Device and method for exposing liquids, including pretreated...

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Reexamination Certificate

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C422S024000, C422S186300

Reexamination Certificate

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06576189

ABSTRACT:

This invention concerns a device for UV irradiation of liquid media according to the definition of the species of Patent claim 13, and it also concerns a method of UV irradiation of liquid media.
A device for UV irradiation of liquid media and a method of UV irradiation of liquid media are known from the document WO 94/20208. In the direction of flow of the liquid medium, this device includes an inlet chamber, an irradiation chamber and an outlet chamber. The irradiation chamber contains UV radiation sources formed by UV lamps surrounded by safety tubes which are permeable for UV radiation and which shield the UV lamps with respect to the liquid. The UV radiation sources extend in rows side by side and/or one above the other parallel to the direction of flow of the liquid medium.
With the known device, the irradiation chamber is designed as a chamber that is closed on all sides in the manner of a tube. The liquid medium is forced through this irradiation chamber or through this tube with a certain pressure. This leads to an increased flow rate in the irradiation chamber.
Although UV irradiation of liquid media is possible with the known device, and in particular UV irradiation of prepurified wastewater is possible with this device, it has been found that the design of the irradiation chamber as a chamber that is closed on all sides is complicated and expensive.
In practice, however, such devices which are designed in the manner of a trough or a channel that is open at the top can be manufactured less expensively; in other words, the irradiation chamber is not closed on all sides, but instead it is open at the top. However, this has the disadvantage that with an open channel, only a low flow rate of the liquid medium can be achieved and thus only a low efficiency is possible.
In the document German Patent No. 42 06 596 A1, devices with an open channel are mentioned in the introduction to the description, and it is stated there that such devices have shortcomings, although these shortcomings are not specified further. Therefore, it is proposed in the aforementioned German Patent No. 42 06 596 A1 that at least the UV irradiation sources be covered and that a closed flow-through channel be formed which does not have any free water surface. An overflow dam achieves the result that the lower side of the cover is always below the dammed-up water level, so that at all flow rates, the UV irradiation sources are wetted by the liquid medium without any air inclusions.
The object of this invention is to provide a device for UV irradiation of liquid media which will permit high flow rates and thus an improved efficiency in operation of the device even with an open channel, and which will be both inexpensive and economical to manufacture and can also be operated easily, and simple operation must,also include the fact that individual UV radiation sources must be replaced at certain intervals and to this end they must be easily accessible. In addition, this invention should create a simplified and inexpensive method to accompany the device for UV irradiation of liquid media.
With regard to the device, the object of this invention is achieved through the features of Patent claim 13.
With this invention, the complete device is to be designed in the manner of a channel-like trough that is open at the top and is preferably rectangular, so that the irradiation chamber is also open at the top. Thus, the UV irradiation sources are readily accessible for repair purposes.
Between the inlet chamber and the irradiation chamber, there is a damming wall across the direction of flow of the liquid medium, its dimensions being selected so that the damming wall partially covers the cross section of the channel, with the damming wall extending over the entire width of the channel and the lower edge of the damming wall being located at a distance from the base of the channel. This creates an outflow opening for the liquid medium from the inlet chamber to the irradiation chamber.
This outflow opening is designed with dimensions according to this invention so that the liquid medium dams up in front of th e outlet opening with an increased flow of liquid medium on reaching a flow rate of more than 1 m/sec.
Therefore, the liquid medium in the inlet chamber assumes a liquid level greater than the level of the liquid medium in the irradiation chamber.
On the basis of the increased liquid level in the inlet chamber and the dammed up liquid, an increased pressure is established, leading to the liquid medium flowing through the irradiation chamber at an increased rate.
A corresponding increased rate of the liquid medium in the irradiation chamber is possible even with the known device with the irradiation chamber that is closed on all sides, but such an increased rate has not so far been possible with devices designed as an open channel. Up to low flow rates of less than approximately 1 m/sec, the open channel according to this invention functions practically without any damming wall, i.e., up to a flow rate of approximately 1 m/sec, operation without any damming wall is possible. However, if the flow rate is increased because of a larger volume of liquid medium, this results in the damming effect in front of the damming wall in the inlet chamber as described above, with the advantageous effect that greater flow rates are established in the irradiation chamber.
Another feature of this invention is that the lower part of the damming wall is bent at an angle of less than 90 degrees in the direction of flow of the liquid medium, thus forming a face running at an inclination to the direction of flow. This inclined face practically forms a flow rectifier which leads to calming or a directed flow of the liquid medium.
With this invention, the inclined face is followed by a short outflow baffle running horizontally and parallel to the direction of flow of the liquid medium. This outflow baffle determines the level of the liquid medium in the irradiation chamber is predetermined, because following the inlet chamber, the liquid medium in the irradiation chamber flows at a uniform liquid level to the outlet chamber.
With the known device described above, the liquid medium is forced through a channel that is closed on all sides, and the liquid level in the irradiation chamber is limited by the dimensions of the channel, but the liquid medium in this invention is guided only through the outflow opening which is adjustable by the damming wall. After the liquid medium has passed through the outflow opening, it flows through the irradiation chamber with a liquid level running parallel to the bottom of the channel, said level being determined by the outflow baffle connected to the flow rectifier.
An optimum efficiency and a maximum throughput of the device are achieved with this invention on reaching a flow rate of approximately 4 m/sec, i.e., with a change in the liquid medium from pure flow to so-called supercritical flow. The throughput indicates the amount of liquid medium flowing through the irradiation chamber per unit of time.
Thus with this invention, the possibility that the liquid medium flows through the irradiation chamber at an increased rate is created in a novel manner, which leads to an increased efficiency of the device without requiring the irradiation chamber to be designed as a tube that is closed on all sides. The high speeds of the liquid medium achieved in the irradiation chamber with the device according to this invention were not previously possible in devices with an open channel.
Another important advantage of this invention that can be mentioned is that the dimensions of the damming wall in the open channel are selected so that flooding of the device can occur with extremely large quantities of the liquid medium, such as those occurring at high water and with heavy rainfall. This takes place as the large quantity of liquid flows over the top overflow edge of the damming wall in the inlet chamber and passes through the irradiation chamber into the outlet chamber. According to an expedient embodiment of this

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