Patent ID: 6955763

Claim:
An apparatus for removing suspended matter from a liquid, comprising: a) a vessel for receiving a flow of liquid having suspended matter therein, where the vessel has a horizontal plane; b) a plurality of partitions sequentially dividing the vessel into an inlet chamber, at least a first gasification chamber and a second gasification chamber, and an outlet chamber, each adjacent chamber fluidly communicating with one another, where the partition dividing the inlet chamber from the first gasification chamber and the partition dividing the second gasification chamber from the outlet chamber both extend from the top of the vessel downward; c) a discharge chamber having a fluid communication with the outlet chamber; d) an inlet to introduce the flow of liquid into the inlet chamber, e) a mechanism for ingesting and mixing gas into the liquid of each gasification chamber for creating a turbulent area and for attracting the suspended matter and for carrying the suspended matter to an upper portion of the vessel; f) a primary skim collection channel extending at least partially along the top of the partition between the first gasification chamber and the second gasification chamber for collecting suspended matter in the upper portion of both gasification chambers; g) a secondary skim collection channel, independent of the primary channel, located in the upper portion of the inlet chamber; h) a tertiary skim collection channel, independent of the primary and secondary channels, located in the upper portion of the discharge chamber; i) an outlet for removing clarified liquid from the discharge chamber; and j) at least one baffle near the primary skim collection channel to dampen motion of the liquid caused by movement of the vessel, where the baffle extends inwardly into the vessel from an interior top surface thereof to a lowermost distal edge, where a line between an upper edge of the primary skim collection channel and the distal edge of the baffle forms an angle with the horizontal plane of between 5 and 15°.