JP2001149799A - Device for regenerating and controlling water softener - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for regenerating and controlling a water softener while saving labor for management and reliably regenerating the water softener by automating the judgement. SOLUTION: A salty water tank 1 is used for supplying salty water to the water softener 3 through a pipeline 2, and raw water for preparing the salty water is introduced into the tank 1 from the water softener 3 side. An air diffusing pipe 4 is installed on the bottom of the tank 1 as an agitating unit for promoting dissolution of solid salt and air is supplied from a compressor 6 to the pipe 4 through an air pipeline 5. A mesh 7 is disposed in the tank 1 so that the solid salt does not come into direct contact with a concentration sensor 8, which is installed together with a water level sensor 9 in the region surrounded by the mesh 7. The output signals from the sensors 8, 9 are inputted to a controller 10, which then gives signals to the compressor 6, a concentration drop display 11 and an alarm 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ion exchange resin regeneration management device filled in a water softener for producing soft water used for boiler water supply and the like. The present invention relates to a regeneration management device for a water softener for surely performing a boiler system trouble caused by a regeneration failure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent the flow of hardness components into a boiler,
As the boiler feed water, soft water from which hardness components have been removed is used.
To produce the soft water, a water softener in which a container is filled with an ion exchange resin, a regeneration unit for regenerating the water softener, a salt water tank for storing salt water, and raw water (hard water) for the water softener
And a control device for controlling the passage of salt water.

[0003] If the water softener does not operate normally, a hardness component flows into the boiler, which lowers the heat efficiency of the boiler, and further lowers the operation efficiency of the entire process using steam from the boiler, and causes various other troubles. The result.

[0004] One of the causes of the malfunction of the water softener is a regeneration failure of the ion exchange resin of the water softener. This poor regeneration is often caused by a decrease in the salt concentration of the brine in the brine tank used for regeneration.

Conventionally, as a method of managing the performance of a water softener, there has been a method of providing a means for detecting a hardness component at an outlet pipe of the water softener, and regenerating the water softener when the leak of the hardness component is detected. Although this method has been proposed, this method only allows the user to know the regeneration time, and thus cannot prevent the above-described poor regeneration caused by the decrease in the salt concentration of the salt water in the salt water tank. In order to prevent poor regeneration due to a decrease in the salt concentration of the salt water in the salt tank, it is necessary to reliably control the salt concentration and the amount of salt water in the salt tank.

Conventionally, as a means for measuring the salt concentration of salt water, there is an analytical instrument for measuring the concentration using the refractive index of salt water. However, since this measurement is performed manually, much labor and time are required. It costs. When an automatic analyzer for refractive index is applied to a site, equipment costs are increased, and there is no example of actual application. On the other hand, when taking the water sample back and performing instrumental analysis, it takes a long time until an analysis result is obtained, so that there is a problem that a quick response cannot be taken. In addition, such manual analysis has been difficult to apply because the regeneration time of the water softener is uncertain.

As a method of easily measuring the salt concentration, it is conceivable to measure the electric conductivity of salt water. However, such an apparatus is expensive and is difficult to apply from the viewpoint of economy. In addition, unless the salt water has a low salt concentration to some extent, a change in the electrical conductivity corresponding to the change in the salt concentration cannot be sufficiently detected, resulting in poor measurement accuracy and a problem in reliability.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a regeneration control apparatus for a water softener having a function of increasing the concentration of salt water when the concentration is insufficient.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a regeneration control apparatus for a water softener, comprising: a regeneration control apparatus for a water softener provided with a salt water tank for storing salt water used for regenerating an ion exchange resin filled in the water softener. A salt water concentration detecting means for detecting a salt water concentration in the salt water tank, and a salt water operated to increase the salt water concentration in the salt water tank when the salt water concentration detected by the salt water concentration detecting means is lower than a prescribed concentration. And a concentration increasing means.

[0010] In such a regeneration management device for a water softener,
When the salt water concentration in the salt water tank is insufficient to the specified concentration, the operation for increasing the salt water concentration in the salt water tank is automatically executed, so that the next regeneration operation can be executed without any trouble.

The means for increasing the salt water concentration in the salt water tank is preferably a stirring device for stirring the salt water in the salt water tank.

When the agitating device is operated to agitate the salt water in the salt water tank, the salt particles settled in the tank soar up to promote the dissolution in the low-concentration salt water, thereby increasing the salt water concentration.

According to the present invention, there is provided a water level detecting means for detecting a water level in a salt water tank, a means for detecting a regeneration operation of a water softener based on a decrease and a re-increase of the detected water level by the water level detecting means, and It is preferable to include an alarm unit that generates an alarm when low-concentration salt water is supplied to the water softener.

In the present invention, the salt water concentration detecting means may detect the concentration by a float utilizing the fact that the buoyancy changes according to the specific gravity of the salt water.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a regeneration management device for a water softener according to an embodiment.

The salt water tank 1 supplies salt water for regeneration to a water softener 3 through a pipe 2, and raw water for preparing salt water can be introduced into the tank from the water softener 3 side.
At the lower part of the salt water tank 1, solid salt is settled and deposited. A diffuser pipe 4 is installed at the bottom of the salt water tank 1 as a stirring device to allow the settled salt to fly up and promote dissolution, and air can be supplied from the compressor 6 to the diffuser pipe 4 via the air pipe 5. It has been.

In order to prevent the undissolved salt from coming into direct contact with the concentration sensor 8, a mesh 7 is installed in the salt water tank 1, and a concentration sensor 8 and a water level sensor 9 are provided in a region surrounded by the mesh 7. Are provided. As the concentration sensor 8, the buoyancy increases as the salt water concentration increases,
A float type that outputs a signal when receiving a buoyancy of a predetermined level or more is inexpensive and suitable, but any other type such as a Na ion electrode, a Cl ion electrode, an inexpensive high-performance electrical conductivity meter, good.

As the water level sensor 9, a float type in which the float activates a limit switch or a reed switch when the water level in the salt water tank 1 reaches a predetermined level is inexpensive and suitable. Any type such as a sound wave type may be used.

The output signals of these sensors 8 and 9 are input to a controller 10, which provides signals to a compressor 6, a low concentration indicator 11 and an alarm 12. The controller 10 transmits data to the host computer 13 using the communication line 14, stores the operation history in the host computer 13, and uses the data for maintenance. In addition, as the alarm device 12, various types such as a buzzer and a lamp can be used. As the display 11, various types such as a lamp and a liquid crystal panel can be used.

Raw water is introduced into the salt water tank 1 from the pipe 2 such that the water level detected by the water level sensor 9 becomes a predetermined water level. When the water level sensor 9 outputs a signal indicating the detection of a predetermined water level, the controller 10 looks up the density of the density sensor 8 and, when the density is lower than the predetermined density, causes the density reduction display 11 to display an insufficient density, and Then, the compressor 6 is operated for a predetermined time, air is blown out from the air diffuser 4, and the salt in the salt water tank 1 is bubbled and stirred. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the compressor 6 is stopped, and the density of the density sensor 8 is looked up. The compressor 6 is repeatedly operated until the concentration reaches a predetermined concentration. The compressor 6 may be operated continuously until the concentration reaches a predetermined concentration.

When the density reaches the predetermined density, the display of the density lowering display 11 is stopped. Then, it waits for the salt water in the salt water tank 1 to be used for regeneration. Note that the compressor 6 may be operated intermittently to prevent the settling salt from solidifying.

When the salt water in the salt water tank 1 is sent out to the pipe 2 for regeneration of the water softener 3, the water level detected by the water level sensor 9 becomes lower than a predetermined water level. Then, raw water is replenished, and the detected water level recovers to a predetermined water level. Therefore, by detecting the decrease and re-increase of the detected water level from the signal of the water level sensor 9, it is detected that the salt water has been used for regeneration. In the description of FIG. 1, stirring by air diffusion is used as the salt water concentration increasing means, but screw stirring by a motor or convection stirring using heater heating can also be used.

The controller 10 does not operate the alarm 12 when the concentration of the salt water sent out for regeneration reaches the predetermined concentration, but does not operate before the salt water concentration has reached the predetermined concentration (or When the salt water is sent out (when the predetermined concentration cannot be reached due to the shortage), the alarm 12 is activated to notify the manager that regeneration failure has occurred in the water softener 3.

[0024]

As described above in detail, according to the regeneration management apparatus for a water softener of the present invention, by performing an automatic judgment which has not been achieved in the past, labor can be saved and the water regeneration can be reliably regenerated. . As a result, it is possible to reduce troubles caused by the inflow of hardness into the boiler, maintain thermal efficiency, and also expect to improve the efficiency of the entire process using steam from the boiler.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a regeneration management device for a water softener according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Salt water tank 4 Air diffuser 6 Compressor 8 Concentration sensor 9 Water level sensor 10 Controller 11 Concentration reduction indicator 12 Alarm

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A regeneration control device for a water softener provided with a salt water tank for storing salt water used for regenerating an ion exchange resin filled in a water softener, wherein a salt water concentration detecting means for detecting a salt water concentration in the salt water tank. And a salt water concentration increasing means operable to increase the salt water concentration in the salt water tank when the salt water concentration detected by the salt water concentration detecting means is lower than a prescribed concentration. Playback management device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for increasing the concentration of salt water in the salt water tank is a stirring device for stirring salt water in the salt water tank. 3. A water level detecting means for detecting a water level in the salt water tank according to claim 1 or 2, and means for detecting a regeneration operation of the water softener based on a decrease and a re-increase of the water level detected by the water level detecting means. And a warning means for generating a warning when salt water having a concentration lower than a specified concentration is supplied to the water softener. 4. The salt water concentration detecting means according to claim 1, wherein the salt water concentration detecting means detects the concentration by a float utilizing a change in buoyancy according to a specific gravity of the salt water. Water softener regeneration management device.