DE102013225322A1 - Multi-level self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system for liquid media - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system for liquid media, suitable for direct attachment to containers or to pipelines. It can be supplied by the system liquid media from the containers or pipes of an ultrasonic treatment, with no separate building or container placement are necessary. All components and required elements are united in a system for direct attachment or installation on the treated container of the pipeline. The multistage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system for liquid media according to the invention comprises at least one substrate line, at least one conveyor, one or more sonotrodes, devices for checking or measuring parameters of the liquid and devices for connection to a container. It is characterized in that the sonotrodes are located within the substrate line or on the outside of the substrate line.

Description

The invention relates to a multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system for liquid media, suitable for direct attachment to containers or to pipelines. It can be supplied by the system liquid media from the containers or pipes of an ultrasonic treatment, with no separate building or container placement are necessary. All components and required elements are in a system for direct on or. Installation on the container of the pipeline to be treated united.

One possible application is bioreactors or biogas plants.

State of the art

The ultrasonic treatment of liquids in biogas plants is not new and is practiced by different companies.

Bio-solids such as sewage sludge or biomass are much better implemented during the treatment with ultrasound, whereby an intensification of the digestion process takes place without the addition of chemical substances. The company Sonotronic has put a procedure into practice
( http://www.sonotronic.de/technologien/ultraschall/ultraschall-behandlung-von-biofeststoffen ) and developed a technology for the disintegration of biomass and for the sterilization of various media. The functionality of this technology can be explained as follows: A part of the cells of the biomass is disrupted by the ultrasound and thereby liquefied. This liquefied material is then better implemented, for example, in the fermenters of a biogas plant of microorganisms. This means that digestion is better, resulting in up to 50% more biogas and consequently less residual substrate as a waste product. Further positive effects are the saving of digestion volume and improved dewaterability of the biomass.

The effects in the treatment of bio solids with ultrasound occur because the ultrasound causes a periodic compression and stretching of the sonicated substance. At high sound intensity, the medium of the substance tears during the phase of negative pressure. This results in the formation of microscopic bubbles in the liquid that fill with water vapor or gas. In the subsequent printing phase, the bubbles implode under extreme conditions on a microscale (cavitation). At a pressure of up to 500 bar and a temperature of up to 5200 Kelvin, this results in enormous shear forces that tear the walls of organic cells, bacteria, fungi, etc.

The sonotrodes used have different designs and are mounted in box-shaped containers as in Sonotronic or in or on pipelines. In order to carry out an ultrasonic treatment, however, further components are required. These are placed outside the containers and processes in special containers and other enclosures by installing the sonotrode unit externally from containers through in-and-out piping systems, and for the incoming and outgoing flows, pumps and similar conveyors are connected to these external piping systems and additionally usually mechanical crushing and separating devices are installed in front of the pump and Sonotrodenbauteile in the piping circuit.

The previously practiced sonotrode components are designed so that they have a fixed number of sonotrodes in a PA component and the effect of the ultrasonic sonication can be measured, determined and controlled only externally of the sound system. The known ultrasonic reactors are currently assembled with the supplementary components as described above, in containers and sold in existing or new systems to be integrated ultrasonic treatment equipment.

These are usually box-shaped structures that are not optimized for flow and turbulence can occur. Also, a blockage of inflows and outflows can not be excluded.

Object of the invention

The object of the invention was to eliminate the disadvantages of the solutions described in the prior art.

Solution of the task

The problem has been solved according to the features of the claims. According to the invention, a multi-level self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system for liquid media is provided, which eliminates the mentioned disadvantages and has unexpected advantages. For the first time, a compact ultrasound system was provided which is not installed between or not externally in a separate container, but compactly combines the necessary components and required elements in a system for direct attachment or installation to the container to be treated, without a separate building or to require container placement.

• • System aus Rohrleitungen, die in Teilbereichen auch quadratisch oder rechteckig sein können
• • Rohrleitungselementen, Rohrleitungsabsperrelementen, Messeinrichtungen
• • Prüfstutzen mit Einrichtungen zum Prüfen, Messen und Rückspülen
• • Sonotroden und integrierten Reflektoren, Flüssigkeitsförder- und
• • Rückspüleinrichtung, Halterungen und Durchführ- bzw. Anschlusseinrichtungen
• • mindestens eine reversible Pumpe mit Drehzahlregulierung

The system according to the invention comprises the following elements:

• • System of pipelines, which in some areas can also be square or rectangular
• • Pipe elements, pipe shut-off elements, measuring equipment
• • Test sockets with facilities for testing, measuring and backwashing
• • Sonotrodes and integrated reflectors, liquid handling and
• • Backwash device, brackets and feedthrough or connection devices
• • at least one reversible pump with speed control

The system according to the invention conveys the medium to be disintegrated from a container or a pipeline via pipe-like elements with an integrated conveying device. It is mounted on or in the tank or in the piping system. The liquid is conveyed via shut-off elements pipe elements, volume flow measuring devices and devices for receiving sensors and transducers and the conveyor in preferably vertical flow centric on integrated in the pipes sonotrodes.

The sonotrodes are coupled with suitable reflectors, which are located in a suitable distance parallel to the probe centric in the media stream.

The system is designed so that the medium to be disintegrated from the system is conveyed directly from a container or a pipeline to the disintegration probes.

The flow takes place in one or more stages. Between the stages of disintegration, the effects of the individual disintegration nozzles can be determined via integrated measuring sockets and sensors. For this purpose, the viscosity and / or the temperature, electrical power consumption of the sonotrodes and the conveyor can be measured. Depending on the measurement or evaluation results, the system can activate further stages via the conveyor (preferably a pump). This makes it possible to increase the intensity (lower flow velocity), to reduce the intensity or to cause a backwashing.

The frequency and the number of sonotrodes can be adjusted to the amount and intensity of the disintegration. The integrated conveyor or devices may perform an opposite direction of flow, e.g. To carry out backwashing. If necessary, the conveyor may adapt the capacity to the needs / requirements (e.g., speed control).

The suction and Ausspülöffnungen be hedged against mutual interference by flow-conducting facilities or system-spatial arrangement.

The system is able, through a system control based on the communication between the setting and closing elements, the conveyor the measuring elements and the associated evaluation elements, the volume measuring device and the communication with a possibly existing subordinate control or the own control the effects and the Increase function.

It is hereby for the first time a compact ultrasound system provided that is not installed between or not externally to be treated fermenter or reactor vessels. It is even possible to install this system - with the exception of the conveyor - inside the liquid container. All o.g. Components and required elements are combined in a system for direct mounting on the container to be treated, no separate building or container placement is necessary.

Due to its design, this system is able by the integrated control to measure the effect of the sound directly, to change the intensity by volume flow control and or the flow direction change (different passage of the liquid to be treated over different numbers of sonotrodes) and adapt to the needs.

The self-cleaning of the system is also possible by reversing or changing the direction of flow and the possibility of increasing the volume flow, such as the dilution rate increase in the ratio 1:10, and can be inserted into the public address program as a prophylactic measure.

The system can be equipped with all commercially available sonotrodes for in-pipe or pipe installation (ie sonotrodes integrated directly in the volume flow of the liquid to be treated as well as on the pipe outer wall or in the pipe outer wall).

Surprisingly, it has been found that the inventive waveform of the pipe guide of the new ultrasound system on the one hand serves to optimize the hydraulic system and on the other hand ensures the achievement of a compact design taking into account the space required for all components to be integrated. By varying the number of "waves", the system can include different numbers of sonotrodes or sound areas and thus for different public address services are designed and built.

The system can be installed on or in tanks / reactor rooms, as it can be used on pipelines as a bypass system or as an inline system.

The advantages of the device according to the invention are u.a. in that the investment costs are reduced by about 50% compared to currently about costs of about 200T €. In addition, the operating costs are also considerably reduced by this system, since the direct connection to the containers or reaction points reduce the conveying paths by a multiple, and also can be installed aerodynamic and clog-proof.

In addition, the system does not need a building-like enclosure, but it is sufficient for the pipe installations usual measures for insulation and weather protection.

The invention will be described below with reference to the two figures, without reducing them to the specific embodiment.

embodiment

The 1 shows a side view of the device according to the invention. In this example, the device is attached to the outside of the container inner wall. 2 shows a plan view of the device. It can be seen that the ultrasound treatment takes place directly in the substrate line - so no extra container is necessary - and the sonotrodes are either in or outside the substrate lines. Also visible are the measuring and flushing nozzles and the valves (pipe shut-off elements) as well as the pump (conveyor).

In 2 is also shown that, if necessary, a second stage for ultrasonic treatment can be switched on. It is particularly clear in 2 the waveform of the device according to the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

 container wall

2

 fermentation substrate

3

 substrate line

4

 pusher

5

 reversible pump with speed control

6

 sonotrode

7

 Measuring and flushing connection

8th

 support

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited non-patent literature

• http://www.sonotronic.de/technologien/ultraschall/ultraschall-behandlung-von-biofeststoffen [0004]

Claims (10)

Multi-level self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system for liquid media, comprising: a) at least one substrate line b) at least one conveyor c) one or more sonotrodes d) devices for testing or measuring parameters of the liquid, e) devices for connection to a container thereby characterized in that the sonotrodes are located within the substrate line or on the outside of the substrate line. Multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises pipe elements, Rohrleitungsabsperrelemente or backwashing. Multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the substrate lines and / or pipe elements are constructed round square or rectangular. Multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the substrate lines and / or pipe elements are arranged wave-shaped. Multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that in addition to the sonotrodes even reflectors are present. Multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the conveyor is a reversible pump with speed control. Multi-stage self-regulating ultrasonic disintegration system according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it contains a control unit which controls the pump based on measured parameters. Method for the multistage self-regulating ultrasound treatment of liquids by means of the device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a) the ultrasound treatment takes place within the substrate line and b) the measurement of the parameters of the liquid within the substrate line at measuring connection and c) controlling the pump based on the measured parameters, whereby the intensity is increased or decreased or a backwashing is initiated. Use of the device according to one of claims 1 to 7 for direct attachment to the outside of the inner wall of liquid containers or - with the exception of the pump - within liquid containers. Use according to claim 10 in biogas plants.

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