EP2317064A2 - Device for removing water from earth materials - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a feeding device (20) for the admission and forwarding the solids and water of the soil (10) and a partition stage (30), which is formed by solids passed by the feeding device. A flocculation device (40) is provided, which has a flocculation unit (42). An independent claim is also included for a method for draining soil containing solid and water.

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for dewatering earth materials containing solids and water, particularly earth boring materials.

In earthworks often larger amounts of earth materials accumulate, which are generally not used directly and therefore transported away and disposed of. In this case, typically several t per hour of materials of different sizes such as stones, boulders and sand and dust have to be processed.

These earth materials are transported for example in hoses and pipes with a diameter of 50 mm to 300 mm and with the addition of compressed air at a pressure of up to 25 bar from the mining site to a trough, which is then emptied if necessary.

In earthworks in moist soil, especially in deep penetrating into the ground wells such as Erdsondenbau, well construction or tunneling, the earth materials have a sometimes very high water content. This can lead to an, usually sudden, additional flow of several m ^{3 of} water per hour.

The disposal of highly hydrous earth materials is problematic for reasons of economy and environmental compatibility. Therefore, there is a desire in the resulting earth materials, the solids as possible from Separate water so that the solids and the water can be disposed of separately.

It is known that water-containing earth materials can be partially dewatered by sieving. The coarse-grained solid particles are largely separated, so that a muddy mixture of water and fine-grained solids remains. However, the disposal of this mixture is also usually problematic because this must meet certain quality requirements. For example, official regulations usually prescribe a maximum turbidity or a corresponding transparency or a maximum solids content (TS) of the water to be disposed of. Such quality requirements are usually not achievable with a pure screening process.

Various methods are known for further dewatering the sludge-like mixture. For example, the sludge-like mixture in a container, in particular in a settling tank, fed and separated by sedimentation in sinking solids and water. After reaching a predetermined residual turbidity, the water and the solid residues are disposed of separately. Depending on the quality requirements, longer waiting times and complex installations with several cascaded containers or settling tanks are required. In addition, the filling of the settling tanks requires monitoring and when changing the settling tanks can interrupt operations. Therefore, this method is less suitable for continuous drainage of the resulting earth materials.

Desirable is a drainage of accumulating

Earth materials in a continuous manner, ie without filling and changing settling tanks or containers.

The present invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device and a method for dewatering of earth materials, in particular Erdbohrungs materials, with which a large amount of earth materials are dewatered quickly and efficiently in a small space while maintaining a predetermined residual turbidity of the water to be dispensed can.

This object is solved by the device and the method as defined in the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

• eine Zuführvorrichtung zur Aufnahme und zur Weiterleitung der Feststoffe und des Wassers der Erdmaterialien,
• eine erste Trennstufe, welche ausgebildet ist, von der Zuführvorrichtung die weitergeleiteten Feststoffe und das weitergeleitete Wasser aufzunehmen und die Feststoffe und das Wasser weitgehend zu trennen, einerseits in grobkörnige Feststoffteile und andererseits in ein Gemisch aus im Wesentlichen feinkörnigen Feststoffteilen und Wasser,
• eine Flockungsvorrichtung, welche ausgebildet ist, das Gemisch von der ersten Trennstufe aufzunehmen und dieses unter Zugabe mindestens eines Flockungsmittels in flockenhaltiges Wasser umzuwandeln, indem die feinkörnigen Feststoffteile weitgehend in Flocken zusammengefasst werden, und
• eine zweite Trennstufe, welche als mechanische Trennvorrichtung ausgebildet ist, um das flockenhaltige Wasser aus der Flockungsvorrichtung aufzunehmen und aus diesem die Flocken weitgehend abzutrennen.

The essence of the invention is that a device for dewatering earth materials containing solids and water, in particular earth boring materials, comprises:

• a feeding device for receiving and conveying the solids and the water of the earth materials,
• a first separation stage, which is designed to receive the forwarded solids and the passed-on water from the feed device and to largely separate the solids and the water, on the one hand into coarse solid particles and on the other hand into a mixture of essentially fine-grained solid particles and water,
• a flocculation device, which is adapted to receive the mixture from the first separation stage and this with the addition of at least one flocculant in to convert flake-containing water by the fine-grained solid particles are largely summarized in flakes, and
• a second separation stage, which is designed as a mechanical separation device to receive the flocculated water from the flocculation device and from this largely separate the flocs.

Due to the extensive separation in the first separation stage, the coarse-grained solid parts only a small proportion of water or a low humidity and can thus be disposed of in a simple manner.

Through the interaction of the individual components of the inventive separation device, namely the feeder, the first and the second separation stage and the flocculation device, a continuous and thorough dewatering of the resulting earth materials without sedimentation and the associated disadvantages can be achieved. This eliminates waiting times, the time-consuming installation of settling tanks or containers, the monitoring of filling and any interruptions in operation.

Such a drainage device according to the invention can be made compact and can be operated efficiently and inexpensively. The combination of feed device, two separation stages and a flocculation device results in a simple and compact dewatering device, with both a very efficient operation and a high separation efficiency can be achieved.

The dewatering device can by the compact design be formed mobile, which makes it possible to bring the dewatering device according to the requirements in a simple, flexible and fast to use, especially in limited space, such as occur in earth boreholes in cities. Particularly advantageous is the inventive drainage device for earth drilling, since in this case the occurrence of water in the earth material usually unpredictable and thus can not be planned. Thus, unexpectedly large and suddenly accumulating amounts of highly hydrous earth materials occur. Such situations can be handled independently by the inventive drainage device.

The flocculation device achieves a very efficient drainage of the earth materials which have already been largely drained by the first separation stage. Thus, the resulting in large quantities mixture of the first separation stage can be dewatered by means of a preferably continuous flocculation such that the resulting water is suitable for disposal or further processing with fine-mesh filters.

The term flocculant, also called coagulant, basically means all types of substances which are suitable for largely capturing the solids present in the water in flakes. In particular, these include those substances which serve to form larger flakes of smaller flakes and which are also referred to as flocculation aids.

Various known flocculation devices can be used, for example those used in the dewatering of sewage sludge in sewage treatment plants. However, when used in the dewatering device according to the invention, such a flocculation device has to meet special requirements with regard to the material flows to be processed, the mobility and the flexibility which are normally not imposed on a flocculation device for a sewage treatment plant.

The first separation stage avoids excessive loading of the downstream flocculation device. As a result, the consumption of flocculants in the flocculation device can be greatly reduced and thus cost-effective operation can be achieved.

By "separation stage" is meant all types of devices capable of separating coarse and fine-grained materials, such as filters, screens, agitator grates or vibratory devices.

In mechanical separators devices with predetermined openings are used to efficiently separate solids and / or water through these openings based on the size of the solids. In this case, for example, in a sieve, the separation characteristic can be specified by the mesh size.

The use of a mechanical separation device in the second separation stage is particularly advantageous because, in addition to a rapid drainage of the flocculated water and a particularly space-saving design of the device for Dewatering of earth materials is achieved. The second separation stage can also be combined with the flocculation device to form a unit. This unit then has two outputs, a first output mainly for the water and a second output mainly for the flocs. The combination of the second separation stage with the flocculation device results in a particularly compact construction, which is particularly advantageous in terms of mobility and flexibility.

Preferably, the supply device is designed as a relief device to reduce their pressure and / or kinetic energy in the supplied earth materials and / or to remove gaseous components, in particular air, from the supplied earth materials.

Advantageously, the flocculation device has a micro-flocculation device and a subsequent main flocculation device, wherein the micro-flocculation device is designed to mix the flocculant with the mixture from the first separation step, resulting in a flocculant intermediate, and wherein the main flocculation device is formed, the flocculant intermediate product with the addition of an additional flocculant to transform into the flocculated water.

The upstream microflocking device converts the colloidal constituents of the fine-grained solid particles into agglomerated microflakes, which together with the water form the flake-containing intermediate product. This becomes a strong drainage of earth materials

Reduction of the residual turbidity of the water to be dispensed achieved.

The main flocculant and the additionally added flocculant serve to condition the flocs formed by the micro-flocculator. By this conditioning, a size of the flakes is achieved, which allows a particularly efficient drainage.

In a preferred embodiment, the micro-flocculation device has a first collecting container serving to receive the mixture from the first separating stage and at least one retention container into which the flocculating agent can be introduced, in particular by turbulent mixing. In this dwell the flocculant may be treated, for example by dissolving or suspending, before it is added to the mixture. As a result, the effect of the flocculant can be significantly increased.

The at least one retention tank preferably has an outer retention tank and an inner retention tank contained therein, in which the flocculation agent can be introduced. As a result, the treatment of the flocculant can be further improved.

Advantageously, the device has at least one mixing device which holds the mixture of essentially fine-grained solid parts and water substantially homogeneously and is preferably arranged in the collecting container. This allows a particularly constant processing of the mixture and thus a particularly uniform continuous or continuous operation realized become.

The flocculant used is preferably a salt, in particular a Fe-III salt or an A1 salt. As a result, a particularly effective flocculation of the fine-grained, largely inorganic solid parts can be achieved in earth materials.

More preferably, the micro-flocculation device is designed such that the flocculant is added to the mixture in an amount of 1 g to 200 g per m ^{3 of} the mixture. This small amount results in a particularly cost-effective use of the flocculant.

Advantageously, the Hauptflockungseinrichtung is designed to process at least 5 m ^{3 of} the intermediate per hour, the intermediate product, for example, under a pressure of about 0.5 bar. Such a design ensures that the main flocculation device can handle the changing and sudden flows of material as they occur in earthworks.

Preferably, the main flocculation device is formed in two stages and the first stage is used to admix an additional flocculant or a flocculant, in particular a polymer or a polyelectrolyte, to the intermediate product and the second stage is used to transform the flocs produced by the micro flocculator and / or by the first stage , especially in pellets. This transformation is particularly advantageous for flocculation and for efficient dewatering and disposal of the floc by the subsequent second separation stage.

As an additional flocculant cationic or anionic polyelectrolytes or nonionic polyelectrolytes can be used. Polyelectrolytes are particularly suitable as flocculants for the drainage of earth materials, since the earth materials consist of largely inorganic materials and biological components are not or only slightly present.

• eine mechanische Trennvorrichtung, insbesondere ein Vibrationssieb und/oder eine filtrierende Vorrichtung, aufweist und/oder- ausgebildet ist, die Trennung in grobkörnige und feinkörnige Feststoffteile vorzunehmen, wobei die Grenze zwischen den grobkörnigen und feinkörnigen Feststoffteilen bei einer Korngrösse von ca. 0,1 mm bis ca. 5 mm, insbesondere von ca. 0,5 mm, liegt.

It is preferred that the first separation stage:

• a mechanical separation device, in particular a vibrating screen and / or a filtering device, comprises and / or is designed to carry out the separation into coarse-grained and fine-grained solid parts, wherein the boundary between the coarse-grained and fine-grained solid parts with a particle size of about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm, in particular of about 0.5 mm.

• ein Sieb, insbesondere ein Vibrationssieb, aufweist und/oder
• auf einem seihenden Filtrationsverfahren basiert und/oder
• ausgebildet ist, die Flocken mit einer Flockengrösse von mindestens 0,05 mm, insbesondere von mindestens 0,3 mm, aus dem flockenhaltigen Wasser abzutrennen. Dabei ist unter einem seihenden Filtrationsverfahren ein Entwässerungsverfahren zu verstehen, bei welchem die Flocken durch einen Abtropfprozess entwässert werden.

It is further preferred that the second separation stage:

• a sieve, in particular a vibrating sieve, and / or
• based on an existing filtration process and / or
• is formed, the flakes with a flake size of at least 0.05 mm, in particular of at least 0.3 mm, to separate from the flake-containing water. In this case, a filtration process is a drainage process in which the flakes are dewatered by a draining process.

Preferably, the device according to the invention has a filter device, in particular a backwashable Filter, an edge gap filter, a candle filter or a membrane filter may include, and which is connected downstream of the second separation stage for the removal of further solids from the water.

In a preferred embodiment, the device according to the invention has a transport container, in particular a standard container, in which the supply device, the first separation stage, the flocculation device, the second separation stage and optionally further components of the device, in particular the filter device, are accommodated.

The device according to the invention is preferably designed to process at least 10 t of solids per hour and / or at least 10 m ^{3 of} water per hour and / or ground materials under a pressure of up to 25 bar.

Furthermore, the device according to the invention is designed to achieve a residual moisture content of the coarse-grained solid particles and the flakes of not more than 20% and / or turbidity of the water of not more than 20 mg dry matter per liter and / or not more than 20 FNU (Formazine Nephelometric Units).

Preferably, the device comprises at least one measuring device for measuring the flow rate and / or the quality, in particular the turbidity or the dry substance content, of the water to be dispensed by the device. Based on the measured values, the entire device and in particular the filter device can be controlled and / or regulated. Furthermore, the operation of the device can be clear documented, for example, to prove proper functioning, compliance or billing of costs. In addition, the determined measured values can be forwarded to a data processing device and / or system control, in particular via an online connection.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the device is designed such that the water to be dispensed by the device is continuously deliverable, in particular under a pressure of at least 0.5 bar.

Moreover, the invention relates to a method for dewatering earth materials with the inventive device, which is in the vicinity, in particular above, a container, in particular a trough, positioned to deliver both the coarse solid particles and the flakes directly into this container. This achieves a very compact construction and efficient disposal of the solids.

Fig. 1

ein stark vereinfachtes Prinzipschema einer erfindungsgemässen Entwässerungsvorrichtung;

Fig. 2

eine vereinfachte Übersichtsdarstellung eines Ausführungsbeispiels der Entwässerungsvorrichtung gemäss dem Prinzipschema von Fig. 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the inventive drainage device are described in more detail in the following figures and the associated detailed descriptions. Show it:

Fig. 1

a highly simplified schematic diagram of an inventive dewatering device;

Fig. 2

a simplified overview of an embodiment of the dewatering device according to the schematic diagram of Fig. 1 ,

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the inventive drainage device in the form of a greatly simplified schematic drawing. A mixture of earth materials 10 having as constituents solids 12, water 14 and air 18 is supplied to a feeder 20. For wells, the solids consist of larger or smaller boulders, rocks, sand and / or dust. The earth bores typically reach a depth of 50 to 300 m, so that the earth materials 10 are released from the ground at a pressure of up to about 25 bar and fed to the dewatering device. In this case, the supplied material flow in this exemplary embodiment can be about 10 t of solids and about 10 to 20 m ^{3 of} water per hour.

In the feeding device 20, the air 18 is separated from the supplied earth materials 10 and the solids 12 and the water 14 are forwarded to the downstream first separation stage 30. Preferably, in the case of very dry earth materials 10, additional water 24 is added to prevent excessive dust formation upon discharge of the air 18.

The first separation stage 30 receives the solids 12 and the water 14 and separates them largely, on the one hand into the coarse solid particles 32 of the solids 12 and on the other hand into a mixture 34. In this case, the mixture 34 essentially comprises the fine-grained solids 36 of the solids and the water 14. The fine-grained solid particles 36 include colloidal and other ingredients. The mixture thus forms a suspension-like or muddy fluid. From the first separation stage 30, the mixture 34 is forwarded to the subsequent flocculation device 40.

In the flocculation device 40, the feed mixture 34 is taken up and converted into essentially flake-containing water 44 with the addition of a flocculant 42 and an additional flocculant 43. As flocculant 42 is preferably a salt, in particular Fe-III salt or Al salt used. As additional flocculant 43, a polymer or a polyelectrolyte is preferably used. Since the flocculating agent 42 and the additional flocculating agent 43 are typically present as solids, the flocculating device 40 is supplied with additional water 41 to dissolve or suspend the solids in the water.

Preferably, the flocculation device 40 comprises two subunits, namely a micro-flocculator 46 and a main flocculator 48. The flocculant 42 is added to the micro-flocculator 46 and a suspension-type and partially flocculated intermediate product 47 is produced. This intermediate product 47 is then forwarded to the main flocculator 48. In the Hauptflockungseinrichtung 48 then the intermediate product 47, the additional flocculant 43 and water 41 is added. The final product of the main flocculation 48 is the aforementioned flocculated water 44, which is passed on to the second separation stage 50.

The main flocculator 48 may in turn be constructed in two stages, namely with a first stage 48a and a second stage 48b. In this case, the first stage 48a serves to admix the additional flocculant 43 to the supplied, partially flocculated intermediate product 47. The second stage 48b is the first stage 48a directly downstream and serves to reshape the flocs produced by the micro-flocculation 46 and the first stage 48a. The flakes are preferably formed into pellets. Thus, after the deformation 48b, the flake-containing water 44, which is forwarded to the second separation stage 50 results.

In the second separation stage 50, the flakes 45 are largely removed by mechanical separation of the flake-containing water 44. The remaining water 52 is forwarded to a filter device 60 where it is filtered and discharged as clear water 62. The solids 12 of the earth materials 10 are so far separated from the original water 14 that the remaining water 62 meets the specified quality requirements and thus can be disposed of in a suitable manner.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified overview of an embodiment of the inventive dewatering device 1 with a feeder 20, a first separation stage 30, a flocculation device 40, a second separation stage 50 and a filter device 60 according to the schematic diagram of FIG. 1 ,

The delivery device 20 is designed as a relief device or as a discharge chamber to substantially reduce the pressure at the supplied earth materials 10 and / or reduce the kinetic energy of the supplied earth materials 10 and / or the gaseous components 18, usually the air, from the supplied To remove earth materials. The discharge chamber 20 is designed as a container which is suitable for the high loads, which are produced by the earth materials, which are under a pressure of up to 25 bar. In addition, the discharge chamber 20 water 24 may be supplied to prevent excessive dust formation.

The first separation stage is designed as a vibrating screen 30, so that corresponding to the screen openings of the vibrating screen 30, a division into the coarse-grained solid particles 32 and in the previously associated with FIG. 1 described mixture 34 takes place. As the vibrating screen 30, a commercially available product can be used, for example, a sand screen of the company "MS", Aubière, France, or a dewatering screen of the company "NEYRTEC", Lorient, France. The coarse-grained solid particles 32 are conveyed by the sieve movements directly into a trough 6. The mixture 34 is forwarded to the subsequent flocculation device 40 by falling through the screen openings of the vibrating screen 30 into a first collecting container 2a of the flocculation device 40. The sieve openings have a diameter of about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm, preferably about 0.5 mm. Instead of a vibrating screen 30, other devices can be used as the first separation stage, such as Schüttelroste or band filter.

The flocculation device 40 is constructed as a combined device comprising a micro-flocculator 46 and a two-stage main flocculator having a first stage 48a and a second stage 48b downstream of the first stage 48a.

The micro-blocking device 46 has a first collecting container 2a and a first holding container 2b, which are interconnected and which each have a stirring device 3, in order to produce in each case by turbulent mixing a suspension homogeneously mixed as possible. The stirring devices 3 are each driven by a motor M. The first collecting container 2 a and the first dwelling container 2 b summarizes a volume of about 2 to 4 m ³ .

As related to Fig. 1 described, in the micro-blocking device 46, the flocculant 42 is added to the mixture 34. In this case, the salt-form flocculant 42 is first introduced by a metering device in the first retention tank 2 b, where it is dissolved in water. Thus, the flocculant 42 only in the course of time in an already dissolved state enters the mixture 34, after which a partially flocculated intermediate 47 is formed. This intermediate product 47 is transported by means of a pump 5 to the first stage 48a of the main flocculator.

Immediately before the first stage 48a of the main flocculation device, the intermediate flocculant 43 is fed to the intermediate product 47. In this case, the water 41 and the solid-shaped additional flocculation agent 43 is first introduced into a second retention tank 2 c and mixed turbulently by means of a stirring device 3. Also in this case, the stirring device 3 is driven by a motor M. The thus suspended and / or dissolved additional flocculation agent 43 is then transported by the second retention tank 2c with a pump 5 to the first stage 48a of the main flocculation device 48.

In the first stage 48a of the main flocculator, the flocculant intermediate 47 and the liquified additional flocculant 43 are turbulently mixed together. Such mixers are also referred to as turbomixers and are driven by a motor M. This results in flakes 45, by the fine-grained solids of the solids are largely summarized. This mixture is then passed on to the second stage 48b, which appropriately transforms the flakes 45 produced. This second stage is also powered by a motor M and is also known under the name Couette reactor. The transformation can be realized both under turbulent flow conditions and under laminar flow conditions or under a mixture of the two flow conditions. At the outlet of the second stage 48b of the main flocculation, a flocculated water 44 results, which is forwarded to the second separation stage 50.

In principle, various types of flocculation devices 48 can be used. However, the flakes 45 should summarize the fine-grained solid parts of the solids as well as possible, so that they are then as large as possible to allow the best possible disposal of the flakes. Particularly suitable are devices for Hauptflockung 48 with mutually rotating conical surfaces, as shown in the WO 03/031040 A1 are disclosed. These devices offer the advantage that large flakes can be formed without these in turn being destroyed by excessive shear forces. Such flocculation devices are manufactured and sold by the company "AQUEN AQUA ENGINEERING GMBH", Langelsheim, Germany.

The second separation stage 50, similar to the first separation stage 30, is formed as a vibrating screen 50 so that, corresponding to the screen openings of the vibrating screen 50, the flakes 45 are removed from the flocculated water 44 by a mechanical separation process. Also in this case can be used as a vibrating screen 50, a commercial product, for example, the sand screen of the company "MS" or the drainage screen of the company "NEYRTEC". In this second separation stage, the flakes 45 are conveyed directly into the trough 6 by the sieve movements, as in the first separation stage 30. The remaining water 52 falls through the screen openings in a second receptacle 2e. The sieve openings have a diameter of about 0.05 mm to about 0.5 mm, preferably about 0.2 mm. Also in this separation stage, other devices can be used as an alternative to the vibrating screen, for example, Schüttelroste, band filter or devices, which are based on an existing filtration method.

From the second collecting container 2e, the remaining water 52 is transported by a pump 5 to the filter device 60. The filter device 60 comprises an automatically backwashable filter 64 and a downstream candle filter 66, which is also referred to as Polisher filter. The automatically backwashable filter 64 has the advantage that it works largely wear-free and that this cleans itself after certain time intervals. The solid-form residues which are extracted from the remaining water 52 in the filtering process are returned via a return 68 into the first collecting vessel 2a of the above flocculation device 40. Suitable automatically backwashable filters 64 are freely available on the market, for example from the company "SANOXYS AG", Allschwil, Switzerland, known under the name "HECTRON FILTER" or from the company "AMIAD", Oxnard, California.

The filtered water of the backwash filter 64 is supplied to the candle filter 66 and a bypass valve 67. By the candle filter 66, the filtered water is further clarified as needed. The remaining water 62 is disposed of as so-called clear water. Candle filters 66 have the advantage that a particularly low turbidity of the remaining water 62 can be achieved. These filters are commercially available and are for example offered by the company "INFILTEC GMBH", Speyer am Rhein, Germany. Parallel to the candle filter 66, the bypass valve 67 is connected. As a result, depending on the opening of the bypass valve 67, the amount of water flowing through the candle filter 66 and thus the turbidity of the remaining water 62 can be adjusted.

Instead of or in addition to the backwashable filter 64 and the candle filter 66 may also be one or more

Edge slit filter and / or one or more membrane filters are used.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the individual components of the dewatering apparatus, that is to say the feed apparatus 20, the first separation stage 30, the flocculation apparatus 40, the second separation stage 50 and the filter apparatus 60 are constructed as a compact unit. The arrangement in a transport container, especially in a standard container, particularly advantageous because of this mobile and flexible at almost any location can be used.

In the microflaking device 46, the flocculant 42 can also be fed in several steps by being introduced in a third step in a third residence tank and turbulent there by a stirrer with the contents of this third residence tank, usually water, mixed and dissolved therein. Subsequently, in a second step, the dissolved flocculant 42 can then be added to the first retention tank 2b. As a result, the flocculant 42 can be used particularly sparingly and effectively.

Furthermore, a measuring device can be switched into the flocculation device 40 between the micro-flocculation device 46 and the main flocculation device 48. With this measuring device, for example, the flow rate of the flake-containing intermediate product 47 can be measured and controlled as a result of the operation of the dewatering device 1 and / or regulated. For example, the added amount of the additional flocculant 43 may be regulated depending on the flow rate or other characteristics of the intermediate 47.

The filter device 60 may further comprise a first measuring device and a second measuring device which serve to measure the flow rate and turbidity of the remaining water 62. On the basis of these measured values, the filter device 60, in particular the backwashable Filter 64, the candle filter and / or membrane filter 66 or the bypass 67, are regulated. Further, the measurement data of the first and second measurement devices may be used for the purpose of accounting or quality detection of the separation. Of course, other measured values such as the pH or the oxygen content can be measured and used to control the dewatering device 1 or for logging.

Preferably, the dewatering device 1 is disposed in the vicinity of a trough 6, so that the solid-material, namely the coarse-grained solids 32 and the flakes 45, can be discharged directly from the vibrating screens 30 and 50 into this trough 6 and transported away. Although the invention has been described by way of specific embodiments, it will be apparent that numerous other embodiments exist. In particular, the features of the individual embodiments can be realized in many ways. Furthermore, a drainage device according to the invention can also be used in further dewatering processes and separation processes. In addition, other embodiments are conceivable, which include the subject invention, for example, when the inventive dewatering device is part of a larger device.

Claims (14)

Apparatus for dewatering earth materials (10) containing solids (12) and water (14), in particular earth boring materials, comprising: a supply device (20) for receiving and transferring the solids (12) and the water (14) of the earth materials (10), - A first separation stage (30) which is adapted to receive from the feeder (20) the passed-on solids and the forwarded water and to largely separate the solids and the water, on the one hand into coarse solid particles (32) and on the other hand into a mixture (34 ) of substantially fine-grained solids (36) and water, a flocculation device (40) which is designed to receive the mixture (34) from the first separation stage and to convert it into flake-containing water (44) by adding at least one flocculant (42), in which the fine-grained solids (36) are substantially flocculated ( 45), and - A second separation stage (50), which is designed as a mechanical separation device to receive the flake-containing water (44) from the flocculation device (40) and from this largely separate the flakes (45). Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feeding device (20) is designed as a relief device to feed the earth materials (10) reduce their pressure and / or kinetic energy and / or to remove gaseous components (18), in particular air, from the supplied earth materials (10). Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flocculation device (40) comprises a micro-flocculation device (46) and a subsequent main flocculation device (48), wherein the micro-flocculation device (46) is formed, the mixture (34) from the first separation stage (30) Flocculant (42) is added to yield a flocculant intermediate (47), and wherein the main flocculator (48) is configured to convert the flocculant intermediate (47) into the flocculated water (44) by adding additional flocculant (43). Device according to Claim 3, in which the micro-flocculation device (46) has a first collecting container (2a) serving to receive the mixture (34) from the first separating stage (30) and at least one retention container (2b) into which the flocculating agent (42) in particular by turbulent mixing, can be introduced. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, which has at least one mixing device (3) which holds the mixture (34) of substantially fine-grained solid parts (36) and water substantially homogeneous. Device according to one of claims 3 to 5, in which the Microflocking device (46) is designed such that the flocculant (42) is added to the mixture (34) in an amount of 1 g to 200 g per m ^{3 of} the mixture (34). Device according to one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the main flocculation device (48) is formed in two stages and the first stage (48a) of the admixture of the additional flocculant (43), in particular a polymer or a polyelectrolyte, to the intermediate product (47) and the second stage (48b) of the forming of the microflaking device (46) and / or by the first stage (48a) produced flakes, in particular in pellets, is used. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first separation stage (30): a mechanical separation device, in particular a vibrating screen and / or a filtering device, has and / or is designed to carry out the separation into coarse-grained and fine-grained solid parts (32, 36), the boundary between the coarse-grained and fine-grained solid parts having a particle size of about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the second separation stage (50): - Has a sieve, in particular a vibrating screen, and / or - Based on an existing filtration process and / or - Is formed, the flakes (45) with a Flake size of at least 0.05 mm, in particular of at least 0.3 mm, to separate from the flake-containing water (44). Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, comprising a filter device (60), which may in particular comprise a backwashable filter (64), an edge gap filter, a candle filter (66) or a membrane filter and that of the second separation stage (50) for removing further solids from the water (52) is connected downstream. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, comprising a transport container, in which the supply device (20), the first separation stage (30), the flocculation device (40), the second separation stage (50) and optionally further components of the device are accommodated. Device according to one of claims 1 to 11, comprising at least one measuring device for measuring the flow rate and / or the quality, in particular the turbidity or the dry matter content, of the water to be dispensed by the device (62). Device according to one of claims 1 to 12, which is designed such that the water to be discharged from the device (62) is continuously deliverable, in particular under a pressure of at least 0.5 bar. Method for dewatering earth materials (10) with a device according to one of claims 1 to 13, wherein these in the vicinity, in particular above, one Container (6), in particular a trough, is positioned to deliver both the coarse-particulate solid parts (14) and the flakes (45) directly into this container (6).

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