Compact Fluid Treatment System with Shared Flow Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fluid treatment systems for large-scale applications, such as municipal wastewater and potable water treatment, face challenges like high capital costs, accessibility issues, low disinfection efficiency, and increased equipment redundancy, particularly when treating ballast water on shipping vessels with limited space, where the introduction of aquatic invasive species poses a significant environmental threat.
Innovation Solution
A compact fluid treatment system integrating a fluid separation section and a fluid radiation section within a unified housing, sharing a common fluid flow path to minimize space requirements and hydraulic head loss, utilizing a combination of filtration and UV radiation to treat fluids effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional closed reactor design is used, then fluid treatment is effective, but capital cost is high and accessibility to equipment is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor is divided into multiple compartments with individual lamp arrays that can be independently accessed and maintained. Each compartment can be serviced separately without draining the entire reactor or shutting down the complete system, improving accessibility while maintaining treatment effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates movable or removable lamp arrays that can be dynamically accessed for maintenance. The reactor design allows equipment to be moved between operational and maintenance states, enabling easy access to wetted components without compromising the closed reactor's treatment effectiveness.
2Ease of operation
If open channel reactor design is used, then equipment accessibility is improved, but treatment volume efficiency decreases at higher flows
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor combines segmented lamp arrays (from closed reactor design) within an open channel configuration. This allows individual segments to be accessed easily while the overall system maintains the hydraulic efficiency of open channel flow at higher treatment volumes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the advantages of both closed and open channel designs by placing accessible, segmented lamp arrays within an open channel reactor body, creating a hybrid system that achieves both equipment accessibility and high-flow treatment efficiency.
3Productivity
If more powerful UV lamps are used, then treatment efficiency increases, but the number of lamps required decreases, reducing system cost
Solution Approach 1:
The system optimizes lamp power parameters and operational conditions to achieve high disinfection efficiency with fewer, more powerful lamps. By changing operational parameters such as lamp spacing, exposure time, and intensity, the system reduces the total number of lamps needed while maintaining or improving treatment effectiveness.
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 configuration reduces the overall footprint and operational complexity of the treatment system while maintaining high disinfection efficiency, effectively addressing the challenges of treating ballast water and minimizing the introduction of aquatic invasive species.
Implementation Method 1
a radiation source assembly disposed in the fluid treatment zone
Data Source
AI summary
There is described a fluid treatment system comprising: (i) a fluid inlet; (ii) a fluid outlet; and (iii) a fluid treatment zone in fluid communication with the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet. The fluid treatment zone comprises a housing within which is disposed a fluid separation section (the separation section may include a single separation device or a combination of two or more similar or dissimilar separation devices) and a fluid radiation section in fluid communication with one another. The fluid separation section removes solids in the fluid and the fluid radiation section irradiates the fluid to deactive microorganisms in the fluid. The fluid separation section and the fluid radiation section are configured to have a substantially common fluid flow path which significantly reduces the space or footprint requirement of and/or significantly reduces hydraulic head loss (pressure drops) in the overall fluid treatment system while allowing the two sections to perform their respective functions.