LAMELLA CLARIFIER

A lamella clarifier or inclined plate settler (IPS) is a type of settler designed to remove particulates from liquids.They are often employed in primary water treatment in place of conventional settling tanks. They are used in industrial water treatment. Unlike conventional clarifiers they use a series of inclined plates. These inclined plates provide a large effective settling area for a small footprint. The inlet stream is stilled upon entry into the clarifier. Solid particles begin to settle on the plates and begin to accumulate in collection hoppers at the bottom of the clarifier unit. The sludge is drawn off at the bottom of the hoppers and the clarified liquid exits the unit at the top over a weir.

One specific application is as pre-treatment stage for effluent entering membrane filters. Lamella clarifiers are considered to be one of the best options for pre-treatment ahead of membrane filters. The main advantage of lamella clarifiers over other clarifying systems is the large effective settling area caused by the use of inclined plates, which improves the operating conditions of the clarifiers in a number of ways. The unit is more compact usually requiring only 65-80 % of the area of clarifiers operating without inclined plates. Therefore, where site footprint constraints are of concern a lamella clarifier system is preferred. The reduced required area allows the possibility for the clarifiers to be located and operated inside, reducing some of the common problems of algae growth, clogging due to blowing debris accumulation and odour control, that occur when the machinery is outdoors.