US 11,947,369 B2
Fluid flow control for water treatment systems
Sofia Malinova Babanova, San Diego, CA (US); Orianna Bretschger, San Diego, CA (US); José Daniel Barocio Montemayor, Baja California (MX); and Gerardo Garcia Serrano, Baja California (MX)
Assigned to Aquacycl, Inc., Escondido, CA (US)
Filed by Aquacycl, Inc., Escondido, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 9, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/181,526.
Application 18/181,526 is a division of application No. 17/202,168, filed on Mar. 15, 2021, granted, now 11,604,482.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/990,257, filed on Mar. 16, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0205236 A1, Jun. 29, 2023
Int. Cl. G05D 7/06 (2006.01); C02F 3/00 (2023.01)
CPC G05D 7/0629 (2013.01) [C02F 3/005 (2013.01); C02F 3/006 (2013.01); C02F 2209/005 (2013.01); C02F 2209/40 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device for fluid flow control in wastewater treatment, comprising: a wastewater containment tank fluidically coupled to an external fluid input device and structured to enclose an interior space to contain input fluid when received from the external fluid input device, the wastewater containment tank comprising a first access opening to the interior space to allow the input fluid to enter the interior space, and a second access opening to the interior space to allow the input fluid to exit the interior space to an external fluid processing device to yield a treated water that is outputted out of an output port of the external fluid processing device: and a flow control system fluidically coupled to the external fluid processing device, where the flow control system comprises: an enclosure having (i) an inflow port, (ii) an outflow port, and (iii) an internal volume between the inflow port and the outflow port, the inflow port providing a third access opening to the internal volume to allow a fluid to enter the internal volume, and the outflow port providing a fourth access opening to the internal volume to allow the fluid to exit the internal volume, and an actuator assembly configured to move the enclosure along a vertical direction aligned with the direction of gravity so as to control a flow of the fluid through and out of the flow control system, wherein the flow control system is configured to control a flow rate of the fluid through the internal volume by changing a position of the internal volume relative to (1) a position of the external fluid processing device and (2) an upper level of the input fluid in the wastewater containment tank along the vertical direction, wherein a change of the position of the internal volume changes a hydraulic resistance of a path from the wastewater containment tank to the outflow port of the flow control system through the internal volume, wherein the enclosure of the flow control system is configured in an inverse U-like shape such that the inflow port and the outflow port are lower in the vertical direction than the interior volume.