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  Centrifugal fluid filtration devices, systems and methodsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070278146. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE [0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/803,614, filed May 31, 2006 and 60/803,616 filed May 31, 2006 which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002]It has been said that "water is the oil of the 21.sup.st century" because of its huge demand and finite supply. Although it is estimated that greater than 75% of the earth's surface is covered by water, only a very small fraction of that water is drinkable or usable without treatment. Over 96% of water is ocean, seas and bays. Of fresh water, nearly 70% is trapped in ice caps, glaciers and permanent snow. (See, www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov). Salt water, which represents the vast majority of water, requires an expensive and energy intense desalination process before it is can be used for drinking. [0003]The U.S. has more than 97,000 water treatment facilities. The projected annual growth rate for water treatment is 5%-8% over the next decade. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has projected that this increase will come primarily from population growth and urban expansion. Because of increased demand, there is recognized a need to upgrade equipment used in the water treatment industry, particularly the wastewater treatment industry. Equipment installed under the Clean Water Act of 1972 is currently approaching the end of its projected lifecycle. In addition, the water treatment standards mandated by the EPA do, from time to time, become more stringent. [0004]In addition to a limited access to fresh water, we face an increasing dilemma related to energy. "By many measures, the world's energy system"--including electricity--"is not keeping pace with the goals of sustainable development." In an attempt to meet these demands, " . . . the established system generates harmful particulate and chemical pollutants that threaten the health and the environment of the world's people." See, the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University, January 2006. With respect to the United States, it is well known that our own power systems are continually faced with an ever-increasing demand for more electricity. We are also confronted with the ongoing need to produce additional electricity without increasing the demand for more water and without further contributing to emissions. [0005]Thus, the issues pertaining to water as a resource and energy reserves are intertwined on many levels. An April 2005 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Study estimated the electricity potential from methane produced by the anaerobic digestion of wastewater biosolids, from Industrial, Agriculture, and Municipal facilities. See E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Study, April 2005, LBNL-57451. The result demonstrated that, notwithstanding energy requirements to process water, the processing of water can itself be a source of energy. [0006]Traditionally, water treatment facilities are constructed to take in wastewater as influent 102 and process it through a variety of screenings and treatments, as illustrated in FIG. 1, prior to the releasing the effluent 120 to the ocean, bay, river or lake 122. Solids and grit are removed via a bar screen 104 and a grit screen 106 and sent to a landfill 112. Wastewater that passes through the bar screen 104 and the grit screen 106 is subjected to primary treatment 109 in a large sedimentation lagoon or tank 114. The sedimentation tank 114 enables particle settling or sedimentation. The sedimentation tank has an influent which travels in at a flow rate, Q, the influent travels through the tank to an opposing end where it exits as effluent. During the process of traveling from the inlet (as influent) to the outlet (as effluent), particles settle out in a settling zone to form a sludge at the bottom of the tank. A variety of techniques can be employed to remove the particles from the sedimentation tank that would be known to those skilled in the art. [0007]From the sedimentation tank 114 the sediment flows into a stabilization lagoon or tank 116 before dewatering 118 and reuse or disposal 112'. The effluent flows from the sedimentation tank 114 to an aeration tank 117 where it is brought into contact with air prior to transferring the effluent to a second sedimentation lagoon 114' as part of a secondary treatment process 115. After secondary treatment 115 in the aeration tank 117 and sedimentation lagoon 114', the effluent can be processed with a final disinfectant step 121 by placing into a chlorination basin 119 prior to emitting the final effluent 120 into the ocean, bay, river or lake 122. The sedimentation can be placed into a stabilization lagoon 116' before dewatering 118, reuse or disposal 112'. [0008]Conventional treatment technologies include, for example, a pumped diffusion flash mixer for chemical addition, flocculation basin, sedimentation basin and granular medium filter. The residuals from the wastewater treatment plant are returned to the source or stored in ponds. For example in arid locations, drying ponds are sometimes used. More often, mechanical processing is employed in conjunction with the residuals to reduce the volume of the residuals. Yet another treatment mechanism that can be used after primary treatment is provided by G. E. Water & Processing Technologies and includes ZeeWeed based membrane bioreactor (MBR). The ZeeWeed MBR is a basic production train that consists of a biological reactor, membrane basin, permeate pump, air blowers and automated control equipment. The trains are simply expanded to meet capacity requirements as needed. Membrane bioreactor systems offer a significantly smaller footprint and simplified operation than the comparable conventional activated sludge systems shown in FIG. 1. However, the systems are still quite large. (See, http://www.zenon.com/markets/wastewateri). [0009]Currently there are several important issues facing the design of current wastewater treatment facilities for which there has been an insufficient solution. First, most wastewater treatment facilities consume a significant amount of energy during operation. Second, wastewater treatment facilities typically require a substantial amount of land. Third, wastewater treatment facilities often emit an unpleasant odor which can make them undesirable to place strategically in an urban setting, notwithstanding the space requirements. Fourth, wastewater treatment facilities present a potential security risk because the facilities are part of a critical infrastructure that must be protected to ensure an adequate supply of water. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010]An object of the invention is directed to a solution for wastewater treatment which is scaleable, volume adjustable and employs centrifugal fluid filtration. Furthermore, the devices, systems and methods eliminate five separate operations typically performed in wastewater treatment which will enable the device, systems and method of the invention to operate in less time and in less space, at lower cost, while consuming less than one-third the electricity used to process the same amount of wastewater using current solutions. [0011]An object of the invention is to provide fluid filtration devices, systems and methods that combine filters, centrifugation and Coriolis acceleration induced antifouling. The devices, systems and methods remove fluid quantitatively from constituents while removing undigested biosolids for the optional production of electricity and heat. [0012]An object of the invention is to provide a system that is capable of operating continuously while automatically accommodating a broad range of influent flow volumes and/or a broad range of influent constituent concentrations within the same multi-function continuous feed Single Pass Centrifugal Fluid Filtration Device. Further, other embodiments of this invention have an influent flow which may be comprised of a fluid/solid matrix in which the fluid can be either a liquid or a gas, or any combination thereof, and the constituents therein can be dissolved, suspended, settleable, or particulate, or any combination thereof. [0013]Yet another aspect of the invention provides for a radial arm/filter unit that has filters attached to each arm in series or parallel. The influent conduits of the radial arm enhance the Coriolis forces on the influent across the membrane medium. [0014]In one embodiment, the present invention has back-flush capability. This back-flush capability may be, but is not limited to, manually and/or algorithmically controlled, may be sequential back-flushing, or back-flushing may also balance the rotor during operation. [0015]An aspect of the invention is directed to a fluid filtration device useful for filtering fluids such as liquids or gases. The fluid filtration device, which can be configured to filter a wide variety of fluids, comprises: an influent feed tube; an influent receiving bowl in fluid communication with the influent feed tube; and a plurality of radial arms having filters therein configured to rotate about an axis within the influent receiving bowl. [0016]Another aspect of the invention is directed to a fluid filtration device comprising: an influent feed tube; an influent receiving bowl in fluid communication with the influent feed tube; a plurality of radial arms having filters therein configured to rotate about an axis within the influent receiving bowl; and one or more vanes which increase an efficiency with which fluid is transferred through the filtration device. [0017]Still another aspect of the invention is directed to a fluid filtration device comprising: an influent feed tube; an influent receiving bowl in fluid communication with the influent feed tube; and a centrifugal filter that generates a final effluent; wherein the fluid filtration device has a capacity selected from the group consisting of (a) tens of milliliters of a liquid per minute; (b) tens of cubic meters of gases per minute; (c) hundreds of thousands of gallons of a liquid per day; and (d) millions of cubic meters of gases per day. [0018]An additional aspect of the invention is directed to a fluid filtration device comprising: an influent feed tube; an influent receiving bowl in fluid communication with the influent feed tube; and a centrifugal filter that generates a final effluent; wherein the fluid filtration device receives energy from the influent during the filtering process. [0019]Still another aspect of the invention is directed to a fluid filtration device comprising: an influent feed tube; an influent receiving bowl in fluid communication with the influent feed tube; and a centrifugal filter that generates a final effluent; wherein the fluid filtration device achieves an energy efficiency of between 10-70%. [0020]Wastewater treatment systems are also contemplated. Wastewater systems comprising: an influent feed tube; an influent receiving bowl in fluid communication with the influent feed tube; and a centrifugal filter that generates a final effluent; wherein the wastewater treatment system does not have one or more of a sedimentation tank, a stabilization tank, an aeration tank, a chlorination basin, or a dewatering processor. [0021]A plurality of radial arms can be two or more, multiples of two or multiples of three in any of the designs. Additionally, a controller can be provided for controlling a rate at which the radial arms rotate about the axis. Moreover, one or more vanes can be positioned within one or more of the influent feed tube and radial arms to control the speed and direction of travel of the influent. The vanes can be optimally configured to enhance a Coriolis effect on the influent which has an antifouling effect as the influent crosses the filters disposed within the radial arms. In some configurations, an anaerobic digester can be provided that is in communication with the fluid filtration device. The anaerobic digester can, for example, generate methane from an undigested biosolids it receives from the fluid filtration device. Furthermore, a disinfector can be provided for disinfecting a filtered fluid effluent prior to emission, such as prior to emission to an external water supply such as an ocean, bay, river, stream, lake or subterranean water table. One or more sensors can be provided to communicate a sensed parameter to a controller. Continue reading... Full patent description for Centrifugal fluid filtration devices, systems and methods Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Centrifugal fluid filtration devices, systems and methods patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. 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