GB2160856A

GB2160856A - Component (and method of manufacture thereof) for use in treatment of domestic, industrial and other effluents

Info

Publication number: GB2160856A
Application number: GB8416491A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Sydney Franklin
Original assignee: Flocor Ltd B S
Current assignee: Flocor Ltd B S
Priority date: 1984-06-28
Filing date: 1984-06-28
Publication date: 1986-01-02
Also published as: GB8416491D0

Abstract

The component consists of a number of constituent elements which are randomly disposed in relation to one another and which are conjoined to form a self-supporting module which may be, for example, a rhomboid, a flat circular disc or a flat square "biscuit". The elements may be conjoined by fusion or by adhesive. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Component (and method of manufacture thereof) for use in treatment of domestic, industrial and other effluents This invention relates to a component (and to a method of manufacture thereof) for use in treatment of domestic, industrial and other effluents.

It is known to use media made of a suitable plastics material (for example PVC) instead of (or in addition to) mineral materials (for example, crushed stone) in the aerobic or anaerobic treatment of effluents of various kinds.

One known aerobic system uses a cylindrical drum of circular cross-sectional shape, the mesh walls of the drum containing a mass of hollow balls made of a plastic material; the drum is only partially sub-merged and is rotated about an axis which is above the level of the water in order to aerate waste water in fish farming.

In another known system for the aerobic treatment of biodegradable wastes to accepted standards, domestic sewage (suitably macerated or comminuted) is fed into a tank in which at least one mesh drum is rotated about an axis which is above the level of the liquid which is to be treated.

The drum contains so-called random media consisting of loose randomly disposed short tubes of unplasticised PVC (which could, of course, be replaced by pall rings) and,when the drum is rotated about its axis, the random media are conveyed alternately through said liquid and through air; this causes micro-organisms to grow on the random media and the micro-organisms digest the organic waste which is in the liquid.

The hollow balls and the randomly disposed short tubes (or the pall rings) are loose and the mesh cages or drums are therefore provided in order to be able to move the media through liquid/air in a convenient manner.

There are also filter beds in which conventional 50-70 mm stone has been replaced by random media (short tubes) made of a plastics material. The random media are contained by a wall or walls and, in some systems, are supported within the wall(s) by so-called filter tiles which are laid over the bottom of the filter bed in order to provide the required levels of basal aeration and drainage of liquid and humus solids. If the size(s) of the random is/are small enough, it may be necessary (in order to guard against the possibility of the descending liquid flushing out any of the random media by way of the tunnels created by the filter tiles) to put a retaining net of an appropriate size of mesh over the installed filter tiles before the random media are placed within the confines of the structure; in some cases, however, such retaining net is quite unecessary.A completed filter bed may have a net laid over it in order to prevent some of the random media (which are very light and loose) from being blown away by strong gusts of wind. The random media are placed in the containing structure (e.g. a tank of circular plan or a tower of rectangular plan) by tipping them out of large sacks in which they are transported or by the use of an air conveyor system which blows them into the structure.

The lightness of the tubular media is a disadvantage in some circumstances as already described.

It is also a disadvantage that, without a retaining net, there is the likelihood or possibility of the tubular media being washed out of the filter bed (in the circumstances explained above) perhaps to cause trouble in another part of the effluent treatment installation. Another disadvantage is that, in the rotating mesh drum, there may be a progressive breaking down of the tubular media due to their ability to move around inside the cage.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of a component, as described in the title hereof, which is free from the above-mentioned disadvantages. A subsidiary object of the present invention is to provide a method of making said component.

According to a first aspect, the present invention consists in a component for use in the aerobic or anaerobic treatment of domestic, industrial or other effluents, said component comprising randomly disposed hollow or substantially hollow constituent elements which are made of a plastics material and which are securely connected to one another in such a manner as to form a self-supporting module.

In generally preferred embodiment of said component, the constituent elements are securely connected to one another by an adhesive.

According to a second aspect, the present invention consists in a method of making a component for use in the aerobic or anaerobic treatment of domestic, industrial or other effluents, said method comprising the following steps: (1) placing in a random manner a plurality of hollow or substantially hollow constituent elements into a confining device which is such as to define a three-dimensional space; and (2) connecting said constituent elements to one another at all or at the major proportion of the points or areas of contact of said elements with each other.

In a generally preferred embodiment of said method, step (2) described in the preceding paragraph is effected by applying a solvent adhesive to the elements in such a manner that said adhesive flows through the randomly disposed elements and inter-connects them at their contact points/ areas.

An embodiment, by way of example only, of a component according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying representation showing a module of conjoined hollow elements which has been made in order to carry the principle into effect and to provide a module for carrying out experiments. It is considered, however, the commercially viable sizes would be likely to be 600 mm x 600 mm x 300 mm or 1200 mm x 600 mm x 300 mm, if the modules are to be rhomboid. It must, however, be stressed that the shape of the module is not of any importance per se and will be dictated by the use to which the module(s) is/are to be put; the modules could be flat circular discs or flat square biscuits, and so on. The hollow constituent elements are tubular and are made by extruding a tube of unplasticised PVC into which circumferentially extending corrugations are moulded; each element may have, for example, a diameter of 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) and an axial length of about 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm).

A block such as that illustrated in the representation could well make it unnecessary to employ filter tiles in the base of a filter bed or tower, particularly if the tubes have been joined to one another by a kind of fusion effected by ultrasonic welding or effected by using a pure solvent system of bonding.

The hollow constituent elements or tubes shown in the representations were connected together by pouring a solvent adhesive over the randomly disposed tubes which were placed in a mould.Most of the adhesive ran straight through and was recovered for subsequent use.

Claims

1. A component for use in the aerobic or anaerobic treatment of domestic, industrial or other effluents, said component comprising randomly disposed hollow or substantially hollow constituent elements which are made of a plastics material and which are securely connected to one another in such a manner as to form a self-supporting module.

2. A component as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the constituent elements are securely connected to one another by an adhesive.

3. A component as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the constituent elements are joined to one another by a kind of fusion effected by ultrasonic welding.

4. A component as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein each of said constituent elements is a short tube of unplasticised PVC, circumferentially extending corrugations being moulded in said tube.

5. A method of making a component for use in the aerobic anaerobic treatment of domestic, industrial or other effluents, said method comprising the following steps: (1) placing in a random manner a plurality of hollow or substantially hollow constituent elements into a confining device which is such as to define a three-dimensional space; and (2) connecting said constituent elements to one another at all or at the major proportion of the points or areas of contact of said elements with each other.

6. A method as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said constituent elements are so connected to one another by applying a solvent adhesive to the constituent elements in such a manner that said adhesive flows through the randomly disposed elements and interconnects them at said contact points/areas.

7. A method as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said constituent elements are so connected to one another by the direction of vibrations and radiations, which have frequencies in excess of those which are normally perceivable by the ear in a sound- wave, at said constituent elements in order to fuse said elements to one another at said contact points/areas.

8. A component for use in the aerobic or anaerobic treatment of domestic, industrial or other effluents, said component being constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying representation.

9. A method of making a component for use in the aerobic or anaerobic treatment of domestic, industrial or other effluents, said method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying representation.

10. Any features of novelty, taken singly or in combination, of the embodiments of the invention hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying representation.