Title of Invention

APPARATUS FOR FROZEN CONCENTRATED WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Abstract An apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment having a heat exchanger for producing supercooled water, a supercooled wastewater supply duct which feeds the supercooled water, a supercooling releasing unit which performs supercooling releasing by receiving the supercooled wastewater to produce ice grains, an ice making tank provided below the supercooling releasing unit, a skimming unit provided above the ice making tank, a separator which separates the wastewater accompanied by the ice grains from the ice grains, and a wastewater circulation supply duct which supplies the wastewater in the ice making tank and the wastewater separated by the separator to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water; and an apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment having a heat exchanger for producing supercooled water, a suspended solid removing unit which removes suspended solids in the wastewater, a supercooling releasing unit which performs supercooling releasing of the supercooled wastewater to produce ice grains in the wastewater, and a reusable water producing unit which separates the ice grains from the wastewater containing the ice grains and obtains clean reusable water from the separated ice grains.
Full Text FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10; rule 13)

TITLE
APPARATUS FOR FROZEN CONCENTRATED WASTEWATER TREATMENT

APPLICANT
MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD
16-5 Konan 2-chome Minato-ku Tokyo 108-8215
Japan Nationality: Japan

The following specification particularly describes
the nature of this invention and the manner
in which it is to be performed

DESCRIPTION APPARATUS FOR FROZEN CONCENTRATED WASTEWATER TREATMENT

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application enjoys benefits of the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-054913 previously filed on February 28, 2005 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-142722 previously filed on May 16, 2005, which are incorporated herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment, capable of easily recovering reusable water from water such as daily wastewater, various sewages, ground salt water and rain water.

BACKGROUND ART

Water is the most important resource for animals and plants, and its importance is not changed in any regions. However, considering its supply easiness, in the region such as a dry region where an available water amount is extremely low, it is not too much to say that it is the most important to secure the water. In such a region, it is very difficult to secure the water for irrigation which requires a large amount of water, and various attempts have been performed for securing it.

First, the water has been secured by drawing the underground water. In this method for drawing the underground water to use as the water for the irrigation, the amount of water used for the irrigation is large, and a water level of the underground water is reduced, finally leading to depletion of the underground water.
As the other method, it has been attempted that a centralized sewage treatment plant has been provided, reusable water has been obtained by cleaning up sewage and this reusable water has been used for the irrigation. In this method, a numerous cost is required only for building the centralized sewage treatment plant, a running cost of a reverse osmosis membrane treatment used for cleaning up the sewage is high, and a huge fund is required for covering these capital investment and running cost. Meanwhile, when the sewage treatment is uncontrolled, discharge of various wastewater results in water pollution and finally serious environmental pollution.
When economical securing of various water is considered in the regions described above where a water resource is small dnd no sewage system becomes common, it is thought of that a distributed type, relatively small apparatus for producing the reusable water but not the centralized sewage treatment plant on a large scale is required. An apparatus which may be diverted to such a distributed type, relatively small apparatus for producing the reusable water may include an apparatus for frozen concentrated type wastewater treatment developed for the purpose of reducing the amount of wastewater (JP 2003-275748 A Publication).

The above apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment is an apparatus in which sherbet shaped ice (ice grains) is continuously produced using supercooled wastewater and the produced ice grains are mechanically separated. In this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 29, a mixing impeller 1012 is comprised in an ice making tank 1011, and the wastewater H is supplied through a pipe 1013. A supercooling releasing plate 1014 is disposed at an upper part of an inner wall of the ice making tank 1011. The wastewater H in the ice making tank 1011 is supercooled in a heat exchanger for producing supercooled water 1015, subsequently returned to the ice making tank 1011, and at that time, jetted toward the supercooling releasing plate 1014. By allowing the supercooled wastewater H to conflict with the supercooling releasing plate 1014, parts thereof becomes ice I in a moment. The produced sherbet shaped ice I and the supercooled wastewater H which is still liquid are retained in the ice making tank 1011. Therefore, the wastewater H (mixed wastewater of the wastewater supplied from the pipe 1013 and the wastewater returned after being cooled in the heat exchanger 1015 for producing supercooled water) and the ice I are mixed in the ice making tank 1011, and these wastewater H and ice I are stirred by the mixing impeller 1012.

The ice I in the ice making tank 1011 is supplied together with wastewater H to a centrifuge 1016, and the wastewater H and the ice I are mechanically separated by this centrifuge 1016. The ice is a clean ice crystal and contains no impurity. Therefore, the water content in the wastewater H is reduced by separating the ice I, and a concentration of the wastewater H is increased by just that much.
The wastewater H separated by the centrifuge 1016 is supplied again to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015. The wastewater H contains the impurities, and thus its freezing point is lower than 0°C.Thus, the wastewater H is cooled to about -0.5 to -2.0°C by the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015, and supercooled. The wastewater H supercooled in this way conflicts with the supercooling releasing plate 1014, and the supercooled state is released to produce the ice I. The ice I separated by the centrifuge 1016 is supplied to a heat exchanger for ice melting 1017, and melted in this heat exchanger for ice melting 1017 to become melted water W. A water impurity of this melted water W is equal to or less than the wastewater quality standard.
This way, the conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment has a function to take out only water content as the ice I from the wastewater H and reproduce this ice I as the melted water W.This apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment has a major purpose of reducing a wastewater volume treated as a waste in the wastewater treatment. The wastewater H is concentrated to reduced the wastewater volume as the waste by continuously producing the ice and separating/removing the produced ice from the wastewater. In this apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment, the wastewater volume can be reduced to about one tenth of the initial volume, and the cost of wastewater treatment can be reduced. A numeral 1018 in the figure indicates a wastewater circulation supply duct which supplies the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011 and the wastewater separated in the centrifuge 1016 to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015.

By diverting the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment into a distributed type relatively small apparatus for producing the reusable water, it is anticipated that the water volume usable for the irrigation in the region where the water resource is small and no sewage system available can be secured without accompanying environmental pollution and destruction.

However, when the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment was actually used as the apparatus for producing the reusable water, it was found that there werethe following problems, which must be solved.

(1) The ice grains produced by supercooling releasingare suspended in the wastewater in the icemaking tank,subsequently sent together with the wastewater to the centrifuge, and separated from the wastewater. When theconventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewatertreatment is used for the major purpose of obtaining thereusable water in large amount, it is necessary to enhancea feeding efficiency of the ice grains to the centrifuge.Since the wastewater is used as a carrier in the feeding ofthe ice grains from the ice making tank to the centrifuge,in other words, the wastewater is accompanied, it is notpossible to increase the feeding amount of the ice grains.

(2) The ice grain amount is limited in total amountand it is difficult to increase a separation efficiency ofthe ice grains because the wastewater and the ice grainsare separated in the centrifuge, in which a mixture of thewastewater and the ice grains is placed.

(3) The supercooled water is easily frozen byenvironmental temperature and external physical stimulation.Thus, the ice grain is obtained by allowing the supercooledwater to conflict with a platy member referred to as thesupercooling releasing plate. However, the temperature ofthe supercooled water is subtly changed owing to acomposition of the wastewater, and a degree of freezing isalso changed along with it. Ideally, the supercooled waterwhich has conflicted with the supercooling releasing plateis frozen to drop into the ice making tank simultaneouslywith flowing down from the supercooling releasing plate.However, even under the same operating condition, a freezing speed when conflicting with the supercoolingreleasing plate is fast and the supercooled water is frozenon the supercooling releasing plate in some cases owing to the change of the environmental temperature and the composition of the wastewater. When the freezing begins on the supercooling releasing plate, the freezing layer easily grows with time. When the growth thereof continues, the freezing layer leads to close the supercooled water supply duct located above the supercooling releasing plate. A tip of the supercooled water supply duct is frozen, resulting in freezing of the entire supply duct. In that case, the operation of the apparatus is stopped, and the ice which has grown from the supercooling releasing plate must be peeled to lift the freeze of the supply duct. Before reaching such a case, if adhered ice on the cooling releasing plate is peeled, a long time stop of the apparatus can be avoided, but during peeling the adhered ice on the cooling releasing plate, the operation of the apparatus must be stopped.

(4) Suspended solids such as dregs of paper are typically contained in the wastewater. The suspended solids play a role to prevent the production of ice grains in the process of producing the ice grains by releasing the supercooling of the supercooled wastewater. Therefore, the amount of contained suspended solids greatly affects the amount of the ice grains to be produced. Besides, when the suspended solids are present in the wastewater, the suspended solids are incorporated in the ice grains when the ice grains are produced by releasing the supercooling. Therefore, the suspended solids are contaminated in the reusable water obtained by melting the ice grains to pollute water quality. Besides, since the suspended solids can become ice nuclei, when untreated water (wastewater) containing the suspended solids is introduced into the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water, a phenomenon of supercooling releasing occurs in situ and it is highlylikely that a piping is closed (frozen).

(5) The ice grains produced by supercooling releasing are suspended in the wastewater in the ice making tank, subsequently sent together with the wastewater to the centrifuge, and separated from the wastewater. In the case of using the conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment for the major purpose of obtaining the reusable water in large amount, it is necessary to increase a separation efficiency of the ice grains from the wastewater.

(6) In the conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment, when harmful
microorganisms are present in the wastewater, the microorganisms are not separated upon forming the ice grains, and incorporated in the ice grains. That is, the microorganism in the wastewater can not be separated/removed in the process from forming the ice grains to producing the reusable water, and is directly contained in the reusable water. Therefore, when it is likely that the harmful microorganism is contained in the
wastewater, the resulting reusable water can not be directly used for intermediate water and water for the irrigation.

This way, when the conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment is used as the apparatus for producing the reusable water for obtaining the reusable water with good quality in large amount, it is necessary to increase the supply amount of the produced ice grains to the centrifuge and enhance a recovery rate of recovery water. To obtain the reusable water in large amount, the continuous operation of the apparatus is essential. Thus, it is important to prevent the supercooling releasing plate from being frozen. Further, it is necessary to stably produce the ice grains, enhance its amount to be produced, enhance the separation efficiency of the produced ice grains from the wastewater and enhance a sterile level of the produced reusable water. Furthermore, to obtain the reusable water in large amount, the continuous operation of the apparatus is essential. Thus, it is important to prevent the supercooling releasing plate from being frozen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in the light of the above conventional circumstance, and aims at providing an apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment capable of efficiently recovering reusable water with good quality usable as water used in large amount such as intermediate water and water for irrigation from the wastewater.
As a means for solving the aforementioned problems, the first apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the present invention has a heat exchanger for producing supercooled water which supercools wastewater; a supercooled wastewater supply duct which feeds supercooled water supercooled in said heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water; a supercooling releasing unit which performs supercooling releasing of the supercooled wastewater by receiving the supercooled wastewater which flows down from said supercooled wastewater supply duct to produce ice grains; an ice making tank provided below said supercooling releasing unit, in which the wastewater is infused from a wastewater source; a skimming unit provided above said ice making tank, which skims the ice grains supplied from said supercooling releasing unit in the wastewater; a separator to which the ice grains separated by said skimming unit are supplied and which separates the wastewater accompanied by the ice grains from the ice grains; and a wastewater circulation supply duct which supplies the wastewater in said ice making tank and the wastewater separated by said separator to said heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water.

The second apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the present invention has a heat exchanger for producing supercooled water which supercools wastewater; a suspended solid removing unit which removes suspended solids in the wastewater supplied to said heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water; a supercooling releasing unit which performs supercooling releasing of the supercooled wastewater supercooled by said heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water to produce ice grains in said wastewater; and a reusable water producing unit which separates the ice grains from the wastewater containing the ice grains and obtains clean reusable water from the separated ice grains.

In the first apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment, the skimming unit may have a mechanism to skim the ice grains suspended in the ice making tank.
The mechanism to skim the ice grains suspended in said ice making tank may be composed of a drop chute which opens above a wastewater surface in said ice making tank; a skimming inclined plane member provided at a periphery of the opening of the drop chute; and a wastewater surface sweeping member which drops the ice grains into the drop chute by pushing up the ice grains suspended in the wastewater surface along an inclined plane of the inclined plane member toward the opening of said drop chute.

The mechanism to skim the ice grains suspended in said ice making tank may be composed of a drop chute which opens above a wastewater surface in said ice making tank, an enclosing wall member provided at a periphery of the opening of the drop chute and a wastewater surface sweeping member which drops the ice grains into the drop chute by pushing up the ice grains suspended in the wastewater surface along an enclosing wall of the enclosing wall member toward the opening of said drop chute.
The skimming unit may have a mechanism to receive mixed wastewater and ice grains dropped from the supercooling releasing unit and skim only the ice grains.
The mechanism to receive mixed wastewater and ice grains dropped from said supercooling releasing unit and skim only the ice grains may be composed of a drop chute which opens above a wastewater surface in said ice making tank and a belt conveyor wherein a belt provided above the wastewater surface in said ice making tank is mesh, ice grains skimmed on the mesh belt being fed to an opening of the drop chute and dropped into the drop chute.
At least a part of said belt conveyor may be provided with a belt press device which squeezes off the wastewater accompanied by the surface of the ice grains on said mesh belt.
At least a part of said belt conveyor may be provided with a vacuum aspiration device which aspirates and removes the wastewater accompanied by the surface of the ice grains on said mesh belt.
The supercooling releasing unit may be a supercooling releasing plate formed into a platy shape. The supercooling releasing plate may be provided with an inclined angle regulating mechanism. The supercooling releasing plate may also be provided with an automatic swinging mechanism.
In the second apparatus for frozen concentrated
wastewater treatment, the suspended solid removing unit maybe a fine filtration membrane separation chamber. Useful microorganisms may be attached to said fine filtration membrane separation chamber.
The suspended solid removing unit may be any of an agglomeration filtration device, a pressure floating device, and a foam separation device.
The second apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment may further have a constant wastewater temperature keeping unit which keeps constant temperature of the wastewater supplied to said heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water.
The constant wastewater temperature keeping unit may have a circulation tank wherein the wastewater which runs in from outside is temporarily stored under stirring and the stored wastewater is supplied to said heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water.
The apparatus may be provided with an outdoor temperature regulating piping which exposes at least a part of the wastewater run in said circulation tank to solar heat and subsequently supplies it to the circulation tank.
The apparatus may be provided with a reusable water supply duct which supplies reusable water obtained by said reusable water producing unit out of the apparatus, wherein a part of the supply duct is provided with a sunlight irradiated section, and the piping downstream from the sunlight irradiated section passes at least partially in said circulation tank.
The reusable water producing unit may be composed of an ice making tank provided below said supercooling releasing unit, to which the wastewater is infused from a wastewater source; a washing unit which washes the ice grains run out from the ice making tank; and a separator which separates washing water and the ice grains run out from the washing unit.
The washing unit may be any of a washing chamber in which clean water is filled, a warm air device, and a shower device which sparges clean water.
The reusable water producing unit may be a centrifuge device having a rotary shaft whose tip is fixed with said supercooling releasing unit and a solid liquid separating wall with inverted' cone shape fixed to this rotary shaft to surround the rotary shaft.
The apparatus may be provided with a reusable water supply duct which supplies reusable water produced in said reusable water producing unit out of the apparatus, and the supply duct may be provided with a sterilization structure by solar heat.
The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are specifically set forth in or will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plain view of an ice making tank which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 1 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view along a line of II-II in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main section of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of an ice making tank which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 2 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plain view of the ice making tank shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main section in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of an ice making tank which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 3 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plain view along a line of III-III in
FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a plain view of the ice making tank shown in FIG. 7, which shows a start of skimming operation of the apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a plain view of the ice making tank shown in FIG. 7, which shows a midstream of skimming operation of the apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a plain view of the ice making tank shown in FIG. 7, which shows a state close to termination of one cycle of skimming operation of the apparatus.

FIG, 12 is a side sectional view of an ice making tank which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 4 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view for illustrating the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a side sectional view of an ice making tank which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 5 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a view of a vicinity of a supercooling releasing plate of an apparatus for illustrating the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a view of a vicinity of a vacuum aspirating device provided in an apparatus for illustrating the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 14.

FIG. 17 is a view of a vicinity of a terminal end of a belt conveyor provided in an apparatus for illustrating the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 14.

FIG. 18 is a view of a supercooling releasing plate which is a main section of an apparatus and its vicinity, which shows Example 6 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a view of a supercooling releasing plate which is a main section of an apparatus and its vicinity, which shows Example 7 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an outline view of an apparatus, which shows Example 8 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an outline view of a fine filtration membrane separation chamber which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 9 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an outline view of an agglomeration filtration device which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 10 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 23 is an outline view of a pressure floating device which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 11 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an outline view of a foam separation device which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 12 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 25 is an outline view showing one example of a constant wastewater temperature keeping unit which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 13 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 26 is an outline view showing another example of a constant wastewater temperature keeping unit which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 14 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 27 is an outline view showing still another example of a constant wastewater temperature keeping unit which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 15 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 28 is an outline view showing one example of a unit for producing reusable water which is a main section of an apparatus, which shows Example 16 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 29 is an outline view showing a conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Examples of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings. The Examples shown below are exemplified only for suitably illustrating the present invention, and do not limit the invention.
Specific configurations which a first apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the present invention has differently from a conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment are a point that an upper part of an ice making tank is provided with a skimming unit which skims ice grains supplied from a supercooling releasing unit from wastewater and a movable mechanism of the supercooling releasing unit provided at the upper part of the ice making tank. Other configurations may be common to those of the conventional apparatus- Therefore, in the figures which describe the following Examples 1 to 7, the figure of the entire apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment will not shown, and only a main section of the ice making tank will be shown. The supercooling releasing unit is not limited to a supercooling releasing plate formed into a plate and may have any shape as long as it gives a shock to supercooled wastewater by receiving the supercooled wastewater to make it possible to produce ice grains by supercooling releasing. For example, the supercooling releasing unit may be a block having an impact surface which receives dropping supercooled wastewater. In that case, the impact surface is preferably an inclined surface. In the following Examples 1 to 7, a supercooling releasing plate is used as the supercooling releasing unit.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

FIGS 1 to 3 show Example 1 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plain view with a partial sectional view of the apparatus. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view along a line of II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the main section of the apparatus.
In the figures, the numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical ice making tank having a bottom. The supercooling releasing plate 2 is attached at the upper part of this ice making tank 1. An end of a supply duct 3 of the supercooled wastewater supercooled in a heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water not shown in the figure is terminated further thereon.
An inside of the ice making tank 1 is provided with a drop chute 4. This drop chute 4 is communicated to a centrifuge not shown in the figure, and a wall part thereof is formed liquid-tightly so that the wastewater H in the ice making tank 1 is not permeated. It is inconvenient that a height of an opening 4a of this drop chute 4 against a wastewater level is too low because a wastewater amount accompanied by ice is increased. Conversely, being too high is also inconvenient because it is necessary to increase scales of a skimming inclined plane member 5 and a wastewater surface sweeping member (scraping brush section) 6 described later to increase an apparatus cost. From such a viewpoint, it is desirable that the opening 4a of this drop chute 4 is usually located at a position which is 5 to 50 cm higher than the wastewater level in the tank, depending on the scale of the ice making tank. Desirably, the opening 4a of this drop chute 4 is located in a region from a part of the inner wall of the ice making tank 1 to a nearly central part of the tank. The skimming inclined plane member 5 is integrally attached to an upper periphery of this drop chute 4. The highest position of an inclined plane 5a of this skimming inclined plane member 5 is the same as the position of the opening of the drop chute 4. The inclined plane is inclined to go in the wastewater H as it estranges from a side of the drop chute 4.
Furthermore, the wastewater surface sweeping member 6 which rotates to sweep the water surface of the wastewater H in the tank is attached in the ice making tank 1. This wastewater surface sweeping member 6 basically has the same structure as a broom for cleanup, and is composed of a rotary shaft 6a located at the center of the ice making tank 1, a main body 6b fixed in perpendicular to this rotary shaft 6ar i.e., in parallel with the wastewater surface in the tank, and numerous sweeping brushes 6c planted to hang from this main body 6b.
In the above configuration, the drop chute 4r the skimming inclined plane member 5 and the wastewater surface sweeping member 6 configure a skimming unit 7. This skimming unit has a mechanism to skim the ice grains suspended in the wastewater H in the ice making tank 1 as described below.
As previously described, when the supercooled wastewater flows down from the supercooled wastewater supply duct 3 and conflicts with the supercooling releasing plate 2, a part of the wastewater becomes the ice grains. The produced ice grains are suspended on the surface of the wastewater H in the ice making tank 1. In this state, when the wastewater surface sweeping member 6 is rotated, the sweeping brushes 6c at the tip thereof skim the ice grains suspended on the wastewater surface and scrape toward the inclined plane member 5. When the sweeping brushes come to the inclined plane member 5, they skim up the ice grains along the inclined plane 5a and drop the ice grains from the opening 4a of the drop chute 4 into the drop chute 4.
By the above skimming operation, the ice grains are separated from the wastewater while being moved on the inclined plane 5 by the sweeping brushes 6c, and sent to the centrifuge not shown in the figure through the drop chute 4, with accompanying a small amount of the wastewater of an extent to adhere on their surface. The ice grains sent to the centrifuge spin off the wastewater which has adhered on the surface by receiving a centrifugal force to further reduce the accompanied wastewater amount.

Recovered water obtained by melting the ice grains obtained in this way by a heat exchanger is cleaned to the extent capable of being used for the irrigation water and the intermediate water. The resulting melted water is sterilized and supplied as the reusable water to required facilities such as irrigation facilities and intermediate water facilities.
When the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment is applied to the region equipped with insufficient sewage facilities, most inexpensively it is thought that indefinitely discharged daily wastewater is collected by simple grooves preferably to a retention tank every settlement, and led from this retention tank to the above ice making tank 1 using a pump with filtration function. For this wastewater introduction facility, more hygienic and efficient configurations are plurally possible if abundant money is available.

Example 2

FIGS- 4 to 6 show Example 2 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are a side sectional view of the apparatus, a plain view with a partial sectional view of the apparatus, and a sectional view of the main section of the apparatus, respectively.
In the figure, the numeral 11 shows a long boxy ice making tank having a bottom. A supercooling releasing plate 12 is attached at an upper part of this ice making tank 11. An end of a supply duct 13 of the supercooled wastewater supercooled in a heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water not shown in the figure is terminated further thereon.
An inside of the ice making tank 11 is provided with drop chutes 14, 14. These drop chutes 14, 14 are communicated to a centrifuge not shown in the figure, and a wall part thereof is formed liquid-tightly so that the wastewater H in the ice making tank 11 is not permeated. Each opening 14a is located at a position which is 5 to 50 cm higher than the wastewater level in the tank by the same reason as that described in Example 1, and located at the inner wall mutually opposed in the ice making tank 11. Skimming inclined plane members 15, 15 are attached integrally at an upper part outside plane of these drop chutes 14, 14. The highest position of each inclined plane 15a of these skimming inclined plane members 15, 15 is the same as the position of the opening of the drop chute 14. The inclined plane is inclined to go in the wastewater H as it estranges from the side of the drop chute 4 toward a center of the ice making tank 11.
Furthermore, a wastewater surface sweeping member 16 which reciprocates to sweep the water surface of the wastewater H in the tank is attached in the ice making tank 11. This wastewater surface sweeping member 16 basically has the same structure as a broom for cleanup, and is composed of a reciprocating driving shaft 16a attached to be movable along a center line in a longitudinal direction of the ice making tank 11, a main body 16b fixed in perpendicular to this reciprocating driving shaft 16 a i.e., in parallel with the wastewater surface in the tank, and numerous sweeping brushes 16c planted to hang from this main body 16b.
In the above configuration, the drop chutes 14, 14, the skimming inclined plane members 15, 15 and the wastewater surface sweeping member 16 configure a skimming unit 17. This skimming unit has a mechanism to skim the ice grains suspended in the wastewater H in the ice making

tank 11 as described below.
As previously described, when the supercooled wastewater flows down from the supercooled wastewater supply duct 13 and conflicts with the supercooling releasing plate 12, a part of the wastewater becomes the ice grains. The produced ice grains are suspended on the surface of the wastewater H in the ice making tank 11 as shown in FIG. 6. In this state, when the wastewater surface sweeping member 16 is moved horizontally, the sweeping brushes 16c at the tip thereof skim the ice grains suspended on the wastewater surface and scrape toward the inclined plane member 15. When the sweeping brushes 16c come to the inclined plane member 15, they skim up the ice grains along the inclined plane 15a and drop the ice grains from the opening 14a of the drop chute 14 into the drop chute 14.
By the above skimming operation, the ice grains are separated from the wastewater while being moved on the inclined plane 15a by the sweeping brushes 16c, and sent to the centrifuge not shown in the figure through the drop chute 14, with accompanying a small amount of the wastewater of the extent to adhere on their surface. The ice grains sent to the centrifuge spin off the wastewater which has adhered on the surface by receiving the centrifugal force to further reduce the accompanied wastewater amount. Recovered water obtained by melting the ice grains obtained in this way by a heat exchanger is cleaned to the extent capable of being used for the irrigation water and the intermediate water. The resulting melted water is sterilized and supplied as the reusable water to required facilities such as irrigation facilities and intermediate water facilities.

Example 3

FIGS. 7 to 11 are views showing Example 3 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the apparatus, and FIGS. 8 to 11 are plain views along a line of III-III.
In the figures, the numeral 21 denotes a cylindrical ice making tank having a bottom. The supercooling releasing plate 32 is attached at the upper part of this ice making tank 21. An end of a supply duct 23 of the supercooled wastewater supercooled in a heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water not shown in the figure is terminated further thereon.
The ice making tank 21 is provided with a drop chute 24 which has been made to protrude a part of a tank wall out of the tank. This drop chute 24 is communicated to a centrifuge not shown in the figure, and the wall is formed liquid-tightly so that the wastewater H in the ice making tank 21 is not permeated. An opening 24a of this drop chute 24 is located at a position which is considerably higher, e.g., about 1 m higher than the wastewater level in the tank, and formed at the position protruded outside from an inner wall surface of the ice making tank 21.
An enclosing wall member 25 is attached integrally at a sidewall of a tank side of the drop chute 24. A basic end of this enclosing wall member 25 is fixed to one side of the opening 24a of the drop chute 24. A sidewall surface 25a of this enclosing wall member 25 is gently incurvated from the basic end to a tail end thereof. This enclosing wall member 25 is in parallel with the wastewater surface in a longitudinal direction. A distance of this enclosing wall member 25 from the wastewater surface is almost the same as the distance of the opening 24a of the drop chute 24 from the wastewater surface.
A mesh member 26 is fixed just under the enclosing wall member 25 so as to horizontally cover an entire opening of the ice making tank 21. A mesh diameter is set as a diameter equal to or less than the diameter of the smallest ice grain produced by the supercooling releasing plate 22. This mesh member 26 is provided just under the enclosing wall member 25 as described above, and for example, placed at the position which is 1 m higher than the wastewater surface. The mesh member 26 is placed at the relatively high position, i.e., about 1 m higher than the wastewater surface by the following reasons. That is, when the mesh member 26 is placed too close to the wastewater surface, rebounding wastewater from the wastewater surface scatter on the mesh when the wastewater runs in, and consequently, the wastewater amount accompanied by the ice grains is increased. Also when the ice grains are moved to the drop chute 24 by a sweeping member 27 described below, if the wastewater accompanied by the ice grains can be removed as possible, the load in a solid liquid separation system (centrifuge) can be reduced. When such effects are considered, the higher the height of the mesh member 26 from the wastewater is, the better effects are obtained. However, when the distance between the mesh member 26 and the wastewater surface is increased, the scale of the ice making tank is proportionally increased and the apparatus cost is also increased. From such viewpoints, it is desirable to make an interval of about 1 m depending on a flow rate of the supercooled water.
Furthermore, a wastewater surface sweeping member 27 which rotates to sweep the surface of the mesh member 26 is attached in the ice making tank 21. This wastewater surface sweeping member 27 basically has the same structure as a broom, and is composed of a rotary shaft 27a attached rotatably at the center of the ice making tank 21, a main body 27b fixed in perpendicular to this rotary shaft 27a, i.e., in parallel with the wastewater surface in the tank, and numerous sweeping brushes 27c planted to hang from this main body 27b.
In the above configuration, the drop chute 24, the enclosing wall member 25 and the wastewater surface sweeping member 27 configure a skimming unit 28. This skimming unit has a mechanism to skim the ice grains suspended in the wastewater H in the ice making tank 21 as described below.
As previously described, when the supercooled wastewater flows down from the supercooled wastewater supply duct 23 and conflicts with the supercooling releasing plate 22, a part of the wastewater becomes the ice grains. The produced ice grains are skimmed on the surface of the mesh member 26 in the ice making tank 21 as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 (it is omitted to figure the mesh member 26 in these figures). In this state, when the wastewater surface sweeping member 26 is rotated, the sweeping brushes 27c at the tip thereof scrape the ice grains skimmed on the surface of the mesh member 26 toward the enclosing wall member 25 as shown in FIG. 9. When the sweeping brushes 27c come to the enclosing wall member 25, the ice grains are enclosed along the incurvated sidewall 25a of the enclosing wall member 25 as shown in FIG. 10, and dropped from the opening 24a of the drop chute 24 into the drop chute 24 as shown in FIG. 11. During a series of enclosing operations, the ice grains are retained by the mesh member 26, and extra wastewater which adheres to the surface of the ice grain is eliminated from the mesh. This way, the ice grains on the mesh member 26 are certainly
dropped into the drop chute 24 by the enclosing operation of the wastewater surface sweeping member 27 and the enclosing wall member 25 as the wastewater on the ice grain surface is eliminated from the mesh.
In the above skimming operation, the ice grains are moved on the mesh member 26 by the sweeping brushes 27c along the sidewall 25a of the enclosing wall member 25, and dropped into the drop chute 24. As described above, only the ice grains are dropped and the wastewater does not flow in. Therefore, the small amount of the wastewater at the extent to adhere on the ice grain surface comes in the drop chute 24, and the load of solid liquid separation in the centrifuge can be reduced. The ice grains sent to the centrifuge spin off the wastewater which has adhered on the surface by receiving the centrifugal force to further reduce the accompanied wastewater amount. Recovered water obtained by melting the ice grains obtained in this way by a heat exchanger is cleaned to the extent capable of being used for the irrigation water and the intermediate water. The resulting melted water is sterilized and supplied as the reusable water to required facilities such as irrigation facilities and intermediate water facilities.
This way in this Example, a recovery rate of the ice grains is enhanced because the dropping ice grains can be skimmed by the mesh member 26 to separate from the wastewater. The ice grains captured on the surface of the mesh member 26 are rolled on the mesh by the sweeping brushes 27c of the sweeping member 27 which sweeps on the mesh, thereby the wastewater which extra adheres on the surface is eliminated from the mesh, and the wastewater amount in the drop chute is widely reduced. Therefore, the load in the subsequent centrifuge can be reduced.

Example 4

FIGS. 12 and 13 are views showing Example 4 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of an ice making tank part of the apparatus, and FIG. 13 is a view of a main section for illustrating actions of a skimming unit of this Example.
In the figures, the numeral 31 denotes a long boxy ice making tank having a bottom. The supercooling releasing plate 32 is attached at the upper part of this ice making tank 31. An end of a supply duct 33 of the supercooled wastewater supercooled in a heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water not shown in the figure is terminated further thereon.
The ice making tank 31 is provided with a drop chute 34 which has been made along one inner wall surface of the
tank. This drop chute 34 is communicated to a centrifuge not shown in the figure, and the wall is formed liquid- tightly so that the wastewater H in the ice making tank 31 is not permeated- An opening 34a of this drop chute 34 is formed at a position which is 10 cm or more higher than the wastewater level in the tank
A belt 35 and a mesh belt conveyor 36 are provided so as to cover almost an entire surface of the wastewater in the ice making tank 31. A mesh diameter of this mesh belt 35 is set as a diameter equal to or less than the diameter of the smallest ice grain produced by the supercooling releasing plate 22. This belt conveyor 36 rotates the mesh belt 35 to skim the ice grains dropped thereon, feed them
to the opening 34a of the drop chute 34 and drop them intothe drop chute 34.
Additionally, a belt press device which squeezes the wastewater accompanied by the surface of the ice grains skimmed on the mesh belt 35 is provided near the drop chute 34 of the belt conveyor 36. The opening 34a of the drop chute 34 is provided with projection members 38a, 38b for striping off the ice grains which deposit to each belt of the belt conveyor 36 and the belt press device 37. The projection member 38a is integrated with the wall which configures the opening 34a,
In the above configuration, the belt press device is not essential, and is an optional device for reducing the wastewater amount accompanied by the ice grains dropped into the drop chute. In the above configuration, the drop chute 34 and the belt conveyor 36 configure a skimming unit 39. This skimming unit has a mechanism to skim the ice grains dropped together with wastewater in the ice making tank 31 as described below.
As previously described, when the supercooled wastewater flows down from the supercooled wastewater supply duct 33 and conflicts with the supercooling releasing plate 32, a part of the wastewater becomes the ice grains. The produced ice grains are skimmed on the mesh belt 35 of the belt conveyor 36 on the way of dropping into the wastewater H in the ice making tank 31 as shown in FIG. 13. The ice grains skimmed on the mesh belt 35 are fed toward the drop chute 34 along with rotary movement of the belt 35. On its way, the wastewater which adheres on the ice grain surface is squeezed by the belt press device 37. The ice grains after widely reducing the wastewater amount adhering their surface by the belt press device 37 are dropped from the opening 34a of the drop chute 34 into the drop chute 34.
In the above skimming operation, the ice grains is moved by the belt conveyor 36 with eliminating the wastewater and dropped into the drop chute 34. Only the ice grains are dropped and the wastewater does not flow in. Therefore, the small amount of the wastewater at the extent to adhere on the ice grain surface comes in the drop chute 34. This adhering wastewater is further reduced by providing the belt press device 37. The ice grains sent to the centrifuge through the drop chute 34 spin off the wastewater which has adhered on the surface by receiving the centrifugal force to further reduce the accompanied wastewater amount. Recovered water obtained by melting the ice grains obtained in this way by the heat exchanger is cleaned to the extent capable of being used for the irrigation water and the intermediate water. The resulting melted water is sterilized and supplied as the reusable water to required facilities such as irrigation facilities and intermediate water facilities.

Example 5

FIGS. 14 to 17 are views showing Example 5 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. This Example is characterized by using a vacuum aspiration device 40 in place of the belt press device 37 in Example 4, and the other configurations are the same in Example 4. This vacuum aspiration device 40 works to aspirate and eliminate the wastewater accompanied by the surface on the ice grains on the mesh belt 35. In this vacuum aspiration device 40, a diameter of an upper part in a vacuum room 42 in which the pressure is reduced by an aspiration pump 41 is enlarged, and an upper end opening 43 thereof is formed into mesh.
In the above configuration, the ice grains are skimmed by the mesh belt 35 of the belt conveyor 36 and moved toward the drop chute 34 along with the rotary movement of the belt 35 with eliminating the wastewater from the mesh as shown in FIG. 15. As shown in FIG. 16, the wastewater which has adhered on the surface of the ice grains is aspirated off by the vacuum aspiration device 40 provided close to the drop chute 34, and thus the wastewater amount accompanied by the surface is further reduced. The ice grain after widely reducing the wastewater amount which has adhered on the surface are dropped into the drop chute 34 by the belt conveyor 36. The ice grains sent to the centrifuge through the drop chute 34 spin off the wastewater which has adhered on the surface by receiving the centrifugal force to further reduce the accompanied wastewater amount. Recovered water obtained by melting the ice grains obtained in this way by the heat exchanger is cleaned to the extent capable of being used for the irrigation water and the intermediate water. The resulting melted water is sterilized and supplied as the reusable water to required facilities such as irrigation facilities and intermediate water facilities.

Example 6

FIG. 18 is a view showing Example 6 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. This example is characterized in that a supercooling releasing plate is improved in order to make it possible to make the ice continuously for a long time. As shown in the figure, the supercooling releasing plate 50 is rotatably fixed with a thumbscrew 52 to a fixing plate 51 fixed to an inner wall of the ice making tank . Desirably, an angle scale is given to the fixing plate 51, and a inclined angle of the supercooling releasing plate is confirmed.
As described previously, the composition of the
waste water to be treated is greatly changed depending on regions and time zones in some cases. When the composition of the wastewater is changed, a supercooled state of the wastewater is changed along with it. Subsequently, a supercooling releasing temperature and a surface state of the ice grain produced after releasing the supercooled state are changed. Consequently, the ice grains easily deposit to the supercooling releasing plate 50 in some cases. Once the ice grains deposit on the surface of the supercooling releasing plate 50, they laminate one after another, and an ice layer grows. In such a state, no ice grain has been already able to be produced, if further left stand, a supercooled water supply duct located above the supercooling releasing plate 50 must be closed. In such a case, the inclined angle of the supercooling releasing plate 50 is made sharper by loosening the thumbscrew 52 to incline the inclined angle of the supercooling releasing plate 50 in a perpendicular direction and fixing the thumbscrew 52 again. Thereby, the ice grains become difficult to deposit on the surface of the supercooling releasing plate 50, and it can be avoid to stop the drive of the apparatus.

Example 7

FIG. 19 is a view showing Example 7 of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. This example is characterized in that a supercooling releasing plate is improved in order to make it possible to make the ice continuously for a long time. As shown in the figure, the supercooling releasing plate 60 is rotatably fixed with a motor 62 to a fixing plate 61 fixed to an inner wall of the ice making tank . Another fixing plate 63 is fixed under the fixing plate 61

to the inner wall of the ice making tank, and a locking member 64 which extends toward the supercooling releasing plate 60 is fixed to this fixing plate 63.
In accordance with the above configuration, the inclined angle of the supercooling releasing plate 60 can be optionally adjusted by the motor 62 as is the case with the above Example 6. Furthermore, this example can also address the case where the ice grains begin to deposit on the surface of the supercooling releasing plate 60 as described above. When it is confirmed that the ice grains begin to deposit on the surface of the supercooling releasing plate 60, the rotary angle of the supercooling releasing plate 60 is largely rotated by driving the motor 62. By largely rotating, the supercooling releasing plate collides to the locking member 64, and its impact can toss off the ice grain or a laminated ice layer deposited on the surface. This tossing off operation can certainly avoid the work of stopping the drive of the apparatus to eliminate the ice from the surface of the supercooling releasing plate 60.

Example 8

FIG. 20 shows an outline configuration of a second apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention. The same numeral is given to the same element as in the configuration shown in FIG. 29 to simplify the description.
The apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention is characterized by having a heat exchanger for producing supercooled water 1015 which supercools the wastewater, a suspended solid removing unit 101 which removes suspended solids in the wastewater supplied to the heat exchanger for
producing supercooled water 1015, a supercooling releasing unit 103 which performs supercooling releasing of the supercooled wastewater supercooled by the heat exchanger for producing supercooled water 1015 and produces ice grains in the wastewater, and a reusable water producing unit 104 which separates the ice grains from the wastewater containing the ice grains and obtains clean reusable water from the separated ice grains. In this Example, such a basic configuration of the present invention is further provided with a constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102, which keeps constant the temperature of the wastewater supplied to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015. In the present invention, the supercooling releasing unit 103 may be a conventional supercooling releasing plate, or may be a block having a flat surface with which the supercooled wastewater conflicts, or may have the other shape. After all, as long as the supercooling releasing is possible, the shape and material thereof are not limited. A bottom of the ice making tank 1011 is provided with a concentrated wastewater drawing piping 1011a.
In the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the above configuration, first the contained suspended solids are removed by the suspended solid removing unit 101 before the wastewater is supplied to the ice making tank 1011. The wastewater in which the suspended solids have been removed is once stored in the ice making tank 1011, and supplied to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 through the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102. The constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102 plays a role to keep the temperature of the wastewater supplied to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 in almost constant range (temperature range at which ice nuclei do not remain in the wastewater) throughout a year. The wastewater in the temperature range at which no ice nucleus can be present can be supplied to the heat exchanger for producing supercooled water 1015 by this constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102. It can be avoided by keeping the supplied wastewater at a constant temperature that freezing starts immediately after being cooled by the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015. Furthermore, by keeping the supplied wastewater at a constant temperature, it is possible to not only reduce a load of the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 but also give the supercooling suitable for inducing efficient production of ice grains to the wastewater. Further illustrating the effects of keeping the temperature constant in the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102, the following two points are summarized.
First, by keeping the temperature (about 0.5°C: conversely when the temperature is set higher, cooling energy required for lowering the temperature of the wastewater to a given temperature (supercooled state) in the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water is increased (load of the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water is increased), and the running cost is increased) at which the ice nuclei in the wastewater can be melted, occlusion in piping (frozen) can be prevented.
Second, the supercooling temperature is easily controlled. The load applied to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water is constant and the temperature of the supercooled water cooled in the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water is easily kept constant by keeping constant the temperature of the waste water which flows in the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water. It is necessary to control this super cooling temperature with accuracy of about ±0.2°C for a set value. Because when the supercooling temperature is high, the amount of produced ice is reduced and the amount recovered reusable water is reduced whereas when the supercooling temperature is low, the supercooling releasing occurs in the heat exchanger and it is highly likely to cause piping occlusion.
The supercooled wastewater supercooled in the heat exchanger 1015 for producing the supercooled water is jetted toward the supercooling releasing unit 103, and the supercooled state is released by conflicting with the supercooling releasing unit 103 to produce ice grains. The ice grains in larger amount than conventional ones can be produced because the suspended solids in the wastewater have been removed in the suspended solid removing unit 101 and no suspended solid is contained in the wastewater. No suspended solid is accompanied in the reusable water obtained by melting the ice grains in the subsequent step because no suspended solid is incorporated in the produced ice grains and no suspended solid is present in the wastewater stored in the ice making tank 1011. Therefore, in accordance with the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the present invention, contamination of the reusable water with the suspended solids can be certainly prevented.
The ice grains are efficiently separated from the wastewater by the reusable water producing unit 104, melted by the ice melting heat exchanger 1017, and recovered as the reusable water.
As described above, the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011 is supercooled, subsequently the supercooling state is released to produce the ice grains, these ice grains are used as the reusable water, and thus the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011 is gradually concentrated. When the wastewater is excessively concentrated, it is difficult to obtain the clean ice grains. Therefore, it is desirable to prevent the wastewater from being concentrated by placing a concentrated wastewater drawing piping 1011a at the bottom of the ice making tank 1011 and drawing the concentrated wastewater as needed.
As in the above, the basic configuration and actions thereof of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention were described. In the following Examples, each configuration element of the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the present invention of such a configuration will be sequentially described in more detail.

Example 9

This Example 9 describes the case of using a fine filtration membrane separation chamber 111 shown in FIG. 21 as one example of a specific configuration of the suspended solid removing unit 101 in the above configuration.
As shown in FIG. 21, in this fine filtration membrane separation chamber 111, a fine filtration membrane cartridge 113 is placed in a chamber 112 into which the wastewater is introduced. The fine filtration membrane cartridge 113 is composed of a cartridge main body 114 and a fine filtration membrane 115 fixed at the side of this main body 114. Many flow paths which open at the sides and the upper part are formed in the cartridge main body 114, and the water which has permeated through the fine filtration membrane 115 is led out from the upper part opening through an inner flow path. That is, the suspended solids in the wastewater in the chamber 112 are filtrated by the fine filtration membrane 115f and the water after removing the suspended solids by filtration is incorporated in the cartridge main body 114 and the separated suspended solids are left in the wastewater in the chamber 112. No coagulant is required for this removal of the suspended solids, and thus the amount of secondary wastes which precipitate as scum in the chamber 112 is small. The wastewater after removing the suspended solids in this way is led out from the upper part opening, and run in the ice making tank 1011 shown in FIG. 20. The bottom of the chamber 112 is provided with an air diffusing unit 116 which generates compressed air from a blower as foams. The suspended solids which adhere onto the surface of the fine filtration membrane 115 are peeled by numerous foams generated from this air diffusing unit 116 to prevent the reduction of filtration performance.
The above fine filtration membrane 115 is a membrane
filter, and one having a mesh size of 0.4 jam can be suitably used. Because, if the suspended solids having
diameters of more than 1 jam are removed, the suspended solid removing unit 101 can be regarded to work well, A
water-insoluble component having the size of less than 1 pm does not become an ice nucleus when the ice is made, and a water-insoluble component having the diameter of more than
1 |om can become the ice nucleus of the ice grain formed upon supercooling releasing. Therefore, if the suspended solids having the diameter of more than 1 pjn are not removed, it is likely that the water recovered as the ice grains is contaminated with the suspended solids. Since
the fine filtration membrane having the mesh size of 0.4 (am is used in the present invention as described above, no suspended solid is incorporated in the ice grains produced by the supercooling releasing. The wastewater after removing the suspended solids by this fine filtration membrane separation chamber 111 is run in the ice making tank 1011. Therefore, no suspended solid is contaminated in the ice making tank 1011, and no suspended solid adheres to the ice grains dropping in the ice grain tank 1011 to contaminate the ice grains.
As a modified example of this Example, the configuration in which a useful microorganism is added to the above fine filtration membrane separation chamber 111 may be contemplated. An example of a method for adding the useful microorganism may include a method for adding active sludge into the chamber. As well-known, the active sludge is an aggregate of useful microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, wheel animalcule and nematodes, which convert polluted substances into biologically harmless substances through their metabolic activity. That is, the polluted substances in the wastewater are degraded by adding the active sludge (useful microorganism aggregate) into the fine filtration membrane separation chamber 111 and keeping under aerobic atmosphere (e.g., giving aeration).
If the apparatus is driven with adding the useful microorganisms into the fine filtration membrane separation chamber 111, organic matters are simultaneously degraded along with the metabolic activity of the useful microorganisms in addition to the removal of the suspended solids in the fine filtration membrane 115, and the level of wastewater decontamination may be further enhanced. As a result, the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011 is further decontaminated, and the contamination of the ice grains temporarily mixed with the wastewater is reduced. Thus, the load in the subsequent ice grain washing step may be reduced.

Example 10

This Example 10 describes the case of using an agglomeration filtration device 121 shown in FIG. 22 as another example of the specific configuration of the suspended solid removing unit 101.
In this agglomeration filtration device 121, a reaction chamber 122 in which a coagulant and if necessary a coagulant aid are mixed and reacted with the wastewater, an agglomeration chamber 123 in which the wastewater reacted with the coagulant is stored and the suspended solids in the wastewater are agglomerated, and a filtration chamber 124 in which the agglomerated components are filtrated are sequentially linked as shown in FIG. 22. The reaction chamber 122 and the agglomeration chamber 123 are adjacent, and the wastewater in the agglomeration chamber 123 is drawn and run into the filtration chamber 124 by a pump 125. The filtration chamber 124 has a filtration layer 126 at an intermediate part, suspended agglomerated components are filtrated by introducing the wastewater from the bottom and passing through the intermediate filtration layer 126, and the wastewater containing no suspended solid is taken out from the upper part and run into the ice making tank 1011. The bottom of the filtration chamber is provided with an air diffusing unit which generates compressed air from a blower as foams. The suspended agglomerated components which adhere onto the filtration layer 12 6 are peeled by numerous foams generated from this air diffusing unit to prevent the reduction of filtration performance. No chemical is used for washing the filtration layer 126, and the filtration layer is maintained by foam washing. Thus, no chemical waste treatment is required, and this method is excellent in economics and environment protection.
In the agglomeration filtration device 121, the suspended solid having the size as fine as in the fine filtration membrane can not be filtrated out, but the suspended solids having the size of more than 1 pm can be removed. A decontamination property of the wastewater is high because the coagulant is used for the filtration and thus not only the suspended solids but also impurities in semi-dissolved state may be agglomerated and removed. Therefore, the suspended solids are not incorporated in the ice grains produced by the supercooling releasing by using the agglomeration filtration device 121 of this Example as the suspended solid removing unit 101. The wastewater after removing the suspended solids by this agglomeration filtration device 121 is run into the ice making tank 1011. Thus, no suspended solid is contaminated in the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011, and no suspended solid adheres to the ice grains dropping into the ice grain tank 1011 to contaminate the ice grains.

Example 11

This Example 11 describes the case of using a pressure floating device 131 shown in FIG. 23 as another example of the specific configuration of the suspended solid removing unit 101.
In this pressure floating device 131, a reaction chamber 132 in which a coagulant is mixed and reacted with the wastewater, an agglomeration chamber 133 in which the wastewater reacted with the coagulant is stored and the suspended solids in the wastewater are agglomerated, and a floating separation chamber 134 in which the agglomerated components are removed using fine air bubbles are sequentially linked as shown in FIG. 23. The reaction chamber 132 and the agglomeration chamber 133 are adjacent, and the wastewater in the agglomeration chamber 133 is drawn by a piping 135 in which pressured water flows together, and run into the floating separation chamber 134. The reaction chamber 132 and the agglomeration chamber 133 are provided with a stirring unit, respectively. In the floating separation chamber 134f as shown in the figure, the agglomerated components in the wastewater sent from the agglomeration chamber 133 are adhered to the fine air bubbles contained in the pressured water and forced to float, and the suspended components floated as scum are removed by a sweeping unit 134b provided at the upper part. A part of treated water is used for the pressured water, and thus no additional water source is required.
In the floating separation device 131, the suspended solid having the size as fine as in the fine filtration membrane can not be filtrated out, but the suspended solids having the size of more than 1 jam can be removed. A decontamination property of the wastewater is high because the coagulant is used for the filtration and thus not only the suspended solids but also impurities in semi-dissolved state may be agglomerated and removed. The device may be downsized because the agglomerated components are forced to float and removed by extremely fine air bubbles produced by injection of the pressured water. It is desirable that the air bubbles do not disappear immediately after reaching the wastewater surface. Thus, the addition of a foaming agent is usual practice in such a separation device by air bubbles. However, most wastewater contains a detergent component, and thus this detergent component plays a role
of the foaming agent. Therefore, by adding the foaming agent only in small amount, or even when no foaming agent is added in some cases, it may be realized to forcibly float the agglomerated components.
The suspended solids are not incorporated in the ice grains produced by the supercooling releasing by using the pressure floating device 131 of this Example as the suspended solid removing unit 101. The wastewater after removing the suspended solids by this pressure floating device 131 is run into the ice making tank 1011. Thus, no suspended solid is contaminated in the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011, and no suspended solid adheres to the ice grains dropping into the ice grain tank 1011 to contaminate the ice grains.

Example 12

This Example describes the case of using a foam separation device 141 shown in FIG. 24 as another example of the specific configuration of the suspended solid removing unit 101.
In this foam separation device 141, a reaction chamber 142 in which a coagulant is mixed and reacted with the wastewater, an agglomeration chamber 143 in which the wastewater reacted with the coagulant is stored and the suspended solids in the wastewater are agglomerated, and an air liquid contacting tower 144 in which the agglomerated components are removed using fine air bubbles are sequentially linked as shown in FIG. 24. The reaction chamber 142 and the agglomeration chamber 143 are adjacent, and the wastewater in the agglomeration chamber 143 is led out by a piping 145 to run into the air liquid contacting tower 144. The reaction chamber 142 and the agglomeration chamber 143 are provided a stirring unit, respectively. In the air liquid contacting tower 144, as shown in the figure, the agglomerated components in the wastewater sent from the agglomeration chamber 143 are adhered to fine air bubbles 144b formed by a filter 144a at the bottom and forced to float, and the suspended components floated as the scum are removed from the upper part. In the filter 144a, the air is blown in from an air supply pump 146 out of the tower. This air is made into fine air bubbles by the filter 144a, and floated in the wastewater in the tower. This fine air bubble is not as extremely fine as the air bubble in the above Example 11, but may float and separate the
agglomerated component having the diameter of 1 (im or more. It is desirable that the air bubbles do not disappear immediately after reaching the wastewater surface. Thus, the addition of a foaming agent is usual practice in such a separation device by air bubbles. However, most wastewater contains a detergent component, and thus this detergent component plays a role of the foaming agent. Therefore, by adding the foaming agent only in small amount, or even when no foaming agent is added in some cases, it may be realized to forcibly float the agglomerated components.
In the foam separation device 141, the suspended solid having the size as fine as in the fine filtration membrane can not be filtrated out, but the suspended solids having the size of more than 1 jam can be removed. A decontamination property of the wastewater is high because the coagulant is used for the filtration and thus not only the suspended solids but also impurities in semi-dissolved state may be agglomerated and removed. The device may be downsized because the agglomerated components are forced to float and removed by fine air bubbles produced.
The suspended solids are not incorporated in the ice grains produced by the supercooling releasing by using the foam separation device 141 of this Example as the suspended solid removing unit 101. The wastewater after removing the suspended solids by this foam separation device 141 is run into the ice making tank 1011. Thus, no suspended solid is contaminated in the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011, and no suspended solid adheres to the ice grains dropping into the ice grain tank 1011 to contaminate the ice grains.

Example 13

This Example describes the case of combining a newly placed circulation tank 151 with an outdoor temperature regulating piping 152 as one example of the specific configuration of the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102.
A part of the wastewater after removing the suspended solids by the suspended solid removing unit 101 is stored in the circulation tank 151. The piping of the wastewater which has passed through the suspended solid removing unit 101 is branched, one of them opens in the circulation tank 101 as described above, and the other one, i.e., an outdoor temperature regulating piping 152 is extended to outdoor and opens in the circulation tank 151 after regulating the temperature by outdoor air temperature. The temperature of the wastewater in the outdoor temperature regulating piping 152 is raised by receiving effects of the outdoor air temperature and sun light because the outdoor temperature regulating piping 152 is exposed to snake its way. In order to keep the wastewater temperature constant in the circulation tank 151, an appropriate amount of the wastewater is supplied by a flow regulator 153 to the circulation tank 151. The flow regulator 153 regulates based on the wastewater temperature in the circulation tank 151 measured by a temperature sensor 154 placed in the circulation tank 151.
In the previous configuration, the ice grains produced by the supercooling releasing of the supercooled wastewater and the cooled wastewater are stored in the ice making tank 1011. Therefore, the temperature in the tank is kept low, and it is unlikely that the ice grain volume is reduced by facilitating ice grain melting. That is, when the wastewater at high temperature is directly supplied to the ice making tank, the produced ice is melted to reduce the recovery amount of the ice. On the contrary, the loss (melt) of the produced ice in the ice making tank can be prevented by providing the circulation tank and supplying the wastewater thereto as described above.
The cooled wastewater flows from the ice grain tank 1011 into the circulation tank 151. The wastewater temperature supplied from the outdoor is high in the summer season,. Thus, the wastewater in the tank is regulated to the suitable temperature and ice nuclei present in the cooled wastewater are melted only by stirring in the circulation tank 151. However, in the winter season, the temperature of the wastewater from the outdoor is low. Thus, the ice nuclei produced in the wastewater in the ice making tank 1011 continue to remain. When such cooled wastewater is directly sent to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 and supercooled, the ice grains are easily produced. As a result, the wastewater is frozen in the piping toward the supercooling releasing unit 104, and the ice grains deposit on the supercooling releasing unit 104 and are difficult to be peeled. The circumstance until here is the same as the circumstance which occurs in the conventional ice making tank 1011 without providing the circulation tank 151. In the conventional case, when the temperature of the supplied wastewater is lowered in the winter season, it has been difficult to prevent the ice nuclei from being mixing in the wastewater supplied to the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015. On the contrary, in this Example, the circulation tank 151 is provided, the wastewater temperature is raised by passing at least a part of the wastewater through the outdoor temperature regulating piping 152, and the warmed wastewater is supplied to the circulation tank 151 with controlling the supply amount> Therefore, in the winter season, the wastewater temperature in the circulation tank 151 can be kept in the range which is not largely different from the temperature range of the other seasons, i.e., the temperature range at which the ice nuclei are sufficiently melted by diverting a majority of the supplied wastewater to the outdoor temperature regulating piping 152 and then running into the circulation tank 151.

Example 14

This Example 14 describes the case of combining a circulation tank 151 with a reusable water supply duct 162 having a sunlight irradiated section 161 at a part thereof shown in FIG. 26 as one example of the specific configuration of the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102,
In the circulation tank 151, the wastewater after removing the suspended solids by the suspended solid removing unit may be run in as is the case with the above Example 13, or the wastewater may be supplied from the ice making tank 1011 after being run in the ice making tank 1011 as is the case with the conventional apparatus, or the wastewater may be supplied from both simultaneously.
The reusable water obtained by melting the ice grains by the ice melting heat exchanger 1017 is supplied to the outside by the reusable water supply duct 161. This reusable water supply duct 161 is exposed to the outdoor, and a part thereof is provided with the sunlight irradiated section 161, where the temperature of the reusable water can be raised. As the structure of the sunlight irradiated section 161, it is possible to use the structure common to a sunlight hot water producing device. If the duct has a double duct structure, adiabatic property can be secured and it is possible to reduce radiation of endothermic energy. This sunlight irradiated section may include a configuration where the duct is simply snaked its way, which is coated with a black paint.
A downstream of this reusable water supply duct 162 is provided with a bypass duct 162a, and this bypass duct is diverted in the circulation tank 151 after being branched from the reusable water supply duct 162, and subsequently flows together with the reusable water supply duct 162 again. Therefore, this bypass duct 162 gives thermal energy obtained at the sunlight irradiated section 161 to the wastewater in the circulation tank 151.
The amount of the thermal energy supplied by the bypass duct 162a to the wastewater in the circulation tank 151 is controlled by a flow regulator 163 engaged with the temperature sensor 154.
When the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102 of the present invention is composed by combining the circulation tank 151 with the reusable water supply duct 162 having the sunlight irradiated section 161 at the part thereof, it is possible to obtain the same temperature regulation effect (in other words, ice nucleus melting effect) as in the case of using the outdoor temperature regulating piping 152 of the supply wastewater described in the above Example 13.
As a modified example of this Example 14, it is possible that the sunlight irradiated section 161 is composed of a material excellent in ultraviolet ray transmittance. By configuring the sunlight irradiated section 161 from the material excellent in ultraviolet ray transmittance, it is possible to sterilize the reusable water which passes through the supply duct in this sunlight irradiated section 161. When harmful bacteria are contained in the wastewater, these bacteria are not eradicated in the supercooled state and remain to be contained in the produced ice grains, and thus the resulting reusable water is bacteriologically contaminated. Therefore, the apparatus of the present invention is highly significant in that the reusable water is sterilized in addition to as the apparatus for the use of the reusable water as the intermediate water and the irrigation water. As a sterilization structure therefor, the sunlight irradiated section 161 composed of the material excellent in ultraviolet ray transmittance can be manufactured simply and inexpensively, and is useful.

Example 15

This Example shows another example of the specific configuration of the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102. This specific configuration is for addressing the case of using the apparatus of the present invention in high temperature regions.
In the apparatus of the this Example, as shown in FIG. 27, the wastewater after passing through the suspended solid removing unit 101 is run in the circulation tank 151. A heat exchanger for cooling the wastewater 175 is attached to a pipe 1013 for running this wastewater, and a reusable
water supply duct 176 in which the reusable water obtained from the ice melting heat exchanger 1017 flows passes through the above heat exchanger 175. As a result, the temperature of wastewater in the above pipe 1013 is lowered by heat-exchanging with the reusable water. A flow regulator 177 is attached to the reusable water supply duct 176, and a control signal from the temperature sensor 154 which detects the wastewater temperature in the circulation tank 151 is input in this flow regulator 17 7. In this Example, the circulation tank 151, the temperature sensor 154, the heat exchanger for cooling the wastewater 175, the reusable water supply duct 176 and the flow regulator 177 configure the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102.
When the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment is used to obtain the reusable water in the region at high temperature, the temperature of the wastewater which flows in is too high, and it is not possible to keep the wastewater temperature in the circulation tank 151 constant at a proper temperature
(about 0.5°C). When the wastewater temperature in the circulation tank 151 is increased, the load (energy required for cooling) in the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 is increased and the cost for making the water is increased.
Such problems in the case of placing in the region at high temperature may be solved by the configuration of the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit of this Example, i.e., bypassing a part of the reusable water (ice melted water) and heat-exchanging with the wastewater which flows in to lower the temperature of the wastewater which flows in.
This way, in accordance with this Example, it is
possible to lower the temperature of the wastewater which flows in and prevent temperature elevation of the wastewater in the circulation tank 151 by heat-exchanging between the wastewater which flows in and the reusable water. Thereby, the load (energy required for cooling) in the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 can be reduced, and the wastewater temperature in the circulation tank 151 can be kept constant at a given temperature (about 0.5°C). Thus, it becomes easy to control the supercooled water temperature.

Example 16

This Example 16 will be described with reference to FIG. 27. A reusable water producing unit 104 which is a constituent factor of the present invention may be the configuration of combining the ice making tank 1011 and the centrifuge 1016 provided in the conventional apparatus, but more desirably, the combination shown in this Example or a centrifuge device having a double wall structure shown in next Example 17 is used.
The reusable water producing unit 104 shown in this Example is commonly used in the apparatuses in FIGS. 20 and 26, is provided below the supercooling releasing unit, and is composed of the ice making tank 1011 in which the wastewater from a wastewater source is run in, a washing unit 171 in which the ice grains run from the ice making tank 1011 are washed and a separator 1016 which separates washing water and the ice grains run from the washing unit 171.
As the washing unit, it is possible to use a washing chamber (not shown in the figure) in which clean water is filled, a warm air device (not shown in the figure) and a shower device (not shown in the figure) which scatters the clean water.
When the washing unit 171 is the washing chamber in which the clean water is filled, the wastewater is washed out from the ice grain surface with the clean water in the chamber by transferring the ice grains from the ice making tank 1011 to the washing chamber. When the washing unit 171 is the warm air device, the ice grain surface is melted with warm air by transferring the ice grains from the ice making tank 1011 to the warm air device, and the wastewater is washed out from the ice grain surface with the melted water. In this case, the ice grains in small volume are reduced. When the washing unit 171 is the shower device which scatters the clean water, the wastewater is washed out from the ice grain surface with the scattering clean water by transferring the ice grains from the ice making tank 1011 to the shower device.
The wastewater is certainly removed from the ice grain surface to obtain the clean ice grains by applying the ice grains washed by the washing unit 171 to the centrifuge 1016. The clean reusable water may be obtained by melting the ice grains after certainly removing the wastewater by the ice melting heat exchanger 1017.
Example 17
In this Example, another example of the reusable water producing unit 104 which is the constituent factor of the present invention is shown. As shown in FIG. 28, this another example of the reusable water producing unit 104 is a centrifuge device having a rotary shaft 181 whose tip is fixed with the supercooling releasing unit 103 and a solid liquid separating wall 182 with inverted cone shape fixed to the rotary shaft 181 to surround the rotary shaft 181.
The solid liquid separating wall 182 is an inverted cone shaped member whose diameter is enlarged upwards, fixed to the rotary shaft 181 and rotated at high speed by driving the rotary shaft 181. This solid liquid separating wall 182 has a double wall structure composed of an external wall 182a which faces to a supercooled water supply duct 183 which leads the supercooled water from the heat exchanger for producing the supercooled water 1015 and an internal wall 182 b opposed thereto. The external wall 182a has a liquid-tight structure and the internal wall 182b has a mesh structure. An internal bottom 184a of a support 184 which supports the rotary shaft 181 is inclined, a liquid path 185 is formed at an inclined foot, and this liquid path 185 is led to the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102. A periphery of the support 184 stands up to make the double wall structure, and an ice grain feeding path 186 is formed inside. An upper end edge of this ice grain feeding path 186 is close to cover an upper opening edge of the liquid solid separating wall 182 with inverted cone shape. The ice grain feeding path 186 is led to the ice melting heat exchanger 1017.
The supercooled wastewater jetted from the supercooled water supply duct 183 downwards conflicts with the supercooling releasing unit 103 fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 181 to produce the ice grains. The produced ice grains are incorporated together with the remaining wastewater in the solid liquid separating wall 182 by the centrifugal force along with high speed rotation of the rotary shaft 181, and the wastewater is spun off from the ice grains through the internal wall 182b with mesh structure. The wastewater spun off is led by the inclined internal bottom 184a of the support 184 to enter in the liquid path 185, and sent from this liquid path to the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit 102. Meanwhile, the ice grains are moved upwards along the internal wall 182b with mesh structure with separating from the wastewater by the centrifugal force, reach the upper end edge of the liquid solid separating wall 182, and subsequently dropped in the ice grain feeding path 186. The ice grains dropped in the ice grain feeding path 186 are sent to the ice melting heat exchanger 1017 through the ice grain feeding path 186, and melted to become the reusable water.
In this Example, as the reusable water producing unit 104, one centrifuge device of the double wall structure which internally incorporates the supercooling releasing unit 103 is used in place of the combination structure composed of the ice making tank 1011, the washing unit 171 and the centrifuge 1016. Therefore, remarkable effects that a placing area and a placing cost of the entire apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment according to the present invention can be reduced are obtained. A clean water shower unit can also be provided inside the centrifuge device of the double wall structure, and the washing effect of the ice grains may be enhanced by placing the shower unit.
In the apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment of the present invention, the suspended solid removing unit is the essential constituent factor, and the effects are further enhanced by combining the constant wastewater temperature keeping unit and the specific reusable water producing unit therewith in order to efficiently obtain the clean reusable water in large amount. However, even when a single of these three factors is disposed in the conventional apparatus for frozen concentrated wastewater treatment, it can be anticipated that the more clean reusable water is obtain or the
reusable water is more efficiently obtained or these effects are simultaneously obtained.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred examples, it should be understood that various modifications and variations can be easily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure should be interpreted as illustrative only and is not to be interpreted in a limiting sense. The present invention is limited only by the scope of the following claims along with their full scope of equivalents.

Documents:

0206-che-2006 claims-duplicate.pdf

0206-che-2006 description (complete)-duplicate.pdf

0206-che-2006 drawings-duplicate.pdf

206-che-2006-abstract.pdf

206-che-2006-claim.pdf

206-che-2006-correspondence-others.pdf

206-che-2006-description(complete).pdf

206-che-2006-drawings.pdf

206-che-2006-form1.pdf

206-che-2006-form26.pdf

206-che-2006-form3.pdf

206-che-2006-form5.pdf

206-che-2006-prioritydocument-english translation.pdf

206-che-2006-prioritydocument-japanesh.pdf


Patent Number 231273
Indian Patent Application Number 206/CHE/2006
PG Journal Number 13/2009
Publication Date 27-Mar-2009
Grant Date 04-Mar-2009
Date of Filing 08-Feb-2006
Name of Patentee MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD
Applicant Address 16-5 KONAN 2-CHOME MINATO-KU, TOKYO 108-8215,
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 TAMURA, KAZUHISA C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
2 OGAWA, NAOKI C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
3 KAWAMURA, WATARU C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
4 NAGAYASU, HIROMITSU C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
5 OHTANI,YUICHI C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
6 FUJITA, KINYA C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
7 TAMAI, MASATOSHI C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
8 KATAYAMA, KENICHI C/O KOBE SHIPYARD & MACHINERY WORKS, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD, 1-1, WADASAKI-CHO 1-CHOME, HYOGO-KU, KOBE, HYOGO-KEN 652-8585,
PCT International Classification Number C02F1/22
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 2005-054913 2005-02-28 Japan
2 2005-142722 2005-05-16 Japan