IPC Series – Inclined Plate Clarifiers & DAF Tanks
H2K’s inclined plate clarifiers and dissolved air floatation tanks are designed for removing large quantities of suspended solids from an industrial water/wastewater process. These units include an internal Lamella-style plate pack to provide better settling and solids removal than a settling tank.
Inclined Plate Clarifiers are typically utilized in environments with high solids loading which would otherwise overload a sand filter or bag filter. Water enters the clarifier and flows upward through a series of inclined settling plates, which provide a surface to collect sediment and allow it to settle to the collection hopper at the base of the tank. The plate pack is designed to be removable via lifting lugs at the top of the pack to allow maintenance and cleaning. Solids are typically drained from the collection hopper via manual drain or pumped to a filter press with a pneumatic pump. Clarifier design is customized for every project; water residence time, plate spacing, plate angle, shell material are all designed to provide the best results for your project. Inclined plate clarifiers are often installed upstream of sand filters to reduce backwash water demand.
Dissolved Air Floatation Tanks are similar to inclined plate clarifiers, but the separation mechanics are very different. A DAF is typically used to remove fats, oils, and greases (FOG) from a water process using tiny air bubbles floating upwards through the separation chamber. Air is pressurized & dissolved in a side chamber and released at the base of the tank. The released air sticks to suspended FOG to enhance floatation and separation from water. Similarly to a clarifier, H2K Tech’s DAF tanks still use a plate pack to enhance separation, but the solids are collected on the top plate and carried top the top of the tank. The separated floating oils, grease, and solids are skimmed from the top of the tank and carried to a collection chamber on the side of the tank.
Design Considerations & Construction Options
H2K inclined plate clarifiers come with a variety options to maximize performance for specific conditions. Each project is reviewed by our experienced engineering team which allows a custom clarifier design built for your specific process. Some of these design considerations include:
- Inlet flash/floc chambers are commonly used to add chemicals to the process to enhance settling and solids removal. Applications that require flash & floc tanks include polymer injection for increased settling rate and acid/caustic injection for metals precipitation. These processes use a metering pump to inject chemicals into the flash tank where they are blended into process with a high speed mixer. Water then travels through an under-weir to the floc chamber where a low speed mixer ensures complete entrainment as it enters the clarifier plate pack.
- Solids management is important to consider in system design. Clarifiers can be designed for manual solids removal by a service technician at regular intervals, but a couple options exist to automate and simplify solids management. One common method is to pump settled solids through a filter press with a diaphragm pump. The filter press compacts and dries solids to minimize volume of disposed sediment. Another option is to install a sludge auger which solids to thicken at the bottom of the clarifier for easy transfer into drums for disposal.
Pumps, controls, and system integration are other benefits of working with H2K on clarifier design. While we manufacture and sell individual pieces of equipment, our strength is in turnkey system design and construction. We will gladly review your entire process and can recommend a complete package to include feed/discharge pumps, industrial control panels, and other treatment equipment including sand filters, oil/water separators, carbon vessels, and more.
Sample Projects
Backwash water reclamation – This clarifier was installed as part of a larger backwash water reclamation project in conjunction with downstream sand filters and carbon vessels. This unit processed water at 100 GPM to remove suspended solids from process backwash water. This system allowed the client to reduce their water usage 2 million gallons a month by reusing backwash water from other processes.
Industrial wastewater DAF tank – This DAF tank was installed as part of a wastewater treatment plant for the removal of fats, oils, and grease. This unit utilized a side-mounted air compression chamber and a top-mounted skimmer arm assembly to enhance FOG removal. Solids were skimmed off the top of the unit into a collection chamber on the side of the unit for manual collection into drums.