Parallel Ion Exchanger System with Conductivity-Controlled Regeneration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing water treatment systems using ion exchangers face challenges in maintaining consistent water quality throughout the production cycle, leading to fluctuations in anion concentrations and requiring frequent adjustments to meet drinking water regulations, which results in untreated water being unfit for consumption and inefficient salt consumption during regeneration.
Innovation Solution
A system with at least 6 ion exchangers connected in parallel, where their cycles are offset, includes a regeneration circuit with a conductivity meter for salinity measurement and a controller for reusing or rejecting eluates, ensuring continuous regeneration and minimizing salt consumption by maintaining a stable calco-carbonic equilibrium and reducing resin volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single ion exchanger is used for water treatment, then the device complexity is low, but the water quality fluctuates significantly throughout the production cycle requiring frequent adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the water treatment function into multiple independent ion exchanger units (at least 6 units) operating in parallel. Each unit undergoes regeneration at different times, segmenting the overall treatment process into multiple staggered cycles. This segmentation ensures that while one unit is being regenerated, others continue treating water, maintaining consistent water quality without requiring complex real-time adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple ion exchanger units into a single integrated system with common control and water distribution. The units work together as a unified ensemble where their individual cycles are coordinated through offset timing. This merging allows the system to achieve stable overall performance by combining the output of multiple units at different operational stages.
2Loss of substance
If the production cycle is extended to reduce regeneration frequency, then salt consumption per unit time decreases, but the resin becomes saturated and treatment efficiency drops
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous treatment efficiency by ensuring that at least one ion exchanger unit is always in the treatment phase while others undergo regeneration. The staggered cycle design creates an overlapping pattern where regeneration activities are distributed across different units, preventing any gap in treatment capability. This continuity allows extended operational cycles without sacrificing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic regeneration cycles distributed across multiple units with offset timing. Instead of regenerating all units simultaneously, each unit follows a periodic cycle of treatment and regeneration, with the start times staggered. This periodic action with temporal distribution optimizes salt consumption by allowing thorough regeneration of each unit without interrupting overall system productivity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If multiple ion exchangers are used in parallel to stabilize water quality, then the anion concentration fluctuation decreases, but the resin volume and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The total resin volume requirement is segmented across multiple smaller units rather than concentrated in one large unit. Each unit contains a portion of the total resin, and their staggered operational cycles ensure that the combined output maintains stable anion concentrations. This segmentation allows the system to achieve stability with a more distributed resin configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters by implementing offset cycle timing across units. By adjusting the phase difference between units' treatment and regeneration cycles, the system optimizes the mixing of effluents to minimize anion concentration fluctuations. This parameter adjustment (cycle timing) allows stable water quality with optimized total resin volume.
4Reliability
If frequent regeneration is performed to maintain treatment capacity, then the resin exchange capacity is maintained, but salt consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic regeneration distributed across multiple units with offset cycles. Each unit undergoes regeneration periodically, but not simultaneously, spreading the salt consumption over time. This distributed periodic action maintains resin exchange capacity across the system while reducing peak salt consumption and total salt usage compared to frequent simultaneous regeneration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers and reuses eluate from regeneration processes. The eluate containing displaced ions is collected and treated, with usable portions being reused for subsequent regeneration cycles. This recovery process reduces the amount of fresh salt solution needed for each regeneration, thereby reducing overall salt consumption while maintaining resin exchange capacity.
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 configuration stabilizes anion concentrations, reduces salt consumption by 10-30%, minimizes resin volume, and allows for the reuse of eluates, optimizing water and regeneration reagent usage while ensuring treated water meets drinking water standards with reduced operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
Ion exchangers are synthetic resins in the form of small beads which have active moieties, negatively charged for cation exchangers and positive for anion exchangers. Each active site is neutralized by a cons-ion in solution in the liquid or the water in contact with the resin. It is these against-ions will be exchange reactions. In the case of the denitration, it is the NO3- ions contained in the water that will be exchanged with Cl- ions fixed on the resin.
Implementation Method 2
a conductivity meter is provided on the resin regeneration circuit for measuring the salinity of the eluates
Data Source
AI summary
The device, for treating a liquid by ion exchange, with a circuit for regenerating the resins contained in the ion exchangers, comprises at least n = 6 active ion exchangers having a cycle of duration C, which are connected in parallel, and means enabling the cycles to be shifted by C/(n-1); the resin regeneration circuit comprises a storage tank (BA) intended to receive the fractions of regeneration eluents that can be used as service water for the following regenerations, and a conductimeter (9) is provided on the resin regeneration circuit, enabling the eluents to be switched to the discharge or to the service water system.