RU2550191C1 - Water purification apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: chemistry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to water purification by crystallisation and can be used in everyday life, food industry and medicine. The water purification apparatus includes a temperature-controlled heat-exchange vessel 1, means of feeding source water for purification and means 2 of draining ice water and liquid concentrate of contaminants, means 3 of cooling and freezing water and means 5 of melting ice with cooling 4 and heating elements 6, a control unit 7 connected to the means of feeding source water for purification and draining ice water and liquid concentrate of contaminants 2 from the heat-exchange vessel 1 and means of cooling and freezing water 3 and melting ice 5. The heat-exchange vessel 1 has a flat slit-type internal cavity or an annular slit-type cavity 15, and one of the walls of the heat-exchange vessel 1, which is free from the cooling 4 and heating elements 6, is made of transparent material and has one or more internal air cavities 17.

EFFECT: invention improves the quality of water purification and enables to monitor the purification process.

3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to devices for water purification by crystallization, improving its biological properties by removing soluble in it organic and inorganic substances and gases, and can be used in everyday life, food industry and medicine.

Water purification by crystallization consists in freezing it at a temperature slightly below zero degrees Celsius (for example, from -2 to -6 ° C) with the formation of ice crystals, from which, at the crystallization front, most of the impurities are displaced as a liquid concentrate of organic and inorganic impurities which does not freeze at the indicated temperatures due to the high salt content. The liquid concentrate of impurities is removed, and a clean ingot of ice crystals is melted at a positive temperature to obtain purified melt water.

A water purifier is known for producing thawed drinking water, which includes a zone of water freezing with an annular freezer located in series in a longitudinal vessel, an area for displacing impurities from the ice front and a concentration of impurities in the form of a brine, and a zone for transferring water from solid to liquid with an annular heating element ( RF patent No. 2312817, IPC C02F 1/22, publ. 12/20/2007). The water purifier has separate nozzles for removing impurities in the form of brine and melt drinking water, located in the lower part of the vessel, and is additionally equipped with a drive unit for moving the frozen water rod mounted behind the freezer and an uncoupling device located in the center of the frozen water rod and made in the form of a pipe . The uncoupling device has an annular cutting part at the inlet, and an expanding profile at the outlet, forming an outlet pipe for removing impurities in the form of a brine. However, this device provides insufficient quality of water purification, it is difficult to constructively. In addition, the consumer of melt water cannot observe the water treatment process, which reduces the interest and trust of the consumer in the final product.

A water purifier is known for producing melt drinking water on an industrial scale from sea water, which includes a water freezing zone with an annular freezer, a zone for displacing impurities from the ice front and a concentration of impurities in the form of brine and a zone of transition of solid state water to sequentially located in one longitudinal vessel. liquid with an annular heating element, separate nozzles for removing impurities in the form of brine and melt drinking water, located in the lower part of the vessel (French Patent No. 2858607, IPC C02F 1/22, publ. 02/11/2005).

A known installation for water purification (RF Patent No. 2274607, IPC C02F 1/22, published on 04/20/2006), containing a container for untreated water, a heat exchanger installed in the tank to remove heat and freeze ice, means for heating and thawing ice, a freezing unit with its cooling system, a pipeline with a valve for draining water with impurities, a pipeline with a valve for draining melt water, characterized in that the heat exchanger is made in the form of a multi-stage coil located in the upper part of the tank at a height of approximately 1/3 ÷ 2/3 tank heights n a distance of 2 ÷ 5 cm relative to the upper base of the container and symmetrically relative to its side surface with a gap providing the possibility of volumetric freezing of ice in water around the coil to a size that does not overlap this gap during ice crystallization, the tank is equipped with a heat-insulating cover and seal, a pipeline for draining water with impurities installed in the cross section of the conical bottom of the tank, the pipeline for draining the melt water is installed below the conical bottom of the tank by 0.5 ÷ 2 cm. The installation is equipped with a filter thinly Purification of the drainage tube with a valve and a pump for circulating the water and pumping the melt under pressure through a fine filter and a control unit manual or automatic mode.

The closest analogue (prototype) of the device is a water purifier (RF patent No. 2393996, IPC C02F 1/22, publ. 07/10/2010), including a housing in which a thermostatic working container with a lid and an inclined bottom with a hole for water discharge, a means for freezing water and melting ice with a control unit, a consumer container for receiving melt purified water and a container for receiving water with impurities and a high content of deuterium, pipelines with a means for controlling water discharge in the latter, connected to the drain the open hole of the inclined bottom of the working tank for freezing water and melting ice, the drain pipes of which are installed respectively above the consumer tank for receiving purified melt water and a tank for receiving water with impurities and a high deuterium content. Means for freezing water and melting ice are made in the form of a thermoelectric module containing several thermoelectric elements located outside on the side wall of the working tank for freezing water and melting ice, the means for controlling the discharge of water in pipelines contains four normally closed valves installed in pairs in the last, and these pipelines for draining water are additionally interconnected by a pipeline with a fine filter of water, the connection sections of which with pipelines for I water drain valves are located between the means for controlling the discharge of water in these pipes. The working capacity is rectangular in shape, the ratio of its height to length and width is respectively not less than 1.0 and not more than 1.2.

However, in the above-mentioned analogue and prototype apparatuses, the quality of the purified water is insufficient, and the cleaning cycle lasts about 7-8 or more hours (the larger the volume of purified water, the longer the water treatment cycle). In addition, the consumer of melt water cannot observe the process of water treatment, which reduces the interest and trust of the consumer in both the final product and its quality.

The technical result of the claimed invention is to improve the quality of treatment of melt water and providing the possibility of monitoring the process of its preparation.

The specified technical result is achieved by the fact that in the apparatus for water purification, including a thermostatically controlled heat exchange tank for water purification, made of thermally conductive material, means for supplying raw water for cleaning and draining melt water and a liquid contaminant from the heat exchange tank, means for cooling and freezing water and melting ice with cooling and heating elements in contact with the surface of the heat-conducting wall of the heat-exchange capacity from the outside, control unit, associated with the means of supplying the source water for cleaning and draining melt water and the liquid concentrate of contaminants from the heat transfer tank and means for cooling and freezing water and melting ice, according to the invention, the heat transfer tank is made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped with a flat slotted internal cavity formed between two oppositely located walls the specified capacity, or heat transfer capacity is made annular in the form of two coaxially arranged hollow cylinders of different diameters, the gap between with which from the bottom end it is hermetically closed by an annular partition with the formation of an annular slit cavity inside the vessel, one of the walls of the heat-exchange vessel free of cooling and heating elements is made of transparent material and has one or more internal air cavities for visual observation of the process of water crystallization and / or installation of a video camera and a lighting lamp.

Cooling, crystallization of water and melting of ice by heating is carried out from one of the outer side surfaces of the container having a large surface area.

Cooling and heating elements can be made in the form of a thermoelectric battery or in the form of an evaporating tube of a refrigeration unit (cooling elements) and a tubular electric heater (heating elements).

In a device with a flat tank for water purification, thermoelectric battery cells are located on one of the outer side walls of the tank.

In the apparatus with an annular tank for water purification, the evaporator tube of the refrigeration unit and a tubular electric heater are located on the outer cylindrical wall of one of the cylinders of the indicated annular tank for water purification.

Reducing the time of water purification is provided due to the fact that in the slotted cavity of the tank, water crystallizes in the form of an ice layer of small thickness on one of the side walls of the tank for a short time due to intensive heat exchange between the cooled surface of the tank wall through a thin layer of ice with water, and a significant the volume of this pure ice is formed due to the developed (large) area of the side surface of the container having an internal volume in the form of a flat or annular gap. It is known that for the same volume the smallest surface area will have a capacity in the form of a ball. The surface area of a cubic capacity of the same volume increases approximately 1.24 times. The surface area of the container of the same volume with a flat or annular slotted internal volume can be increased from 2 to 10 times. The heat flux of the cooled water can be increased by the same amount of times, as a result of which the time for freezing and purifying water is reduced. The specific heat flux is

q = kΔT / L, W / m ² ,

where q is the specific heat flux; k is the coefficient of thermal conductivity of ice, W / (m · K); ΔT - temperature difference when passing through an ice layer, K; L is the thickness of the ice layer, m

From the above formula it can be seen that the smaller the thickness (L) of the ice layer, the greater the specific heat flux is transferred to the cooled water and the faster the water crystallizes, resulting in reduced water treatment time.

Improving the quality of water treatment is achieved due to wall crystallization of the purified water. The purest ice crystallizes in a thin layer on the chilled wall of the water tank. With an increase in the thickness of the ice layer, the ice formation process slows down, and its purity and physicochemical characteristics decrease (the pH decreases and the redox potential - ORP increases).

The transparent wall of the tank with backlighting provides the ability to monitor the process of crystallization of water. Through the transparent air cavities in the transparent wall, which do not fog up during the operation of the device, it is possible to observe the process of water purification. The indicated process can be observed remotely on the monitor using a video camera. The indicated capabilities (on-line) of the claimed device can increase confidence in the quality of the melt water received.

In FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an apparatus with two flat heat-exchange tanks. In FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a flat heat-exchange capacity in horizontal section. In FIG. 3 shows a diagram of an apparatus with an annular heat exchange capacity.

The apparatus for water purification by crystallization method (Fig. 1) includes a thermostatically controlled heat-exchange tank 1 for water purification made of a heat-conducting material, means for supplying raw water for purification (not shown in the drawings), means 2 for draining melt water and a liquid contaminant from the heat-exchange tank 1, means 3 for cooling and freezing water with cooling elements 4 and means 5 for melting ice with heating elements 6. Elements 4 and 6 are in contact with the surface of the heat-conducting wall of a heat-exchange tank memory 1 from outside. The electronic control unit 7 is connected with the means for supplying the source water to the tank 1 for purification, the means 2 for draining the melt water and the liquid concentrate from the heat exchange tank 1 and the means 3 and 5 for cooling and freezing the water and melting the ice.

In the first embodiment, the heat exchange tank 1 (Figs. 1 and 2) is made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped 8 with a flat slotted internal cavity 9 formed between two oppositely located flat walls 10 and 11 of the indicated tank 1. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1, contains two such containers 1. Elements 4 and 6 are located externally on the flat wall 11 of container 1. The cooling element 4 is an evaporation tube of a refrigeration unit, and the heating element 6 is a tubular electric heater.

In the second embodiment, the heat transfer tank 1 (Fig. 3) is made annular in the form of two coaxially arranged hollow cylinders 12 and 13 of different diameters, the gap between which is sealed from the lower end by an annular partition 14 (bottom) with the formation of an annular gap cavity 15 inside the tank 1.

The element 4 of the means 3 for cooling and freezing water and the heating element 6 of the means 5 for melting ice are located on the side surface inside the inner cylinder 13 and are in close contact with it. The inner cylinder 13 is made of thermally conductive material.

In the first embodiment (Fig. 2), the wall 10 of the heat exchange tank 1, free of cooling and heating elements 4 and 6, is made of a transparent material, for example polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate, and has one or more internal air cavities 16 for visual observation of the crystallization process water.

In the second embodiment (Fig. 3), the wall of the cylinder 12 of the heat transfer vessel 1, free of cooling and heating elements 4 and 6, is also made of a transparent material, for example polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate, and has one or more internal air cavities 17 for visual observation water crystallization process.

In these cavities 16 and / or 17 of the walls of the tank 1, video cameras 18 and lighting lamps 19 can be installed.

An electronic unit 7 for controlling freezing water, melting ice and draining water is connected to the electromagnetic valves 20 and 21 of means 2 for draining purified melt water and liquid concentrate of impurities, respectively, and switches 22 and 23 of means 3 and 5, respectively, for freezing water and melting ice.

The cooling element 4 (evaporator tube with Freon) means 3 for cooling and freezing water is connected to the compressor 24 and the condenser 25. In addition, the electronic control unit 7 is equipped with a temperature sensor 26 mounted outside the bottom of the tank 1.

The video camera 18 is connected to the monitor 27 through an electronic control unit 7. In the tank 1, a pure ice layer 28 and a layer 29 of liquid impurity concentrate are formed in the process of water purification.

Apparatus for water purification works as follows.

An electronic control unit 7 is turned on, which automatically opens the electrovalves of the means for supplying pre-filtered source water from the water supply (not shown in the drawings) to one (Fig. 3) or two (Fig. 1) heat-exchange containers 1 through which these containers 1 are filled into 2/3 of the volume. Further, the control unit 7 includes a compressor 24. A gradual cooling of the water takes place in each tank 1 through the heat-conducting wall of the inner cylinder 13 (Fig. 3) or a flat wall 11 (Fig. 1), followed by freezing of its wall part in the form of an ice layer 28. Using a temperature sensor 26, block 7 calculates the cycle time of water crystallization in automatic mode by software from the moment of its phase transition, determined by the spontaneous increase in the temperature of the water in the tank by at least 0.5 ° C. The smaller the thickness of the ice layer, the greater the specific heat flux is transferred to the cooled water and the faster the water crystallizes, resulting in reduced water treatment time. The freezing process with the formation of pure wall ice lasts about 1.5-2 hours and is controlled by the temperature sensor 26, the data from which are sent to the electronic control unit 7. After the formation of the layer of pure wall ice 28, the control unit 7 includes a solenoid valve 21 and an unfrozen layer of impurity liquid concentrate 29, i.e. water with a high content of salts (brine) is discharged into the sewer. Further, the control unit 7 includes a means 5 for melting ice, the heating element 6 of which is heated to a temperature not exceeding + 10-15 ° C, which corresponds to natural conditions. In this case, pure ice melts. Full melting of ice is carried out in 0.5 hours. The full cycle of obtaining melt water is 2-2.5 hours. Based on the experimental data of the applicant, it was found that the purest ice crystallizes on the chilled wall of the tank with water with a thickness of not more than 1.5-2.5 cm.

The transparent wall 10 of the tank 1 with a lamp 19 and a video camera 18 in the cavities 16 (Fig. 1) or cavities 17 (Fig. 3) provides the possibility of visual or through the monitor 27 monitoring and recording the process of crystallization of water, which increases consumer confidence in the quality of the final product melt water.

The content of pure melt water is at least 60 vol. % of its initial volume with a decrease in the total content of inorganic impurities by at least 2 times.

Thus, in comparison with analogues, the inventive apparatus for water purification provide a reduction in the time of water purification by several times due to the fact that in a narrow slotted cavity 9 of the container 1, water crystallizes in the form of a small layer of ice 28 on the walls of the specified container, and a significant amount of this pure ice is formed by increasing the area of the lateral surface of the slotted tank 1 in contact with cooling and heating elements. Improving the quality of water purification from impurities is achieved through near-wall crystallization of purified water.

Claims (1)

Apparatus for water purification, including a thermostatically controlled heat-exchange tank for water purification, made of thermally conductive material, means for supplying raw water for cleaning and draining melt water and liquid concentrate of contaminants from a heat-exchange tank, means for cooling and freezing water and melting ice with cooling and heating elements contacting the surface with the heat-conducting wall of the heat-exchange capacity from the outside, the control unit associated with the means of supplying the source water for cleaning and with pouring melt water and a liquid concentrate of contaminants from the heat exchange tank and means for cooling and freezing water and melting ice, characterized in that the heat transfer tank is made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped with a flat slotted internal cavity formed between two oppositely located walls of the specified tank, or a heat transfer tank made annular in the form of two coaxially arranged hollow cylinders of different diameters, the gap between which from the lower end is hermetically closed ring howling with the formation of an annular slit cavity inside the tank, and one of the walls of the heat-exchange tank, free of cooling and heating elements, is made of a transparent material and has one or more internal air cavities for visual observation of the process of crystallization of water and / or for installing a video camera and lighting lamps.

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