Patent Application
20200290904
This invention relates generally to treatment of blackwater.
Blackwater is typically treated at a central facility in large quantities in most population centers. Treatment of small amounts of blackwater in remote locations, and thus in small quantities, is difficult and not often addressed.
One application where treatment of small amounts of blackwater would be especially beneficial would be for mobile applications, such as recreational vehicles (RV's). Currently, the typically RV merely has a tank for storing blackwater generated on the RV. Depending on its capacity and the amount of blackwater generated, this tank must be periodically emptied and flushed, sometimes as frequently as every few days. If, instead, there was a workable system for treating the Blackwater generated on an RV, that would avoid this unpleasant, inefficient or sometimes expensive process. Such a system on an RV would also allow the RV to travel more freely, unconstrained by the need to find dumping stations.
In a first aspect, the disclosure provides a system for treating blackwater. The system includes a storage tank, a tumbling kiln, a heat source, and a blackwater intake. The storage tank is configured to receive blackwater. The blackwater consists of a liquid component and a solid component. The tumbling kiln is charged with a solid media. The tumbling kiln includes an air circulation system consisting of an air intake and an exhaust. The heat source is configured to heat the tumbling kiln and the solid media. The blackwater intake is adapted to allow the blackwater into the tumbling kiln. The solid media and the heat source are configured to vaporize at least a portion of the liquid component to produce vapor and to combust at least a portion of the solid component to produce combustion gases. The air intake is configured to draw fresh air into the tumbling kiln. The exhaust is configured to draw the combustion gases and the vapor out of the tumbling kiln.
In a second aspect, the disclosure provides a method for treating blackwater. A storage tank and a tumbling kiln charged with a solid media are provided. Blackwater is passed into the storage tank. The blackwater contains a liquid component and a solid component. The solid media and the tumbling kiln are heated. The blackwater is passed from the storage tank to the tumbling kiln. A portion of the liquid component is vaporized as vapor. A portion of the solid component is combusted to produce combustion gases. Fresh air is circulated into the tumbling kiln. The vapor and the combustion gases are removed from the tumbling kiln.
In a third aspect, the disclosure provides a device for treating blackwater. The device includes a storage tank, a tumbling kiln, a heat source, and a blackwater intake. The blackwater is passed into the storage tank. The blackwater includes a liquid component and a solid component. The tumbling kiln is charged with a solid media. The tumbling kiln includes an air circulation system with an air intake and an exhaust. The heat source heats the tumbling kiln and the solid media. The blackwater intake allows the blackwater into the tumbling kiln. At least a portion of the liquid component is vaporized to produce vapors and at least a portion of the solid component is combusted to produce combustion gases. The combustion gases and vaporized liquid pass out of the tumbling kiln through the exhaust. Fresh air is drawn into the tumbling kiln through the air intake.
Further aspects and embodiments are provided in the foregoing drawings, detailed description and claims.
The following drawings are provided to illustrate certain embodiments described herein. The drawings are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of claimed inventions and are not intended to show every potential feature or embodiment of the claimed inventions. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale; in some instances, certain elements of the drawing may be enlarged with respect to other elements of the drawing for purposes of illustration.
The following description recites various aspects and embodiments of the inventions disclosed herein. No particular embodiment is intended to define the scope of the invention. Rather, the embodiments provide non-limiting examples of various compositions, and methods that are included within the scope of the claimed inventions. The description is to be read from the perspective of one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, information that is well known to the ordinarily skilled artisan is not necessarily included.
The following terms and phrases have the meanings indicated below, unless otherwise provided herein. This disclosure may employ other terms and phrases not expressly defined herein. Such other terms and phrases shall have the meanings that they would possess within the context of this disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. In some instances, a term or phrase may be defined in the singular or plural. In such instances, it is understood that any term in the singular may include its plural counterpart and vice versa, unless expressly indicated to the contrary.
As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, reference to “a substituent” encompasses a single substituent as well as two or more substituents, and the like.
As used herein, “for example,” “for instance,” “such as,” or “including” are meant to introduce examples that further clarify more general subject matter. Unless otherwise expressly indicated, such examples are provided only as an aid for understanding embodiments illustrated in the present disclosure and are not meant to be limiting in any fashion. Nor do these phrases indicate any kind of preference for the disclosed embodiment.
As used herein, “charge” is meant to refer to the amount of material provided to the tumbling kiln. When a kiln is “charged,” the kiln is loaded with an appropriate amount of solid media.
As used herein, “blackwater” is meant to refer to waste consisting of solids and liquids, organic and/or inorganic. This may include water, urine, feces, paper products, or combinations thereof.
Blackwater treatment for small quantities and in remote locations is desirable. These include recreational vehicles, campsites, isolated villages, and industrial sites, among many others. Typically, small quantities are simply stored until storage capacity is full. At that point, the blackwater is either carried out and delivered to treatment centers (as in recreational vehicles) or is pumped into trucks and delivered to treatment centers (as in outhouses). Rather than carry out the waste, the present application discloses methods, devices, and systems for treatment of blackwater. Blackwater consists of a liquid component (mostly water) and a solid component (mostly fecal matter). A tumbling kiln is charged with a solid media. In a preferred embodiment, this solid media is volcanic rock. The tumbling kiln and solid media are heated. In some embodiments, the heating is accomplished by combustion of propane. Alternatively, other combustible gases, such as natural gas, or other heat sources can be used. Blackwater is placed in a storage tank. In some embodiments, the blackwater is macerated for homogenization. The blackwater is passed into the tumbling kiln where the liquid component is vaporized and the solid component is combusted. An air circulation system draws in fresh air for the combustion and draws the combustion gases and vapors out of the tumbling kiln.
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A storage tank 10 receives the blackwater from a blackwater source, such as a toilet. The blackwater consists of a liquid component and a solid component. A macerator pump 12 receives the blackwater, homogenizing the blackwater and recycling the blackwater to the storage tank 10. Homogenization involves grinding of larger solids down to a finer size. A peristaltic pump 16 pumps the homogenized blackwater by a hose 15 into a hose 17 and into a tumbling kiln 14. Fresh air is drawn into the tumbling kiln 14 through an inlet 18 by a blower 22. The liquid component in the tumbling kiln 14 is vaporized to form a vapor. A portion of the solid component in the tumbling kiln 14 is combusted to form combustion gases. The pre-heating of the tumbling kiln 14 and the solid media 40 provides a portion of the heat required for the vaporization and the combustion. The propane combustion continues to supply any remaining heat required to finish the vaporization and the combustion. The vapor and the combustion gases are drawn by the blower 22 out of the tumbling kiln 14 through a catalytic converter 20, through the blower 22, and out the exhaust 24. Preferably, the catalytic converter used conventional technology to convert toxic gases and pollutants into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction (an oxidation and a reduction reaction).
In a preferred embodiment, a level sensor 44 is provided that detects the level of blackwater in the blackwater storage tank 10. The sensor is connected to a controller via wires 46. In a preferred embodiment, the level sensor 44 detects that the level in the storage tank 10 is above a threshold and starts the system to treat the blackwater.
In some embodiments, the combustion of the solid component is incomplete, leaving a portion of the solid component as an ash. This ash is added to the solid media 40 until it is built up. The solid media 40 is then removed from the tumbling kiln and cleared of ash. In some embodiments, this is done through a trap in a duct 50 between the tumbling kiln 14 and the catalytic converter 20.
In some embodiments, the macerator 12 grinds the blackwater to a fine enough grind that the blackwater can be sprayed. In this embodiment, the blackwater is sprayed into the tumbling kiln 14.
The blackwater may be discharged from the system in an emergency or otherwise as desired via a slide valve 34.
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In some embodiments, the heat source is selected from the group consisting of a burner fed by a combustible compound, an electrical resistance heater, recycled combustion gases, recycled waste heat, and combinations thereof.
In some embodiments, the blackwater is preheated by a heat exchanger.
In some embodiments, the solid media is volcanic rock, porous ceramics, 3D-printed metals, or combinations thereof.
In some embodiments, fuel is added to the blackwater during the homogenizing grind by the macerator pump. The fuel is selected from the group consisting of oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, wood pellets, coal dust, and combinations thereof. Adding fuel at this stage leads to faster and more complete combustion of the blackwater in the tumbling kiln.
The invention has been described with reference to various specific and preferred embodiments and techniques. Nevertheless, it is understood that many variations and modifications may be made while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.
