Three-Phase Separator with Tilted Plates for Anaerobic Wastewater
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Solution Overview
Problem
Anaerobic sludge bed systems for wastewater treatment face challenges in maintaining sufficient active biological sludge and achieving efficient biomass retention due to low net biomass production and high costs associated with excess biomass disposal, along with issues in gas-liquid-solid separation and hydraulic loading on three-phase separators.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an improved anaerobic wastewater treatment process utilizing a three-phase separator with tilted plates or tubes to increase settling surface, an enhanced influent distribution system, and a modified effluent recycle method that withdraws recycle water from the top of the reactor outside the separator, reducing hydraulic load and allowing for more effective sludge retention and biogas separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a conventional three-phase separator is used for gas-liquid-solid separation, then the separator can perform basic separation function, but the required surface area is large leading to high investment costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces tilted plates or tubes into the three-phase separator, transforming the separation surface from a horizontal plane to a three-dimensional inclined structure. This dimensional change allows the same separator volume to provide much larger effective settling surface area, reducing the required footprint and investment cost while maintaining separation performance
2Area of stationary object
If hydraulic loading on the three-phase separator is increased to reduce separator size, then investment cost decreases, but separation efficiency and sludge retention deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By installing tilted plates or tubes within the separator, the patent creates additional separation surfaces that increase the effective settling area without increasing the horizontal footprint. This allows the system to handle higher hydraulic loads while maintaining adequate separation efficiency and sludge retention
Solution Approach 2:
The separator interior is segmented into multiple zones by the tilted plates or tubes, creating numerous small settling channels. This segmentation increases the total surface area available for separation and improves handling of hydraulic variations, maintaining reliability even at reduced separator sizes
3Area of stationary object
If the three-phase separator is reduced in size to lower investment cost, then capital expenditure decreases, but the risk of blockages increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tilted plates or tubes create inclined separation surfaces that facilitate smooth sludge flow toward the outlet. This three-dimensional configuration prevents sludge accumulation and blockages even in compact separators with reduced surface area, maintaining reliable operation at lower investment costs
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 enhances sludge retention and treatment performance, reduces investment costs by minimizing the required surface area of three-phase separators, and stabilizes the anaerobic sludge bed process, leading to improved treatment efficiency and reduced risk of blockages.
Implementation Method 1
tilted plates, tubes or other tilted internals installed in the three phase separator body to increase the effective settling surface
Implementation Method 2
biogas separation baffle plates for separating gas from the mixture
Implementation Method 3
anaerobic bacteria to convert pollutants in wastewater to biogas
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention is directed to a process for the anaerobic purification of waste water using a sludge bed system, which process comprises feeding waste water, and optionally recycle water, to the lower part of an upflow reactor, containing mainly granular biomass thus producing biogas in the treatment passing the resulting gas/liquid/solid mixture upward and separating the gas and solid from the liquid in a three phase separator and thereby generating an anaerobic effluent that is withdrawn from the top of the separator, the improvement comprising separating the solids from the liquid in a separator, wherein, above the separation of the gas from the liquid phase, tilted plates, tubes or other tilted internals are installed in the three phase separator body to increase the effective settling surface, to an upflow reactor suitable for this process as well as to a three phase separator.