WO2001019736A1

WO2001019736A1 - Water-treatment system for heating, ventilation and air conditioning system

Info

Publication number: WO2001019736A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/020177
Authority: WO
Inventors: John J. Orolin
Original assignee: Everclear Environmental Technologies Corporation
Priority date: 1999-09-15
Filing date: 2000-07-25
Publication date: 2001-03-22
Also published as: AU6371300A; CO5200815A1

Abstract

An improved water treatment system for use in a HVAC system including a self-cleaning back-flushing type filtration system, a passive non-chemical water treatment canister, a magnetically induced resonance device, and a magnet positioned along the system piping to provide a non-chemical water treatment system. The improved water treatment system for use with the HVAC system of the present invention requires no external power beyond the inherent hydraulic line pressure from the water supply source. Additionally, the blow-down water exiting the HVAC system can be treated with an electrolytic cell.

Description

WATER-TREATMENT SYSTEM FOR HEATING , ENTI LATION AND AI R CONDITIONING SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates generally to a water-treatment system, and more particularly, to a non-chemical water treatment system for use in a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As we proceed into the twenty-first century, increased environmental regulations by federal, state, county, and city governments have been applied to all industrial and commercial businesses to conserve the use of our precious resource, namely water. Water conservation, chemical treatments added to water, and overloaded sewage facilities are of prime concern. Industrial and commercial development has pushed the demand for water and power, which has in turn pushed corresponding rate increases.

HVAC systems have traditionally used tremendous amounts of water to both cool and heat a facility. Cooling towers were introduced to reduce the amount of water needed for cooling chillers, heat pumps, compressors, and other process and air conditioning equipment. Systems with cooling towers use about 100 times less water than a once-through water-cooling system. Chemicals, however, were needed to keep the towers clean and running efficiently. Systems that scaled-up by being covered with deposits from hard water, such as calcium and other minerals experienced dramatic increased power costs. Additionally, maintenance was then required to be sure that chemicals were added properly to the system and that proper levels were maintained. Further, additional space was needed to store chemical inventories and chemical- dispensing equipment. Use of chemicals further requires implementation of additional safety factors that are regulated by new EPA, DEQ and OSHA regulations and are directed toward the safety and well-being of the employees. A paper trail of material safety data sheets (MSDS) adds documentation responsibilities that require additional personal to handle the increased workload. Furthermore, as the cost of water, sewage and power continues to increase, cooling tower HVAC systems suffer economic inefficiencies in addition to health and safety concerns with respect to the chemicals. Furthermore, not only are the systems themselves economically inefficient, but they are creating chemically treated water effluent that contributes to disposal and pollution problems downstream of the HVAC system when the water was either bled off or was blown down and replaced. One attempt to reduce the amount of chemicals required by a system included the use of magnets. Around the year 1900 people experimented with magnets to determine the effect of magnetic power on water. In Europe and especially in Russia, due to undeveloped chemical resources and high costs of purchasing chemicals outside the country, magnetic water treatment system technology was investigated and put to use. Systems used in the United States have traditionally used chemical answers to their water problems due to vast chemical reserves, a high level of chemical processing, distribution and profitability. Thus, system designers in the United States did not develop interest in magnetic technology until recently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Under one aspect of the invention, an improved water treatment system for use in a HVAC system includes a self-cleaning back-flushing type filtration system, a passive non-chemical water treatment canister, a magnetically induced resonance device, and a magnet positioned along the system piping to provide a non-chemical water treatment system. The improved water treatment system for use with the HVAC system of the present invention requires no external power beyond the inherent hydraulic line pressure from the water supply source. The back flushing filtration system is designed to remove large particles and debris from the system. The passive non-chemical water treatment canister is designed to act as a sanitizer, disinfecting the water by killing bacteria, algae, and viruses, which are too small to be caught by the filter. The magnetically induced resonance device is designed to cause minerals such as calcium and iron to remain in a soft, powdery form and to flow through a system pipe instead of adhering to the walls of the system pipe as a hardened deposit. The magnet, such as a monopolar magnet, applies a magnetic field to the electrons in the water reversing the electron spin and creating a positive potential. This positive potential works to pull scale from the system pipe walls, and prevents hard deposits on the wall of the system pipe.

Under another aspect of the invention, blow-down water exiting the HVAC system can be treated with an electrolytic cell such as the device disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,911 ,870, issued June 15, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This device increases the dissolved oxygen in the blow-down water and pre- treats the water prior to returning it to a sewer system.

The improved HVAC system of the present invention provides a non- chemical water treatment system that requires no additional power. The system prevents scaling in the system pipes, provides a cost-efficient water treatment system that can return water to the sewer system saturated with dissolved oxygen such that the effluent can have a regenerative impact on anaerobic sewer water.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a plan view of an HVAC system under an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the HVAC system under an exemplary embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A water treatment system, and in particular, a non-chemical water treatment system for use in HVAC systems is described in detail below. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as specific equipment, specific magnets, and various filters, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will readily recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details or in varying combinations or alternative sequencing. In other instances, well-known structures or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an HVAC System 5 includes system water moving through a system pipe 10 in the direction of flow indicated by arrow A. The HVAC system piping 10 includes a self-cleaning, backflush type, filtration device 100 coupled to the system pipe 10. The filtration device 100 can be positioned at the inflow of the piping system to remove large particles and debris from the HVAC system 5. A magnetically induced resonance device 200 is coupled to the system piping 10 and is designed to break up mineral formations, such as calcium carbonate and iron. These disintegrated minerals remain in a soft, powdery form, allowing the minerals to flow through the system pipe 10 instead of adhering to interior walls of the system pipe 10 as a hardened deposit. The HVAC system 5 further includes a passive non-chemical water treatment device 300 designed to act as a sanitizer, disinfecting the water by killing bacteria, algae, and viruses, that are too small to be caught by the filtration device 100. The HVAC system 5 further includes a first magnet 400, such as a monopolar magnet affixed to the system piping 10. The magnet 400 applies a magnetic field to the electrons in the system water, reversing the electron spin and creating a positive potential. Inflow water in the system pipes 10 can then flow into a heat exchanger 600 which may include a cooling tower, chillers, cooling coils, a boiler or other heat transfer devices.

The HVAC system 5 can further include a makeup reserve 500 of water.

Inflow piping 502 from the makeup reserve 500 can also include a second magnet 402 coupled to the piping 502. Additionally, in one embodiment of the present invention, the HVAC system 5 can further include an electrolytic cell 700 coupled to a blow-down piping of the system.

The components of the system will now be described in more detail with respect to Figure 2. In one embodiment, the present invention contemplates that the filter 100 is a self-cleaning, backflush type, filtration device such as a commercially available unit manufactured by Filtomat, Inc., or the Tekleen filter manufactured by Automatic Filters, Inc. Filters of this type operate via a backwash cycle that cleans the filter without interrupting the main system water flow. Further, these filters operate on line pressure alone, and thus eliminate the need for an external power source. Alternatively, the HVAC system 5 may include a filter 100 that is a simple coarse screen that requires periodic shutdown of the system to clean or replace. A filter is desired that filters particles in the range of approximately 3,000-3μ in size.

One embodiment of the present invention contemplates a commercially available magnetically induced resonance (MIR) device 200 such as the Freije Series S™ treatment unit. These units are designed to cause mineral molecule clusters, such as calcium carbonate and iron, to break apart and remain in a soft, powdery form. The minerals are then allowed to flow down the drain instead of adhering to system piping and other HVAC components as a hard deposit. The MIR device includes a series of powerful magnets creating a vibratory frequency. When this vibratory frequency matches the internal vibratory frequency of the system water, a resonance breaks the hydrogen bond of the molecule clusters and entrapped foreign particles are thus released. This is similar to what takes place when the vibratory frequency of a certain note of music matches the internal vibratory frequency of glass and the glass shatters. The breaking up of these molecule clusters into much smaller H₂O molecules makes the water mix better and requires no or few chemicals or other substances to allow the water to act "wetter." Further, when the interior surface of the system pipe is clean and free of scale, the soft aragonite particles form a very thin protective film on the surfaces that the water comes in contact with, helping to protect the surfaces from corrosion.

One embodiment of the present invention contemplates a sanitizer 300 such as the type commercially available today under the brand of Nature2. The sanitizer 300 is a passive non-chemical filtration system designed to disinfect water by killing bacteria, algae and viruses, which are too small to be caught by the filter 100 described above. In a sanitizer 300 of this type, a purifier non-electrically directs water through the sanitizer 300 and over a coated ceramic mineral bed. The minerals act as an antibiotic and kill bacterial, algae and viruses on contact. In addition, the antibiotic sanitizer 300 can release trace amounts of silver and copper into the system water to help prevent growth of new bacteria and algae. Alternatively, the HVAC system of the present invention may include a small pore filter designed to trap bacteria to act as the sanitizer 300. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the HVAC system includes multiple sanitizers or small pore filters as determined based on the system flow rate and water composition. Systems with a very high flow rate may require two or more sanitizers 300, depending on the capacity of each and quality of the system water. Alternatively, some HVAC systems may not include a sanitizer 300 or small pore filter.

One embodiment of the present invention contemplates a monopolar magnet 400 affixed to the system pipe 10. Such magnets are commercially available under the names Mono-Pole magnet or the MAGNETIZER^® magnet provided by Innovative Technologies. According to published literature, as the system water flows through the system piping and past the monopolar magnet 400, negatively charged water molecules are subjected to an electric charge from the magnet 400, which reverses the electron spin and provides positive potential in the positively charged water molecules. Reversal of the electron spin creates a much stronger positive potential that begins to pull scale from the interior of the system pipe and other components of the HVAC system and holds molecules in suspension by the "bouncing" of the electrons between the positive fields that completely surround the pipe. Existing mineral scale is gradually removed and kept in suspension, and is disposed of by bleed-off, blow-down or filtration. Again, monopole magnetic systems of this type are known and function as desccribed, as evidenced by a publication titled "Mono-pole Technology: Made Simple."

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the HVAC system includes an electrolytic cell 700 coupled to the effluent or blow-down pipe. The electrolytic cell can be one as described in U.S. Patent No. 5,91 1,870, issued June 15, 1999. The electrolytic cell 700 increases dissolved oxygen in the effluent water and can have a positive impact on treating anaerobic water in the sewer system.

The flow of the system will now be described. Water passes through the recirculates through the HVAC system to perform the heating/cooling function at a large building using known components and principles. As the water flows through the pipe 10 of the HVAC system, at one point in the cycle, it passes through the combination of filters and structures of the invention. As one feature of the invention the water passes through the coarse screen or the backflush type filter device 100 to filter out large particles. At another point along the system piping, the water flows through the small pore screen or sanitizer device 300 and small pore bacteria, algae and viruses are either filtered out or killed. At yet another point along the system piping, water flows past the magnetic resonance device 200 designed to break apart molecule clusters such as calcium carbonate and iron into much smaller H20 molecules. At yet another point along the system piping, water flows past the magnet that serves to positively charge the water molecules. The water continues flowing through the system piping 10 and into a heat exchanger, either a cooling tower or boiler, depending on whether the type of system and whether cooling or heating is needed. Water then leaves the heat exchanger and returns to circulate again through the other components in the HVAC system to provide the desired cooling and/or heating. Conventional HVAC system components can be used for the remainder of the cycle, such systems being well known in the art and the details need not be shown. The same water continues to circulate through the HVAC system for long periods due to the improved performance of the water treatment system of the present invention. Periodic cleaning through purging of some or all of the system water through the blow-down device is typically required in HVAC systems. A system using the present invention does not require the frequency of purgings as is required with prior systems. When a purging of the water is required by a system using the present invention, it will first pass through the electrolytic cell 700 before being returned to the community water supply or sewer system. Use of the electrolytic cell 700 at the blow- down provides significant advantages over prior art systems which discharge chemically contaminated effluent into the sewer system. The electrolytic cell increases the dissolved oxygen in effluent from the HVAC system of the present invention and thus positively impacts treatment of anaerobic water existing in the community sewer system.

As discussed previously, various components of the present invention combine to form an improved water treatment system for use with an HVAC or similar system. These components can be combined in the sequence shown in Figures 1 and 2 or any sequence along the system piping, and alternatively, selected components may be excluded from a system. The complete combination in one embodiment includes the self-cleaning filtration device, the MIR device, the sanitizer device, and the monopolar magnet, combine to create a system which filters out large particles, breaks down hard lime scale or calcium carbonate, kills bacteria, as well as changing the negative charge of the water molecules to a positive charge and reducing the scaling effects on the system piping. This combination provides a water treatment system that is both cost effective and friendly to the environment. No additive chemicals are required to maintain bacteria levels, nor are additive chemicals required to control the scaling of the water on the system piping. Further, in addition to reduced costs due to the non- chemical requirements of the system, the anti-scaling feature allows system water to flow through the system piping more efficiently.

One advantage of the present invention can be illustrated via example. A traditional 100-ton cooling tower system running at 100% capacity, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year will "bleed-off 800,000 gallons of water operating at three (3) concentrations of dissolved solids. With the use of the present invention this number will be reduced (taking into account the water losses from drift and leaks) to 22,000 gallons of bleed-off operating at 10-concentrations. This is a total of 778,000 gallons of water conserved. The cost of this water, based on current Portland, Oregon water and sewage rates combined, is $5.21 per 1000 gallons of water or $4,053.00 in water and sewage charges saved. On top of this is the cost of chemicals to maintain a clean system that in soft water costs about $5.00 per ton of rated capacity or $500 per year. Double that, or $1,000 per year, in hard water areas. Scaled-up systems with 0.01 inches of build-up will have additional power operating costs of $3,416.00. These figures add up to substantial savings. Additionally, there are savings in maintenance and handling of chemicals and paper work. This total is $7,969.00 annually for a soft- water area and $8,469.00 for hard-water areas. The numbers for 500 ton or 1000 ton units can easily be figured from the above numbers. For example, the water-savings on a system operating at 500 tons full capacity around the clock are 3,890,000 gallons ($39,845 in water/sewage/power and chemical savings). For a 1000-ton system it is 7,780,000 gallons ($79,690 in water/sewage/power and chemical savings). Further, the present invention includes economically unquantifiable environmental preservation savings as additive chemicals are not required, and additional power beyond line pressure is not required.

All of the above U.S. patents and applications are incorporated by reference. Aspects of these U.S. patents and applications can be employed with the teachings of the invention to provide further combinations.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A water treatment system for use in an HVAC system, comprising: a system pipe for transporting water through the HVAC system; a back-flushing filtration device aligned with and coupled to a first portion of the system pipe such that water from the system flows through the back-flushing filtration device wherein the back-flushing filtration device screens particles from the system water and is powered by in-line pressure of system water; an antibiotic filter aligned with and coupled to a second portion of the system pipe such that water from the system flows through the antibiotic filter wherein the antibiotic filter sanitizes the system water and is powered by in-line pressure of the system water; a magnetically induced resonance device aligned with and coupled to the system pipe wherein the magnetically induced resonance device emits a frequency designed to break up molecule clusters in the system water; and a monopolar magnet affixed to the system pipe wherein the monopolar magnet positively charges electrons in the system water.

2. The water treatment system of claim 1 further including an electrolytic cell coupled to the system pipe such that water from the system pipe passes into the electrolytic cell, wherein the electrolytic cell generates hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from the water.

3. The water treatment system of claim 1 wherein the antibiotic filter is a passive non-chemical water sanitizer including minerals to kill bacteria present in the water.

4. The water treatment system of claim 3 wherein the passive non- chemical water sanitizer further includes an antibiotic canister including silver and copper wherein trace amounts of silver and copper are released into the system water to prevent growth of new bacteria.

5. A water treatment system, comprising: a system pipe; a coarse screen filter screening a first cross-section of the system pipe; a small pore filter screening a second cross-section of the system pipe; a magnetically induced resonance device coupled to the system pipe; and a magnet affixed to the system pipe.

6. The water treatment system of claim 5 further including an electrolytic cell coupled to the system pipe such that water from the system pipe passes into the electrolytic cell, wherein the electrolytic cell generates hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from the water.

7. The water treatment system of claim 5 wherein the coarse screen filter is a self-cleaning backflush filtration unit.

8. The water treatment system of claim 5 wherein the small pore filter is a passive non-chemical water sanitizer including minerals to kill bacteria present in the water.

9. The water treatment system of claim 8 wherein the passive non- chemical water sanitizer further includes an antibiotic canister including silver and copper wherein trace amounts of silver and copper are released into the system water to prevent growth of new bacteria.

10. The water treatment system of claim 5 wherein the magnet is a monopolar magnet.

1 1. An HVAC system, comprising: a system pipe for transporting system water; a water treatment system, the water treatment system comprising a coarse screen filter screening a first cross-section of the system pipe, a small pore filter screening a second cross-section of the system pipe, a magnetically induced resonance device coupled to the system pipe, and a magnet affixed to the system pipe; and a water storing unit coupled to and fed by the system pipe.

12. The HVAC system of claim 1 1 further including an electrolytic cell coupled to the system pipe such that water from the system pipe passes into the electrolytic cell, wherein the electrolytic cell generates hydrogen gas and oxygen gas from the water.

13. The HVAC system of claim 1 1 wherein the coarse screen filter is a self-cleaning backflush filtration unit.

14. The HVAC system of claim 11 wherein the small pore filter is a passive non-chemical water sanitizer including minerals to kill bacteria present in the water.

15. The HVAC system of claim 1 1 wherein the passive non-chemical water sanitizer further includes an antibiotic canister including silver and copper wherein trace amounts of silver and copper are released into the system water to prevent growth of new bacteria.

16. The HVAC system of claim 1 1 wherein the magnet is a monopolar magnet.

17. A method of treating water for use in an HVAC system comprising: filtering large particles from the water in the system piping; sanitizing the water in the system piping; breaking up formations of molecule clusters in the water in the system piping; and reversing electron spin of the water molecules in the system.

18. The method claim of 17 further including increasing the dissolved oxygen in the system water prior to discharging the water from the system.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the sanitizing further includes releasing trace amounts of minerals into the water to prevent growth of bacteria.

20. The method claim of 17 wherein the reversing further includes applying an electric charge from a magnet to provide positively charged water molecules.