The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 04, 1989
Filed:
Jul. 08, 1987
Curtis S McDowell, Allentown, PA (US);
Tri-Bio, Inc., Allentown, PA (US);
Abstract
This invention relates to a process and reactor system suitable for biological treatment of wastewaters or for other applications wherein effective and intimate contact between biological populations attached to a fixed surface and liquid born chemicals and gaseous atmospheres is required. The reactor includes a sealed housing generally having a plurality of independent-vertical chambers, each open at the top and bottom and each filled with high surface-area packing and disposed annularly around a central-vertical chamber. The central vertical chamber is also open at the top and bottom, but free of packing. The bottom of the central chamber is in communication with the bottom of each of the independent-annular columns by means of a bottom-freeboard chamber. The top of the central-vertical chamber is also in communication with the top of each independent-vertical chamber by means of a top-freeboard chamber created by setting the liquid level in the reactor at a position above the top of all vertical chambers. In an application of a process for biological treatment of wastewater, wherein a dissolved oxygen free environment is required during contact of biological populations with liquid born chemicals and gaseous atmospheres; such as for anaerobic treatment of wastewaters or anoxic dentrification of wastewater, the gaseous phase of the reactor is isolated from the atmosphere and starved of gaseous oxygen. In an aerobic biological process application wherein an oxygen rich environment is desired for biological processing of water borne chemicals or wastewater, the gaseous freeboard may be purged with fresh air at controlled rates and induce a flow of oxygen-rich gases within the down-flowing fluid in the central chamber. The combined effects of gas induction, toroidal dispersion of liquid and gases, maintenance of high liquid velocities through the packing and across the reactor floor, and gasing of the entire high surface-area packing provides unusually high rates of biological digestion and reactor efficiency.