Electrolyte Analysis with System Water Ion Quality Monitoring

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing electrolyte analysis devices face significant environmental burdens and accuracy issues due to the use of diluents like silver nitrate solutions, which require wastewater treatment, and non-standardized pure water can introduce measurement errors.

Innovation Solution

An electrolyte analysis device that includes a water supply tank storing system water for dilution and temperature adjustment, a specimen dispensing device, a dilution tank, a water quality measurement unit, and a control device to determine the water quality of the system water, ensuring normality before measurement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If silver nitrate solution is used as diluent, then electrolyte analysis can be performed, but wastewater treatment is required causing increased treatment cost and time

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveelectrolyte concentration measurementVSAvoidwastewater treatment time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the harmful silver nitrate component from the diluent system and replaces it with pure water. This eliminates the need for wastewater treatment while maintaining the dilution function necessary for electrolyte analysis, thus resolving the contradiction between measurement capability and environmental treatment burden.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the chemical composition parameter of the diluent from silver nitrate solution to pure water. This parameter change eliminates the harmful effects requiring wastewater treatment while preserving the essential dilution function needed for accurate electrolyte concentration measurement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Object-affected harmful factors

If non-standardized pure water is used for dilution, then environmental burden is reduced, but measurement accuracy decreases due to interfering ions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveenvironmental burdenVSAvoidelectrolyte concentration measurement accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the ion concentration of the pure water diluent is measured before use. Based on this measurement feedback, the system determines whether the water quality meets the required standards, and only proceeds with measurement when the ion concentration is within acceptable ranges, thus ensuring measurement accuracy while using environmentally friendly pure water.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary measurement of the pure water's ion concentration before using it for dilution. This preliminary action ensures that the water quality meets the required standards, preventing measurement errors caused by interfering ions while maintaining the environmental benefits of using pure water instead of silver nitrate solution.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Device complexity

If system water ion concentration is not monitored, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement reliability decreases due to undetected interfering ions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewater quality monitoring systemVSAvoidmeasurement reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent makes the electrolyte analysis device multi-functional by integrating both the electrolyte concentration measurement function and the pure water ion concentration monitoring function into a single system. This universal approach allows the device to automatically monitor water quality and adjust or alert when ion concentrations affect measurement reliability, without requiring a completely separate monitoring system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach reduces environmental burdens and measurement inaccuracies by detecting and correcting for interfering ions in the system water, maintaining measurement accuracy.

Implementation Method 1

a water quality measurement unit that measures an ion concentration of the system water in the water supply tank

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectIon concentration measurement:

Implementation Method 2

a dilution tank that dilutes the sample dispensed by the specimen dispensing device with the diluent

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectDilution:

Implementation Method 3

a measurement unit that includes an ion selective electrode, a reference electrode, and a potential measurement unit, and that measures, by the potential measurement unit, a potential difference when an internal standard solution or a specimen is supplied to the ion selective electrode

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectIon selective electrode potential measurement:

Data Source

PatentEP4105651B1Electrolyte analysis apparatus
Publication Date: 2025.08.13 HITACHI HIGH TECH CORP
  • EP4105651B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4105651B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP4105651B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

Provided is an electrolyte analysis device capable of suppressing a burden with respect to measurement while suppressing a decrease in accuracy of a measurement result. An electrolyte analysis device 100 that measures a concentration of a specific ion in a sample using a plurality of ion selective electrodes of an ion selective electrode group 102, and a reference electrode 103 includes a water supply tank 107 configured to store system water used for at least one of solution sending, probe cleaning, and temperature adjustment in the electrolyte analysis device 100, a specimen dispensing device 101 configured to dispense a sample to be measured, a dilution tank 106 configured to dilute the sample dispensed by the specimen dispensing device 101 with the system water, a water quality measurement unit 200 configured to measure the ion concentration of the system water in the water supply tank 107, and a control device 111 configured to control the electrolyte analysis device 100, in which the control device 111 performs water quality determination processing of determining whether a water quality of the system water is normal or abnormal based on a measurement result of the water quality measurement unit 200.