Counter-rotating Impeller Liquid Processor for Wastewater Treatment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current water treatment technologies face challenges in efficiently degassing municipal wastewater, removing volatile organic compounds, and disinfecting water without relying on chemicals or membranes, particularly in large-scale applications, due to high costs, energy inefficiencies, and the inability to effectively address pollutants like ammonia, methane, and cyanide.
Innovation Solution
A device utilizing counter-rotating centrifugal impellers to create fractal turbulence, combining shear cavitation and electrohydraulic cavitation with pulsed electric fields, which generates high turbulence for degassing and disinfection, and includes a mechanism for continuous extraction of gases and pathogens, using a dynamic shear layer and axial suction pump to enhance gas evolution and UV radiation proximity to pathogens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional chemical or membrane-based water treatment methods are used, then water purification can be achieved, but costs and energy consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chemical and membrane-based treatment systems with a purely mechanical cavitation system. Counter-rotating impellers create shear cavitation bubbles that collapse to produce shock waves and microjets, physically destroying pathogens and removing contaminants without chemicals or membranes, thereby eliminating associated costs and reducing energy consumption
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes phase transitions of water from liquid to vapor within cavitation bubbles, then back to liquid upon collapse. This rapid phase change generates the mechanical shock waves and microjets necessary for pathogen destruction and contaminant removal, enabling effective purification through physical means rather than chemical or membrane processes
2Reliability
If conventional degassing methods are used, then dissolved gases can be removed, but they are ineffective against volatile organic compounds and require chemical additives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chemical degassing methods with mechanical shear cavitation. The counter-rotating impellers create intense shear forces that generate cavitation bubbles, which collapse to produce shock waves and microjets that physically remove dissolved gases and volatile organic compounds without requiring chemical additives
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the harmful presence of dissolved gases and volatile compounds into beneficial effects. The cavitation bubbles nucleate on these dissolved substances, and their subsequent collapse generates shock waves and microjets that effectively remove the very contaminants that initiated the cavitation process, achieving degassing without chemical additives
3Reliability
If chemical disinfectants are used, then pathogen elimination can be achieved, but environmental pollution and health hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes chemical disinfectants with mechanical cavitation-based disinfection. Counter-rotating impellers generate shear cavitation bubbles that collapse to produce shock waves and microjets, physically destroying pathogens through mechanical force alone, thereby eliminating chemical pollution and environmental hazards associated with chemical disinfectants
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potentially harmful cavitation process into a beneficial disinfection mechanism. The cavitation bubbles, which could cause damage to equipment, are instead harnessed to destroy pathogens. The shock waves and microjets generated by bubble collapse effectively eliminate pathogens without leaving chemical residues, turning a potentially harmful physical process into an environmentally clean disinfection method
4Reliability
If large-scale wastewater treatment is implemented, then public health can be protected, but treatment costs and energy consumption become prohibitively expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive chemical and membrane-based large-scale treatment systems with a mechanically simple cavitation system. The counter-rotating impeller design is inherently scalable and can be adapted to different treatment volumes, reducing infrastructure costs and energy consumption while maintaining effectiveness in protecting public health
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves scalability by adjusting operational parameters such as impeller rotation speed, gap distance, and flow rate rather than requiring proportional increases in system complexity or capital investment. This allows the same basic design to effectively treat varying volumes of wastewater, making large-scale implementation economically feasible
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 enables efficient degassing and disinfection of large water flows without chemicals, effectively removing odorants and pathogens, and allows for continuous operation with scalable and cost-effective solutions, reducing the need for expensive treatments and energy-intensive processes.
Implementation Method 1
combining shear cavitation and electrohydraulic cavitation with pulsed electric fields, which generates high turbulence for degassing and disinfection
Implementation Method 2
electrohydraulic cavitation due to pulsed electric fields
Implementation Method 3
electrohydraulic cavitation due to pulsed electric fields
Implementation Method 4
axial suction pump to enhance gas evolution and UV radiation proximity to pathogens
Implementation Method 5
fractal turbulence in a radial shear layer
Implementation Method 6
UV radiation proximity to pathogens
Data Source
AI summary
Axially fed fluid is sheared during long residence time in a radial workspace between counter-rotating coaxial disk-shaped centrifugal impellers. Gases evolve in the fractal turbulence of a shear layer, which is forced between laminar boundary layers, and an axial suction pump axially extracts evolved noncondensables and volatiles through cores of radial vortices in the shear layer. Cavitation due to shear between the impellers kills pathogens by shock waves, microjets, OH radicals, and nearby UV light pulses. Oppositely charged electrodes bounding the workspace cause electroporesis and electrohydraulic cavitation. The electrodes are counter-rotating ridged armatures of disk dynamos, forming a dynamic capacitor having audio frequency pulsed electric fields. Electrode erosion by arcing is prevented by shear between the electrodes.