Bioreactor Substrate Device with Angled Corrugated Sheets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bioreactors for wastewater treatment lack flow-optimized carrier devices that provide sufficient space for microorganism accumulation, leading to hydraulic losses and inefficient pollutant removal.
Innovation Solution
A bioreactor with a carrier device comprising corrugated sheets arranged in parallel planes at a 45° angle, allowing minimal contact areas and easy wastewater flow, supported by a frame with an air outlet below, enhancing microorganism population and oxygen introduction for effective pollutant breakdown.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a carrier device with closely juxtaposed thin layers is used to provide space for microorganism accumulation, then the surface area for microorganism population is increased, but the hydraulic flow through the device is impeded causing energy losses
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier device is segmented into multiple corrugated sheets arranged in parallel planes. Each sheet is corrugated with waves and valleys, creating a segmented structure that provides extensive surface area for microorganism attachment while maintaining open channels for hydraulic flow between and through the sheets.
Solution Approach 2:
The corrugated sheets are arranged in parallel planes extending in the third dimension, creating a three-dimensional carrier structure. This dimensional arrangement provides large surface area for microorganism accumulation while maintaining open hydraulic pathways, resolving the contradiction between surface area and flow efficiency.
2Area of stationary object
If corrugated sheets are arranged with waves and valleys parallel to each other to maximize surface area, then microorganism accumulation space is increased, but contact areas between sheets increase reducing effective surface area
Solution Approach 1:
Adjacent corrugated sheets are arranged with their waves and valleys at angles to each other, creating an asymmetric arrangement. This angular offset minimizes the contact areas between adjacent sheets, ensuring that the majority of the corrugated surface area remains exposed and available for microorganism attachment rather than being lost to sheet-to-sheet contact.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design optimizes microorganism accumulation and wastewater treatment efficiency by minimizing surface loss, reducing hydraulic losses, and promoting oxygen-rich environments for pollutant oxidation, while allowing easy maintenance and installation in existing systems.
Implementation Method 1
at least one air outlet is arranged below the carrier device and a frame supports both the carrier device and the at least one air outlet
Implementation Method 2
the waves and valleys of adjacent corrugated sheets being at an angle of 45° are arranged rotated to each other... such a carrier device can be easily flowed through, so that the waste water can be guided past the microorganisms without major hydraulic losses
Implementation Method 3
The oxidizable pollutants are usually oxidized in a bioreactor and thus removed from the wastewater. These are primarily organic components of the waste water
Implementation Method 4
Bioreactors, which reduce the COD of waste water with the help of microorganisms
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a substrate device provided for installation into a bioreactor which is suitable for the breakdown of pollutants in wastewater, wherein wastewater can pass through the substrate device, and the substrate device can be seeded with at least one microorganism. To optimize the throughflow of wastewater and provide sufficient space for the attachment of microorganisms, it is proposed according to the invention that the substrate device has a multiplicity of undulating plates arranged in parallel planes, wherein the peaks and troughs of adjacent undulating plates run in a non-parallel manner with respect to one another. The present invention furthermore relates to a bioreactor and to a vehicle washing installation having a substrate device of said type, and to a method for the biological treatment of wastewater by means of a substrate device according to the invention.