|Publication number||US8128821 B2|
|Application number||US 11/811,622|
|Publication date||Mar 6, 2012|
|Filing date||Jun 11, 2007|
|Priority date||Jun 14, 2006|
|Also published as||EP2066425A1, EP2066425A4, EP2066425B1, US20070289904, US20120138536, WO2007146321A1|
|Publication number||11811622, 811622, US 8128821 B2, US 8128821B2, US-B2-8128821, US8128821 B2, US8128821B2|
|Inventors||Eli Oklejas, Jr.|
|Original Assignee||Fluid Equipment Development Company, Llc|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (100), Non-Patent Citations (2), Referenced by (1), Classifications (19), Legal Events (2)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/813,764, filed on Jun. 14, 2006. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates generally to reverse osmosis systems, and, more specifically, to a multi-stage reverse osmosis system having a centralized pumping source.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Reverse osmosis systems are used to provide fresh water from brackish or sea water. A membrane is used that restricts the flow of dissolved solids therethrough.
Referring now to
The permeate stream 14 is purified fluid flow at a low pressure. The brine stream 16 is a higher pressure stream that contains dissolved materials blocked by the membrane. The pressure of the brine stream 16 is only slightly lower than the feed stream 18. The membrane array 12 requires an exact flow rate for optimal operation. The flow rate provides a specific pressure for optimization. A brine throttle valve 24 may be used to regulate the flow through the membrane array 12. Changes take place due to water temperature, salinity, as well as membrane characteristics, such as fowling. The membrane array 12 may also be operated at off-design conditions on an emergency basis. The feed pumping system is required to meet variable flow and pressure requirements.
In general, a higher feed pressure increases permeate production and, conversely, a reduced feed pressure reduces permeate production. The membrane array 12 is required to maintain a specific recovery which is the ratio of the permeate flow to feed flow. The feed flow or brine flow likewise requires regulation.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In a large reverse osmosis plant 50, the objective is to use a feed pump with the largest available capacity to achieve the highest possible efficiency at the lowest capital cost per unit of capacity. The optimal capacity of a membrane array 12 is usually smaller than the pumps. Therefore, a single-feed pump 20 may be used to multiple supply membrane arrays 12. Such a configuration is called centralized feed pumping. Because each of the membranes has a variable pressure requirement, individual control using the throttle valves 30 a-30 c and 24 a-24 c may be used. However, using throttle valves wastes energy. Also, the individual membranes themselves may have their own pressure requirements due to the following level of the membranes which may vary over the membrane array.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The present disclosure provides a reverse osmosis system that is cost effective by using centralized pumping but is capable of individual control at the various membrane stages.
In one aspect of the disclosure, a reverse osmosis system includes a membrane chamber having a feed line generating a permeate stream and a brine stream. A feed pump pressurizes the feed line. A first flow meter generates a first flow signal corresponding to a flow of fluid in the permeate stream. A booster device has a turbine in fluid communication with the brine stream and a pump in fluid communication with the feed line. A motor is coupled to the turbine device and a variable frequency drive is attached to the turbine device operating in response to the first flow signal. A second flow meter generates a second flow signal corresponding to a flow of fluid in the brine stream and a variable size nozzle operates an opening in response to the second flow meter.
In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method includes pressurizing the feed line, generating a first flow signal corresponding to a flow of fluid in the permeate stream, operating a variable frequency drive in response to the first flow signal, controlling the motor in response to the variable frequency drive, generating a second flow signal corresponding to a flow of fluid in the brine stream, and controlling an opening of a variable size nozzle fluidically coupled to the turbine portion in response to the second flow signal.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. For purposes of clarity, the same reference numbers will be used in the drawings to identify similar elements. As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A or B or C), using a non-exclusive logical or. It should be understood that steps within a method may be executed in different order without altering the principles of the present disclosure.
Referring now to
The feed manifold 152 is coupled to respective isolation valves 210 a, 220 b, and 216 c. The feed stream is then provided to a hemi 170 a within the first stage 158. More specifically, the feed stream is directed to the pump portion 174 a of booster 172 a of the hemi 170 a. The hemi 170 a also includes turbine portion 176 a coupled together with the pump portion 174 a using a common shaft 180 a. The hemi 170 a also includes a motor 178 a and variable frequency drive 182 a. The variable frequency drive 182 may include a controller 212 a. The booster 172 a raises the feed pressure through pump portion 174 a. The increased-pressure feed stream 118 enters the membrane array 112 a and generates a permanent stream 114 a and a brine stream 116 a. The permeate stream 11 4 a passes through a flow meter 214 a and an isolation valve 216 a. The flow through the isolation valve 216 a is coupled to a permeate manifold 156.
The brine stream 116 a passes through a flow meter 218 a to the turbine section 176 a. The turbine portion 176 a is coupled to a brine isolation valve 220 a of the reverse osmosis system 110. Each of the isolation valves 220 a-220 c are coupled to a brine manifold 222.
The hemi 178 increases the feed pressure and the flow level required by the membrane array 112 a. Energy recovery is performed with the brine stream 116 a through the turbine portion 176 a. Substantial portion of the pressure of the feed stream is generated by the combination of the high pressure pump 120 and the pump 174 a. Motor 178 a provides a brine adjustment to the shaft speed 180. The brine adjustment may take place due to wear of various components in the system and other requirements. The motor speed and, thus, the shaft speed is adjusted or may be adjusted by the variable frequency drive 182 a. Because the requirement for adjustment is small, the motor 178 a and, thus, the variable frequency drive 182 a are sized relatively small, typically five percent, of the rating of the central pump 120.
The motor 178 a may also act as a generator. Should the speed of the shaft 180 a be too large, the motor 178 a may act as a generator and provide power to the power system 230. Power system 230 may represent the power system of the reverse osmosis system 110. The motor may be an induction motor that is capable of acting as a generator or as a motor in combination with a regenerative variable frequency drive. The regenerative variable frequency drive allows the induction motor to act as a generator.
The flow meter signal generated by the flow meter 214 a corresponds to the flow in the permeate. The flow meter signal is coupled to the controller 212 a which, in turn, will cause the variable frequency drive 182 a to increase the speed of the motor 178 a and attached shaft 180 a resulting in a high-pressure boost in the pump portion 182 a. A higher feed pressure will, thus, be provided to the membrane 112 a.
It should be noted that the controller 212 may be implemented in various configurations including digital circuitry, analog circuitry, microprocessor-based circuitry, or the like.
A variable area nozzle 240 a may be coupled to the turbine portion 176 a. The variable area nozzle 240 may change the area of an opening therethrough to increase or decrease the brine flow. The variable area nozzle 240 is electrically coupled to the flow meter 218 a. Variable area nozzle 240 controls the area of the opening in response to the flow meter signal. If the brine flow is below a duty point, the flow meter signal 218 a will cause the flow area in the nozzle 240 to increase permitting a higher brine flow. Conversely, if the brine flow rate is above the duty point, the flow meter signal will cause the area of the variable nozzle 240 to reduce the brine flow. A comparison may therefore take place. By controlling either or both signals, the permeate flow and the brine flow may be controlled to desirable levels.
It should be noted that each of the separate sections of
Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification and the following claims.
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|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US20110203987 *||Aug 28, 2009||Aug 25, 2011||Danfoss A/S||Reverse osmosis system|
|U.S. Classification||210/321.66, 210/87, 210/137|
|Cooperative Classification||B01D61/12, B01D2317/04, B01D61/025, B01D2313/243, C02F2209/40, B01D61/022, C02F2103/08, C02F2209/005, C02F1/441, B01D61/06|
|European Classification||B01D61/06, C02F1/44B, B01D61/12, B01D61/02B, B01D61/02D|
|Jun 11, 2007||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: FLUID EQUIPMENT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, LLC, MICHIGAN
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:OKLEJAS, ELI, JR.;REEL/FRAME:019482/0619
Effective date: 20070608
|Mar 6, 2015||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4