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US 9,719,704 B2Granted
Systems and methods for recovering energy from wastewater
AssigneeNatural Systems Utilities, LLC
InventorsEugenio Giraldo, Paul Knowles
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Integrated systems and methods for onsite wastewater treatment in which a portion of onsite energy demands may be driven by energy harvested from the wastewater. Thermal energy of wastewater may be transferred from an onsite wastewater treatment system to an onsite heat pump to recover thermal energy, at least a portion of which may then be delivered to an onsite energy demand.
Claims16
A method for onsite recovery of thermal energy from wastewater, comprising:
- treating wastewater with an onsite wastewater treatment system to produce treated water, the onsite wastewater treatment system configured to remove soluble contaminants and create a uniform flow of wastewater for downstream processes, wherein the onsite wastewater treatment system comprises a flow equalization tank, a waste treatment unit operation downstream of the flow equalization tank, and a storage tank downstream of the waste treatment unit operation;
- transferring thermal energy of the treated water to an onsite heat pump to recover thermal energy;
- and delivering at least a portion of the recovered thermal energy to an onsite energy demand.
A system for onsite recovery of thermal energy from wastewater, comprising:
- an onsite wastewater treatment system configured to remove soluble contaminants, and comprising a flow equalization tank configured to create a uniform flow of wastewater and a treated water storage tank;
- a heat pump configured to deliver thermal energy to an onsite energy demand;
- and
- a heat exchanger, proximate to and in thermal communication with the treated water storage tank and the heat pump, the heat exchanger configured to convey thermal energy from treated water from the onsite wastewater treatment system to the heat pump.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.