CA1082375A - Method and system for aeration of waste liquids - Google Patents

Method and system for aeration of waste liquids

Info

Publication number
CA1082375A
CA1082375A CA292,705A CA292705A CA1082375A CA 1082375 A CA1082375 A CA 1082375A CA 292705 A CA292705 A CA 292705A CA 1082375 A CA1082375 A CA 1082375A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
water
chamber
gas
waste water
mixing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA292,705A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Allen E. Molvar
Robert H. Hurst
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Clevepak Corp
Original Assignee
Clevepak Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Clevepak Corp filed Critical Clevepak Corp
Priority to CA292,705A priority Critical patent/CA1082375A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1082375A publication Critical patent/CA1082375A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

An improved method and system for mixing gas with waste water in which the water is pumped through a plurality of mixing chambers into which the gas is injected at a step surface to form parallel streams of gas and water.
An extending chamber contains the parallel streams as the interface between them becomes unstable, breaks down creating vortices and produces tiny bubbles which mix with the water.
The extending chamber is tapered inwardly to permit opera-tion at higher air flow rates without blowing the bubble forming vortices out of the chamber. Helical vanes are preferably provided in the bores which inject the air into the extending chamber to create better wave generating conditions to extend the range to greater air flow rates.

Description

Canada Dkt. 32 ~3Z3~S

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
AND SUMMARY OF THE INVE~TIO~:

The invention relates to an improved method, and submerged system for efficiently mixing gas with waste water.
Industrial waste, sewage and ~he like are commonly purified by pumping the liquid into a large pond or basin where a bacteria population consumes the inorganic and organic material. Because the dissolved oxygen in the waste water is usually insuf-ficient to support the required population of bacteria, the water must be aerated. This can be done with a surface aerating machine which has beaters extending into the waste water from above the water surface to agitate the water and incorporate air. Alternatively, air can be diffused through the bottom of the basin, e.g., through a porous medium. Surface aerators are not efficient and cause certain mechanical problems. The energy loss of diffusing air is also great and a diffused system is not suitable for installation in an existing pond.
The waste water can also be aerated by pumping through submerged tubes with Venturi openings through which air is drawn or pumped into the tubes to create turbulent mixing.

~82375 The present invention relates to an improved method and system for mixing a gas such as oxygen or air with waste water. The system includes a plurality or mixing chambers which are disposed below the surface of the waste water and through which the water is pumped from an inlet to an outlet. A suitable gas, such as oxygen or air containing oxygen, is in~ected into each of the mixing chambers at a step surface to form parallel streams of air and water in an extending chamber. As the two streams move down the extending chamber, the interface between the two streams becomes unstable and waves form which attach to the sides of the chamber. This causes large frictional stresses, creating tiny bubbles which mix with the water.
Since the water and air essentially ~low in the same direction, no energy is wasted in turbulence and the system is energy efficient.
This system can be quickly and easily installed in any existing aeration pond without the need for the system to be shut down for an extended period and without the need for the pond to be drained, a project which is dlfficult or impossible in most instances.
The system can, in fact, be installed and operating within a few minutes. Incomparison with diffused air ~ 25 type devices and surface aeration systems, the energy ; required to incorporate a given amount of oxygen into . -the water is much less. Because lit~le energy is wasted ._ 1(~1!3~375 in turbulent mixing , the present invention is more energy efficient than Venturi, jet or impingement type systems which depend on turbulent mixing. Further, ~he bubbles which are produced are tiny, thus creating a good environment ~or efective use of the oxygen by the bacteria within the pond or basin. Many of the other disadvantages of surface aerators and difusion type devices are also avoided.
Other objects and purposes of the invention wi be clear from the following detailed description of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWTNGS:
FIGURE 1 shows a schematic side view of the system of the present invention in use;
FIGURE 2 shows a planar view o~ the system of FIGURE l;
FIGURE 3 shows a sectional view of a mixing ; chamber of the present invention without helical vanes;
FIGURE 4 shows a front view of a mixing chamber with helical vanes;
FIGURE 5 shows a partial sectional view of the mixing chamber of FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 6 shows a schematic view of another embodiment;
FIGURES 7 and 8 show a further embodiment.

lV8Z37S

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 1 and 2 which schematically illustrate one embodiment of the present in~ention. In the embodiment of FIGURES
1 and 2, a plurality of circumferen~ially disposed mixing chambers 20, each preferably identical to the othex, are circularly disposed around a dome manifold 22 which includes an upper section 24 into which water is pumped and a lower section 26 connected to a source of air or oxygen at a suitable pressure. Each of the mixing chambers is of the type shown in detail in FIGURES 3-5 and discussed in detail below.
A plurality of conduits 30, each formed of a metal segment 32 and a plastic segment 34, connect section 24 to each mixing chamber 20 so that wat~r is continuously pumped through each chamber 20. A
similar series of conduits 40, each formed of a metal portion 42 and a plastic portion 44, connect section 26 to each of the mixing chambers 20. Each of the mixing chambers 20 forms parallel streams of air and gas which interact within an extending passage in the mixing chamber to form tiny bubbles which efficiently mix with the pumped waste water as it passes between an inlet and outlet.
Manifold 22 is suspended from a fibreglass floating work platorm 50 by means of guide bars 52, 54, and two bars behlnd bars 52 and 54. Industrial air ,, -3~S

piping conduit 60 is attached to guide bar 54 for supplying air to section 26. Cable 62 connects the manifold 22 to a frame 64 on platform 50 for lifting manifold 22 and holding manifold 22 in position for maintenance.
Submerged pump 66 is mounted above mani-fole 22 and includes a self-cleaning strainer has-ket 67 over the pump intake which keeps most debris from entering the pump~ For many installations the basket can be omitted and the debris which collects in the pump back-flushed as described below. When a basket is used, the small particles which accumu-late on the outside of basket 67 are removed by flushing. Conduit 68 connects pump 66 to section 24.
Platform 50 is provided with suitable rail-ings 7G of a height so that the unit can be lifted to ; a level for convenient work on the mixing chambers 20 and pump 66. An on-shore air pumP 74 is schemati-cally shown as connected to line 60 for pumping air, oxygen or other gas to section 26 for mixing with the pumped waste water.
When it is desired to clean the inevitable particles and debris which sill accumulate on basket - 67, within pump 66 and within mixing chambers 20, pump 66 can simply be turned off while the air pump 74 continues forcing air into mixing chambers 20.
Surprisingl~, instead of moving out of the outlet .
' , 37~i on each chamber, the air will pump waste water back through the inlet, opposite to the direction of flow during aeration, through conduits 34 and 32 into sec-tion 22, through conduit 68 and through pump 66, blowing off the debris which has accumulated on the outside of strainer basket 67. This occurs because the water pressure at the level of the strainer bas-ket is lower than the water pressure at the level of the mixing chambers 20. :~
Alternatively, flushing can be accomplishad by operating a valve 76 in a line 78 which connects to conduit 68. The debris will now be blown into the air and since the pressure differential is greater, the force produced, by the air which works as an air hammer, will blow the debris tnrough the system and back-flush all of the material in a few minutes.
FIGURES 3-5 illustrate two embodiments of the unique mixing chamber 20 of the present inven-tion. Waste water flows from the inlet through passage lO0 into the extending chamber 102. At the inter-section between passage lO0 and section 102, a step surface lO4 is provided at which a plurality of bores terminate. The bores inject gas at an angle between roughly ll and 22-l/2. To keep the vortices within chamber 102 at high air pressures, a chamber 110 with helical vanes 106 as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 creates greater wave generating conditions, as the water enters an extending chamber (not shown) similar to the chamber shown in FIGURE 3.

... . . .

;237S

Thus, two parallel streams of gas and waste water are created as shown in FIGURE 3. As the streams move along the chamber 102, the friction between them causes waves to form and air thus trapped in the waves to disperse into tiny bubbles.
Since the air and gas streams move in the same direc-tion, effective mixing is achieved at minimum energy consumption. It is desirable that under most conditions the mixing take place within chamber 102 and for tha* reason the chamber is slightly tapered inwardly within the portion llO with the cross-section decreasing in the direction from inlet to outlet and more radically tapered inwardly within portion 112 at a rate greater than ~or section 110.
These tapers extend the maximum air flow rate with which the system will operate by several times without substantial loss of efficiency.
The helical gulde vanes 106 provide a twist-ing motion to the air and thus create more waves which also help the interface break up more quickly by creating instability.
The mixing chambers can be made of any suit-able materials such as stainless steel, aluminum or plastic.
FIGURE 6 shows another embodiment in which the submersible pump is replaced with a conventional waste water pump 200 mounted beside tank 202 and connected to manifold 204 by line 206. Pump 200 has an inlet 207. A plurality of mixing chambers 208 are mounted about manifold 204 and can be any suit-able mixing device such as a jet, vortex, Venturi or impingement type device. Aix pump 21Q is also mounted beside tank 202 and is connected to manifold 204 by line 212. Valve 214 can be opened to back flush waste water as described above while pump 200 is turned off and pump 210 continues to ~orce gas into the mixing chambers 208. The gas then pumps the waste water back through manifold 204 and line 212 where it leaves via valve 214. The waste water returns to the tank and the debris is caught in strainer 216 if desired.
FIGURES 7 and 8 illustrate yet another embodiment of the invention which utilizes mixing chambers as described above. In the arrangement of FIGURES 7 and 8j water in a suitable tank 300 is pumped through a straight line pipe 302 by a pump 304.
A plurality of mixing chambers 306 extend outwardly from pipe 302 at separated locations as shown in FIGURE 7. Air is supplied to a second pipe 308 which extends above and parallel to pipe 302. Alternatively~
one pipe can be within the other. Pipe 308 is connec-ted to the individual mixing chambers for injecting air into those chambers. Pipes 302 and 308 prefer-ably extend along the center of tank 300 parallel to the edges so as to cause a fa~orable pattern of water flow from one side to the other using a minimum amount of energy to create maximum flow and aeration.

~O~Z375 The system is flushed by opening valve 310 while pump 304 is turned off and air continued to be supplied to chambers 306.
Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiments of the invention can, of cour e~
be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention. The system can be used with non-aqueous liquids and gas other than air, such as pure oxygen, can be added. Accordingly, that scope is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A system for aerating waste water com-prising:
means for containing a body of water;
at leastone mixing chamber for providing a waste water passage, including:
an extending chamber, a liquid passage for guiding waste water flow into said extending chamber, the cross-sectional area of passage at the connection to said extending chamber being less than the cross-sectional area of said extending chamber at that connection so as to form a step surface, and at least one bore terminating in said step surface for injecting gas into said extending chamber, to form parallel gas and water streams, said extending chamber extending downstream from said bore for con-fining flow of the parallel gas and water streams for a distance until the interface between said streams becomes unstable in said chamber and vor-tices are tripped to produce gas bubbles which are mixed with the water stream, means for pumping said waste water through said at least one mixing chamber, means for mounting said mixing chamber below the surface of said body of water, and means for injecting an aerating gas into waste water within said mixing chamber.
2. A system as in Claim 1, including a plurality of said mixing chambers and a manifold connected to the inlets of said chambers and to said pumping means.
3. A method of aerating a pond of waste water comprising:
pumping said waste water through at least a single mixing chamber mounted below the pond surface, and injecting an aerating gas into said water as it is being pumped through said nozzle to form parallel gas and water streams with an intersection which becomes unstable in said chamber to trip vortices which produce gas bubbles which are mixed with the water stream.
CA292,705A 1977-12-08 1977-12-08 Method and system for aeration of waste liquids Expired CA1082375A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA292,705A CA1082375A (en) 1977-12-08 1977-12-08 Method and system for aeration of waste liquids

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA292,705A CA1082375A (en) 1977-12-08 1977-12-08 Method and system for aeration of waste liquids

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1082375A true CA1082375A (en) 1980-07-22

Family

ID=4110242

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA292,705A Expired CA1082375A (en) 1977-12-08 1977-12-08 Method and system for aeration of waste liquids

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1082375A (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113087158A (en) * 2021-03-31 2021-07-09 四川轻化工大学 Repairing device and repairing method for repairing mine polluted water body

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113087158A (en) * 2021-03-31 2021-07-09 四川轻化工大学 Repairing device and repairing method for repairing mine polluted water body

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