Gas sparger for an immersed membrane
AssigneeBl Technologies, Inc.
InventorsJeffrey Ronald Cumin, Henry Behmann, Yongseck Hong, Reid Bayly
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gas sparger produces an intermittent flow of bubbles even if provided with a continuous gas flow. The sparger has a housing to collect a pocket of gas and a conduit to release some of the gas from the pocket when the pocket reaches a sufficient size. Optionally, a cover over an outlet from the conduit may break up or distribute the released gas. A large sparger for use with a commercial membrane module can comprise a plurality of smaller units.
Claims15
A membrane filtration unit comprising a gas sparger and a module comprising membranes, the module intended for immersed suction driven operation, wherein the module is elongated in plan view, the gas sparger being adapted to contain a series of gas pockets in a line parallel with the module, each of the pockets being associated with a conduit, wherein each conduit defines a closed channel extending from a first opening inside of an associated one of the gas pockets downwards to a low point and then vertically upwards to a second opening above the first opening and outside of the associated gas pocket and wherein gas pockets associated with different conduits are fluidly separated from each other.
A process for gas sparging a module having membranes immersed in a liquid, the process comprising the steps of,
- immersing the module in the liquid, wherein the module is elongated in plan view,
- providing a flow of a gas to a series of gas pockets arranged in a line parallel with the module, each of the gas pockets being associated with a conduit wherein gas pockets associated with different conduits are fluidly separated from each other, wherein each conduit defines a closed channel extending from a first opening inside of the associated gas pocket downwards to a low point and then vertically upwards to a second opening above the first opening and outside of the associated gas pocket,
- wherein the flow of gas is at a rate sufficient to cause a burst of gas to emerge from the second openings of the conduits at least once every 30 seconds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.