Patent ID: 8191716

Claim:
A horizontal-tube sedimentation-separation apparatus comprising: a first side wall and a second side wall; a plurality of parallel inclined plate arrangements being disposed between said first and second side walls; each of said plate arrangements comprising: a first inclined plate; a second inclined plate being disposed parallel to said first inclined plate; said second inclined plate comprising a plurality of sludge-disposal openings, each being in the form of a single elongated opening or a plurality of separate openings disposed to run in the direction of a horizontal flow of water through said horizontal-tube sedimentation-separation apparatus; a side baffle plate being disposed between and transverse to said first and second inclined plates; and a plurality of parallel support plates being disposed to extend from and transverse to said second inclined plate; said side baffle plate being disposed on one side of said first and second inclined plates and to connect said first and second inclined plates; said side baffle plate being disposed transverse to the horizontal flow of water and upstream of said first and second inclined plates to block the horizontal flow of water into a static fluid region between said first and second inclined plates to minimize disturbance of sludge in said static fluid region; said plurality of plate arrangements comprising at least a first plate arrangement and a second plate arrangement; said plurality of support plates of said first plate arrangement being connected to said first inclined plate of said second plate arrangement; said second inclined plate of said first plate arrangement, said plurality of support plates of said first plate arrangement, and said first inclined plate of said second plate arrangement, being configured and disposed to together define a plurality of horizontal water channels, each having a parallelogram-shaped cross-section; and said sludge-disposal openings being disposed to permit sludge to exit said horizontal, parallelogram-shaped water channels and enter said static fluid region between said first inclined plate and said second inclined plate of each of said plate arrangements.