High purity water system
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Solution Overview
Problem
High purity water systems face contaminant growth issues due to stagnant water in distribution lines, particularly in faucets with long dead legs, which can lead to unacceptable concentrations of residual contaminants despite initial purification.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a high purity water delivery system that uses diverters with supply and return ports and a flow restriction between them, creating a recirculating flowpath that minimizes dead legs and reduces the length of the main distribution line, allowing for a compact and efficient plumbing setup that maintains a pressure differential to control contaminant growth even when faucets are shut off.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a traditional serpentine distribution line is used to deliver purified water to multiple delivery points, then the system can provide water to various locations, but stagnant water accumulates in dead legs and branch lines causing contaminant growth
Solution Approach 1:
The distribution line is segmented into multiple loop configurations, where each loop contains delivery points and return paths. This segmentation eliminates dead legs by ensuring continuous circulation through all segments, preventing stagnant water accumulation while maintaining delivery capability to multiple points.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-establishes recirculating flowpaths through the distribution loops before contamination can occur. By designing the system with inherent circulation capability from the outset, stagnant water is prevented before it can support contaminant growth, rather than attempting to address contamination after it develops.
2Reliability
If recirculating laboratory faucets with supply and return lines are installed at each delivery point, then dead leg contaminant growth is substantially eliminated, but the device complexity and plumbing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple recirculating faucet systems are merged into a single integrated distribution loop. The supply lines from multiple faucets are combined into common supply manifolds, and return lines are combined into common return manifolds, creating a unified circulation system that reduces overall plumbing complexity while maintaining contaminant control at each delivery point.
Solution Approach 2:
The distribution loop system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it delivers purified water to multiple delivery points, maintains continuous circulation to prevent contamination, and provides a unified framework that simplifies the overall plumbing architecture. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components at each faucet.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the main distribution line is extended to reach remote delivery points, then water can be delivered to distant locations, but the length of the distribution line increases leading to higher costs and more plumbing labor
Solution Approach 1:
The distribution system transitions from a linear serpentine configuration to a multi-dimensional loop network. By creating vertical and horizontal loops that can be stacked and configured in three-dimensional space, the system can serve remote delivery points without proportionally increasing line length, as water can travel through multiple path options rather than following a single extended route.
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 solution effectively reduces the opportunity for contaminant growth, simplifies and reduces the cost of the main distribution line, and halves the required length of the main distribution line, thereby minimizing plumbing labor and maintaining effective water circulation.
Implementation Method 1
maintaining a pressure differential to control contaminant growth
Data Source
AI summary
A high purity water delivery system has a reservoir (40) of purified water. A distribution line (42) extends downstream from an outlet (44) of the reservoir to a return (46) of the reservoir. A plurality of delivery stations each include an outlet (54′) and a diverter (102; 102′; 102″; 102′″). The diverter has an upstream inlet port (104) along the distribution line and a downstream outlet port (106) along the distribution line. The diverter has a supply port (108) downstream of the inlet port and a return port (110) downstream of the supply port. The diverter has a flow restriction (112; 112′; 216) between the supply port and the return port. Each delivery station includes a flow control valve (56′) between the outlet on the one hand and the supply port and return port on the other hand.