NL2000820C2 - Method for treating liquids with electromagnetic waves. - Google Patents

Description

METHOD FOR TREATING LIQUIDS WITH ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

The present invention relates to a method for treating liquids with electromagnetic waves and / or an alternating electric field and, if desired, to use these liquids for unidirectional or multidirectional energy and information transfer 10 Introduction

In the water sector and the process industry, large quantities of water are used, among other things, for drinking water production, as cooling water and as process liquid. Inseparable from this are also large amounts of water purified to recover chemicals, reuse water or safely return it to the environment.

The drinking water chain, for example, consists of a extraction step, a production step in which the water is purified and a distribution step in which the water is transported to the consumer via a complex pipeline network. In the production of drinking water it is important to assess the adverse effects of a number of processes that can disrupt production, such as biofouling, scaling and corrosion in the pipeline network and / or in purification installations such as reactors, filters and membrane installations and in the pipeline network. minimize it or even prevent it completely. Furthermore, a "low cost, low investment" sensor network of measuring equipment in the distribution network can provide a wealth of information, for example about the water quality and the condition of the pipes, with which the drinking water production process can be optimized.

2

The present invention makes it possible to control scaling, biofouling and corrosion processes without the use of chemicals and thus to optimize processes in the water sector, the process industry, chemical industry and drinking water production. The invention also makes it possible for multidirectional information to be transmitted through pipes in which liquid is transported and to provide sensors connected to the network with energy.

In this way a sensor network without electricity wires can be supplied from a central point and the sensors in the network can be read from the same point.

As explained below, the technology developed 15 is not limited to the above applications. The technology according to the present invention can also be used to treat liquids for the purpose of controlling the biochemical processes that take place in those liquids. With the present invention it is possible to make microorganisms suitable for degradation or formation of organic molecules that cannot be degraded or formed by these organisms under normal circumstances. An unexpected advantage here is that the processes can be controlled in the microorganisms without introducing measurable other effects on the rest of the system. The latter in contrast to the application of a low-frequency alternating voltage between 2 electrodes in the process liquid which can also cause other effects such as undesired chemical decomposition, inactivation of enzymes and ion adsorption. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that this offers unprecedented opportunities for the bioprocess industry and the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, it is possible with the new technology to apply selection of 3 microorganisms and to maintain the culture thus obtained.

Description of the technology 5 It is known in open literature that energy can be transferred through 1 single wire. There are 2 explanations given in the literature as to why that energy transfer would be possible: 10 1. Classical antenna theory that describes energy transfer in an asymmetrically powered dipole.

2. Transfer by means of so-called "scalar waves" where the single wire is used as a kind of "earth conductor".

15

The inventors of the present invention have carried out a large number of experiments showing that the energy and signal transmission described in the present invention can be carried out by 1 single wire or by a liquid with classical radio technology, and in particular the theory of a single-sided dipole antenna. described. In the following considerations, the description is therefore based on classical radio technology. However, the inventors hereby expressly do not preclude the existence of and a possible role of scalar waves in the operation of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a non-optimized arrangement for energy transfer through 1 single wire.

The part of the set-up in the photo on the left consists of a Colpitts oscillator powered by a 9V battery that operates at a frequency of 7.14 MHz, a class A 4 linear amplifier connected and a 1: 1 air transformer wrapped around a piece of PVC pipe. with a diameter of 4 cm. The primary and secondary coil of the 1: 1 air transformer each have 83 turns of 0.5 mm insulated copper wire. The primary side of the coil is connected to the output of the linear amplifier connected in class A. On the secondary side of the primary coil, 1 connection is connected to a wire that has a length of approximately 1 meter. The other side of the coil is connected to a wire that has a length of 6 meters. The end of this last wire is connected to the 1: 1 transformer that can be seen on the right photo in Figure 1. One of the connections of the primary winding of this transformer is connected to the wire with a length of 6 meters. The other connection of this primary winding is connected to a piece of wire that has a length of approximately 1 meter. The secondary winding of the air rafo in the right picture in Figure 1 is connected to 2 anti-parallel LEDs.

20 When the 9V battery is connected, both LEDs appear to light up. In this case, energy is transferred via 1 wire. This is possible because the wire with a length of 6 m behaves like a dipole antenna. This antenna is fed at the end via the air transformer and the wire of approximately 1 meter connected to the primary side of the winding ensures that the RF signal is coupled at the right place in the antenna or in other words that the impedances of the output stage of the linear amplifier and the power supply point of the antenna are approximately the same. The right-hand air transformer in Figure 1 transmits the RF signal to the LEDs and here too the wire with a length of approximately 1 meter ensures that the transformer is coupled to the antenna in the right place. If 1 of both wires of 15 meters is removed, both LEDs go out, indicating that hardly any power is being transferred.

If the arrangement in figure 1 is in operation and both LEDs 5 are on, they will go out as soon as the wire with a length of 6 m (this is the connection between the two pictures in figure 1) is cut. However, if the wire is interrupted and a capacitor is then placed between the two wire ends, both LEDs will come on again if the capacitor 10 has a sufficiently high capacity. In the specific case of the arrangement in Figure 1, the minimum capacity to light up the LEDs is approximately 25 pF. We have now installed a shortening capacitor in antenna terms. We now replace the capacitor between the two cut ends of the wire with a container with water containing 2 electrodes. Since water has a conductivity and also a capacity, both LEDs appear to light up again in this case. It is noted that both the conductivity and the capacity of the water are highly dependent on the nature and concentration of the ions present in the water. For the arrangement in Figure 1, the LEDs were found to light up when tap water was used in a basin of 25 cm length and electrodes in the basin with a surface area of 42 cm 2 each with the electrodes spaced 25 cm apart goods. After placing a measuring head in 2 places in the water, it was determined by using a 10 MHz oscilloscope that an RF signal with a frequency of 7.14 MHz is moved through the water and further converted into electrical energy later in the arrangement, which is both LEDs are lit. Subsequent experiments have shown that it is possible to modulate the 7.14 MHz signal amplitude and in this way transfer information through the water. This 6 has been demonstrated with an audio signal (music) and with a sine wave with a frequency of 100 kHz.

For the sake of completeness, it is noted that in open literature 5 which reports energy transfer through 1 wire using scalar waves, the coils in arrangement 1 have been replaced by transformers with coil-wound coils. This can for instance be easily realized by printing one side of a printed circuit board with the primary coil and the other side with the secondary coil. Furthermore, in the literature on energy transfer using scalar waves, the wires are attached to 1 wire end of the primary coil on both the left-hand photo and the right-hand photo in Figure 1 and which in the example have a length of 1 meter , replaced by a wire with a metal ball at the end that is in the air and therefore does not make contact with the earth. A device that uses spiral wound coils and metal spheres just described is emphatically part of the present invention.

Furthermore, it will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the arrangement in figure 1 is only 1 of the many configurations that can be chosen to apply the present invention in practice. For example, the transformer to which the transmitter is connected can be replaced by an antenna tuner to which commercially available transmission equipment is connected. The receiver in the receiving section can also be connected to an antenna tuner. Use can also be made of very different antenna types than the dipole antenna or parts or the whole of, for example, a tube, a container filled with a liquid, a reactor from the process industry, a washing machine can be connected directly to the output of a transmitter. By using a Faraday cage, it is also possible to choose to only expose a specific part of a device to the desired RF signal. This creates the possibility of subjecting a device such as a membrane installation to high RF powers without radiation to the environment.

With the above experiments as an introduction, the present invention is now explained. If, using the above arrangement, we send an RF signal through a (plastic) water pipe, then this signal will be transmitted. In this way we can transport energy through the water pipe and provide energy to sensors that are installed further down the pipe. Furthermore, we can also send information i.e. commands to the sensors by modulating the carrier and demodulating the signal in the sensor. Suitable modulation techniques are amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, phase modulation and single sideband modulation. Since the sensor can also transmit, the measurements made by the sensor can be sent to the main station continuously or after a command. It is noted that the transmitting power of the sensors can be many times smaller than the power of the main station since the sensors only have to transfer information and no energy. It is also noted that communication between sensors is also possible so that artificially intelligent networks can be created. It will be clear to the skilled person that this can be realized in a simple manner by making use of protocols such as those which are also used with packet radio. The major advantage of the technology described here is that the sensors do not have to be supplied with electricity by means of electrical wires and that the communication takes place wirelessly with water as transport medium. This technique also offers the possibility of installing sensors inside the pipework without the usability of those sensors being limited by a limited lifetime of a battery in the sensor since it becomes superfluous due to the energy supply upstand.

The present invention is not limited to a method of energy and signal transfer through water (pipes). By sending a 10 rf signal through a line containing water, the surface of that line will also be exposed to the high-frequency signal. This makes it possible to prevent processes such as the adherence of biomass to the inside of the pipeline and to use the RF energy for disinfection. The formation of scaling, for example of CaCO 3, can also be prevented in this way. Furthermore, the occurrence of corrosion can be inhibited. It is known in the open literature that micro-organisms can be efficiently killed by means of an alternating voltage if the applied frequency of the alternating voltage is approximately 100 kHz.

Since adsorption and desorption of ions to surfaces can be particularly well influenced at frequencies of this order, application of an RF signal of the order of 100 kHz signal is preferable to signals in the 25 MHz or GHz range. These latter signals, however, have a number of advantages, including the advantage that they are better able to move in pipes and are suitable for broadband signal transmission. A particular application of the present invention is the modulation of signals in the MHz or GHz region with much lower frequencies, namely frequencies in the 1 Hz region to 100 KHz region and / or the 100 KHz region to the 1 MHz region and / or the 1 MHz to 20 MHz range and / or the 20 MHz to 100 MHz range 9 and / or the 100 MHz to 1 GHz range. Depending on the application, the carrier wave can be modulated with a signal in 1 of the above areas or with combinations of signals from different areas. Amplitude modulation is particularly suitable as a modulation form, but also frequency modulation, phase modulation and single sideband modulation are preferred embodiments. Particularly preferred embodiments are pulsed amplitude modulation wherein the modulation depth is optionally selected so high that the carrier wave disappears and so-called splatter occurs and modulation with square waves and saw teeth. Another preferred embodiment is the use of non-linear components in a receiver of the rf signal which takes up a significant part of the power supplied by the transmitter. An example of such non-linear components are LEDs in the circuit of Figure 1. Due to the presence of the LEDs, the voltage across the LEDs due to their specific properties is approximately 2 Volts. Under certain circumstances this non-linear behavior of the receiver causes production of higher harmonics of the carrier and even chaotic behavior in the antenna line. Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is to send an RF signal for energy transfer to a sensor network, to modulate the signal to control the sensor network and at the same time also to modulate the signal with one or more other desired frequencies. which have been selected in such a way that biofouling and / or scaling and / or corrosion are prevented. Since the prevention of biofouling, scaling and corrosion are of great importance in the control of a water purification and distribution, we thus simultaneously have the possibilities to detect scaling, biofouling and corrosion and then with the same system through specific modulation of to optimize the process of the carrier.

Without introducing any limitation in the scope of the present invention with the following explanation, the inventors have the following possible explanation for the operation of an amplitude modulated carrier in disinfection lines, to prevent biofouling, to prevent corrosion and to to prevent scaling on the pipes. Micro-organisms are almost always present on the surface of a pipe through which water flows. These microorganisms have ion-selective membranes with very special properties, including an asymmetrical mobility of the ions across the membrane. One of the consequences of this is that these membranes can demodulate RF signals. This means that amplitude modulation of a 5 MHz carrier wave with, for example, a frequency of 100 kHz leads to the biomass in the water experiencing an alternating voltage with a frequency of 100 kHz. This is special since a 5 MHz carrier wave amplified with 100 kHz can be conceived as a sine wave with a frequency of 5 MHz and side bands with a frequency of 4.9 MHz and 5.1 MHz. In this case, the microorganism itself ensures that the deadly 100 KHz alternating voltage is generated by demodulation. It is noted that in a particularly preferred embodiment the carrier wave has a frequency of less than 10 MHz and the amplitude modulation takes place with waves in the range of 1 Hz to 500 kHz.

It should also be noted that with disinfection it is best to work with frequencies below 10 MHz, but is not limited thereto. Communication goes in broadband preferably with carriers above 100 MHz and even more preferably above 11 GHz but is also not limited thereto (if only a small amount of data needs to be sent, communication via carriers below 100 MHz and even below 1 MHz is still acceptable) . Furthermore, it is also important that with modulation 5 with more than 1 frequency, communication and disinfection can be realized simultaneously.

The consequence of the demodulating action that the microorganisms have on amplitude modulated RF signals 10 is that an alternating voltage is generated in the water at the place where most microorganisms are located, i.e., on the surface of the pipe. As a result, biomass killing takes place exactly where it is desired. Because the generated alternating voltage has a relatively low frequency, adsorption of ions on the surface of the lines is inhibited. This can prevent corrosion and / or scaling. It is also noted that enclosures on pipes, also called scaling, consist of a complex mixture of biomass, inorganic crystals and adsorbed ions. It is quite possible that in addition to living biomass, this complex system also has demodulating properties for RF signals, which enhances the effect of the present invention. Furthermore, it is possible that in exceptional cases, depending on the properties of the scaling on the pipe, unmodulated carriers can also have a disinfecting effect or prevent scaling and corrosion. Finally, it is noted that the propagation of the rf signal can pass through the water and along the interface between water and transport line. Propagation along the separation interface makes the present invention extra effective. It is further noted that for the transport of the rf signal use can also be made of the 12-wave pipe principle known in radio technology. In a wave pipe, the electric field passes between the walls of the pipe and wave propagation takes place because the waves enter obliquely and are always reflected by a wall they encounter. For a round wave pipe, the lowest 5-degree frequency that can be applied when using wave-pipe propagation, the so-called cut-off frequency, follows from the wave length where the diameter of the wave pipe is equal to half the wave length. In practice, therefore, propagation through the use of the wave pipe principle will be applied, in particular at very high frequencies (GHz range). Both the application of "normal propagation" and propagation by means of the corrugated pipe principle form part of the present invention. The "normal propagation principle" and the corrugated pipe principle can be applied in both metal and non-metal pipes and in most but not all cases a high conductivity of the liquid in the pipes increases the effectiveness of the signal transport.

Preferably in the invention use is made of an antenna, such as for instance a dipole antenna according to the definition in this document, a dipole antenna with a metal spherical body at both ends, a dipole antenna with built-in filters (so-called traps), a parabolic antenna and / or an object to be treated that contains water or the water in that object is coupled to a transmitter directly or via an antenna tuner or via a transformer. Preferably, the transmitting means, for example the antenna, are designed such that the electromagnetic energy emitted by the transmitter 30 is realized for more than 1% by programming according to the wave pipe principle.

13

A device according to the invention preferably comprises a device which prevents an unacceptably large amount of electromagnetic waves from ending up in the environment for the legislator and / or the immediate environment, for example by using a Faraday cage or by using conduits which fall under the lying on the ground.

Now that the present invention has been explained in detail with reference to water purification, it will be clear to the skilled person that the invention is not limited to water purification. The invention can for instance be used for disinfection in swimming pools, for cleaning membrane modules in which these modules form part of a dipole antenna or are operated as a wave pipe, prevention of scaling, and / or corrosion and / or biofouling in pipes used. in salt extraction through solution mining, pipes used in oil extraction and in the ore-processing industry, keeping ship hulls clean, optimizing horticultural ecosystems by sending RF signals through the soil, especially in greenhouses, keeping pipes clean in greenhouses, the use of water pipes for broadband internet applications, the sending of measurement data in factories via the process fluid instead of via wiring and / or supplying sensors in the factory with energy via the process fluid instead of via wiring, the control of control valves in the process industry through the process fluid, counteracting cor rosie and / or biofouling on lock gates, keeping pipes clean, the turbine and other process installation in hydropower applications, applying steel structures in ports below and on the water line to wirelessly protect ships in the port against biofouling, corrosion and scaling, counteracting so-called "accelerated low 14 water corrosion" in old structures by protecting these structures with modulated carriers, preventing concrete structures in the tropics from being affected by micro-organisms, wireless and battery-free realization of sensor networks at sea around the ecosystem and flow, supplying implants such as pacemakers with energy, supplying in vivo biosensors with energy and reading these biosensors, influencing the metabolism of microorganisms or selectively destroying microorganisms using selectively modulated carriers, data transfer cht via train rails, controlling energy and information via groundwater, non-destructive disinfection of foodstuffs, controlling control valves in the process industry via the process fluid, preventing corrosion and / or biofouling on lock gates, keeping pipes clean, the turbine and other process installation for hydropower applications, the application of steel structures in ports below and on the water line to wirelessly protect 20 ships in the port against biofouling, corrosion and scaling, the prevention of so-called "accelerated low water corrosion" in old structures through protection of these constructions with modulated carriers, the prevention of concrete structures in the tropics being affected by micro-organisms, the wireless and battery-free realization of sensor networks at sea to map the ecosystem and currents, providing implants such as pacemakers with energy, providing in vivo biosensors with and energy and reading these biosensors, influencing the metabolism of microorganisms or selectively destroying microorganisms with the help of selectively modulated carriers, data transfer via train rails, energy control and information via groundwater, non-destructive disinfection of food, disinfection and / or treatment of body parts and wounds by immersing them in a liquid treated with the present technology, the refinement of wood, in cleaning equipment including washing machines for (partial) replacement of washing powder and as a replacement for softening equipment or softening chemicals since scaling can be prevented with the present technology, nucleation control, crystal growth rate, crystal size, crystal form and crystal modification in crystallization processes including but not limited to the production of salt, sodium sulfate, soda, magnesium sulfaa t.

15 A special application is the control of biotechnological responses. By means of a preferably modulated RF signal, but not limited thereto, it is possible, inter alia, to influence the permeability of the cell membranes of microorganisms. This means that components end up in the cell of the microorganism that are not there under normal circumstances. This influences the metabolism of the cell so that biotechnological processes can be optimized, components can be broken down by microorganisms that are unable to do so under normal circumstances and components can also be produced that the microorganism cannot make under normal circumstances. The latter is particularly interesting for the pharmaceutical industry. It is also possible, with the aid of the present invention, to select 30 microorganisms with desired properties by imposing, but not limited to, a preferably modulated radio signal, and optionally maintaining the culture thus obtained with a radio signal by thereby multiplying 16 suppress unwanted microorganisms. The great advantage of using a modulated RF signal is that this signal selectively intervenes on the micro-organisms since they demodulate the RF signal to an alternating voltage with a considerably lower frequency, while other components in the system are limited by the signal.

Another particular application is selective control of the filtration properties of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis membranes in general and ion selection membranes in particular. Without applying any limitation in the scope of the present invention with the following explanation, the inventors have the following possible explanation for the phenomenon that the filtration properties of membranes can be adjusted with the aid of modulated RF waves. In analogy with membranes of microorganisms, many commercially available membranes have asymmetrical mobility for ions across the selective part of the membrane. The consequence of this is that these membranes (for example amplitude modulated) rf waves can demodulate so that an alternating voltage is created on and in the membrane which influences the properties of the membrane. By a correct choice of 1 or more frequencies with which the rf carrier wave is modulated, the selectivity of the membrane for different components can be set to a desired value as well as the apparent diffusion coefficient of different components in the membrane. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that with the present invention undesirable effects such as concentration polarization and / or biofouling on membrane surfaces and / or the formation of scaling on and / or in membranes, in particular for but not limited to salts of polyvalent ions, can also occur. be reduced or prevented entirely. This increases the selectivity of the membranes and makes this selectivity adjustable so that 1 type of commercially available membrane can be made suitable for many different applications.

Furthermore, the present invention increases the productivity of the membranes, i.e., the amount of liquid that can be filtered per square meter of membrane per unit of time per bar of transmembrane pressure increases, so that an application with less energy costs, lower investment costs and less maintenance can be realized. Furthermore, the use of the present invention also increases the service life of the membranes. It is noted that this technology is of great importance not only for the purification of water and process flows from the chemical industry, but especially also for the optimization of electrolysis processes, electrodialysis processes and reverse electrodialysis processes. For example, the efficiency of a chlor-alkali membrane electrolysis can be increased by simultaneously increasing both the selectivity of the applied membranes and the apparent diffusion coefficient of ions transported through the membrane using the present technology. The result is greater purity of the sodium hydroxide that is produced and lower energy costs per tonne of product. A preferred embodiment for treating membranes contained in a liquid is a carrier wave with a frequency of less than 100 GHz that is modulated with at least 1 wave that has a lower frequency than 1 GHz, more preferably use of a carrier wave with a frequency lower than 1 GHz that is modulated with at least 1 frequency lower than 100 MHz and even more preferred is a carrier wave with a frequency smaller than 10 MHz that is modulated with at least 1 frequency in the range of 1 Hz to 5 MHz.

Claims (16)

A method for transmitting electromagnetic waves in a liquid through a first device, wherein the electromagnetic waves comprise a first frequency. 2. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic waves also comprise at least one second frequency through modulation, wherein the second frequency is at least substantially lower than the first frequency. 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second frequency is between 1 Hz and 500 kHz, preferably between 50 kHz and 200 kHz and more preferably between 90 kHz and 110 kHz. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first frequency is lower than at least 10 MHz and wherein the first frequency is preferably about 5 MHz. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, wherein the frequencies are between 1 kHz and 100 25 GHz. 6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein at least one frequency comprises a resonance frequency at which microorganisms demodulate the electromagnetic waves. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 6 for use in transferring electrical energy through a liquid, wherein current from a power supply in a first device is converted into electromagnetic waves and wherein at least a second device the waves 5 and wherein the collected waves are converted into current for supplying the second device. 8. Method as claimed in any of the foregoing claims 1 to 7 for communicating between at least two devices, wherein the first device is adapted to apply a communication signal in at least one frequency of the electromagnetic waves by means of modulation and wherein at least a second device is arranged to demodulate the communication signal. 15 A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 8, wherein at least a part of the electromagnetic energy propagates in the liquid according to the wave pipe principle. Method according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 9, for controlling microorganisms in a liquid. Method according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 10 for controlling properties of membranes, preferably the filtration properties. Method according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 30 and 11 for controlling biotechnological processes. Device for use in a method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 12, comprising: a. Transmitting means for transmitting and / or receiving electromagnetic waves; b. Converting means for converting electromagnetic waves into electric current. 5 Device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the transmitting means comprise a dipole antenna. 15. Device as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the converting means comprise a transformer. Device as claimed in claim 13, 14 or 15, wherein the device is furthermore provided with (de) modulating means for (de) modulating the communication signals.