Inflatable dam

Recently an inflatable dam has been patented [6]. Here a rubber toroid is inflated by the hydraulic pressure of a stream of control water fed under its surface. 

The degree of inflation is managed by controlling the flow or head of control water. This inflatable dam sits just inside the hub to part cover the discharge ports. The control of the inflatable dam is useful in combating the washout at start up. previously described. Alternatively the dam can be used solely as a seal to be made after start up. with reliance on mechanical weir plates thereafter. 

The inflatable dam is also useful in three-phase separation control, and in the control of thickening applications. 

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Retaining dikes and berms. Retaining dikes and berms include earthen embankments, earth-filled cellular and double-sheet pile walls, water inflated dams, and so on, which aim to minimize the transport of contaminated sediments. 

P LaMontagne. (Pennwalt) Centrifuge employing variable height discharge weir. US Patent 4575370, 11 March 1986 J W Caldwell. (Alfa Laval) Inflatable dam for a decanter centrifuge. US Patent 5257968, 2 November 1993... 

These are mainly the feed and polymer pumps, and the decanter brake torque or speed. However, in special cases, the actual bowl speed could be a part of a control strategy. The pond depth itself, using the inflatable dam, could be used in a thickening control strategy. 

Similar to an inflatable dam, but used to control wash-out by acting on valve ports at a larger radius than the pond surface Admitting flocculant in the feed line somewhere before the decanter A PLC or industrial computer used to supervise the overall running of the decanter plant, either directly or by supervising other controllers... 

Elastomers find widespread uses in marine and offshore engineering applications. The application of elastomers in water management is attributed to its high impermeability to water. Rubber sheet is used to line reservoirs and ponds, while rubber inflatables are used as water dams. Rubber dock fenders rely on the energy absorption capacity of the rubber. Inevitably, the rubber will absorb a quantity of water because these rubber products spend a considerable time under water. It is therefore a great concern as to whether the absorption of water would impair the strength properties of the rubber. 

The lower inflation rate in China since 1994 has allowed the cost to be reduced from 203.9 billion Yuan to about 180 billion Yuan or US 25 billion (China Three Gorges Project Corporation, 2006, 2007). This cost is expected to be recovered when the electricity output reaches 1000 TWh at a selling price of 250 billion Yuan ( US 30 billion), estimated to occur in about 10 years after the dam reaches full operation in 2011 (China Culture Mall Trading Group, Inc., 2007). 

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