Winged Diffuser Screens for Balanced Underdrain Water Collection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional water treatment systems in pressure vessels face challenges with unbalanced water flow leading to short-circuiting and reduced media life, requiring maintenance in confined spaces with complex and costly procedures.
Innovation Solution
A diffuser screen with foldable wings and a mesh screen pipe, allowing external servicing and optimizing flow distribution, combined with an underdrain system using opposing drainpipes and orifice plates for balanced flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional ring headers with interconnected drains are used for water collection, then water collection is achieved, but unbalanced flow and short-circuiting occur leading to reduced media life
Solution Approach 1:
The collection system is segmented into multiple independent underdrain lines with individual orifice plates, replacing the conventional interconnected ring header system. This segmentation prevents preferential flow paths and ensures balanced water collection across all drains, eliminating short-circuiting while maintaining collection efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
Individual orifice plates are installed at each underdrain connection point to locally control and balance flow distribution. Each orifice plate is precisely configured to equalize flow rates across all drains, ensuring uniform water collection and preventing localized short-circuiting that would otherwise reduce media life
2Ease of repair
If service personnel enter confined spaces to service pressure vessels, then maintenance can be performed, but safety risks and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The diffuser screen and underdrain system are designed as removable components that can be extracted from the pressure vessel through the existing inlet/outlet ports. This allows complete servicing of the distribution and collection systems from outside the confined space, eliminating the need for personnel entry while maintaining full maintenance capability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing for internal access during maintenance, the system is inverted to allow complete external servicing. The diffuser screen and underdrains are configured to be installed and removed through external ports, reversing the conventional approach where maintenance requires internal access
3Productivity
If conventional outlet collection systems with support media are used, then water collection is achieved, but removal of all support media is required for servicing
Solution Approach 1:
The collection system is segmented into removable underdrain components that can be independently accessed and serviced. The underdrains are designed as separate modules that can be removed through external ports without disturbing the support media bed, enabling maintenance while preserving collection efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The diffuser screen and underdrain system are extracted as removable components from the fixed structure. This allows the collection system to be serviced by removing only these specific components through external ports, leaving the support media in place and eliminating the need for complete disassembly
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
Enables efficient, external maintenance of pressure vessels with optimized media usage and balanced flow, reducing downtime and extending media life while preventing short-circuiting.
Implementation Method 1
Incoming feed water flows into an opening in the screen pipe where it is directed by an inner surface of the solid plate to flow in a diffused manner through the interstices of the mesh screen and the wings at the base of the screen pipe
Implementation Method 2
An orifice plate can be coupled to the outlet of each collection drain to optimize and balance fluid flow
Data Source
AI summary
An underdrain filtered water collection system includes: a pair of opposing drainpipes, each drainpipe having a plurality of collection drains; and a diffuser screen. The diffuser screen can slide within an outlet in each of the collection drains. A diffuser screen for a pressure vessel containing filter media includes: a screen pipe; a solid plate coupled to a base of the screen pipe; and a winged diffuser arranged around an outer circumference of the solid plate. The winged diffuser includes a plurality of foldable wings. The screen pipe includes a mesh screen having preconfigured interstices therethrough. Feed water flows through the screen pipe where it is directed by an inner surface of the solid plate to flow in a diffused flow through the interstices of the mesh screen and the wings.