Lum, Gary W. (20810 Pepper Tree Lane, Cupertino, CA, 95014, US)
Thom, Douglas M. (1300 Bear Gulch Road, Woodside, CA, 94062, US)
Lum, Gary W. (20810 Pepper Tree Lane, Cupertino, CA, 95014, US)
| 1. | A combination of control systems that controls feed water, heating, boiler level control, and output water level in an integrated and simultaneous fashion. The control system integrates liquid, electrical, and gas properties to thereby control independent distillation processes. |
| 2. | A system whereby the output water level is used to control the flow of input water. |
| 3. | A system whereby the output water level is used to control the heating system. |
| 4. | A control system that directs output water to multiple destinations based on time. Said system is implemented to direct initially processed water to drain, then directed to product output upon preset time. |
| 5. | A control system that directs output water to multiple destinations based on water purity. Said system directs initially processed water to drain, then directed to product output upon preset water purity levels. |
| 6. | A control system that uses a 2way solenoid valve to direct fluid flow to two separate destinations, depending on water quality. |
| 7. | A control system that drains a boiling chamber upon completion of a distillation operation and moves to a state ready for the next distillation operation without user interaction. |
| 8. | A control system that drains a boiling chamber upon removal of power and moves to a state ready for next distillation operation without user interaction. |
| 9. | A control system that monitors and adjusts water level to a preset level within a boiler based on gas pressure, and independently of altitude. |
| 10. | A control system that is implemented using a pressure differential switch that measures the pressure difference within the boiling chamber. |
| 11. | An active control system of the water level in the BOILER. The BOILER PRESSURE SWITCH accurately monitors the BOILER water level, thereby minimizing waste water released through the BOILER DRAIN and retaining the maximum amount of heat in the system when compared to other implementations. |
| 12. | The option of automatic, continuous monitoring of the product output water. A water purity meter can be inserted into the PRODUCT OUTPUT tube and control the PRODUCT OUTPUT SOLENOID so if the product output water were to become contaminated, flow would be directed to the waste container or tube without contaminating the OUTPUT WATER CONTAINER. |
| 13. | The necessary electrical overrides in case of overtemperature and electrical shorts. |
| 14. | A simple and convenient indication of system operation for service or user monitoring. |
Background of the Invention Water purification technology is rapidly becoming an essential aspect of modern life as conventional water resources become increasingly scarce; as municipal distribution systems for potable water deteriorate with age; as increased water usage depletes wells and reservoirs, causing saline water contamination; and as further contamination occurs in conventional resources from intensive agriculture, from gasoline additives, and even from heavy toxic metals, leading to increasing and objectionable levels of germs and bacteria, salts, MTBE, chlorates and perchlorates, arsenic, mercury, and chemicals used to disinfect potable water, such as chlorinated compounds.
Conventional technologies, such as reverse osmosis (RO), filtration, and chemical treatment rarely are able to handle the diverse range of water contaminants, and even though they are commercially available, they often require multiple treatment stages or combination of various technologies to achieve acceptable water quality. Less conventional technologies, such as ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation or ozone treatment can be effective against viruses and bacteria, but seldom remove other contaminants, such as dissolved gases, many salts, hydrocarbons, and insoluble solids. Most distillation technologies are generally superior at removing multiple contaminants, but unless they include selective steam separation systems, are still unabte to handle all types of contaminants.
Accordingly, sophisticated distillation systems that are continuous, self-cleaning, and recover a major fraction of the input water appear as the but long-term option to resolve increasing water contamination problems and water scarcity.
However, given the multiple functionality of such systems, they require careful balance of input and output streams and multiple control of degassing, boiling, steam separation, and condensing operations to ensure adequate quality in the water product, which is the subject of this invention.
References Cited U. S. Patent Documents Patent No Date Inventors Assignee 6,663, 770 12/16/03 Stephan B. Sears 5,968, 321 10/19/99 Stephan B. Sears Ridgewood Water Pure 6,582, 563 6/24/03 Adam, et al lnnowave, Inc.
6,358, 371 3/19/02 Belongia, et al West Bend Co.
6,030, 504 2/29/00 Belongia, et al West Bend Co.
6,009, 238 12/28/99 David C. Belongia West Bend Co.
5,833, 812 11/10/98 Michael O. Hartman 5,609, 732 3/11/97 Stanley I. Magidson Genesis 5, 286, 351 2/15/94 Michael E. Salmon Terrill Designs, Inc.
5,348, 623 9/20/94 Michael E. Salmon Terrill Designs, Inc.
5, 286, 350 2/15/94 Shang-Meng Huang 5,059, 287 10/22/91 Charles W. Harkey, Sr. Track International 5, 021, 128 614/91 David G. Palmer Pure Water, Inc.
4,943, 353 7/24/90 David J. Shannon Pure Water, Inc.
4, 415, Q75 llti5/83 McNesky, et al General Molding, tnc.
4,110, 170 8/29/78 Kirschman, et al 3,980, 526 9/14/76 Kirschman Description of Prior Art Previous attempts at controlling water distillation systems are known from U. S.
Patents 6,663, 770; 5,968, 321; 6,582, 563; 6,358, 371; 6,030, 504; 6,009, 238; 5,833, 812; 5,609, 732; 5, 286, 351,5, 348,623 ; 5,286, 350; 5,059, 287; 5,021, 128; 4,943, 353; 4,415, 075; 4,110, 170; and 3,980, 526. U. S. Patent 6,663, 770 describes a feed solenoid valve and a float valve. Unlike the present invention, the feed solenoid valve described in US Patent 6,663, 770 is connected to a float valve in the boiler, instead of a pressure differential sensor as in the present invention Being mechanico-etectrical devices that operate at boiling temperature, float valves suffer from reliability issues related to abrasion, fatigue, and dimensional stability.
U. S. Patent 5,968, 321 effects the control of the boiler level by means of a vertical sight-tube, which requires either visual monitoring of that function and is, thus, not a fully automated operation, or actuates an electrical photo-sensor signal that controls the inlet water valve.
U. S. Patent 6,582, 563 describes an inlet solenoid valve that controls the inflow of water into a control tank that regulates the boiler level in a distillation system, and an electronically controlled drain valve that is operated by means of a timer.
Both, U. S. Patents 6,358, 371 and 6,030, 504 describe an electrical control system that includes a heater thermostat to control the boiler heater and a fan thermostat to control the cooling of a condenser.
U. S. Patent 6,009, 238 describes an automatic shut-off thermostat to prevent a boiler in a distillation system from going dry.
U. S. Patent 5,833, 812 describes a power unit for applying a voltage potential to heating probes immersed in a boiler, and a selector control for maintaining the water level in a boiler.
U. S. Patent 5,609, 732 describes a thermostatic control to prevent the boiler from running dry during distillation.
Both U. S. Patents 5,348, 623 and 5,286, 351 describe a temperature sensor in the boiler to control said boiler level.
U. S. Patent 5,286, 350 describes float valves for controlling the water level in the boiler.
U. S. Patent 5,059, 287 describes a temperature sensor above the water in the boiler to interrupt power input to the boiler.
Both, U. S. Patents 5, 021, 128 and 4,943, 353 describe level probes in the boiler to maintain water level within a pre-determined range.
U. S. Patent 4, 415, 075 describes a float switch and a low-level safety switch to control the level of water in a boiler.
U. S. Patent 4, 110, 170 describes a temperature sensor at the outlet of a boiler to control the inlet flow of water into the boiler.
U. S. Patent 3, 980, 526 describes a float sensor that is not directly ! mked to the inlet water flow into the boiler, but to a tubular stem.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a fully automated water processing control system, particularly one designed to operate with sophisticated water distillation systems that are continuous and that include degassing as well as selective steam separation features.
Summary of the Invention The operation of the boiler has three separate controls. It is controlled against running dry by a thermal overload switch. The proper level of water in the boiler is controlled by a boiler pressure switch that actuates a solenoid that controls the<BR> flow of inlet water. And the boiler is periodically drained by means of a boiler drain solenoid.
The operation of the product water tank is subject to three additional controls.
There is a product level switch that prevents the product tank against overflow. A timer delay relay prevents water produced during transient conditions from entering the product container by means of a product output solenoid that directs product water either to the product container or a waste stream.
In addition, the overall system has a manual reset switch that resets the whole system to an initial state and three indicator lights that provide continuous operation al status. And to protect against electrical shorts, there is an overall power input fuse that protects against electrical shorts.
Brief Description of the Drawings P ! GURE 1 ts a schematic and assembly diagram of the invention.
FIGURE 2 lists the control system input signals (INPUTS) and output controls (OUTPUTS) used by the system.
FIGURE 3 is the control system state diagram.
Detailed Description The invention comprises a fully automated system for controlling water purification units, particularly those that utilize distillation technology. Adequate control of distillation units is not trivial when such type of equipment operates continuously and must ensure proper product quality regardless of the contaminants present in the input water. The controls required in a sophisticated water distillation system must address each individual treatment stage in the distillation unit, which normally comprise a boiler for generating steam, a selective steam separation stage, and condensation of clean steam into final pure water. Given the sequence of treatment stages, the controls provided in the present invention are mechanical, electrical, and electro-mechanical in nature.
Figure 1 illustrates the embodiment of multiple controls in the present invention and provides an example of an assembly diagram. ln Figure 1, AC power is supplied by a standard three-pronged"AC PLUG". The"FUSE" (2) protects the overall circuit from shorts. A manuaf"RESET SWITCH" (3} enables the user to override the automatic controls and reset the system to an initial state. A "THERMAL OVERLOAD SWITCH" (1), normally closed, is located on the BOILER near the HEATER and will open circuit if the BOILER reaches an over- temperature condition. The"PRODUCT LEVEL SWITCH" (4) monitors the output water container level and will open when the container is full. The <BR> <BR> "BOILER PRESSURE SWtTCH" (5) is a differential pressure switch which<BR> maintains the correct level in the BOILER.. The"INLET WATER SOLENOID" (6) controls the flow of inlet water into the system. The"HEATER" (7) is an electrical heating element that heats water in the BOILER to boiling temperature. The "BOILER DRAIN SOLENOID" (8) controls the draining of water from the BOILER.
The"TIMING DELAY RELAY" (9) generates a delayed timing pulse upon application of power to the input. The pulse delay time is set by a variable resistor. The"PRODUCT OUTPUT SOLENOID" (10) controls the flow of water to either the OUTPUT WATER CONTAINER or to a waste container or tube, There are three indicator lights to provide operational status [POWER INDICATOR (11), HEAT INDICATOR (12), and ON INDICATOR (13)]. The water processing unit is composed of a BOILER, STEAM STRIPPER AND SEPARATOR, AND CONDENSER units. Output water from the OUTPUT WATER CONTAINER is dispensed by the OUTPUT WATER FAUCET.
The Control System operates in 3 distinct states: "OFF". This is the"Control state, "when no power is applied, RESET SWITCH is actuated, or output water container is full (PRODUCT LEVEL SWITCH opened). In this state, the HEATER is turned off, the inlet water is shutoff (INLET WATER SOLENOID is closed), and the BOILER DRAIN SOLENOID is opened, thereby draining the BOILER. This is the non- operational state of the system, which is indicated when the POWER INDICATOR is not lit.
"HEAT."This is the Control state when power is applied or RESET SWITCH is released and water processing is initiated. In this state, the HEATER is turned on, the inlet water is turned on (INLET WATER SOLENOID is opened), and the BOILER DRAIN SOLENOID is closed (thereby filling the BOILER), and product output from the condenser is directed to the waste container or tube (PRODUCT OUTPUT SOLENOID is opened). In this state, the BOILER PRESSURE SWITCH operates independently, and monitors pressure difference from the BOILER DRAIN and BOILER to control the water level in the BOILER. The BOILER PRESSURE SWITCH controls the INLET WATER SOLENOID, so that water level in the BOILER is actively monitored. This state is indicated when the HEAT INDICATOR is lit.
"ON."This is the Control state when the TIMING DELAY RELAY output pulse is activated. In this state, the water processing unit is at operating temperature and the product output from the CONDENSER is directed to the OUTPUT WATER CONTAINER. This is accomplished by closing the PRODUCT OUTPUT SOLENOID, which directs the flow of product output water to the OUTPUT WATER CONTAINER by allowing product output water to back up in the PRODUCT OUTPUT SOLENOID's leg of the tubing tee. In this state, the BOILER PRESSURE SWITCH operates <BR> <BR> independently, and monitors the pressure difference between the BOILER<BR> DRAIN and the BOILER to control the water level in the BOILER. The BOILER PRESSURE SWITCH controls the INLET WATER SOLENOID, so that water level in the BOILER is actively monitored. This state is indicated when the ON INDICATOR is lit.
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