Clarification apparatus

Claim 2

Liquor clarifying apparatus comprising: a tank having a top; at least one inlet into the tank; at least one launder in the top of the tank and from which liquid can be discharged; a plurality of first outlets for clarified liquor and that open into the at least one launder; at least one second outlet from the base of the tank for separated solids, and a plurality of settling assemblies wherein each settling assembly comprises a substantially vertical collection duct that leads up into one of the said first outlets for discharging clarified liquor into one said launder a stack of substantially pyramidal settling plates each of which comprises a neck portion and a downwardly inclined pyramidal portion, each adjacent pair of pyramidal plates being spaced apart by spacing means consisting essentially of a substantially vertical neck to define a pyramidal cell that leads from the neck downwardly through an inclined length of 5 to 30 cm to a parallel sided outlet slot that extends around the pyramidal cell and that has a vertical depth of at least 1 cm, and in which each neck has a length of 1-10 cm and is either a separate spacer neck or is integral with one of the said pyramidal plates, the collection duct either comprises the said integral necks or pipe over which the necks are slidably fitted, and there are orifices extending from each cell through each neck and into the duct for passage of clarified liquor from each cell into the duct and up into the launder.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the necks are integral, the collection duct is defined by the said integral necks and the necks are provided with inter-engaging fit means for securing the plates one above the other by push interengagement of the fit means.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the collection duct comprises an outer, downwardly extending, duct that is either defined by the said integral necks or is a pipe over which the necks are slidably fitted, and an inner substantially co-axial upwardly extending duct is so arranged within the downwardly extending duct that clarified liquor that enters the orifices extending into said downwardly extending duct first flows down the the downwardly extending duct and then flows up the upwardly extending duct to one of the said first outlets.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the downwardly extending duct collects from at least the lowermost 25% of the plates and the upwardly extending duct has orifices extending through the wall of the upwardly extending duct above the downwardly extending duct and collects from uppermost plates in the stack.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 3 in which the upwardly extending duct extends along substantially the entire length of the downwardly extending duct.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 1 including means for keeping the stack under axial compression.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the plates are formed of a plastics material having density below 1.

Claim 9

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the orifices have a horizontal length greater than half the horizontal length of the uppermost edges of the plates at the neck portion.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the pair of adjacent settling plates defines a downwardly inclined substantially parallel-sided cell having an open slot defined b the lowermost edges of the pair.

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which each plate has a skirt extending downwardly from its lowermost edge to define a slot with the lowermost edge of the adjacent lower plate, the vertical dimension of the slot being less than 3/4 of the vertical distance between the plates in the cell.

Claim 12

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which there are at least 30 of the said plates in each said stack having a vertical separation of 1 to 5 cm.

Claim 13

Apparatus according to claim 1 in which there are at least 30 of the said plates in each stack, with a gap of 2 to 10 cm between each pair of plates, and in which the said inclined length of each pyramidal cell is from 5 to 20 cm and the said cell and the said parallel sided outlet slots each have a vertical depth of from 1 to 5 cm.

Claim 14

A settling assembly constructed and arranged to be fitted within a liquid clarifying apparatus comprising a tank having a top, a first inlet into the tank, at least one launder in the top of the tank from which liquid can be discharged, a plurality of first outlets for clarifying liquor and that open into the at least one launder, and at least one second outlet from the base of the tank for separated solids, wherein the settling assembly comprises a substantially vertical collection duct that can lead up into one of the said first outlets for discharging clarified liquor into one said launder a stack of substantially pyramidal settling plates each of which comprises a neck portion and a downwardly inclined pyramidal portion, each adjacent pair of pyramidal plates being spaced apart by spacing means consisting essentially of a substantially vertical neck to define a pyramidal cell that leads from the neck downwardly through an inclined length of 5 to 30 cm to a parallel sided outlet slot that extends around the pyramidal cell and that has a vertical depth of at least 1 cm, and in which each neck has a length of 1-10 cm and is either a separate spacer neck or that is integral with one of the said pyramidal plates, the collection duct either comprises the said integral necks or a pipe over which the necks are slidably fitted, and there are orifices extending from each cell through each neck and into the duct for passage of clarified liquor from each cell into the duct and up into the launder.

Claim 15

A settling assembly constructed and arranged to be fitted within a liquid clarifying apparatus comprising a tank having a top, a first inlet into the tank, at least one launder in the top of the tank from which liquid can be discharged, a plurality of first outlets for clarifying liquor and that open into the at least one launder, and at least one second outlet from the base of the tank for separated solids, wherein the settling assembly comprises a substantially vertical collection duct that can lead up into one of the said first outlets for discharging clarified liquor into one said launder a stack of substantially pyramidal settling plates each of which comprises a neck portion and a downwardly inclined pyramidal portion, each adjacent pair of pyramidal plates being spaced apart by spacing means consisting essentially of a substantially vertical neck to define a pyramidal cell that leads from the neck downwardly through an inclined length of 5 to 30 cm to a parallel sided outlet slot that extends around the pyramidal cell and that has a vertical depth of at least 1 cm, and in which each neck has a length of 1-10 cm and is either a separate spacer neck or that is integral with one of the said pyramidal plates, the collection duct either comprises the said integral necks or a pipe over which the necks are slidably fitted, and there are orifices extending from each cell through each neck and into the duct for passage of clarified liquor from each cell into the duct and up into the launder.

Claim 16

An assembly according to claim 13 in which the necks are integral, the collection duct is defined by the said integral necks and the necks are provided with interengaging fit means for securing the plates one above the other by push interengagement of the fit means.

Claim 17

An assembly according to claim 13 in which the collection duct comprises an outer, downwardly extending, duct that is either defined by the said integral necks or is a pipe over which the necks are slidably fitted, and an inner substantially co-axial upwardly extending duct is so arranged within the downwardly extending duct that clarified liquor that enters the orifices extending into said downwardly extending duct first flows down the the downwardly extending duct and then flows up the upwardly extending duct to one of the said first outlets.

Claim 18

An assembly according to claim 15 in which the downwardly extending duct collects from at least the lowermost 25% of the plates and the upwardly extending duct has orifices extending through the wall of the upwardly extending duct above the downwardly extending duct and collects from uppermost plates in the stack.

Claim 19

An assembly according to claim 15 in which the upwardly extending duct extends along substantially the entire length of the downwardly extending duct.

Claim 20

An assembly according to claim 13 including means for keeping the slack under axial compression.

Claim 21

An assembly according to claim 13 in which the plates are formed of a plastics material having density below 1.

Claim 22

An assembly according to claim 13 in which the orifices have a horizontal length greater than half the horizontal length of the uppermost edges of the plates at the neck portion.

Claim 23

An assembly according to claim 13 in which the pair of adjacent settling plates defies a downwardly inclined substantially parallel-sided cell having an open slot defined b the lowermost edges of the pair.

Claim 24

An assembly according to claim 13 in which each plate has a skirt extending downwardly from its lowermost edge to define a slot with the lowermost edge of the adjacent lower plate, the vertical dimension of the slot being less than 3/4 of the vertical distance between the plates in the cell.

Claim 25

An assembly according to claim 13 in which there are at least 30 of the said plates in said stack having a vertical separation of 1 to 5 cm.

Claim 26

An assembly according to claim 13 in which there are at least 30 of the said plates in said stack and in which the said inclined length of each pyramidal cell is from 5 to 20 cm and the said cell and the said parallel sided outlet slots each have a vertical depth of 1 to 5 cm.