Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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GAS DIFFUSERl_ AERATOR, OR SPARGER APPARATUS AND M~THOD
S BACKGROUND OF THE_INVENTION
The invention relates to improved method and appara-
tus for introducing gasses for dissolution into liquid.
lO This is when gasses are utilized in the treatment of
aqueous liquid as is well-known. Generally known as
diffuser, aerator, or sparger apparatus, improvement
shown herein attains substantially more effective attain-
ment of the object of various gas treatments of liquid
15 Appa~atus of the type referred to and which is improved
as shown herein is represented by U.S. Patent Nos.
3,977,606, 4,007,240, 3,953~553, 4,093,681, 3,575,350,
4,022,854 and 3,857,910.
In addition to the gaseous treatment of liquids in
pools or tanks by carbon dioxide or chlorination for
example, a~tificial aera~ion is well known as means for
introducing dissolved oxygen into water. Such aeration
has the object of increasing the oxygen content of
25 aqueous systems of water management. These systems are
those with quality impaired stemming from use in commer-
cial fishery operation or amateur aquaria use, the
discharge of industrial waste iD S treams and lagoons
such as by petrochemical or paper plants, the massive
30 impairment of water quality and the pollution thereof
s~emming from necessary usage in municipal sewage
systems.
The prior art has addxessed itself to the problems
35 of achieving effective gas dissolution in liquid
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essentially by the utilization of conduit-connected per-
forated tubing positioned under liquidO With gas intro-
5 duced into the conduit the tubing is able to release thegas, the dissolution of which is desired in the liquid,
as a myriad of small bubbles. Such apparatus is
conventionally known as diffuser, gas aerator, or
sparger apparatus. Frequently the perforated tubing
10 portion of the apparatus is comprised of fritted glass,
sintered polymer granules compressed into a gas perme-
able conduit for gas, or any suitable gas per~eable
material able to conduct and release gas into liquid
forming a myriad of small bubbles therein.
Albeit the recognized utility of gas treatment and
aerating means in water management, methods related
thereto such as the above have not been wholly satis-
factoryO This is because of low efficiency in
20 dissolution or absorption requiring high gas input
requirements with much waste of the gas introduced.
Bioche~ical oxygenation employs air as the oxygen source
utilizing large quantities thereof, because of such
- waste, with substantial power required~ This is in
25 providing the excess quantities needed for required
dissolution of oxygen in the water being treated~
The prior art has long sought to improve gas-
liquid contacting ~echniques by means employing agi-
30 tated gas-liquid columns, plate-type columns, mechanical
mixing in combination with diffusers~ multiple gas
contact tanks in series, the use of temperature and
pressure to aid gas dissolution. However there has been
no system of gas transfer in water management that may
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be considered substantially the superior of known prior
art methods such as those above.
The difficulty of efficient gas-liquor transfer in
large water management systems may be appreciated, for
example, by reference to small scale amateur aquaria.
Here air pumps are commonly utilized to introduce air
10 as a source of oxygen to aquaria water containing fish.
The utility of the introduced oxygen is maintenance of
water quality by biochemical oxidation of the nitrite
content of the water stemming from considerable waste
discharged by fish. Levels of Q.l mg N/liter (ppm~
15 represent satisfactory water condition otherwise fish
will lack appetite, have closed fins, be susceptible to
disease, and succumb to higher levels of nitrite concen-
tration they cannot tolerate. It was believed at one
time that the rising bubbles fro~ artificial aeration as
20 practised in aquaria and similar wastewater treatment
systems totally dissolved as they rose in the water.
However it is now known that this is untrueO Such
bubbling essentially merely moves water to the surface.
Most of the oxygenation in such systems occurs at the
25air-water interface from the exposure of the water surface
to air. This represents inefficient and poor attainment
of objectives in water quality management.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, in general terms, the present invention
provides a new and substantially improved method and
apparatus for the treatment of liquid by the addition of
gas theretoO The gas may be nearlv any gas such as
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carbon dioxide, chlorine, oxygen, or air utilized because
of its oxygen content. The processes include those carbonating
liquid as hy using carbon dioxide, the use of chlorine gas
in the chemical. treatment of swim~ing pool water; the
utiliæation of oxyqen (or air because of containing oxysen)
in nearly an~ process of treatment of contaminated water.
According to one aspect of the present invention
there is provided a diffuser for discharging gas into a body
of liquid, the diffuser having a first gas chamber, inlet
means for gas in communication with the interior of the gas
ehamber and outlet means for ~as from the chamber including
at least one perforation located in an end wall of the chamber
opposite the inlet means. A second magnetic chamber is defined
by spaced apart opposed sidewalls made of material magnetizable
or conductive to lines of magnetic flux with magnetic means
being provided for inducing magnetic poles in the opposed
sidewalls of the magnetic chamber and constructed and arranged
to provide essentially horizontal magnetic flux lines across
the upper portion of the magnetie ehamber. The sidewalls of
the magnetie ehamber are eonstructed and arranged so that gas
from the gas ehamber perforation is discharged into the
magnetie chamber between the sidewalls at an open bottom of
the magnetie ehamber and permitted to rise and leave the
ehamber through an open top of the chamber when the diffuser
apparatus is located beneath the surface of a body of liquid.
The sidewalls are further constructed and arranged to permit
liquid fro~ the liquid body to enter the magnetic chamber to
replace liquid vertically lifted from the magnetic chamber
and intersecting the flux lines simultaneously with the gas
~4'
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vertically lifting the liquid and also intersecting the
magnetic flux lines.
According to another aspect of the present invention
there is provided a method for treating liquid with an aqueous
component wherein diffuser means are utilized for discharging
a gas into the body of liquid for the treatment thereof.
The method includes the steps of providing a first gas chamber
submerged in the body of liquid, providing a source of gas
and inlet means therefor in communication with the interior
of the gas chamber, providing outlet means for gas from the
gas chamber including at least one perforation located in an
end wall of the chamber opposite the inlet. The method
further includes the steps for providing a second magnetic
chamber defined by spaced apart opposed sidewalls made of
material magnetizable or conductive to lines of magnetic flux,
and providing means for inducing magnetic poles in the opposed
sidewalls of the magnetic chamber, the means constructed and
arranged to provide magnetic flux lines across the magnetic
chamber, the opposed sidewalls of the chamber being constructed
and arranged to permit liquid from the liquid body and gas
discharged from the gas chamber to enter a portion of the
magnetic chamber, pass between its sidewalls intersecting the
magnetic flux lines between its sidewalls and to be discharged
from another portion of the magnetic chamber so that both the
gas and the aqueous component of the liquid into the discharge
are simultaneously caused to intersect the magnetic flux lines
in treating the gas, treating contaminants suspended in the
liquid, and aiding the dissolution of the gas in the aqueous
component of the liquid.
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The present invention is believed to include the
principle of weakening the hydrogen bonding of molecules of
water to reduce the viscosity thereof. This is at the
location of and simultaneously with dissolving gasses therein
as desired for the water treatment practised. This is done
by the magnetic means found to be surprisingly effective
because of the small energy of hydrogen honding as compared
witll ordinary chemical bonds. The apparatus for practising
the above method substantially enlarges and improves the
results of nearly all water treatment systems with which
utilized. Also large reduction in the waste of such gasses
added to liquids hy prior art methods, although not dissolved,
is an attendant benefit.
There are numerous theoretical possibilities in
explanation of the discovered substantially improved results
of this apparatus for wastewater treatment. In addition to
lowering viscosity of aqueous systems by believed disruption
; of hydrogen bonds when presenting gasses for dissolution,
gasses such as oxygen are paramagnetic. Also, the apparatus
2Q is arranged to provide magnetic circuits which may act upon
the outer electron shells of molecules. These are the
molecules of numerous suspended contaminants in the aqueous
systems being treated. I do not wish to he bound by theoretical
explanation but, under the most difficult conditions, use of
the suhject method and apparatus provides spectacular
achievenent in water quality and clarity.
The apparatus of the invention suitable for practising
the method disclosed may comprise aerator or diffuser or
sparger means. This is that suitable for introducing gas into
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water and releasing gas therein forming a myriad of fine
bubbles in the liquid. Immediately adjacent the point of
release the air-lift effect of such gas causes both the gas
and lifted ~iater to pass through multiple magnet fields
arranged in combination with the aerator of diffuser. Both
the rising gas and the liquid are caused to intersect
magnetic flux lines of magnetic circuits at right angles.
The above and other objects and advantages of the
method and apparatus of this invention will become apparent
1~ from the following more detailed description when taken in
, conjunction with the accompanying drawings of illustrative
i embodiments.
. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved
diffuser apparatus of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus
of Fig. 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment
,
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i
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of the improved diffuser apparatus of the present
invention.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a method of
treating liquid by the discharge of gas thereinto utiliz-
ing the improved diffuser apparatus of the present
invention.
Figure S is a perspective view of a method of
treating, by oxygenation or aeration, sewage wastewater.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a method of
improving the treatment of the water of recirculated
15 systemsO This is those utilizing air-lift pumping and
polluted by the nitrite wastes of aquatic life such as
fish.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a method of
20 improving the treatment of bodies of liquidO This is by
utilizing the improved diffuser of the present invention
as an adjunct to filter systems apparatus and other
apparatus conventionally utilized in water treatment
systems.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFER~ED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2
illustrate the general construction of an improved
diffuser apparatus. The diffuser apparatus 2 is shown
as consisting of a first chamber 4 for the introduction
o~ gas thereinto by a conduit that may be connected by
10 suitable means to a inlet 6. The first gas chamber 4
is normally provided with closure means 5 of any suit-
able construction arranged at the chamber end opposite
that of the inlet end 6. The construction of gas
chamber 4 may be that of a hollow conduit with perfo-
15 rations located in its sidewall for the discharge of gasfrom its interior. Also, as is well-known, the function
of conducting gas and discharging it may be provided
by making the sidewalls 7 of chamber 4 of particles
of plastic, glass, or other materials which are pressed
20 together to form a unitary mass with a myriad of small
passages between the par~icles. Arranged in this manner,
gas may be conducted through such a unitary mass and dis-
charged from the surface 9 of the gas conducting
chamberO The surface of the unitary mass serves as the
25 sidewalls of the gas conducting chamber. Alternatively,
for reasons better understood as shown following, the
sidewall surface may be defined by, or supported upon
slotted or perforated tubular member 11 of metallic or
other material suitable for conducting a magnetic circuit~
30 When threaded at each end such a member is useful for the
assembly of apparatus elements along its length as shownO
With further reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it can be
seen that flat members 8 which may be discs of
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non-corrosive magnetically conductive material such as
magnetic grade stainless steel, galvanized iron, alloys
and compositions known in the magnetic art as able to
5 conduct magnetic fields, are spaced along the axial
length of chamber 4. Chamber 4 may be arranged to
extend through openings in flat members 8 defining
magnetic chamber sidewalls. The flat members 8 define
sidewalls of a second magnetic chamber 12 open at its
10 lower end and in fluid communication with the perforate
surface 9 of chamber 4 from which gas is discharged.
Magnetic means 13 of aluminum nickle cobalt alloy,
"ALNICO",.barium ferrite, or amorphous metal alloy com-
positions such as described in U.S. Patent No. 3,856,513,
1~ are suitably arranged in magnet~callyconductive relation-
ship as shown. This is adjacent members 8 for the
purpose of inducing magnetic flux lines between magnetic
chamber 12 sidewall upper edges and crossing from one
side to the other~ As is readily apparent, molecules of
20 gas discharged from the perforate sidewall surface 9 of
chamber 4 rise upwardly in body of liquid in which the
apparatus is intended to be used. Arranged as shown
- both the gas, and the aqueous liquid into which gas
dissolution is intended, simultaneously intersect the
~5 essentially horizontal flux lines of the magnetic circuit
established at the upper portions of magnetic chambers
12. This is as the gas leaves the diffuser rising into
the body of liquid being treated. Circulation of the
liquid into the magnetic chamber accompanies the
30 dissolution of gas because of air lift effect of the g2S
discharged into the lower portion of the liquid.
~lthough the induced magnetic field may be arr2nced
1135658
in various ways in achieving the beneficial results of
the invention. It is very desirable to arrange magnetic
poles such as represented by the letters N and S in
5 Fig. 2. By arranging similar or repelling poles
adjacent discs or members 8 as shown, very efficient
- flu~ concentrations may be provided extending across
the upper region of chambers 12.
10 The utilization of amorphous magnetic materials such as
those of Patent No. 3,856,513 permits fabricating the
sidewalls of magnetic chambers 12 of various suitable
shapes. This is so that the chamber sidewalls themselves
may comprise the magnetic means required by the improved
lS apparatus of the invention. Additionally two domain
magnetic structures providing like adjacent poles may be
provided advantageously such as by the magnetizing method
of Trikilis, U.S. Patent No. 3,418,613.
The magnetic circuits required by the apparatus of
the invention may be further enhanced by providing side-
wal~ material for chamber 4, which sidewall extends
between opposed members defining walls of chamber 12,
of perforated magnetically conductive material such as
25 magnetic grade stainless steel, gas permeable electri-
cally conductive particles pressed into suitable shape~
or other suitable means. Various arrangements of
magnetic means and openings permitting discharge of gas
from the chamber 4 into chamber 12 may be utilizedO
30 That shown with the perforated surface 9 for gas
discharge extending between magnets 13 arranged along
the length of gas cha~ber 4 is a preferred arrangement.
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Also, the magnetic material itself may be perforated
to permit the passage of gas therethrough. As is
5 apparent to those skilled in mechanical applications
many arrangements may be provided. However it is
essential that the arrangement selected prcvide effi-
ciently both for gas discharge and magnetic chamber
magnetic flux concentration as shown. This for reason
10 of being essential to the objects of the invention~
Figure 3 is another embodiment 2~ of the
invention, Diffuser 20 differs in that it is arranged
with the pexforate gas outlets 90 fro~ the interior
15 chamber spaced vertically above inlet 22. As shown
the magnetic sidewalls 80 of chambers 120 correspond
to sidewalls 8 of chambers 12 of Figso 1 and 20 The
chambers are arranged in a manner permitting the entry
of gas into the lower concentric portions thereof with
20 discharge from the top portion. Bar magnet means 130
polarized and arranged in accordance with the showings
of the apparatus of Fig. 2 provide the required magnet
circuit flux lines across the upper portions of magnetic
chambers 120 also arIanged for liquid flow there-
25 into rom the body of liquid in which the apparatus issubmerged. It is contemplated that normally the
apparatus of Figs. 1, 2, and 3 will be located in the
lower portion of the bodies of liquid in which being
utilized. This aids the circulation of the liquid
30 because of the gas-lift effect of the gas discharged
thereinto~ An advantage of the apparatus of the embodi-
ment of Figure 3 is ease in connecting multiple units
along the length of the upper portion of an elongate
conduit (not shown) for conducting gas, This is merely
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by inserting threaded inlet 22 into threaded openings
provided in such a conduit. This is as an aerating, for
example, large bodies of liquid.
s
Figure 4 is an illustrative embodiment of the method
of aq~eous liquid treatment such as is well known with
chlorine, carbon dioxide, and similarly. Where the body
of liquid is of large size multiple units may be
10 connected to a central header 3; or alternatively, to a
length of conduit (not shown) containing the treatment
gas under pressure with the conduit extended under the
liquid body.
15 Corrosive conditions may result from certain gasses in
which event consideration is properly given to the
selection of materials resistant to the expected con-
ditions stemming from the intended use of the apparatus.
The selection of suitable materials for expected con-
20 ditions of corrosion does not require elaborationOAdditionally, the elements of the apparatus may be
coated with resinous materials for the purpose of
corrosion resistance by this means. Also, such coatings
have the advantage of lowering the wett~bility of the
25 surface of the apparatus. This is desirable when
located in heavily contaminated bodies of liquid and the
contaminants have tendency to adhere to surfaces fouling
openiDgs and similarly.
As shown in Figure 5, the method of ~eration of
sewage wastewater utilizing the described apparatus
entails no changes. This is in the mechanical apparatus
conventionally utilized for mixing and other purposes in
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water treatment. This is as such mechanical means havebeen found to be of benefit in the past. The apparatus
of the invention is merely substituted for prior art
5 diffuser apparatus ordinarily used in combination with
such prior art water treatment means. The result of
utilizing the method of the inven~ion is substantially
- reduced power and material requirements for the treatment
of equivalent quantities of wastewater; or, alternative-
10 ly, substantial improvement in the quantity of waste-
water treated with the expenditure of the same or lessor
amounts of power and treatment gas and material~
Directing attention to Figure 6, air-lift pumping
15 such as that illustrated is of proven utility in both
large and small water treatment installationsO In small
installations such as the well-known aquaria adjunct
illust~ated, air is introduced into the pumping leg as
shownO In such cases diffuser 2 replaces the air
20 inlet diffuser normally utilized in such applications.
The substitution of the improved apparatus of this
invention facilitates the pumping lift provided by this
type of apparatus. This is in addition to incidental
increase of the aeration of system water and beneficial
25 treatment thereof.
Figure 7 illustrates the method of water treatment
particularly with recirculatory systems which essentially
rely upon filter apparatus and other means for water
30 treatment. Such apparatus requires ~requent attention
because of problems of filter replacement and mainte-
nance in providing a satisfactory level of water
quality. Use or the method and apparatus 2 of this
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invention, connected to a source of aeratinO gas (not
shown) as a separate adjunct to other system elements,
provides greatly enhanced water quality overall with
5 greatly extended periods of filter replacement and
maintenance. This is in providing improved water
quality in numerous systems of water management.
It is to be understood that the examples present
10 in the foregoing specification are merely illustrative
of this invention and are not intended to limit it in any
manner; nor is the invention to be limited by any theory
regarding its operability. The scope of the invention
is to be determined by the appended claims.
