Ring grit remover

Abstract

A grit removal unit for a wastewater system including a grit removal chamber with a substantially annular vertical wall. A horizontal annular ring above the chamber bottom extends inwardly from the annular vertical wall, with an influent channel extending into the chamber beneath the ring and an effluent channel above the rim and extending out of the chamber. The influent and effluent channels both have inner side walls with a curved portion, with both curved portions extending through an arc of at least 90 degrees within the chamber annular vertical wall.

Claims

1. A grit removal unit for a wastewater system, comprising: a round grit removal chamber defined by a substantially horizontal bottom surface and a substantially annular vertical wall extending up from said bottom surface, said grit removal chamber including a bottom opening through said substantially annular vertical wall; a substantially horizontal annular ring spaced above said chamber bottom surface and extending inwardly from the chamber substantially annular vertical wall to an inner edge, said ring extending around the entirety of the chamber substantially annular wall; and an enclosed influent channel extending into said chamber beneath the ring and through said bottom chamber opening, said influent channel having an outer side wall with a planar portion tangent to said chamber substantially annular vertical wall and an inner side wall with a planar portion and a curved portion extending to an end spaced from said planar portion through an arc of at least about 90 degrees within said chamber substantially annular vertical wall, said curved portion end being at the end of said arc, wherein said inner side wall curved portion extends downwardly from the inner edge of the ring to the chamber bottom surface; wherein said influent channel is enclosed continuously from said grit removal chamber bottom opening to said inner side wall curved portion end by said grit removal chamber bottom surface on its bottom, by said ring on its top, by said outer side wall on its outer side, and by said inner side wall on its inner side, with said influent channel opening to said grit removal chamber at said inner side wall curved portion end.

2. The grit removal unit of claim 1, wherein said inner side wall is a J-shaped baffle having a leg defining said influent inner side wall planar portion and a curved portion defining said influent inner side wall curved portion and extending at least about 90 degrees and concentric with said chamber substantially annular vertical wall, with said J-shaped baffle curved portion secured to the inner edge of said ring.

3. The grit removal unit of claim 2, wherein said J-shaped baffle curved portion spirals from a proximate end adjacent said J-shaped baffle leg to a distal end spaced from said J-shaped baffle leg, said spiral of said J-shaped baffle curved portion having a radius at said distal end which is less than the radius at the proximate end.

4. The grit removal unit of claim 1, wherein said enclosed influent channel inner side wall curved portion extends through an arc of between about 90 degrees to about 270 degrees within the chamber substantially annular vertical wall.

5. The grit removal unit of claim 1, further comprising an effluent opening through said chamber substantially annular vertical wall and above said ring, wherein said inner side wall has an end and said influent channel has an outlet at the end of said inner side wall and located sufficiently around said removal chamber to substantially prevent influent from said influent channel outlet exiting to said effluent channel opening without first entirely circling said chamber.

6. A grit removal unit for a wastewater system, comprising: a round grit removal chamber defined by a substantially horizontal bottom surface and a substantially annular vertical wall extending up from said bottom surface; a substantially horizontal annular ring extending inwardly from the chamber substantially annular vertical wall to an inner edge having a radius R.sub.i, said ring being spaced above said chamber bottom surface and extending around and attached to the entirety of the chamber substantially annular vertical wall; an enclosed influent channel through an opening in said chamber substantially annular vertical wall beneath said ring, said influent channel having one influent outer side wall substantially tangential to said chamber substantially annular vertical wall at said influent channel opening in said chamber substantially annular vertical wall, and an influent inner side wall having a substantially flat portion parallel to said one influent side wall, and a curved portion having said radius R.sub.i and extending from said influent inner side wall flat portion to an end spaced from said influent inner side wall flat portion, said curved portion being secured continuously along its entirety to the chamber bottom surface along said curved portion bottom and the ring along said curved portion top, said influent inner side wall curved portion extending through an arc of at least about 90 degrees, said enclosed influent channel having an outlet at an end of the influent inner side wall curved portion.

7. The grit removal unit of claim 6, wherein said inner side wall is a J-shaped baffle having a leg defining said influent inner side wall substantially flat portion and a curved portion defining said influent inner side wall curved portion and extending at least about 90 degrees and concentric with said chamber substantially annular vertical wall, with said J-shaped baffle curved portion secured to the inner edge of said ring.

8. The grit removal unit of claim 7, wherein said J-shaped baffle curved portion spirals from a proximate end adjacent said J-shaped baffle leg to a distal end spaced from said J-shaped baffle leg, said spiral of said J-shaped baffle curved portion having a radius at said distal end which is less than the radius at the proximate end.

9. The grit removal unit of claim 6, wherein said enclosed influent channel inner side wall curved portion extends through an arc of between about 90 degrees to about 270 degrees within the chamber substantially annular vertical wall.

10. The grit removal unit of claim 6, further comprising an effluent opening through said removal chamber substantially annular vertical wall and above said ring, wherein said influent channel outlet is located sufficiently around said removal chamber to substantially prevent influent from said influent channel outlet exiting to said effluent channel input without first entirely circling said chamber.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a grit removal apparatus having at least one of the advantageous new features of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a partial cut away view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a second perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 4 is a third perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 5 is a perspective view of baffles which may advantageously define the inner walls of the influent and influent channels according to the present invention; and

(6) FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views of grit removal apparatuses having different orientations of the influent and effluent channels than the orientation of the FIGS. 1-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(7) The Figures show an apparatus 10 for separating grit from incoming liquid sewage (influent) in accordance with the present invention. A circular cylindrical separation chamber or basin 12 having an annular vertical side wall 13 is disposed immediately above and concentric with a cylindrical grit storage chamber 14 (see FIG. 2) of a lesser diameter.

(8) A substantially flat transition bottom surface or floor 16 including a removable plate 18 centered in the separation chamber 12 separates the storage and separation chambers 14, 12. Suitable openings 19 through the plate 18 permit communication between the chambers 12, 14.

(9) A multi-bladed propeller 20 may be mounted on a cylindrical shaft 24 for rotation, with the upper portion of the shaft 24 connected, for example, to a suitable drive 30 for rotating the propeller 20. Such configurations are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,107,038, 4,767,532 and 8,906,233, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Still other propeller and storage chamber constructions may also be used within the scope of some aspects of the present invention as described herein.

(10) An influent channel or inlet trough 40 has a covered downwardly extending influent flume portion 42 to introduce an influent liquid stream directly into a lower portion (i.e., the bottom) of the separation chamber 12 through an opening at the bottom of the separation chamber annular side wall 13. The flume portion 42 includes a ramp at its bottom which may be advantageously sloped at, for example, about 20 degrees, with the ramp and the ceiling of the flume portion 42 being substantially parallel.

(11) The influent channel 40 also has an outer side wall 46 which is substantially tangential to the separation chamber annular side wall 13 on one side of the bottom chamber opening and an inner side wall or baffle 48 described in greater detail hereafter.

(12) An annular, ring-shaped flange or ring 50 is secured or married around the separation chamber annular side wall 13 at a height above the chamber floor 16 which is substantially equal to the vertical height at the bottom end of the flume portion 42 and the vertical height of the bottom of an effluent channel or outlet trough 60 through an opening at the top of the separation chamber annular side wall 13. The ring 50 thus has an outer diameter equal to the radius of the vertical wall of the separation chamber 12 (R.sub.vw) and a radial dimension (R.sub.d), and an inner edge having an inner radius (R.sub.i), where R.sub.vwR.sub.d=R.sub.i. The ring 50 may advantageously extend around the entirety of the separation chamber 12, although it should be appreciated that a ring 50 of less than 360 degrees could also be advantageously used in some aspects of the present invention.

(13) It should be noted that the annular components as described herein are curved around a center 62 which is generally aligned with the cylindrical shaft 24 of the propeller 20.

(14) The effluent channel 60 allows fluid to flow out of the separation chamber 12 through an opening at the top of the separation chamber annular side wall 13. The effluent channel 60 also has an outer side wall 64 which is substantially tangential to the separation chamber annular side wall 13 on one side of the top chamber opening and an inner side wall or baffle 68 described in greater detail hereafter.

(15) Specifically, the inner side walls 48, 68 may be advantageously defined by bottom and top J-shaped vertical baffles 70, 72 secured to the ring 50, wherein each includes a straight portion 80, 82 and a curved portion 90, 92, wherein the curved portion 90, 92 may advantageously be secured to the inner edge of the ring 50. In one aspect of the present invention, the straight portions 80, 82 are substantially parallel to the respective outer side walls 46, 64, spaced therefrom by a distance of about R.sub.d. The curved portions 90, 92 may be substantially concentric with the cylindrical separation chamber outer wall 13, with a diameter less than the chamber outer wall 13 of about R.sub.d.

(16) It should be understood, however, that the curved portions 90, 92 may alternatively not be substantially concentric with the cylindrical separation chamber outer wall 13, with the radius at a given point on an arc (R.sub.A) being a function of the arcuate position () at that point, or R.sub.A=(). For example, the curve of the curved portions 90, 92 could spiral in the direction of flow with the radius of curvature decreasing in the direction of flow.

(17) The bottom J-shaped baffle 70 extends up from the chamber floor 16 to the ring 50, so that the influent channel 40 is enclosed on top and bottom by the ring 50 and floor 16 and on opposite sides by the outer side wall 46 and inner side wall (baffle) 48. The top J-shaped baffle 72 extends up from the ring 50, so that the effluent channel 60 is on top of the ring 50 and between the chamber outer side wall 46 and inner side wall (baffle) 68.

(18) Advantageously the curved portions 90, 92 of the J-shaped baffles 70, 72 extend through an arc of at least about 90 degrees and up to about 270 degrees (i.e., plus or minus 10 degrees).

(19) It should be appreciated that extending the bottom baffle 70 through an arc inside the separation chamber 12 will ensure that the influent will all flow through at least that arc without exiting into the chamber 12, and without entering the effluent channel 60. Moreover, when the curved portion 90 of the bottom J-shaped baffle 70 extends through an arc of, for example, 180 degrees, it should be recognized that as flow of that influent continues around the chamber 12, it will after exiting the influent channel 40 continue around 180 degrees inside of the bottom J-shaped baffle 70 (see arrow 100 in FIGS. 1 and 3), plus an arc in which the inner radius transitions with the baffle straight portion 80. Thus the grit within the fluid will be forced toward the center and the storage chamber 14, with the maximum radial distance for the grit to travel to the storage chamber 14 reduced by R.sub.d (i.e., from inside the J-shaped baffle 70 rather than from the storage chamber outer wall).

(20) It should also be appreciated that the combination of both J-shaped baffles 70, 72 with the ring 50 can further ensure that fluid entering the separation chamber 12 will travel around the chamber 12 at least once to provide efficient separation. This is particularly so in configurations in which the baffle curved portions 90, 92 extend far enough so that their ends 110, 112 distal from the straight portions 80, 82 are substantially aligned or overlap such as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 (e.g., the exit from the influent channel 40 may advantageously be beneath or beyond the entrance to the effluent channel 60. It should be appreciated that the exit from the influent channel 40 into the separation chamber 12 is substantially aligned beneath the effluent channel 60 such that any influent would have to flow essentially at least 360 degrees around the chamber before being able to enter the effluent channel 60.

(21) It should be understood also that the straight portions 80, 82 could be oriented in different relative positions than illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 (wherein they are substantially in line with one another). For example, baffle(s) according to at least one aspect of the present invention could be used if the environment of the apparatus 10 requires that the effluent flow back in the direction from which the influent came as shown in FIG. 6, or the apparatus 10 requires influent and effluent flow at right angles as shown in FIG. 7. As with the FIGS. 1-4 embodiment, the ends of the baffles could also be aligned, or overlap, or fall short of each other (i.e., the exit from the influent channel 40 could end beneath the ring 50 before the entrance to the effluent channel 60 above the ring 50, where the ring 50 is sufficient to block flow from occurring straight from the influent channel outlet into the effluent channel inlet), depending on the choice of arc from 90 to 270 degrees of the baffle curved portions 90, 92. In such configurations the baffle(s) may similarly advantageously improve efficiency by reducing the maximum radial distance grit may be required to be separated into the storage chamber 14, and may further advantageously assist in preventing any influent from immediately and undesirably entering the effluent channel 60 without flowing around entirely around the inside of the chamber at least once.

(22) Still other aspects and advantages of the present invention may be obtained from a study of the disclosure herein.