KR102090664B1 - Filter system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a filter system. A filter system according to an aspect includes an electrostatic adsorption filter having at least a portion of a positive charge so that negatively charged particles present in water are ion adsorbed by electrostatic attraction; A hollow fiber membrane filter having pores for filtering viruses present in water that has passed through the electrostatic adsorption filter; And a carbon block filter for removing residual chlorine present in water passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter or the hollow fiber membrane filter.

Description

Filter system {FILTER SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a filter system.

Various filters are used in the water purifier, which is a device for purifying water. The most representative of these are reverse osmosis membrane filters and hollow fiber membrane filters.

Reverse Osmosis Membrane Filter refers to a filter using reverse osmosis. In the high concentration solution and the low concentration solution, which are separated by the semipermeable membrane, water naturally passes through the semipermeable membrane and moves from the low concentration solution to the high concentration solution. This phenomenon is called an osmotic phenomenon, and the difference in water level between a high concentration solution and a low concentration solution generated at this time is called an osmotic pressure. However, when a pressure higher than the osmotic pressure is applied to the high concentration solution, the water passes through the semipermeable membrane and moves from the high concentration solution to the low concentration solution as opposed to the natural phenomenon. This phenomenon is called reverse osmosis, and the difference in water level between a low concentration solution and a high concentration solution is called reverse osmosis. The reverse osmosis membrane filter is configured to purify only water molecules through a semi-permeable membrane using a reverse osmosis phenomenon.

The Hollow Fiber Membrane Filter uses a filter in the form of an empty hollow thread, such as bamboo. In the hollow fiber membrane filter, pores are formed to filter out substances to be removed mixed with water and to pass water molecules. When water is passed through the hollow fiber membrane filter using water pressure, substances to be removed having a size larger than the pores do not pass through the pores, and water molecules are smaller than the pores, and thus can pass through the hollow fiber membrane filter. The hollow fiber membrane filter is made to purify raw water by using this principle. However, it is known that the hollow fiber membrane filter cannot remove finer substances than the reverse osmosis filter.

Among the substances to be removed from the raw water, viruses are formed in a very small size that is invisible. In particular, if a virus that adversely affects the human body, such as Noro virus, is contained in drinking water, it causes abdominal pain, so it is necessary to remove the virus from the water purifier. However, since the virus is formed in a fine size and removing the fine substance is generally effective in reverse osmosis membrane filter as compared to the hollow fiber membrane filter, removing the virus from raw water has generally used reverse osmosis membrane filter.

However, the applicant has implemented a hollow fiber membrane capable of removing viruses through research and development of the hollow fiber membrane. However, since the hollow fiber membrane capable of removing the virus has pores having a size smaller than that of the virus, the problem that a decrease in water flow rate is rapidly caused by nanoparticles present in water over time has been raised.

Therefore, it is possible to consider a filter system capable of overcoming the phenomenon in which a rapid decrease in water flow rate is caused by nanoparticles when a hollow fiber membrane capable of removing a virus is applied.

One object of the present invention is to provide a filter system configured to prevent a rapid decrease in the amount of water generated when a hollow fiber membrane having pores having a size capable of removing a virus is applied to a filter.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a filter system that can eliminate the cause of shortening the replacement cycle of the hollow fiber membrane filter.

Another object of the present invention is to disclose a filter system that can be variously expanded using an electrostatic adsorption filter and a hollow fiber membrane filter.

In order to achieve such an object of the present invention, a filter system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: an electrostatic adsorption filter having at least a part of a positive charge so that negatively charged particles present in water are ion adsorbed by electrostatic attraction; A hollow fiber membrane filter having pores for filtering viruses present in water from which negative charge particles have been removed through the electrostatic adsorption filter; And a carbon block filter for removing residual chlorine present in the water that has passed through the electrostatic adsorption filter or the hollow fiber membrane filter, and an ion adsorption unit having the positive charge is formed on an outer surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter. The particles contained in the water passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter adsorb large negative charges, and a hollow portion is formed at the center of the electrostatic adsorption filter, so that the water passing through the ion adsorption portion is guided to the hollow desert filter, and the hollow desert In the center of the filter, a flow path for discharging water discharged to the outer circumferential surface of the hollow desert filter is formed, and the pore of the hollow desert filter is formed to have a size smaller than 25 nm to remove viruses having an average size of 25 nm or more contained in the water, The size of the particles adsorbed by the ion adsorption unit is larger than the size of the pores.

According to the present invention having the above configuration, the nanoparticles causing the flow rate of the hollow fiber membrane capable of removing the virus by the size exclusion mechanism can be previously removed using an electrostatic adsorption filter. Therefore, the nanoparticles present in the water are previously removed before passing through the hollow fiber membrane filter, so the present invention can prevent the flow rate reduction phenomenon of the hollow fiber membrane filter.

In addition, the present invention, while removing the virus by the organic combination of the electrostatic adsorption filter and the hollow fiber membrane filter, it is possible to reduce the need for early replacement of the filter and secure the performance of the filter system.

In addition, the present invention, while the electrostatic adsorption filter and the hollow fiber membrane filter as an essential component, can be formed in one stage or extended to multiple stages as necessary.

1 is a fluid flow diagram of a filter system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2a is a perspective view of a hollow fiber membrane filter applied to the filter system of the present invention.
Figure 2b is an enlarged photograph of the hollow fiber membrane.
3A is a perspective view of an electrostatic adsorption filter applied to the filter system of the present invention.
3B is a conceptual diagram showing a detailed configuration of the ion adsorption unit.
Figure 3c is another conceptual diagram showing the detailed configuration of the ion adsorption unit.
Figure 4a is a photo of the ion adsorption unit shown in Figure 3b.
4B is a conceptual diagram illustrating a mechanism in which nanoparticles are ion adsorbed on the ion adsorption part of FIG. 4A.
Figure 5 is a graph for explaining the effect of preventing the water flow reduction according to the application of the electrostatic adsorption filter.
6 is a graph for explaining the effect of removing nanoparticles according to the application of the electrostatic adsorption filter.
7 is a conceptual view showing the binding of the ion adsorption to the carbon block.
8 is a cross-sectional view showing a hollow fiber membrane filter and an electrostatic adsorption filter built into a single housing.
9 is a conceptual view showing that the hollow fiber membrane filter and the electrostatic adsorption filter are built in housings that are separated from each other.
10 is a conceptual view showing that the filter system is expanded to three stages.
11 is a conceptual view showing that the filter system is expanded to four stages.

Hereinafter, the filter system according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the same or similar reference numerals are assigned to the same or similar configurations in different embodiments, and the description is replaced with the first description. The singular expression used in this specification includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components.

In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "have" are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts or combinations thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features. It should be understood that the existence or addition possibilities of fields or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof are not excluded in advance.

1 is a fluid flow diagram of a filter system 100 according to one embodiment of the invention.

The filter system 100 includes a hollow fiber membrane filter 110 and an electrostatic adsorption filter 120. In order to implement the purified water of raw water or to implement a device (purifier) for purifying raw water as a product, more components are required than those shown in FIG. 1, but in FIG. 1, essential components related to the technical idea of the present invention The bay is shown, and the remaining components are omitted.

The hollow fiber membrane filter 110 is made to remove the virus. The hollow fiber membrane filter 110 has pores having an average size smaller than the average size of the virus to remove the virus present in the water.

The average size of pores provided in the conventional hollow fiber membrane filter was about 100 nm. However, since the average size of the virus is about 25 to 27 nm, the virus cannot be removed using a conventional hollow fiber membrane filter. The reason why the conventional hollow fiber membrane filter has pores having a size larger than that of the virus is that the function of the conventional hollow fiber membrane filter is independent of removing the virus.

In contrast, in the present invention, the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 is for removing viruses. To this end, the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 proposed in the present invention has pores having an average size smaller than the average size of the virus to remove the virus. Since the average size of the virus to be removed from water is about 25 to 27 nm, the average pore size of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 is formed to about 25 nm or less. In order to ensure the reliability of virus removal, the average pore size of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 is preferably formed to about 20 nm.

The hollow fiber membrane filter 110 having an average pore size smaller than about 25 nm may remove viruses present in water by a size exclusion mechanism. In particular, the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 that removes the virus by the size exclusion mechanism has an advantage that it can remove the virus regardless of the type of raw water. Among conventional methods, a filter that removes viruses in a different manner without using a size exclusion mechanism has been proposed. However, the conventional method has a disadvantage in that its performance may be determined according to raw water conditions, such as pH of raw water.

In the present invention, since the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 uses a size exclusion mechanism, it has an advantage that it is not affected by raw water conditions. However, not only viruses but also nanoparticles having a size of about 200 nm or less are present in raw water such as tap water. When passing the raw water through the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 to remove the virus from the raw water containing the nanoparticles, the pores of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 are blocked by the nanoparticles over time, thereby causing the hollow fiber membrane filter ( There is a problem that the water flow rate of 110) rapidly decreases.

In a conventional hollow fiber membrane filter having an average pore size of about 100 nm, a phenomenon in which the water flow rate is greatly reduced by nanoparticles cannot be clearly observed. Therefore, in the conventional hollow fiber membrane filter, the problem of reducing the water flow rate by the nanoparticles was not a factor influencing the performance of the water purifier. However, in the filter system 100 using the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 having an average pore size smaller than about 25 nm, as in the present invention, a decrease in the water flow rate by the nanoparticles greatly affects the performance of the water purifier.

Filters of currently used water purifiers are periodically replaced. However, the decrease in the water flow rate by the nanoparticles makes the replacement time of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 shorter. In addition, since a decrease in the amount of water flows causes a decrease in the amount of purified water provided to the user, a decrease in the amount of water flowed from the user's point of view causes a low evaluation of the quality of the water purifier.

The present invention applies a hollow fiber membrane filter 110 having pores of a size capable of removing viruses, and an electrostatic adsorption filter to solve the problem of a decrease in the amount of water flow that may occur when applying the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 ( A filter system 100 using 120) with the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 is proposed.

The electrostatic adsorption filter 120 is at least partially positively charged so that the nanoparticles of the negatively charged nanoparticles present in the water are ion-adsorbed by electrostatic attraction. Most of the particulate matter present in the water in the pH range of drinking water has a negative charge, and the nanoparticles to be removed from the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 also have a negative charge. Therefore, nanoparticles can be ion adsorbed by positive charge and electrostatic attraction.

The electrostatic adsorption filter 120 pre-removes the nanoparticles from the water to be supplied to the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 to prevent a sudden decrease in the water flow rate of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 by the nanoparticles. Referring to the order of passing water, the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 is located in front of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110. Therefore, the water purified in the filter system 100 first passes through the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 first, and secondly passes through the hollow fiber membrane filter 110.

Since the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 removes nanoparticles from water to be supplied to the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 in advance, a virus may be present in the water B that has passed through the electrostatic adsorption filter 120. However, the nanoparticles causing the reduction in water flow rate are removed by the electrostatic adsorption filter 120. Therefore, when water (B) passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 is supplied to the hollow fiber membrane filter 110, it is possible to prevent occurrence of a decrease in the water flow rate in the hollow fiber membrane filter 110.

Water (C) purified by the filter system 100 may be divided into raw water (A), primary purified water (B), and secondary purified water (C). Raw water (A) refers to water before passing through the filter system 100, and refers to water that is not purified at all. For example, raw water A includes tap water.

The primary purified water B indicates water that has passed through the electrostatic adsorption filter 120. When the raw water (A) passes through the electrostatic adsorption filter (120), the nanoparticles are removed from the raw water (A), and the raw water (A) becomes the primary purified water (B). The primary purified water (B) may be understood as water in which nanoparticles are removed from raw water (A). Virus may be present in the primary integer (B).

Secondary water purification (C) refers to water that has passed through the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 in sequence. When the primary purified water (B) passes through the hollow fiber membrane filter 110, the virus is removed from the primary purified water (B), and the primary purified water (B) becomes the secondary purified water (C). The second purified water (C) can be understood as the water from which the virus is removed from the first purified water (B). Since the nanoparticles are removed by the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 and the virus is removed by the hollow fiber membrane filter 110, almost no nanoparticles and viruses are present in the second purified water (C).

According to the present invention, the virus present in the raw water (A) can be removed by the hollow fiber membrane filter 110. In addition, the nanoparticles causing the water flow rate reduction phenomenon in the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 may be removed by the electrostatic adsorption filter 120. In particular, the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 does not remove nanoparticles from the water that has passed through the hollow fiber membrane filter 110, but is made to remove nanoparticles from water to be provided as the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 in advance. Therefore, the present invention can remove the virus removal by using the size exclusion mechanism and prevent the phenomenon of reducing the water flow rate of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110.

Hereinafter, a detailed structure of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 will be described.

2A is a perspective view of a hollow fiber membrane filter 110 applied to the filter system 100 (see FIG. 1) of the present invention. 2B is an enlarged photograph of the hollow fiber membrane.

The hollow fiber membrane filter 110 of FIG. 2A is formed by bundling the hollow fiber membrane 112 of FIG. 2B. The lower part is potted by a resin such as polyurethane to block the flow of water, and the upper part is cut out of the resin after potting so that water is discharged to the center of the hollow fiber membrane. The hollow fiber membrane 112 means a membrane in the form of an empty thread in the middle. Pores (not shown) are formed in the hollow fiber membrane 112, and the pores are formed to a size of about 25 nm or less to remove the virus. In order to more reliably remove the virus, it is preferable that the average size of the pores is about 20 nm.

A flow path 111 capable of discharging water is formed in the center portion of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110. Water flows into the outer circumferential surface of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110. Viruses that are present in the water while passing through the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 do not pass through the pores and thus are removed from the water. The arrow in FIG. 2A represents the flow of water. Water is discharged through the flow path 111 formed in the center portion of the hollow fiber membrane filter 110.

3A is a perspective view of an electrostatic adsorption filter 120 applied to the filter system 100 (see FIG. 1) of the present invention.

The electrostatic adsorption filter 120 includes a hollow portion 121 and an ion adsorption portion 122.

The hollow portion 121 forms a flow path through which water can be discharged. The hollow portion 121 may, for example, form a flow path of water providing the nanoparticles removed water to the hollow fiber membrane filter 110.

The ion adsorption portion 122 is formed around the hollow portion 121 to allow water to flow through the hollow portion 121. Water flows through the ion adsorption unit 122 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter 120. While passing through the ion adsorption section 122, the negatively charged nanoparticles present in the water are adsorbed to the ion adsorption section 122 by electrostatic attraction. The water from which the nanoparticles are removed is discharged through a flow path formed in the hollow portion 121. The arrow in FIG. 3A represents the flow of water.

The ion adsorption portion 122 forms a pleated outer surface around the hollow portion 121 to increase the surface area in contact with the water. Since the ion adsorption unit 122 removes nanoparticles present in water by electrostatic attraction, the more opportunities for contact with the nanoparticles, the ion adsorption unit 122 can remove more nanoparticles. Therefore, when the ion adsorption portion 122 forms a corrugated outer peripheral surface as shown in FIG. 3A, the surface area in contact with water increases. The number of wrinkles (or the number of acids) can be adjusted to control the surface area. In addition, the ion adsorption unit 122 having a corrugated outer peripheral surface can remove more nanoparticles than an outer peripheral surface without irregularities.

3B is a conceptual diagram showing a detailed configuration of the ion adsorption unit 122.

The ion adsorption unit 122 is configured to remove the negatively charged nanoparticles present in the water using electrostatic attraction. The ion adsorption unit 122 includes a nonwoven support 122a, glass fiber 122b, and ion adsorption material 122c.

The nonwoven support 122a forms the outer circumferential surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter 120. In particular, the nonwoven support 122a is manufactured in the form of a sheet, and may form the outer circumferential surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 in a wrinkled form through processing. The non-woven fabric support 122a supports the glass fiber 122b. The non-woven fabric support 122a is provided with pores to pass water.

The glass fiber 122b is attached to the surface of the nonwoven support 122a. The glass fiber 122b is for fixing the ion adsorption material 122c. The glass fibers 122b in the form of small fibers are randomly arranged on the surface of the non-woven fabric support 122a and intertwined with each other. A gap of about 2 to 3 μm may be formed between the glass fiber 122b and the glass fiber 122b, and water may pass through the gap. Particles larger than the size of the gap can be removed from the water by a size exclusion mechanism.

The ion adsorption material 122c is formed by grafting on the surface of the glass fiber 122b. Grafting refers to a process for fixing the ion adsorption material 122c on the surface of the glass fiber 122b, and includes a process of fixing the ion adsorption material 122c to the glass fiber 122b through physical rolling. The ion adsorption material 122c provides a positive charge so as to be ion adsorbed with the negatively charged nanoparticles present in the water passing through the nonwoven fabric.

The ion adsorption material 122c includes alumina (AlOOH). Alumina dissociates from water into AlO ⁺ cations and OH ^- anions. The ion adsorption material 122c uses AlO ⁺ cations to provide a positive charge required for ion adsorption. The positive charge may be about +80 크기 in size.

The nanoparticles exhibiting a negative charge by the positive charge provided by the ion adsorption material 122c may be ion adsorbed on the ion adsorption unit 122.

3C is another conceptual diagram showing a detailed configuration of the ion adsorption unit 122 '.

The nonwoven support 122a 'is the same as described in FIG. 3B. Therefore, the description of FIG. 3B for the nonwoven support 122a 'is replaced.

The ion adsorption part 122 'includes cellulose 122b' instead of the glass fiber 122b used in FIG. 3B. Cellulose 122b 'is attached to the surface of the nonwoven support 122a'. Cellulose 122b 'is also for fixing the ion adsorbing material 122c'. Cellulose (122b ') in the form of fibrils is randomly placed on the surface of the non-woven support (122a') and intertwined with each other. Between the cellulose 122b 'and the cellulose 122b', a gap of about 0.5 to 1 µm may be formed, and water may pass through the gap. Particles larger than the size of the gap can be removed from the water by a size exclusion mechanism.

Compared to glass fiber (122b, see FIG. 3B), cellulose 122b 'has several advantages.

First, cellulose 122b 'is harmless to the human body. The electrostatic adsorption filter 120 (refer to FIG. 3A) is a component of the filter system 100 (refer to FIG. 1) to form drinking water and should not be harmful to the human body. Cellulose (122b ') is suitable as a component of the electrostatic adsorption filter (120, see FIG. 1) for treating drinking water because its harmlessness has been demonstrated compared to glass fiber (122b, see FIG. 3B).

In addition, a gap of a smaller size is formed between the cellulose 122b 'and the cellulose 122b' compared to the glass fiber 122b (see FIG. 3B). Therefore, the performance of removing impurities present in water by the size exclusion mechanism can be improved compared to the glass fiber 122b (see FIG. 3B).

The ion adsorption material 122c 'is formed by grafting on the surface of the cellulose 122b'. The description of the ion adsorption material 122c 'is replaced by the description of FIG. 3B.

3B and 3C indicate the direction in which water flows.

4A is a photograph of the ion adsorption unit 122 shown in FIG. 3B. In the photo, the lower left and upper right light colored portions correspond to the nonwoven support. And the dark colored fibers from the upper left to the lower right correspond to glass fibers. The particles placed on the surface of the glass fiber correspond to alumina.

4B is a conceptual diagram illustrating a mechanism in which nanoparticles are ion adsorbed on the ion adsorption part of FIG. 4A.

Referring to Figure 4b, three glass fibers are arranged to intertwine with each other. A triangular gap is formed between the three glass fibers, and water can pass through the gap. The alumina fixed to the surface of the glass fiber uses cations to provide cations necessary for ion adsorption. Therefore, a positive charge is formed on the surface of the glass fiber. Since the nanoparticles present in the water have a negative charge, while the water passes through the glass fiber, the nanoparticles are ion adsorbed with cations present on the surface of the glass fiber. The arrow in FIG. 4B represents the flow of water.

Hereinafter, the effect of preventing the removal of the nanoparticles and reducing the water flow rate by applying the electrostatic adsorption filter 120 (see FIG. 1) together with the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 (see FIG. 1) will be described with graphs and tables.

5 is a graph for explaining the effect of preventing the water flow rate reduction according to the application of the electrostatic adsorption filter.

The horizontal axis represents the cumulative water flow rate (unit L), and the vertical axis represents the flow rate (unit L / min). The decrease in the flow rate as the accumulated water flow rate increases means that the pores of the hollow fiber membrane filter are blocked by the nanoparticles, and that the replacement time of the hollow fiber membrane filter is short.

In FIG. 5, line X is the result of applying only the hollow fiber membrane filter without the electrostatic adsorption filter, and line Y is the result of applying the electrostatic adsorption filter and the hollow fiber membrane filter of the present invention together.

First, considering the case of purifying water using only the hollow fiber membrane filter without the electrostatic adsorption filter of line X, it can be seen that the flow rate continues to decrease as the cumulative water flow rate increases. While the initial flow rate is about 1.4 L / min, the flow rate when the cumulative flow rate is about 1,000 L is only 0.5 L / min. Therefore, when water is purified using only the hollow fiber membrane filter without the electrostatic adsorption filter, the pores of the hollow fiber membrane filter are blocked by nanoparticles and the hollow fiber membrane must be replaced early.

Next, by examining the case where the electrostatic adsorption filter of line Y and the hollow fiber membrane filter are applied together, it can be confirmed that the initial flow rate is maintained as it is even if the accumulated water flow rate increases. Even if the accumulated water flow amount reached about 2,000 L, the flow rate remained almost unchanged. When the electrostatic adsorption filter and the hollow fiber membrane filter are used together, the nanoparticles are removed by the electrostatic adsorption filter, so that the pores of the hollow fiber membrane filter can be prevented, and the flow rate (flow rate) of the hollow fiber membrane filter is prevented from decreasing. can do.

6 is a graph for explaining the effect of removing the nanoparticles according to the application of the electrostatic adsorption filter (120, see FIG. 1).

The horizontal axis represents the size of nanoparticles (unit μm), and the vertical axis represents the number of nanoparticles per unit flow rate (counts / ml). The number of nanoparticles per unit flow rate was divided into 0.05 µm or less, 0.1 µm or less, 0.15 µm or less, and 0.2 µm or less. Table 1 shows the comparison between the tap water (raw water) and the case where only the electrostatic adsorption filter is applied, and the case where the electrostatic adsorption filter and the hollow fiber membrane filter are applied together.

Number of nanoparticles per unit flow rate Nanoparticle size 0.05㎛ 0.1㎛ 0.15㎛ 0.2㎛ 1. Tap water 8402 4395 1353 757 2. Electrostatic adsorption filter 434 204 68 41 3. Electrostatic adsorption filter + hollow fiber membrane filter 152 58 17 20

There are many nanoparticles by size in tap water. In particular, nanoparticles of 0.05 μm or less and nanoparticles of 0.1 μm or less occupy the majority. As can be seen from the graph of Figure 6 and Table 1, the electrostatic adsorption filter can remove more than 90% of the nanoparticles present in tap water. 6 and Table 1, it can be confirmed that the electrostatic adsorption filter can remove the nanoparticles, and it can be confirmed that the effect of alleviating the decrease in the water flow rate of the hollow fiber membrane filter caused by the nanoparticles.

Hereinafter, a filter system formed by modifying or applying the aforementioned electrostatic adsorption filter and hollow fiber membrane filter will be described.

7 is a conceptual view showing that the ion adsorption portion 222 is coupled to the carbon block 231.

The filter system (not shown) may additionally include carbon block filters 231, 232a, and 232b configured to pass water through the carbon block 231 to remove residual chlorine present in the water. Carbon block filters 231, 232a, and 232b are formed by combining lids 232a, 232b on the top and bottom of the carbon block 231, respectively. A hollow portion may be formed in the central portion of the carbon block 231, and holes are formed in the portions corresponding to the hollow portion of the carbon block 231 also in the covers 232a and 232b.

The ion adsorption unit 222 may be combined with the carbon block 231 to form the composite filter 230. The ion adsorption unit 222 surrounds the outer circumferential surface of the carbon block 231 to provide nanoparticles in advance in water to be provided as the carbon block 231. The ion adsorption unit 222 is preferably formed of a single layer to prevent a decrease in the flow rate by the ion adsorption unit 222. Water flows into the outer circumferential surface of the composite filter 230, and nanoparticles present in the water are removed by the ion adsorption unit 222. The water from which the nanoparticles are removed then passes through the carbon block 231, and residual chlorine present in the water is removed by the carbon block 231. In addition, heavy metals or organic compounds present in water may be further removed by an adsorbent material provided in the carbon block 231. The filter system 100 (see FIG. 1) may be composed of only the composite filter 230 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 110 (see FIG. 1).

The carbon block filter (not shown) or the composite filter 230 may include an adsorbent material (not shown) to further remove heavy metals or organic compounds. The adsorption material can be mixed and compressed into a raw material of the carbon block 231 together with a binder (not shown) to form a carbon block filter.

Adsorption materials include, for example, iron hydroxide and silica materials. Iron hydroxide is made to remove arsenic present in water, and silica material is made to remove lead present in water. In addition, the adsorption material may include a material for removing chloroform, which is a typical organic compound present in water.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a hollow fiber membrane filter 310 and an electrostatic adsorption filter 320 embedded in a single housing 301.

The filter system 300 may be formed of a single stage filter in which the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 310 are combined, and the filter system 300 may include the hollow fiber membrane filter 310 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 320. It includes a housing 301 for receiving.

An electrostatic adsorption filter 320 and a hollow fiber membrane filter 310 are disposed inside the housing 301. The electrostatic adsorption filter 320 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 310 may be sequentially stacked inside the housing 301 as shown in FIG. 8. The hollow fiber membrane filter 310 is disposed on the outlet side of the electrostatic adsorption filter 320. The housing 301 is formed with an inlet 301a forming an inflow passage for raw water and an outlet 301b forming a flow passage for discharging purified water.

The internal flow path of the housing 301 includes a raw water supply flow path 302a, a connection flow path 302b, and a discharge flow path 302c.

The raw water supply flow passage 302a extends from the inlet 301a to the outer circumferential surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 so that the raw water flows to the electrostatic adsorption filter 320. The raw water introduced through the inlet 301a of the housing 301 is supplied to the outer circumferential surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 along the raw water supply flow path 302a. The water flowing into the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 passes through the ion adsorption unit 122 (see FIG. 3A) disposed on the outer circumferential surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter 320, and the hollow portions 121 and 3A of the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 are passed. See).

The connection flow path 302b passes from the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 to the outer circumferential surface of the hollow fiber membrane filter 310 from the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 so that the water from which nanoparticles are primarily removed is flowed into the hollow fiber membrane filter 310. Continues. Water discharged through the hollow portion 121 of the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 (see FIG. 3A) flows to the outer circumferential surface of the hollow fiber membrane filter 310 along the connection flow path 302b. Viruses present in the water are removed by the hollow fiber membrane filter 310.

The discharge passage 302c is connected to the outlet 301b so that the virus-removed water flows out of the housing 301 while passing through the hollow fiber membrane filter 310. The water flowing into the inlet 301a of the housing 301 passes through the raw water supply channel 302a, the electrostatic adsorption filter 320, the connection channel 302b, the hollow fiber membrane filter 310, and the discharge channel 302c. It is discharged to the outlet 301b of 301. In this process, nanoparticles and viruses present in water are sequentially removed by the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 310, respectively.

If the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 310 are disposed in a single housing 301, and the raw water supply flow passage 302a, the connection flow passage 302b, and the discharge flow passage 302c are connected as described above, The filter system 300 may be formed as a single module. The filter system 300 composed of one module can reduce the overall size of the filter system 300 having the electrostatic adsorption filter 320 and the hollow fiber membrane filter separately. Therefore, a small water purifier can be implemented using the filter system 300 composed of one module.

9 is a conceptual view showing that the hollow fiber membrane filter 410 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 420 are built in the housings 401 and 401 ', which are separated from each other.

The filter system 400 includes a first housing 401 for receiving the hollow fiber membrane filter 410 so as to embed the hollow fiber membrane filter 410 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 420 in the housings 401 and 401 ', which are separated from each other. And a second housing 401 'for receiving the electrostatic adsorption filter 420. The hollow fiber membrane filter 410 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 420 are formed of respective modules. Water passes through the electrostatic adsorption filter 420 first, and then through the hollow fiber membrane filter 410.

When the hollow fiber membrane filter 410 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 420 are formed as separate modules as shown in FIG. 9, the size increases compared to the single module described in FIG. 8. However, since the hollow fiber membrane filter 410 and the electrostatic adsorption filter 420 follow each replacement cycle, it is not necessary to replace one of the two filters 410 and 420 because the filter has lost function. There are advantages.

9, the filter system 400 may include a hollow fiber membrane filter 410 and an electrostatic adsorption filter 420. In addition, the filter system 400 ′ may also include the composite filter 430 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 410 described in FIG. 7. The latter filter system 400 ′ may further remove residual chlorine, heavy metals, or organic compounds present in water compared to the former filter system 400.

10 is a conceptual view showing that the filter system 500 is expanded to three stages.

The filter system 500 includes an electrostatic adsorption filter 520, a hollow fiber membrane filter 510, and a carbon block filter 540. The electrostatic adsorption filter 520, the hollow fiber membrane filter 510, and the carbon block filter 540 are formed of respective modules. The functions of the electrostatic adsorption filter 520, the hollow fiber membrane filter 510, and the carbon block filter 540 are replaced with those described above.

Referring to FIG. 10, water is purified while sequentially passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter 520, the hollow fiber membrane filter 510, and the carbon block filter 540. The electrostatic adsorption filter 520 removes nanoparticles, the hollow fiber membrane filter 510 removes viruses, and the carbon block filter 540 removes residual chlorine. When the carbon block filter 540 is provided with an adsorption material, heavy metals or organic compounds may be additionally removed.

The carbon block filter 540 is disposed to purify at least one of water from which nanoparticles are removed while passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter 520 and water from which viruses are removed while passing through the hollow fiber membrane filter 510. Accordingly, the position of the carbon block filter 540 can be moved from the back of the hollow fiber membrane filter 510 to the back of the electrostatic adsorption filter 520, as shown in FIG. However, it does not change that the electrostatic adsorption filter 520 is positioned before the hollow fiber membrane filter 510.

11 is a conceptual view showing that the filter system 600 is expanded to four stages.

The filter system 600 includes an electrostatic adsorption filter 620, a first carbon block filter 631, a hollow fiber membrane filter 610, and a second carbon block filter 640. At least one of the first carbon block filter 631 and the second carbon block filter 640 may be provided with an adsorbent material (not shown).

11, the water is purified while sequentially passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter 620, the first carbon block filter 631, the hollow fiber membrane filter 610, and the second carbon block filter 640. The electrostatic adsorption filter 620 removes nanoparticles, the hollow fiber membrane filter 610 removes viruses, and the first carbon block filter 631 and the second carbon block filter 640 remove residual chlorine. At least one of the first carbon block filter 631 and the second carbon block filter 640 may be provided with an adsorbent material (not shown) to further remove heavy metals or organic compounds.

The order of each filter can be changed. However, it does not change that the electrostatic adsorption filter 620 is positioned before the hollow fiber membrane filter 610. The filter system 600 includes the electrostatic adsorption filter 620 and the hollow fiber membrane filter 610 as essential components, but can be expanded in multiple stages.

According to the present invention, nanoparticles that cause a decrease in the flow rate of a hollow fiber membrane capable of removing viruses by a size exclusion mechanism can be previously removed using an electrostatic adsorption filter. Therefore, the nanoparticles present in the water are previously removed before passing through the hollow fiber membrane filter, so the present invention can prevent the flow rate reduction phenomenon of the hollow fiber membrane filter.

The filter system described above is not limited to the configuration and method of the above-described embodiments, and the above embodiments may be configured by selectively combining all or part of each embodiment so that various modifications can be made.

Claims (7)

An electrostatic adsorption filter having at least a portion of a positive charge so that negatively charged particles present in the water are ion adsorbed by electrostatic attraction;
A hollow fiber membrane filter having pores for filtering viruses present in water from which negative charge particles have been removed through the electrostatic adsorption filter; And
And a carbon block filter for removing residual chlorine present in the water that has passed through the electrostatic adsorption filter or the hollow fiber membrane filter,
An ion adsorption unit having the positive charge is formed on an outer surface of the electrostatic adsorption filter, so that particles contained in water passing through the electrostatic adsorption filter adsorb large negative charges,
A hollow portion is formed at the center of the electrostatic adsorption filter, so that water passing through the ion adsorption portion is guided to the hollow desert filter,
In the center of the hollow desert filter is formed a flow path for discharging water discharged to the outer peripheral surface of the hollow desert filter,
The pores of the hollow fiber filter are formed to have a size smaller than 25 nm to remove viruses having an average size of 25 nm or more contained in water,
The size of the particles adsorbed by the ion adsorption unit is larger than that of the pores.
According to claim 1,
The electrostatic adsorption filter, the hollow fiber membrane filter and the carbon block filter, each filter system characterized in that they are embedded in a separate housing.
According to claim 1,
The ion adsorption unit, a filter system that forms a pleated surface to increase the surface area in contact with water.
delete According to claim 1,
The hollow fiber membrane filter is connected to the outlet of the electrostatic adsorption filter,
The carbon block filter is a filter system connected to the outlet of the hollow fiber membrane filter.
According to claim 1,
The carbon block filter is connected to the outlet of the electrostatic adsorption filter,
The hollow fiber membrane filter is a filter system connected to the outlet of the carbon block filter.
According to claim 1,
The carbon block filter further comprises an adsorption material mixed with the raw material of the carbon block filter to remove heavy metals or organic compounds.

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