UV disinfectant system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12533433-B2
Application number	US-202217931658-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2022
Priority date	Apr 25, 2016
Publication date	Jan 27, 2026
Grant date	Jan 27, 2026

Abstract

A UV disinfectant system may include a chamber having a wall that is transparent to a disinfecting radiation. Liquid may be flowed through the chamber for treatment by exposure to the radiation. The chamber may include a static mixer having vanes to impede laminar flow of the liquid during treatment. The vanes extend into the flow path of the liquid through the chamber. A gap is defined between the vanes and the transparent wall. A cabinet may house the chamber and radiation emitting bulbs. Blowers may be operably coupled to a temperature sensor and flow meter and positioned at a lower end and upper end of the cabinet to urge air out of the cabinet. The temperature sensor may include a thermocouple. The blowers may be variable speed blowers. The system may include a controller to control system operations. The controller may be remotely accessible to monitor or control operations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A UV disinfectant system, the system comprising:
a chamber having at least one wall transparent to ultraviolet light and defining a treatment flow path for liquid to be treated with the ultraviolet light,
wherein the chamber is defined between an outer wall of an inner tube and an inner wall of an outer tube, the outer tube comprising the transparent wall;
a plurality of ultraviolet light emitting bulbs positioned external to the chamber, adjacent to the transparent wall to direct ultraviolet light into the chamber along the treatment flow path; an inflow port for passage of the liquid to be treated into the treatment flow path; an outflow port for passage of the treated liquid from the treatment flow path to an outlet of the chamber; a pump for pumping the liquid through the chamber; a static mixer positioned in the chamber, the static mixer comprising a plurality of discontinuous and axially spaced vanes extending spirally around an outer circumferential portion of the inner tube or an inner circumferential portion of the outer tube and extending into the treatment flow path,
wherein the static mixer is dimensioned to impede laminar flow along the treatment flow path;
wherein each vane has a first face and a second face opposite the first face, wherein
along a first portion of the vane, the first face intersects the inner tube at an angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to a longitudinal axis of the inner tube, and
along a second portion of the vane, the first face intersects the inner tube at an angle of greater than 90 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the inner tube;

wherein each vane has an inner axial end and an outer axial end; and each vane has a first circumferential end and a second circumferential end; and
wherein the first circumferential end and the second circumferential end extend axially outward from the inner tube a greater distance than a central portion of the vane along the outer axial end;
a cabinet housing the chamber and bulbs, the cabinet having an upper end and a lower end; a first blower positioned to drive airflow out of the cabinet at the lower end; a second blower positioned to drive airflow out of the cabinet at the upper end; and at least one vent through the cabinet wall between the upper end and the lower end of the cabinet.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first blower and the second blower are variable speed blowers.

3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising a temperature sensor to measure an air temperature in the cabinet.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the first blower and second blower are operationally coupled to the temperatures sensor such that the speed of the first blower and the second blower increase in response to a measured temperature above a set point temperature.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the first blower and second blower are operationally coupled to the temperatures sensor such that the speed of the first blower and the second blower decrease in response to a measured temperature below a set point temperature.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the temperature sensor is a thermocouple.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first blower is located in the lower end of the cabinet and the second blower is located in the upper end of the cabinet.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first blower is positioned to drive airflow out of the cabinet at the lower end in a first direction and the second blower is positioned to drive airflow out of the cabinet at the upper end in a second direction, and wherein the first direction is opposite the first direction.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vent comprises a plurality of louvers.

10 . A UV disinfectant system, the system comprising:
a chamber having at least one wall transparent to ultraviolet light and defining a treatment flow path for liquid to be treated with the ultraviolet light,
wherein the chamber is defined between an outer wall of an inner tube and an inner wall of an outer tube, the outer tube comprising the transparent wall;
a plurality of ultraviolet light emitting bulbs positioned external to the chamber, adjacent to the transparent wall to direct ultraviolet light into the chamber along the treatment flow path; an inflow port for passage of the liquid to be treated into the treatment flow path; an outflow port for passage of the treated liquid from the treatment flow path to an outlet of the chamber; a pump for pumping the liquid through the chamber; a static mixer positioned in the chamber, the static mixer comprising a plurality of discontinuous and axially spaced vanes extending spirally around an outer circumferential portion of the inner tube or an inner circumferential portion of the outer tube and extending into the treatment flow path,
wherein the static mixer is dimensioned to impede laminar flow along the treatment flow path;
wherein each vane has a first face and a second face opposite the first face, wherein
along a first portion of the vane, the first face intersects the inner tube at an angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to a longitudinal axis of the inner tube, and
along a second portion of the vane, the first face intersects the inner tube at an angle of greater than 90 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the inner tube;

wherein each vane has an inner axial end and an outer axial end; and each vane has a first circumferential end and a second circumferential end; and
wherein the first circumferential end and the second circumferential end extend axially outward from the inner tube a greater distance than a central portion of the vane along the outer axial end;
a cabinet housing the chamber and bulbs; a first blower positioned to drive airflow out of the cabinet at the lower end; a second blower positioned to drive airflow out of the cabinet at the upper end; an air temperature sensor to measure air temperature at one or more locations within the cabinet; a liquid temperature sensor to measure a liquid temperature at one or more locations within the chamber; a flow meter to measure a flow rate of liquid at one or more locations within the chamber; and a controller operable to control operations of the pump, bulbs, and blowers and operationally coupled to the air temperature sensor, liquid temperature sensor, and flow meter to receive collected measurement data, the controller comprising:
a processor,
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored executable by the processor to perform the operations of the UV disinfectant system, and
a user interface operable to interface users with the controller to view measurement data collected from the air temperature sensor, liquid temperature sensor, and flow meter and to modify at least one of power delivery to the bulbs, blower speed, or pump speed.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprise a plurality of set point conditions defining preferred operational conditions comprising at least one of
(a) an air temperature at the one or more locations in the cabinet, (b) a liquid temperature at the one or more locations within the chamber, (c) a flow rate at the one or more locations within the chamber, or (d) an illumination of the bulbs.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium further include instructions to modify an operation of the UV disinfectant system in response to a non-conforming set point condition.

13 . The system of cla

Assignees

• Safe Foods Corp

Inventors

• Massey Justin
• Yeaman Tim

Classifications

• C02F2303/04

  Disinfection · CPC title

• C02F2301/024

  Turbulent · CPC title

• C02F2209/40

  Liquid flow rate · CPC title

• C02F2209/02

  Temperature · CPC title

• C02F2209/005

  Processes using a programmable logic controller [PLC] · CPC title