CA2163932A1 - Method and apparatus for preventing the development of scale deposits in a water tank - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for preventing the development of scale deposits in a water tank

Info

Publication number
CA2163932A1
CA2163932A1 CA002163932A CA2163932A CA2163932A1 CA 2163932 A1 CA2163932 A1 CA 2163932A1 CA 002163932 A CA002163932 A CA 002163932A CA 2163932 A CA2163932 A CA 2163932A CA 2163932 A1 CA2163932 A1 CA 2163932A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
air
water
tank
base
steam
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA002163932A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Patrick Wolfer
Pascal Stirnimann
Felix Dandliker
Jacques Nordmann
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
MUNSTER AG
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of CA2163932A1 publication Critical patent/CA2163932A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01DSEPARATION
    • B01D47/00Separating dispersed particles from gases, air or vapours by liquid as separating agent
    • B01D47/02Separating dispersed particles from gases, air or vapours by liquid as separating agent by passing the gas or air or vapour over or through a liquid bath
    • B01D47/021Separating dispersed particles from gases, air or vapours by liquid as separating agent by passing the gas or air or vapour over or through a liquid bath by bubbling the gas through a liquid bath
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F22STEAM GENERATION
    • F22BMETHODS OF STEAM GENERATION; STEAM BOILERS
    • F22B1/00Methods of steam generation characterised by form of heating method
    • F22B1/28Methods of steam generation characterised by form of heating method in boilers heated electrically
    • F22B1/30Electrode boilers

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Sustainable Development (AREA)
  • Sustainable Energy (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Heat Treatment Of Water, Waste Water Or Sewage (AREA)
  • Water Treatment By Electricity Or Magnetism (AREA)
  • Treatment Of Sludge (AREA)
  • Air Humidification (AREA)
  • Control And Other Processes For Unpacking Of Materials (AREA)

Abstract

Minerals such as limestone deposits are precipitated in tanks of steam generators, where drinking water is heated to produce steam. Such deposits can be only partially floated away by periodic opening of an elutrition or sludge-removal valve.
Since there is intensive crustation, the minerals stick on the heating members or the electrodes and sometimes cannot be removed because of their size through the waste water line. In the invention, one produces sufficient turbulence in the water by periodically blowing air through the water so that crustation is prevented and the accumulated sediments is separated in the form of powder of sludge to be treated by elutrition or sludge removal techniques. The water tank 1 of the steam generator is equipped not only with a water feed line 5, a heating arrangement 2/3, an open steam outlet 1a and a sludge drain 6/7, but also with an air feed arrangement discharging into the base 1b or into the vicinity of the base of the tank. Such air feed arrangement is formed by an air pump 9 provided with a control device 9a and an air feed line 8.

Description

~ 21 63932 sAcRGRO~ND OF TEIE ID~vE~7TION

Water throughput in a steam generation device for industrial purposes is considerable. If, for instance, an apparatus with an output of 15 liters per hour i5 operated in the course of 10 hours a day, 150 liters of water per day and, in a hundred days (~0 working weeks), 15,000~1iters are converted into steam .

Depending upon the hardness of the water, greater or lesser amounts of solid residues remain irl the tank of the steam generator. The quantity of the residuals contained in 15, 000 liters of water amounts, at an average hardness of 17 dH, approximately to 0.3 grams per liter. Thus, for 15,000 liters, this amounts to 4 . 5 kilograms . The water hardness can amount up to ~0 dH which entails a proportional increase in mineral res idue .

A portion of the residue (approximately 309~) is removed from the tank in powder form, together with the waste water in the course of the automatic draw-down operations of the steam producing apparatus . The L~ i n,l~r, mostly in the form of small beads or platelets, is however left behind. These platelets are formed by sheet-like deposits at the cylinder wall, which drop off due to extension and vorticity of the water. These deposits are fragmented into platelets which drop upon ~he base of ~he ~Y2 s0276 cylinders and produce sediments there and constitu~es a basis ~or the growth (seeding) of limestones. The platelets are not carried away with the waste water because, on the one hand, the waste water cross-sections are too small due to the existing screens and other constrictions and, on the other hand, because the water f low is too small due to the short elutrition or desludging. ~urthermore the waste water :~quantity is often too small and solid blocks are formed during the stoppages. The tank must therefore either be cleaned or replaced at regular intervals, depending upon the water hardness.

Two types of tanks are on the market today: so called replacement or throw away cylinders and cylinders which can be opened to pe~lr.it cleaning. ~eplacement cylinders contain electrodes and consist of economical plastics material which are easy to install and remove are still used, at the present time, although the electrode costs have risen. On the other hand, their disposal generates expenses which cannot be neglected.
These days however, cylinders which can be opened and cleaned are increasingly used. Due to the cleaning, the time for maintenance has increased. Furthermore, experience has demonstrated that a cylinder can only be closed in a sealed manner if the closing contact region is provided with a new seal. In addition, the mineral deposits on the electrodes cannot be removed since the scale deposits are very pronounced, so that the electrodes must be changed from time to time, even in cylinders which ca~. be cleaned, thus causing additional expense ~ 50376.
2~ 63932 Although the electrode type air moisturizers presently obtainable and fed with drinking water is based on developed technology and operate reliably, they do not satisfy two requirements of the user to a sufficient extent: they are not free of maintenance~as explained above and they are not very ecological in that not yet used and ~contaminated" parts cannot be cleaned and must be replaced. Additionally, when the quantity of the minerals accumulating at the base of the water tank is so large, they can touch and shortcircuit the electrodes These accumulations must therefore be removed by work- intensive cleaning. This, however, still permits increasing the useful life by at least 509~. Electrodes with crustations however can hardly be cleaned; rather they must be replaced.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for preventing the development of scale deposits in a water tank.

Another object of the invention is a device for removing the dust from the contaminated air.

SU~RY OF l~E INVENTION

These and other objects of the invention, which become apparent hereinafter, are achieved, accordi~g to the presen~
invention, by method and apparatus which prevent the development NY2 -5037G .

.
of scale deposits accumulated in steaming installa~tions where drinking water is used and which provide for removing the minerals accumulating at the tank base by the usual waste water drawn-down operations. The inventive method can be used not only in steam generators, but also in other apparatuses in which water has been enriched by minerals and other precipitated materials.

According to the invention, a tark provided at the top with a steam-or air outlet and containing water and air, can be prevented from accumulating scale consisting of limestone and other materials by turbulence of the water~ produced at least periodically by air supplied from the bottom.

The. inventive apparatus also comprises a steam generator with a water feed line, a heating arrangement, an open steam outlet and a sludge drain, wherein the water tank has an air feed device discharging into the base to prevent formation of scale deposits by producing turbulence at least periodically in the water by air fed from the bottom.

NY2-50376 . _ 4 sRIEF DESC~IP~ION QF TEIE DP~AwINGs The invention will be better understood by the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments with reference to the drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional a1ld schematic view of a steam generator heated by electrodes; and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an air cleaning or scrubbing installation.

DETAI3iED DESCRIPTIO~ OF T~ ~ ~El~ EM30DIMENTS

The steam generator shown in Figure 1 has an essentially cylindrically shaped housing 1 of plastic material, in which two electrodes 2 and 3 are disposed ~or heating the water ~. Electric li~es 2a and 3a connec~ the electrodes to a current source through a control device (not shown). The cylinder 1 has a steam outlet la at the top, through which the generated steam can exit from the cylinder 1 and be directed to where it is re~uired The water supply line 5 discharges into the cylinder at the base lb or in its vicinity. This base lb, is configured to be somewhat funnel-shaped and discharges into a sludge drain '~7, which can be closed by an electric valve 5.
Steam generating tanks designed and built in this way are known r~Y2-50376 .

~ 21 63932 ~owe~er, in the invention, the air supply arrangement feeding into the base itself, or into the vicinity of the base lb, consists of an air line 8 and air pump 9, preferably electrically actuated, as well as a control device 9a for the pump.

A diaphragm pump, with an output of approximately 30 watts can be used as an air pump. The control device 9a can be configured either as a :component of the electronics controlling the steam generator or as an independent construction element.
The control device is designed in such a way that it switches the pump on periodically ~or 30 seconds - thus, for instance, at intervals of 5 minutes. The selection o$ l~he minimum duration oL
the pump operation and the maximum length of the interruptions depends upon how the air flows into the cylinder and is distributed there as it rises to the top. Tests have shown that mineral scale or the development of larger mineral formations is prevented by inducing thorough turbulence from time to time in all areas of the cylinder. In such cases, the separated minerals form only a very fine powder, which does not stick to the electrodes; rather, it appears as a sediment upon the base lb.
From there, the sediment is again swirled up by the turbulence prior to any scale deposit being able to occur. If the sludge drain 7 is opened by actuating the electric valve 6, the entire quantity of the powder consisting of limestone and other minerals is floated away. In this way, the development of the scale can be prevented so that the steam generator, equipped in this way, is free from. such maintenance.

N~2 -S~3~6 .

~ 21 63q32 The method described is prevented i~ a tank containing water by periodically swirling the water by air supplied from the bottom. The method can be utilized not only in steam generator5, but also in other tanks as, for instance, a tank in which air is scrubbed. Such a tank is designated by the numeral lo in Figure 2. In this tank, which is, for the most part, filled with flushing or scrubb~ng water 11, a distribution arrangement 12 is located in the vicinity of the tank base o:r bottom lOa. The distributor is connected to the air feed line 13, supplying air to be scrubbed in the water. The top part of the tank 10 discharges into the air outlet 14. At the bottom, it is connected to the desludging line 16 through a valve 15. The water line 17 serves for adding water.

If the air supply is interrupted for a longer ~ime, since no air has to be scrubbed, a portion of the ingredients separated from the already scrubbed air will i~orm scale deposits so that complete elutrition or desludging is no longer possible.
In order to eliminate this shortcoming ~i . e ., to prevent crustation), air is periodically blown in by the air pump 19 through the auxiliary line 18. The air causes turbulence in the water and thereby prevents scale deposits. The distributor J~2 arrangement ~ can be used for distributi~g this auxiliary air, as shown. It is however also possible to use an additional distributor i~nstallation for the auxiliary air.
WY2 . 5~376 ~ 2 ~ ~ 3 9 3 2 While the pre~erred embodimen~s o~ the invention have been described in dçtail, modifications_and adap~aEions may be made thereto, without depa7~ting from he spirit and scope of the invention, ad delineated in the following claims:

NY2-5~376 - 8 -

Claims (7)

1. A method of preventing formation of scale deposits of limestone and other minerals in a tank, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one of a steam outlet and air outlet at the top of the tank containing water and air; and producing, at least periodically, turbulence in the water by air fed from the bottom.
2. A steam generator, comprising:

a water tank provided with a water feed line;

a heating arrangement;

an open steam outlet;

a sludge drain; and an air feed device, discharging into the base or in the vicinity of the base of the water tank for preventing the formation of scale deposits of limestone or other minerals in a tank.
3. The steam generator of claim 2, wherein the air feed device is an air supply line containing an air pump.
4. The steam generator of claim 3, wherein the air pump is provided with a control device 9a for periodically switching the air pump on and off
5. The steam generator of claim 3, wherein the air pump is a diaphragm pump.
6. An arrangement for removing dust from contaminated air with a water tank, comprising:

a feed line at the bottom;

an outlet line at the top for the air to be scrubbed;

a sludge drainage arrangement; and an air feed arrangement, containing an air pump and discharging into the base or into the vicinity of the base for preventing the formation of scale deposits of limestone or other minerals in a tank, wherein the air pump is provided with a control device for periodically switching the air pump on and off.
7. The arrangement of claim 6, wherein the air pump is a diaphragm pump.
CA002163932A 1994-12-01 1995-11-28 Method and apparatus for preventing the development of scale deposits in a water tank Abandoned CA2163932A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CH3632/94 1994-12-01
CH363294 1994-12-01

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2163932A1 true CA2163932A1 (en) 1996-06-02

Family

ID=4260155

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002163932A Abandoned CA2163932A1 (en) 1994-12-01 1995-11-28 Method and apparatus for preventing the development of scale deposits in a water tank

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0715121B1 (en)
JP (1) JPH08261689A (en)
AT (1) ATE170282T1 (en)
CA (1) CA2163932A1 (en)
DE (1) DE59503331D1 (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9841183B2 (en) 2012-12-05 2017-12-12 No Eul Kim Electrode boiler with electrodes unit
RU2700483C2 (en) * 2018-01-10 2019-09-17 Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "Газпром добыча Уренгой" Method of cleaning mobile steam generator plant pump and device for implementation thereof

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
RU2150049C1 (en) * 1998-11-19 2000-05-27 Казанов Анатолий Михайлович Electric heater or running liquid
WO2006097002A2 (en) * 2005-03-14 2006-09-21 Axair Ag Steam generator comprising a swirling device
US7627920B2 (en) 2006-06-09 2009-12-08 Whirlpool Corporation Method of operating a washing machine using steam
US7591859B2 (en) 2006-08-15 2009-09-22 Whirlpool Corporation Water supply control for a steam generator of a fabric treatment appliance using a weight sensor
US8393183B2 (en) 2007-05-07 2013-03-12 Whirlpool Corporation Fabric treatment appliance control panel and associated steam operations
CN103206778B (en) * 2013-04-15 2016-01-27 佛山市四季茶香茶具有限公司 Instant heating type drinking water heating device
CN112061151B (en) * 2020-09-23 2025-08-08 中车西安车辆有限公司 A large-volume railway tank car with heating function

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS6336817A (en) * 1986-07-31 1988-02-17 Chiyoda Chem Eng & Constr Co Ltd Wet flue gas purifying method and device therefor
DE8901904U1 (en) * 1989-02-17 1989-07-20 Lechmetall Landsberg GmbH, 8910 Landsberg Steam generator for cooking appliances with decalcification device
DE4034239A1 (en) * 1990-10-27 1992-04-30 Juno Grosskuechen METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OPERATING A STEAM GENERATOR FOR COOKING DEVICES

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9841183B2 (en) 2012-12-05 2017-12-12 No Eul Kim Electrode boiler with electrodes unit
RU2700483C2 (en) * 2018-01-10 2019-09-17 Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "Газпром добыча Уренгой" Method of cleaning mobile steam generator plant pump and device for implementation thereof

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0715121B1 (en) 1998-08-26
DE59503331D1 (en) 1998-10-01
ATE170282T1 (en) 1998-09-15
JPH08261689A (en) 1996-10-11
EP0715121A1 (en) 1996-06-05

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
FZDE Discontinued