JP2001050869A - Soft water control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a soft water control device capable of reliably obtaining an aliquot of soft water fed from a hard component removing device via a main pipe, preventing a waste of soft water, and measuring hard components with few measurement errors. SOLUTION: Raw water is introduced to a hard component removing device 1, and soft water from which hard components are removed is fed via a main pipe 2 to places at which soft water is in demand. An aliquot of soft water is obtained from a sub pipe 10 with a pump 13 branched from the main pipe 2 and united with the main pipe 2 again on the downstream side and a pipe 15 branched from a three-way valve 14. The soft water is passed through a water purifier 20 and introduced to a water tank 23 via a constant flow valve 21. A fixed quantity of water in the water tank 23 is extracted under a fixed pressure via a pipe 31 with a tube pump 30 from a lower part of the water tank 23 and introduced to a hard component measuring device 40 to measure hard components.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a soft water management device, and more particularly to a device for removing water from a main component pipe for supplying soft water from a hardness component removing device to a soft water demand point, measuring water quality, and detecting a leak of a hardness component. Water management device for water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In equipment for producing soft water using an ion-exchange resin or a desalination membrane device and supplying the soft-water to a place where the soft water is required, poor regeneration or poor water flow of the ion-exchange resin, breakthrough due to saturation, The hardness component may leak due to damage to the membrane of the desalination membrane device.

[0003] As a device for detecting a leak of a hardness component in this soft water supply facility, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-44995 discloses a branch pipe with an electric valve provided in a main pipe for supplying soft water from a water softener. By opening the valve, the soft water in the main pipe is introduced into the open-to-air container via the branch pipe and separated, and the hardness component concentration is detected by a hardness sensor such as a calcium ion electrode installed in the container. A soft water management device is described.

[0004]

The soft water management device disclosed in the above publication has the following disadvantages.

[0005] Depending on the type of equipment installed downstream of the main pipe for supplying the soft water from the water softener, the water pressure in the main pipe may become negative pressure (lower than the atmospheric pressure), and it is simply electric. A branch pipe with a valve may not be able to properly collect soft water.

When the water pressure in the main pipe is high, the amount of water to be collected becomes excessive and soft water may be wasted.

[0007] Rust in the piping or ion exchange resin pieces may be mixed in the collected soft water, which may cause the sensor to malfunction.

[0008] Calibration of the hardness sensor takes time and effort.

Since the hardness sensor is immersed in a container that is open to the atmosphere, bubbles generated from soft water introduced into the container may adhere to the hardness sensor and cause the hardness sensor to malfunction.

Generally, when water is communicated from inside the soft water main pipe to the hardness sensor measurement unit via water, noise such as leakage current generated in the factory reaches the hardness sensor measurement unit through the water, This may affect the hardness measurement results.

The present invention provides a soft water management device that overcomes such disadvantages.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a water softening control apparatus for controlling a part of soft water generated by a hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demanding point. In a soft water management apparatus having a sorting means and a measuring means for measuring the water quality of the sorted soft water, as the sorting means, a branch is made from the main pipe, and the main pipe is again provided downstream from the branch point. A sub-pipe merging with the pipe, a pump provided in the middle of the sub-pipe, and a take-out pipe branched from a discharge port of the pump or a sub-pipe downstream of the pump, and taken out by the take-out pipe Water is provided to the measuring means.

In such a soft water management apparatus, a part of the soft water in the main pipe is forcibly circulated through the sub-pipe by a pump, and the soft water is collected from an outlet pipe downstream of the pump. Therefore, soft water can be stably collected regardless of the water pressure in the main pipe. Further, since the soft water that is excessive in the amount of water to be separated from the discharge pipe is returned from the sub pipe to the main pipe, no waste occurs in the soft water.

[0014] The soft water management device of the present invention (claim 2) is a means for separating a part of the soft water generated by the hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demand point; And a measuring means for measuring water quality in the softened water, wherein the soft water separated by the separating means is purified by a purifying means having activated carbon and a filtration membrane, and then supplied to the measuring means. It is a feature.

As this filtration membrane, an MF (microfiltration) membrane is preferable.

In such a soft water management device, the separated soft water is passed through the purifying means and then supplied to the measuring means. Therefore, even if rust chips and ion exchange resin chips are mixed in the soft water, they are removed by the purifying means. This eliminates the error in the measuring means.

The soft water management device according to the present invention (claim 3) is a means for separating a part of the soft water generated by the hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demand point; A soft water management device having a measuring means for measuring the water quality of the soft water sampled, wherein the temperature of the water sampled by the sorting means is adjusted by the temperature adjusting means and then given to the measuring means. Things.

In such a soft water management apparatus, a measuring error caused by a temperature difference can be prevented by supplying soft water having a predetermined temperature to the measuring means.

In this case, it is preferable that a means is provided for supplying the comparative standard solution to the temperature adjusting means, adjusting the temperature of the comparative standard solution by the temperature adjusting means, and then applying the temperature to the measuring means (claim 4). By doing so, the temperature of the comparative standard solution is the same as that of the soft water, and the calibration error can be significantly reduced.

The soft water management device according to the present invention (claim 5) is a means for separating a part of the soft water generated by the hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demand point; A soft water management device having a measuring means for measuring the quality of the soft water sampled, introducing the soft water sampled by the sorting means into a water tank open to the atmosphere, and supplying the water in the water tank to the measuring means. It is characterized by the following.

In such a soft water management device, the water separated by the separating means is once introduced into a water tank which is opened to the atmosphere, where bubbles generated from dissolved gas are removed, and then the soft water in the water tank is measured. Since it is provided to the means, water quality measurement data with extremely small errors can be obtained.

When soft water is introduced into the water tank, the influence of external noise in hardness measurement can be prevented by arranging the outlet of the introduction pipe and the soft water in the water tank so as not to come into direct contact with each other.

In this case, by supplying the water in the water tank to the measuring means with a pump capable of quantitatively supplying water at a constant pressure, measurement errors caused by fluctuations in the flow rate and pressure of the measured water can be eliminated. 7).

[0024] The soft water management device of the present invention (claim 8) includes a hardness leak alarm, data on the amount of water taken from the hardness component removing device, a deterioration alarm of the measuring means (for example, a hardness sensor), and a regenerating agent (hardware removing device) For example, a warning of the remaining amount of the salt for regeneration of the water softener) and a liquid level warning indicating the remaining amount of the comparative standard solution can be transmitted to the information sensor using the communication terminal.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the hardness component removing device has at least one of a water softener filled with an ion exchange resin and a membrane separation device.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the soft water management device according to the embodiment.

Raw water is introduced into the hardness component removing device 1, and the soft water from which the hardness component has been removed is sent to a demand point (for example, a device using soft water) via the main pipe 2. A running water sensor 3 such as a flow meter is provided in the main pipe 2, and a soft water management unit 5 that is activated by running water detection of the running water sensor 3 is provided.
Is installed.

The water softening management unit 5 branches off from the main pipe 2 and, at a downstream side of the branch point, reconnects with the main pipe 2.
, And a strainer 11, a pressure reducing valve 12, a pump 13, a three-way valve 14, and a pipe branched from the three-way valve 14 (take-out pipe) which are sequentially provided in the sub-pipe 10.
The soft water is separated from the main pipe 2 by the separating means 15.

From this pipe 15, soft water passes through a water purifier 20 having activated carbon and a microfiltration membrane, and is introduced into a water tank 23 through a pipe 22 having a constant flow valve 21. This aquarium 2
3 is open to the atmosphere, and the dissolved gas in the soft water escapes to the atmosphere. In this case, the outlet of the pipe 22 is arranged at a position where the outlet does not come into contact with the soft water in the water tank 23. A blow pipe 2 having a blow valve 24 is provided at the bottom of the water tank 23.
5 is connected.

From the lower part of the water tank 23, water in the water tank 23 is taken out at a constant and constant pressure via a pipe 31 having a tube pump 30. This soft water is introduced into a hardness component measuring device 40 via a heat exchanger 32 of a capillary type or the like, and after the hardness component is measured, is discarded via a discharge pipe 33. Returning the soft water after the measurement from the discharge pipe 33 to the demand location is desirable in terms of water recovery.

A pipe 52 for feeding the reference liquid in the reference liquid tank 50 via a pump 51 is connected to the pipe 31.

The detection signal of the hardness component measuring device 40 is input to a signal processing circuit 41 and subjected to arithmetic processing. A signal indicating the arithmetic result is sent to the communication terminal 42, and the hardness component removing device 1 is operated in accordance with the arithmetic result. Is operated for regeneration processing. This circuit 41 is configured to be able to output an abnormal operation of each device in addition to an alarm output for hardness leak. When a hardness leak is detected, control is performed to regenerate the water softener using the alarm output signal.

The communication terminal 42 transmits data to an information center (not shown) by wire or wirelessly. The data transmitted to the information center is stored as history information, and is configured to notify a customer or an organization in charge of maintenance by an Internet mail, a facsimile, or the like as necessary, such as an alarm. This enables centralized management from a remote location. The data transmitted here includes, in addition to the hardness leak alarm, data on the amount of water withdrawn from the hardness component removing device, a maintenance alarm for the constituent devices, and the like. The water sampling amount data can be obtained by providing a flow meter capable of outputting a signal to the soft water main pipe.

As the above-mentioned hardness component removing device 1, a water separator filled with an ion exchange resin or a membrane separation device for removing a hardness component can be used. The membrane separator is not particularly limited as long as it can remove the hardness component, but in addition to the reverse osmosis membrane, an ion exchange membrane is used in an electrodialyzer using an ion exchange membrane or in a desalting chamber of the electrodialyzer. An electrodeionization device and the like are exemplified.

The above-mentioned flowing water sensor 3 is for detecting that soft water is being sent through the main pipe 2, and various types of sensors such as a flow meter that can detect whether or not water is being sent are used. be able to. The signal indicating the presence or absence of water supply is sent to the soft water management unit 5 as an electric signal,
It is used for controlling the ON / OFF operation of the pump 13 and determining the timing for sampling the soft water. Thereby, the accumulated water when the soft water is not supplied to the main pipe is not sampled, and the pump 13 is not operated unnecessarily, which is advantageous in terms of deterioration of the pump and energy saving.

The strainer 11 provided in the sub pipe 10
Is to remove relatively large impurities and to operate each device stably. The pressure reducing valve 12 includes a pump 13
It is installed for the protection of.

The pump 13 provided in the sub pipe 10 is incorporated in an integrated unit together with a system and an information terminal necessary for hardness detection. This eliminates the need for an extra installation space when installing in an existing soft water system, and simplifies the work of connecting the piping.

The three-way valve 14 is controlled so as to perform water sampling according to a preset frequency. This three-way valve 14
, Soft water is introduced into the water purifier 20 through the discharge pipe 15.

The water purifier 20 is made of activated carbon and MF membrane,
Removes organics and relatively small contaminants that affect hardness detection. The constant flow valve 21 is used to introduce the test water into the water tank 23 at a stable flow rate.

The water tank 23 is provided with a level meter (not shown) for detecting the liquid level. When a predetermined water level is reached, the three-way valve 14 is switched, and further introduction of soft water is stopped. The water tank 23 is emptied by the blow valve 24 every time the water quality is measured once, and soft water is newly taken up to a predetermined water level at the next measurement.

When the water taken in during the previous measurement remains in the water tank 23, the blow valve 24 is opened and the previous water is discharged from the blow pipe 25. It is desirable to repeat the discharge and introduction of the test water several times so as not to be affected by the old water test.

In this embodiment, as described above, the water in the water tank 23 is supplied to the hardness component measuring device 40 by the tube pump 30 capable of supplying a constant pressure and a constant flow rate. This can prevent an error when using an ion electrode sensor whose detection value fluctuates depending on the flow velocity and pressure as the hardness component measuring device 40.

Further, in this embodiment, before the hardness component measuring device 40, the heat exchanger 32 for keeping the test water at a constant temperature.
Is installed. This is used to keep the temperature of the sample water as constant as possible, and is particularly effective in making the temperature of the comparison standard solution used to determine the deterioration of the hardness measuring device 40 the same. By making the test water supplied from the water tank 23 and the comparative standard liquid supplied from the comparative standard liquid tank the same temperature, it is possible to correctly compare the measured voltages of the test water and the comparative standard liquid. The heat exchanger 32 is preferably made of a material capable of exchanging heat, such as a stainless capillary tube, and is preferably made of a corrosion-resistant material such as a serpentine tube to secure a flow path.

In this embodiment, the hardness leak detection method in the hardness component measuring device 40 utilizes the fact that the voltage measured by the hardness ion electrode increases as the hardness component concentration increases. From the voltage value measured every predetermined time, the previous measurement value and the current measurement value are compared, and when the difference between them reaches a certain value or more, it is determined that a hardness leak has occurred.

The ion electrode (ion sensor) is 1 pp
At low concentrations below m, the output potential fluctuates due to the various factors described above, and it may not be possible to distinguish it from the fluctuating potential due to hardness leak. Detects hardness leaks. That is, when the difference between the previous measured value and the current measured value exceeds the set reference value, it is determined that the hardness is a leak. In this method, it is not always necessary to know the absolute value of the hardness component concentration. However, when the difference between the previous measurement value and the current measurement value is small and the hardness leak component gradually increases, a hardness leak may not be detected. It is better to add a circuit that issues an alarm as a stop even when the difference exceeds a certain value.

The detecting section of the ion sensor periodically measures the amount of change with a reference solution (comparative standard solution) because of aging, and performs calibration and replacement of the sensor membrane when the amount falls below a certain reference value. Will be needed. For this purpose, a comparative standard liquid tank 50 having a built-in liquid level gauge and a liquid supply pump 51 are provided, and the measuring device 4 is periodically controlled by a monitor control device.
The liquid is sent to 0, the reference value is calibrated, and the time for replacing the sensor membrane and the time for refilling the comparative standard solution are reported to the information center via the communication terminal, and the periodic service is performed. That is, for example, when the measured voltage after the measured voltage using the comparative standard solution immediately after the membrane exchange of the ion electrode becomes lower than a certain value, it is determined that the hardness component measuring instrument is deteriorated, and the ion electrode is deteriorated. Maintenance such as replacement of the membrane and replacement of the measuring instrument itself.

The comparative standard liquid in the comparative standard liquid tank 50 is managed by a level meter installed in the tank, and when the amount of the liquid falls below a certain amount, an alarm is issued and the like. It informs you that standard solution needs to be replenished.

According to the soft water management apparatus configured as described above, the soft water management for preventing the occurrence of the hardness leak in the soft water production can be automatically performed for 24 hours. be able to. By providing a system for notifying the timing of maintenance such as replenishment of the comparative standard solution, replacement of the film of the hardness measuring device and replacement of the measuring device, maintenance can be performed reliably and stable device operation is possible. This water softener management device can perform the regeneration after using the ion exchange resin capacity of the ion exchange resin to the maximum as compared with the timer type water softener regeneration, so that the regenerant is not wasted.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention (claim 1), the soft water fed from the hardness component removing device via the main pipe can be stably collected, and waste of the soft water can be prevented. You.

According to the present invention (claims 2 to 9), an accurate hardness component measurement with a small measurement error can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a soft water management device according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hardness component removal apparatus 2 Main piping 10 Sub piping 11 Strainer 12 Pressure reducing valve 13 Pump 14 Three-way valve 20 Water purifier 23 Water tank 32 Heat exchanger 40 Hardness component measuring instrument 50 Comparative standard liquid tank

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G01N 1/10 G01N 1/10 K 27/416 30/00 J 30/00 C02F 1/28 F // C02F 1/28 G01N 27/46 341M F term (reference) 4D006 GA03 GA17 JA51A KE04P KE13Q KE24Q LA03 LA08 PA01 PB02 PC03 4D024 AA03 AB04 BA02 BC01 CA11 DA04 DB04 DB05 4D025 AA02 BB01 CA02 CA05 CA10

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A means for fractionating a part of soft water generated by a hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demand point, and a measuring device for measuring a quality of the fractionated soft water. And a sub-pipe branching from the main pipe and joining the main pipe again downstream of the branch point as the fractioning means.
A pump provided in the middle of the sub-pipe, and a take-out pipe branched from a discharge port of the pump or a sub-pipe downstream of the pump, and water taken out by the take-out pipe is provided to the measuring means. Soft water management device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. A means for collecting a part of the soft water generated by the hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demanding portion, and a measuring device for measuring the quality of the collected soft water. The soft water management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the soft water separated by the separation means is purified by a purification means having activated carbon and a filtration membrane, and then supplied to the measurement means. 3. A means for collecting a part of the soft water generated by the hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demanding portion, and a measuring device for measuring the quality of the collected soft water. The soft water management device according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the water separated by the separation unit is adjusted by a temperature adjustment unit and then supplied to the measurement unit. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a means for supplying a reference standard solution to the temperature adjusting means, adjusting the temperature of the reference standard solution by the temperature adjusting means, and supplying the adjusted reference solution to the measuring means. Soft water management device. 5. A means for collecting a part of the soft water generated by the hardness component removing device from a main pipe connecting the hardness component removing device and a soft water demand point, and a measuring device for measuring the quality of the collected soft water. A soft water management device, comprising: introducing soft water fractionated by the fractionating means into a water tank open to the atmosphere, and supplying the water in the water tank to the measuring means. 6. The soft water management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a pipe outlet for introducing soft water into a water tank open to the atmosphere is arranged at a position where the pipe outlet does not directly contact the soft water in the water tank. 7. The soft water management device according to claim 5, wherein the water in the water tank is supplied to the measuring means by a pump capable of supplying water at a constant and constant pressure. 8. A hardness leak alarm based on a measurement output signal from a measuring unit, an alarm notifying deterioration of the measuring unit, water amount data from a hardness component removing device, and a hardness component according to claim 1. A soft water management device having a function of transmitting at least one information of a remaining amount alarm of a regenerant in a removing device and a level alarm of a comparative standard solution to an information center by a communication terminal. 9. The soft water management device according to claim 1, wherein the hardness component removing device includes at least one of a water softener filled with an ion exchange resin and a membrane separation device.