Product water from an ozonated capacitive deionization process

Abstract

Unsuitable water from coal bed methane production, CBMPW, is ozonated in a reactor to oxidize iron and the manganese content,—iron from ferrous to ferric, and the manganese from +2 to +4—and kill microbes and destroy other organic material. The water after such treatment is run through a separation means and then a rotating filter, followed by capacitive deionization, to yield clean water, which is treated further to adjust the sodium content to render the water suitable for domestic and agricultural purposes. Some product water is returned through the capacitive deionization cells when no voltage is applied to clean the cells for the next voltage application cycle, and some product water may also be run back through the separation means to help clean out the crud. This product water is suitable for irrigation and can depending on local law be used for drinking either without or with further treatment.

Description

RELATION TO OTHER APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 12 / 454,010 filed May 12, 2009.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]This patent pertains to the special water and its attributes, which water is prepared by a process for ozonating and deionizing a specific source of water to yield potable water for drinking and agricultural purposes.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Capacitive DEIONIZATION is not new, yet it has not had a huge commercial success due to the high cost of implementation. Another reason for the lack of commercial success is the historical problem of contamination of capacitive deionization units by organic compounds and high ionic loads both of which are alleviated by the ozonation and separation steps prior to the capacitive deionization. When these problems are eliminated, one obtains longer useful life for the equipment, reduced power consumption, and faster regeneration of the CD unit. The grandfather patent in the field is Farmer, U.S...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Capacitive DEIONIZATION is not new, yet it has not had a huge commercial success due to the high cost of implementation.

Another reason for the lack of commercial success is the historical problem of contamination of capacitive deionization units by organic compounds and high ionic loads both of which are alleviated by the ozonation and separation steps prior to the capacitive deionization.

It is well known throughout California and other parts of the western USA that obtaining reliable and plentiful supply of clean water is becoming more and more difficult, especially in, view of the recent drought years of 2006 and 2007 winters.

Not only in the USA but in Africa, Australia and the middle east, there are huge water availability problems.

It is also known to the art that high sodium ion content is detrimental to agriculture.

Sodium when present in soil tends to replace calcium and magnesium according to the periodic table from the soil and the sodium causes dispersion of soil particles thus reducing the ease of cultivation and permeability of the soil to permit moisture to seep down to plant roots.

Other known problems caused by excess sodium in irrigation water include formation of crusted seed beds, short term saturation of the surface soil, while water fails to sink down to root hairs.

The pH goes up and this may be bothersome or evenly deadly to some plants.

But the capture of this methane gas creates a lot of water that is unsuitable for agriculture or other domestic uses.

Not only is the high sodium content a taste problem, it is also a health problem when ingested in large quantities.

But this is more than a taste issue, it is a health issue.

Soil destruction also takes place due to the SAR effect.

But why is this purified high salinity water unsuitable for agricultural purposes?

Salinity becomes a problem when enough salts accumulate in the root zone to negatively affect plant growth.

This lowers the amount of water available to the plant, regardless of the amount of water actually in the root zone.

The main point is that excess salinity in soil water can decrease plant available water and cause plant stress.

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