Claims
- 1. A method for coacting a media with a treatment fluid, comprising the steps of:
orienting a media container holding the media, in an upright position, said media container structured to have an upper portion and a lower portion between which said media can move during a treatment cycle in which the media coacts with the treatment fluid, and a backwash cycle in which the media is regenerated; moving the media to the upper portion of the media container during a setting cycle; passing the treatment fluid through the media while in the upper portion of the media container during the treatment cycle; and fluidizing the media by moving the media to the lower portion of the media container to thereby regenerate the media with a regeneration fluid.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further including moving the media to the upper portion of the media container with a setting fluid during the setting cycle, and thereafter carrying out the treatment cycle.
- 3. The method of claim 2, further including carrying out the setting cycle with a setting fluid that is different from the treatment fluid.
- 4. The method of claim 1, further including moving the media upwardly into the upper portion of the media container with a setting fluid, and while the media is located in the upper portion of the media container, supporting the media in the upper portion with the treatment fluid while coacting the media with the treatment fluid.
- 5. The method of claim 1, further including fluidizing the media while moving the media from the upper portion to the lower portion of the media container.
- 6. The method of claim 1, further including supporting the media in an annular chamber in the upper portion of the media container, and passing the treatment fluid radially inwardly through the media.
- 7. The method of claim 6, further including carrying treatment fluid coacted with the media to a core area in the annular chamber, and upwardly out of an opening in the media container.
- 8. The method of claim 7, further including passing the treatment fluid and a setting fluid through the common fluid inlet at different times.
- 9. The method of claim 1, further including providing a casing around the media container to allow treatment fluid to be contained between sidewalls of the casing and the media container.
- 10. The method of claim 1, further including passing both the treatment fluid and the setting fluid through a common fluid inlet to said media container.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said upper portion and said lower portion of said container have annular chambers surrounding a central bore, and further including providing at least one fluid fluid valve for controlling a flow of fluid in said central bore.
- 12. The method of claim 1, further including providing a filter media for filtering an influent functioning as said treatment fluid.
- 13. A method filtering an influent, comprising the steps of:
orienting a filter container holding a filter media, in an upright position, said filter container having an inlet and an outlet therein; passing a setting fluid through an inlet so as to raise the filter media to an upper portion of said filter container; while the filter media is raised to the upper portion of the filter container, passing the influent through the an inlet in lieu of the setting fluid so that the influent then maintains the filter media in the upper portion of the filter container; and passing the influent through the filter media to filter particulate matter from the influent, and passing the filtered influent through the outlet of the filter container.
- 14. The method of claim 13, further including allowing the filter media to move to a bottom portion of the filter container, and fluidizing the filter media during the downward movement thereof to remove filtered particulate matter therefrom.
- 15. The method of claim 14, further including passing a backwash fluid from an opening in the upper portion of the filter container, through the filter media, and out an opening in a lower portion of the filter container, whereby the particulate matter is carried out of the lower opening of the filter container.
- 16. The method of claim 13, further including passing the setting fluid and the influent through the same inlet, but at different times.
- 17. A device for coacting a fluid with a media, comprising:
a media container having an upper portion and a lower portion; a media bed contained within said media container, said media bed being movable between the upper portion during a coacting cycle, and the lower portion of the media container during a backwash cycle; an first inlet/outlet located in the upper portion of the media container for allowing an inlet of a backwash fluid, and for allowing an outlet for fluid that has been coacted with the media bed; and a second inlet/outlet located in the lower portion of the media container for allowing an inlet of fluid to be coacted with the media bed, and for allowing an outlet of the backwash fluid.
- 18. The device of claim 17, wherein said first inlet/outlet comprises a single opening in the upper portion of said media container, and said second inlet/outlet comprises a single opening in the lower portion of said media container.
- 19. The device of claim 18, further including a source of the fluid to be coacted with the media bed coupled through a valving arrangement to the second inlet/outlet, and a source of a setting fluid coupled through the valving arrangement to the first inlet/outlet, said setting fluid for moving the media to the upper portion of the media container.
- 20. The device of claim 18, further including a source of the backwash fluid coupled through a valving arrangement to the first inlet/outlet, and fluid which has been coacted with the media bed is coupled from said first inlet/outlet through the valving arrangement.
- 21. The device of claim 17, wherein said media bed comprises a plurality of individual particles through which said fluid passes to filter therefrom particulate matter, said particles of said media bed being of the type which can be supported by the fluid in the upper portion of said media container during the coacting cycle.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of prior co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/194,060, filed Nov. 20, 1998, which is a national stage application of PCT/US97/08942 filed May 23, 1997, which is a PCT International Application which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/018,168 filed May 23, 1996, and 60/023,679 filed Aug. 17, 1996. The subject matter of all the foregoing applications is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60018168 |
May 1996 |
US |
|
60023679 |
Aug 1996 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09194060 |
Nov 1998 |
US |
Child |
09978962 |
Oct 2001 |
US |