Perforated tube module for liquid treatment

Claim 2

Apparatus for effecting separation of settleable particles from a liquid, comprising support means; a first set of each of apart, generally parallel sheets of a material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semirigid materials and inclined to the horizontal at an angle of from about 45* to about 75*, said sheets being disposed in said support means and forming a plurality of settling compartments for said liquid, each of said sheeTs having a plurality of perforations therein, said support means being adapted to be positioned in a settling tank; means disposed within said support means for distributing an influent flow of liquid so that it impinges substantially uniformly on the first of said sheets and thereafter flows through said perforations therein into the first of said settling compartments and thence, uniformly and sequentially to the last thereof, said distributing means comprising a second set of spaced apart, generally parallel sheets of a material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semirigid materials and inclned to the horizontal at an angle of from about 45* to about 75*, said sheets being inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of inclination of said sheets of said first set, said sheets of said second set having a plurality of perforations therein, said perforations communicating with said settling compartments formed by said sheets of said first set, whereby said influent flow may pass through said sheets of said second set and into said settling compartments formed by said sheets of said first set; effluent liquid withdrawal means positioned in said support means adjacent the top thereof and downstream of said last of said settling compartments formed by said sheets of said first set, whereby said liquid flows upwardly through said settling compartments as it passes sequentially from said first to said last thereof, said sheets being adapted to receive said settleable particles of material from said liquid as said particles settle out of said liquid in said compartments and to guide said particles as they slide therealong to the bottoms thereof; and means positioned below said sheets for collecting and withdrawing said particles.

Claim 3

Apparatus as in claim 1 in which said sheets of said first set comprise a plurality of corrugated sheets, each of said sheets comprising a plurality of ridges and valleys, said perforations in said sheets of said first set being disposed only on said ridges thereof.

Claim 4

Apparatus as in claim 2 in which said sheets of said second set comprise a plurality of corrugated sheets, each of said sheets comprising a plurality of ridges and valleys, said perforations in said sheets of said second set being disposed only on said ridges thereof.

Claim 5

Apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of spaced apart, parallel vertical sheets of a material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid materials, said sheets extending at right angles to said sheets of said first set.

Claim 6

Apparatus as in claim 4 in which said vertical sheets are perforated sheets.

Claim 7

Apparatus as in claim 1 in which said perforations in adjacent sheets of said first set are offset vertically with respect to each other.

Claim 8

Apparatus for effecting separation of settleable particles from a liquid, comprising support means; a plurality of at least three spaced-apart parallel vertical sheets of a material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid materials disposed in said support means, said sheets having a plurality of perforations therein; at least two sets of inclined spaced-apart parallel baffles of a material selectedfrom the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid materials joining adjacent ones of said sheets to form inclined channels, said baffles comprising planar sheets, each set of said baffles being inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of inclination of the adjacent set of baffles, alternate sets of said baffles having a plurality of perforations therein; means disposed within said support means for distributing an influent flow of liquid so that it impinges substantially uniformly on the first of said baffles in each of said sets and thereafter flows through said perforations therein into the first of said inclined channels and thence, sequentially to the last thereof, said distributing means comprising a plurality of spaced-apart parallel sheets of material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid mater1als and inclined to the horizontal in a direction parallel to the direction of inclination of one of said two sets of parallel baffles and opposite to the direction of inclination of the other of said two sets of parallel baffles, said last named sheets having a plurality of perforations therein, said perforations communicating with said inclined channels formed by said two sets of baffles, whereby said influent flow may pass through said perforations in said last named sheets and into said inclined channels; effluent liquid withdrawal means positioned in said support means adjacent the top thereof and downstream of said last of said inclined channels, whereby said liquid flows upwardly through said channels as it passes sequentially from said first to said last thereof, said baffles being adapted to receive said settleable particles of material from said liquid as said particles settle out of said liquid in said channels and to guide said particles as they slide therealong to the bottoms thereof; and means positioned below said baffles for collecting and withdrawing said particles.

Claim 9

Apparatus for effecting separation of settleable particles from a liquid, comprising support means; a plurality of at least three spaced-apart parallel vertical sheets of a material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid materials disposed in said support means, said sheets having a plurality of perforations therein; at least two sets of inclined spaced-apart parallel baffles of a material selectedfrom the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid materials joining adjacent ones of said sheets to form inclined channels, said baffles comprising planar sheets, each set of said baffles being inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of inclination of the adjacent set of baffles, alternate sets of said baffles having a plurality of perforations therein; means disposed within said support means for distributing an influent flow of liquid so that it impinges substantially uniformly on the first of said baffles in each of said sets and thereafter flows through said perforations therein into the first of said inclined channels and thence, sequentially to the last thereof, said distributing means comprising a plurality of spaced-apart parallel sheets of material selected from the class consisting of rigid and semi-rigid mater1als and inclined to the horizontal in a direction parallel to the direction of inclination of one of said two sets of parallel baffles and opposite to the direction of inclination of the other of said two sets of parallel baffles, said last named sheets having a plurality of perforations therein, said perforations communicating with said inclined channels formed by said two sets of baffles, whereby said influent flow may pass through said perforations in said last named sheets and into said inclined channels; effluent liquid withdrawal means positioned in said support means adjacent the top thereof and downstream of said last of said inclined channels, whereby said liquid flows upwardly through said channels as it passes sequentially from said first to said last thereof, said baffles being adapted to receive said settleable particles of material from said liquid as said particles settle out of said liquid in said channels and to guide said particles as they slide therealong to the bottoms thereof; and means positioned below said baffles for collecting and withdrawing said particles.