New System Offers Improved Evaporation Rates

March 1, 2010
Disposal methods and costs are an ever-growing concern for industrial wastewater producers.

Disposal methods and costs are an ever-growing concern for industrial wastewater producers. Evaporation technology has been employed for more than 40 years to enhance natural evaporation, but can be costly and effectiveness can vary with atmospheric conditions. A new evaporation technology, Forced Air Thermal Evaporation (F.A.T.E.), may help lower costs associated with evaporation disposal methods.

The Forced Air Thermal Evaporation system produces a heated water vapor that can improve evaporation rates for industrial wastewater.

F.A.T.E., available from Summit Industries, is a nozzle system that can either float on water or sit on land. The system has the ability to evaporate 18,000 to 58,000 gallons of water per day under a variety of atmospheric conditions, lowering the overall cost per gallon evaporated.

The pontoon-based nozzle system for use on water has a series of nozzles that sit on a riser attached to an inlet air distribution header. Air is pumped from an air compressor at 50 psi to 200 psi and at 50°F to 195°F to a primary heat exchanger, where it is heated further using waste heat from the air compressor exhaust. The heated air then flows through high temperature hoses at 350 °F to 460 °F and enters the air distribution header. The air passes through 1⁄8" holes in a series of risers (educators) and into the bottom of air/water mixing nozzles.

Wastewater is siphoned or pumped through two - 3⁄8" siphon tubes per nozzle and enters the side of the mixing nozzle, where it is mixed with the heated air to form a water vapor. The water vapor is disbursed through the 3⁄4" spiral cone nozzle or a 2" discharge nozzle into the atmosphere at a rate of 28 cfm to 50 cfm.

The land-based nozzle system has two nozzles attached to the air distribution header. Air is pumped from the air compressor through the primary heat exchanger to the air distribution header at the same specifications as the pontoon-based system. From there, the air leaves the air distribution header and enters one of two educators at 375 cfm per educator.

The water entering the air/water mixing nozzles (educators) is siphoned or pumped in at a rate of 40 gallons per minute per nozzle. The water is then mixed with the air from the primary heat exchangers to form a water vapor which, just like the vapor in the pontoon-based system, is disbursed through the 3⁄4" spiral cone nozzle or a 2" discharge nozzle into the atmosphere.

The system is designed to virtually eliminate plugged nozzles. The optimal air to water ratio for the system is 7 cfm of air to 1 gallon of water.

The water/steam vapor from the system allows for a greater evaporation rate than conventional evaporation systems. Because the water leaves the spiral cones as a fine heated vapor, there are no large water droplets for the wind to carry outside containment areas.

Using the high temperature air also reduces freezing and creates a mini microclimate surrounding the evaporation system by heating the surrounding air. This allows wastewater producers to extend their operating season without having to lower production through the winter or humid months of the year.

The system is portable and can be set up in a variety of configurations in less than one hour. It can be can be powered with either diesel or electric air compressors.

For more information on the system, visit the Summit Industries LLC website, http://summitindustriesllc.org.

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