A cylindrical or annular polymeric bioreactor is disclosed which provides enhanced mixing and aeration of the growth medium while simultaneously offering reduced mechanical shear force.

This document describes a gas streaming device for use between an injection port and a mixing chamber within an airlift pump, and an airlift pump with the gas streaming device. The gas streaming device includes a planar plate with multiple holes extending therethrough, where the holes are dimensioned to direct the gas into multiple micro-streams for streaming air from the injection port into the mixing chamber. An airlift pump in combination with such a gas streaming device is useful for removing anomalously high concentrations of dissolved gas in a liquid. The increased efficiency for this invention may also enable this type of pump to be economic in other applications where it is desirable to lift a liquid or induce flow.

A reactor for gas-liquid mass transfer between a gas and a liquid or slurry includes a tank for receiving the liquid or slurry having a wall; a drive shaft; an upward pumping impeller; and an aerating apparatus disposed above the upward pumping impeller and extending between the drive shaft and the wall of the tank at a first distance (d1) from the drive shaft and at a second distance (d2) from the wall of the tank, the aerating apparatus encircling the drive shaft at least partially. The aerating apparatus has an outward inclined or curved inner surface for directing at least a part of the flow over the inner surface.

The disclosure provides a gas-liquid dissolving apparatus, comprising: a sealed tank, a gas jet tube and a plurality of membrane plates; the sealed tank being provided with a liquid supply joint at top, and a gas inlet joint and an output joint at bottom; the gas jet tube being located inside the sealed tank and connected to the gas inlet joint; the gas jet tube having a plurality of gas jet holes distributed on tube wall; the plurality of membrane plates being stacked around the periphery of the gas jet tube and fixed; each membrane plate being ring-shaped, and being structured with an inner ring wall, a mixing chamber and an outer ring wall sequentially from the center; the mixing chamber having an opening facing downward, and the inner ring wall being thicker than the outer ring wall, with a gap existing between the two adjacent stacked outer ring walls.

An NO-accumulation apparatus, method and use, comprising: a container (120) defining a cavity for accommodating a liquid (105), an inlet (150) for feeding the liquid into the container (120) and an outlet (151) for delivering the liquid from the container (120) to a bath unit; an NO-gas dissolving unit (140) for dissolving gaseous NO in the liquid (105) to produce an NO-containing liquid, wherein the NO-gas dissolving unit (140) is arranged in the container (120) and/or forms a part of the container (120); and an NO-gas port (110) in fluid communication with the NO-gas dissolving unit (140), wherein the NO-gas port (110) is adapted for coupling, particularly for releasably coupling, with an NO-gas supply, whereby the apparatus further comprises means for decoupling the inflow of NO to the liquid (105) within the container from the removal of the NO-containing liquid (NO-decoupling means), so that the removal of the NO-containing liquid is inhibited, when the NO is flowing into the liquid, and also the NO inflow is inhibited when the NO-containing liquid is removed from the container (105).

A heating medium injector includes an injector structure defining a heating medium flow path and a product flow path. The heating medium flow path extends to a contact location, while the product flow path also extends to the contact location. The contact location comprises a location at which the heating medium flow path and product flow path merge within the injector. In a region along the product flow path, the product flow path is defined between a first flow surface and a second flow surface. The first flow surface comprises a surface of a boundary wall separating the heating medium flow path from the product flow path and the second flow surface comprises a surface of an opposing second boundary wall. The second flow surface is in substantial thermal communication with a second flow surface cooling structure.

A system for maintaining fish and shellfish in an anesthetic state, the system includes at least: an anesthetic tank configured to allow the fish and shellfish to be so anesthetized as to be in an anesthetic state; and a maintenance tank configured to allow the fish and shellfish anesthetized in the anesthetic tank to be maintained in the anesthetic state while being transported, wherein, in the anesthesia tank, a carbon dioxide concentration is maintained higher than or equal to 65 ppm as well as lower than or equal to 85 ppm, and an oxygen concentration is maintained higher than or equal to 60%, and wherein, in the maintenance tank, a carbon dioxide concentration is maintained higher than or equal to 10 ppm as well as lower than or equal to 40 ppm, and an oxygen concentration is maintained higher than or equal to 60%.

An expansion chamber includes a chamber body having a top portion above a bottom portion cooperatively forming a hollow chamber volume configured to temporarily contain an expansion of bubbles during an aeration process for aerating a liquid, including wine and other alcoholic beverages. The bottom portion has a bottom opening configured to engage an opening of an uncorked and/or opened wine bottle. The top portion has a top opening. The hollow chamber volume is configured to be in fluid communication with an inside of the uncorked and/or opened bottle when the bottom opening is engaged with the opening of the uncorked and/or opened bottle. A maximum inside diameter of the hollow chamber volume in a horizontal plane with respect to the uncorked and/or opened wine bottle set upon a horizontal surface is cooperatively formed between the top and bottom portions, wherein the maximum inside diameter is at least 2.50 inches.

A system includes a vacuum chamber, a vacuum source, and a mixture flow path adapted to be connected to receive the output of a direct steam injector. The vacuum source is operatively connected to a vacuum port of the vacuum chamber, while a product outlet port from the vacuum chamber is adapted to be connected to an arrangement for removing treated product from the vacuum chamber. The mixture flow path includes a flow path segment outside of the vacuum chamber volume and a flow path segment within the vacuum chamber volume. At least some of a surface defining the flow path segment within the vacuum chamber is in substantial thermal communication with one or more cooling structures.

The present invention relates to the field of fluid aeration and, in particular, fluid aeration in a tank of the type having a fluid aerator or aerators requiring removal for cleaning and/or maintenance. The aeration tank of the present invention may be a Moving Bed Bioreactor or Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) tank forming part of an MBBR wastewater treatment system, although the aeration tank of the present invention may also have utility in other applications. The invention further relates to an aerating lance assembly for use in an aeration tank.