WATER AERATION SYSTEM

• US 20190022605A1
• Filed: 08/29/2018
• Published: 01/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Linne Industries LLC
• Original Assignee: Linne Industries LLC
• Inventors: BURTON, Craig, Burton, Sandra
• Granted Patent: US 10,639,596 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/231141 Mounting auxiliary devices, e.g. pumps or compressors in a particular place on the bubbling installation, e.g. under water
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/231142 Mounting the gas transporting elements, i.e. connections between conduits
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/23121 having injection means, e.g. nozzles with circumferential outlet
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/23123 consisting of rigid porous or perforated material
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/231242 in the form of slits or cut-out openings
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/231265 being tubes, tubular elements, cylindrical elements or set of tubes
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/2211 Amount of delivered fluid during a period
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/7176 using pumps
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 1/74 with air aeration of stretches of water C02F7/00
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2201/009 Apparatus with independent power supply, e.g. solar cells, windpower or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 3/201 Perforated, resilient plastic diffusers, e.g. membranes, sheets, foils, tubes, hoses
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 7/00 Aeration of stretches of water
• CPC Class Codes: F24S 25/10 extending in directions away from a supporting surface
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 20/212 Solar-powered wastewater sewage treatment, e.g. spray evaporation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 10/10 Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage

Abstract

A water aeration system (10) encases an air pump (60) and a solar power controller (62) in an encasement structure (34) with one or more air permeable sidewalls (42; 44). The encasement structure is mounted at or near a top end of a mounting pole (32). A solar panel (50) is mounted directly or indirectly to the encasement or to the mounting pole at or near the top end of the mounting pole, optionally with screens (80, 82, 84, 86) connected to the backside of the solar panel. An air conduit (20) is threaded through a hollow channel in the mounting pole or structure associated therewith, and then underground and/or under water for joining to an immersed diffuser (12). The system is protected from tampering where the air pump and controller are inside the encasement structure, the solar panel and encasement structure are mounted several feet above the ground surface, the underside of the solar panel is shielded by protective screens, and the conduit between the pump and the diffuser is held inside the mounting pole or structure associated therewith.

Claims

1. A water aeration system, comprising:

a mounting pole defining an inner channel substantially along its length and having a top end and a bottom end, with the bottom end adapted for insertion into a ground or a footing spaced apart from and outside of a body of water to be aerated for establishing the mounting pole upright with its top end above the ground or footing surface;

an encasement mounted at or near the top end of the mounting pole, said encasement defining an internal space;

an air pump held within the encasement;

a conduit for air pumped into the conduit by the air pump, said conduit having a length and connected at one end to the air pump and at its opposite end adapted to connect to at least one diffuser, wherein substantially the length of the conduit that is above ground and out of water is protected from tampering by the encasement and the mounting pole or structure associated with the encasement or mounting pole;

a solar panel defining a sun-facing surface and an opposite surface, the solar panel directly or indirectly joined to the encasement or the mounting pole such that the solar panel is at or near the top end of the mounting pole, wherein said solar panel generates power that may be converted to current for driving the air pump; and

one or more protective screens positioned over at least a portion of the opposite surface of the solar panel.

2. The water aeration system of claim 1, further comprising at least one diffuser adapted for submersion into the body of water to be aerated.

3. The water aeration system of claim 2, further comprising a controller associated with the solar panel to convert photovoltaic electrical power from the solar panel to current for driving the air pump.

4. The water aeration system of claim 1, wherein the encasement comprises at least one trough, and at least one sidewall, and wherein the at least one sidewall of the encasement slidably engages with said at least one trough.

5. The water aeration system of claim 4, wherein the at least one sidewall of the encasement is air permeable.

6. The water aeration system of claim 5, wherein the encasement further comprises a second sidewall that is air permeable.

7. The water aeration system of claim 2, wherein the diffuser is either a coarse bubble or a fine pore subsurface aeration diffuser

8. The water aeration system of claim 3, wherein the encasement encloses the air pump and the controller inside the internal space.

9. The water aeration system of claim 2, wherein the system functions without a battery or any other energy accumulator.

10. The water aeration system of claim 1, further comprising a first frame and a second frame appended or attached to a top surface or a side surface of the enclosure and configured to connect to the opposite surface of the solar panel, and wherein each of the one or more protective screens comprises a bent flange configured to contact one of the first frame or the second frame.

11. The water aeration system of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more protective screens defines a plurality of holes extending therethrough.

12. A pole-mounted enclosure for a water aeration system, comprising:

a mounting pole defining an inner channel substantially along its length and having a top end and a bottom end, with the bottom end adapted for insertion into a ground or a footing spaced apart from and outside of a body of water to be aerated for establishing the mounting pole upright with its top end above the ground or footing surface;

an encasement mounted at or near the top end of the mounting pole, said encasement defining an internal space;

a first frame and a second frame appended or attached to a top surface or a side surface of the enclosure and configured to connect to an opposite surface of a solar panel wherein photovoltaic cells of the solar panel are on a front surface of the solar panel;

one or more protective screens configured to connect to the first frame or the second frame in a position over a portion of the opposite surface of the solar panel.

13. The pole-mounted enclosure of claim 12, wherein each of the one or more protective screens is air permeable.

14. The pole-mounted enclosure of claim 12, wherein each of the one or more protective screens defines holes therethrough.

15. The pole-mounted enclosure of claim 12, wherein the encasement comprises at least one trough, and at least one sidewall, and wherein the at least one sidewall of the encasement slidably engages with said at least one trough.

16. The pole-mounted enclosure of claim 15, wherein the at least one sidewall of the encasement is air permeable.

17. The pole-mounted enclosure of claim 16, wherein the at least one sidewall of the encasement defines holes therethrough.

18. The pole-mounted enclosure of claim 16, further comprising a second sidewall of the encasement that is air permeable.