JP2004167454A - Water purifying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water purifying apparatus which is constituted by combining a water softener with a reverse osmosis membrane and which can continuously produce pure water even when the water softener is under regeneration. <P>SOLUTION: After raw water is subjected to softening treatment via the water softener, pure water is produced via the reverse osmosis membrane. Further the water purifying apparatus is provided with a bypassing means which supplies the raw water to the reverse osmosis membrane during regeneration of the water softener by making the raw water bypass the water softener and with a thickened water amount regulation means which regulates a discharge flow rate of the thickened water separated by the reverse osmosis membrane. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pure water producing apparatus combining a water softener and a reverse osmosis membrane, and more particularly to a pure water producing apparatus capable of continuously producing pure water even during regeneration of a water softener.
[0002]
[Related background art]
Recently, as a method of desalinating feed water (raw water), an acid or the like is added to the feed water (raw water), the pH is adjusted, and the water is softened by the softener. A desalination method of treating with a membrane is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). And the pure water production apparatus which applied this desalination method is also widely applied.
[0003]
The characteristics of the reverse osmosis membrane used in such a water treatment apparatus are degraded due to the scale of a chlorine component or calcium contained in the feed water (raw water). Therefore, in general, chlorine contained in the feed water (raw water) is removed by filtration with activated carbon or a catalyst, and hard components such as calcium are removed by a water softener (water softening treatment). To give to. For this reason, the water softener needs to be periodically regenerated to remove hard components such as calcium.
[0004]
By the way, in such a pure water production apparatus, the soft water cannot be supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane during the regeneration period of the water softener, and the pure water production is interrupted. Therefore, when continuous supply of pure water is required, a pure water tank is generally prepared to prepare a pure water tank so that production of pure water is not interrupted even during regeneration of the water softener. Is stored, and during the regeneration of the water softener, the pure water stored in the pure water tank is supplied to its supply destination.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 3278918 [0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in order to generate the pure water stored in the above-described pure water tank, it is necessary to prepare a pure water producing apparatus having a pure water generating capacity equal to or higher than a pure water amount which is always required. Further, during regeneration of the water softener, there is a problem that it is necessary to prepare a pump power or the like for sending out the pure water stored in the pure water tank to a supply destination.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its object is to provide a pure water production apparatus configured by combining a water softener and a reverse osmosis membrane, even during regeneration of the water softener, An object of the present invention is to provide a pure water producing apparatus capable of generating pure water.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, the pure water production apparatus according to the present invention is suitable for producing pure water to be continuously supplied to a fuel cell, for example, in which raw water is softened through a water softener. A pure water producing apparatus for generating pure water by a reverse osmosis membrane, wherein bypass means for supplying raw water to the reverse osmosis membrane by bypassing the water softener at the time of regeneration of the water softener; A concentrated water amount adjusting means for adjusting a discharge flow rate of the separated concentrated water.
[0009]
Further, a pure water pressure sensor for detecting a discharge pressure of the pure water separated by the reverse osmosis membrane, and the reverse osmosis when the discharge pressure of the pure water detected by the pure water pressure sensor is higher than a preset pressure. And a supply shutoff means for interrupting the supply of soft water and / or raw water to the membrane.
The concentrated water amount adjusting means is configured to adjust a predetermined concentrated water discharge flow rate during regeneration of the water softener.
Therefore, according to the pure water production apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to provide a pure water production apparatus capable of continuously producing pure water even during regeneration of the water softener.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a pure water production apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a pure water producing apparatus according to one embodiment, and illustrates, for example, a pure water producing apparatus suitable for producing soft water to be continuously supplied to a fuel cell.
[0011]
This pure water production apparatus basically separates feed water (raw water) into pure water and concentrated water with a reverse osmosis membrane 1, and removes chlorine and calcium components in the raw water supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1. A pre-processing filter 2 and a water softener 3 are provided. The pretreatment filter 2 removes chlorine from raw water. Then, after a hard component such as calcium contained in the raw water from which the chlorine content has been removed is removed by the water softener 3, the water is supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1. Further, the reverse osmosis membrane 1 is provided with a flow rate adjusting joint 4 for adjusting and discharging the flow rate of the concentrated water generated during the production of pure water, and is continuously blown to the pits 5 and the like. It should be noted that a flow control valve (not shown) capable of manually adjusting the opening degree may be applied instead of the flow connection 4.
[0012]
The water softener 3 is provided for the purpose of removing hardness components such as calcium in raw water as described above. However, since the calcium removed by the softening of the raw water is accumulated in the water softener 3, it is necessary to periodically regenerate the water softener 3. In order to perform this regeneration treatment, a salt water tank 6 storing an aqueous solution of sodium chloride is connected to the water softener 3. Then, the salt water is ion-exchanged with the calcium accumulated in the ion exchange resin filled in the water softener 3 to regenerate the water softener 3. Preferably, the supply of the salt water in the salt water tank 6 is configured to use the ejector effect by the raw water inflow pressure.
[0013]
By the way, in the pure water production apparatus of the present invention, the bypass valve 10 for bypassing the water softener 3 is provided with the water softener 3 so that the water can be supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1 even during the regeneration treatment of the water softener 3. It is provided between the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe. By opening the bypass valve 10, a part of the raw water is supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1 even during regeneration of the water softener 3, so that the generation of pure water is not interrupted.
[0014]
Further, a pressure sensor 20 for detecting a water pressure flowing in a supply path of pure water generated from the reverse osmosis membrane 1 is provided in the supply path. The pressure sensor 20 plays a role of driving the shutoff valve 11 that shuts off water supply to the reverse osmosis membrane 1 when the detected pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure.
Also, as described above, during the regeneration process of the water softener 3, when the raw water containing the hardness component bypassed from the pretreatment filter 2 via the bypass valve 10 is supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1, the hardness component (calcium content) is reduced. In order to suppress the adhesion of scale due to (1), a flow joint 12 for regeneration for reducing the recovery rate of the reverse osmosis membrane 1 and a regeneration blow valve 13 are provided on the reverse osmosis membrane 1. Although not particularly shown, a flow rate adjusting valve that can manually adjust the opening degree may be applied to the regeneration flow rate joint.
[0015]
According to the pure water producing apparatus configured as described above, the chlorine content is always removed by the pretreatment filter 2, and the raw water from which the chlorine content has been removed is further softened by the water softener 3. The pure water is generated by supplying it to 1.
On the other hand, during the regeneration process of the water softener 3, a part of the raw water supplied to the water softener 3 is supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1 via the bypass valve 10. Then, the reverse osmosis membrane 1 receives this raw water supply and produces pure water. That is, in the conventional pure water production apparatus, pure water cannot be obtained during regeneration of the water softener because the bypass valve 10 is not provided, but according to the pure water production apparatus of the present invention, As a result, the raw water can be supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1, so that the production of pure water can be continued even during the regeneration of the water softener 3. However, since the raw water is directly supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane 1, the scale contained in the raw water may adhere to the reverse osmosis membrane 1. Therefore, in the present apparatus, during the regeneration of the water softener 3, the concentrated flow rate of the reverse osmosis membrane 1 is increased by the regeneration flow rate joint 12 and the regeneration blow valve 13 to reduce the recovery rate of the pure water, so that the reverse osmosis membrane 1 The resulting scale is suppressed.
[0016]
Incidentally, since the salt water stored in the salt water tank 6 necessary for regeneration of the water softener 3 is supplied to the water softener 3 by using the ejector effect by the feed water pressure, it is not necessary to use the power of a pump or the like.
Incidentally, the bypass valve 10 and the regeneration blow valve 13 during the regeneration process of the water softener 3 may be controlled to open and close by an electric signal indicating whether or not the water softener 3 is being regenerated, for example. Alternatively, when the regeneration of the water softener 3 is controlled by a timer (not shown), a valve control timer (not shown) for controlling the opening and closing of the bypass valve 10 and the regeneration blow valve 13 may be provided. And it is good to be comprised so that opening / closing control of each valve may be performed by the command of this valve control timer. In this case, the valve control timer issues a valve opening command slightly earlier than the regeneration start time of the water softener 3 and slightly later than the regeneration end time of the water softener 3 so that the generation of pure water is not interrupted. It is desirable to set so as to issue a valve closing command.
[0017]
Now, the pure water generated by the reverse osmosis membrane 1 of the pure water producing apparatus according to the present invention passes through a supply path to a supply destination requiring the pure water, such as a reformer of a fuel cell (not shown). Sent out. As described above, the supply path is provided with the pressure sensor 20 for detecting the pressure of the pure water flowing through the supply path, and when the internal pressure of the supply path exceeds a predetermined pressure value, the supply of water to the reverse osmosis membrane 1 is performed. A shutoff valve 11 for shutting off is provided.
[0018]
When the supply / stop of the pure water is controlled on the supply side using the pure water, the pressure sensor 20 provided on the pipe on the pure water discharge side of the reverse osmosis membrane 1 causes the supply at the supply destination to be stopped. Detects stoppage of pure water supply.
That is, in the conventional pure water production apparatus, when the supply of pure water is stopped at the destination of pure water, there is no means for detecting the stop of the supply of pure water, so that the supply of water to the reverse osmosis membrane 1 is all It was discharged to pit 5 as concentrated water. However, as described above, when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 20 provided on the pipe on the pure water discharge side of the reverse osmosis membrane 1 exceeds the predetermined pressure value, the pure water production apparatus of the present invention Has been detected as having stopped receiving at the supply destination. Then, the closing valve 11 provided at the inlet of the reverse osmosis membrane 1 is closed. Therefore, the water supply is not wasted.
[0019]
Further, since the shut-off valve 11 is provided at the inlet of the reverse osmosis membrane 1, the regeneration of the water softener 3 can be performed even when pure water is not generated.
Furthermore, it is desirable that the valve used in the present invention is constituted by an electromagnetic valve that can be driven by the battery 7. By using an electromagnetic valve that can be driven by the battery 7, pure water can be produced without supplying power to the pure water producing apparatus. Further, if a single control valve is used as a valve provided in the water softener 10, the supply of water can be continued even when the power is lost (at the time of a power failure). For this reason, pure water can be produced even in a place where there is no power supply from the outside, and power generation of the fuel cell can be started, which is suitable as a pure water producing apparatus for a fuel cell.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the pure water production apparatus of the present invention, even during regeneration of the water softener, the feed water (raw water) is bypassed to the reverse osmosis membrane by the bypass valve, so that pure water is continuously produced. It is possible to do. For this reason, ancillary equipment such as a tank and a pump for storing pure water is not required, and the pure water producing apparatus can be downsized.
[0021]
Furthermore, since the various control valves are driven and controlled by the battery, even when the fuel cell is started in a place where there is no external power supply, pure water can be produced, and the pure water for the fuel cell can be produced. Practically great effects such as being suitable as a water production device can be obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a pure water production apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reverse osmosis membrane 3 Water softener 4 Flow rate adjustment joint 10 Bypass valve 11 Shut off valve 12 Regeneration flow rate joint 13 Regeneration blow valve 20 Pressure sensor

Claims (4)

A pure water production device for producing pure water through a reverse osmosis membrane after softening raw water through a water softener,
Bypass means for supplying raw water to the reverse osmosis membrane by bypassing the water softener during regeneration of the water softener,
A pure water production apparatus comprising: a concentrated water amount adjusting means for adjusting a discharge flow rate of the concentrated water separated by the reverse osmosis membrane. The pure water production apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a pure water pressure sensor for detecting a discharge pressure of the pure water separated by the reverse osmosis membrane;
When the discharge pressure of the pure water detected by the pure water pressure sensor is higher than a preset pressure, a supply shut-off means for shutting off the supply of soft water and / or raw water to the reverse osmosis membrane is provided. Pure water production equipment. 3. The pure water production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the concentrated water amount adjusting means adjusts the discharged flow rate of the concentrated water to a predetermined flow rate during regeneration of the water softener. 4. The pure water production apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A pure water production apparatus for supplying the pure water separated by the reverse osmosis membrane to a fuel cell.

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