Abstract
A sludge dewatering system has a container having an interior volume and a floor, a plurality of filtration panels positioned in the interior volume of the container, and a plastic panel. Each of the plurality of filtration panels has an expanded metal panel and a filter media extending along a surface of the expanded metal panel. The filter media has a portion extending outwardly beyond a bottom of the frame. The portion extends outwardly so as to reside generally against the floor of the container. The plastic panel overlies the portion of the filter media and resides over a portion of the floor of the container.
Claims
1. A sludge dewatering system comprising: a container having an interior volume and a floor; and a plurality of filtration panels positioned in the interior volume of said container, each of said plurality of filtration panels comprising: a porous panel; and a filter media extending along a surface of said porous panel, said filter media having a portion extending outwardly beyond a bottom of said frame, the portion extending outwardly so as to reside generally against the floor of said container.
2. The sludge dewatering system of claim 1, further comprising: a plastic panel overlying the portion of said filter media and residing over a portion of the floor of said container.
3. The sludge dewatering system of claim 2, said container having a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls extending between the pair of side walls, the plurality of filtration panels comprising: a first filtration panel extending in parallel relation to said pair of side walls; and a second filtration panel extending in parallel relation to said pair of side walls.
4. The sludge dewatering system of claim 3, said first and second filtration panels being equally spaced from each other and from the pair of side walls.
5. The sludge dewatering system of claim 3, said first and second filtration panels being on opposite sides of a central filtration structure.
6. The sludge dewatering system of claim 3, said plastic panel comprising: a first plastic panel positioned between one of the pair of side walls and said first filtration panel; a second plastic panel positioned between the first and second filtration panels; and a third plastic panel positioned between said second filtration panel and another of the pair of side walls.
7. The sludge dewatering system of claim 3, further comprising: a third filtration panel affixed against one of the pair of side walls; and a fourth filtration panel affixed against another of the pair of side walls.
8. The sludge dewatering system of claim 1, said frame comprising: a top bar; a pair of side bars affixed to and extending downwardly from said top bar, each of said pair of side bars having a bottom end; and a lower bar extending between said pair of side bars, said lower bar positioned above the bottom of said pair of side bars.
9. The sludge dewatering system of claim 8, the portion of said filter media extending beyond the bottom of said pair of side bars.
10. The sludge dewatering system of claim 1, the portion of said filter media being bent by 90° from a remainder of said filter media.
11. The sludge dewatering system of claim 2, the portion of said filter media being interposed between the floor of said container and a bottom of said plastic panel.
12. The sludge dewatering system of claim 11, the floor of said container having a stud extending upwardly therefrom, said plastic panel having a hole that receives the stud therein so as to fix a position of the plastic panel against the floor of said container.
13. The sludge dewatering system of claim 1, said frame having an area wherein the filter media is fully exposed at a bottom of said frame.
14. The sludge dewatering system of claim 1, said container having a plurality of channels underlying said plurality of filtration panels respectively, the floor of said container having drain holes communicating with the plurality of channels.
15. The sludge dewatering system of claim 1, said plurality of filtration panels defining at least two sludge receiving chambers in said container.
16. The sludge dewatering system of claim 3, one of the pair of end walls being hingedly connected to said container so as to be openable such that sludge can be discharged outwardly from the interior of said container.
17. The sludge dewatering system of claim 3, one of said pair of end walls having a sludge inlet thereon, the sludge inlet communicating with the interior of said container.
18. The sludge dewatering system of claim 17, the sludge inlet comprising: at least one first sludge inlet communicating with a space between a side wall of said container and one of said plurality of filtration panels; and at least one second sludge inlet communicating with the space between another of the plurality of filtration panels and another side wall of said container.
19. The sludge dewatering system of claim 18, each of said at least one first sludge inlet and said second sludge inlet having a throttling valve thereon, the throttling valve controlling a flow of the sludge into the interior of said container.
20. The sludge dewatering system of claim 18, further comprising: an inlet manifold connected to said first sludge inlet and said second sludge inlet.
21. The sludge dewatering system of claim 19, said manifold being swingable relative to the end of said container, said manifold having a shut-off valve thereon.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0042] FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view showing one embodiment of the sludge dewatering system of the present invention.
[0043] FIG. 2 is an end view of the sludge dewatering system of the present invention.
[0044] FIG. 3 is an upper perspective view of a portion of the sludge dewatering system of the present invention showing, in particular, the relationship of the filtration panels and the plastic panels.
[0045] FIG. 4 is an end view showing the relationship between the filter media, the frame and the floor of the container.
[0046] FIG. 5 is an end view showing the placement of the plastic panel over a portion of the filter media at the floor of the container of the sludge dewatering system of the present invention.
[0047] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing support structure for the sludge dewatering system of the prior art.
[0048] FIG. 7 is an upper perspective view showing the support structure for the sludge dewatering system of the present invention.
[0049] FIG. 8 is a frontal view showing the filtration panel of the prior art.
[0050] FIG. 9 is frontal view showing the filtration panel of the present invention.
[0051] FIG. 10 is an end view of the sludge dewatering system of the present invention showing, in particular, the sludge inlets.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0052] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the sludge dewatering system 10 of the present invention. The sludge dewatering system 10 includes a container 12 having an open top 14 and a floor 16. In particular, the container 12 has side walls 18 and 20 and end walls 22 and 24. End wall 22 is illustrated as being hingedly connected to the container 12 so as to open and close. FIG. 1 shows the end wall 12 in the open position so as to allow the contents in the interior 14 of the container 12 to be dumped or removed therefrom. The sludge inlet 26 is illustrated as affixed to the end wall 22. Sludge inlet 26 is adapted to deliver sludge into the interior 14 of the container 12.
[0053] In FIG. 1, it can be seen that filtration panels 28 and 30 extend upwardly from the floor 16 of the container 12. Filtration panels 28 and 30 are illustrated as extending for almost the entire height of the container 12. The filtration panels 28 and 30 are illustrated are evenly spaced from the side walls 18 and 20 of the container 12. Similar filtration panels can be affixed to the inner sides of the side walls 18 and 20. The sludge dewatering system 10 is adapted to be suitably placed on a bed of a truck for delivery to a landfill. This system can also be used on trailer-mounted and tipping-stand-mounted units. Within the concept of the present invention, the plurality of filtration panels can include a central filtration structure positioned centrally of the container in which the filtration panels are on opposite sides of the central filtration structure.
[0054] FIG. 2 shows, in particular, the interior 14 of the container 12. In particular, FIG. 2 shows the floor 16 and the filtration panels 28 and 30 extending vertically upwardly from the floor 16. The side wall 18 is illustrated as having a filtration panel 32 thereon. Similarly, side wall 20 is illustrated as having another filtration panel 34 thereon. Importantly, filtering will occur on each side of the filtration panels 28 and 30. As will be described hereinafter, each of the filtration panels includes, at least, a porous panel (or expanded metal panel), a filter media extending along the surface of the expanded metal panel, and a frame affixed against the filter media and the expanded metal panel. This configuration is known in the prior art and has been adapted, in the past, for the filtering of water from sludge. Ultimately, the water that has been filtered from the sludge will pass into channels 36 and 38 located at the floor 16 of the container 12. Channels 36 and 38 allow the water to be ultimately drained from the container 12. Rollers 40 are provided at the floor 16 of the container 12 so as to allow the container 12 to slide onto and off of the bed of a truck.
[0055] FIG. 2 further shows a unique feature of the present invention. In particular, there is a plastic panel 42 is positioned on the floor 16 between the filtration panel 28 and the filtration panel 32. Another plastic panel 44 is positioned between the filtration panel 28 and the filtration panel 30. Another plastic panel 46 is positioned on the floor 16 between the filtration panel 30 and the filtration panel 34. Plastic panels 42, 44 and 46 will extend for the length of the floor 16. As will be described hereinafter, the plastic panels 42, 44 and 46 serve to secure a lower end of the filter media and to allow for the accumulation of the sludge cake thereon.
[0056] In particular, as will be described hereinafter, the filter media of the filtration panels 28, 30, 32, and 34 will make a 90° turn at the floor 16 of the container 12 so as to leave no standing water in the cake. This 90° corner will also increase the usable area of the filtration panels so as to provide additional filtration surface area. The use of the filtration panels 28 and 30 in the container 12 increases the filtration area by 33% over containers that have only one center filter wall. This increased filter surface area and the more narrow sludge compartments formed by the additional filter wall will translate into drier cakes that are formed in less time. The plastic panels 42, 44 and 46 will serve to facilitate the dumping of the cake. Experiments with the present invention have shown that the filter cake will flow outwardly of the container 12 very smoothly because of the use of the plastic surfaces on the plastic panels 42, 44 and 46. The sludge filtration system of the present invention is particularly adapted for bio-solids dewatering, manufacturing waste, grease trap waste, septic tank sludge, industrial sludge, mining sludge, and alum sludge. The system of the present invention can also be used without the plastic panels 42, 44 and 46. The 90° corner of the filter can be utilized with the expanded metal panel or porous panel with a raised flat bar. Studs are located on the floor going through the filter. A flat bar on top of that will hold down the edge. As such, the goals of the present invention could be accomplished without the plastic panels.
[0057] FIG. 3 shows a close-up view of a corner of the sludge filtration system 10 of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 3 shows that the floor 16 of container 12 has filtration panels 32, 32 and 28 extending upwardly therefrom. Plastic panel 42 is positioned on floor 16 between the filtration panels 32 and 34. Another plastic panel 44 will extend along the floor 16 on the opposite side of the filtration panel 28. Ultimately, in the present invention, the filter media will be on side 50 and side 52 of the filtration panel 28. The filter media 54 will be on only the interior side of the filtration panel 32. The plastic panels 42 and 44 replaces the volume where water could stand at the bottom of the container 12. These plastic panels 42 and 44 also offer a non-stick and a abrasion-resistant surface. This allows the cake to slide out of the container 12 when unloading the container. In additionally, the plastic panels 42 and 44 will protect the floor 16 of the container 12 from damage. If the plastic panels 42 and 44 should become damaged, then they can be easily replaced.
[0058] It is important to note in FIG. 3 that there is a sharp 90° corner 56 formed between the filtration panel 32 and the plastic panel 42. The filter media 54 is shown as extending all the way down to the top surface 58 of the plastic panel 42. As such, any water that would pool on the top surface 58 of the plastic panel 42 will flow directly into the filtration panel 32. There is no metal frame or other obstructions that would block this flow or otherwise cause the accumulation of water into the area on the top surface 58 of the plastic panel 42. A similar sharp 90° corner also appears between the plastic panel 42 and the filtration panel 28.
[0059] FIG. 4 illustrates the relationship between the floor 16 of the container and the filtration panel 32. The filtration panel 32 includes an porous panel 60, filter media 62 and a frame 64. It can be seen that the filter media 62 has a portion 66 that extends beyond the bottom 68 of the frame 64. This portion 66 will extend at a 90° angle with respect to the remainder of the filter media 62 and with respect to the frame 64 so as to overlie the floor 16. The sponge gasket 70 can be interposed between the floor 16 and the portion 66 of the filter media 62. The porous panel 60 can be an expanded metal panel.
[0060] FIG. 5 illustrates a further step in the construction of the sludge dewatering system of the present invention. In particular, in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the plastic panel 42 will overlie the portion 66 of the filter media 62. The edge 72 of the plastic panel 42 will reside against a lower portion of the side bars of the frame 64. A plurality of studs 74 extend upwardly from the floor 16. The plastic panel 42 will have a plurality of holes that serve to receive the studs 74 therein. The studs 74 retain the plastic panel 42 in its position on the floor 16.
[0061] As will be described hereinafter, the filter media 62 of the present invention has a portion that extends beyond the lower level of the frame. As such, because of this extended length of the filter media, it is important to be able to retain the filter media within the container. As such, the plastic panel 42 will overlie this extended length of the filter media so as to effectively retain the filter media on the floor 16 in a proper position. Any water that wants to settle in the bottom of the container now has a clear path to the drain holes.
[0062] FIG. 6 shows the frame of a prior art sludge dewatering system 80. As can be seen, this frame includes angle iron 82 welded to the wall of the container. Angle iron 82 will include bolt holes 84 and 86 thereon. Another frame 88 is also welded to the wall of the container and will generally extend out approximately three inches from the wall. A flat bar 90 is welded to the floor of the container. Typically, the flat bar will have a thickness of approximately two inches. Drain holes 92 and 94 are formed through the flat bar 90. The angle iron 82 and the frame 88 will be affixed to the flat bar 90 and extend upwardly therefrom. The surface 96 of the flat bar 90 of the prior art shown in FIG. 6 will form a dam at the floor of the container so as to trap water thereagainst. As such, any water from the sludge that does not pass outwardly through the drain holes 92 and 94 will reside on the floor of the container by the surface 96 of the support structure shown in FIG. 6.
[0063] FIG. 7 shows the support structure 100 of the present invention. In particular, the angle iron 102 and the frame 104 extend directly upwardly from the floor 16. The drain holes 106 and 108 are formed through the floor of the container. As such, there inherently will be no surface similar to surface 96 of FIG. 6 that creates a dam to prevent water flow to the drain holes 106 and 108.
[0064] FIG. 8 shows the filtration panel 110 of the prior art. Filtration panel 110 has a frame 112 in which an expanded metal panel 114 and a filter media 116 are retained. The frame 112 has a top bar 118 and side bars 120 and 122 extending downwardly from opposite ends of the top bar 118. The lower bar 124 is joined to the bottom ends of the side bars 120 and 122. As such, the square frame-like structure serves to retain the expanded metal panel 114 and the filter media 116 therein. Unfortunately, since the lower bar 124 is located at the bottom of the filter media 116, this lower bar 124 will serve to further block fluid flow into the filter media 116 and therefore create a dam to water flow.
[0065] FIG. 9 shows the filtration panel 130 as used in the present invention. Filtration panel 130 includes a top bar 132 and side bars 134 and 136. The side bar 134 has a bottom end 138. The side bar 136 has a bottom end 140. In FIG. 9, it can be seen that the lower bar 142 is positioned well above the bottoms 138 and 140 of side bars 134 and 136, respectively. The filter media 144 will extend outwardly below the lower bar 142. It is this portion of the filter media 144 that will bend 90° inwardly so as to be positioned between the plastic panel and the floor of the container. Since the lower bar 142 is spaced above the bottoms 138 of 140 of the side bars 134 and 136, respectively, the lower bar 142 will not block fluid flow through the filter media 144 and ultimately into the drain. As such, this configuration facilitates water flow within the sludge dewatering system of the present invention and avoids the pooling of water.
[0066] FIG. 10 shows an end view of the sludge dewatering system 10 of the present invention. In particular, end 22 of container 12 is particularly illustrated. FIG. 10 shows the sludge inlet 26 used for the delivery of sludge into the interior of the container 12. The sludge inlet 26 includes a first sludge inlet 160, a second sludge inlet 162 and a third sludge inlet 164. Sludge inlets 160, 162 and 164 open to the interior 14 of the container 12 so as to deliver sludge independently into each of the chambers defined on the interior 14 of the container 12. These chambers are defined by the space between side wall 18 and the first filtration panel 28, the space between the first filtration panel 28 and the second filtration panel 30, and the space between the second filtration panel 30 and the side wall 20. The first sludge inlet 160 has a throttling valve 166 thereon. Second sludge inlet 162 has a throttling valve 168 thereon. Third sludge inlet 164 has a throttling valve 170 thereon. Throttling valves 166, 168 and 170 control the flow of the sludge into the interior of the container. An inlet manifold 172 is connected to the first sludge inlet 160, the second sludge inlet 162 and the third sludge inlet 164. In particular, a swivel fitting 174 supports the manifold 162 in its connection to the sludge inlets. The manifold 172 is connected to the sludge inlet 26. Sludge inlet 26 has a shutoff valve 176 thereon.
[0067] The sludge inlet 26 of the present invention controls the flow of sludge into the container 12. The flow can be evenly distributed into the three internal chambers by operating the throttle valves installed on the inlet manifold 172. The shutoff valve 176 at the end of the manifold is closed when disconnecting the sludge feedline. The serves to prevent spills. A groove-type clamp attaches the inlet arm to the main manifold and allows the arm to swing to either side so as to facilitate the ability of the present invention to adapt to the location of sludge feed. When a single central filtration structure is used, the sludge inlets will open to chambers formed on opposite sides of the control filtration structure. Whenever a single central filtration structure is used, there would be only one inlet. The system would have only one inlet. When two center filter panels are used, there are a total of three inlets and valves associated therewith.
[0068] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction can be made is the scope of the present claims without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.
