John W Walko DeceasedWichita Falls, TX

5120165, Jun 9, 1992

May 3, 1990

7/518555

John F. Walko - Trafford PA

B65G 6720

406 40

An Excavation System is disclosed in which fragmented excavated material is entrained in a gas and pneumatically conveyed to a desirably remote site for separation of such material from such gas. Energy is supplied to a motor to operate a gas pump to induce high velocity gas flow through a long vacuum conduit. At a vacuum intake end such flow entrains such material and conveys such material into and through such conduit to one or more separators communicating serially with the flow path for separating and collecting the excavant, then such gas is discharged into the atmosphere. At least one separator includes a high-efficiency cyclone chamber for maintaining a gas vortex for high-efficiency centrifugal separation with minimal flow-resistance. A separator is described which includes two such cyclone chambers vertically separated by a conical partition with depressed apex having an aperture with vanes for inducing a vortex in the upper chamber as such material and gas flow through the aperture from the lower cyclone chamber into the upper cyclone chamber across such vanes at such apex. The upper cyclone chamber includes a vent at the radial periphery of the vortex to discharge such separated material.