Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a floating liquid intake for a liquid suction removal system.

Background

[0002] Settling ponds are known for separating solids or immiscible liquids from water. Settling ponds have found uses in mining sites where the tailings by-products entrained in water is separated in the pond water, with the by-product settled out as sediment is then able to be pumped from the pond for reuse.

[0003] In a known system a pump inlet is positioned at the base of the settling pond and water is pumped from there. Commonly a stalk will be raised from the base to try to distance the pump intake from the bottom which has the sediment.

[0004] Another approach is to provide a float which dangles the pump inlet into the pond. However a strong suction from the pump can create a vortex in the water which can turn into a whirlpool that can allow air to enter the inlet. Further the inlet is not at the surface where the cleanest water is located.

[0005] The present invention seeks to overcome or at least substantially ameliorate, the disadvantages and/or shortcomings of prior systems.

[0006] Any references to documents that are made in this specification are not intended to be an admission that the information contained in those documents form part of the common general knowledge known to a person skilled in the field of the invention, unless explicitly stated as such.

Summary of the Invention

[0007] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a floating liquid intake for a liquid suction removal system, said intake comprising:

a generally planar upper portion; and a smaller generally planar lower portion substantially parallel to the upper portion and suspended from the upper portion so as to provide a cavity therebetween; a floatation portion arranged around the periphery of the upper portion and having sufficient positive buoyancy such that the intake will float in a liquid; an open pipe within the cavity for connection to a liquid suction removal system. [0008] In an embodiment there is provided an opening into the cavity between the periphery of the lower portion and the underside of the upper portion so as to draw liquid from beneath, but near to the surface of the liquid. In an embodiment the cavity provides a clear travel path of liquid from the periphery of the lower portion to the pipe opening.

[0009] In an embodiment the upper portion is substantially dome shaped. In an embodiment the lower portion is substantially inversely dome shaped relative to the upper portion.

[0010] In an embodiment the floatation portion provides a barrier against a suction vortex forming between the open pipe and a surface of the liquid in which the intake is placed in use.

[0011] In an embodiment the upper portion is supported above the pipe by a column portion.

[0012] In an embodiment the column portion has an opening into an upper region of the cavity and an opening into the open pipe.

[0013] In an embodiment the open pipe has its opening downwardly facing the lower portion. In an embodiment the pipe opening is lower than the opening into the cavity. In an embodiment the pipe extends sideways from the upper portion, substantially as the surface of the liquid.

[0014] In an embodiment the upper and lower portions are substantially circular in plan view.

[0015] In an embodiment the floatation portion comprises a radially extending positively buoyant material. In an embodiment the positively buoyant material extends radially from the periphery of the smaller lower portion in plan view. In an embodiment the periphery of the upper portion has a downwardly extending lip.

[0016] In an embodiment the upper portion comprises an inner circular frame member with a plurality of radially extending spokes supporting an outer circular frame member. In an embodiment the frame has a covering extending over the frames. In an embodiment the cover is saucer shaped so as to form the dome shape.

[0017] In an embodiment the lower portion comprises a circular frame. In an embodiment the circular frame of the lower portion is substantially the same diameter as the inner circular frame of the upper member. In an embodiment the lower portion has a covering extending inwardly from the circular frame. In an embodiment the covering is saucer shaped so as to form the inverse dome shape. In an embodiment the covering has holes therein. In an embodiment the holes allow liquid to flood into the lower portion so that the inlet is able to sink into the liquid to bring the floatation portion into contact with the surface of the liquid when the intake is first placed into the liquid. In an embodiment the hole in the column portion allows air to escape into the pipe during flooding of the liquid into the hollow.

[0018] In an embodiment the opening of the pipe is below the floatation portion such that liquid will enter the pipe sufficiently for the pipe to be primed.

[0019] In an embodiment the floatation portion is positively buoyant to an extent that when the hollow is flooded the upper surface of the floatation portion is substantially level with the surface of the liquid.

[0020] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a floating liquid intake for a liquid suction removal system, said intake comprising:

a hollow disc shaped body with a cavity inside the body; a floatation portion arranged around the periphery of the body and having sufficient positive buoyancy such that the intake will float in a liquid; an open pipe within the cavity for connection to a liquid suction removal system.

[0021] Throughout the specification and claims, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Description of Drawings

[0022] In order to provide a better understanding of the present invention embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings, in which:- [0023] Figure 1 is a conceptual isometric view of the floating liquid intake for a liquid suction removal system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 is a horizontal cross sectional view of the floating liquid intake of Figure 1 ;

[0025] Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section view of the floating liquid intake according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 is an underside view of the intake of Figure 3; and [0027] Figure 5 is a top plan view of the intake of Figure 4. Detailed Description

[0028] Referring to the Figures, there is illustrated a floating liquid intake 10 for a liquid suction removal system comprising a pipe 12 with a downwardly directed opening. The opening defines a centre point of a generally disc shaped body 14 body having an in internal cavity 60. The pipe 12 extends sideways from the centre point.

[0029] The disc shaped body 14 is defined by a generally dome shaped planar upper portion 30 and a smaller generally dome shaped planar lower portion 32 substantially parallel to the upper portion 30. The dome shape of the lower portion 32 is inverted relative to the dome shape of the upper portion 30. The lower portion 32 is suspended from the upper portion 30. A floatation portion 28 is provided around the periphery of the upper portion 30 and has sufficient positive buoyancy such that the intake 10 will float in a liquid, which is typically water. The pipe 12 has an opening 52 into the cavity 60 for communication of the inside of the cavity 60, via the pipe 12, to a liquid suction removal system, such as or including a pump.

[0030] There is an opening 36 into the cavity between the periphery of the lower portion 32 and the upper portion 30 and more specifically between the lower portion 32 and the floatation portion 28. This allows the ingress of liquid into the cavity 60 from beneath the floatation portion 28 during operation.

[0031] In an embodiment the upper portion 30 comprises an inner circular frame member 16 with a plurality of radially extending spokes 20 supporting an outer circular frame member 18. In an embodiment the inner circular frame 16 is formed of 1 10mm PN16 Polyethylene (PE) pipe. In the example of Figure 3 the 16 frame has a pipe centre to pipe centre diameter of 2140mm, although other dimensions are possible. In an embodiment the outer circular frame 18 is formed of 160mm PN16 PE pipe. In the example of Figure 3 the frame 18 has a pipe centre to pipe centre diameter of 2830mm, although other dimensions are possible. The outer circular frame 18 may be filled with closed cell foam. The annulus formed between the inner circular frame 16 and the outer circular frame 18 may be provided with closed cell foam so as to form the floatation portion 28.

[0032] In an embodiment the frame 16 has a covering 70 extending over the frames. In an embodiment the cover 70 is saucer shaped so as to form the dome shape. The cover 70 is substantially rigid and preferably formed of 10 mm thick high density polyethylene (HDPE), or other appropriate material.

[0033] In an embodiment the lower portion 32 comprises a circular frame 24. In an embodiment the circular frame 24 is substantially the same diameter as the inner circular frame 16. In an embodiment the lower portion 32 has a covering 72 extending inwardly from the circular frame 24. In an embodiment the covering 72 is saucer shaped so as to form the inverse dome shape and is preferably formed of 10 mm thick HDPE, or other appropriate material. In an embodiment the covering 72 has holes 34 therein. In an embodiment the holes 34 allow liquid to flood into the lower portion 32 so that inlet 10 is able to sink into the liquid to bring the floatation portion 28 into contact with the surface of the liquid when the intake 10 is first placed into the liquid. In Figures 1 and 2 the holes 34 are on the sloped portion of the covering 72 and in Figures 3 and 4 the holes are on the flat portion of the covering 72.

[0034] In an embodiment the opening 52 of the pipe is below the floatation portion 28 such that liquid will enter the pipe 12 sufficiently for the pipe 12 to be primed.

[0035] In an embodiment the upper portion 30 is supported above the pipe 12 by a column portion 40, preferably in the form of a 1 10mm PN16 PE pipe. In an embodiment the column portion 40 has an opening 42 into an upper region of the cavity 60 and an opening 44 into the pipe 12. In an embodiment the holes 42 and 44 in the column portion 40 allows air to escape the cavity 60 into the pipe 12 during flooding of the liquid into the cavity 60. Preferably the holes 42 and 44 are 20mm in diameter. The holes 42 and 44 are for flooding of the upper portion of the cavity 60 via a dry prime system.

[0036] In an embodiment the floatation portion 28 provides a barrier against a suction vortex forming between the pipe opening 52 and a surface of the liquid in which the intake 10 is placed in use. The larger diameter of the pipe of frame 18 provides a downwardly directed lip into the body of liquid.

[0037] In an embodiment the floatation portion 28 is positively buoyant to an extent that when the cavity 60 is flooded the upper surface of the floatation portion 28 is substantially level with the surface of the liquid.

[0038] In an embodiment the outer circular frame 18 may be connected to the circular frame 24 by brace connection 38. These sections are preferably formed of 20mm thick PE section. Preferably the brace connections 38 are aligned with the spokes 20.

[0039] Preferably the pipe 12 is 315mm PN16 PE pipe. In an embodiment the pipe 12 terminates in a stub flange 52 for connection to another pipe forming part of or leading to the liquid suction removal system.

[0040] In an example the relative sizes of the intake may be as described, but other dimensions are possible. In an embodiment the centre to centre diameter of the outer circular frame 18 of Figure 2 is about 3190mm. In an embodiment the centre to centre diameter of the inner circular frame 16 is about 21 10mm. In an embodiment the inner circular frame 16 is spaced from the circular frame 24 by about 50mm. In an embodiment the dome height of the covers 70 and 72 are each about 300mm. In the embodiment of Figure 3 the height of the cover 70 is about 410mm

[0041] The method of operation and use of the present invention will now be described.

[0042] The intake 10 is attached to a boom or rigid section of pipe via the stub flange 52 for manipulation, the stub flange 52 is also connected to a pipe 12 connected to a self- priming pump. The intake 10 can then be lowered into a liquid, such as water in a settling pond or a dam. The liquid can then enter to cavity 60 via the flood holes 34. Air will initially escape via the opening 36, and via column 40 and pipe 12 until the underside of the floatation portion 28 seals with the surface of the liquid.

[0043] Liquid will then enter the cavity mostly through the opening 36. Air remaining in the cavity will escape via column 40 and pipe 12 until the cavity is substantially full of liquid. Floatation portion 28 provides positive buoyancy sufficient for the intake 10 to remain floating. It is desirable that the intake sink to the point where the upper surface of the floatation portion 28 is at the surface of the liquid or just submerged so that the floatation portion 28 provides a barrier to prevent formation of a suction vortex in the liquid when pumping commences.

[0044] When pumping commences liquid enters the cavity substantially via the opening 36 and is sucked into the pipe 12. The shape of the body 14 substantially evenly distributes the suction negative pressure out to the substantially annulus shaped opening so that liquid is drawn in, in a relatively non-turbulent flow. The intake 10 can accommodate flow rates from 1 cubic meter to 1000 cubic meters per hour in depth of at least 450mm.

[0045] The holes 34 also allow the lower portion 32 to drain as it is lifted from the liquid.

[0046] Modifications may be made to the present invention within the context of that described and shown in the drawings. Such modifications are intended to form part of the invention described in this specification.