for discharging a high pressure compressed gas/oil mixture from the compressor; a filtration vessel for receiving the compressed gas/oil mixture from the compressor, the vessel comprising: (i) a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; (ii) a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas/oil mixture entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate a relatively heavier lube oil constituent from relatively lighter gas constituent; (iii) a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; (iv) a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter gas constituent separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the relatively lighter constituent; (v) an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging filtered compressed gas; (vi) a conduit connecting the lower region of the vessel housing with the lube oil compression stream of the compressor for recirculating the separated lube oil back to the rotary screw compressor; and wherein the inlet port for receiving a low pressure gas stream is connected to a source of natural gas. 12. A compressor system for use with fluid flows to create essentially liquid-free flows, the stem comprising;a rotary screw compressor, including: (a) an inlet port for receiving a low pressure gas stream; (b) a main lubrication injection port for receiving a lube oil lubrication stream; (c) a prime mover for powering the rotary screw compressor; and (d) a discharge port for discharging a high pressure compressed gas/oil mixture from the compressor; a filtration vessel for receiving the compressed gas/oil mixture from the compressor, the vessel comprising: (i) a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; (ii) a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas/oil mixture entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate a relatively heavier lube oil constituent from relatively lighter gas constituent; (iii) a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; (iv) a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter gas constituent separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the relatively lighter constituent; (v) an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging filtered compressed gas; (vi) a conduit connecting the lower region of the vessel housing with the lube oil compression stream of the compressor for recirculating the separated lube oil back to the rotary screw compressor; and wherein a filtration vessel is located upstream of the rotary screw compressor in communication with the compressor inlet port on a suction side of the compressor; and wherein the filtration vessel which is located upstream of the rotary screw compressor also has a first stage knock out vortex region and a second stage coalescer filter element region. 13. A filtration vessel for use on an inlet or suction side of a rotary screw compressor or other gas handling device, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein each rigid, vertical housing is a metal cylinder having a length and an internal diameter for receiving a porous coalescer element, the metal cylinders having louvered openings along the entire lengths thereof, whereby each of the coalescer element housings act as a gas flow conditioner by stabilizing the gas flow around the coalescer element contained therein. 14. The filtration vessel of claim 13, wherein the louvered openings provided along the length of each coalescer element housing provide a slight back pressure on fluid exiting the coalescer elements, thereby resulting in a more uniform gas flow.15. A filtration vessel for use on an inlet or suction side of a rotary screw compressor or other gas handling device, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein the porous coalescer elements are careless elements having a central bore with internal sidewalls, the internal sidewalls being pleated to remove any entrained solids in the fluids passing through the elements. 16. A filtration vessel for use on an inlet or suction side of a rotary screw compressor or other gas handling device, the vessel comprising:a vertically arranged vessel housing having an inlet; a vortex knock out region located within a lower region of the vessel housing and communicating with the vessel inlet, the vortex knock out region utilizing uniform circular motion to impose a centrifugal force on gas and liquid fluids entering the vessel housing, the centrifugal force acting to separate relatively heavier fluids from relatively lighter fluids; a vertically arranged down-comer pipe centrally located within the vessel housing; a coalescer element region located above the vortex knock out region within the vessel housing containing a plurality of coalescer filter elements and communicating with the vortex knock out region by means of the down-comer pipe for receiving the relatively lighter fluids separated in the vortex knock out region and for separating any entrained liquids remaining in the fluids; an outlet from the vessel housing for receiving and discharging the filtered fluids; wherein the coalescer filter elements each comprise a porous media, each element being housed within a rigid, vertical housing; and wherein the porous coalescer elements are solid, cored elements.