Funnel-Shaped Pollutant Recovery Device with Flow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for recovering solid and/or liquid pollutants from liquid masses, such as petroleum derivatives, face challenges including complexity, high costs, inefficiency due to pressure wave formation, and difficulty in operation, especially in marine environments where quick intervention is crucial to prevent ecological damage.
Innovation Solution
A device featuring a funnel-shaped collecting element with controlled inlet and outlet flow rates, utilizing a separator downstream to balance flow rates and prevent pressure wave formation, allowing for efficient advancement and effective pollutant collection without clogging or resistance issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If baskets with perforated walls are used to collect pollutants, then the device can filter and collect solid and liquid substances, but the baskets fill up and become blocked generating greater resistance to advancement and pressure waves
Solution Approach 1:
The collecting element is divided into multiple compartments separated by partition walls, allowing different sections to be filled and emptied independently. This segmentation prevents the entire structure from becoming blocked and reduces resistance to advancement while maintaining pollutant collection capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates movable bottom walls that can be raised or lowered to control the filling and emptying of compartments. This dynamic mechanism allows the collecting element to adapt its capacity during operation, preventing blockage and reducing resistance by enabling periodic emptying without stopping overall operation.
2Productivity
If the collecting element is positioned to effectively collect pollutants, then collection efficiency increases, but pressure waves form in front of the mouth causing loss of efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The movable bottom wall dynamically adjusts the internal volume and flow characteristics of the collecting element, optimizing the balance between collection efficiency and pressure wave generation. By controlling the filling rate and timing of emptying, the system maintains high productivity while minimizing energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The device changes operational parameters such as the position of the bottom wall, the opening area, and the flow rate through different compartments to optimize performance. These parameter adjustments allow the system to maintain efficient pollutant collection while reducing pressure wave formation and associated energy losses.
3Reliability
If complex devices with multiple pumps and centrifugal separators are used, then pollutant recovery capability is enhanced, but the complexity and cost of design, construction and management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device combines the collection, separation, and storage functions into a single integrated floating structure. The collecting element itself serves as both the collection device and the separation chamber, eliminating the need for separate pumps and centrifugal separators while maintaining effective pollutant recovery capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes the natural buoyancy and flow characteristics of the water to achieve separation and collection without requiring complex mechanical systems. The movable bottom wall and partition walls create natural flow patterns that separate pollutants from water, reducing the need for external power sources and complex management systems.
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 device achieves efficient pollutant collection with reduced resistance and pressure waves, enabling continuous operation and easy use, thereby minimizing environmental damage and operational costs while effectively recovering pollutants from marine and freshwater environments.
Implementation Method 1
comprises first and second flow means respectively connected to said first and second opening to respectively generate an inlet flow rate of said mixture into said collecting element and an outlet flow rate of said mixture from said collecting element
Implementation Method 2
a separator placed downstream of said second opening to separate said substances from said mixture
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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Figure 5~6
AI summary
A device (1) for recovering solid and/or liquid substances floating in a liquid mass (A) comprising a funnel-shaped collecting element (103) with a first larger opening (104) and at least a second smaller opening (105), susceptible to being crossed by a flow of a mixture (M) comprising the solid and/or liquid substances, in a longitudinal flow direction (X) channelled from the larger opening (104) to the smaller opening (105); a separator (230) placed downstream of the second opening (105) to separate the solid and/or liquid substances from the mixture (M) and first (150) and second (210) flow means respectively associated to the first (104) and to the second (105) opening to respectively generate an inlet flow rate of the mixture into said collecting element (103) and an outlet flow rate of the mixture from said collecting element (103). A recovery method that can be implemented through the aforementioned device is also described.