KR102249610B1 - Evaporative Desalination Apparatus and Method of Sea Water - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an evaporative seawater desalination apparatus and method. An evaporative seawater desalination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a water cluster separation unit for separating water clusters by dissociating hydrogen bonds between water molecules by forming an electric field in water of seawater; And an evaporation unit for forming fresh water by evaporating the seawater treated by the water cluster separation unit.

Description

Evaporative Desalination Apparatus and Method of Sea Water}

The present invention relates to an evaporative seawater desalination apparatus and method for converting seawater into steam and desalination.

Seawater desalination refers to a series of water treatment processes in which high-purity drinking water, household water, and industrial water are obtained by removing dissolved substances including salts from seawater that is difficult to use directly as domestic or industrial water.

As a method of seawater desalination, reverse osmosis, which produces fresh water by passing seawater through a semi-permeable membrane by reverse osmosis, and steam generated by heating seawater using a heat source. An evaporation method in which fresh water is obtained by condensing is typical.

Among them, in the case of evaporation, when seawater is evaporated, water as a solvent evaporates, and salt as a solute is a method of separating fresh water from seawater by using the property of remaining. In other words, it is a method of obtaining fresh water by separating salt and water vapor by evaporating seawater and condensing water vapor. It has the advantage of high-purity and high-volume treatment. However, there is a disadvantage in that the energy consumption for evaporation of seawater is large.

In order to solve the shortcomings of the evaporative seawater desalination method, various attempts have been made to improve the desalination efficiency of the evaporative seawater desalination facility compared to energy consumption.

Japanese Registered Patent Publication No.6342319 (2018.05.25.) Japanese Patent Publication No. 5742848 (2015.05.15)

The present invention has been devised in view of the above points, and is to provide an evaporative type seawater desalination apparatus and method capable of improving desalination efficiency by increasing the evaporation rate of seawater.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a water cluster separation unit for separating water clusters by dissociating hydrogen bonds between water molecules by forming an electric field in water of seawater; And an evaporation unit for forming fresh water by evaporating the seawater treated by the water cluster separation unit.

In addition, the water cluster separation unit, a housing having an inlet and outlet ports for inflow and discharge of water; An electrode rod assembly installed in the housing and accommodating the electrode rod in the insulating member; And a voltage applying unit for applying a voltage to the electrode of the electrode assembly.

In addition, the evaporation unit may be connected to a pipe connected to the discharge port of the housing.

In addition, the evaporation unit may be configured to desalinate seawater using one of a multistage plant method, a multi-effect method, and a vapor compression method.

In addition, a plurality of electrode rod assemblies may be installed in the housing.

In addition, the evaporative seawater desalination apparatus may further include a partition unit made of a conductive material that divides the inner space of the housing so as to form a grid-shaped water treatment space surrounding each electrode assembly in the housing.

In addition, the inlet and outlet ports are provided at both side ends of the housing, the electrode assembly is disposed to have a horizontal direction in a longitudinal direction, and a gap holder for maintaining a distance from the partition unit is installed in the electrode assembly. I can.

At least one of the inlet and outlet ports may include a first pipe; A pair of second pipes branched from the first pipe and connected to the housing; And an expansion space portion between the first and second pipes for minimizing an influence due to the occurrence of a wake generated from the flow of water between the first and second pipes.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the steps of separating water clusters by dissociating hydrogen bonds between water molecules by forming an electric field in seawater; And forming fresh water by evaporating the seawater that has undergone the water cluster separation process.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, as a pretreatment before evaporation of seawater, a large water cluster composed of dozens of water molecules is separated into small clusters composed of several water molecules by using an underwater electric field, thereby increasing the evaporation rate of seawater. Through this, it is possible to increase the amount of desalination treatment compared to the existing one at the same time, and thus, there is an effect of improving the efficiency of seawater desalination.

In addition, by installing a plurality of electrode assemblies and a partition unit forming a grid-shaped water treatment space surrounding each electrode assembly in the housing of the water cluster separation unit, it is possible to increase the capacity of the water treatment capacity and to increase the applied voltage without significantly increasing the size of the applied voltage. There is an advantage that can greatly improve the water treatment efficiency.

1 is a view showing an evaporative seawater desalination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention
Figure 2 is a view showing the configuration of the water cluster separation unit shown in Figure 1;
3 is a graph showing a test result comparing the evaporation rate of (a) desalination treatment of seawater without pretreatment and (b) desalination treatment after separation of water clusters of seawater.
Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the water cluster separation unit shown in Figure 2;
Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the water cluster separation unit shown in Figure 2;
Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the partition unit shown in Figure 5;
7 is a diagram illustrating various types of partition units applicable to the present invention.
8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a water cluster separation unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the spacing member shown in FIG. 8.
10 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an inlet port according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can apply various transformations and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to a specific embodiment, it should be understood to include all conversions, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component.

The terms used in the present application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present application, terms such as "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 is to be understood that the presence or addition of elements or numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof does not preclude in advance.

Hereinafter, the evaporative seawater desalination apparatus and method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding components are assigned the same reference numbers and overlapped therewith. Description will be omitted.

1 is a view showing an evaporative seawater desalination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The evaporative seawater desalination apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a water cluster separation unit 100 and an evaporation unit 200.

Water has a molecular structure consisting of two hydrogen atoms (H) and one oxygen atom (O). In natural water, H ₂ O molecules do not exist alone, but dozens of water molecules exist as a cluster. Water clusters are maintained by a large number of hydrogen bonds that are continuously formed and destroyed, and the size of the water cluster is changed by a number of factors that affect hydrogen bonds.

The water cluster separation unit 100 separates the water cluster by dissociating hydrogen bonds between water molecules by forming an electric field in water. That is, a large water cluster composed of dozens of water molecules can be separated into small clusters composed of several water molecules by an underwater electric field.

The evaporation unit 200 is configured to evaporate seawater treated by the water cluster separation unit 100 to obtain fresh water. The evaporation unit 200 employs one of a multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), a multiple-effect distillation (MED), and a mechanical vapor compression distillation (MVC). It may be configured to desalinate seawater, and in the case of the present embodiment, a configuration to which a multi-stage flash method (MSF) is applied is exemplified.

Accordingly, the evaporation unit 200 includes a main body 210 in which a plurality of housings 211 are connected in multiple stages, a condensation pipe 220 through which seawater supplied from the water cluster separation unit 100 flows, and a condensation pipe 220 ) And a heater 230 for heating the seawater supplied from.

A condensation chamber 214 and an evaporation chamber 213 are provided in the upper and lower spaces of each housing 211. The condensation chamber 214 is provided with a condensation pipe 220, and each condensation pipe 220 is in communication with the condensation pipes 220 of the adjacent housing 211. The inner space of each housing 211 is maintained in a reduced pressure state, and the evaporation chamber 213 is in communication with each other through an orifice 215.

The seawater of the condensation pipe 220 is heated to high temperature and high pressure by the high temperature heating steam in the heater 220, which is sequentially introduced into the inner space of the housing 211 maintained in a reduced pressure state. When the seawater heated at high temperature and high pressure flows into the housing 211 where the pressure is lower than the saturated vapor pressure of the seawater, the seawater boils and flash evaporation occurs in which a part of the seawater is turned into steam.

This water vapor is purified through a demister and then condensed on the surface of the condensation pipe 220 to form fresh water, which is recovered by the recovery tray 240 located in the lower space of each condensation pipe 220. .

Some of the seawater in the first-stage housing 211 evaporates and the remaining seawater flows into the second-stage housing 211, which has a lower pressure and temperature than the first-stage housing 211, causing secondary flash evaporation. Flash evaporation occurs and is discharged after passing through to the last housing 211.

Seawater supplied from the water cluster separation unit 100 functions as a cooling water for condensing vapor of each housing 211 while flowing through the main body 210 in reverse order, and is preheated by recovering the latent heat of condensation of the vapor in this process. ) Is heated to the maximum pressure and temperature and then introduced into the first-stage housing 211.

2 is a view showing the configuration of the water cluster separation unit shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the water cluster separation unit 100 includes a housing 10, an electrode assembly 40, and a voltage application unit 50.

The housing 10 provides a water treatment space for separating the clusters of water contained therein. The housing 10 includes an inlet port 20 for inflow of water and a discharge port 30 for discharging water.

The housing 10 is a conductive material, has an empty space for water treatment therein, and may have a cylindrical shape as in the present embodiment.

One end of the inlet port 20 and the outlet port 30 is connected to the housing 10 so as to communicate with the water treatment space of the housing 10. The other end of the inlet port 20 is connected to a seawater supply pipe 350 connected to a seawater tank 300 in which seawater collected from the ocean is stored. The other end of the discharge port 30 is connected to the seawater discharge pipe 250 connected to the evaporation unit 200, and the cluster separated water is supplied to the evaporation unit 200 through the seawater discharge pipe 250.

The electrode assembly 40 is installed in the housing 10, and as a voltage is applied to the electrode assembly 40, an electric field is formed around the electrode assembly 40. The electrode assembly 40 may be installed in one number, but as in the present embodiment, a plurality of electrode assembly 40 may be installed in the housing 10. The end of each electrode assembly 40 may be disposed at a position spaced apart from the bottom of the housing 10 by a predetermined interval.

The voltage applying unit 50 applies a voltage to the electrode 41 (refer to FIG. 5) of the electrode assembly 40 and includes a power supply and an electronic circuit for applying the voltage. The voltage applying unit 50 may be electrically connected to the electrode 41 through a cable. A (+) voltage is applied to the electrode 41 of each electrode assembly 40, a negative voltage is applied to the housing body 11, or is in a grounded state, and an electric field is applied to the space around the electrode assembly 40. Is formed and the water cluster is separated.

3 is a graph showing a test result comparing the evaporation rate of (a) desalination of seawater without pretreatment of seawater and (b) desalination of seawater after separation of water clusters.

The seawater desalination method in this test was applied to the multi-stage flash method (MSF), the treatment time was 1 hour, and the seawater heating temperature was 120°C.

When the seawater desalination treatment was performed only with the evaporation unit 200 without the cluster separation treatment as shown in (a), the evaporation concentration of seawater was 80.3g.

On the other hand, as shown in (b), when the seawater desalination treatment is performed through the evaporation unit 200 after separating the water cluster, it can be seen that the evaporation concentration of seawater is greatly increased. Specifically, the evaporation concentration of 111.4g was obtained when the water cluster was separated for 1 minute, and the evaporation concentration of 147.9g was obtained when the water cluster was separated for 2 minutes. In addition, when the water cluster was separated for 5 minutes, the evaporation concentration of 159.5 g was shown.

It was confirmed that the evaporation concentration increased by 38.7% only by the water cluster separation treatment for 1 minute, and as the treatment time increased, the evaporation concentration also increased in proportion thereto.

According to this, it was confirmed that by performing the water cluster separation treatment, the amount of seawater evaporation during the same period of time is increased (ie, the evaporation rate of seawater is increased) compared to the previous one.

As described above, water clusters are separated by dissociating hydrogen bonds between water molecules by forming an electric field in seawater, and then the evaporation rate of seawater can be improved by evaporating the seawater that has undergone the water cluster separation process. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of seawater desalination through an increase in the amount of seawater desalination treatment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the water cluster separation unit shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the water cluster separation unit shown in FIG. 2.

The electrode assembly 40 includes an electrode 41 and an insulating member 42 in which the electrode 41 is accommodated. The electrode 41 has a rod shape of a conductive material (for example, aluminum) having a certain length, and a negative voltage is applied to the housing 10 or a positive voltage is applied to the housing 10 in a grounded state. ) It functions to form an electric field inside. The insulating member 42 may have a pipe shape in which a hollow is formed so that the electrode rod 41 can be accommodated. Synthetic resin (for example, PPE) may be used as the material of the insulating member 42, and insulating materials such as epoxy and silicon are filled between the electrode 41 and the insulating member 42 to form the electrode 41 and the insulating member 42. It can be doubled between water.

The support plate 70 is formed of an insulating material, is supported by the flange portion 12 provided on the upper end of the housing body 11 and is seated in the opening of the housing body 11. A fixing plate 79 made of a metal material is installed on the upper part of the support plate 70, which functions to support the hydraulic pressure in the housing body 10. The fixing plate 79 is fastened with the flange portion 12 of the housing body 11 with the support plate 70 interposed therebetween, and can be fastened through the bolt 78 and the nut 77 as in this embodiment.

A partition unit 60 made of a conductive material partitioning the inner space of the housing 10 may be provided inside the housing 10 to form a grid-shaped water treatment space surrounding each electrode assembly 40. The partition unit 60 may form a number of grids corresponding to the number and position of each electrode assembly 40, and the grid of the partition unit 60 may have a form in which a plurality of polygons are combined. Accordingly, a water treatment space in the shape of a polygonal grid corresponding to each electrode assembly 40 may be formed.

6 is an exploded perspective view of the partition unit shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;

Referring to FIG. 6, the partition unit 60 may have a configuration including a plurality of side plate portions 61 and a fixing portion 62 for fixing the side plate portion 61 to the inner surface of the housing 10. .

The side plate part 61 is disposed at a position spaced apart from each electrode assembly 40 to form a grid shape. Such a grid has a form in which a plurality of polygons are combined, and in the case of this embodiment, a form in which a rectangle is combined is illustrated. According to this, the four side plate portions 61 are combined to form one square grid, and each electrode assembly 40 is positioned at a central position of each unit grid having a square shape.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating various types of partition units applicable to the present invention, and although it is possible to have a rectangular grid shape as shown in (a), a triangular grid as shown in (b), ( As shown in c), it is possible to have a hexagonal grid, and other variations can be implemented.

Referring back to FIG. 6, the side plate portion 61 may be formed by a polygonal pillar having a polygonal cross-section. In the case of this embodiment, it is illustrated that the grid structure of the side plate portion 61 is formed using nine square pillars 65.

Further, the unit grids adjacent to each other of the partition unit 60 are configured to share a single side plate portion 61. Taking this embodiment as an example, the square grids adjacent to each other share one side plate portion 61 therebetween, and further, the water treatment space surrounded by the four square pillars 65 does not use a separate structure and is Since it is formed by the adjacent square pillar 65 and the side plate part 61, it will be possible to efficiently manufacture without consuming unnecessary materials.

The fixing part 62 functions to fix the side plate part 61 to the inner circumferential surface of the housing main body 11 and serves to electrically connect the side plate parts 61 as a conductive material. In the case of this embodiment, it is illustrated that the fixing portions 62 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the side plate portion 61, respectively.

The fixing part 62 may include a support ring 63 having a shape corresponding to the inner surface of the housing 10 and a connection grid 64 formed in a grid shape inside the support ring 63. The connection grating 64 is formed to correspond to the shape of the grating formed by the side plate portion 61, and ends of each side plate portion 61 are connected. In this embodiment, both ends of the side plate portion 61 are connected to the pair of fixing portions 62, and can be attached in a manner such as welding.

On the other hand, the partition unit 60 may have a configuration in which the side plate portions 61 forming a polygonal grid are integrally connected to each other, unlike the above configuration, and in this case, the side plate portion 61 is a housing without the fixing portion 62 It can be directly connected to the body 11.

When the operation state of the water cluster separation unit 100 having the configuration described above is described, a (+) voltage is applied to the electrode 41 of each electrode assembly 40, and a negative voltage is applied to the housing body 11. Is either applied or in a grounded state. Since the partition unit 60 is electrically connected to the inner surface of the housing body 11, each side plate portion 61 of the partition unit 60 also has the same potential as the housing body 11. Accordingly, an electric field is formed between the electrode assembly 40 and the side plate portion 61 in each grid space surrounding each electrode assembly 40.

Accordingly, since water treatment spaces having a uniform electric field in the housing main body 11 are formed as many as the number of grids, a uniform electric field can be formed in most of the spaces in the housing main body 11, and accordingly Water treatment efficiency can be improved without significantly increasing the voltage.

8 is a longitudinal sectional view of an apparatus for separating a water cluster according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the spacer of FIG. 8.

In this embodiment, unlike the previous embodiment, the inlet port 20 and the outlet port 30 are provided on both sides of the housing 10, and the electrode assembly 40 is in a horizontal direction (that is, in the same direction as the water flow). Are arranged in the longitudinal direction. In the case of the previous embodiment, the electrode assembly 40 is disposed in a state divided by 90 degrees, and the partition unit 60 is also disposed in a state corresponding thereto.

By arranging the flow of water and the arrangement direction of the electrode assembly 40 in the same direction, flow resistance can be minimized, and space utilization can be further improved.

According to the present embodiment, the electrode assembly 40 may be provided with a spacing member 90 for maintaining a spacing with the partition unit 60. The spacing member 90 allows the electrode assembly 40 to be supported in a state spaced apart from the side plate 61 of the partition unit 60 at a predetermined interval. In the case of the present embodiment, it was exemplified that one spacing member 90 is disposed for each electrode assembly 40, but a plurality of spacing members 90 are included in the electrode assembly 40 according to the length of the electrode assembly 40. It would be possible to install, and in this case, it is possible to prevent the electrode assembly 40 from sagging due to its own weight.

9, the spacing member 90 includes a connecting portion 91 into which the electrode assembly 40 is rotatably inserted, and a support portion 92 extending from the connecting portion 91 and supported by the partition unit 60 can do. However, it will be said that the spacing member 90 can be modified in various configurations other than this configuration.

10 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an inlet port according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the inlet port 20 includes a first pipe 21 and a pair of second pipes 22. The first pipe 21 has a flange 24 connected to the water supply side pipe 21, and the second pipe 22 is branched from the first pipe 21 and connected to the housing body 11.

By expanding the cross-sectional area of the flow path along the water supply direction as described above, the flow rate of water flowing in the housing body 11 can be reduced, thereby increasing the time spent in the water treatment space, thereby improving water treatment efficiency. I can do it.

Between the first pipe 21 and the second pipe 22, an expansion space part 23 for minimizing the influence of the wake generated from the water flow between the first and second pipes 21 and 22 is provided. It can be provided. The expansion space 23 extends in the width direction from both sides of the second pipe 22 and is configured to secure a predetermined space on both sides of the water flow, thereby minimizing the influence of the wake on the water flow. This embodiment exemplifies that the expansion space part 23 has a cylindrical shape arranged perpendicular to the first and second pipes 21 and 22, but the expansion space part 23 is formed in various shapes other than these shapes. It will be possible.

In the above, the configuration of the inlet port 20 has been described in detail, but the discharge port 30 may also have the same configuration. This configuration of the discharge port 30 increases the flow rate of water discharged from the housing body 11, and the expanded space minimizes the influence of the wake on the water flow in this process.

Although the above has been described with reference to specific embodiments of the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the relevant technical field may vary the present invention within the scope not departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the following claims. You will understand that it can be modified and changed.

10: housing 11: housing body
20: inlet port 30: outlet port
40: electrode assembly 41: electrode
42: insulating member 50: voltage applying unit
60: compartment unit 61: side plate
62: fixing part 63: support ring
64: connection grid 65: polygonal column
100: water cluster separation unit 200: evaporation unit
210: main body 211: housing
220: condensation pipe 230: burner

Claims (9)

A water cluster separation unit for separating water clusters by dissociating hydrogen bonds between water molecules by forming an electric field in the water of seawater; And
Including; an evaporation unit for obtaining fresh water by evaporating the seawater treated by the water cluster separation unit,
The water cluster separation unit,
A housing having inlet and outlet ports for inlet and outlet water;
A plurality of electrode rod assemblies installed in the housing and in which the electrode rods are accommodated in a pipe-shaped insulating member;
A voltage application unit for applying a voltage to an electrode of the electrode assembly; And
A partition unit made of a conductive material that is electrically connected to the housing and partitions the inner space of the housing so as to form a grid-shaped water treatment space surrounding each electrode assembly in the housing,
The compartment unit,
Arranged at a predetermined distance from each electrode assembly to form a grid, including a plurality of side plates electrically connected to the housing,
By applying a (+) voltage to the electrode of each electrode assembly, applying a (-) voltage to the housing, or grounding the housing, an electric field is formed between the electrode assembly and the side plate in each grid-shaped water treatment space. An evaporative seawater desalination device configured to allow.
delete The method of claim 1,
The evaporation unit is an evaporative seawater desalination apparatus, characterized in that connected to a pipe connected to the discharge port of the housing.
The method of claim 1, wherein the evaporation unit,
Evaporative seawater desalination apparatus, characterized in that configured to desalize seawater using one of a multistage flash method, a multi-utility method, and a vapor compression method.
delete delete The method of claim 1,
The inlet and outlet ports are provided at both side ends of the housing,
The electrode assembly is disposed to have a horizontal direction in a length direction,
An evaporative seawater desalination device, characterized in that the electrode assembly is provided with a spacer for maintaining a space with the partition unit.
The method of claim 1,
At least one of the inlet and outlet ports,
First piping;
A pair of second pipes branched from the first pipe and connected to the housing; And
An evaporative seawater desalination apparatus comprising: an expansion space between the first and second pipes for minimizing the influence of the wake generated from the flow of water between the first and second pipes.
delete

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