Mobile filtration system and method

Abstract

A filtration system comprising a floor panel and a plurality of wall panels connected to each other to define a box, at least one filtering wall vertically inclined and supported inward of a corresponding wall panel such as to define a first free space therebetween, a filtering floor horizontally inclined and supported above the floor panel such as to define a second free space therebetween, the filtering floor being connected to the filtering wall to define a filter chamber, a plurality of openings defined in the filtering wall and the filtering floor sized to let a liquid pass through and retain at least one target solid within the filter chamber, an inlet in fluid communication with the filter chamber, and an outlet in fluid communication with the first and second free spaces. A method of filtering at least one target solid from a liquid is also provided.

1 . A filtration system for separating at least one target solid from a liquid the filtration system comprising: 
 a floor panel;    a plurality of wall panels, the wall panels being connected to each other and to the floor panel to define a box;    at least one filtering wall inclined with respect to a vertical plane such that a bottom edge thereof is located inward of a top edge thereof, the at least one filtering wall being supported inward of a corresponding one of the wall panels such as to define a first free space therebetween;    a filtering floor inclined with respect to a horizontal plane along a first direction and supported above tb-; floor panel such as to define a second free space therebetween, the filtering floor being connected to the at least one filtering wall to define a filter chamber;    a plurality of openings defined in the at least one filtering wall and the filtering floor, the plurality of openings being sized to let the liquid pass through and retain the at least one target solid within the filter chamber;    an inlet in fluid communication with the filter chamber; and    an outlet in fluid communication with the first and second free spaces;    whereby the liquid and the at least one target solid enter the filter chamber through the inlet in a mixed state, the at least one target solid being retained within the filter chamber while the liquid reaches the first and second free spaces through the plurality of openings before being evacuated through the outlet.    
     
     
         2 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the inclination of the at least one filtering wall with respect to the vertical plane is selected according to the nature of the liquid and the at least one target solid to be filtered.  
     
     
         3 . The filtration system according to  claim 1 , wherein the filtering floor has a convex semi-circular cross section di,fined between two bottom edges extending along the first direction.  
     
     
         4 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the filtering floor includes first and second panels having parallel top and bottom edges extending along the first direction, the first and second panels being inclined with respect  10  the vertical plane such that the bottom edges extend farther apart from each other than the top edges.  
     
     
         5 . The filtering system according to  claim 4 , wherein the top edges are connected together by a third panel.  
     
     
         6 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the filtering floor includes a flat panel.  
     
     
         7 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , further including a filtering partition extending upward from the: filtering floor along the first direction, the filtering partition including a third free space therewithin in fluid communication with the outlet, he filtering partition including a second plurality of openings sized such as to let the liquid pass into the third free space and retain the at least one target solid.  
     
     
         8 . The filtering system according to  claim 7 , wherein the filtering partition includes first and second panels having parallel top and bottom edges extending along the first direction, the first and second panels being inclined with respect to the vertical plane such that the bottom edges extend farther apart from each other than the top edges.  
     
     
         9 . The filtering system according to  claim 8 , wherein the top edges are connected together by a third panel.  
     
     
         10 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wall panels include a front wall panel, a rear wall panel and first and second side panels, and wherein the at least one filtering wall includes a front filtering wall supported inward of the front wall panel and first and second side filtering walls respectively supported inward of the first and second wall panels, the first and second side filtering walls and the filtering floor each having an edge sealingly engaged to the rear wall.  
     
     
         11 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of openings are circular and have a diameter between 0.1 and 1 millimeters.  
     
     
         12 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the box is transportable by a truck.  
     
     
         13  The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one filtering wall and the filtering floor include a channel structure supporting a wire mesh, the wire mesh supporting a filtering material including the plurality of openings.  
     
     
         14 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the liquid is water.  
     
     
         15 . The filtering system according to  claim 1 , wherein the liquid and at least one target solid form a mix selected from the group composed of manure, waste from an agri-food industry, industrial sludge, used water, and wet contaminated soil.  
     
     
         16 . A method of filtering at least one target solid from a liquid comprising the steps of: 
 providing a box having a floor panel and a plurality of wall panels;    determining the nature of the liquid and target solid;    selecting a filtering floor according to the nature of the liquid and target solid;    installing the filtering floor above the floor panel such as to define a first free space therebetween;    selecting an inclination angle for at least one filtering wall according to the nature of the liquid and target solid;    installing the filtering wall inward of a corresponding one of the wall panels and at the selected inclination angle such as to define a second free space therebetween;    connecting the filtering wall to the filtering floor to define a filter chamber; and    pouring the liquid and target solid in the filter chamber so that the target solid is retained therein while the liquid passes through at least one of the filtering floor and filtering wall to be collected in at least one of the first and second free spaces.    
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the filtering floor is installed above the floor panel to be inclined with respect to a horizontal plane.  
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the filtering floor is selected from the group composed of a convex semi-circular panel, an assembly of first and second panels inclined with respect to the vertical plane and toward each other, a flat panel, and two flat panels connected by a central filtering partition.  
     
     
         19 . A filtration system to filter a sludge, the filtration system comprising: 
 a box having impermeable bottom and side walls to form a container;    at least a first filtration panel spaced from thc bottom wall and defining a first plenum therebetween, the first filtration panel having a slope relative to a horizontal plane in a predetermined direction;    at least a second filtration panel spaced from one of the side walls and defining a second plenum therebetween, the second filtration panel having an inward slope relative to a vertical plane, the first and second filtration panels being such as to permit a liquid from the sludge to pass through to the respective plenums while retaining a least one solid from the sludge above the filtration panels; and    means for draining the liquid from the first and second plenums.    
     
     
         20 . The filtering system according to  claim 19 , wherein the inward slope of the second filtering panel is selected according to the nature of the sludge.  
     
     
         21 . The filtration system according to claims  19 , wherein the first filtration panel has a convex semi-circular cross section.  
     
     
         22 . The filtering system according to  claim 19 , wherein the first filtration panel has an outward slope relative to the vertical plane and is connected to an opposed third filtration panel to defined a filtering floor, the filtering floor having a vertical plane of symmetry extending along the predetermined direction.  
     
     
         23 . The filtering system according to  claim 19 , wherein the sludge is selected from the group composed of manure, chaste from an agri-food industry, industrial sludge, used water, and wet contaminated soil