Liquid purification or separation – With means to add treating material – Spaced along flow path
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-04
2001-04-10
Simmons, David A. (Department: 1724)
Liquid purification or separation
With means to add treating material
Spaced along flow path
C210S205000, C210S256000, C210S258000, C422S236000, C422S243000, C422S291000, C204S666000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06214222
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating liquid and an energy supply system appropriate therefor.
From the prior art, processes are known by means of which liquids, and particularly liquids with dissolved materials or undissolved solid components, or fluids dispersed in a liquid are treated in order to subsequently supply them to conventional industrial installations for use in a production process or to introduce them into biologic sewage treatment facilities in practical usage.
Also known are waste water treatment processes for demineralizing or defoaming waste water. The so-treated waste water is utilized, for example, as process water for industrial purposes or for irrigating hydroponic plant nurseries.
However, these processes require a very high input of apparatus and control technology and thereby impose high investment costs.
One of these known processes relates to the dewatering and drying and subsequent burning of sewage sludge or of fecal matter. In so doing the fecal matter, for example liquid pig manure, is collected in relatively large storage installations in which the fecal matter is treated with biological media in such a way that it is thickened and decomposed by biological processes.
An additional use for the fecal matter, which is created in large quantities in large-scale farming operations, is to distribute the fecal matter as fertilizer over agricultural areas such as grain fields or the like.
A disadvantage is that the applying of the fecal matter to the agricultural areas causes a strong odor to be created in the vicinity and, furthermore, that the germs and bacteria contained in the feces enter the soil and the groundwater. In the processes for dispersing or disposing of feces which are known from the prior art, a large space is required for the dispersal or disposal installations and the reprocessing which accompanies it requires long processing times as well as cost-intensive ingredients.
Accordingly the object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and process for the treating of liquid, by means of which liquid can be treated in a low cost manner and with low space requirements. In addition, an energy supply system especially suited for that purpose is to be described.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the steps and characteristics which are set forth below.
The process according to the invention provides that the liquid to be treated is introduced into a first chamber and then downwardly, along an outside surface of the first chamber, as a thin film into a second chamber. By so doing there can take place in the thin layer a degassing of the liquid to be treated. In so doing, it is desirable that high efficiency be achieved and that the degassing in the thin film provides low cost degassing because no mechanical energy needs to be supplied to the liquid to be treated, unlike in the processes known from the prior art which utilize mechanical stirring for degassing.
By equipping the inventive embodiment of the apparatus with at least three chambers arranged in sequence within a reaction vessel, high throughput is achieved in a small space. Thus the reaction vessel can advantageously be made mobile for certain uses and throughput quantities, by mounting the reaction vessel on a vehicle trailer, thereby enabling it to be driven from one place of utilization to the next.
It is also advantageous that the apparatus can be used for separating immiscible liquids based on density differences of the liquids. Likewise the apparatus according to the invention is suitable for separating liquids which contain undissolved solids.
The liquid to be treated is introduced into the reaction vessel by an input device, rises within the first chamber and is then led via a second chamber into a third chamber. In so doing, it is advantageous that the liquids to be separated, or the solids contained in the liquid to be treated, separate from each other during the rise based on their density differences and that, in the second chamber adjoining the first chamber, liquid components not previously separated undergo additional separation from each other.
To obtain a further improvement in the efficiency of the apparatus embodying the invention, an energy supply device for raising the internal energy of the liquid is connected to the third chamber. By supplying energy to the liquid to be treated, treatment processes can be advantageously accelerated, in that, for example, the temperature of the liquid to be treated is raised or the liquid to be treated is supplied with motion-producing energy for mixing or degassing.
The liquid to be treated is drawn into the reaction vessel by a device connected to the first chamber for creating reduced pressure inside the reaction vessel. This favorably reinforces treatment processes because, for example, due to the reduced pressure, the process temperatures are lower than at ambient pressure.
The inventive energy supply apparatus according to claim
31
preferably includes an ultrasound transducer having two pot-shaped housing members nestled inside each other, which support between them a piezoceramic disc via an elastic seal. With this energy supply apparatus it is simple to supply, to a liquid to be treated, energy, or internal energy, whereby mixing processes are advantageously improved.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
In one embodiment of the inventive apparatus there can be provided in the first chamber a submerged pipe which extends into the vicinity of the outlet of the first inlet device. This makes it possible to drain a given portion of the liquid to be treated from the reaction vessel right from the first chamber, before its entry into the second chamber.
It is particularly advantageous to provide, between the first outlet of the submerged pipe and the outlet of the first inlet device, a plate which distributes the liquid emerging from the first inlet device annularly within the first chamber. This prevents the liquid to be treated, which is introduced into the first chamber by the first inlet device, from being immediately drained from the first chamber via the submerged pipe without having been exposed to the treatment process in the first chamber. The liquid entering the first chamber through the first inlet device is guided by the plate past the first outlet of the submerged pipe and flows initially in the direction of the second chamber. By drawing off a portion of the liquid to be treated by means of the submerged pipe, a circulatory flow is created in the first chamber which greatly increases the dwell time of the liquid to be treated inside the first chamber.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the submerged pipe can have a second outlet which is connected to the third chamber. In that case the submerged pipe forms a kind of by-pass for the second chamber, by which the liquid to be treated can be introduced from the first chamber into the third chamber. Moreover, the portion of the liquid to be treated which is guided past the second chamber can be supplied to a different device for a further treatment process.
In an additional embodiment of the invention there can be provided, below the upper end of the first chamber, a device for removing relatively light substances from the reaction vessel. In this way, it is easy to remove from the reaction vessel relatively light substances right after the first chamber.
In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention the interior wall can have a diminishing cross-section in the direction of flow and terminate spaced-apart from an oppositely-located end of the reaction vessel. In this way, the rise of the liquid to be treated is advantageously improved due to the cross-sectional narrowing of the interior wall. If the reaction vessel is provided with a dispersing device connected, upstream, to the first chamber for introducing fluid into the liquid and for its at least partial foaming, the reactive interface between the liquid to be treated and the supplied fl
Hoey Betsey Morrison
Simmons David A.
Volpe and Koenig P.C.
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