Agitating – Having specified feed means – Agitation of material in feeder or supply reservoir
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-19
2002-07-09
Cooley, Charles E. (Department: 1723)
Agitating
Having specified feed means
Agitation of material in feeder or supply reservoir
C366S181500, C366S338000, C138S114000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06416213
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a coagulating/condensing device and method capable of precipitating fine particles at exceedingly higher velocities than natural settling velocity, without the use of any condensing agent, from thin contaminated liquids, while making use of electrolyte in the contaminated liquids as a condensing agent, and growing the fine particles further from mass-floc (giant floc) to coagulate and separate the liquids into highly rich sludge and a clear liquid.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, a straight pipe has been used for a flocculating pipe (referred to a double pipe, in which two liquids in an injecting pipe and a mixing pipe are brought into laminar contact with each other). The longer the flocculating pipe, the higher it is in a treating capability (flocculating capability). The pipe involves many restrictions when many pipes having a length over several meters are to be installed in a site in order to treat a large quantity of a liquid, and has a disadvantage that an increase in installation cost is incurred when short flocculating pipes of increased number are used to provide the restrictions.
The inventors of this application have proposed (Japanese Patent Examined Publication Nos. 16563/1995 and 29119/1995) a coagulation apparatus and method for coagulating and separating fine particles [microorganism (activated sludge), algal, inorganic substance, plankton and so on] from a water being treated, containing fine particles and including brewery effluent, cultured growth liquids, dredge water and the like. To coagulate fine particles in an injected liquid and a water being treated (dredge water) in the coagulation apparatus, it is absolutely conditional to bring into laminar contact with each other two liquids different in electrolyte concentration (potential difference). That is, to effect laminar contact, a flow rate of a liquid being treated and supplied to a single mixing tube must be maintained at Re<10
5
. Further, while the throughput is enhanced by causing a liquid being treated and a floc-containing liquid in the mixing tube to collide and mix with each other, a further enhancement of concentration of flocculated and concentrated sludge and miniaturization of an associated coagulating/condensing device have been desired in installing the coagulating/condensing device in existing solid-liquid separation sections.
Conventionally, a straight pipe has been used for a flocculating pipe (referred to a double pipe, in which two liquids in an injecting pipe and a mixing pipe are brought into laminar contact with each other). The longer the flocculating pipe, the higher it in a treating capability (flocculating capability). The pipe involves many restrictions when may pipes having a length over several meters are to be installed in a site in order to treat a large quantity of a liquid, and has a disadvantage that an increase in installation cost is incurred when short flocculating pipes of increased number are used to accommodate for such restrictions.
The longer (for example, over 4 meters) the flocculating pipe, the higher it is in treating capability, but irregularities, such as welding or the like, on connections are not allowable in obtaining a laminar flow, many restrictions on installation of an apparatus are involved, it takes many days to complete construction, and the apparatus is not easy to move and so lacks mobility. Hereupon, miniaturization enabling installation on a conveying vehicle while maintaining the flocculating capability has been highly demanded, and so a coagulating/condensing device coming in a range of existing solid-liquid separation sections has been a most important issue.
In such apparatus, a difference in electrolyte concentration between two liquids, that is, an injected liquid and a mixed liquid in a flocculating pipe is adjusted to be at least 0.1 mg/liter, the two liquids are brought into laminar contact with each other to maintain a difference of at least 0.1 mV in surface potential between fine particles of the two liquids at liquid interface and a concentration of pollution is continuously maintained to keep a distance between particles of the two liquids within 100 Å (angstrom), which causes collision and flocculation to form floc in a moment. However, there is a disadvantage that flocculation will not result when the apparatus undergoes minute vibrations or the like to break a laminar interface between the two liquids, resulting in mixing of the two liquids. Therefore, it is an inevitable problem in outdoor apparatuses to prevent vibrations of a lengthy flocculating pipe.
Conventionally, there has been involved a disadvantage that floc taken out from an overflow weir of a floc forming tank in a manner of straight pipe or sloped plate is excessively giant (30 to 40 mm) to be great in fall velocity to cause a great resistance between it and a stagnant water to produce many small particles peeling off the giant floc falling down the sloped plate, and when the giant floc begins to fall down the sloped plate, a clean liquid in a floc forming tank is suddenly made pollutant by such peeled-off particles rising in a gap between wall of the floc forming tank and the sloped plate, and the concentrating capability in a bottom of the solid-liquid separation unit is degraded at the same time. An apparatus intended for flocculating separation for obtaining a clean liquid needs a system for continuously treating such peeled-off particles and a device for prevention of peeling-off on the sloped plate.
With the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Examined Publication Nos. 16563/1995 and 29119/1995, floc formed in a mixing pipe collides with pollutant fine particles within a floc forming tank to produce a mass-floc, and there are involved restrictions that an injected liquid and a mixed liquid be made to perform laminar contact. Since a quantity of a liquid containing therein floc in a treated liquid per a flocculating pipe, which is straight, is small, a mass-floc is formed within the floc forming tank even when a liquid being treated is increased to three to three hundreds of times the liquid containing therein floc from the flocculating pipe for the purpose of treating a large quantity of a liquid being treated, but peeling-off of small particles from floc surfaces is violently caused when floc becomes 35 mm or more in diameter during falling and transferring of the mass-floc to the solid-liquid separation unit through the sloped plate. Accordingly, a demand has been made for development of a means for tranferring in a state of less peeling-off a giant floc produced upon collision and mixing of the floc with a liquid being treated, 10 to 50 times or more a liquid containing therein floc, and for a method capable of increasing a liquid being treated, to 10 to 50 times or more a liquid containing therein floc. Also, miniaturization enabling installation on a vehicle has been highly demanded, and further a coagulating/condensing device coming in a range of existing solid-liquid separation sections has been a most important issue.
In a papermaking process in paper manufacturing, a large quantity of a flocculating agent is used in flocculating a large quantity of waste water (referred to as a thin contaminated liquid) containing thin fine fiber particles below a screen. So, a demand has been made for a coagulating/condensing device and a coagulating/condensing method for performing a flocculating treatment without the use of a flocculating agent in flocculating a large quantity of thin contaminated liquid.
Since any flocculating agent cannot be used in precipitation in a washing (harshness removing) process of food materials from thick fine particles, concern is felt for precipitation. So, a demand has been made for development of a coagulating/condensing device and a coagulating/condensing method, any flocculating agent is not used, a time for the washing process is shortened, and a yield rate is high in the washing process. In particular, it is necessary to develop a solid-liquid separation device for r
Cooley Charles E.
Koda & Androlia
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