WO2008150272A1

WO2008150272A1 - A system and device to treat sewage, sanitary and municipal wastewater, storm water run-offs and agricultural run-offs

Info

Publication number: WO2008150272A1
Application number: PCT/US2007/018363
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexander Blake
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-06-04
Filing date: 2007-08-17
Publication date: 2008-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2009-12-04

Abstract

The system and device of the present invention is designed for the treatment of sewage, sanitary and municipal wastewater, storm water run-offs, agricultural run-offs and other biologically contaminated water to meet required nutrient removal. This system and device does not require chemical addition and physical agitation. The treatment method of this process removes BOD loading, lowers TSS to acceptable limits, converts ammonia to nitrates and nitrates to nitrogen. It provids for a treatment step in which the nitrogen and oxygen compounds are absorbed. In the total treatment process of the present invention the coliform and other bacteria are killed, as well as viruses, fungi and parasites.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The system and device of the present invention is capable of treating sewage and other biologically contaminated wastewater, such as sanitary and municipal water, as well as storm water run-offs. This system reduces BOD loading, total suspended solids, total phosphorus and total nitrogenous loading to acceptable limits, and kills coliform and other bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi.

Present methods to treat the above mentioned sewage and water require chemical addition, physical agitation and lengthy treatment times. These presently available methods are not totall effective. The system and device of the present invention does not require chemical addition or physical agitation, requires less capital outlay and has a lower operating and maintenance cost. All of the treatment phases are performed in one continuous system and device of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the system and device of the present invention all treatment phases are performed in one continuous unit, except for the buoyant material separation. The treatment is achieved in a continuous flow-through operation. The first chamber houses one or more submersible grinder pump which reduces the particle size of the solids. The grinder pump pumps the sewage or water into a plate separator in which the separated solids settle in a trough below the plate separator and are periodically drained or pumped from the system. The liquid waste then flows from the plate separator through a series openings into and through a set of rigid open cell filter plates of progressively finer pore size. The liquid sewage or wastewater then flows through a series of treatment chambers, the first of which is anaerobic, the second treatment chamber is aerobic, the third treatment chamber is anoxic and the fourth treatment chamber is also aerobic to complete the oxidation and reaerate the water before flowing into the ultra-violet or ozone disinfection unit or units as the final treatment step. The system and device of the present invention includes a specifically designed buoyant material separation unit.

The system and device of the present invention can be designed ia any size to treat any flow volume.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1

1. Inlet

2. Buoyant material separator

3. Pipe

4. Butterfly or ball valve 11. Drain pipe

13. Endplate

14. Submersible grinder pump chamber

15. Submersible grinder pump

16. Chamber separation

17. Plate separator

18. Flow through openings

20. Butterfly or ball valve

21. Valve

22. Rigid open cell filter plates

23. Chamber separation

24. Adjustable gate

25. Anaerobic treatment chamber

26. Rigid open cell filter

27. Chamber separation

28. Aerobic treatment chamber

29. Perforated air manifolds

30. Air lines

31. Air blower

32. Rigid open cell filter

33. Chamber separation DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 cont'd

34. Adjustable gate

35. Anoxic treatment chamber

36. Rigid open cell filter

37. Chamber separation

38. Perforated air manifolds

39. Aerobic treatment chamber

40. Chamber separation

41. Disinfection unit chamber

42. Ultra-violet or ozone disinfection unit

43. Endplate

44. Discharge hose or pipe

45. Hinged cover

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 2

1. Inlet

3. Buoyant material drain pipe

13. Endplate

14. Submersible grinder pump chamber

16. Chamber separation

17. Plate separator

18. Flow through openings

19. Trough

23. Chamber separation

24. Adjustable gate

25. Anaerobic treatment chamber

27. Chamber separation

28. Aerobic treatment chamber

29. Perforated air manifolds

33. Chamber separation

34. Adjustable gate

35. Anoxic treatment chamber

37. Chamber separation

38. Perforated air manifolds

39. Aerobic treatment chamber

40. Chamber separation

41. Disinfection unit chamber 43. Endplate

47. Side plate

48. Side plate DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 2 cont'd

49. Cross supports

50. Length supports

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 3

2. Buoyant material separator

3. Buoyant material drain pipe

5. Separator screen channels

6. Separation screen

7. Removable cover

8. liquid holding chamber

9. High level control

10. Low level control

11. Discharge pipe

12. Cover

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The system and device of the present invention is designed to treat sewage, sanitary and municipal wastewater, storm water run-offs, argricultural run-offs, as well as other biologically contaminated water without chemical addition and physical agitation. The influent flows by gravity depending on the elevation or is pumped into the grinder pump chamber 14 through inlet 1. The system and device of the present invention includes a specially designed buoyant material separator 2. Wastewater is periodically drained through the buoyant material drain pipe 3, which is provided with a butterfly or ball valve 4, into the buoyant material separator 2. Any buoyant material settles on the separation screen 6 which slides in two channels 5, one on each side. An opening, which allows the periodic removal of the separation screen 6, to discard the settled buoyant material, is equipped with a removable cover 7. The liquid passes through the separation screen 6 into the liquid holding chamber.8 of the buoyant material separator 2. The liquid holding chamber 8 is equipped with a high level control 9 which starts a transfer pump, not illustrated, to transfer the raw waste from the liquid holding chamber 8 back to a raw waste holding vessel. When the liquid in the liquid holding chamber 8 reaches the low level, the low level control 10 signals the transfer pump, not illustrate to stop. Instead of separate high and low level controls, a tube type high/low level control, with both, high and low level controls in one unit, may be used. The transfer pump, not illustrated, is connected to the discharge pipe 11 of the liquid holding chamber 8 by pipe or hose.

The system and device of the present invention is divided into 7 successive chambers. The first chamber is the submersible grinder pump chamber 14 which houses the submersible grinder pump or pumps 15. The second chamber contains the plate separator 17 and the vertically installed rigid open cell filter plates 22 of progressively finer pore size. The third chamber is an anaerobic treatment chamber 25. The fourth chamber is an aerobic treatment chamber 28. The fifth chamber is an anoxic treatment chamber 35. The sixth chamber is also an aerobic treatment chamber 39. The seventh chamber is the disinfection unit chamber 41 which houses one or more ultra-violet or ozone disinfection unit 42.

The influent flows under gravity, depending on the elevation, or is pumped into the submersible grinder pump chamber 14 through the inlet 1. Any buoyant material is periodically discharged through the buoyant material drain pipe 3 and butterfly or ball valve 4 into the buoyant material separator 2. The sewage or wastewater, containing the buoyant material, is periodically drained into the upper portion of the buoyant material separator 2 through the buoyant material drain pipe 3 and butterfly or ball valve 4. The liquid passes through the separation screen 6 and the buoyant solids settle on the separation screen 6. The separation screen 6 is mounted in and slides in two channels 5, one on each side of the unit. The separation screen 6 is periodically extracted to discard the settled solids by removing the removable cover 7. After the settled solids are discarded, the separation screen 6 is slid back into the separation screen channels 5 and the removable cover 7 is replaced. The removable cover 7 is attached with wing nuts or some other type of fastener. The liquid flows through the separation screen 6 into the liquid holding chamber 8. The liquid holding chamber 8 is equipped with a high level control 9 and a low level control 10. When the liquid in the liquid holding chamber 8 reaches the high level, the high level control 9 signals a transfer pump, not illustrated, to start a transfer pump to pump the liquid back to the raw waste holding vessel. When the liquid reaches the low level, the low level control 10 signals the transfer pump, not illustrated, to stop. The high level control and low level control may be of a tube type which has both, the high level and low level controls in one unit.

A grinder pump or pumps 15 grinds the solids and pumps the sewage or wastewater into the plate separator 17 through a pipe which penetrates the chamber separation 16. The solids slide down the plates of the plate separator 17 and settle into a trough 19 below the plate separator 17. The settled solids are periodically discharged from the trough 19 through a pipe, not illustrated, and a butterfly or ball valve 20 and are pumped back to the raw waste holding vessel or are otherwise discarded. From the plate separator 17 the sewage or wastewater flows through openings 18 between the plate separator plates into a space upstream of the rigid open cell filter plates 22. The sewage or or wastewater then flows through a set of vertically mounted rigid open cell filter plates 22, which are of progressively finer pore size. The rigid open cell filter plates 22 are mounted in channels, not illustrated, one on each side. In units of greater depth, a center support with channels on both sides is used to reduce the width of the filter plates. The rigid open cell filter plates 22 are periodically cleaned by sliding same out of the channels or by back-washing.

After passing through the rigid open cell filter plates 22, the sewage or wastewater underflows the chamber separation 23 which is equipped with an adjustable gate 24 to regulate the flow, if necessay, into the anaerobic treatment chamber 25. Any solids which accumulate downstream of the rigid open cell filter plates 22, between the open cell filter plates 22 and the chamber separation 23, during normal flow or from backwash of the rigid open cell filter plates 22 are periodically drained from the space upstream of the rigid open cell filter plates 22 through a pipe, not illustrated, and valve 21. In the anaerobic treatment chamber 25 most of the BOD loading is absorbed by microorganisms. From the anaerobic treatment chamber 25 the sewage or wastewater flows through a rigid open cell filter 26, which is horizontally installed at the top of the anaerobic treatment chamber 25, and overflows the chamber separation 27, which is shorter by the thickness of the rigid open cell filter 26, into the aerobic treatment chamber 28. In the aerobic treatment chamber 28 oxidation converts the ammonia to nitrates and the remaining BOD loading is absorbed or removed. The air to the aerobic treatment chamber 28 is supplied through a series of perforated air manifolds 29. The number of perforated air manifolds 29 depends on the dimensions and the volume of the aerobic treatment chamber 28. The air to the perforated air manifolds 29 is generated by an air blower 31 and supplied through air lines 30. From the aerobic treatment chamber 28 the sewage or wastewater flows through a rigid open cell filter 32 and underflows the chamber separation 33 into the anoxic treatment chamber 35. The chamber separation 33 is provided with an adjustable gate 34 to allow a possibly required regulation of the flow. In the anoxic treatment chamber 35 the nitrates are converted to nitrogen by microbial organism absorption of nitrogen and oxygen compounds. From the anoxic treatment chamber 35 the sewage or wastewater flows through a rigid open cell filter 36, which is installed horizontally on top of the anoxic treatment chamber 35, and overflows the chamber separation 37, which is shorter by the thickness of the rigid open cell filter 36 into the aerobic treatment chamber 39. The air to the aerobic treatment chamber 39 is supplied through a series of perforated air manifolds 38. The air is generated by an air blower 31 and supplied to the perforated air manifolds 38 through air lines 30. The number of perforated air manifolds 38 depends on the dimensior and volume of the aerobic treatment chamber 39. In the aerobic treatment chamber 39 the oxidation is completed and the water is reaerated.

From the aerobic treatment chamber 39 the treated water flows through an opening in the chamber separation 40 to which a hose or hoses, depending on the number of disinfection units 42 required, are attached, into the ultra-violet or ozone disinfec- tion unit or units 42 which is/are housed in the disinfection unit chamber 41. The ultra-violet or ozone disinfection process kills coliform and other bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The treated water is discharged from the ultra-violet or ozone disinfection unit or units 42 through discharge 44 for discharge or reuse.

The entire unit is constructed with one or more hinged cover or covers, depending on the length and width of the unit.

It is to be understood that, depending on the concentration of contaminants and flow volume to be treated, the design of the system and device of the present invention may include a multiplicity of each treatment step in one system and unit with more than one treatment chamber for each treatment phase.

It is also to be understood that, depending on the application, all components may not have to be included in the design of a system and device of the present invention.

It is further to be understood that more than one grinder pump 15 and more than one ultra-violet or ozone disinfection unit 42 may be used, depending on flow volume and the capacity of a particular system and device of the present invention.

The size of the buoyant material separator 2 is determined according to the flow volume of the system and device of the present invention. PRELIMINARY TEST RESULTS

Parameter Influent Effluent

BOD 250 ppm 5 ppm

TSS 250 ppm 5 ppm

TP 20 ppm 2 ppm

TKN 40 ppm 2 ppm

Coliform 500,000 MPN 100 MPN

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1) A system and device which is capable of treating sewage, sanitary and municipal wastewater, storm water, agricultural run-offs and other biologically contaminated water to meet required nutrient removal in one continuous process and in one unit, divided into successive treatment chambers with one chamber for each phase of the total treatment and which comprises: a) a first chamber for the reduction of solids particle size with the use of a grinder pumps or pumps. b) a second chamber for the separation of solids utilizing a plate separator and removable rigid open cell filter plates. c) a third chamber which is anaerobic and in which most of the BOD loading is absorbed by microorganisms. d) a fourth chamber which is an aerobic treatment chamber in which added air provides oxidation and the conversion of ammonia to nitrates. e) a fifth chamber which is an anoxic treatment chamber in which the nitrates are converted to nitrogen by microbial absorption of the nitrogen and oxygen compound. f) a sixth chamber which is an aerobic treatment chamber in which the oxidation process is completed and the water is reaerated prior to entering the ultra-violet or ozone disinfection unit or units.

2) A system and device per claim 1 to meet nutrient removal requirements without chemical addition. 3) A system and device per claim 1 to meet nutrient removal requirements without physical agitation.

4) The first chamber of a continuous system and device per claim 1 housing a submersible grinder pump or pumps to reduce the solids particle size.

5) A second chamber of a continuous system and device per claim 1 containing a plate separator and rigid open cell filter plates of progressively finer pore size, which are installed in channels, downstream of the plate separator.

6) A system and device per claim 1 with horizontal rigid open cell filters at the top of the anaerobic and anoxic treatment chambers to remove suspended solids particles.

7) A system and device per claim 1 in which the last chamber of the entire unit houses the ultra-violet or ozone dis- apparatus .

8) A system and device per claim 1 in which the water flows through the entire system, under its own pressure or gravity without the assist of pumps.

9) A system and device per claim 1 which includes a buoyant material separator of the design of the present invention.