Mechanical separation device with screen washing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12246352-B2
Application number	US-202318099835-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2023
Priority date	Jan 25, 2022
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

Abstract

A mechanical separation device optionally includes one or more of a housing, a screen a rotary assembly, one or more wash bars and a plurality of nozzles. The screen can be positioned within the housing to separate at least a portion of the liquid medium from the solids. The rotary assembly can be within the housing and can be configured to move the solids and the liquid medium along an axial length of the housing toward the discharge outlet. The one or more wash bars can be within the housing and can be positioned adjacent the screen. The plurality of nozzles can be spaced along the one or more wash bars. The one or more wash bars can be configured to receive a wash fluid and the plurality of nozzles configured to discharge the wash fluid against the screen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An automated washing system comprising:
one or more pumps;
a plurality of wash fluid lines in fluid communication with the one or more pumps;
a plurality of valves each of the plurality of valves configured to regulate a flow of a wash fluid through a corresponding one of the plurality of wash fluid lines;
a mechanical separation device comprising:
a housing with a feed inlet at a first end section of the housing and a discharge outlet at a second end section of the housing, the feed inlet configured to receive a slurry comprising solids within a liquid medium,
a screen positioned within the housing to separate at least a portion of the liquid medium from the solids,
a rotary assembly within the housing, the rotary assembly configured to move the solids and the liquid medium along an axial length of the housing toward the discharge outlet,
a plurality of wash bars within the housing and positioned adjacent the screen, wherein each of the plurality of wash bars is coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of wash fluid lines, wherein the plurality of wash bars comprise between four and eight wash bars, inclusive, and wherein the plurality of wash bars are arranged in a spaced relationship around an exterior of the screen, and
a plurality of nozzles spaced along each of the plurality of wash bars, wherein each of the plurality of nozzles is configured to discharge the wash fluid against the screen; and
a controller configured to control operation of at least the one or more pumps to pump the wash fluid through the plurality of wash fluid lines to the plurality of wash bars and to the plurality of nozzles, wherein the controller controls the plurality of valves regulating the flow through the plurality of wash fluid lines to stagger the flow of the wash fluid to the plurality of wash bars such that only one or two of the plurality of wash bars receives the flow of the wash fluid at a time, wherein the controller controls a duration of discharge of the wash fluid and an interval between a first discharge and a second discharge of the wash fluid.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls a duration of discharge of the wash fluid to be between 10 seconds and 10 minutes, inclusive.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pumps are configured to provide the wash fluid to each of the plurality of wash bars at a flow rate of between 7.5 gallons/minute and 12.5 gallons/minute.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a manual override configured to bypass the controller and actuate the one or more pumps.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wash fluid comprises at least one of a flush water from a process within a production facility and a waste water from the process within the production facility.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more sensors configured to sense an amount of the solids in the slurry at the discharge outlet;
wherein the controller is in communication with the one or more sensors and the controller is configured to implement operation of the one or more pumps to pump the wash fluid to wash the screen based upon the amount of the solids in the slurry at the discharge outlet sensed by the one or more sensors.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nozzles comprises between four and eighteen nozzles.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wash bars each has an inlet section that extends through the housing, wherein the inlet section is configured to be coupled with one of the plurality of wash fluid lines.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of nozzles has an orifice with a diameter of between 0.025 inches and 0.10 inches, and wherein the orifice is configured to provide for a conical shape for discharge of the wash fluid.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the screen has a hollow cylindrical shape with a plurality of apertures therein, and wherein the plurality of wash bars are arranged adjacent an exterior surface of the screen with the plurality of wash bars surrounding at least a portion of a circumference to substantially an entirety of the circumference of the screen.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of nozzles has a spray angle relative to the screen to provide between 15 degrees and 120 degrees, inclusive, of coverage of the wash fluid along a circumference of the screen.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the rotary assembly comprises:
a shaft having a longitudinal axis;
a plurality of paddles coupled to the shaft, at least one of the plurality of paddles having an outer edge and aligned radially relative to the longitudinal axis, wherein the at least one of the plurality of paddles has an elongate extent along the longitudinal axis with opposing lateral sides along the elongate extent, and
a plurality of flingers coupled to the at least one of the plurality of paddles at the outer edge, each of the plurality of flingers extending from the at least one of the plurality of paddles to be positioned radially and tangentially outward of both opposing lateral sides of the at least one of the plurality of paddles.

13. An automated washing system comprising:
one or more pumps;
a plurality of wash fluid lines in fluid communication with the one or more pumps;
a plurality of valves each of the plurality of valves configured to regulate a flow of a wash fluid through a corresponding one of the plurality of wash fluid lines;
a mechanical separation device comprising:
a housing with a feed inlet at a first end section of the housing and a discharge outlet at a second end section of the housing, the feed inlet configured to receive a slurry comprising solids within a liquid medium,
a screen positioned within the housing to separate at least a portion of the liquid medium from the solids,
a rotary assembly within the housing, the rotary assembly configured to move the solids and the liquid medium along an axial length of the housing toward the discharge outlet,
a plurality of wash bars within the housing and positioned adjacent the screen, wherein each of the plurality of wash bars is coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of wash fluid lines, wherein the plurality of wash bars comprise between four and eight wash bars, inclusive, and wherein the plurality of wash bars are arranged in a spaced relationship around an exterior of the screen, and
a plurality of nozzles spaced along each of the plurality of wash bars, wherein each of the plurality of nozzles is configured to discharge the wash fluid against the screen; and
a controller configured to control operation of at least the one or more pumps to pump the wash fluid through the plurality of wash fluid lines to the plurality of wash bars and to the plurality of nozzles, wherein the controller controls the plurality of valves regulating the flow through the plurality of wash fluid lines to stagger the flow of the wash fluid to the plurality of wash bars such that only one or two of the plurality of wash bars receives the flow of the wash fluid at a time, wherein the controller controls an interval between discharge of the wash fluid and a subsequent discharge of the wash fluid from a same nozzle to occur between 1 time/hour and 1 time/day, inclusive.

14. An automated washing system comprising:
one or more pumps,
a plurality of wash fluid lines in fluid communication with the one or more pumps;
a plurality of valves each of the plurality of valves configured to regulate a flow of a wash fluid through a corresponding one of the plurality of wash fluid lines;
a mechanical separation device comprisi

Assignees

• Icm Inc

Inventors

• Wayman Alex Dexter
• Awtrey Marc
• Awtrey Brandon
• Clutter Wayne

Classifications

• B07B1/20 Primary

  Stationary drums with moving interior agitators · CPC title

• B07B1/55 Primary

  with fluid jets · CPC title