Ultraviolet water disinfection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9802840-B2
Application number	US-201414324528-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 7, 2014
Priority date	Jul 8, 2013
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

A solution for treating a fluid, such as water, is provided. An ultraviolet transparency of a fluid can be determined before or as the fluid enters a disinfection chamber. In the disinfection chamber, the fluid can be irradiated by ultraviolet radiation to harm microorganisms that may be present in the fluid. One or more attributes of the disinfection chamber, fluid flow, and/or ultraviolet radiation can be adjusted based on the transparency to provide more efficient irradiation and/or higher disinfection rates. In addition, various attributes of the disinfection chamber, such as the position of the inlet(s) and outlet(s), the shape of the disinfection chamber, and other attributes of the disinfection chamber can be utilized to create a turbulent flow of the fluid within the disinfection chamber to promote mixing and improve uniform ultraviolet exposure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a disinfection chamber for disinfecting a fluid, the disinfection chamber comprising:
an inner cylindrical chamber;
at least one inlet located at a first end of the disinfection chamber and at least one outlet located at a second end of the disinfection chamber, wherein the at least one inlet and the at least one outlet are positioned to provide a rotational force to the fluid within the inner cylindrical chamber;
a set of ultraviolet radiation sources configured to emit ultraviolet radiation directed within the inner cylindrical chamber; and
an outer chamber surrounding the inner cylindrical chamber, wherein the outer chamber includes an ultraviolet diffusive reflective material and the inner cylindrical chamber includes an ultraviolet transparent material, and wherein the inner cylindrical chamber and the outer chamber are separated by a low index of refraction layer;

a filtering system located at the at least one inlet of the disinfection chamber configured to filter the fluid;
a sensing component located between the filtering system and the at least one inlet configured to evaluate a transparency of the fluid prior to entering the disinfection chamber; and
a control component configured to control at least one of: the set of ultraviolet radiation sources or a flow rate of the fluid at the at least one inlet, based on the transparency of the fluid.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least the at least one inlet is positioned at a non-zero angle with respect to a normal direction of a surface of the inner cylindrical chamber.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein an index of refraction of the low index of refraction layer is less than an index of refraction of the fluid entering the disinfection chamber.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein an interior wall of the inner chamber includes ultraviolet diffusive reflective material.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the interior wall of the inner cylindrical chamber includes a patterned roughness surface.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of inlets and a plurality of outlets.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein a first inlet is located opposite of a second inlet such that fluid entering from the first inlet or the second inlet is directed towards the other of the first inlet or the second inlet and results in a turbulent fluid flow during fluid recombination from the first inlet and the second inlet.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein each inlet of the plurality of inlets includes a variable diameter, and the control component is configured to control the variable diameter of each inlet based on the transparency and a disinfection of the fluid.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the disinfection chamber further comprises movable blades configured to control the flow of the fluid within the disinfection chamber.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a gas chamber adjacent to the disinfection chamber, the gas chamber configured to deliver a plurality of air bubbles into the fluid.

11. A system comprising:
a disinfection chamber for disinfecting a fluid, the disinfection chamber comprising:
an inner chamber;
at least one inlet located at a first end of the disinfection chamber and at least one outlet located at a second end of the disinfection chamber, wherein the at least one inlet and the at least one outlet are both located on a top side of the disinfection chamber, such that fluid flowing through the at least one inlet and the at least one outlet has a rotational force within the inner chamber; and
a set of ultraviolet radiation sources configured to emit ultraviolet radiation directed within the inner cylindrical chamber;

a sensing component located adjacent to the at least one inlet configured to obtain sensing data corresponding to a transparency of the fluid prior to entering the disinfection chamber; and
a control component configured to determine the transparency of the fluid using the sensing data and control the set of ultraviolet radiation sources based on the transparency of the fluid.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a filtering system located upstream from the at least one inlet of the disinfection chamber configured to filter the fluid, wherein the control component further comprises an alarm system configured to indicate a filter saturation based on the transparency of the fluid.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the inner chamber includes a patterned surface of ultraviolet reflective material.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the disinfection chamber comprises a plurality of inlets configured to create turbulence in a flow of the fluid within the inner chamber.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the disinfection chamber further comprises movable blades configured to control the flow of the fluid within the inner chamber.

16. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a gas chamber adjacent to the disinfection chamber, the gas chamber configured to deliver a plurality of air bubbles into the fluid.

17. A system comprising:
a planar disinfection chamber for disinfecting a fluid, the disinfection chamber comprising:
at least one inlet and at least one outlet;
a set of ultraviolet radiation sources located on a first side of the disinfection chamber;
a set of scattering elements located on a second side of the disinfection chamber opposite the first side, the set of scattering elements configured to reflect ultraviolet radiation; and
a plurality of wall barriers located within the disinfection chamber and extending from the first side to the second side, the plurality of wall barriers configured to provide a flow path for the fluid through the disinfection chamber;

a sensing component located along the flow path for the fluid, the sensing component configured to obtain sensing data corresponding to a transparency of the fluid; and
a control component configured to control the set of ultraviolet radiation sources based on the transparency of the fluid.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of wall barriers include ultraviolet diffusive reflective material.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the sensing component includes at least one ultraviolet detector.

20. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a conductivity tracer injector located at the at least one inlet and a conductivity sensor located at the at least one outlet.

Assignees

• Sensor Electronic Tech Inc

Inventors

• Shturm Igor
• Smetona Saulius
• Bettles Timothy James
• Bilenko Yuri
• Gaska Ignas
• Dobrinsky Alexander
• Shur Michael
• Gaska Remigijus

Classifications

• C02F2209/001

  Upstream control, i.e. monitoring for predictive control · CPC title

• C02F2201/3226

  Units using UV-light emitting lasers · CPC title

• G01N21/85

  Investigating moving fluids or granular solids · CPC title

• C02F2201/326

  Lamp control systems · CPC title

• C02F2201/3228

  Units having reflectors, e.g. coatings, baffles, plates, mirrors · CPC title