Abstract:
The water aeration capsules provide a quick and highly portable system for aerating polluted water. The capsules contain bubbles of air, oxygen, and/or other gas(es) surrounded by a water soluble membrane. The capsules are ballasted to sink. Magnetically attractive ballast elements may be provided, and a magnetic sheet may be placed on the bottom of a smaller body of water to enhance the settling of the capsules. The gas burial disposal capsules may be formed of non-degradable material for substantially permanent gas storage, or of degradable material to allow the gases to slowly permeate the surrounding earth for slow and relatively harmless release. The gas may be pressurized within the capsules to approximately the pressure of the surrounding earth.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a continuation of my prior application Ser. No. 13/297,080, filed Nov. 15, 2011 now pending, which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/219,561, filed on Aug. 26, 2011. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to water treatment and gas disposal systems, and particularly to various embodiments of water aeration capsules and gas burial disposal capsules and dispensing means therefor. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    The contamination of various bodies of water by various means is an increasingly serious problem worldwide. Perhaps the most widespread contaminants are organic materials that enter the water system due to pollution from human habitation either directly or indirectly, e.g., pollution from farms and the like. Such pollution can affect inland fresh water supplies (lakes and rivers), and can also be carried to the sea by inland rivers and waterways or by direct discharge of sewage and/or other pollutants into the sea. Organic material in the sewage of treatment plants is another example of such pollution, albeit contained for processing. The biochemical processes that occur in water due to such organic pollution are well known to decrease the oxygen content of the water, thereby reducing or perhaps even destroying fish and other aquatic life in the contaminated body of water. Even if some fish remain in the polluted water, they are almost certainly unfit for human consumption if caught. 
         [0006]    It is generally considered that the most effective means of eliminating such pollutants in contaminated water is by bacteriological processing, wherein bacteria process the contaminants to break them down into harmless organic materials. However, such bacteria are aerobic, i.e., they require oxygen for their metabolism. This is well known in the sewage treatment field, where water is commonly treated by aeration after solids are removed by settling or other means. Such aeration is generally accomplished by mechanical means, e.g., pumping the water up for dispensing into the air from spray booms and nozzles, or perhaps by forcing air through underwater pipes for the air to bubble up through the water. Such mechanical systems are relatively costly to operate and require relatively high energy and manpower costs. Even if such systems were less costly to operate, a huge drawback is that they cannot be readily transported to a pollution site for operation at that site. Rather, the water must be transported to the location of the aeration system, a process that is clearly unworkable on a very large scale and/or over very long distances. 
         [0007]    In addition to the above problems relating primarily to the aquatic and marine environments, numerous gases are formed as a result of various industrial processes. Many of these gases are released into the atmosphere where they create various environmental problems, e.g., respiratory difficulties for many people, damage to the natural and man-made environment, etc. Neutralizing or destroying many of these unwanted and hazardous gases is often quite difficult, and in some cases {e.g., burning or oxidizing the gases) may result in even more hazardous and/or undesirable gases as an end result or as a byproduct. 
         [0008]    Thus, gas burial disposal capsules solving the aforementioned problems are desired. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention relates to capsules that may be used for water aeration and to capsules that may be used for gas burial disposal (disposal of the gas by burying capsules enclosing the gas). The water aeration capsules comprise several embodiments of water soluble capsules containing oxygen, air, and/or other gas(es) therein. The capsules may be formed to have any practicable shape or configuration. The gas impervious outer shell, skin, or membrane is formed of a water soluble material, such as various salts, sugars, and/or water soluble polymers, e.g., various polyvinyl alcohols, and numerous other conventional materials and substances. Regardless of the specific shape or configuration of the capsules and/or the material used to form the outer shell or skin, all of the capsules include some form of ballast material, resulting in the capsules having negative net buoyancy, i.e., a capsule specific gravity greater than one. The ballast material may comprise any of a number of different materials, so long as the specific gravity of the ballast material is greater than one. Examples of such ballast material are various non-toxic metals, sand, clay, and/or fish bait or other food for aquatic animals. The use of such aquatic animal food as ballast provides a twofold benefit for the capsules, in that (1) it causes the capsules to sink, and (2) provides nutrition for aquatic animal life in the treated body of water, once the capsules have dissolved. 
         [0010]    Various means for dispensing the capsules, or enhancing their dispensing, are also disclosed herein. At least one embodiment comprises magnetically attractive ballast elements in the capsules, and a magnetic plate, grid, or the like placed in the bottom of the body of water being treated. Such a system is well suited for use in smaller and shallower ponds, such as sewage treatment ponds or relatively small contaminated bodies of open water. The magnetic sheet placed at the bottom of the pond during operation may be recovered after the aeration process has been completed, thus also recovering the magnetically attractive ballast elements therewith. The capsules may be dispensed by any practicable means by a mobile carrier, e.g., one or more persons dispensing the capsules by hand from the shore, a boat, or by underwater diving, or perhaps on a larger scale from a ship(s) or aircraft. 
         [0011]    The gas burial disposal capsules comprise relatively small capsules configured for burial beneath the surface of the ground, where they store hazardous and/or undesirable gases to obviate atmospheric contamination and pollution. The gas burial disposal capsules may be formed of non-degradable materials, such as corrosion-resistant (i.e., “stainless”) steel or various plastics, to assure that the encapsulated gas cannot escape for any foreseeable period of time. Alternatively, the gas burial capsules may be formed of degradable metal or plastic materials that allow the capsule walls to be breached after some predetermined period of time, thereby allowing the encapsulated gas to slowly permeate the surrounding soil or earth, where its undesirable effects are dissipated over a relatively long period of time. The gas burial disposal capsules may be pressurized with gas(es) and buried at a depth where the ambient pressure developed by the surrounding earth is substantially the same as the pressure of the gas(es) within the capsules, thereby permitting the capsule walls to be formed of relatively thin and fragile material(s). 
         [0012]    These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1A  is a front view in section of a first embodiment of a water aeration capsule according to the present invention, illustrating its internal structure. 
           [0014]      FIG. 1B  is a front view of the water aeration capsule of  FIG. 1 , illustrating its external structure. 
           [0015]      FIG. 1C  is a top perspective view of a second embodiment of a water aeration capsule according to the present invention, illustrating its external structure. 
           [0016]      FIG. 1D  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a water aeration capsule according to the present invention, illustrating its external structure. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is an environmental elevation view of a plurality of magnetically attractive water aeration capsules according to the present invention being dispensed into a body of water having a magnetic plate at the bottom thereof, showing progressive dissolution of the capsules in the body of water. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3A  is a diagrammatic environmental elevation view showing a plurality of water aeration capsules according to the present invention, contained within a remotely actuated dispensing device. 
           [0019]      FIG. 3B  is a diagrammatic elevation view of the dispensing device of  FIG. 3A , showing the release and dispersal of the water aeration capsules from the opened dispensing device. 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is an environmental elevation view of a plurality of water aeration capsules according to the present invention, disposed on an alternative dispensing device and mobile carrier therefor. 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is an environmental elevation view showing the water aeration capsules and dispensing device of  FIG. 3A , and an alternative mobile carrier. 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is an environmental elevation view showing the water aeration capsules and dispensing device of  FIG. 3A , and another alternative mobile carrier. 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is an environmental elevation view showing the water aeration capsules and dispensing device of  FIG. 4 , and another alternative mobile carrier. 
           [0024]      FIG. 8  is an environmental elevation view showing a plurality of water aeration capsules according to the present invention, another alternative dispensing device, and another alternative mobile carrier. 
           [0025]      FIG. 9A  is a front view in section of a first embodiment of a gas burial disposal capsule according to the present invention, illustrating its internal structure. 
           [0026]      FIG. 9B  is a front view of the gas burial disposal capsule of  FIG. 9A , illustrating its external structure. 
           [0027]      FIG. 9C  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a gas burial disposal capsule according to the present invention, illustrating its external structure. 
           [0028]      FIG. 9D  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a gas burial disposal capsule according to the present invention, illustrating its external structure. 
           [0029]      FIG. 10  is an environmental elevation view in section showing the dispersal of a plurality of the gas burial disposal capsules according to the present invention in an underground pocket or deposit. 
           [0030]      FIG. 11  is an environmental elevation view in section showing the dispersal of a plurality of the gas burial disposal capsules according to the present invention in an open pit, such as a landfill or the like. 
       
    
    
       [0031]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0032]    The water aeration capsules comprise several different configurations of capsules that are each adapted for treating a body of water with air, oxygen, and/or other gas(es).  FIGS. 1A and 1B  of the drawings provide a front view in section and a front view of a first embodiment of a water aeration capsule  10   a , while  FIGS. 1C and 1D  illustrate alternative embodiment capsules  10   b  and  10   c . The only difference between the various capsules  10   a ,  10   b , and  10   c  is their shape or geometric configuration, the basic structure comprising a closed shell surrounding an internal volume containing a gas and a ballast weight or element therein, which is the same for all of the various configurations or embodiments of the capsule. 
         [0033]    The capsule  10   a  comprises a thin, closed water soluble shell, skin or membrane  12   a , defining a gas-filled internal volume  14   a . A ballast element  16   a  is placed within the internal volume, the ballast element having sufficient mass to result in a collective specific gravity greater than one for the entire capsule  10   a  and its gas-filled interior, i.e., the capsule  10   a  will sink when dropped into a body of water. The corresponding water aeration capsules  10   b  of  FIG. 1C and 10   c  of  FIG. 1D  have substantially the same structure, differing only in their geometric shapes. The capsule  101 ) of  FIG. 1C  includes a shell, skin, or membrane  12   b  enclosing a gas-filled volume  14   b  and a ballast element  16   b , while the capsule  10   c  of  FIG. 1D  includes a shell, skin, or membrane  12   c  enclosing a gas-filled volume  14   c  and a ballast element  16   c . The shapes of the various water aeration capsules  10   a  through  10   c  are exemplary, and it should be understood that virtually any practicable shape may be used to form such a water aeration capsule. 
         [0034]    The capsule shell, skin or membrane  12   a  (or  12   b ,  12   c  for the capsules  10   b ,  10   c  of  FIGS. 1C ,  1 D) may be formed of any suitable water soluble material that is substantially impervious to the gas contained therein until dissolved in water. Various salts, sugars, and/or water soluble polymers, such as polyvinyl alcohol or the like, may be used to form the outer shell or skin  12   a . All of these substances are conventional, and accordingly no further disclosure need be provided. It should be understood that the above-listed materials for forming the shell or membrane  12   a  of the capsule  10   a  are exemplary, and other suitable conventional water soluble materials may be used in lieu thereof. The capsule shell, membrane or skin may be flexible or brittle, depending upon the material(s) used. If brittle materials are used, the shell may break or be crushed by water pressure at relatively deep levels, but this is certainly acceptable as it will release the air or other gas contained therein, the broken portions of the shell dissolving later. Generally, the capsule membrane, skin, or shell has insufficient strength to contain air or gas at much higher than ambient pressure, but the air or gas may be placed within the capsule at somewhat higher than ambient pressure (i.e., a pressurized capsule), if the shell, skin or membrane has sufficient strength. 
         [0035]    The intended purpose of the water aeration capsule  10   a , and other capsule embodiments, is to treat a body of contaminated or polluted water with oxygen in order to promote the growth of desirable bacteria that, in turn, process the pollutants in the water, changing the processed pollutants to less harmful organic materials. Accordingly, a preferred gas with which the capsules  10   a  (or  10   b ,  10   c , etc.) may be filled is oxygen, but standard air (approximately 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen, with traces of other gases) may be used economically. It will be understood that the terms “aerate” and “aeration” as used herein are intended to describe the release of any practicable gas within a body of water by means of the aeration capsules described herein. Other gases, e.g., carbon dioxide, pure nitrogen, hydrogen, and/or inert gases such as helium, argon, and neon, may be used in lieu of or in addition to oxygen or air as desired for purposes other than oxygenating the water. The principle of encapsulating a gas and ballasting the capsule to cause it to sink in a body of water and then dissolve to release the gas remains the same for any gas contained in the capsule. 
         [0036]    The ballast weight or element  16   a  (or  16   b ,  16   c , etc.) may be formed of any suitable material, so long as it provides sufficient mass to cause its respective capsule to sink in a body of water. The ballast element may be made from very common and inexpensive materials, e.g., a non-toxic metal(s) such as iron, steel, copper, brass, etc., or non-metallic materials, such as sand, clay, ceramic pellets or stone or gravel, etc. Another alternative is to use some form of food for aquatic animals as the ballast means. Such an embodiment is illustrated in  FIG. 8  and discussed further below. 
         [0037]      FIG. 2  provides an illustration of a water aeration capsule  10   d  having an alternative ballast weight or element  16   d  therein formed of a magnetically attractive material, e.g., ferromagnetic iron, steel, etc. A container  18  containing water  20  therein, an aquarium or fish tank, includes a magnetically attractive sheet  22  in the bottom thereof. The magnetically attractive sheet may be in the form of a plate, as shown, or a grid or thin sheet of material. The magnetically attractive sheet  22  may be electromagnetically activated, if sufficient electrical insulation is provided for the device. Otherwise, latent magnetism of the magnetized sheet  22  will suffice. The principle illustrated in  FIG. 2  may be applied to small natural or man-made bodies of water as well, with the beaker-like container  18  merely being exemplary as a demonstration of the principle. 
         [0038]    The capsules  10   d  may be deployed or dispensed into the water  20  in any conventional manner. In the case of a small container of water, or even a relatively small pond or narrow body of water, the capsules  10 d (and others described herein) may be deployed by hand by personnel on shore. As the capsules  10   d  and their magnetically attractive ballast elements  16   d  approach the bottom of the container  18  as they sink, their magnetic ballast elements  16   d  are attracted to the magnetic plate or sheet  22  in the bottom of the container  18 , thereby increasing the sink rate of the capsules  10   d  to better assure that the capsules will reach the bottom of the container  18  before being breached and releasing the gas  24  contained therein. The magnetic sheet  22  may be recovered after the body of water  20  has been aerated, the magnetically attractive ballast elements  16   d  clinging magnetically to the sheet  22  for recovery and reuse. 
         [0039]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate an exemplary means of releasing a relatively large number of water aeration capsules in a larger body of water, e,g., larger pond, lake, ocean, river, etc. A mobile carrier comprising a remotely openable container  26  is provided and filled with water aeration capsules  10 . (The generic reference numeral  10  will be used to designate the water aeration capsules of  FIGS. 3A through 7 , as the capsules  10  may be of any of the configurations illustrated in  FIGS. 1A through 2 , or any other desired configuration.) The container  26  may be a wire basket or the like, or may be formed of unbroken panels. It is not necessary to protect the capsules  10  contained therein, as the intent is for them to dissolve in the water once they have been submerged. The mobile carrier or container  26  is lowered into the water  20  on a rope, cable, chain, or other extended element  28 , to the depth desired. When the container  26  has reached the desired depth, the lower doors or panels  26   a  may be opened remotely by conventional means, e.g., a secondary mechanical rope, cable, or line, or via an electrical signal or radio signal to the appropriate conventional actuation mechanism on or in the container  26 . When the doors or panels  26   a  are opened, as shown in  FIG. 3B , the capsules  10  are released to dissolve in the water  20  to release their aeration gases. 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  provides an illustration of another alternative means for deploying the capsules  10  in the water  20 . In this embodiment, the mobile carrier comprises a stick, rod, or the like  30  suspended from a float or buoy  32 . (It will be seen that the container  26  of  FIGS. 3A and 3B  may be suspended from the rod and float of  FIG. 4 , if desired.) The capsules  10  of  FIG. 4  are not contained within an enclosure, but are adhesively secured to the stick or rod  30  and to one another by water soluble adhesive, e.g., by wheat flour paste, etc. Alternatively, they may be gathered on the stick or rod  30  by a porous fabric or wire mesh or screen (not shown) surrounding the capsules. The stick or rod  30  arrangement has the advantage of simplicity in that no remote actuation of container doors or the like is required for the release of the capsules  10 . 
         [0041]      FIGS. 5 through 7  provide illustrations of various alternative means for dispensing or deploying the water aeration capsules  10  (or other capsule embodiments  10   a ,  10   b , etc.). In  FIG. 5 , a mobile carrier comprising a ship  34  is used to lower a container  26  into the water  20  by means of a rope, cable, or other line  28 . The operation of the container  26  is essentially as described further above for the embodiment of  FIGS. 3A and 3B . In  FIG. 6 , a rotary wing aircraft, e.g., helicopter  36 , is used as the mobile carrier, and the aeration capsule container  26  and line  28  are essentially the same as that shown in  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B, and  5 . It will be recognized that a conventional fixed wing aircraft (not shown) may be used as the mobile carrier in lieu of the helicopter  36  of  FIG. 6 . In  FIG. 7 , a scuba diver  38  is used as the mobile carrier, along with the rod or stick  30  and float or buoy  32  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Such a deployment method might be desirable in certain bodies of water not accessible by larger craft. 
         [0042]      FIG. 8  illustrates yet another embodiment wherein a small boat  40  is used to position a float or buoy  32  having a plurality of water aeration capsules  10   e  suspended from the lower end of a cable, rope, or line  28 . The capsules  10   e  may be adhesively secured to a central carrier  42  by means of water soluble adhesive, as described further above for the embodiment of  FIG. 4 . The capsules  10   e  are designated differently than the capsules  10  through  10   d  of earlier described embodiments, as they utilize an aquatic animal food for their ballast elements. Initially, fish F and other forms of aquatic animal life will not be attracted to the capsules  10   e  until they are breached to release their aquatic animal food ballast. However, once at least some of the capsules  10   e  are breached in some manner (dissolution in the water, fracturing under pressure, etc.), the scent of the aquatic animal food ballast will be released, thereby attracting fish F and/or other forms of aquatic animal life as may be present. Thus, the capsules  10   e  provide the twofold function of aerating the water and also providing nutrition for any aquatic animal life that may be present when the capsules  10   e  are breached, both of these functions benefiting the population of aquatic animal life in the area. 
         [0043]      FIGS. 9A through 11  illustrate several embodiments of gas burial disposal capsules adapted for burying waste gases in the ground.  FIGS. 9A and 9B  of the drawings respectively provide a front view in section and a front view of a first embodiment of a small gas burial disposal capsule  110   a , while  FIGS. 9C and 9D  illustrate alternative embodiment capsules  110   b  and  110   e . The only difference between the various capsules  110   a ,  110   b , and  110   e  is their shape or geometric configuration, the basic structure comprising a closed shell surrounding an internal volume containing a gas, which is the same for all of the various configurations or embodiments of the capsule. The capsules in their various embodiments are preferably relatively small, e.g., on the order of an inch or less in diameter or length in order to facilitate their placement underground using various means, the volume of the capsules being substantially less than one liter. 
         [0044]    The capsule  110   a  comprises a thin, closed shell  112   a  defining a gas-filled internal volume  114   a . The corresponding gas burial disposal capsules  110   b  of  FIG. 9C and 110   c  of  FIG. 9D  have substantially the same structure, differing only in their geometric shapes. The capsule  110   b  of  FIG. 9C  includes a shell  112   b  enclosing a gas-filled volume  114   b , while the capsule  110   c  of  FIG. 9D  includes a shell  112   c  enclosing a gas-filled volume  114   c . The shapes of the various gas burial disposal capsules  110   a  through  110   c  are exemplary, and it should be understood that virtually any practicable shape may be used to form such a gas burial disposal capsule. 
         [0045]    The capsule shell  112   a  (or  112   b ,  112   c  for the capsules  110   b ,  110   c  of  FIGS. 9C ,  9 D) may be formed of any suitable material, depending upon the ultimate intended disposition of the gases encapsulated within the shell(s). In many instances, it may be desirable to seal the gases within the capsules for a substantially indefinite period, preventing their escape for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the capsule shells  112   a ,  112   b ,  112   e , etc. may be formed of a substantially non-degradable material, such as corrosion-resistant steel (i.e., “stainless” steel) or a non-degradable plastic. Alternatively, it may be desirable that the capsule shells degrade over some approximate period of time, e.g., on the order of a year, or perhaps ten years or a century, etc. Accordingly, the capsule shells may be formed of a degradable metal, plastic, or other material, e.g., mild steel that will eventually rust through, or aluminum that is subject to slow corrosive effects, etc. Various degradable plastics may also be used. 
         [0046]    The gas burial disposal capsules  110   a ,  110   b , etc., are intended to be buried at some depth below the surface. It is well known that the weight of the overlying earth results in great subterranean pressures. Accordingly, gas or gases may be introduced into the capsule shells at a pressure at least approximately corresponding to the pressure at the anticipated depth for burial of the capsules. This results in the internal and external pressures substantially canceling one another, thereby relieving stress on the shells  112   a , etc. of the capsules and precluding their being crushed by the subterranean pressures at the depth at which they are buried. The capsules may be placed in a pressurized environment as they are filled, and may be kept in such a pressurized environment until buried underground in order to minimize differential pressure stresses on the shells of the capsules. 
         [0047]      FIGS. 10 and 11  illustrate different means of burying the gas burial disposal capsules of the present invention. In  FIG. 10  the capsules, e.g., capsules  110   a , although they may comprise any gas burial disposal capsule described above., are shown being pumped by a surface pump  116  through a shaft  118  or the like into a subterranean cavity or pocket  120 . The subterranean cavity  120  may comprise a depleted oil or gas deposit or other natural or artificial subterranean cavity. Such subterranean cavities provide an excellent location for the dispersal of the capsules, as they are generally far underground and the single relatively small diameter shaft  118  facilitates the sealing of the capsules deep underground where they are rendered essentially harmless. Even the slow degradation of the capsules, where degradable capsule shells are used, will result in the gases slowly dissipating in the subterranean environment and slowly dispersing over a period of many years, if not centuries. 
         [0048]      FIG. 11  illustrates an alternative method of burying the gas burial disposal capsules of the present invention. In  FIG. 11 , a burial pit  122  has been formed, e.g., in a landfill or other disposal area. The capsules, e.g., capsules  110   a , or alternatively, other gas burial disposal capsules described above, have been placed within the pit  122  at some level below the surface. Overburden or fill  124  is then placed over the capsules  110   a  (or other capsules) to bury them below the surface where they are rendered essentially harmless, particularly where the capsule shells are formed of substantially non-degradable metal, plastic, or other material. 
         [0049]    It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.