Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D61/00—Processes of separation using semi-permeable membranes, e.g. dialysis, osmosis or ultrafiltration; Apparatus, accessories or auxiliary operations specially adapted therefor
  • B01D61/02—Reverse osmosis; Hyperfiltration ; Nanofiltration
  • B01D61/10—Accessories; Auxiliary operations
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D61/00—Processes of separation using semi-permeable membranes, e.g. dialysis, osmosis or ultrafiltration; Apparatus, accessories or auxiliary operations specially adapted therefor
  • B01D61/02—Reverse osmosis; Hyperfiltration ; Nanofiltration
  • B01D61/12—Controlling or regulating
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C02—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
  • C02F—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
  • C02F1/00—Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage
  • C02F1/44—Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage by dialysis, osmosis or reverse osmosis
  • C02F1/441—Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage by dialysis, osmosis or reverse osmosis by reverse osmosis
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2313/00—Details relating to membrane modules or apparatus
  • B01D2313/08—Flow guidance means within the module or the apparatus
  • B01D2313/083—Bypass routes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2313/00—Details relating to membrane modules or apparatus
  • B01D2313/18—Specific valves
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2313/00—Details relating to membrane modules or apparatus
  • B01D2313/48—Mechanisms for switching between regular separation operations and washing
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C02—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
  • C02F—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
  • C02F2209/00—Controlling or monitoring parameters in water treatment
  • C02F2209/005—Processes using a programmable logic controller [PLC]
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C02—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
  • C02F—TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE
  • C02F2209/00—Controlling or monitoring parameters in water treatment
  • C02F2209/03—Pressure

Definitions

• the present disclosure generally relates to filtering systems and more particularly relates to fluid storage and flow control in filtering systems.
• Water-on- water system can address many of the shortcomings of air-on- water system.
• Water-on- water system typically include a pressure vessel containing two water- filled compartments of approximately the same size. The physical separation between the compartments is movable or flexible so that water pressure in a first compartment influences the water pressure in the second compartment. Each compartment is accessed by different fluid sources so that one compartment can be filling while the other one is emptying. Thus, little or no pressure drop occurs across the compartments. Both compartments are pressurized, when product water is drawn out of the vessel. Both compartments are then depressurized when product water is filling one compartment and displacing water from the other compartment to drain.
• Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the an example water-on- water storage vessel used in association with the filtration system shown in Figure 1.
• Figure 3 is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating aspects of the filtration system shown in Figure 1.
• Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating features of another example filtration system in accordance with principles of the present disclosure.
• Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of another example water- on- water storage vessel used in association with the filtration system shown in Figure 4.
• Figures 6A and 6B depict a ladder logic table of a software program used to control the filtration system shown in Figure 4.
• Water-on-water filtration systems have many advantages as compared to more commonly utilized water-on-air systems.
• One advantage of a water-on-water design is improved flow rate at the point of dispensing filtered water.
• water- on- water systems can produce 1.5 to 3 times or greater the flow of typical air-on- water systems.
• Water-on-water systems can also provide improved delivery pressure at the point of dispense, typically on average of at least 2 times that of water-on-air systems. Improved delivery pressure can also provide increased production as the flow of water into and out of the storage vessel can increase as compared to water-on-air systems.
• water-on-water systems also have improved efficiency in that they produce less waste water (water to drain) for every unit of filtered water produced.
• Filtration system 10 includes a filtering member 12, first and second water-on- water storage vessels 14, 16, a feed line 18, a drain line 20, a service or output line 22, a by-pass line 24 and a tank line 25.
• the filtration system 10 also includes first and second pressure sensors P A , P B , a hydraulic accumulator Pc (e.g., a hydropneumatic tank), a plurality of one-way valves So, and a plurality of control valves S1-S8.
• the feed line 18 is connected in fluid communication with the filtering member 12 and a delivery side of each of the first and second storage vessels 14, 16.
• the drain line 20 is connected in fluid communication with the filtering member 12 and the delivery side of each of the first and second storage vessels 14, 16.
• the service or output line 22 is connected in fluid communication with a fill or filtered water side of the first and second storage vessels 14, 16 as well as the by-pass line 24.
• the by-pass line 24 is connected in fluid communication with the feed line 18 and the service line 22 so as to bypass the filter member 12 and first and second storage vessels 14, 16 under certain circumstances described below.
• the tank line 25 is connected in fluid communication with the filtering member 12 and the first and second storage vessels 14, 16.
• the control system 26 controls opening and closing the valves S1-S8 in response to pressure signals received from the pressure sensors P A , P B , and other signals received from other features of the filtration system or an outside system (e.g., a signal representing demand for flow at the output line 22).
• the valves S1-S8 are usually maintained in either a normally open (NO) state or a normally closed (NC) state, as shown in Figure 1 , until a change in system pressure is confirmed by the pressure sensors P A , P B - Figure 1 illustrates valves Sl, S4, S6 and S8 as normally open, and valves S2, S3, S5 and S7 as normally closed.
• the second container 32 of the second storage vessel 16 is filled at the pressure of water in the feed line 18 (i.e., feed pressure), water is expelled from the first container 30 at the feed pressure.
• the pressure sensor P A senses a predetermined high pressure level.
• the control system 26 responds to a high pressure signal from the pressure sensor P A by resetting the valves Sl -S 8 in such a way that the flow into and out of the first and second storage vessels 14, 16 is switched to fill the first container 32 of the second storage vessel 16 and expel filtered water from the first container 30 of the first storage vessel 14 (i.e., first storage vessel 14 in a service state and second storage vessel 16 in a fill state).
• One example setup for the filtration system 10 includes a one gallon per minute (gpm) flow control valve Sl that substantially matches the output of the filtering member 12 (e.g., a reverse osmosis filtering module having a capability of 1 gpm).
• the feed pressure in feed line 18 is regulated to about 60 psi, and the high and low predetermined pressure settings for the first and second pressure sensors P A , P B are set at 55 psi and 45 psi, respectively.
• the filtered water delivered at the service line 22 at the output of the filtration system 10 was controlled to about 0.5 gpm by the hydraulic accumulator Pc. Any of these settings can be modified depending on any number of changes to the features, functionality, supply and demand related to the filtration system.
• Figure 3 illustrates an example circuit diagram related to the control of the plurality of valves S1-S8 conducted by the control system 26.
• Figure 3 illustrates that when the first pressure sensor P A is at the high pressure setting, the valves S3, S4, S7, S8 are actuated and the valves S5, S6 are not actuated.
• the first valve Sl may be open to provide a source of feed water to the filtering member 12 as described above.
• valve Sl is a solenoid valve (e.g., a latching solenoid) that is switched to and maintains an open state or a closed state upon application of a short electronic stimulus.
• any one of valves S1-S8 may be a pressure regulator that maintains an open state or a closed state dependent upon a hydraulic stimulus.
• the first and second storage vessels 114, 116 are piston style storage vessels that utilize sensors to determine the location of a piston in the vessel, which can be used to understand a fill state of the vessel (see Figure 5).
• Some example sensors for use with the storage vessels 114, 116 magnetic proximity sensors, limit switches, level switches, reed switches, and position sensors such as linear encoder, optical and sonar position sensors.
• the control system 26 takes inputs from the first and second position sensors 48, 50 to control the open and closed state of the plurality of valves Y004-Y007 and YO 10-YO 13 in accordance with the PCL ladder logic shown in Figure 6.
• Output from the position sensors 48, 50 are represented as X003, X004 for the first storage vessel 114, and X005, X006 for the second storage vessel 116.
• the filtration system 100 can also include first and second pressure sensors P A , P B positioned in the line between the filtering member 12 and the first and second storage vessels 114, 116, respectively.
• the first and second pressure sensors P A , P B can provide additional feedback to the control system 26 to confirm a fill state of the first and second storage vessels 114, 116.
• the pressure sensors P A , P B are labeled as inputs XOOl and X002, respectively in the logic diagram shown in Figures 6 A and 6B.
• a filtration system can include two or more filtering members (e.g., filtering member 12 shown in Figure 1) arranged in series or in parallel, and that are connected in fluid communication with the storage vessels (e.g., vessels 14, 16) through a tank line (e.g., tank line 25).
• filtering members e.g., filtering member 12 shown in Figure 1
• tank line e.g., tank line 25
• filtering technologies that are possible include reverse osmosis, nano filtration, ultra filtration and other filtration systems that help remove impurities from the water.
• a bypass line around the filtering member can be added to the example filtration systems. Flow of source water through the bypass line can be adjusted by the user to provide a customized mix of filtered and unfiltered water that is stored in the storage vessels.
• the method includes steps of generating a supply of filtered water with the filtering member, controlling the plurality of valves with the control system to set the first storage vessel in a fill state and the second storage vessel in a service state, and controlling the plurality of valves with the control system to set the first storage vessel in a service state and the second storage vessel in a fill state.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Water Supply & Treatment (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Nanotechnology (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Hydrology & Water Resources (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Separation Using Semi-Permeable Membranes (AREA)

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• 2008
  • 2008-02-07 US US12/027,377 patent/US8257594B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2009
  • 2009-01-19 CN CN2009801043675A patent/CN101939070B/zh active Active
  • 2009-01-19 KR KR1020107018721A patent/KR20100114529A/ko not_active Ceased
  • 2009-01-19 EP EP09707861.2A patent/EP2259857B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2009-01-19 JP JP2010545925A patent/JP5612483B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2009-01-19 WO PCT/US2009/031371 patent/WO2009099747A2/en not_active Ceased

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