RU218041U1 - REVERSE OSMOSIS UNIT FOR DRINKING WATER PREPARATION FROM PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to vending machines for drinking water obtained from the water of the public water supply network by purifying it, characterized by the intermittent nature of its operation, objectively due to the nature of aqua vending. The reverse osmosis unit contains an inlet controlled valve (1) installed in the body of the apparatus, designed to pass into the source water unit, a booster pump (2), the inlet of which is connected to the outlet of the specified valve (1), a reverse osmosis membrane (3) having an inlet (4 ) connected to the outlet of the specified pump (2), and the outlets of the permeate (5) and concentrate (6), the hydraulic resistance (7) of the discharge of this concentrate into the sewer, the hydraulic accumulator (9) for the permeate taken from the outlet (5) of the membrane (3 ), pump (10) for dispensing permeate from the accumulator (9) to the consumer, controller (11). The controller is electrically connected to the output of the permeate level sensor in the accumulator (9), to the power supply circuit of the booster pump (2), to the power supply circuit of the pump (10) for issuing permeate, to the control input of the specified valve (1). The unit contains a pipeline (12) located in the body of the apparatus for the return supply of permeate from the hydraulic accumulator (9) to the inlet of the booster pump (2). The break in the pipeline (12) hydraulically includes in series the controlled valve (13) for the return supply of permeate, installed in the body of the apparatus, the control input of which is electrically connected to the controller (11), and the check valve (14). EFFECT: increased efficiency of non-chemical cleaning of the membrane. 1 ill.

Description

Field of technology to which the utility model belongs

The utility model relates to aqua vending, namely to vending machines for drinking water obtained from the water of a public water supply network by cleaning it using reverse osmosis, characterized by an intermittent nature of its functioning, objectively due to the nature of aqua vending.

State of the art

The use of reverse osmosis for water purification is well known (https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reverse osmosis&stable=0&redirect=no).

The problem of such purification is also known, associated with clogging of the pores of the reverse osmosis membrane with impurities contained in the source water, and the deposition of sediments of these impurities on its inner surface. There are several reasons for this: these are concentration polarization, adsorption, and gel formation. A solution to this problem is also known, which consists in chemical cleaning of the membrane surface, which consists in the use of a number of chemical reagents, both individually and in various combinations. Such chemical treatment includes recirculation of the chemical agent solution for 20-30 minutes, exposure of this solution for 20-30 minutes, additional recirculation for 15-20 minutes, further washing of the solution from the membrane surface with purified water (see, for example, https: //www.c-o-k.ru/articles/obratnyy-osmos-teoriya-praktika-rekomendacii).

The reason that prevents the technical result obtained in the specified well-known technical solution, which is provided by the node claimed for patenting, is the use of chemical cleaning, which is technologically complex, time-consuming, imposes increased requirements both on the chemical resistance of the membrane to the reagent, and on the procedure for subsequent removing the reagent from the membrane (cleaning the membrane from the reagent).

A well-known reverse osmosis unit for the preparation of drinking water from public water supply (prototype), which contains an input controlled valve installed in the body of the apparatus, a booster pump, a reverse osmosis membrane with the inlet and outlets of permeate and concentrate, the hydraulic resistance of the removal of this concentrate into the sewer, a hydraulic accumulator for temporary storage of permeate taken from the outlet of the membrane, the pump for issuing permeate from the accumulator to the permeate consumer, as well as the controller, which is electrically connected to the output of the permeate level sensor in the accumulator, to the power supply circuit of the boost pump, the power supply circuit of the permeate issuance pump, and also to the control input of the input controlled a valve designed to supply source water to be purified by reverse osmosis to the inlet of a booster pump, the outlet of which is hydraulically connected to the inlet of the membrane (see the description of the utility model according to patent RU No. 206266 U1, IPC C02F 9/00, G07F 13/00, published : 09/02/2021. Bull. No. 25).

The features of a known node (prototype) that are common with the features of the claimed utility model are the features of the prototype listed above.

The reason that prevents the technical result obtained in the known node (prototype), which is provided by the utility model claimed for patenting, is that in the prototype, the membrane is cleaned by washing through the membrane with an intense flow of washing water, which is taken as the source water directed in the process flushing into the sewer through an open valve shunting said hydraulic resistance of the concentrate discharge into the sewer. This requires a large amount of cleansing water to be discharged into the sewer and is characterized by a low cleaning efficiency due to the purely mechanical effect of the cleansing water flow on the sediment deposits on the membrane surface to be removed.

The technical problem to be solved by the utility model claimed for patenting is the need to increase the efficiency of non-chemical cleaning of the membrane (i.e. cleaning with water) and, as a result, to increase the duration of its (membrane) effective operation.

Disclosure of the essence of the utility model

The technical result, which mediates the solution of this technical problem, is that the membrane is cleaned at each break in its (membrane) standard reverse osmosis operation, while diffusion cleaning is used with an internal (for this membrane) permeate, which is taken from the accumulator and supplied for this purpose. into the membrane, where its diffusion exposure is carried out, which cleans the membrane, and after that this impurity-enriched permeate in the next process of standard reverse osmosis purification is subjected to standard membrane separation into permeate and concentrate.

The technical result is achieved by the fact that the claimed reverse osmosis unit of the apparatus for preparing drinking water from public water supply contains an inlet controlled valve (1) installed in the apparatus body, designed to pass into the source water unit, boosting pump (2), the inlet of which is connected to the outlet of the specified valve (1), a reverse osmosis membrane (3) having an inlet (4) connected to the outlet of the specified pump (2), and outlets for permeate (5) and concentrate (6), hydraulic resistance (7) for discharging this concentrate into the sewer, a hydraulic accumulator (9) for temporary accumulation of permeate taken from the outlet (5) of the membrane (3), the pump (10) for dispensing permeate from the accumulator (9) to the permeate consumer, the controller (11), which is electrically connected to the output of the permeate level sensor in the accumulator (9 ), with a power supply circuit for a booster pump (2), with a power supply circuit for a pump (10) for issuing permeate and with a control input of the specified valve (1), as well as a pipeline (12) located in the apparatus body for returning permeate supply from a hydraulic accumulator (9) to the input booster pump (2), while the break of this pipeline (12) hydraulically connected in series installed in the body of the apparatus controlled valve (13) for the return supply of permeate, the control input of which is electrically connected to the controller (11), and a check valve (14).

Brief description of the drawings

The figure (without number) shows a functional diagram of the claimed node. In this case, the solid lines show the pipelines, and the dotted lines show the electrical communication lines of the structural elements of the assembly with the controller 11.

Implementation of the utility model

Node contains:

- inlet controlled valve 1, designed to pass into the considered node of the source water, i.e. water taken from the public water supply network and previously cleaned with filters and then subject to final purification by reverse osmosis by supplying this source water to the inlet of the boost pump 2;

- a booster pump 2 for supplying raw water to the membrane 3 through its inlet 4;

- reverse osmosis membrane 3 with input 4 and outputs of permeate 5 and concentrate 6;

- hydraulic resistance 7 of the discharge of this concentrate into the sewer;

- shunt controlled valve 8, hydraulically connected in parallel with the specified resistance 7 for the possibility of hydraulic shunting of this resistance;

- hydraulic accumulator 9 for temporary accumulation of permeate taken from outlet 5 of membrane 3;

- pump 10 for issuing permeate from a hydraulic accumulator 9 to a permeate consumer;

- controller 11 to control the operation of the node in question;

- the pipeline 12 of the return flow of permeate from the accumulator 9 to the input of the boost pump 2, so that this pipeline is located in the body of the apparatus, and in its (pipeline 12) rupture, the controlled valve 13 of the return supply of permeate installed in the body of the apparatus is hydraulically connected, the control input of which is electrically connected with controller 11, and check valve 14.

In this case, the controller 11 is electrically connected to the output of the permeate level sensor in the accumulator 9, to the power supply circuit of the boost pump 2, to the power supply circuit of the permeate dispensing pump 10, and also to the control inputs of the said valves 1, 8, 13.

Membrane 3 used in aqua vending machines is characterized by relatively low productivity for economic reasons; is not such that the issuance of permeate to the consumer of the permeate could be carried out directly from the outlet 5 of the membrane 3, since this would require too much time for the issuance of the permeate to the consumer of the permeate, which, in fact, necessitates the use of a hydraulic accumulator 9 and, accordingly, a sufficiently efficient pump 10.

The booster pump 2 is designed to increase the pressure of the source water in order to ensure the normal operation of the membrane 3. In this case, a diaphragm pump can be used as pump 2, which, on the one hand, is functionally focused specifically on increasing the pressure, and on the other hand, requires interruptions in operation to prevent overheating of its electric drive, which is generally quite relevant to the tasks of aqua vending. In addition, based on the task of electrical safety, a low-power DC electric drive pump with low-voltage power supply (12, 24, 36, or 48 V) was used.

The permeate outlet 5 of the membrane 3 is hydraulically connected to the inlet of the accumulator 9 (usually made in the form of a gravitational accumulator and at the same time containing a source of ultraviolet radiation), the outlet of which is connected to the pump 10 for issuing permeate to the permeate consumer from the accumulator 9.

As for the outlet of the concentrate 6 of the membrane 3, it is hydraulically connected to the sewer through the resistance 7, and in parallel to it (resistance 7) a controlled valve 8 is connected for direct (i.e. bypassing the resistance 7) water drainage from the membrane 3 to the sewer in case ( as provided in the prototype) washing the membrane 3 with a stream of water. The presence of resistance 7 is, as is widely known, a prerequisite for the reverse osmosis operation of membrane 3, and the presence of valve 8 in this unit is associated with the function of filling membrane 3 with permeate taken from accumulator 9 through pipeline 12 with the help of pump 2. However, the presence of valve 8 does not is mandatory for the possibility of filling the membrane 3 with permeate taken from the accumulator 9: the membrane 3 can also be filled by using the standard reverse osmosis separation of the remaining water in the membrane into permeate and concentrate with the concentrate discharged into the sewer through resistance 7.

The line for the return supply of permeate from the accumulator 9 to the membrane 3 contains a pump 2 and a pipeline 12, the gap of which includes a controlled valve 13 and a check valve 14.

The operation of the node is as follows.

In the period of time preceding the start of operation of the apparatus, all pumps of the assembly are turned off, all controlled valves are closed, and the accumulator 9 is empty.

When the device is turned on, the controller 11 opens valve 1 and turns on pump 2. As a result, the source water (taken from the public water supply network and previously cleaned with filters) enters under pressure at the inlet 4 of the membrane 3, in which it (the source water) is separated into permeate (output 5) and concentrate (output 6). In this case, the permeate from outlet 5 enters the accumulator 9 until it is filled, and the concentrate from outlet 6 through hydraulic resistance 7 enters the sewer.

It is known that a side and inevitable product of any reverse osmosis process is the formation on the inner surface of the membrane 3 of a layer of deposits of molecules of substances of impurities that are contained in the source water and which have not passed through the pores of the membrane 3 and, as a result, "clog" the pores of the membrane, thereby increasing its hydraulic resistance, which reduces its performance over time. Hence, the effective cleaning of the membrane with water, which is maximally purified from impurities, is relevant. This is exactly what the diffusion cleaning of the membrane with permeate proposed here allows during interruptions in the aquavending process, based on the periodically repeated diffusion exposure of the internal permeate of the membrane.

When the accumulator 9 is filled by a signal received by the controller 11 from the permeate level sensor in the accumulator 9 (the sensor is not shown), the controller 11 closes the valve 1, as a result of which the first break occurs in the reverse osmosis operation of the membrane 3, which lasts until the arrival of the first permeate consumer.

At the same time, in this first break, the pump 2 continues to work, and the controller 11, having closed the valve 1, at the same time (i.e. at the very beginning of the break in question) opens the valves 8 and 13, as a result of which from the accumulator 9 through the pipeline 12 continues to work pump 2 supplies permeate to inlet 4 of membrane 3, which, entering membrane 3, displaces the remainder of the source water contained in it from membrane 3, so that this residue directly exits membrane 3 through an open valve 8 into the sewer.

At the end of this displacement process, i.e. when the membrane 3 is completely or mostly (acceptable) filled with permeate taken from the accumulator 9 (i.e., the permeate, which, therefore, is now the internal permeate of the membrane 3), the controller 11 turns off the pump 2 and closes the valves 8 and 13. When In such circumstances, further diffusion exposure of this internal permeate of the membrane 3 is carried out during the entire remainder of the time of the considered break in its operation. This diffusion exposure of the internal permeate of the membrane 3 lies in the fact that this internal permeate remains in the membrane 3 without movement during the entire period of the considered interruption in the reverse osmosis operation of the membrane 3. At the same time, since the concentration of impurity molecules in the volume of this internal permeate is, by definition, very small, and in the near-wall layer of deposits of membrane 3, on the contrary, it is very high, then due to just such a significant difference in impurity concentrations, spontaneous diffusion of impurity molecules from of the wall layer of membrane 3 into the volume of the internal permeate of membrane 3, as a result of which the wall layer of membrane 3 becomes depleted in impurity molecules (i.e., the process of diffusion purification of membrane 3 occurs), and the internal permeate of the membrane, on the contrary, is enriched, thereby approaching in its composition to the source water or even becoming equivalent to it (i.e., becoming a diffusion-enriched permeate).

This first break ends when the first permeate consumer reaches the system and starts the process of issuing permeate to it, and the controller 11, as a result, turns on the pump 10, which discharges permeate from the accumulator 9 into the container of the permeate consumer with an autonomous capacity acceptable for this. In turn, this issue leads to a decrease in the level of permeate in the accumulator 9, which requires appropriate compensation. Then, just for this compensation, at the signal from the permeate level sensor in the accumulator 9, the controller 11 opens the valve 1 and turns on the pump 2. ) permeate of membrane 3, and all this, figuratively speaking "integrated", water passes further through the usual reverse osmosis separation by membrane 3 into permeate 5 and concentrate 6, so that permeate 5 enters accumulator 9 as usual until it is completely filled, and concentrate 6 - into drain through resistance 7.

Thus, the pump 2 performs two functions separated in time and coordinated by the controller 11: the function of supplying the initial (to be purified by reverse osmosis) water to the membrane 3 with the division of this water by this membrane into permeate accumulated in the accumulator 9, and the concentrate discharged into the sewer through hydraulic resistance 7, and the function of supplying permeate from the accumulator 9 through the pipeline 12 to the membrane 3 for its (permeate) subsequent diffusion exposure in this membrane. And this inseparable asynchronously coordinated pair of functions, "tediously" repeating with the frequency of repetition of interruptions in the reverse osmosis operation of the membrane 3, precisely due to this repetition, ensures high cleaning efficiency of the membrane 3 and, accordingly, a significant duration of its (membrane) uninterrupted operation, since such repeatability prevents impurity molecules from attaching to the membrane.

After the end of the processes described above, a second break occurs with the same processes as in the first break, after which the second permeate consumer reaches the apparatus, and so on. Thus, the process of operation of the device is characterized by the presence of a sequence of interruptions in the reverse osmosis operation of the membrane 3 with an indefinite number of interruptions in this sequence and an indefinite time of each interruption. And at the same time, each break is used for diffusion purification of membrane 3 by diffusion exposure of the internal permeate in membrane 3. At the same time, the high efficiency of such diffusion purification is largely due to the fact that it is carried out in relation to impurity particles on the surface of membrane 3, which are still few on the membrane surface. 3 and which have not yet had time to properly fix on the surface of the membrane 3, since the process of its diffusion cleaning begins immediately, as soon as the next working period of reverse osmosis preceding this cleaning ends.

Claims (1)

Reverse osmosis unit of the apparatus for preparing drinking water from public water supply, containing an inlet controlled valve (1) installed in the body of the apparatus, designed to pass into the source water unit, a booster pump (2), the input of which is connected to the output of the specified valve (1), reverse osmosis a membrane (3) having an inlet (4) connected to the outlet of said pump (2) and outlets for permeate (5) and concentrate (6), hydraulic resistance (7) for discharging this concentrate into the sewer, a hydraulic accumulator (9) for temporary accumulation permeate taken from the output (5) of the membrane (3), the pump (10) for issuing permeate from the accumulator (9) to the permeate consumer, as well as the controller (11), which is electrically connected to the output of the permeate level sensor in the accumulator (9), with the circuit power supply of the booster pump (2), with the power supply circuit of the pump (10) for issuing permeate, as well as with the control input of the specified valve (1), characterized in that it contains a pipeline (12) located in the body of the apparatus for returning the permeate supply from the accumulator (9) to the inlet of the booster pump (2), while in the gap of this pipeline (12) the controlled valve (13) of the permeate return supply installed in the apparatus body is connected hydraulically in series, the control input of which is electrically connected to the controller (11), and the check valve (14) .

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