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US 7,166,214 B2Granted
Dental amalgam separator
Assignee3MA Solutions Incorporated
InventorsStephen Armstrong, Colin Morrell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for the removal of mercury and other harmful substances from effluents produced in dentist offices is described. The apparatus involves a series of inclined plates upon which mercury reducing bacteria are present, and a subsequent alkaline pH precipitation chambers and an ion exchange chamber.
Claims18
A separator for removing mercury from waste water effluent, comprising:
- a plate chamber comprising a plate chamber base and a plurality of plates received in the chamber and inclined to the horizontal, the plates arranged in a first array and a second array, the first and second arrays defining a gap therebetween and
- a surge chamber for collecting waste water effluent, the surge chamber comprising a surge inlet for receiving effluent to be treated and a surge outlet above the plate chamber and aligned over the gap between the first and second arrays for conveying waste water effluent to the plate chamber base through the gap, wherein the surge outlet comprises an aperture formed in the surge chamber for conveying waste water effluent to the plate chamber for distributing uniformly the flow of waste water effluent over the plates in parallel.
A separator for removing mercury from waste water effluent, comprising:
- a plate chamber comprising plate chamber base and a plurality of plates received in the chamber and inclined to the horizontal, and
- a surge chamber for collecting waste water effluent, the surge chamber disposed above the plate chamber and comprising a surge inlet for receiving waste water effluent to be treated and a surge outlet aligned with a connection channel proximate to the plates for conveying waste water effluent to the plate chamber base through the connection channel and for distributing uniformly the flow of the waste water effluent upwardly across the plates in parallel.
A separator for removing mercury from waste water effluent, comprising:
- a plate chamber comprising a plurality of plates received in the chamber and inclined to the horizontal,
- distribution means for distributing uniformly the flow of the waste water effluent over the plates in parallel,
- a chemical addition chamber downstream of the plate chamber, the chemical addition chamber comprising chemical addition means for adding a chemical to the waste water effluent to precipitate mercury, and
- a resin bed chamber downstream of the plate chamber or the chemical addition chamber, or both, the resin bed chamber arranged so that waste water effluent flows though the resin bed, the resin bed comprising resin for ionically binding the mercury and filtering the mercury.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.