US 5,958,241 AGranted

Waste treatment and minimization system

AssigneeThe Louisiana Land & Exploration Co.

InventorsRonald Peter DeBenedetto, Eugene Porter Leftwich

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Abstract

A method and a system for the treatment of organic hazardous wastes from plant waste and associated wastewater treatment processes, whereby the waste is either introduced directly, or continuously separated from wastewater, and routed to a bioreactor, and whereby no organic solids are generated for further offsite disposal. The system disclosed includes a bioreactor, containing selected bacteria, untreated sludges, and recirculated biomass, and a liquid/solid separator allowing water to be utilized elsewhere in the system and returning solids to the bioreactor. The biodegradation process, initiated continuously, converts hazardous organic constituents in waste stream and wastewater sludges from plant operations to inert materials, for extensive periods of operation, without the need for solids removal, external solids treatment or disposal.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A closed-loop continuous process for treating sludge produced in a plant on a continuous or intermittent basis over an extended period, wherein said produced sludge contains organic waste and solid waste, including organic solid waste and wherein said organic waste of said produced sludge contains organic hazardous constituents, comprising the steps of:

a. maintaining a bioreaction with selected microorganisms in a biomass mixture to which said produced sludge is added over said extended period wherein said selected microorganisms continuously degrade said organic waste of said produced sludge while said organic waste is a part of said biomass mixture and wherein said bioreaction produces spent microbial mass;
b. continuously degrading said spent microbial mass with said selected microorganisms while said spent microbial mass is a part of said biomass mixture;
c. mixing said biomass mixture;
d. removing a quantity of said biomass mixture;
e. separating all of said removed quantity of said biomass mixture into liquids and solids of a desired moisture content;
f. returning all of said separated solids to said biomass mixture for further degradation;
g. maintaining a relatively constant volume of said biomass mixture while repeating steps (a) through (f) over said extended period whereby, for said extended period, no solids are removed from said closed-loop continuous process except as degraded in steps (a) and (b) with said selected microorganisms.

4 more elements

a. maintaining a bioreaction with selected microorganisms in a biomass mixture to which said produced sludge is added over said extended period wherein said selected microorganisms continuously degrade said organic waste of said produced sludge while said organic waste is a part of said biomass mixture and wherein said bioreaction produces spent microbial mass;
b. continuously degrading said spent microbial mass with said selected microorganisms while said spent microbial mass is a part of said biomass mixture;
c. mixing said biomass mixture;
d. removing a quantity of said biomass mixture;
e. separating all of said removed quantity of said biomass mixture into liquids and solids of a desired moisture content;
f. returning all of said separated solids to said biomass mixture for further degradation;
g. maintaining a relatively constant volume of said biomass mixture while repeating steps (a) through (f) over said extended period without the need for removing solids from said closed-loop continuous process.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.