Multi-Level Outlet Tank for Phase Separation and Heat Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Purification of oils and industrial emulsions that separate into different phases, such as oil and water, is challenging due to inefficient separation and heat loss in traditional storage tanks, which hampers effective reuse and environmental sustainability.
Innovation Solution
A tank design with internal bottom outlet pipes at different heights, equipped with sensors for phase interface detection and a control system, along with heating means and a perforated filling pipe, to enhance phase separation and controlled content retrieval while preserving heat.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If outlet pipes are provided outside the tank through the bottom, then content can be retrieved from different levels, but heat loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The outlet pipes are extracted from the external tank structure and moved inside the tank body. This extraction allows the pipes to access content at different levels while being surrounded by the tank walls for heat preservation, eliminating the heat loss associated with external piping.
Solution Approach 2:
The tank bottom acts as an intermediary structure that facilitates the passage of outlet pipes from the interior to exterior while maintaining thermal insulation. The pipes pass through the bottom wall rather than external connections, using the bottom as a thermal barrier and structural mediator.
2Device complexity
If traditional single-level outlet is used, then tank structure is simple, but efficient phase separation and selective retrieval is hampered
Solution Approach 1:
The single outlet is segmented into multiple outlets positioned at different vertical levels within the tank. This segmentation enables selective retrieval of different phases (oil, water, sludge) that separate at different heights, improving purification efficiency without significantly complicating the overall tank structure.
3Speed
If content is filled quickly through single pipe, then filling speed is high, but content mixing occurs reducing separation quality
Solution Approach 1:
The single filling pipe is segmented into a perforated pipe system with multiple holes distributed along the tank length. This allows rapid filling while distributing the inflow at multiple points, preventing localized turbulence and mixing that would occur with a single high-velocity inlet.
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 tank effectively separates and retrieves different phases with minimal heat loss, allowing for efficient purification and reuse of oils and emulsions, improving environmental sustainability and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the tank further comprises heating means provided to the tank for heating the content. By heating the content separation into phases can be speeded up.
Implementation Method 2
since the outlet pipes are provided on the inside of the tank instead of outside the tank and through the bottom instead of through a mantel surface of the tank, heat is better preserved. Heat may assist in separation of the content into different phases.
Implementation Method 3
During a purification process the fluids described above will often separate into different phases, often an oil phase and a water phase and/or possibly a sludge phase.
Data Source
AI summary
Tank for holding contents which can separate into different phases, said tank comprising at least two outlet pipes each provided through a bottom of the tank with a first end of the outlet pipes provided outside the tank and a second end provided inside the tank, the second ends of the at least two outlet pipes being provided at different heights within the tank.