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Constraints with Conventional Technology
Most industrial water and wastewater settlement tanks such as clarifiers are much less efficient than theory would suggest, so they have to be oversized. The most common designs rely on the establishment of ideal vertical up-flow conditions and the maintenance of an effective sludge blanket. In practice, short-circuiting, large-scale recirculation, sludge blanket puncturing and stagnant conditions are endemic. Similar problems occur in cross-flow tanks, due to the difficulty in uniformly distributing the inflow liquors. Even with a conservative over sizing factor, serious problems persist, including poor effluent quality, scum formation and clogging, and sludge carryover especially with low density, near-buoyant, naturally or chemically flocculated solids such as occur in activated sludge systems. Conventional designs are particularly sensitive to varying flow conditions, especially surges.
The Voluflow Solution
A solution is now available: where companies have replaced their conventional clarifiers by Fostech Voluflow designs, these problems are a thing of the past. Greatly improved performance and many extra benefits listed later have been secured, cost-effectively.
In conventional clarifiers, uneven flow patterns caused by maldistribution prevail, producing the problems described above. In contrast, Voluflow tanks generate uniform cross-flow settling by having a specially engineered inflow converter at the centre together with a short flat-topped overflow weir at the tank periphery. The inflow converter normally occupies limited space within the tank and scrapers continue to operate unhindered. The whole system is self-regulating and highly tolerant to flow rate variations including prolonged surges.
The Voluflow Advantage
Voluflow benefits include:
New-build or retrofittable
No moving parts
Compatible with existing structures and processes
Short, flat-topped weir that is much easier and safer to install, level and operate
Reduced overflow suspended solids
Sludge lift and sludge overflow eliminated
Scum reduced or eliminated
Increased surface loading and reduced footprint achieved
Highly tolerant of flow rate variations and surges
Stable and self-regulating settlement regime
Can be used up to very large scale
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