Water purification decant assembly
US5876598A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 16, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 2, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 16, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB01D21/0093
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
An improved modular system of solids separation is described. In the invention, a settling tank is provided which consists of one or more hoppers having sloped sides downwardly to a drain. Liquids with entrained solids are permitted to accumulate within the hopper as the solids settle until the settling has been completed; whereupon a pump lowered into the liquid is used to decant the liquid. The pump is suspended from a flexible conduit and is lowered as the liquid level lowers so that it remains submerged until the pump reaches a predetermined level above the level of the suspended solids. The sludge is removed from the hopper by gravity flow by opening a drain valve in the bottom therein and an anti-vortexing cap is provided over the drain. The cap has sides which conform to the hopper vessels but slope in the opposite direction so that the lower edge of the cap side is a predetermined distance from the hopper side adjacent the drain.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.