Liquid aeration device and method

In apparatus for the conversion of animal waste in a confinement facility into useful feed values wherein said animal waste is flushed from the confinement facility with aerated liquid waste pumped from a waste treatment container and passed through a separation stage to remove moisture from the liquid waste together with solid fines contained in the liquid waste and the liquid waste and solid fines so removed being returned to said waste treatment container, a submersible air induction apparatus submerged in said waste treatment container for aeration of the liquid waste therein and hydrolization of the single cell protein in the fines present in the liquid waste so aerated, the combination therewith comprising:

• impeller means having an inlet end and a discharge end and magnet means having an open-ended inlet passage sleeve normal to and in communication with said inlet end intermediately between opposite ends of said sleeve whereby to create a magnetizable field across said inlet end to remove magnetizable particles from the liquid waste and solid fines in said container which are drawn through opposite ends of said inlet passage sleeve by said impeller means,
• at least one injector assembly at said discharge end of said impeller means having first and second hollow, generally conical members, said first member having an injector inlet end receiving the liquid waste and fines under pressure from said discharge end of said impeller means and generally nozzle-shaped discharge means for discharge of the liquid waste and fines under pressure from a discharge end of said first member, said second member disposed in outer concentric surrounding relation to said discharge end of said first member including a venturi portion downstream of said first member continuing into an outwardly flowing expansion outlet, and air injecting means communicating with each said second member for introducing air into said second member, said discharge means creating a region of reduced pressure in said venturi portion to induce the flow of air from said air injecting means into and through said second member for intermixture with said liquid waste and fines whereby to aerate the liquid waste and fines sufficiently to hydrolize the fines into single cell protein,
• an elongated, open-ended, hollow sleeve including means mounting one end of each said sleeve in proximity to said expansion outlet whereby to direct the intermixture of air, fines and liquid waste from said expansion outlet through said sleeve and discharge said intermixture of air, fines and liquid waste through an opposite end of said sleeve into said waste treatment container, and
• means for recycling the liquid waste and single cell protein from the waste treatment container for flushing additional animal waste from the confinement facility to the separation stage for introduction of the single cell protein into the animal waste material.