Triple Point Water Cell Purification via Sub-boiling Distillation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Triple Point of Water (TPW) cells suffer from contamination issues due to leaching of glass components into the high-purity water, leading to increased uncertainty in temperature realization and a short useful life, as there is no practical method to remove impurities from the sealed water within these cells.
Innovation Solution
A compact, coaxial TPW cell design with a dual connected volume system allows for the transfer and distillation of water using sub-boiling vaporization, isolating contaminants in an upper annular volume, thereby maintaining water purity and extending the cell's useful life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a sealed TPW cell is used to maintain water purity, then initial measurement precision is improved, but contamination from glass leaching accumulates over time reducing long-term reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The TPW cell is divided into two separate volumes: a cell body containing the triple point water and a storage volume for contaminated water. This segmentation allows the pure water to be isolated from glass contaminants while providing a reservoir for periodic renewal through distillation, resolving the contradiction between initial precision and long-term reliability.
2Measurement precision
If the TPW cell is sealed to prevent contamination, then measurement precision is maintained, but impurities cannot be removed leading to reduced duration of action
Solution Approach 1:
The cell is pre-configured with a storage volume and distillation apparatus during manufacturing, enabling periodic purification operations. This preliminary preparation allows the cell to maintain measurement precision over extended periods by facilitating regular removal of accumulated impurities through controlled distillation cycles.
3Ease of manufacture
If glass envelope is used for TPW cell construction, then ease of manufacture is improved, but glass component leaching causes harmful contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful glass-water interaction is extracted and isolated by creating a separate storage volume that receives contaminated water during distillation. The pure triple point water remains in the cell body away from glass surfaces, while contaminants are transferred to the storage volume, eliminating ongoing leaching while maintaining the glass envelope's manufacturing advantages.
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 design effectively removes contaminants from the TPW cell water, ensuring long-term stability and accuracy in temperature realization, addressing the limitations of existing TPW cells by enabling periodic purification and extending their lifespan.
Implementation Method 1
sub-boiling vaporization in the upper annular volume and condensation of the water in the cell body volume
Implementation Method 2
sub-boiling vaporization in the upper annular volume and condensation of the water in the cell body volume
Data Source
AI summary
The embodied invention is a compact TPW cell design with an upper storage volume that is used to remove contaminants from the TPW cell water. To remove contaminates, the TPW cell is inverted and rotated so that the cell body water completely drains into the upper storage volume through a transfer tube. Then the TPW cell is then rotated to vertical and cooled which transfers the cell body water back into the TPW cell by a sub-boiling process. The water impurities remain in the upper storage volume and the cell body water has been purified of contaminates.