Patent Application
20070075009
The present invention relates to a device for treating liquids and more particularly, relates to an aerator for the aeration and mixing of liquids.
Many different situations call for the aeration of liquids. These range from fairly small applications such as water gardens, ponds, etc., to substantially larger applications such as the treatment of waste water and other waste material.
The desirability of aerating relatively small bodies of water such as ponds and the like is well known in the art. The aeration of ponds prevents the stagnation of water and the associated water quality problems; algae formation, muck accumulation, etc.
Other applications include maintaining a concentration of oxygen in the water to allow proper bacterial treatment and aquaculture purposes.
In waste water treatment plants, it is also well established that the use of aerators to introduce oxygen into the waste water to supply the biological oxygen demand (BOD). A similar situation arises on many farms wherein manure is treated with aeration where BOD has to be met.
Many different types of aeration systems are known in the art. All aeration systems use some type of a diffuser which will release gas into the liquid in the form of bubbles. Naturally, it is desirable to produce as fine a bubble pattern as possible as this will increase the rate of absorption into the liquid compared to larger bubbles.
In the water garden and pond market, people are looking for silent and quiet compressors. Generally these compressors operate at a low pressure (2 to 4 psi). Most aeration compressors run at a range of 5 to 10 psi but they are much noisier than the lower pressure ones. This new device allows any type of compressor to be used as it functions at a pressure starting as low as 2 psi.
Generally, diffusion aeration systems use disk aeration which are mounted on portable bases needing ballast to stay at the bottom. Other tubing aeration diffuser systems use lead keel to hold their device at the bottom of the liquid.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device suitable for the aeration of a body of water, and which device overcomes some of the disadvantages of the prior art.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for aerating a body of liquid, the device comprising an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion comprising a conduit formed of a flexible plastic material, a plurality of apertures in said conduit, said apertures being sized to substantially prevent passage of the liquid therethrough while permitting passage of low pressure gas therethrough and said lower portion comprising a ballast, said ballast being bead welded to said upper conduit.
As stated above, the upper portion comprises a conduit which is formed of a flexible plastic material. The conduit wall is preferably of a generally circular or oval configuration. The conduit will preferably have a wall thickness of between 0.7 millimetres to 1.5 millimetres.
The conduit wall will have a plurality of apertures formed therein. Preferably, the apertures are arranged in one or more rows although other arrangements could equally well be employed. The apertures are sized to prevent fluid from the outside of the conduit passing interiorly thereof while permitting egress of relatively low pressure air from the conduit to the outside to form tiny bubbles.
The ballast is preferably formed as a solid member and is preferably formed of a material similar to that forming the upper conduit. It may be formed in any configuration desired.
The upper conduits in the lower ballast are secured together and in the preferred embodiment, they are secured together by bead welding as is known in the art. A convenient arrangement is one wherein the upper conduit has a protrusion in the form of a tennon extending therefrom while the ballast has a mortise extending along its longitudinal length. As mentioned above, the two portions may be secured together by welding; however, other means such as adhesive may equally well be utilized.
Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof, in which:
Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in the
Aerating device 12 includes an upper conduit generally designated by reference numeral 14 and which has a generally circular body 16. Interiorly of body 16 is an inner passageway 18.
Formed through body 16 is a line of first apertures 20 while on the opposite side thereof, there is provided a second line of apertures 22. As previously discussed, both apertures 20 and 22 are sized to substantially exclude the passage of water from the outside of body 16 to inner passageway 18 while, at the same time, permitting a passage of low pressure air from inner passageway 18.
Aerating device 12 also includes a lower ballast generally designated by reference numeral 24 and which comprises a solid body 26. As may be seen in
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The illustrated embodiment provides a very basic example of an aerator as used in a water garden. It will be understood that the device 10 can be installed in any body of liquid, either man-made or naturally occurring wherein it is desired to aerate the same. Such bodies can include lakes, streams, aquaculture ponds, basins, treatment tanks and the like. Similarly, only one aerating device is shown; it will be understood that the aerating device may be arranged in various patterns including a plurality of rows.
The device of the present invention is easy to employ and can readily be removed from the body of liquid wherein it is placed. The material is resistant to most chemicals and thus is suitable for use in many different environments.
It will be understood that the above-described embodiment is for purposes of illustration and that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
