Water treatment device and hot-water supply device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional water treatment techniques fail to effectively prevent scale deposition in facilities with high-temperature water systems, leading to decreased heat exchanger performance and piping clogging, and are unstable due to pH variations from water source quality and temperature changes.
Innovation Solution
A water treatment device with a circulating water intake circuit, gas supply section for carbon dioxide microbubbles, scale isolation section, and control system that increases carbon dioxide supply during cleaning to re-dissolve accumulated scale, ensuring efficient scale removal and stable prevention of adherence in critical facility components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If carbon dioxide is supplied to a water tank to deposit scale components as carbonate compounds, then scale can be isolated and removed from the water, but scale may adhere to the wall surface of the water tank and the facility cannot be sufficiently protected from scale
Solution Approach 1:
The facility is divided into two distinct sections: a scale isolation section where scale components are intentionally allowed to deposit, and a scale-free section where scale deposition is prevented. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by providing a designated area for scale accumulation while protecting critical surfaces from scale adherence.
Solution Approach 2:
The scale isolation section is extracted as a separate functional unit from the main water storage facility. By isolating the scale deposition process to a specific section, the harmful effect of scale adherence is confined to this isolated area while the rest of the facility remains protected.
2Reliability
If carbon dioxide is injected into water to lower pH and maintain high solubility of scale components, then scale deposition is restrained, but scale may still be deposited when pH varies due to water source quality or temperature changes
Solution Approach 1:
The scale isolation section is prepared in advance as a designated area that can accommodate scale deposition. By having this pre-prepared section, the system can handle pH variations and scale deposition tendencies without affecting the overall reliability of scale restraint in the main facility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows pH and other water parameters to vary without causing harmful scale deposition, because any scale that does deposit is contained within the isolated section. This approach provides adaptability to parameter changes while maintaining reliable scale restraint through the isolated design.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If scale components are deposited in the scale isolation section, then scale can be isolated from the facility, but the scale isolation section requires periodic cleaning which increases operation complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The scale isolation section is designed to accumulate scale in a controlled manner, and the cleaning operation is triggered automatically when scale accumulation reaches a predetermined level. This self-service approach reduces the need for frequent manual monitoring and cleaning operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous cleaning operations, the system employs periodic cleaning only when scale accumulation in the isolated section reaches a threshold level. This periodic action maintains scale isolation effectiveness while minimizing operation frequency and complexity.
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
The solution enables efficient removal and prevention of scale adherence in critical facility components, maintaining system performance and preventing clogging, even with varying water quality and temperature conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a gas supply section that supplies a gas containing carbon dioxide to the water flowing in the water intake circuit and lowers a pH of the water
Implementation Method 2
a microbubble generation device that makes a gas into microbubbles
Implementation Method 3
a scale reaction section for making the water flowing in the water intake circuit and the gas react with each other to deposit scale in the water
Implementation Method 4
a scale isolation section that is provided on a downstream side of the gas supply section in a direction of the flow of the water in the water intake circuit and isolates scale deposited in the water flowing in the water intake circuit
Implementation Method 5
the gas supply section supplies the gas containing carbon dioxide to water flowing into the scale isolation section so as to re-dissolve the scale accumulated in the scale isolation section
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3(a)~3(b)
Figure 4(a)~4(c)
AI summary
A water treatment device that efficiently removes scale components in water at a part that is different from a facility to be protected from scale and enables stable restraint of adherence of scale to the facility is provided. A water treatment device 10 installed in the hot-water supply device 1 includes, e.g., a water intake piping 11, a water intake pump 12, a gas supply section 13, a scale reaction section 15, a scale isolation section 16, a channel changeover valve 17 and a water discharge piping 18. In descaling treatment, while water is circulated from the hot-water storage tank 2 to the water intake piping 11, a gas containing carbon dioxide is supplied from the gas supply section 13 to the water. Consequently, scale components in the water react with the carbon dioxide in the water in, e.g., the scale reaction section 15 and scale is thereby deposited, and the scale is removed by the scale isolation section 16. Consequently, scale adherence and accumulation in a part that is necessary for maintenance of a function of the hot-water supply device 1, that is, a part to be protected from scale can be restrained.