Solids concentrator vessel

Abstract

A solids concentrator vessel (10) provides for separation of a liquid component, such as water, from a plurality of suspended solid pieces. The water can be recovered and recycled, thereby providing a cost savings for both the water and avoided water disposal costs. The concentrator vessel includes a diluted solids inlet (14), which includes the liquid component and the solid pieces entrained or suspended therein, a concentrated solids outlet (16) and a filtrate outlet (15). The vessel further includes a rotating member (22) having one or more spiraling vanes (30) along its length which become progressively larger in cross-sectional flow area as the flow moves from an inlet at the first end to an outlet at the second end. An embodiment of the concentrator vessel may be used, for example, for enabling recovery of water used to clean and to remove solid pieces of peelings from potato peeling or slicing processes.

Description

SOLIDS CONCENTRATOR VESSELBACKGROUNDField of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a vessel for concentrating solids from a stream of a mixture of solid pieces suspended in a flow of a liquid component and for removing a liquid component from the stream of mixture to provide a concentrated solids stream, with particle sizes reduced for practical pumping, and a filtrate (liquid component) stream.Background of the Related Art

[0002] Small pieces, chunks, scraps, parts of and sometimes whole solid bodies are often produced and included in the recirculating processing water as a result of processing solid bodies. For example, but not by way of limitation, this kind of processing is especially common in food processing methods and equipment in which the peel or skin of a fruit or vegetable is removed in small pieces or in which the fruit or vegetable is being processed into smaller pieces, such as slices or strips. The small solid pieces are washed from the skinning or peeling equipment with a liquid component such as, for example, water, resulting in a stream of wash water containing diluted solid pieces suspended therein, referred to herein below as a stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces. Occasionally, entire bodies are introduced into the recirculating water by accident. The solid pieces, once washed from the equipment using wash water, are a by-product of the peeling or skinning process and are for disposal. However, disposing of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces is both costly and wasteful. For example, it may be desirable to recover the liquid component from the stream of the liquid component with suspended solid pieces (e.g., water) by concentrating and removing the solid pieces, thereby enabling the water to be recycled or recirculated for further processing. This concentrated stream including the solid pieces must bepumpable and so the size of the larger debris needs to be reduced to allow pumping of the relatively low flow rate concentrated stream.BRIEF SUMMARY

[0003] Embodiments of the present invention provide a solids concentrator vessel that can be used to remove solid pieces of matter from an inlet stream of a liquid component in which the solid pieces of matter are suspended or entrained. Embodiments of the present invention can be used to concentrate the solid pieces entrained in a stream of liquid component into a concentrated solids stream that is discharged from an embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel while separating the liquid component and, if desirable, recycling / recirculating the liquid component separated from the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces. The liquid component from the solids concentrator vessel contains no solid pieces or very few solids pieces that are small enough to pass through a filtering barrier having a plurality of openings therein. The solids concentrator vessel includes an interior cavity that is divided into an inlet cavity portion and a filtrate cavity portion, and the filtering barrier separates the inlet cavity portion from the filtrate cavity portion. The filtrate cavity portion and the filtering barrier surround the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity of the vessel.

[0004] One embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel of the present invention includes a first stream conditioning stage and a second stream conditioning stage. The first inlet stream conditioning stage includes a rotating blade assembly, or “paddle wheel crusher,” to crush large bodies entrained within the inlet stream fed to the solids concentrator vessel down to smaller sizes that the second stage of size reduction can effectively process (if needed). In some applications, only the rotating blade assembly is required to enable the bodies introduced into the first end of the solids concentrator vessel to pass between the filter barrier and the rotating body and into the spiraling vanes of the rotating member. The rotating blade assembly is adapted to apply shear forces to the incoming bodies entrained in the inlet stream to produce pieces of the bodies that are sufficiently small to pass into the first end of the solids concentrator vessel and to pass between the filter barrier and the rotating body and into the spiraling vanes of the rotatingmember. In other applications, the inlet stream of liquid component and entrained solid pieces produced by the rotating blade assembly must be further processed by the second stage of the inlet stream conditioning stage that includes a flat plate grinder. In still other applications, the inlet stream of liquid component and entrained solid bodies may be processed by the flat plate grinder, without a first stage rotating blade assembly, and the resulting stream of liquid component and entrained solid pieces will be in a condition to be fed into the first end of the solids concentrator vessel to pass between the filter barrier and the rotating body and into the spiraling vanes of the rotating member.

[0005] One embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel of the present invention includes a second stream conditioning stage having a flat plate grinder. The flat plate grinder receives the inlet stream that includes bodies that have been conditioned by the rotating blade assembly of the first stream conditioning stage, if any, and further reduces the size of the entrained bodies to further enable them to pass between the filter barrier and the rotating body and into the spiraling vanes of the rotating member. It will be understood that, in some embodiments of the solids concentrator vessel of the present invention may not include the rotating blade assembly of the first stream conditioning stage if the range of sizes of the bodies entrained in the inlet feed are small enough for the flat plate grinder to sufficiently condition the body portions. The size and number of the blades of the rotating blade assembly may be varied to optimize conditioning by the rotating blade assembly. Similarly, the flat plate grinder hole sizes, hole locations and hole shapes can be varied according to the depth of the spiraling vanes of the rotating member and according to the space between the rotating member and the filter barrier to optimize performance.

[0006] In one embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel of the present invention, the operating speed of the motor that powers the first stage conditioning stage, the second stage conditioning stage and rotation of the rotating member can be fixed or variable. In an embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel with variable operation speed of the motor, the speed may be adjusted, manually or automatically, according to the differential pressure as measured from the first end to the second end of the solids concentrator vessel. In one embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel of the present invention, the operating speed of the motor may be continuously adjusted to achieve adesired differential pressure across the filter barrier. The most common embodiment provides a fixed slow speed operation of the motor.

[0007] The openings in the filtering barrier are sized to allow passage of the liquid component of the inlet stream of liquid component with suspending solid pieces, and to prevent the passage of all but the smallest of the suspended solid pieces. The remaining solid pieces of matter that do not pass from the inlet cavity portion through the openings of the filtering barrier to the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity temporarily form a filter cake on an inlet side of the filtering barrier or are swept downstream towards the concentrate discharge depending on the concentration of solids and the concentrate flow rate.

[0008] The filter cake that temporarily forms on the inlet side of the filtering barrier is scoured by flow between the rotating member and the filtering barrier and / or raked from the filtering barrier by the rotating member. The filter cake is scoured from the inlet side of the filtering barrier by the impingement of the inlet stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces on the inlet side of the filtering barrier at an advantageous angle and at an advantageous velocity that removes, or scours, the filter cake from the inlet side of the filtering barrier and pushes the solid pieces further through the concentrator vessel and along the filtering barrier towards a concentrated solids outlet. The gap between the rotating member and the filtering barrier may range from very small to emphasize raking to larger to take greater advantage of scouring flow. Accumulated filter cake is removed from the inlet side of the filtering barrier by movement of spiraling vanes disposed on a rotating member that is rotatably disposed within the inlet cavity portion. The rotating member includes a shaft at the center of the rotating member for coupling the rotating member to a motor that is operable to rotate the rotating member, a plurality of spiraling flutes along the rotating member to provide for movement of increasingly concentrated solids towards the concentrated solids outlet, and a spiraling vane intermediate each of the spiraling flutes. The spiraling vanes are, at their radially outermost portion relative to the shaft at the center of the rotating member, proximal to the inlet side of the filtering barrier. In some embodiments, the radially outermost portion of the spiraling vanes of the rotating member engage the inlet side of the filtering barrier to enhance the raking action of the rotating member on the inlet side of the filtering barrier. The liquidcomponent that passes through the filtering barrier with the smallest of the solid pieces, those that are small enough to pass through the openings in the filtering barrier, flows to a filtrate outlet. The area between the rotating body and the filtering barrier continuously is reduced to enhance the scouring flow to more efficiently move the cake / debris toward the discharge.

[0009] One embodiment of the present invention provides a solids concentration vessel comprising of a first end, a second end, an interior cavity therebetween, an inlet cavity portion within the interior cavity, a filtrate cavity portion within the interior cavity and surrounding the inlet cavity portion, an inlet of the concentrator vessel through which a stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces enters the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity of the solids concentration vessel, the inlet being disposed at the first end of the concentration vessel, a concentrated solids outlet through which a continuous stream of concentrated solid pieces can be discharged from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity of the vessel, the concentrated solids outlet being disposed at the second end of the concentrator vessel that is opposite to the first end, a filtering barrier disposed within the interior cavity of the concentrator vessel surrounding the inlet cavity portion and disposed intermediate the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity and the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity, the filtering barrier having a plurality of openings on the side adjacent to the inlet cavity portion, the openings in the filtering barrier being, for example, slots or holes, through which the inlet cavity portion is in fluid communication with the filtrate cavity portion, the filtering barrier being disposed within the interior cavity in a position such that the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces entering the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity impinges on an inlet side of the filtering barrier at a scouring angle that is within the range from zero degrees (zero radians) to 45 degrees (0.785 radians). The embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention further includes a filtrate outlet through which a continuous stream of the liquid component passes from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity through the plurality of openings of the filtering barrier into the filtrate cavity portion can be discharged from the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity of the concentrator vessel. The embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention further includes a cross-sectional flow area of the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity thatprogressively decreases from a maximum cross-sectional flow area disposed proximal to the inlet to the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity of the concentrator vessel to a minimum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the concentrated solids outlet. The embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention further includes a cross-sectional flow area of the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity that progressively increases from a minimum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the inlet to the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity to a maximum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the filtrate outlet from the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity of the vessel.

[0010] As stated above, in one embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, the scouring angle of impingement of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces on the inlet side of the filtering barrier positioned intermediate the inlet cavity portion and the filtrate cavity portion is within the range from zero degrees to 25 degrees (0.436 radians). In another embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, the scouring angle is within the range from zero degrees to 15 degrees (0.262 radians). A scouring angle within these ranges is beneficial for scouring the filter cake that temporarily forms on the inlet side of the filtering barrier as the liquid component of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces passes through the openings to the filtrate cavity portion and solid pieces are deposited on the inlet side of the filtering barrier that is disposed towards the inlet cavity portion of the concentrator vessel. The filter cake that forms on the filtering barrier is also removed by the raking action of the outermost portions of the vanes of the rotating member that is operable to rotate within the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity. The outermost portions of the vanes are disposed at an advantageous distance from the center shaft of the rotating member, that can be coupled to a motor, to rake across the inlets to the openings in the filtering barrier to dislodge the filter cake. The fluid scouring and mechanical raking action on the side of the filtering barrier having the inlet of the openings therethrough causes the solids to enter the spiraling flutes that are disposed intermediate each adjacent pair of spiraling vanes. The force applied to the filter cake by the raking of the outermost portion of the vanes includes a circumferential component and an axial component, and the rotating member is rotated in a direction such that the axial component urges theraked filter cake towards the concentrated solids outlet of the inlet cavity of the interior cavity.

[0011] In one embodiment of the solids concentrator of the present invention, the spiraling flutes of the rotating member become progressively smaller from the portion of each spiraling flute proximal to the inlet of the solids concentrator where the stream of liquid component with suspended solids enters the interior cavity to the concentrated solids outlet where the concentrated solids are discharged from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity. Stated more specifically, each of the spiraling flutes of the rotating member includes a variable cross-sectional flow area therein with a maximum cross- sectional flow area proximal to the inlet to the interior cavity to a minimum cross- sectional flow area proximal to the concentrated solids outlet from the inlet cavity portion. As a result, each of the spiraling vanes that separates adjacent spiraling flutes of the rotating member becomes progressively broader from the portion of each spiraling vane proximal to the inlet of the solids concentrator where the stream of liquid component with suspended solids enters the interior cavity to the concentrated solids outlet where the concentrated solids are discharged from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity. Stated more specifically, each of the spiraling vanes of the rotating member includes a variable width, relative to the circumference of the rotating member at any given point, from a minimum width proximal to the inlet to the interior cavity to a maximum width proximal to the concentrated solids outlet from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity. This structure, along with the proper rotation of the rotating member to enhance the movement of filter cake raked from the filtering barrier as discussed above, further packs the progressively decreasing cross-sectional flow area of the flutes with increasingly concentrated solids as the solids are moved towards the concentrated solids outlet from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity.

[0012] The plurality of openings in the filtering barrier are sized to prevent the entry of the solid pieces that are suspended within the liquid component of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces flowing into the inlet cavity portion. In one embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, the openings of the filtering barrier are smallest at the inlet side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion, and the openings progressively diverge or expand to a larger size atthe outlet side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the filtrate cavity portion. This divergent or expanding profile of the openings of the filtering barrier prevents the entry into the openings of the filtering barrier of solid pieces that are too small to pass into the opening from the inlet side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion but those solid pieces that enter the openings will not lodge or become stuck within the openings of the filtering barrier intermediate the inlet cavity portion and the filtrate cavity portion. In one embodiment of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, the filtering barrier comprises a plurality of spaced-apart and wedge-shaped wires known as wedge wires. The wedge wires have a tapered profile and can be secured together in a parallel arrangement to provide openings that are elongate slots of a desired width intermediate each pair of adjacent wedge wires. In embodiments of the concentrator vessel in which the filtering barrier comprises elongate slots, such as an embodiment in which the filtering barrier comprises wedge wires, the slots may be parallel to, perpendicular to, or at any angle intermediate parallel and perpendicular to the direction of flow of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces within the inlet cavity portion. In embodiments of the concentrator vessel that include a filtering barrier comprising wedge wires and slots therebetween that are disposed perpendicular to the direction of flow of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces, each wedge wire may be rotated about an axis of the wedge wire and secured within the filtering barrier such that a leading corner of the wire (the corner disposed towards the inlet of the interior cavity) is tilted into the flow to thereby increase the aggressiveness of the separation of the liquid component of the stream of liquid component and suspended solid pieces, or each wedge wire may be rotated about an axis of the wedge wire and secured within the filtering barrier such that a leading corner of the wire (the comer disposed away from the inlet of the interior cavity) is tilted away from the flow to thereby reduce the plugging tendencies while reducing ability of fluid to flow through slots.

[0013] In some embodiments, the spacing or span of the slots between each pair of adjacent wedge wires can be optimized to prevent the passage of most of the solid pieces that come into engagement with the inlet side of the filtering barrier. In other embodiments of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, the openings may include holes which may be circular, oval or other shapes. In some embodiments of theconcentrator vessel of the present invention having filtering barriers that comprise wedge wires, the portions of the wedge wires disposed towards the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity are parallel one to the others. In other embodiments of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, the portion of the wedge wires are not parallel one with the others.

[0014] The drawings appended hereto illustrate some of the embodiments of the concentrator vessel of the present invention, and should not be taken as limiting of the invention, which is limited only by the claims appended hereto or amendments thereof.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. l is a perspective view of an embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel of the present invention having a housing having in housing inlet at a first end, a filtrate outlet at a second end, and a concentrated solids outlet at the second end.

[0016] FIG. l is a sectional view of the embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel of FIG. 1 showing the rotating member rotatably disposed within an elongate filtering barrier disposed within the interior cavity of the housing, the rotating member including a centered shaft that is coupled at a driven end to the motor. A paddle wheel crusher and an adjacent flat plate grinder together comprise a pre-conditioning assembly that is visible near the inlet end to the solids concentrator vessel.

[0017] FIG. 3 is partially sectional perspective view of the solids concentrator vessel of FIG. 2, with the rotating member shown in full form and rotatably disposed within the filtration barrier shown in sectional form.

[0018] FIG. 4 is the partially sectional perspective view of the solids concentrator vessel of FIG. 3, with the cylindrical filtering barrier shown in full form, stationary within the housing, which is shown in section view, and surrounding the rotating member (not shown) that is rotatably disposed within the filtering barrier. The paddle wheel crusher and flat plate grinder inlet (pre-conditioning assembly) are also shown in full form near the inlet end.

[0019] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of an interior face of the filtering barrier after the filtering barrier has been cut longitudinally and flattened to enable the illustration of the movement of the liquid component with suspended solids as it engages the interior face of the filtering barrier, of the filter cake that temporarily deposits on the portion of the interior face of the filtering barrier.

[0020] FIG. 6 is the enlarged perspective view of a portion of an interior face of the filtering barrier of FIG. 5 after the accumulated filter cake is dislodged from the interior face of the filtering barrier of the solids concentrator vessel by the impingement of the stream of liquid component and suspended solid pieces at a scouring angle, and also by the raking action of the radially outermost portions of the vanes of the rotating member (as illustrated in FIGs. 3 and 3A) as described above.

[0021] FIG. 7 is an illustration of an accumulation of filter cake after it is dislodged from the interior face of the filtering barrier having openings that are elongated slots disposed intermediate adjacent wedge wires that extend parallel to the direction of flow of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0022] FIG. l is a perspective view of an embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of the present invention having a housing 71 having in housing inlet 14 at a first end 17 of the housing 71, a concentrate outlet 16 at a second end 18 of the housing 71, and a filtrate outlet 15 at the second end 18 of the housing 71. The solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 1 includes an elongate cylindrical housing 71. The solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 1 is coupled to a motor 19 to power rotation of a rotating member (not shown in FIG. 1) rotatably disposed within an interior cavity (not shown in FIG. 1) of the housing 71 and also to an inlet conditioning assembly 90 having a stream inlet 92. The motor 19 of FIG. 1 is coupled to the rotating member (not shown) within the solids concentrator vessel 10 through a gearbox 20. The rotational orientation of the stream inlet 92, the concentrate outlet 16 and filtrate outlet 15 can be rotated independently to accommodate different installation configurations.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 1 showing the rotating member 22 rotatably disposed within an elongate filtering barrier 35 disposed within the interior cavity 24 of the housing 71, the rotating member 22 including a centered shaft 26 that is coupled at a driven end 27 of the shaft 26 to the motor 19. Motor 19 and gearbox 20 can be attached to either end of the rotating member shaft 26. The filtering barrier 35 separates the interior cavity 24 into an inlet cavity portion 25 within the filtering barrier 35 and a filtrate cavity portion 36 intermediate the filtering barrier 35 and the housing 71 of the solids concentrator vessel 10. The rotating member 22 includes a plurality of spiraling vanes 30 and a plurality of spiraling flutes 32. Each vane 30 is disposed intermediate a pair of flutes 32. Alternately, a rotating member 22 may include a single spiraling vane 30 and a single spiraling flute 32, each spiraling about the shaft 26 of the rotating member 22.

[0024] The embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 2 includes a rotating member 22 with a plurality of spiraling flutes 32, or a single spiraling flute 32, each of which has a maximum cross-sectional flow area 32A proximal to the housing inlet 14 and a minimum cross-sectional flow area 32B proximal to the filtrate outlet 15. The plurality of spiraling vanes 30, or the single spiraling vane 30, each have a minimum circumferential width 30A proximal to the housing inlet 14 and a maximum circumferential width 30B proximal to the concentrated solids outlet 16. This embodiment with the decreasing cross-sectional flow area of the flutes 32 as the inlet cavity portion 24 approaches the concentrated solids outlet 16 compensates for the filtrate loss from the inlet cavity portion 25 across the filtering barrier 35 to the filtrate cavity portion 36 that begins proximal to the housing inlet 14 and finishes proximal to the filtrate outlet 15. The filtrate cavity portion 36 can be either a constant cross-sectional area or it may progressively increase in cross-sectional area as the cross-sectional flow area of the spiraling flutes 32 of the rotating member 22 decreases to compensate for the increased filtrate flow rate as the fluid component passes through the filter barrier 35. This embodiment and sizing improves the scouring velocities around the filter barrier 35 near the infeed end.

[0025] The solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 2 is shown coupled to a housing inlet conditioning assembly 90 having a stream inlet 92. FIG. 2 reveals rotating bladeassembly 93, or paddle wheel crusher, through which the stream of liquid component with suspended solids must pass through prior to entering the housing inlet 14. The stream of liquid component with suspended solids exiting the rotating blade assembly 93 of FIG. 2 flows through a circular grate 94 prior to entering the housing inlet 14 of the solids concentrator vessel 10. The shape and size of the holes in the grate 94 can vary according to the application. Preferably, the holes expand in area from the side of the grate disposed towards the rotating blade assembly 93 to the side disposed towards the housing 71 to reduce the tendency of the bodies to lodge or become stuck in the holes of the grate 94.

[0026] FIG. 3 is partially sectional perspective view of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 2, with the rotating member 22 shown in full form and rotatably disposed within the filtration barrier 35 shown in sectional form. FIG. 3 also shows the housing 71 in sectional form to reveal the rotating member 22. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the spiraling flute 32 includes a maximum cross-sectional flow area 32A proximal to the housing inlet 14 and a minimum cross-sectional flow area 32B proximal to the concentrated solids outlet 16. Operation of the motor 19 causes rotation of the shaft 26 and the rotating member 22 disposed thereon, along with raking of filter cake (not shown) from the filtering barrier 35 by the movement of the radially outermost portion 30C of the vanes 30. In the embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 shown in FIGs. 2 and 3, the radially outermost portion 30C of the vanes 30 is sized to pass within close proximity to the filtering barrier 35 and to thereby rake accumulated filter cake (not shown in FIGs. 2 and 3) off of the filtering barrier 35 and into the flute(s) 32 of the rotating member 22, where it can be progressively moved towards the end of the solids concentrator vessel 10 proximal to the concentrated solids outlet 16.

[0027] The direction of the winding of the spiraling flutes 32 and vanes 30 on the rotating member 22 of the embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 3 is shown by arrow 22A. This rotation of the rotating member 22 within the filtering barrier 35, along with the scouring action of the flow of the liquid component in which the solid pieces are suspended (from the first end 14 of the housing 71 towards the second end 18 of the housing 71 proximal to the concentrated solids outlet 16) imparts a vectored forceon filter cake (not shown) that accumulates on the filtering barrier 35, and the vectored force includes a circumferential component and an axial component.

[0028] FIG. 3A illustrates the interaction between a small portion of the radially outermost portion 30C of the vane(s) 30 of the rotating member 22 with the filter cake 40 that has accumulated on the filtering barrier 35 (not shown in FIG. 3A). The motion of the rotating member 22 causes the vane(s) to impart a force 49 that is perpendicular to the radially outermost portion 30C of the vane(s) 30 that engages and rakes the filter cake 40 from the filtering barrier 35. The force 49 imparted to the filter cake 40 by way of the raking action has an axial component 49A that is directed towards the end of the housing 71 (not shown in FIG. 3A) and a circumferential component 49B that is directed orthogonally to the axial component 49A. The axial component 49A advantageously supplements the scouring action of the flow of the liquid component with suspended solid pieces to remove filter cake 40 from the filtering barrier 35 and to thereby allow filtrate, the liquid component of the flow, to filter through the filtering barrier 35.

[0029] FIG. 4 is the partially sectional perspective view of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of FIG. 3, with the cylindrical filtering barrier 35 shown in full form, stationary within the housing 71, which is shown in section view, and surrounding the rotating member 22 (not shown) that is rotatably disposed within the filtering barrier 35. The conditioning elements of the rotating blade assembly 93 and the flat plate grinder 99 are also visible in full form.

[0030] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of an interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35 of an embodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 after the filtering barrier 35 has been cut longitudinally and flattened to enable the illustration of the movement of the liquid component with suspended solids 50 as it engages the interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35, and of the filter cake 40 that temporarily deposits on the portion of the interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35. The opened and flattened view of the interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35 shown in FIG. 5 illustrates the scouring action resulting from the flow of the liquid component with suspended solids 50 and provides a visualization of the movement of the liquid component with suspended solids 50 and the manner in which the suspended solid pieces are concentrated within anembodiment of the solids concentrator vessel 10 of the present invention. FIG. 5 should not be taken as to suggest that the flattened portion of the filtering barrier 35 shown in FIG. 5 comprises only the number of wedge wires 32 shown in the enlarge view of FIG. 5.

[0031] FIG. 5 illustrates the direction of flow of the stream of liquid component with suspended solids 50 (direction of arrow) as it moves from the first end 17 towards the second end 18 of the solids concentrator vessel 10 (first end 17 and second end 18 shown in FIG. 1). The flow of filtrate (liquid component) through the openings 23 of the filtering barrier 35, and the sizing of the openings 23 to prevent the passage of most of the suspended solid pieces 39, results in the accumulation of filter cake 40 on the interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35. As the filter cake 40 forms, the filtrate (liquid component) that flows from the inlet cavity portion 25 and passes through the inlets 22 to the openings 23 of the filtering barrier 35 emerges from the openings 23 through the outlets 29 as indicated by the arrows 44 and flows into the filtrate cavity portion 36 of the interior cavity 11 of the concentrator vessel 10. FIG. 5 illustrates the span 45 of the inlets 22 of the openings 23 of the filtering barrier 35 disposed intermediate each adjacent pair of adjacent wedge wires 32. FIG. 5 illustrates how barrier rails 61 can be spaced apart one from the others and connected to the wedge wires 32 to secure the wedge wires 32 in a parallel relationship one to the others to form the filtering barrier 35. Although the wedge wires 32 shown in the flattened illustration of FIG. 5 appear as straight sections of wedge wires 32, the actual wedge wires 32 shown in FIGs. 2, 3 and 4 reveal the actual shape of the wedge wires 32 as continuous rings secured in a parallel relationship one to the others by the barrier rails 61.

[0032] FIG. 6 is the enlarged perspective view of a portion of an interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35 of FIG. 5 after the accumulated filter cake 40 is dislodged from the interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35 of the solids concentrator vessel 10 by the impingement of the stream of liquid component and suspended solid pieces 50 at a scouring angle, and also by the raking action of the radially outermost portions 30C of the vanes 30 of the rotating member 22 (as illustrated in FIGs. 3 and 3A) as described above. Some solid pieces 39 may remain in a suspended state and may be swept along with the filter cake 40 towards the concentrated solids outlet 16.

[0033] FIG. 7 is an illustration of an accumulation of filter cake 40 after it is dislodged from the interior face 34 of the filtering barrier 35 having openings 23 that are elongated slots disposed intermediate adjacent wedge wires 32 that extend parallel to the direction of flow of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces 50. This illustration is provided to show that other embodiments of the concentrator vessel 10 of the present invention may include a filtering barrier 35 that may include openings 23 of various shapes and sizes adapted for the service conditions, and elongate openings 23, such as the slots shown in FIG. 7, may be parallel to, perpendicular to, or at any angle to the direction of flow of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces 50 that scours filter cake 40 from the inlet side 28 of the filtering barrier 35.

[0034] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and / or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. The terms “preferably,” “preferred,” “prefer,” “optionally,” “may,” and similar terms are used to indicate that an item, condition or step being referred to is an optional (not required) feature of the invention.

[0035] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or steps plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but it is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A solids concentration vessel, comprising: an interior cavity; an inlet cavity portion within the interior cavity; a fdtrate cavity portion within the interior cavity and surrounding the inlet cavity portion; a rotating member having a plurality of spiraling flutes therein, each spiraling flute separated from a spiraling vane disposed intermediate each adjacent pair of spiraling flutes, the rotating member being rotatably disposed within the inlet cavity portion; a motor coupled to a drive shaft within the rotating member and operable to rotate the rotating member within the inlet cavity portion; a diluted solids inlet to the interior cavity through which a continuous stream of a liquid component with suspended solids therein can enter the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity of the vessel, the diluted solids inlet being disposed at a first end of the inlet cavity portion; a concentrated solids outlet through which a continuous or intermittent stream of concentrated solids can be discharged from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity of the vessel, the concentrated solids outlet being disposed at a second end of the inlet cavity portion that is opposite to the diluted solids inlet; a filtering barrier disposed within the interior cavity to separate the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity from the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity, the filtering barrier having a plurality of openings therein through which the inlet cavity portion is in fluid communication with the filtrate cavity portion, the filtering barrier being disposed within the interior cavity at a scouring angle that is within the range from zero degrees (zero radians) to 45 degrees (0.785 radians) to a direction of flow from the diluted solids inlet to the concentrated solids outlet; a filtrate outlet through which a stream of liquid that passes from the inlet cavity portion of the interior cavity through the plurality of openings of the filtering barrier intothe filtrate cavity portion is discharged from the filtrate cavity portion of the interior cavity of the vessel; and a cross-sectional flow area of the inlet cavity portion that progressively decreases from a maximum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the diluted solids inlet to a minimum flow area proximal to the concentrated solids outlet.

2. The solids concentration vessel of claim 1, further comprising: a cross-sectional flow area of the filtrate cavity portion that progressively increases from a minimum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the diluted solids inlet to a maximum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the filtrate outlet.

3. The concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein the scouring angle is within the range from zero degrees to 25 degrees.

4. The concentrator vessel of claim 2, wherein the scouring angle is within the range from zero degrees to 15 degrees.

5. The concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein the filtering barrier is positioned within the interior cavity intermediate the diluted solids inlet and the concentrated solids outlet.

6. The concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein the openings of the filtering barrier are smallest at a side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion and diverge to a larger sized opening at a side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the filtrate cavity portion.

7. The concentrator vessel of claim 5, wherein the filtering barrier comprises a plurality of spaced-apart and wedge-shaped wires.

8. The concentrator vessel of claim 7, further comprising one or more filtering barrier supports coupled to the filtering barrier, each of the one or more supports beingextendable and retractable to adjust the position of the filtering barrier within the interior cavity; and one or more hinges disposed intermediate each of the one or more supports and the filtering barrier to accommodate a change in an angle formed intermediate each of the one or more supports and the filtering barrier as each of the one or more supports is extended or retracted.

9. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein the rotating member comprises an elastomeric material.

10. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein the vanes of the rotating member remain proximal to a side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion as the rotating member rotates within the inlet cavity portion.

11. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein the vanes of the rotating member engage a side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion as the rotating member rotates within the inlet cavity portion.

12. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional flow area of each of the spiraling flutes of the rotating member decrease from a maximum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the diluted solids inlet to a minimum proximal to the concentrated solids outlet.

13. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 6, wherein the vanes of the rotating member remain proximal to a side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion as the rotating member rotates within the inlet cavity portion.

14. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 6, wherein the vanes of the rotating member engage a side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion as the rotating member rotates within the inlet cavity portion.

15. The solids concentrator vessel of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional flow area of each of the spiraling flutes of the rotating member decrease from a maximum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the diluted solids inlet to a minimum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the concentrated solids outlet.

16. A concentrator vessel, comprising: a first end; a second end; an interior cavity including an inlet cavity portion and a filtrate cavity portion that surrounds the inlet cavity portion; a diluted solids inlet at the first end through which a stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces enters the inlet cavity portion; a concentrated solids outlet at the second end through which a stream of concentrated solids may be discharged from the inlet cavity portion; a filtrate outlet through which a stream of filtrate can be discharged from the filtrate cavity portion; a filtering barrier disposed within the interior cavity and intermediate the inlet cavity portion and the filtrate cavity portion, the filtering barrier including a plurality of openings, each having an inlet on an inlet side of the filtering barrier and an outlet on an outlet side of the filtering barrier, to dispose the inlet cavity portion in fluid communication with the filtrate cavity portion; and a rotating member rotatably disposed within the inlet cavity portion, the rotating member having a plurality of spiraling flutes, each intermediate a pair of spiraling vanes that are disposed proximal to the filtering barrier during rotation of the rotating member within the inlet cavity portion; wherein the filtering barrier is positioned within the interior cavity to provide for impingement of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces onto the inlet side of the filtering barrier at a scouring angle within the range from zero degrees (zero radians) to 45 degrees (0.785 radians).

17. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the filtering barrier is positioned within the interior cavity to provide for impingement of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces onto the inlet side of the filtering barrier at a scouring angle within the range from zero degrees (zero radians) to 25 degrees (0.436 radians).

18. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the filtering barrier is positioned within the interior cavity to provide for impingement of the stream of liquid component with suspended solid pieces onto the inlet side of the filtering barrier at a scouring angle within the range from zero degrees (zero radians) to 15 degrees (0.262 radians).

19. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the filtering barrier is positioned within the interior cavity intermediate the diluted solids inlet and the concentrated solids outlet.

20. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the openings of the filtering barrier are smallest at an inlet side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the inlet cavity portion and diverge to a larger sized outlet at an outlet side of the filtering barrier disposed towards the filtrate cavity portion.

21. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the filtering barrier comprises a plurality of spaced-apart and wedge-shaped wires.

22. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the filtering barrier is adjustably positionable within the interior cavity to vary the scouring angle.

23. The concentrator vessel of claim 22, further comprising one or more filtering barrier supports coupled to the filtering barrier, each of the one or more supports being extendable and retractable to adjust the position of the filtering barrier within the interior cavity; and one or more hinges disposed intermediate each of the one or more supports and the filtering barrier to accommodate a change in an angle formed intermediate each of theone or more supports and the filtering barrier as each of the one or more supports is extended or retracted.

24. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the rotating member comprises an elastomeric material.

25. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein the spiraling vanes of the rotating member engage an inlet side of the filtering barrier as the rotating member rotates within the inlet cavity portion.

26. The concentrator vessel of claim 16, wherein a cross-sectional flow area of each of the spiraling flutes of the rotating member decrease from a maximum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the diluted solids inlet to a minimum cross-sectional flow area proximal to the concentrated solids outlet.

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