FLUID FILTRATION SYSTEM
A fluid treatment system having in one version an irradiation chamber with UV lamps with a swirl vane pack in the inlet for effecting clockwise and counterclockwise swirl in fluid entering the chamber. Other versions employ a central filter media element with an irradiation chamber with UV lamps disposed annularly thereabout. In other versions, mechanical wiper discs are provided for wiping debris from the filter media and the lamp tubes. In other versions, the UV lamps are in a central irradiation chamber with plural filter media tubes arrayed annularly there around. In other versions, mechanical wipers are provided for the UV tubes and a rotating drain arm is provided for backwashing individual filter tubes. In other versions, the central filter and annularly arrayed UV tubes are mounted in a pressure vessel lid.
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This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/654,440, filed Jun. 1, 2012 by David K. Yee et al. and entitled “Unified Filtration System” and is incorporation by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure relates to a fluid treatment system and particularly systems for the treatment of water and more particularly, to the treatment of sea water employed for ballast in an ocean going vessel. Such systems are employed to purify the sea water entering the ballast tanks to prevent contamination of the tanks. Such ballast water treatment systems have heretofore employed filtering media elements and irradiation such as by ultraviolet lamps. Examples of such systems are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,838,845, 5,843,309 and 6,447,720 and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2010/0282661 A1 and 2011/0100885 A1. These devices have the disadvantages that the irradiation by the UV lamps is insufficient due to localized flow velocity gradients, low flow rates at acceptable levels of purification, their size and expense of installation. Generally, the amount of UV radiation that is used to treat the water is determined by the length of the radiation path, the output power of the UV tubes and the rate of fluid flow past the lamps.
Therefore, it has been desired to provide a way or means of improving the uniformity of the fluid flowing in the UV irradiation section by reducing the velocity gradients and providing for more uniform exposure of the fluid to the UV irradiation as it flows through the length of the UV section or chamber.
SUMMARYThe present disclosure describes a fluid filtration system having several versions for the treatment of water and particularly sea water employed as a ballast. In certain versions, the packaging employs the UV lamp tubes inside the filter elements and in other versions, the UV lamp tubes are disposed outside about the filter elements enabling the packaging of the fluid system to be more compact than when separate filtering UV units are employed.
In certain versions of the system, the velocity profile of the fluid flowing over the UV tube section provides improved UV dosage by the use of swirl vane units stacked together as a vane pack for imparting swirl to the water entering the UV section from the filter elements. In particular, the swirl vane pack may be located at the base of the UV tubes to provide for upward flow through the UV section and a more uniform flow velocity over each of the tubes and to improve the level of UV dosage under various operating conditions.
In other versions of the filter system of the present disclosure, the fluid path is optimized to maximize the rate of flow by introducing the fluid at the base of the filter elements and the flow is then vertically upward through the filter exiting at the top of the filter tubes and then flowing downwardly through an annular chamber surrounding the UV irradiation section and entering the UV irradiation section at the base or lower end thereof for flowing vertically upward through the UV irradiation section and discharging through a port at the upper end of the system.
In other versions of the system of the present disclosure, a mechanical cleaning mechanism is provided for wiping the inlet side of the filter media. A wiping disc is moved by a jack screw which may be operated by a servo-motor to scrape debris off the inlet side of the filter media. In another version, the wiper disc is provided for each of the quartz tubes surrounding the UV lamps to remove debris collected on the outside tube. The debris may then be removed using a “backwash” mode where the flow of the fluid is reversed by opening the separate drain outlet to allow for the removal of the debris independent of the fluid intake or outlet connections. In other versions, the backwash is accomplished by a rotating brain tube which may be operated by a servo-motor and which is progressively positioned over each of the filter tubes for enabling backwashing of the individual tube without affecting flow through the remaining tubes.
Referring to
The upper end of the pressure vessel 12 is closed by a cover plate 24 which has connected thereto the upper end of a plurality of UV lamp tubes 26 disposed in spaced arrangement with the upper end thereof extending through apertures provided in the plate 24 for electrical connection thereto. With reference to
It will be understood that each of the UV lamps 26 is disposed in a quartz tube for protection; however, only a single outline for each tube location is shown in
Referring to
The fluid treatment system of
Referring to
Referring to
The tubular filter media element 66 has a shaft 78 disposed centrally therethrough from the upper end thereof through the lower end thereof and shaft 78 is secured at its lower end in a bearing 82 in a closure or dome 80 to permit rotation. The closure 80 forms a drain chamber 84 which communicates exclusively with the interior of the filter media element 66 at its lower end; and, the chamber 84 has a drain outlet 85 which may be selectively opened and closed by a suitable drain valve (not shown). The shaft 78 includes an axial lead screw which has disposed thereon at axially spaced intervals a plurality of wiper discs 86, 88, 90, 92, each of which has its outer periphery disposed in closely spaced proximity to the inner surface of the filter media element 66 such that, upon rotation of the lead screw 78, the wiper elements are moved axially along the inner surface of the filter media element 66 for wiping debris collected thereon. The debris may then be removed by “backwashing” upon opening of the drain outlet 85, allowing the debris to fall through holes provided in the wiper discs as denoted by reference numeral 94 to the lower end of the filter into chamber 84. The upper end of the axial lead screw 78 extends into a motorized drive 96 provided on the upper end of the tubular member 56 for, upon selective activation, effecting rotation of the lead screw 78. The version of
Referring to
Referring to
The arrangement 126 of
Referring to
An upper and lower wiper disc 162 are disposed within the filter media tube 150 and have an actuator rod 164 attached thereto which extends upwardly through the upper end plate 166 disposed over the inner tube 150. The wiper discs 162 are configured to closely inter fit the inner periphery of the filter media tube 150 such that movement therein effects wiping of debris from the inner or entrance side of the filter tube upon movement of the rod 164. The end of the rod extends through the upper end plate 166 and is attached to a pair of yoke bars 168, 170 in the central region thereof which bars extend transversely beyond the diameters of the tube 144 and outer wall 142. The bars 168, 170 are skewed with respect to each other. The bar 170 is attached at its ends to a pair of piston rods 172, 174 which extend from oppositely disposed fluid pressure cylinders 176, 178, respectively. The cylinders are supported or mounted on a mounting bar 179 which is supported by external structure (not shown). The central actuating rod 164 passes freely through a clearance aperture 180 provided in the support bar 178. Similarly, the piston rods 172, 174 pass through clearance apertures 182, 184, respectively, in the support bar 178.
The upper yoke bar 168 has attached at its opposite ends, respectively, actuator rods 186, 188 which extend downwardly through clearance apertures, one of which is illustrated in
The end plates 156, 160 for the outer vessel wall 142 are held in place by the plurality of circumferentially spaced flange bolts 198 disposed thereabout.
In operation, upon selective fluid pressurization, either above atmospheric or sub-atmospheric, or a combination thereof, in the fluid pressure cylinders 176, 178, the yokes 168, 170 are operative to move the central wiper discs 162 in the filter media tube and the annular wiper discs 192, 194 in the UV chamber for removing debris accumulated on the respective surfaces thereof. It will be understood that the fluid pressure cylinders 176, 178 are respectively connected to selectively actuated pressure sources (not shown).
In the version shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The interior of the tubular member 268 forms an irradiation chamber 274 which has the plurality of UV lamps, typically in quartz tubes 278 extending downwardly in the chamber 274. The upper ends of the tubes 278 are attached to the cover plate 272 and extend outwardly through suitable pressure type fittings 276 provided therein for external electrical connection thereto. The UV lamps denoted by reference numeral 278 in
The annular space between the inner tubular member 268 and the outer vessel wall 254, which space is denoted by reference numeral 282, has a filter assembly or cartridge indicated generally at 284 disposed therein for filtering fluid such as sea water prior to entry into the irradiation chamber 274.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The version 250 of the fluid filtration system employs a rotating tubular drain arm 320 which is selectively rotatable in the chamber 304 by a shaft 322 extending upwardly through a rotary coupling 324 and into a retaining bearing assembly 326 provided on the lower end plate 270. The shaft 322 is attached to the hollow drain arm 320 and operative upon activation of a motorized servo-unit 328 to effect rotation of the drain arm 320 progressively from one filter tube 292 to the next adjacent. Upon opening of the drain by activation of a remotely controlled drain valve indicated generally at 330, the drain tube is opened to atmospheric pressure which drops the pressure in the interior of the selected tube 292 below that of the outlet pressure thereby causing a backwash of the filter tubes 316 and removal of the debris trapped upon the exterior of the tubes 316 which debris is then discharged through the drain tube 320 and the drain line 332. Thus, when one set of the filter media tubes 316 is being backwashed within one of the tubes 292, the remaining filter media tubes 316 within the remaining tubes 292 may continue in normal filtering flow.
Referring to
Each of the tubes 358 has a plurality of filter media tubes 366 disposed therein such that fluid entering the interior of tubes 358 through the inlet chamber 360 at the lower ends thereof is filtered by flowing through the exterior of the filter tubes 366 to the interior thereof and outwardly through the upper end thereof into the interior of the lid 348 which comprises an irradiation chamber 368. Chamber 368 has extending vertically downwardly therein a plurality of spaced UV lamps each of which may be encased in a quartz tube 370 and which extends upwardly through the dome 348 through sealed fittings for electrical connection thereto. The wiper disc 374 is provided for closely inter-fitting the exterior of each of the quartz tubes 370. The wiper disc attached to a collar 372 which threadedly engages a lead screw 376 which may be selectively rotated by a suitable mechanism (not shown) for causing movement of the wiper disc 374 along the lead screw 376 for wiping debris from the tubes 370.
It will be understood that the tubes 358 and filter media tubes 366 may be mounted in a cartridge assembly similar to the cartridge 286 of the versions of
The inlet chamber 360 has a rotary drain arm 378 disposed therein which has a rotary coupling 380; and, the arm 378 communicates through the rotary coupling to an exterior drain outlet 390 which is isolated from the inlet chamber 360. A shaft 392 extends through the rotary coupling 380 and the upper end thereof is anchored in a bearing 394 and the lower end of shaft 392 anchored in a bearing 396 at its lower end in the outlet 390. The shaft extends through the bearing 396 and is operatively connected to be rotated selectively upon activation of a motorized servo mechanism 398. Thus, upon energization of the servo 398, the drain arm 378 is successively rotated for positioning under individually selected tubes 358 for upon opening of the drain 390, selectively backwashing the filter tubes 366 in the selected tube 358. In normal filtering operations, fluid to be filtering purified, such as sea water, enters the inlet 360, flows upwardly through the tubes 358 and inwardly of the tubes 366 and outwardly of the upper ends thereof into the chamber 368 for ultra violet radiation and purification before existing through outlet 356.
Referring to
Referring to
The upper end of the pressure vessel is open and has an annular flange or ring 436 provided thereon against which is registered a corresponding annular ring or flange 438 which is attached to a generally inverted cup shaped lid 440 for releasable attachment thereto as, for example, by swing bolts 442 provided peripherally spaced thereabout and engaging suitable mounting lugs such as lugs 444, 446.
The lid 440 has disposed therein an annular filter media element 448 which has the central region thereof communicating with the inlet chamber 424 for receiving therein filtered liquid flowing upwardly through the open end of the pressure vessel and into the interior of the lid 440. The outer periphery annular filter media element 448 defines, exteriorly thereof a portion of the inner wall of an annular chamber 450, between the exterior surface of the filter media element 448 and the interior wall of the lid 440. Annular chamber 450 communicates with the annular chamber 430 in the pressure vessel through apertures 453 in a support plate 449 removably attached to a support ring 451 attached to lid 440 such as by bolt 443 such that flow exiting through the exterior surface of the annular filter media element 448 flows downwardly through chamber 450 into annular chamber 430 and outwardly through the outlet 434.
A plurality of UV lamps encased in quartz tubes 452 are disposed about the filter media element 448 in the chamber 450 with the UV lamps having a vertical orientation and electrically connectable through suitable connectors provided (not shown) which may be provided in the dome 440. Thus, all flow exiting outwardly through the filter media element 448 enters chamber 450 and is irradiated by the UV lamps prior to downward flow into the chamber 430.
In an alternative arrangement of the version of
Rotating backwash arms 454 are provided within the interior of the filter media element 448; and, the backwash arms are attached to a tubular shaft 456 which extends upwardly through the upper surface of the lid 440 and is connected to a motorized servo-mechanism 458 for rotation. The lower end of the shaft 456 is journalled for rotation in a filter support plate 449 disposed at the open lower end of the lid. A rotary coupling 457 is provided in plate 449 which coupling is attached to a drain tube 460 which extends into the inlet chamber in the central region of the inner tubular member 432 and outwardly through the wall of the member 432 and the pressure vessel wall. Drain tube 460 is connected to a remotely operated drain valve 462. Upon opening of the drain valve to atmospheric pressure, the outlet pressure in chamber 450 causes backflow through the region of the filter media 448 adjacent the open end of the backwash arms 454 such that localized backwashing occurs through the drain tube 460. Upon selective activation of the servo 458, the backwash arms 454 are rotated progressively to adjacent regions of the filter media element 448 permitting progressive backwashing of incremental portions of the filter media element 448 during which backwashing normal filtering flow is maintained in the remaining portions of the filter media element 448.
The version 420 of
Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary versions described be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. A fluid filter system comprising:
- (a) a housing having an inlet and an outlet;
- (b) a filter media element disposed within the housing and having a flow inlet side in fluid communication with the housing inlet and a flow outlet side and operative to filter all inlet flow;
- (c) an irradiation chamber having an inlet in communication with the flow outlet side of the filter media element and having an outlet in fluid communication with the housing outlet;
- (d) at least one ultra violet (UV) lamp disposed in the irradiation chamber with a quartz sleeve disposed over the at least one UV lamp;
- (e) wherein flow from the filter media element outlet side flows sequentially downward to the inlet of the irradiation chamber and then upwardly through the irradiation chamber to the housing outlet wherein all flow to the housing outlet is irradiated.
2. The system of claim 1 further comprising, a plurality of filter media elements and a plurality of UV lamps in the irradiation chamber, each with a quartz sleeve disposed thereover.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the filter media elements are disposed about at least portions of the irradiation chamber.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the filter media elements are disposed annularly about the irradiation chamber.
5. The system defined in claim 1, further comprising a swirl vane pack disposed to effect swirl to flow in the irradiation chamber inlet, the swirl vane packs having a first annular array of vanes effecting clockwise swirl and a second annular array of vanes effecting counterclockwise swirl.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter media element has a tubular configuration.
7. The system of claim 6, further comprising a cleaning disc disposed closely adjacent the inlet side of the filter media element; and, a drive mechanism operable upon selective activation to move the cleaning disc along the inlet side of the filter media element for removing trapped debris from the inlet side surface of the tubular filter media element.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing inlet is disposed vertically below the outlet and the irradiating chamber comprises a vertically oriented tubular member with the inlet at a lower end thereof and the outlet at an upper end thereof; and,
- the filter media element includes a plurality of vertically oriented tubular members disposed about the tubular irradiating chamber member wherein the lower end of the media element tubular members communicate exclusively with the housing inlet and the upper end of the media element tubular members communicate exclusively with the lower inlet end of the tubular irradiating chamber; and,
- the upper outlet end of the tubular irradiating chamber communicates exclusively with the housing outlet wherein flow through the irradiating chamber is vertically upward.
9. The system defined in claim 1, wherein the irradiation chamber inlet includes a plurality of vanes operable to cause clockwise and counterclockwise swirl in the flow from the irradiation chamber inlet.
10. The filter system of claim 1, wherein the filter media element comprises a plurality of tubular filter elements disposed vertically each with a lower end having the exterior thereof isolated for communicating exclusively with the housing inlet and the interior thereof at an upper end isolated for communicating exclusively with the inlet of the irradiating chamber; and,
- further comprising a backwash tube for selectively communicating with the exterior of each filter media tube sequentially for discharging backflow therefrom to a drain while maintaining normal flow through the remaining tubes.
11. The filter system of claim 1, further comprising a swirl vane pack having a plurality of stacks of oppositely directed swirl vanes operative for reducing flow velocity gradients in the irradiating chamber.
12. The system of claim 10, further comprising a drive mechanism operable for effecting rotation of the backwash tube with respect to the filter media tubes.
13. The system defined in claim 1, further comprising a cleaning disc disposed in the irradiating chamber and operable upon movement therein for removing debris therealong from the quartz sleeve; and,
- drive means operable upon selective activation to effect the movement of the cleaning disc along the quartz sleeve.
14. A method of treating fluid comprising:
- (a) providing a pressure vessel having an inlet and an outlet disposed above the inlet;
- (b) forming an irradiating chamber within the pressure vessel, the chamber having a flow outlet communicating with the vessel outlet and a flow inlet disposed at a level below the flow outlet;
- (c) disposing filter media in the pressure vessel about the irradiating chamber and communicating a flow inlet side of the filter medium exclusively with the pressure vessel inlet and communicating a flow outlet side of the filter media exclusively with the flow inlet of the irradiating chamber; and,
- (d) disposing an ultraviolet (UV) lamp in the irradiating chamber and irradiating fluid flow therethrough.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming an irradiating chamber comprises disposing a tube in the vessel oriented vertically such that flow from the filter media enters the tube at a lower end thereof and exits at an upper end thereof.
16. The method defined in claim 14, further comprising disposing a swirl vane pack in the flow inlet of the irradiating chamber and effecting swirl in clockwise and counterclockwise directions.
17. The method defined in claim 14, further comprising disposing a plurality of vanes in the inlet and causing clockwise and counterclockwise swirl in the flow.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein forming an irradiating chamber comprises disposing a tube in the vessel oriented horizontally.
19. A fluid treatment system comprising:
- (a) a vessel defining an irradiation chamber having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet located at a level above the inlet;
- (b) an ultraviolet lamp disposed in the chamber and operative upon selective activation for irradiating fluid flowing in the chamber from the inlet to the outlet;
- and,
- (c) a vane pack disposed in the inlet, the vane pack including a first annular array of vanes operable to effect clockwise swirl and a second annular array of vanes operable to effect counterclockwise swirl of fluid entering the chamber from the inlet.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the vane pack includes a first and second annular array of vanes operable to effect swirl in one of clockwise and counterclockwise directions and a third annular array disposed intermediate the first and second array and operative to effect swirl in a direction opposite the one direction.
21. A fluid treatment system comprising:
- (a) a fluid pressure vessel having a filtration chamber with an open end and a fluid inlet;
- (b) a plurality of tubular filter media elements disposed therein with one flow side of each tubular media element communicating exclusively with the inlet and the flow side of each media element opposite the one flow side communicating exclusively with the open end;
- (c) a lid disposed over the open end and defining an irradiation chamber having a fluid outlet; and,
- (d) at least one ultraviolet (UV) lamp in the irradiating chamber and operative upon selective activation to irradiate fluid flowing from the tubular filter media to the outlet.
22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a plurality of UV lamps disposed in an annular array.
23. A water treatment system comprising:
- (a) a fluid pressure vessel having a pressure chamber with an inlet and an outlet disposed at a level above the inlet;
- (b) a tubular filter media element disposed in the pressure chamber and having one flow side thereof communicating exclusively with the chamber inlet and the flow side thereof opposite the one side communicating exclusively with the chamber; and,
- (c) a plurality of ultraviolet (UV) lamps disposed in an array about the tubular media element, wherein fluid flowing from the inlet through the tubular media element is irradiated in the chamber before flowing through the outlet.
24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:
- (a) cleaning disc disposed within the tubular media element in closely spaced arrangement with the one flow side wherein the disc is operable upon movement with respect to the media element to remove trapped solids accumulated thereon; and,
- (b) a drive mechanism operable upon selective activation to effect the movement of the disc.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein the drive mechanism includes a motor and axial lead screw.
26. A water treatment system comprising:
- (a) a fluid pressure vessel having a first chamber communicating with an inlet and a second separate chamber communicating with an outlet and an open end communicating with said first and second chambers;
- (b) closure structure removably received over the open end including a filter media element having a flow inlet side communicating through the open end exclusively with said first chamber and a flow discharge side communicating through the open end exclusively with said second chamber; and,
- (c) at least one ultraviolet (UV) lamp disposed for upon selective activation to irradiate therein filtered flow discharging from the filter media element.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one UV lamp is disposed about the filter media element.
28. The system defined in claim 26, wherein the at least one UV lamp is disposed in the second chamber.
29. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one UV lamp includes a plurality of UV lamps disposed in an annular array.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 12, 2012
Publication Date: Dec 5, 2013
Applicant:
Inventors: David Kan Yee (West Bloomfield, MI), Christopher Scott Rau (Battle Creek, MI), Craig Lee Imanse (Schoolcraft, MI), Michael Edward Isch (Vicksburg, MI), Martin Jerome Nadeau, JR. (Monroe, MI), Mark Anthony Quintel (Kalamazoo, MI)
Application Number: 13/712,186
International Classification: B63J 4/00 (20060101);