Liquid purification or separation – With movable support – Float
Patent
1980-12-18
1986-01-21
Hruskoci, Peter
Liquid purification or separation
With movable support
Float
2102424, 210256, C02F 128, E02B 1504
Patent
active
045656274
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an apparatus for gathering valuable substances such as uranium, gold, silver or the like from sea water.
The ever-increasing need of metals and other substances is leading to depletion of mines and the like, and thus attention is beginning to be paid to an increasing extent to the practically inexhaustable reserves, which are dissolved and suspended in the sea. A difficulty with extraction of substances from the sea water is the low concentration in which most substances are present, and thus very large quantities of water must be passing filter or sorbing bodies suitable for collecting desired substances.
A known method of collecting such substances from the sea is to tow or impel a large number of filter or sorbing bodies in the sea by means of vessels. An essential drawback of this method is however that very large energy amounts are required to keep the sorbing bodies in movement in the water during the relatively long time necessary to have a sufficient quantity of desired substance to be collected in the sorbing bodies. Due to this the method in question has turned out to be uneconomic.
An object of the present invention is to develop an apparatus by which one can ensure a sufficient flow of sea water through the filter bodies without energy requiring arrangements and thereby making possible an economically profitable extraction of desired valuable substances, e.g. gold, silver, uranium, vanadium, phosphate, oil from oil leakage, biomass, etc.
The concept forming the basis of the present invention is to utilize the great energy resource of the sea waves. In the North Atlantic the mean natural power in the waves is about 90 kW/m wave front According to trials which have been made a pontoon-carried basin having a ramp sloping towards the upper portion of the basin would lift up about 3 m.sup.3 water per second and meter length of the basin to a height of about 2 m in the basin. For example, a basin 100 m long would thus give 300 m.sup.3 water per second with a 2 m head to the outlet. In accordance herewith, the method of the invention is characterized in that sea waves are brought to rush up a ramp guiding the waves into a basin from above, in which the water by hydrostatic pressure is caused to flow through one or several layers of filters containing sorbing, ion-exchanging or bioactive mass, whereafter the water is returned to the sea at a level lower than the upper edge of the ramp.
The invention also relates to an apparatus for gathering desired valuable substances in accordance with the above-mentioned method. The apparatus is characterized substantially by an elongated basin having a longitudinal side adapted during use to face the approaching sea waves and on which is provided a sloping ramp adapted to lead the waves upwardly and into the basin, one or several layers of filters containing sorbing, ion-exchanging or bioactive mass for gathering desired substance being arranged in communication with the basin, said filters communicating with the basin through inlets and with the sea through outlets disposed on a lower level than the upper edge of the ramp.
Since the seas of the world are free to all nations, such pontoon-carried basins can, with the aid of the wave energy, contribute to a cheap and secure supply of raw materials for all nations, even those lacking coasts.
The invention will now be described in detail while referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a vertical cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, and
FIG. 2 illustrates a vertical cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the apparatus.
The first embodiment of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 for gathering or collecting desired, valuable substances from the sea water has the form of an elongated, upwardly open basin 1. On one longitudinal side of the basin 1 there is provided a ramp 2, the upper surface of which sloping towards the upper edge of the basin so as to lead seawaves 3 into the basin. The height
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Forberg Sevald
Lagstrom Emil G.
Westermark Torbjorn E. G.
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