Automatic wastewater monitoring and adding system and method thereof

Abstract

An automatic wastewater monitoring and adding system for monitoring liquid to be treated in a wastewater adjustment tank is provided. The system includes at least one optical sensor and a calculation module. The at least one optical sensor is used to detect at least one parameter index of liquid to be treated in the wastewater adjustment tank. The calculation module calculates a demand amount of an additive according to the at least one parameter index detected by the at least one optical sensor and a first ratio.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of wastewater treatment. [Previous Technology]

[0002] Wastewater discharged from the chemical industry requires treatment. A complete wastewater treatment process includes multiple stages, one of which is improving the carbon content of the wastewater. Currently, this stage requires operators to sample the wastewater, then operate testing instruments to detect the concentration of various elements or compounds in the wastewater. Next, the total amount of additives to be added to the wastewater is manually calculated, and the additives are added based on the calculation results. This process is repeated until the carbon content in the wastewater reaches the target value before it can be discharged. Therefore, the existing method consumes a significant amount of manpower and time.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need for a novel automatic wastewater monitoring and addition system or method to improve the above problems. [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] This application provides an automatic wastewater monitoring and addition system for monitoring a liquid to be treated in a wastewater conditioning tank. The system includes at least one optical instrument and a calculation module. The at least one optical instrument is used to detect at least one parameter of the liquid to be treated in the wastewater conditioning tank. The calculation module calculates a required addition amount of an additive based on the at least one parameter detected by the at least one optical instrument and a first ratio.

[0005] This application also provides an automatic wastewater monitoring and addition method for monitoring the liquid to be treated in a wastewater conditioning tank. The method includes the steps of: detecting at least one parameter of the liquid to be treated in the wastewater conditioning tank using at least one optical instrument; and calculating a required addition amount of an additive using a calculation module based on the at least one parameter detected by the at least one optical instrument and a first ratio.

Implementation Method

[0006] The exemplary embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same element symbols are used in the drawings and description to denote the same or similar parts.

[0007] Certain terms are used throughout this application specification and the appended claims to refer to specific components. Those skilled in the art will understand that component manufacturers may use different names to refer to the same component. This document is not intended to distinguish between components that have the same function but different names. In the following specification and claims, words such as "containing," "including," and "comprising" are open-ended terms and should therefore be interpreted as "containing but not limited to...".

[0008] The terms “approximately,” “substantially,” or “roughly” are generally interpreted as being within 10% of a given value or range, or as being within 5%, 3%, 2%, 1%, or 0.5% of a given value or range.

[0009] The ordinal numbers used in the specification and claims, such as "first" and "second," to modify components do not imply or represent any prior ordinal number for that component (or those components), nor do they represent the order of one component with another, or the order of manufacturing processes. These ordinal numbers are used only to clearly distinguish one component with a given name from another component with the same name. The claims and the specification may not use the same terminology; therefore, a first component in the specification may be a second component in the claims.

[0010] In this application, the terms "given range is from the first value to the second value" and "given range falls within the range of the first value to the second value" mean that the given range includes the first value, the second value, and other values ​​in between.

[0011] It should be understood that the features in the following embodiments can be replaced, reorganized, or mixed to complete other embodiments without departing from the spirit of this application. Features between embodiments can be arbitrarily mixed and combined as long as they do not violate the spirit of the invention or conflict with each other.

[0012] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains. It is understood that these terms, for example, as defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the relevant art and the background or context of this application, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal manner, unless specifically defined in the embodiments of this application.

[0013] Furthermore, descriptions such as "when..." or "...when" in this application indicate states such as "at present, before, or after," and are not limited to simultaneous occurrences, as stated in advance. Descriptions such as "set on..." in this application indicate the corresponding positional relationship between two elements, and do not limit whether the two elements are in contact, unless specifically limited, as stated in advance. Moreover, when this application describes multiple functions, the use of the word "or" between functions indicates that the functions can exist independently, but does not exclude the possibility that multiple functions can exist simultaneously.

[0014] Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 according to the first embodiment of this application. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 is used to monitor a liquid 3 to be treated in a wastewater adjustment tank 2, wherein the liquid 3 to be treated is various types of wastewater, such as chemical wastewater, but not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 1, the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 includes at least one optical instrument 10 and a calculation module 20, wherein the calculation module 20 can be set in a computing host 25. The optical instrument 10 can be used to detect at least one parameter index of the liquid 3 to be treated in the wastewater adjustment tank 2, and the parameter index can be associated with carbon content or nitrogen content. The calculation module 20 can calculate a required addition amount of an additive 4 based on the at least one parameter index detected by the optical instrument 10 and a preset first ratio, wherein the additive 4 can be used to adjust the carbon content in the liquid 3 to be treated. The calculation module 20 can also output a suggestion message 5, wherein the suggestion message 5 may contain information on the required addition amount of the additive 4. In one embodiment, the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 may also include a water quality monitor 30 for detecting the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3. However, in another embodiment, the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 of this application may not include a water quality monitor 30.

[0015] Regarding the optical instrument 10. In one embodiment, the type of optical instrument 10 may include an optical multi-parameter water quality meter, a turbidity meter, an infrared sensor, a fluorescence sensor, or an ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) photometer, or other suitable elements, or any combination thereof, and is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the parameter indicators may include at least one of the following, and is not limited thereto: chemical oxygen demand (COD mg / L), total organic carbon (TOC mg / L) concentration, free ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N mg / L) concentration, nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N mg / L) concentration, total nitrogen (TN mg / L) concentration, and ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N mg / L) concentration. In one embodiment, the total organic carbon concentration and / or total nitrogen concentration may be calculated using other measured parameter indicators, but in another embodiment, the total organic carbon concentration and / or total nitrogen concentration may also be directly measured. In addition, the optical instrument 10 is waterproof and can be placed in the liquid 3 to be treated.

[0016] Regarding the computing module 20. The computing module 20 may be, for example, hardware, such as a processor (preferably a microprocessor), a chip, a digital circuit, or an analog circuit, which can implement the various operations described herein by executing an algorithm or firmware (or driven by an algorithm or firmware), wherein the algorithm may be packaged as a computer program product having a plurality of instructions. Alternatively, the computing module 20 itself may also be a computer program product having a plurality of instructions that cause the processor (preferably a microprocessor) or chip to perform specific operations, such as executing the contents of an algorithm, thereby implementing the various operations described herein. In one embodiment, when the computing module 20 is a computer program product, it can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as in a memory or a storage device, or it can be stored on a network server (such as the memory of a network server or other storage device), or the computer program product can be made into a device or chip for physical sale, or made into application software (APP) for sale and use on the Internet, and is not limited thereto.

[0017] Regarding the computing host 25. The computing host 25 can be implemented as any electronic device with a processor (preferably a microprocessor), such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, smartphone, server, or cloud host. Furthermore, the computing host 25 may include a communication device that can transmit the suggestion messages 5 generated by the computing module 20 via wired or wireless communication. Additionally, the computing host 25 may include a display device or playback device that can provide suggestion messages 5 in video or audio form.

[0018] Regarding Additive 4. In one embodiment, Additive 4 may be a carbon source, and the first ratio may be, for example, a preset target carbon-nitrogen ratio. In one embodiment, the calculation module 20 may calculate the nitrogen content (e.g., total nitrogen concentration) or carbon content (e.g., total carbon concentration) of the liquid to be treated 3 based on the parameter indicators detected by the optical instrument 10, and calculate the required amount of Additive 4 using the nitrogen content (or carbon content) and the target carbon-nitrogen ratio. In one embodiment, the type of carbon source may include at least one of glucose, acetic acid, and isopropanol (IPA), and is not limited thereto. Accordingly, after the calculation module 20 generates the suggestion message 5, Additive 4 may be added to the wastewater conditioning tank 2 manually or automatically (based on the required amount in the suggestion message 5) to adjust the carbon-nitrogen ratio of the liquid to be treated 3.

[0019] Regarding the water quality monitor 30. The water quality monitor 30 can be any device capable of detecting the pH value of a liquid. In one embodiment, when the water quality monitor 30 detects the pH value of the liquid 3 to be treated, the user can manually add chemicals to the liquid 3 to adjust the pH value, or the chemical addition can be performed by automated equipment, and is not limited thereto.

[0020] Next, a wastewater automatic monitoring and addition method executed by the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 will be described. This method can be regarded as the operation process of the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1. Figure 2 is a flowchart of the steps of the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition method according to an embodiment of this application, and Figure 1 is used as a reference.

[0021] As shown in Figure 2, after the liquid to be treated 3 enters the wastewater adjustment tank 2, step S1 is first executed, where the water quality monitor 30 detects the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3. Next, when the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3 is less than 6 or greater than 9, a pH-adjusting agent can be added to the liquid to be treated 3 to adjust the pH value. When the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3 is between 6 and 9 (6 ≤ pH ≤ 9), step S2 is executed, where the optical instrument 10 detects the parameters of the liquid to be treated 3, such as, but not limited to, the concentrations of COD, NH3-N, and / or NO3-N. Next, step S3 is executed. The processing module 20 in the processing host 25 calculates the required amount of additive 4 for the liquid to be treated 3 based on the parameter indicators and the target carbon-nitrogen ratio (i.e., the first ratio). For example, the processing module 20 can obtain the nitrogen content based on the concentrations of COD, NH3-N, and / or NO3-N, and then calculate the required amount using the nitrogen content and the target carbon-nitrogen ratio, and is not limited to this. Next, step S4 is executed. The processing module 20 provides a suggestion message 5, which includes the required amount of additive 4. Further, when the carbon-nitrogen ratio of the liquid to be treated 3 reaches the target carbon-nitrogen ratio, the suggestion message 5 may include the statement that additive 4 is not needed (e.g., the required amount is 0), or the processing module 20 may not provide the suggestion message 5, and is not limited to this. When the carbon-nitrogen ratio of the liquid to be treated 3 does not reach the target carbon-nitrogen ratio, additive 4 can be added to the wastewater conditioning tank 2 to adjust the carbon-nitrogen ratio of the liquid to be treated 3.

[0022] In one embodiment, the water quality monitor 30 continuously monitors the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3 until the pH value is between 6 and 9. Similarly, the optical instrument 10 continuously monitors the parameters of the liquid to be treated 3 until the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of the liquid to be treated 3 reaches the target carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. In addition, in one embodiment, after the addition of additive 4, step S2 can be repeated to monitor the new parameters. In another embodiment, considering that additive 4 may affect the pH value, step S1 can also be repeated, and step S2 can be repeated after the pH value is confirmed to be between 6 and 9.

[0023] In one embodiment, the action of the water quality monitor 30 continuously detecting the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3 (e.g., repeating step 1) must precede the action of the optical instrument 10 detecting the parameter indicators of the liquid to be treated 3 (e.g., step 2). In other words, step 2 is only executed when the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3 is between 6 and 9. One advantage of this design is that it avoids corrosion of the optical instrument 10 by excessively acidic or alkaline liquid to be treated 3. Therefore, the optical instrument 10 can be placed in the liquid to be treated 3 only after the pH value of the liquid to be treated is between 6 and 9.

[0024] In one embodiment, the calculation module 20 can calculate the required amount of additive 4 according to the following formula: X=T×C / N×TN / E; where X is the required amount of additive 4, in units such as milligrams per liter (mg / L), T is the total amount of liquid 3 to be treated, in units such as liters (L), C / N is the target carbon-nitrogen ratio, TN is the total nitrogen concentration of liquid 3 to be treated, in units such as mg / L, and E is the carbon content per milligram of additive 4, in units such as mg / L.

[0025] Further, an example is used to illustrate this. If the total amount (T) of the liquid to be treated 3 is 4000L, the total nitrogen concentration (TN) of the solution 3 is 500mg / L, the target carbon-nitrogen ratio (C / N) is 10:1, and the carbon content (E) of each milligram of additive 4 is 0.4mg / L, the required amount (X) of additive 4 can be calculated as follows: X=4000×10 / 1×500 / 0.4=50000000; it can be seen that the required amount of additive 4 can be 50000000 milligrams (i.e. 50000 grams) to achieve the target carbon-nitrogen ratio.

[0026] Furthermore, in one embodiment, the carbon content (E) of additive 4 (carbon source) can be obtained by the molecular formula of the carbon source. For example, if the carbon source is glucose with the molecular formula C6H12O6 and a molecular weight of 180 g / mol, and each glucose molecule contains 6 carbon atoms, then the carbon content (E) per milligram can be calculated as follows: E = 6 × 12 / 180 = 0.4. This calculation can be performed by the calculation module 20, or the user can directly input the data into the calculation host 25 for use by the calculation module 20, and is not limited thereto.

[0027] Thus, the operation of the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 can be understood.

[0028] Figure 3 is an experimental data graph corresponding to an embodiment of the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 of this application, and Figures 1 and 2 are used as auxiliary diagrams. Figure 3 shows the water quality changes in the liquid to be treated 3 after adding a specific amount of additive 4 according to the suggestion message 5 provided by the calculation module 20.

[0029] As shown in Figure 3, after the addition of additive 4, after a certain period of reaction, the concentrations of COD, NH3-N and NO3-N in the liquid to be treated 3 can all be reduced to below the standard line, for example, all can be less than 100 parts per million (ppm). It can be seen that the water quality of the liquid to be treated 3 can be greatly improved, indicating that the suggestion information 5 provided by the calculation module 20 has sufficient accuracy.

[0030] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the actual application of the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 according to an embodiment of this application, and Figures 1 to 3 are used as aids.

[0031] As shown in Figure 4, a complete wastewater treatment system 100 may include a plurality of subsystems, each corresponding to a different treatment stage. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 of this application can be regarded as one of the subsystems. When the wastewater treatment system 100 is in operation, the liquid to be treated 3 is first collected and temporarily stored in the wastewater adjustment tank 2. Then the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 of this application can perform operations. For example, the water quality monitor 30 can detect the pH value of the liquid to be treated 3, the optical instrument 10 can detect the parameter indicators in the liquid to be treated 3, and the calculation module 20 can calculate the required amount of additive 4 (hereinafter referred to as carbon source). After the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 is operated, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of the liquid to be treated 3 can reach the target carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. At this time, other subsystems can start operating for subsequent treatment stages. These other subsystems include, for example, a primary mixing system 110, an activated sludge system 120, a primary and secondary mixing system 130, an effluent tank 140, and a sludge thickener / dewatering machine 150. These subsystems (110-150) can operate sequentially or in combination. In addition, the overall wastewater treatment system 100 may also include subsystems and more treatment stages. Therefore, the wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system 1 of this application can operate at the beginning of the complete wastewater treatment process, which is beneficial to the operation of subsequent stages.

[0032] Accordingly, this application utilizes an optical instrument 10 to replace the current method of using sampling instruments to detect the compound concentration in wastewater, and uses a calculation module 20 to automatically calculate the required amount of carbon source to be added to the wastewater based on the detection results of the optical instrument 10, which can significantly reduce time costs and manpower requirements. Alternatively, this application can significantly reduce the cost of necessary equipment, allowing for rapid cost recovery. Alternatively, this application can be applied to chemical-related industries and units with biological systems, and can lead to more new designs or improvements.

[0033] This application can determine whether a product falls within its protection scope by at least observing the presence or absence of components, component configuration, and / or mechanism of the product in dispute, but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, if this application involves algorithms, it can determine whether a product falls within its protection scope by at least observing the operating mode of the product in dispute, or by observing the algorithm of the product in dispute, but is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the algorithm of the product in dispute can be obtained, for example, through reverse engineering, but is not limited thereto.

[0034] Details or features of the various embodiments of this application may be arbitrarily combined and used as long as they do not violate the spirit of the invention or conflict with it.

[0035] The above embodiments are merely examples for the purpose of illustration. The scope of the rights claimed in this application shall be determined by the scope of the patent application, and not limited to the above embodiments. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0036] Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of an automatic wastewater monitoring and addition system according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 2 is a flowchart of the steps of an automatic wastewater monitoring and addition method according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 3 is an experimental data diagram corresponding to an automatic wastewater monitoring and addition system according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the actual application of an automatic wastewater monitoring and addition system according to an embodiment of this application.

Claims

1. An automatic wastewater monitoring and dosing system for monitoring a liquid to be treated in a wastewater conditioning tank, comprising: at least one optical instrument for detecting at least one parameter of the liquid to be treated in the wastewater conditioning tank; a calculation module for calculating a required dosage of an additive based on the at least one parameter detected by the at least one optical instrument and a first ratio; and a water quality monitor for detecting the pH value of the liquid to be treated, wherein the water quality monitor detects the pH value of the liquid to be treated at a time earlier than the time when the at least one optical instrument detects the at least one parameter of the liquid to be treated, and the pH value of the liquid to be treated detected by the at least one optical instrument is between 6 and 9; wherein, The at least one optical instrument, the calculation module, and the water quality monitor operate before the primary mixing system is processed.

2. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system as described in claim 1, wherein the calculation module calculates the nitrogen content of the liquid to be treated based on the at least one parameter index, and uses the nitrogen content and the first ratio to calculate the required addition amount.

3. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system as described in claim 2, wherein the first ratio is a target carbon-nitrogen ratio and the additive is a carbon source.

4. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system as described in claim 3, wherein the calculation module calculates the required amount of the additive according to the following formula: X=T×(C:N)×TN / E; where X is the required amount of the additive, T is the total amount of the liquid to be treated, (C:N) is the target carbon-nitrogen ratio, TN is a total nitrogen concentration, and E is the carbon content per milligram of the additive.

5. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), free ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), total nitrogen (TN), and ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N).

6. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system as described in claim 1, wherein the additive comprises a carbon-hydrogen bonded compound.

7. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition system as described in claim 6, wherein the additive comprises at least one of glucose, acetic acid, and isopropanol (IPA).

8. An automatic wastewater monitoring and addition method for monitoring a liquid to be treated in a wastewater conditioning tank, the method comprising the steps of: detecting at least one parameter of the liquid to be treated in the wastewater conditioning tank using at least one optical instrument; calculating a required addition value of an additive based on the at least one parameter detected by the at least one optical instrument and a first ratio using a calculation module; and detecting the pH value of the liquid to be treated using a water quality monitor, wherein the time point at which the water quality monitor detects the pH value of the liquid to be treated is earlier than the time point at which the at least one optical instrument detects the at least one parameter of the liquid to be treated, and the pH value of the liquid to be treated detected by the at least one optical instrument is between 6 and 9; wherein... The automatic monitoring and addition method for this wastewater is performed before the primary mixed system's treatment.

9. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition method as described in claim 8, wherein the step of calculating the required addition value by means of the calculation module further includes the sub-steps of: calculating a total nitrogen concentration of the liquid to be treated based on the at least one parameter index; and calculating the required addition value using the total nitrogen concentration and the first ratio.

10. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition method as described in claim 9, wherein the first ratio is a target carbon-nitrogen ratio and the additive is a carbon source.

11. The wastewater automatic monitoring and addition method as described in claim 10, wherein the calculation module calculates the required addition value of the carbon source according to the following formula: X=T×(C:N)×TN / E; where X is the required addition value of the carbon source, T is the total amount of the liquid to be treated, (C:N) is the target carbon-nitrogen ratio, TN is the total nitrogen concentration, and E is the carbon content per milligram of the carbon source.

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