Management device and management method

Abstract

The present invention comprises: a valve (20) which acquires inflow water for water treatment equipment that performs a prescribed treatment on water to be treated; a valve (21) which acquires outflow water from the water treatment equipment; a water treatment device into which the inflow water acquired by the valve (20) and the outflow water acquired by the valve (21) flow and which removes impurities from the inflow water and the outflow water that have flowed thereinto; a water quality measurement unit (60) which measures, for each of the inflow water and the outflow water, the water quality of treated water obtained through removal of the impurities by the water treatment device; and a determination unit (70) which determines performance of the water treatment equipment on the basis of the water quality measured by the water quality measurement unit (60).

Description

Management Apparatus and Management Method

[0001] The present invention relates to a management apparatus and a management method.

[0002] The performance of water treatment equipment such as activated carbon filters disposed in a water treatment system that produces ultrapure water decreases with use. Therefore, water treatment equipment with degraded performance needs to be replaced periodically. In order to predict the replacement timing of water treatment equipment, an operation method has been conceived in which some of a plurality of water treatment pieces of equipment installed in parallel are operated at a higher load than the other water treatment pieces of equipment (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this operation method, the water quality of outlet water from the water treatment equipment operated under high load is measured, and the service life of the other water treatment pieces of equipment is predicted based on the measured water quality.

[0003] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-111058

[0004] Treated water treated by water treatment equipment often contains a mixture of easily removable impurities and difficult-to-remove impurities such as urea. When the water quality of treated water is measured using the above-described technique, the amount of difficult-to-remove impurities that need to be removed in a downstream apparatus to which ultrapure water is supplied is masked by the amount of easily removable impurities. As a result, necessary water quality data cannot be acquired accurately. Consequently, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to determine more accurate replacement timing for the water treatment equipment.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a management apparatus and a management method capable of determining more accurate replacement timing for water treatment equipment.

[0006] The management apparatus of the present invention comprises: an inlet water acquisition unit that acquires inlet water to be supplied to water treatment equipment that performs predetermined treatment on water to be treated; an outlet water acquisition unit that acquires outlet water from the water treatment equipment; a water treatment apparatus into which the inlet water acquired by the inlet water acquisition unit and the outlet water acquired by the outlet water acquisition unit flow, and which removes impurities from the inflowing inlet water and outlet water; a water quality measurement unit that measures, for each of the inlet water and the outlet water, the water quality of the treated water from which impurities have been removed by the water treatment apparatus; and a determination unit that determines the performance of the water treatment equipment based on the water quality measured by the water quality measurement unit.

[0007] Furthermore, the management method of the present invention involves acquiring inlet water to a water treatment device that performs a predetermined treatment on water to be treated, acquiring outlet water from the water treatment device, a water treatment device into which the acquired inlet water and outlet water flow in removes impurities from the incoming inlet water and outlet water, the water treatment device measures the water quality of the treated water from which impurities have been removed for the inlet water and the outlet water respectively, and a control device determines the performance of the water treatment device based on the measured water quality.

[0008] In this invention, it is possible to determine the replacement timing of water treatment equipment more accurately.

[0009] Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the control device of the present invention. Figure 1 shows an example of the components comprising the control device shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows a graph illustrating an example of the relationship between the usage period of the activated carbon filter shown in Figure 1 and the TOC concentrations of the inlet and outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220. Figure 3 shows a flowchart illustrating an example of a control method in the control device shown in Figure 1. Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the control device of the present invention. Figure 5 shows an example of the components comprising the control device shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 shows a third embodiment of the control device of the present invention. Figure 7 shows an example of the components comprising the control device shown in Figure 7.

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment)

[0011] Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the control device of the present invention. In this embodiment, the control device 10 obtains treated water from the water treatment system 100. The water treatment system 100 is a system that produces ultrapure water from water to be treated (raw water). The water treatment system 100 comprises a plurality of water treatment devices and performs predetermined treatment on the water to be treated supplied to each water treatment device. For example, as shown in Figure 1, the water treatment system 100 has a water tank 200 in which the water to be treated is stored, a filtration device 210, an activated carbon filter 220, a two-bed, three-column ion exchange resin column 230, a reverse osmosis membrane device 240, an ultraviolet oxidation device 250, an ion exchange resin device 260, a degasser 270, and a subsystem 280 arranged in series. The filtration device 210, activated carbon filter 220, two-bed, three-column ion exchange resin column 230, reverse osmosis membrane device 240, ultraviolet oxidation device 250, ion exchange resin device 260, membrane degasser 270, and subsystem 280 can each be the same as the water treatment equipment installed in a typical water treatment system.

[0012] The control device 10 acquires the inlet and outlet water from the activated carbon filter 220. Figure 2 shows an example of the components of the control device 10 shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 2, the control device 10 shown in Figure 1 includes valves 20 and 21, a reverse osmosis membrane device 30, an ultraviolet oxidation device 40, an ion exchange device 50, a water quality measuring unit 60, a determination unit 70, and an output unit 80. Note that Figure 2 shows only the main components of the control device 10 shown in Figure 1 that are relevant to this embodiment.

[0013] Valve 20 is an inlet water acquisition unit that acquires inlet water for the activated carbon filter 220 installed in the water treatment system 100. The opening and closing control and adjustment of the valve 20 are performed by a control unit (not shown) installed in the management device 10.

[0014] Valve 21 is an outlet water acquisition unit that acquires outlet water from the activated carbon filter 220 installed in the water treatment system 100. The opening and closing control and adjustment of the valve 21 are performed by a control unit (not shown) installed in the management device 10 or by an operator.

[0015] The reverse osmosis membrane apparatus 30 concentrates the water to be treated by applying pressure to it and passing it through a reverse permeable membrane, separating it into concentrated water and permeate. The separated permeate is supplied to the ultraviolet oxidation apparatus 40. The reverse osmosis membrane apparatus 30 may also be a device equipped with multiple reverse osmosis membranes in multiple stages, supplying the permeate from the preceding reverse osmosis membrane to the subsequent reverse osmosis membrane. The type of reverse osmosis membrane is not particularly limited. As a reverse osmosis membrane, for example, from the viewpoint of energy saving in the pump, it is preferable to use an ultra-low pressure membrane or an extremely low pressure membrane. It is also possible to use a reverse osmosis membrane with even higher water permeability than an extremely low pressure membrane. The reverse osmosis membrane apparatus 30 is preferably operated with a recovery rate of 15 to 50%.

[0016] The ultraviolet oxidation apparatus 40 irradiates the treated water supplied from the reverse osmosis membrane apparatus 30 with ultraviolet light to perform ultraviolet oxidation treatment. The amount of ultraviolet light irradiated in the ultraviolet oxidation apparatus 40 is not particularly limited. For example, the amount of ultraviolet light irradiated in the ultraviolet oxidation apparatus 40 is 0.05 to 3 kWh / m³. 3 The irradiation dose may be adjusted to the specified value. In the ultraviolet oxidation device 40, the output of ultraviolet light may be adjusted, the flow rate to the ultraviolet oxidation device 40 may be adjusted, or both the output and flow rate may be adjusted. The treated water treated by the ultraviolet oxidation device 40 is supplied to the ion exchange device 50.

[0017] The ion exchange device 50 is a device filled with ion exchange resin that performs ion exchange treatment on treated water supplied from the ultraviolet oxidation device 40. As the ion exchange device 50, a cartridge polisher (CP: also called a non-regenerative ion exchange device) filled with a mixed bed of anion exchange resin and cation exchange resin may be used. The ion exchange device 50 may also be an SBP (multi-layer bed countercurrent regenerative ion exchange device). Furthermore, the ion exchange device 50 may be an EDI (electrodeionization device). In addition, from the viewpoint of TOC (Total Organic Carbon) elution, it is preferable that the ion exchange device 50 is filled with a mixed bed of anion exchange resin and cation exchange resin. Multiple sets of ultraviolet oxidation devices 40 and ion exchange devices 50 may also be installed.

[0018] Furthermore, the water treatment apparatus for removing impurities in this embodiment is composed of a reverse osmosis membrane apparatus 30, an ultraviolet oxidation apparatus 40, and an ion exchange apparatus 50.

[0019] The water quality measurement unit 60 measures the water quality of the treated water supplied from the ion exchange device 50. The water quality measurement unit 60 measures the TOC concentration of the treated water from the ion exchange device 50 as part of the water quality. The water quality measurement unit 60 notifies the determination unit 70 of the measured value (water quality value).

[0020] The determination unit 70 determines the performance of the activated carbon filter 220 based on the measured values ​​(water quality values) notified from the water quality measurement unit 60. Specifically, the determination unit 70 calculates the difference between the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the water quality measurement unit 60, and the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the outlet water obtained by the valve 21. The determination unit 70 compares the calculated difference with a pre-set threshold. This threshold is a value that can be set and changed externally. If the calculated difference falls below the threshold, the determination unit 70 determines that the performance of the activated carbon filter 220 has deteriorated. The determination unit 70 notifies the output unit 80 of the result of the determination.

[0021] Figure 3 is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the usage period of the activated carbon filter 220 shown in Figure 1 and the TOC concentrations of the inlet and outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220. In the example shown in Figure 3, the case where the TOC concentration of the inlet water of the activated carbon filter 220 is constant is shown. At the start of use of the activated carbon filter 220, the TOC concentration of the outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220 is lower than that of the inlet water of the activated carbon filter 220. This is because the TOC components contained in the inlet water are removed as the inlet water passes through the activated carbon filter 220. As the use of the activated carbon filter 220 continues, the TOC removal performance of the activated carbon filter 220 decreases, and the TOC concentration of the outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220 increases with the passage of time. As a result, it can be seen that the difference between the TOC concentration of the inlet water and the TOC concentration of the outlet water decreases. For example, a threshold value of 20% less than the difference at the start of use of the activated carbon filter 220 may be set.

[0022] The output unit 80 outputs (notifies externally) the judgment result notified by the judgment unit 70. If the judgment unit 70 notifies the output unit 80 that the performance of the activated carbon filter 220 has deteriorated, the output unit 80 may output a predetermined warning. The output unit 80 may also output a notification that this is the recommended time to replace the activated carbon filter 220. The output method by which the output unit 80 outputs the judgment result may be a display of the judgment result. Alternatively, the output method by which the output unit 80 outputs the judgment result may be a lamp light corresponding to the judgment result, an audio output, transmission of information indicating the judgment result to another communication device, printing of the judgment result, etc., and is not particularly specified. The output unit 80 may also output the measured value (water quality value) measured by the water quality measurement unit 60 itself. In that case, it goes without saying that the output unit 80 should output in a way that allows it to distinguish whether the output water quality value is the water quality value of the inlet water or the outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220.

[0023] The management method for the management device 10 shown in Figure 1 will be described below. Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the management method for the management device 10 shown in Figure 1.

[0024] First, the control unit opens valve 20, which acquires inlet water for the activated carbon filter 220 installed in the water treatment system 100. At this time, the control unit keeps valve 21 closed. After the acquired inlet water is treated by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, the ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and the ion exchange device 50, the water quality measurement unit 60 measures the water quality of the treated water from the ion exchange device 50 (step S1). The water quality measurement unit 60 notifies the determination unit 70 of the measured water quality value.

[0025] Next, the control unit closes valve 20 and opens valve 21, which then retrieves the outlet water for the activated carbon filter 220 installed in the water treatment system 100. After a period of time has elapsed during which the retrieved outlet water is treated by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, the ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and the ion exchange device 50, the water quality measurement unit 60 measures the water quality of the treated water from the ion exchange device 50 (step S2). The water quality measurement unit 60 notifies the determination unit 70 of the measured water quality value.

[0026] The determination unit 70 then calculates the difference between the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is notified by the water quality measurement unit 60, and the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the outlet water obtained by the valve 21 (step S3). Subsequently, the determination unit 70 compares the calculated difference with a preset threshold (step S4).

[0027] If the difference calculated by the determination unit 70 falls below the threshold, the output unit 80 outputs a predetermined warning (step S5).

[0028] The TOC components in raw water include impurities that are easily removed by water treatment equipment and water treatment devices, and impurities that are difficult to remove, such as urea. The difficult-to-remove impurities are organic components that affect ultrapure water. The amount of difficult-to-remove impurities is extremely small compared to the amount of easily removable impurities. When accurately measuring such organic components (difficult to remove) that make up an extremely small proportion of the total organic matter in raw water, it is necessary to remove other (easily removable) organic components in order to understand the effect. Therefore, in this embodiment, instead of using the TOC concentrations of the inlet water and outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220 separately, the TOC concentrations measured after passing the inlet water and outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220 through the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50 respectively to remove easily removable organic components are used to determine the deterioration of the performance of the activated carbon filter 220. Examples of easily removable organic components include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as toluene and xylene, trihalomethanes such as chloroform and bromoform, tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), and low molecular weight alcohols.

[0029] In this way, the inlet and outlet water of the activated carbon filter 220, which is one of the water treatment devices (TOC removal devices) that make up the water treatment system 100, are acquired, and the water quality (TOC concentration) of the treated water is measured after passing each through the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, the ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and the ion exchange device 50. A notification is issued when the difference in the measured water quality (TOC concentration) falls below a threshold. This makes it possible to accurately indicate the condition of the activated carbon filter 220 (decrease in removal performance) and the replacement timing without affecting the operation of the water treatment system 100 in which the activated carbon filter 220 is installed.

[0030] Furthermore, the control device 10 may perform pretreatment, such as passing water through a cartridge filter or activated carbon filter, or adding chemicals such as acids or alkalis to the water to be treated, depending on the water quality of the water to be treated obtained by valves 20 and 21. In particular, the control device 10 performs pretreatment when treating water with a high TOC concentration, such as tap water or recovered water. When an activated carbon filter is used for pretreatment, the water is passed through the activated carbon filter provided in the control device 10 at a higher flow rate than the activated carbon filter 220 in the water treatment system 100, with the aim of removing residual chlorine from the water to be treated. In addition to passing water through the activated carbon filter, a reducing agent may also be added to the water to be treated to remove residual chlorine. Furthermore, to prevent clogging of the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, a dispersant or slime control agent may be added to the water to be treated during pretreatment. Furthermore, a heat exchanger may be installed during pretreatment to adjust the water temperature of the water to be treated.

[0031] Furthermore, the control device 10 may also be equipped with an electrolytic deionized water production device to remove inorganic carbon from the water to be treated, in addition to pretreatment. The electrolytic deionized water production device can be placed between the reverse osmosis membrane device and the ultraviolet oxidation device to improve the TOC removal efficiency in the ultraviolet oxidation treatment. A degassing membrane device to remove gas from the water to be treated may be installed downstream of the electrolytic deionized water production device. The type of degassing membrane device is not particularly limited. Any device capable of removing dissolved oxygen can be used as the degassing membrane device. For example, a vacuum degasser, a membrane degasser, or a nitrogen degasser can be used as the degassing membrane device.

[0032] Alternatively, two control devices 10 may be provided, with one control device determining the inlet water and the other determining the outlet water. Furthermore, the control device 10 may measure the residual salt concentration or pulverized coal concentration of the treated water (outlet water) from the ACF 220 and determine the performance of the activated carbon filter 220 based on the measurement results. For example, if the determination unit 70 does not determine that the performance of the activated carbon filter 220 has deteriorated even after passing the treated water through the activated carbon filter 220 for a predetermined period, the control device 10 may determine the performance of the activated carbon filter 220 based on the measured residual salt concentration or pulverized coal concentration. (Second Embodiment)

[0033] Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the control device of the present invention. In this embodiment, the control device 11 obtains treated water from the water treatment system 101. The water treatment system 101 has multiple activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6 arranged in parallel, instead of the activated carbon filter 220 in the first embodiment. Figure 5 shows only the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6, the filtration device 210, and the two-bed, three-column ion exchange resin column 230 among the components of the water treatment system 101. The other components of the water treatment system 101 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0034] Each of the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6 is replaced in a predetermined order. For example, they are replaced in the order of activated carbon filter 221-1, activated carbon filter 221-2, activated carbon filter 221-3, activated carbon filter 221-4, activated carbon filter 221-5, and activated carbon filter 221-6. The control device 11 calculates the interval between replacements.

[0035] The control device 11 acquires the inlet water from the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6. The control device 11 also acquires the outlet water from activated carbon filters 221-1 and 221-2, respectively. Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the components of the control device 11 shown in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 6, the control device 11 shown in Figure 5 has valves 22 to 24, a reverse osmosis membrane device 30, an ultraviolet oxidation device 40, an ion exchange device 50, a water quality measuring unit 60, a determination unit 71, an output unit 81, and an estimation unit 91. The reverse osmosis membrane device 30, the ultraviolet oxidation device 40, the ion exchange device 50, and the water quality measuring unit 60 are the same as those in the first embodiment. Note that Figure 6 shows only the main components of the control device 11 shown in Figure 5 that are relevant to this embodiment.

[0036] Valve 22 is an inlet water acquisition unit that acquires inlet water for activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6 installed in the water treatment system 101. The opening and closing control and adjustment of the valve 22 are performed by a control unit (not shown) installed in the management device 11.

[0037] Valve 23 is an outlet water acquisition unit that acquires outlet water from the activated carbon filter 221-1 installed in the water treatment system 101. The opening and closing control and adjustment of the valve 23 are performed by a control unit (not shown) installed in the management device 11.

[0038] Valve 24 is an outlet water acquisition unit that acquires outlet water from the activated carbon filter 221-2 installed in the water treatment system 101. The opening and closing control and adjustment of the valve 24 are performed by a control unit (not shown) installed in the management device 11.

[0039] The determination unit 71 determines the performance of the activated carbon filters 221-1 and 221-2 based on the measured values ​​(water quality values) notified from the water quality measurement unit 60. Specifically, the determination unit 71 calculates the difference between the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the valve 22 from the inlet water of the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6 and notified from the water quality measurement unit 60, and the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50, which is obtained by the valve 23 from the outlet water of the activated carbon filter 221-1. The determination unit 71 compares the calculated difference with a pre-set threshold. This threshold is a value that can be set and changed externally. If the calculated difference falls below the threshold, the determination unit 71 determines that the performance of the activated carbon filter 221-1 has deteriorated. The determination unit 71 notifies the output unit 81 and the estimation unit 91 of the determination result. Furthermore, the determination unit 71 calculates the difference between the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50 using the inlet water of activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6, as notified by the water quality measurement unit 60, and the water quality of the treated water obtained by the reverse osmosis membrane device 30, ultraviolet oxidation device 40, and ion exchange device 50 using the outlet water of activated carbon filter 221-2, as notified by the valve 24. The determination unit 71 compares the calculated difference with a pre-set threshold. This threshold is a value that can be set and changed externally. If the calculated difference falls below the threshold, the determination unit 71 determines that the performance of activated carbon filter 221-2 has deteriorated. The determination unit 71 notifies the output unit 81 and the estimation unit 91 of the result of the determination.

[0040] The estimation unit 91 estimates (calculates) the performance degradation state of activated carbon filters 221-3 to 221-6 based on the determination results for activated carbon filters 221-1 and 221-2 notified by the determination unit 71. For example, if the replacement intervals for activated carbon filters 221-1, 221-2, 221-3, 221-4, 221-5, and 221-6 are approximately equal, the estimation unit 91 may estimate that the timing at which activated carbon filter 221-3 is determined to have degraded is when the period from when activated carbon filter 221-1 is determined to have degraded until when activated carbon filter 221-2 is determined to have degraded (hereinafter referred to as the degradation interval period) is added to the timing at which activated carbon filter 221-2 is determined to have degraded. Furthermore, the estimation unit 91 may estimate that the timing obtained by adding the degradation interval period to the estimated degradation timing of the activated carbon filter 221-3 is the timing at which the activated carbon filter 221-4 is determined to have degraded. Also, the estimation unit 91 may estimate that the timing obtained by adding the degradation interval period to the estimated degradation timing of the activated carbon filter 221-4 is the timing at which the activated carbon filter 221-5 is determined to have degraded. Furthermore, the estimation unit 91 may estimate that the timing obtained by adding the degradation interval period to the estimated degradation timing of the activated carbon filter 221-5 is the timing at which the activated carbon filter 221-6 is determined to have degraded. The estimation unit 91 notifies the output unit 81 of the estimated (calculated) degradation timings of the activated carbon filters 221-3 to 221-6.

[0041] The output unit 81 outputs (notifies externally) the judgment result notified by the determination unit 71 and the calculation result notified by the estimation unit 91. If the output unit 81 receives a judgment result or calculation result from the determination unit 71 or estimation unit 91 indicating that the performance of the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6 has deteriorated, it may output a predetermined warning so as to identify which activated carbon filter has deteriorated. For example, the output unit 81 may output a warning along with identification information that has been pre-assigned to the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6. The output method by which the output unit 81 outputs the judgment result or calculation result may be a display of the judgment result or calculation result. Furthermore, the output method by which the output unit 81 outputs the judgment result or calculation result may also be a lamp lighting up according to the judgment result or calculation result, an audio output, transmission of information indicating the judgment result or calculation result to another communication device, printing of the judgment result or calculation result, etc., and is not particularly specified. The output unit 81 may also output the measured value (water quality value) measured by the water quality measurement unit 60 itself. In that case, it goes without saying that the output unit 81 outputs a water quality value that can be determined to be either the water quality value of the inlet water or the water quality value of the outlet water of the activated carbon filters 221-1 to 221-6.

[0042] In a water treatment system, if multiple activated carbon filters to be evaluated are arranged in parallel, the inlet and outlet water of each can be acquired, and the degradation of each can be evaluated as described above. In that case, a number of valves corresponding to the number of parallel-arranged activated carbon filters would be required, increasing the size of the device. Therefore, as in this embodiment, the inlet and outlet water of at least two of the three or more parallel-arranged activated carbon filters is acquired, and the timing of degradation of activated carbon filters for which outlet water has not been acquired is also determined based on the evaluation results of each. This makes it possible to miniaturize the device in addition to the effects of the first embodiment. (Third Embodiment)

[0043] Figure 7 shows a third embodiment of the control device of the present invention. In this embodiment, the control device 12 obtains treated water from the water treatment system 100. The water treatment system 100 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

[0044] The management device 12 acquires inlet water and outlet water of the reverse osmosis membrane device 240. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of components included in the management device 12 shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 8, the management device 12 shown in Fig. 7 includes valves 25 and 26, an ultraviolet oxidation device 40, an ion exchange device 50, a water quality measurement unit 60, a determination unit 72, and an output unit 82. In the management device 12, the reverse osmosis membrane device 30 is removed from the components included in the management device 10 according to the first embodiment. The ultraviolet oxidation device 40, the ion exchange device 50, and the water quality measurement unit 60 are respectively the same as those in the first embodiment. The ultraviolet oxidation device 40 and the ion exchange device 50 constitute a water treatment device for removing impurities in the present embodiment. Note that Fig. 8 only shows main components related to the present embodiment among the components included in the management device 12 shown in Fig. 7.

[0045] The valve 25 is an inlet water acquisition unit that acquires inlet water to the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 provided in the water treatment system 100. Opening / closing control and opening degree adjustment of the valve 25 are performed by a control unit (not shown) provided in the management device 10.

[0046] The valve 26 is an outlet water acquisition unit that acquires outlet water from the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 provided in the water treatment system 100. Opening / closing control and opening degree adjustment of the valve 26 are performed by a control unit (not shown) provided in the management device 10.

[0047] The determination unit 72 determines the performance of the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 based on the measured value (water quality value) notified from the water quality measurement unit 60. Specifically, the determination unit 72 calculates a difference between the water quality of treated water obtained by treating, with the ultraviolet oxidation device 40 and the ion exchange device 50, the inlet water acquired by the valve 25, and the water quality of treated water obtained by treating, with the ultraviolet oxidation device 40 and the ion exchange device 50, the outlet water acquired by the valve 26, wherein the water quality of the two kinds of treated water is notified from the water quality measurement unit 60. The determination unit 72 compares the calculated difference with a preset threshold value. The threshold value is a value that can be set and changed from the outside. When the calculated difference is below the threshold value, the determination unit 72 determines that the performance of the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 has decreased. The determination unit 72 notifies the output unit 82 of the determination result.

[0048] The output unit 82 outputs (notifies to the outside) the determination result notified from the determination unit 72. The output unit 82 may output a predetermined warning when receiving a determination result indicating that the performance of the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 has degraded from the determination unit 72. The output mode in which the output unit 82 outputs the determination result may be display of the determination result. In addition, the output mode in which the output unit 82 outputs the determination result may be lighting of a lamp according to the determination result, audio output, transmission of information indicating the determination result to another communication device, printing of the determination result, etc., and is not particularly limited. Note that the output unit 82 may output the measurement value (water quality value) itself measured by the water quality measurement unit 60. In this case, it goes without saying that the output unit 82 outputs the water quality value in a manner that allows discrimination between whether the output water quality value is the water quality value of inlet water or the water quality value of outlet water of the reverse osmosis membrane device 240.

[0049] In the present embodiment, the determination target is the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 of the water treatment system 100. Therefore, the management device 12 is not provided with a reverse osmosis membrane device, and an ultraviolet oxidation device and a non-regenerative ion exchange resin tower arranged downstream of the reverse osmosis membrane device 240 of the water treatment system 100 are arranged. This also applies when the determination target is the ultraviolet oxidation device 40 of the water treatment system 100.

[0050] The activated carbon filter to be determined may be arranged, in addition to the water treatment system 100 as shown in FIG. 1, in a pure water production system in which an electrodeionization apparatus (EDI) is arranged downstream of an ultraviolet oxidation device, or in a pure water production system in which a two-stage reverse osmosis membrane device is arranged downstream of an activated carbon filter. In addition, the activated carbon filter to be determined may be arranged in a water recovery system composed of a water tank, an activated carbon filter, and a reverse osmosis membrane device.

[0051] The above-mentioned combination of water treatment equipment and water treatment device may also be the following combinations. For example, the water treatment equipment may be a device that removes urea from the water to be treated supplied to the water treatment system 100, and the water treatment device may be a reverse osmosis membrane device (for example, a hollow fiber reverse osmosis membrane device) that removes organic nitrogen compounds such as humic substances. This reverse osmosis membrane device is used in the pretreatment system. In this combination, the urea concentration is measured, and the performance degradation of the water treatment equipment (sponge or resin) is determined based on the measured urea concentration. Alternatively, the water treatment equipment may be a multi-layer bed countercurrent regenerative ion exchange system (SBP), and the water treatment device may be an electrolytic deionization device (EDI) that passes boron through. In the electrolytic deionization device that passes boron through, at least a portion of the anion exchange resin packed in the desalination chamber contains a strongly basic type II anion exchange resin so that the leakage rate of a specific component (in this case, boron) is 70% or more. In this combination, resistivity or boron concentration is measured, and the performance degradation of the water treatment equipment is determined based on the measured resistivity or boron concentration. Alternatively, the water treatment equipment may be an ultrafiltration device, and the water treatment device may be a reverse osmosis membrane device to which the water to be treated is supplied at a pressure higher than a predetermined pressure. The reverse osmosis membrane device used here is, for example, a reverse osmosis membrane device in which, when the water to be treated is supplied at a pressure exceeding 1 MPa, the flow rate of the permeate is 0.7 m / d or less. By using such a high-pressure RO, the number of fine particles contained in the inlet water of the reverse osmosis membrane device is increased to the concentrated water side, and the number of fine particles contained in the concentrated water is measured. The performance degradation of the water treatment equipment is determined based on the number of fine particles measured.

[0052] The above explanation describes how each component is assigned a specific function (process), but this assignment is not limited to those described above. Furthermore, the configurations of the components described above are merely examples and are not limited to them. Also, the embodiments described above may be combined in any combination.

[0053] The sets of the determination unit 70 and output unit 80, the determination unit 71 and output unit 81, and the determination unit 72 and output unit 82 described above may be placed in separate control devices. In this case, the processing performed by the control devices may be carried out by logic circuits created according to their respective purposes. Alternatively, a computer program (hereinafter referred to as "program") describing the processing content as a procedure may be recorded on a recording medium readable by the control device, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be read by the control device and executed. Recording media readable by the control device include portable recording media such as floppy disks (registered trademark), magneto-optical disks, DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), CDs (Compact Discs), Blu-ray (registered trademark) Discs, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, and SD cards, as well as memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory) and HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) built into the control device. Programs recorded on these recording media are read by a CPU (not shown) provided in the control device, and the same processing as described above is performed under the control of the CPU. Here, the CPU operates as a computer that executes the program read from the recording media on which the program is recorded.

[0054] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2025-050873, filed on 26 March 2025, and incorporates all of its disclosures herein.

[0055] 10-12 Control device 20-26 Valve 30, 240 Reverse osmosis membrane device 40, 250 UV oxidation device 50 Ion exchange device 60 Water quality measurement unit 70-72 Judgment unit 80-82 Output unit 91 Prediction unit 100, 101 Water treatment system 200 Water tank 210 Filtration device 220, 221-1 to 221-6 Activated carbon filter 230 Two-bed, three-column ion exchange resin tower 260 Ion exchange resin device 270 Degassing device 280 Subsystem

Claims

1. A control device comprising: an inlet water acquisition unit that acquires inlet water to a water treatment device that performs a predetermined treatment on water to be treated; an outlet water acquisition unit that acquires outlet water from the water treatment device; a water treatment device into which the inlet water acquired by the inlet water acquisition unit and the outlet water acquired by the outlet water acquisition unit flow, and into which impurities are removed from the incoming inlet water and outlet water; a water quality measurement unit that measures the water quality of the treated water from which impurities have been removed by the water treatment device for the inlet water and the outlet water, respectively; and a determination unit that determines the performance of the water treatment device based on the water quality measured by the water quality measurement unit.

2. A management device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the performance of the water treatment equipment has deteriorated when the difference between the water quality of the treated water obtained by the water treatment device by the water treatment device using the inlet water acquisition unit and the water quality of the treated water obtained by the water treatment device using the outlet water acquisition unit falls below a threshold.

3. A management device according to claim 2, wherein the output unit outputs a predetermined warning when the determination unit determines that the performance of the water treatment equipment has deteriorated.

4. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the water treatment equipment is an activated carbon filter, and the water treatment device is a control device in which a reverse osmosis membrane device, an ultraviolet oxidation device, and an ion exchange resin device are arranged in series.

5. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the water treatment equipment is a device for removing urea from the water to be treated, and the water treatment device is a hollow fiber reverse osmosis membrane device.

6. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the water treatment equipment is a multi-layer bed countercurrent regenerative ion exchange device, and the water treatment device is an electrolytic deionization production device that passes boron through.

7. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the water treatment equipment is an ultrafiltration device, and the water treatment device is a reverse osmosis membrane device to which the water to be treated is supplied at a pressure higher than a predetermined pressure.

8. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the water quality measuring unit measures the TOC (Total Organic Carbon) concentration of treated water treated by the water treatment device as the water quality.

9. A management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, when three or more water treatment devices are arranged in parallel, the management device has an estimation unit that estimates the timing of performance degradation of water treatment devices other than the two water treatment devices based on the results determined by the determination unit for any two of the three or more water treatment devices.

10. A control method comprising: obtaining inlet water to a water treatment device that performs a predetermined treatment on water to be treated; obtaining outlet water from the water treatment device; a water treatment device into which the obtained inlet water and the obtained outlet water flow remove impurities from the incoming inlet water and outlet water; measuring the water quality of the treated water from which the impurities have been removed for the inlet water and the outlet water, respectively; and a control device determining the performance of the water treatment device based on the measured water quality.

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