PFAS Adsorbent Media With Upstream Concave Flow Structures
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing PFAS from contaminated fluids, particularly in high flow situations, are inefficient and costly due to the use of sorbents that become quickly spent and ineffective in turbulent flow conditions, leading to PFAS leaching and increased operational costs.
Innovation Solution
The use of elongate structures with concave faces oriented upstream in a flow channel to create vertical eddy regions, converting turbulent flow to laminar flow, allowing for enhanced PFAS collection and extended contact time with sorption media, thereby optimizing sorbent treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sorbent treatment is used to remove PFAS from contaminated fluid, then PFAS removal is achieved, but the sorbent becomes quickly spent and requires frequent changes, increasing operational costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating laminar flow conditions upstream of the sorbent bed through elongate structures with concave faces. This preliminary flow modification ensures that PFAS is pre-concentrated and presented to the sorbent in an optimized manner, preventing rapid saturation and extending sorbent service life before the sorbent becomes spent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the flow regime parameter from turbulent to laminar by introducing elongate structures that create eddy regions. This parameter change optimizes the contact between PFAS and sorbent, allowing more efficient utilization of sorbent capacity and reducing the frequency of sorbent replacement.
2Productivity
If sorbent treatment is used in turbulent flow conditions, then high flow rates are maintained, but PFAS leaches from sorbents back into the fluid, reducing removal efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the flow channel by introducing multiple elongate structures with concave faces oriented upstream. These structures create discrete eddy regions that segment the turbulent flow into controlled laminar zones, allowing high overall flow rates while maintaining localized efficient PFAS-sorbent contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The elongate structures serve as intermediaries between the turbulent bulk flow and the sorbent bed. They create eddy regions that act as transition zones, converting turbulent flow to laminar flow before the fluid contacts the sorbent, thereby preventing PFAS leaching while maintaining high productivity.
3Reliability
If the size and cross-sectional area of sorbent beds are expanded to convert turbulent flow to laminar flow, then PFAS removal is improved, but sorbent cost substantially increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly expanding the entire sorbent bed, the patent applies local quality by placing elongate structures with concave faces at specific locations upstream. These localized structures create the necessary eddy regions and laminar flow zones only where needed, achieving effective PFAS removal without proportionally increasing sorbent quantity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses the flow regime change not by expanding the sorbent bed in the traditional sense, but by introducing elongate structures that extend vertically in the flow channel. This dimensional approach creates eddy regions that convert turbulent to laminar flow without requiring proportional increases in sorbent bed size or cross-sectional area.
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
This approach enhances PFAS removal efficiency and reduces sorbent costs by creating laminar eddy regions that facilitate PFAS migration to the surface for easy collection and increase contact time with sorption media, improving treatment effectiveness and reducing operational expenses.
Implementation Method 1
a bulk of the PFAS-containing fluid exhibits a turbulent flow
Implementation Method 2
the elongate structures create vertical eddy regions in which the PFAS-containing fluid exhibits laminar flow
Implementation Method 3
sorption media intended to absorb or adsorb one or more components of the effluent
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus that include a flow channel in which a PFAS-containing fluid is flowing in a flow direction from an upstream direction to a downstream direction, with a plurality of elongate structures disposed vertically in the flow channel, where each elongate structure has a substantially concave face, and each elongate structure is disposed so that the substantially concave face is oriented facing the upstream direction; where a bulk of the PFAS-containing fluid exhibits a turbulent flow, but each elongate structure is configured to create at least one vertical eddy region in which the PFAS-containing fluid exhibits laminar flow.