Method for oxygenating wastewater

• US 7,294,278 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2005
• Issued: 11/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nextec Environmental Inc.
• Original Assignee: TherOx Incorporated (Asahi Kasei Corporation), DynamOx Incorporated, Wayne State University
• Inventors: Gessert, James, Rydman, Ray, Crilly, Richard, Spears, J. Richard, Myrick, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): Barry; Chester T.
• Application Number:
  US11/267,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20060054554A1
• Time in Patent Office: 739 Days
• Field of Search: 210/758, 210/760, 210/761, 210/220, 210/242.2, 210/241, 210/242.1, 210150-151, 261115-118
• US Class Current: 210/758
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/234 Surface aerating
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/454 by injecting a mixture of liquid and gas
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2103/06 Contaminated groundwater or leachate
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2201/008 Mobile apparatus and plants, e.g. mounted on a vehicle for biological treatment C02F2203/008
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2203/008 Mobile apparatus and plants, e.g. mounted on a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 3/24 using free-fall aeration or spraying
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 3/26 using pure oxygen or oxygen-rich gas
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 10/10 Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage

Abstract

A method and apparatus creates gas-enriched fluid that is used to treat wastewater. In one embodiment, the wastewater is withdrawn from a supply of wastewater to be treated, and the wastewater is delivered in an atomized manner to a vessel pressurized with gas to form gas-enriched wastewater. The gas-enriched wastewater is then delivered to the supply of wastewater to be treated.

Claims

1. A method of treating a wastewater comprising the acts of:

pressurizing a vessel with a treatment gas; and

delivering the wastewater, in an atomized state, into the vessel to gas-enrich the wastewater to a desired gas content.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the acts of:

withdrawing the wastewater from a supply of wastewater to be treated; and

expelling the wastewater, at about the desired gas content, back into the supply of wastewater.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of atomizing the wastewater.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of filtering the wastewater.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of filtering comprises passing the wastewater through a series of increasingly fine filters.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of filtering comprises passing the wastewater through a 150 to 450 micron filter.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of filtering the wastewater comprises passing the wastewater through a self cleaning filter.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of:

delivering the wastewater to the vessel through a stinger disposed within the vessel, the stinger having a pipe adapted to carry the wastewater and at least one nozzle, operatively coupled to the pipe, to atomize the wastewater into the vessel.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of:

delivering the wastewater to the vessel through at least one nozzle disposed adjacent to an inner wall of the vessel, the nozzle atomizing the wastewater into the vessel.

10. A method of treating a wastewater, comprising the acts of:

pressurizing a vessel with a treatment gas;

delivering the wastewater, in an atomized state, into the vessel to gas-enrich the wastewater to a desired gas content;

expelling the wastewater from the vessel through a fluid conduit; and

passing the wastewater through a nozzle coupled to the fluid conduit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the act of expelling the wastewater comprises the act of passing the wastewater through a hose.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the act of passing the wastewater through the nozzle comprises the act of:

passing the wastewater through a plurality of fluid passageways dimensioned to provide a substantially laminar and bubble-free flow.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the act of passing the wastewater through the nozzle comprises the act of:

passing the wastewater through a plurality of stacked plates defining a plurality of fluid channels therebetween, the fluid channels having an inlet fluidically coupled to the fluid conduit and having an outlet.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the act of passing the wastewater through the nozzle comprises the act of:

passing the wastewater through a plurality of capillaries, each of the capillaries having an inlet fluidically coupled to the fluid conduit and having an outlet.

15. A method of treating a wastewater, comprising the acts of:

pressurizing a vessel with a treatment gas;

delivering a water to be gas-enriched, in an atomized state, into the vessel to gas-enrich the water to a desired gas content;

expelling the gas-enriched water from the vessel through a fluid conduit;

delivering the gas-enriched water to a treatment site containing the wastewater to be treated; and

adding the gas-enriched water to the wastewater,

whereby the addition of gas-enriched water to the wastewater raises the treatment gas content in the wastewater to a desired level.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the water to he gas-enriched is one selected from the consisting of:

a tank of clean water, a pond, a lake, a stream, and a river.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the act of expelling the gas-enriched water is through a hose.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising the act of passing the gas-enriched water through a nozzle coupled to the fluid conduit.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of passing the gas-enriched water through the nozzle comprises the act of:

passing the gas-enriched water through a plurality of stacked plates defining a plurality of fluid channels therebetween, the fluid channels having an inlet fluidically coupled to the fluid conduit and having an outlet.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the act of passing the gas-enriched water through the nozzle comprises the act of:

passing the gas-enriched water through a plurality of capillaries, each of the capillaries having an inlet fluidically coupled to the fluid conduit and having an outlet.