WASTEWATER EVAPORATION, TREATMENT OR RECOVERY SYSTEM

A method for treating waste water from various sources, removing solids and pollutants and then either evaporating or recycling the treated water. Waste water is received at the treatment site where the solids are removed before entering the system for treatment. The treatment consists of injecting the pressurized waste water into the exhaust stream of a turbine which is at least 900 degrees Fahrenheit, capturing it in pipes to keep it at above 600 degrees Fahrenheit for at sufficient time, temperature and turbulence to dispose of any volatile organic compounds. The system continues to either immediate atmospheric venting of the remaining treated water or in collecting ponds or tanks for evaporation. If the water is to be recovered it is cooled, condensed and sparged to release exhaust gases and the exhausted and condensed water is recovered.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This disclosure is related to a system that uses a turbine unit to create electrical power, dispose/reclaim water from hazardous wastewater after various methods of pretreatment, and either evaporate the wastewater or recover water from the system which was not evaporated. Also described is a method of creating electrical power, condensing recovered water and recovering solids.

Description of Related Art

Various industries create substantial amounts of polluted wastewater. These occurrences require solutions for the treatment of polluted wastewater from fossil fuel extractions, mines, co-gen and power plants, municipal water treatment and many other industrial applications.

Any reasonable opportunity to recover water or dispose of it without further harm to the planet or its environment is in immediate demand. Cost and environmentally effective treatment methods are needed to meet the demand. The effective disposal or recovery and treatment of this wastewater is critical to all industries, our planet and its environment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Waste Water from various sources is received and filtered for contaminants of greater than 10 microns and may be further treated to remove other solids in suspension (can happen at both ends of the process) before proceeding to a storage tank for further processing.

Water is pumped from the storage tank to a pressurization system and into the injector system that infuses the water into the exhaust stream of the turbine being used to generate power. This exhaust proceeds down an exhaust pipe that has internal and external components designed to retain heat of sufficient length to slow the exhaust and insure proper time, temperature and turbulence for the disposal of volatile organic compounds.
The exhausted gases and vapor are spun at the end of the exhaust pipe to move gases and other particulates to the outside of the exhaust plume to allow separation from the vapor. Exhaust gases are vented through a stack in the roof of the room designed to allow expansion of the exhaust and to cool the water vapor. The exhaust gases are vacuum exhausted through the a directional vent stack of heights required by environmental rules and local ordinances. The remaining vapor is vacuumed through the side walls to a crystallization unit designed to remove any remaining solids or chlorides. The remaining water is sent to a tank for use as potable to be distributed via pipe or truck to final use point.
Any solids remaining in the membrane lined cooling room are recovered for further treatment by third parties or sent to a landfill along with any remaining solids collected at the crystallizer or in the filtration stage at the receiving terminal are also recovered for the same purposes.
The power generated from the turbine is stepped up (if necessary) in voltage to be sent through a substation and in to the existing electrical grid for distribution.
A cooling area with air conditioners and pumps to cool the turbine room and cooling room, a fire suppression unit including a water storage tank, control room for the turbine, generator and other controllable equipment and collected solids storage are included. Additionally, building(s) with sufficient spare parts storage, an operations trailer, liquid fuel storage and pumps and all required water, fuel or solid waste area spill control/containment round out the complete system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A non-limiting example of a system in this disclosure is shown inFIG. 1. With reference toFIG. 1, the system1includes a pretreatment system, turbine unit, a water pressurization mechanism, a wastewater containment unit storing wastewater after pretreatment, an enhanced exhaust system, an expansion chamber for water, gas and solid separation, controlled emission stack, solids drying and drainage area, a recovery unit, a treated water storage containment, a separated solids storage and caking mechanism, treated water condensation mechanism and an optional power generating turbine and system.

The wastewater received is pretreated in various fashions to remove certain suspended and dissolved solids. A fuel fired turbine unit creates a heated exhaust to which the pressurized pretreated wastewater is injected from the waste water containment unit. The wastewater is vaporized by the high speed superheated exhaust into the enhanced exhaust system to which contains certain engineering enhancements for various purposes. Certain required actions take place in the enhanced exhaust system during which the vaporized components are further modified to remove or alter their chemical signature and controlling other air pollutants while in transport to the expansion chamber. In the expansion chamber controlled exhaust flow is separated into its gas, liquid and solid components. The gas is in the controlled emissions stack along with treated water vapor if the no water recovery is required. The solids are recovered from the drying and drainage area. If water is to be recovered the exhaust stack has an added mechanism retarding the flow of water vapor and allowing only exhaust gases to be vented. A recovery unit, collects the water for pumping to either the condensation mechanism or in either case then to the treated water storage containment. The recovered semi-dried solids are recovered and sent to the caking mechanism after which the cakes are either sold or sent to a landfill. A power generating turbine system can replace the turbine unit with all other components of the system1remaining the same.

The turbine unit is selected based on the factors of exhaust temperature, exhaust port size and the level of pollutants exhausted from its liquid fueled combustion as specified by the system user to meet throughput and environmental requirements. If used, the same considerations are made for the power generating turbine system along with the type of fuel available and the power output required. All systems are readily available in the market. Additional components such as air conditioning may also be required to maintain the all component temperatures within the manufacturers specified tolerances.

A filtration process removes contaminants greater than 5 microns is utilized to remove suspended solids and with certain filter substances remove other suspended solids. The pumps and pressurization unit are sized to meet the throughput requirements of the application. The system limits are based on many factors with primary factor being the treatment necessary in the enhanced exhaust system. The water pressurization mechanism is scalable to meet the demand of the application with throughput ranges from 160 to 4,000 gallons per minute. The enhanced exhaust system is attached to the dispersal unit of the water pressurization mechanism and the turbine exhaust port where the exhaust stream mixes with dispersed water to form a treatable water vapor that is maintained at a proper residence time, temperature and turbulence to complete the required treatments before emptying into the expansion chamber.

Certain engineering enhancement to the enhanced exhaust system including flow dynamics to reduce or eliminate back pressure to the turbine, increase turbulence and reduce the speed of the exhaust to produce the required residence time.

The enhanced exhaust system shape, expansion size and length are determined by the treatment(s) that are required. The immediate expansion size is also dictated by the size of the dispersion pattern required.

The exhaust flow exits into the expansion chamber where the size and shape of the control mechanisms are dictated by any further requirements of the application. As an example, if the water vapor is to be exhausted the room is shaped to lead all the elements to the controlled emission stack and exhausting to the atmosphere via a speed controlled exhaust fan. The vapor is controlled by the speed of the fan and allowed to be in residence for a sufficient period to allow any potential pollutants, chlorides or other heavy materials to fall to the solids and drying and drainage area for collection and removal to the solids storage and caking mechanism where the solids are caked for final disposal.

In the event that treated water is be recovered a screen systems allowing water and solid separation is included at the floor level and further up the walls to remove water vapor or at the floor level in the recovery unit where any solids are contained and the water pumped to the treated water storage containment.

If water is to be further condensed from the vapor an exhaust fan directs the treated water to the treated water condensation mechanism. When the condensation is complete the water is pumped to the treated water storage containment.

In the event power generation is required, instead of using the turbine a power generating turbine is used with the remainder of the system used is as previously described. The power generating system can produce a minimum of 4 MW to 200 MW per day with water treatment throughput capacity rising from as little as 160 gallons to 2,200 gallons per minute.

Although various embodiments have been described in detail for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements. For example, it is to be understood that this disclosure contemplates that, to the extent possible, one or more features of any embodiment can be combined with one or more features of any other embodiment.