Biological fluidized bed apparatus

A biological fluidized bed apparatus for wastewater treatment comprising:

• a reactor tank;
• an inert media bed disposed within said tank;
• and
• a solids collection trough disposed in said reactor tank above said media bed, said trough having a solids thickening arrangement and a sloped bottom for deflecting gas bubbles toward the center of the tank.

A biological fluidized bed apparatus for wastewater treatment comprising:

• a reactor tank having a generally frusto-conical bottom portion defined by walls formed at a generally uniform angle extending about 60 degrees from a horizontal plane;
• an inert media bed disposed within said tank;
• a solids collection trough disposed in said reactor tank above said media bed, said trough having a solids thickening arrangement and a sloped bottom for deflecting gas bubbles to the center of the tank;
• a solids/gas/liquid separator assembly disposed above said solids trough and including a conical separation assembly having a first generally conical wall and a second generally conical wall forming a down-flow compartment to direct suspended solids into said solids trough;
• a sludge blanket clarification assembly disposed within said tank forming a quiescent zone, said sludge blanket clarification assembly including a treated effluent weir, a rotating surface skimmer and a scum collection arrangement;
• and
• a generally vertically disposed recirculation pipe having an inlet and an outlet, said outlet being molded and formed to disperse fluid radially therefrom, said recirculation pipe being disposed within said tank with said outlet in fluid communication with said media bed.