Pumps – Motor driven – Electric or magnetic motor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-02
2001-04-24
Thorpe, Timothy S. (Department: 3746)
Pumps
Motor driven
Electric or magnetic motor
C417S424100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220830
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Soils contaminated by, for example, hydrocarbons can often be remediated, that is cleaned, by forcing air (and thus oxygen) through wells into the contaminated underground regions. This injection may be in conjunction with the introduction of other gases, liquids or micro-organisms.
Soil remediation systems may also use forced air venting, also called soil vapor extraction (SVE). With this technique gas within the unsaturated contaminated soil matrix is extracted using vacuum applied at one or more extraction wells. Pressure gradients within the unsaturated zone induce a convection air flow through the porous soil matrix. The extent of the vacuum influence is determined by the soil properties. As the contaminated soil gas is removed, clean air from the surface is drawn into the contaminated zone; thus organic compounds to be volatilized, depending upon their vapor pressures.
Current SVE methods use gasoline, electric or hydraulically-driven positive displacement blower systems to pull the air and volatilized compounds from the wells. The typical blower system consists of a positive-displacement blower driven by a drive motor, a vacuum breaker, pressure relief valve, temperature switches, pressure and temperature gauges, intake filters and exhaust silencers. These SVE systems are typically mounted on skids since they are very heavy and they will only be left in place for a short period of time. There are several problems with conventional SVE systems. The blowers are noisy, and they are notorious for their inefficiency. Conventional SVE systems are expensive to purchase, to operate and to maintain. At the end of the clean-up procedure, SVE's must be disposed of. Vapor exhausted from the blower is above about 180° Fahrenheit, posing a safety concern. Conventional SVE systems require large diameter piping between the blower skid and the wells. This above ground piping creates obstacles as well as being unsightly. Below grade piping is expensive and may require cutting through concrete slabs. A conventional SVE system often requires use of a crane to set up the system and typically entails a complicated startup procedure. Because of their many problems and drawbacks, potential users often decide against installing skid mounted SVE systems.
Conventional air injection systems suffer from many of the same drawbacks as conventional SVE systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a high efficiency blower finding particular utility for use with a solar-powered soil remediation system, as well as other end uses. The high efficiency is created by mounting a motor fan assembly within a venturi surface and by the use of flow-straightening supports aligned along the flow axis through the body of the blower.
The blower includes a body having an inner venturi surface aligned with a flow axis through the body. The venturi surface has first and second ends and a throat between the two ends. A motor/fan assembly is mounted within the body by at least one flow-straightening support. The motor/fan assembly includes a motor and a fan blade assembly mounted to a shaft extending from the motor. The fan blade assembly has at least one fan blade. The support extends between the motor/fan assembly and the body. The fan blade is preferably located generally at the throat of the venturi surface. The flow-straightening support has leading and trailing edges and first and second lateral sides extending between the edges. The lateral sides are oriented generally parallel with the flow axis.
Another aspect of the invention relates to the high efficiency blower being powered by a solar panel through an electric storage and control assembly. This permits operations, such as soil remediation, to be conducted using a relatively simple, inexpensive, self-contained system which requires no external source of power and very little upkeep. In one embodiment the high-efficiency blower is capable of moving at least 170 cfm of air at about 2000 fpm using no more than about 7.5 watts of power.
One of the primary advantages of the invention is that it can be quite inexpensive to purchase and use. For example, assume six wells will be needed at a site. The total cost for purchasing, operating and maintaining six soil remediation systems, one for each of the six wells, made according invention is estimated to be about $20,000.00 over two years of operation. This can be compared with a total cost of about $240,000.00 to operate a single conventional SVE system connected to the six wells and operated for two years. This cost saving is largely because with a soil remediation system made according to the invention, a major cost will be the soil remediation system itself and the cost for the six wells. There are very few other costs involved. The simplicity of the soil remediation system made according to the invention can eliminate the need for regular maintenance; it can be installed by a single operator at an existing well in a relatively short period of time. Using solar power instead conventionally generated electricity not only eliminates the cost of the electricity itself but also pollution created in generating and transmitting the electricity. By using a separate soil remediation system for each well, the need for pipes from several wells to a single system is eliminated resulting in substantial cost savings.
The housing for a solar-power blower system can be fabricated from a structural frame covered with UV protected ABS plastic. The ABS plastic is economical and dent resistant. Other materials, such as anodized aluminum sheet, can also be used. The structural frame can be made from square steel tubing; other materials, such as aluminum or stainless steel in the same or other shapes could also be used meet various site requirements. The housing may be designed to hold a solar panel at an appropriate angle, which may be fixed or adjustable. The housing preferably acts as a container for the electronics and the blower.
The solar panel and electricity storage and control assembly may be conventional components using a deep charge/deep discharge battery. It is preferred that the system be designed such that the blower is supplied with uninterrupted power for night and overcast day operation. During normal daylight operation the system is preferably designed to not only operate the blower, but also trickle charge a backup battery for night time operation to offer the operator extended use performance.
The blower can be connected to more than one well. However, the relatively low cost of the invention makes it most suited for using a system for each well; this eliminates the need for long lengths of above ground or below ground piping from the various wells to the system, together with the cost associated with such piping.
Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2782982 (1957-03-01), Merz
patent: 4044750 (1977-08-01), Zeigler
patent: 4593179 (1986-06-01), Schulz et al.
patent: 4662268 (1987-05-01), Beavers
patent: 4734017 (1988-03-01), Levin
patent: 4805697 (1989-02-01), Fouillout et al.
Passive Soil Vapor Extraction, www.llnl.gov/IPand C/op96/03/3i~pas.html, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sep. 1998.
Bechtel National, Inc.
Gray Michael K.
Thorpe Timothy S.
Townsend & Townsend & Crew LLP
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