Floating Bioreactor System for Low-Energy Wastewater Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aeration and bioreactor systems for treating sewage and wastewater are inefficient in terms of energy consumption and require extensive biosolids handling, with limited microbial seeding capabilities for continuous remediation in diverse water environments.
Innovation Solution
A portable, floating aeration and microbial reactor system featuring a rigid housing frame with buoyant members, a blower-driven aeration grid with microporous tubing, and a microbial reactor with embedded live bacteria, which diffuses air and nutrients throughout the water, promoting microbial growth and oxygen transfer while minimizing energy usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If subsurface aeration systems are used to treat sewage and wastewater, then oxygen transfer and mixing are achieved, but energy consumption increases and biosolids handling becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs floating bioreactors that autonomously float on water surface and continuously release microbes into the wastewater without requiring external intervention for microbial seeding or system repositioning, achieving self-sustaining treatment operation
Solution Approach 2:
The floating bioreactor system simultaneously performs multiple functions: aeration through bubble release, microbial seeding for biological degradation, water circulation through displacement, and self-positioning, eliminating the need for separate systems for each function and reducing overall energy consumption
2Productivity
If traditional bioreactor systems are used for continuous microbial seeding, then remediation capability is improved, but device complexity and biosolids handling requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the water body into multiple zones by deploying several independent floating bioreactors, each capable of autonomous microbial release, allowing continuous seeding without requiring a single complex centralized system
Solution Approach 2:
The floating bioreactors automatically maintain their position on the water surface and continuously release microbes without requiring external control systems, mechanical positioning devices, or complex operational intervention, simplifying the overall system architecture
3Reliability
If subsurface aeration is used to aerate and mix the pond, then oxygen transfer is achieved, but water displacement and mixing action increase energy requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The floating bioreactors autonomously generate water circulation and mixing through their displacement action as they float and move on the water surface, eliminating the need for separate mechanical mixers or high-energy subsurface aeration systems
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces mechanical subsurface aeration systems with floating bioreactors that use buoyancy-driven displacement and natural floating motion to achieve water circulation and mixing, substituting mechanical energy input with passive physical principles
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 system effectively reduces biochemical oxygen demand, eliminates biosolids handling, and enhances microbial growth, achieving efficient water treatment with minimal electricity consumption, capable of treating wastewater to high standards without additional filters or chemicals, and promoting environmental sustainability by reducing greenhouse gases.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of micropores having an average diameter of about 0.025 mm to about 0.102mm along the length of said pipe for diffusion of gas therethrough and transfer to a medium
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of buoyant members 120 attached on its sides, wherein the buoyant members 120 are adapted to allow the top portion of the housing frame 102 or the housing frame 102 remain afloat when it is submerged in sewage water of various density
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
An aeration and microbial reactor system for use in decontaminating water including a housing adapted to float within the medium such that a top portion thereof remains adjacent a top surface of the contaminated water while the bioreactor containing inoculated carrier media is attached below. Beneficial microbial populations thrive and spread throughout the liquid medium, and consume or fix the contaminant such that the contaminant is removed from the water.