ELECTROCOAGULATION REACTOR HAVING SEGMENTED INTERMEDIATE UNCHARGED PLATES
An electrocoagulation reactor for the treatment of wastewater. The electrocoagulation reactor typically engages a DC power source and a source of wastewater to be treated. It has a housing with walls and a wastewater inlet, and a treated wastewater outlet. There is at least one anode/cathode pair of oppositely charged spaced apart plates that engage the power source to charge the anode with a positive charge and the cathode with a negative charge. Between each anode/cathode pair is at least one segmented intermediate plate, which is not engaged to the power source of electrical energy, and which intermediate plate is segmented into multiple segments, which multiple segments lay generally in the same plane.
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THIS application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/787,715, which is entitled “Electrocoagulation Reactor Having Segmented Intermediate Uncharged Plates” and was filed on May 26, 2010.
This application incorporates by reference, the following issued U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,928,493; 6,294,061; and 6,689,271.
This application also incorporates by reference, the following applications: application Ser. Nos. 11/581,695, 12/787,715.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONWastewater treatment devices, more particularly, an electrocoagulation reactor having segmented intermediate plates between the oppositely charged plates.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONElectrocoagulation devices for treatment of wastewater may include parallel charged oppositely charged plates with solid intermediate uncharged plates therebetween.
OBJECTS OF INVENTIONAn improved electrocoagulation reactor.
Applicant discloses an electrocoagulation reactor for treatment of wastewater, the electrocoagulation water for engagement with a DC power supply and a source of wastewater. The electrocoagulation reactor typically includes a housing having walls and one or more inlets for receiving wastewater therein. At least one anode/cathode pair of oppositely charged spaced apart plates are engaged with a power source to charge the anode with a positive charge and the cathode with a negative charge. Each pair has between it at least one segmented intermediate plate, which is not engaged with a power source and which segmented intermediate plate consists of multiple separate segments, which multiple segments lay together generally in the same plane.
Turning now to the drawings, it is seen that in
The electrocoagulation reactor 10 typically has a multiplicity of oppositely charged plates or anode/cathode pairs 20/22 and typically has a multiplicity of segmented intermediate plates 12 therebetween. For example, in
Housing 24 may be provided, made of fiberglass or other typically non conductcive or inert materials (with respect to the wastewater). The housing may be square or rectangular and may include end walls 26/28, side walls 30/32, and, typically, a partial bottom wall 34 defining a bottom opening 35 therein. A generally open top 36 is provided and a sump 38 below bottom opening 35 is typically provided. At the bottom of the sump is a sump drain port 40. The entire electrocoagulator reactor or the housing 24 may sit on a support stand 42.
Turning back to the plates, it is seen that the electrocoagulation reactor is designed to receive all of the plates, the segmented intermediate plates as well as the charged plates, in a manner that keeps them spaced apart from one another, but parallel to one another. Moreover, it is seen that a cartridge 44 may be provided for this purpose, which cartridge typically includes side walls 44a/44b and end walls 44c/44d. Both the bottom of cartridge 44 and the top are substantially open and it is seen that the perimeter at the bottom defined by the lower edges of the four walls 44a/44b/44c/44d sits along the perimeter defining bottom opening 35 in such a manner that wastewater entering wastewater inlets 48/50 will move up in parallel fashion between the plates and flow out the top edges of side walls 44a/44b, which are slightly lower than end walls 44c/44d.
Moreover, with reference to
The cartridge side walls have grooves or similar structure therein, which grooves are adapted to snugly hold the segments of the intermediate plates to maintain them vertically with respect to one another in the cartridge.
In an alternate preferred embodiment, the segmented intermediate plates can be adapted to be received in slots directly in the housing of or somehow otherwise engaged in the housing of the electrocoagulation reactor itself. That is to say, the segmented intermediate plates in the preferred embodiment are held in the cartridge, but as in other prior art electrocoagulation reactors, the side walls of the housing which hold the fluid therein can also be adapted by slots or other means known in the art to receive segments of a segmented intermediate plate as such prior art would receive a typical solid (unsegmented) uncharged intermediate plate.
That is to say, Applicant's novelty lies, in part, in providing a multiplicity of portions to a segmented plate rather than having an intermediate plate being fully integral.
It is believed that having a segmented intermediate uncharged plate between oppositely charged plates in an electrocoagulation reactor may more efficiently or effectively provide for the elimination of the harmful and deleterious components of the wastewater.
It may be seen that a segmented intermediate plate 12 may be comprised of two or more segments, here in
Moreover, it is seen that the segments generally lay in the same plane and are generally, typically, tabular. Indeed, in a preferred embodiment, each segment may be rectangular. However, though the segments may be generally tabular, they need not have straight top and bottom edges, for example, see
The segmented intermediate plates may be made of mild steel or aluminum or a combination of conductive materials. While three segments are illustrated, a preferred range of 2 to 5 is indicated, for the number of segments per plate. While it is also illustrated that there are three segmented intermediate plates between adjacent anode/cathode pair, one segmented plate or up to five segmented plates between an anode/cathode pair are provided as a preferred range.
Further, one may combine, between anode/cathode pair, some intermediate plates that are segmented and some intermediate plates that are nonsegmented with some of the plates having a different conductive material than others.
Further, it is seen that, while in the preferred embodiment the segmented plates maintain vertically by vertical grooves, in an alternate preferred embodiment illustrated in
As seen in
The embodiment illustrated in
Turning to
Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. On the contrary, various modifications of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications, alternatives, and equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. An electrocoagulation reactor for the treatment of waste water, the electrocoagulation reactor comprising:
- a housing including walls and an inlet for receiving waste water therein;
- at least one pair of oppositely charged spaced apart anode/cathode plates engagable with a DC power source to charge the anode with a positive charge and the cathode with a negative charge; and
- at least one segmented intermediate plate between a pair of anode/cathode plates, the segmented intermediate plate not engaged with the power source of electrical energy and comprising multiple segments that lay generally in the same plane.
2. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein the segments of each segmented intermediate plate are rectangular.
3. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 2, wherein the housing is dimensioned to receive each of the multiple rectangular segments, to engage each segment at the side edges thereof to locate each segment with respect to the housing.
4. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein each segmented intermediate plate engages the housing so it is perpendicular to a bottom wall thereof.
5. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein the segments of each segmented intermediate plate have a top edge, two side edges, and a bottom edge and wherein at least one bottom edge of a segment is in contact with a top edge on another segment of the segmented intermediate plate.
6. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein the housing is generally rectangular, having two end walls, two side walls, a bottom wall, and a substantially open top and wherein each segmented intermediate plate engages the housing so that it is perpendicular to the bottom wall.
7. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 6, wherein the segments of each segmented intermediate plate are generally rectangular each having a top edge, two side edges, and a bottom edge.
8. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 7, wherein the housing rests on a support surface and is dimensioned to receive each of the multiple rectangular segments, to engage each segment at the side edges thereof to at least partially locate each segment with respect to the housing.
9. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein the segments of the intermediate plate are adapted to mate with each other.
10. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein the segments of an intermediate plate consist essentially of the same material.
11. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 1, wherein an anode plate and cathode plate in a pair are parallel to each other.
12. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 11, a segmented intermediate plate between the anode plate and the cathode plate in the pair is parallel to the anode plate and the cathode plate.
13. An electrocoagulation reactor for the treatment of waste water, the electrocoagulation reactor comprising:
- a housing having walls and having an inlet for receiving waste water;
- at least one pair of oppositely charged spaced apart anode/cathode plates engagable with a power source to charge the anode with a positive charge and the cathode with a negative charge; and
- at least one segmented intermediate plate between each pair and not engaged with the power source, the intermediate plate comprising multiple segments that lay generally in the same plane;
- wherein the segments of each segmented intermediate plate are rectangular, each having a top edge, two side edges, and a bottom edge;
- wherein the housing rests on a support surface and is dimensioned to receive each of the multiple rectangular segments, to engage each segment at the side edges thereof to at least partially locate each segment with request to the housing;
- wherein each segmented intermediate plate engages the housing so it is perpendicular to a bottom wall thereof;
- wherein the segments of the intermediate plate are adapted to mate with each other.
14. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 13, wherein at least one bottom edge of a segment is in contact with a top edge an adjacent segment of a segmented intermediate plate.
15. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 13, wherein the segments of an intermediate plate consist essentially of the same material.
16. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 13, wherein an anode plate and a cathode plate in a pair are parallel to each other.
17. The electrocoagulation reactor of claim 16, a segmented intermediate plate between the anode plate and the cathode plate in the pair is parallel to the anode plate and the cathode plate.
18. An electrocoagulation reactor for the treatment of waste water, the electrocoagulation reactor comprising:
- a housing having walls and having an inlet for receiving waste water;
- wherein the housing is rectangular, having two end walls, two side walls, a bottom wall, and a substantially open top;
- at least one pair of oppositely charged spaced apart anode/cathode plates engagable with a power source to charge the anode with a negative charge and the cathode with a positive charge;
- at least one segmented intermediate plate between a pair of anode/cathode plates and not engaged with the power source, the segmented intermediate plate comprising multiple segments adapted to mate with each other and lay generally in the same plane, wherein the pair of anode/cathode plates are parallel to each other and the segmented intermediate plate is parallel to the anode/cathode plates.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 30, 2013
Publication Date: Sep 12, 2013
Applicant: Kaspar Electroplating Corporation (Shiner, TX)
Inventor: DOUGLAS D. KASPAR (SHINER, TX)
Application Number: 13/874,174