Liquid purification or separation – Processes – Utilizing electrical or wave energy directly applied to...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-19
2001-06-26
Simmons, David A. (Department: 1724)
Liquid purification or separation
Processes
Utilizing electrical or wave energy directly applied to...
C210S750000, C210S188000, C210S192000, C210S198100, C210S205000, C210S218000, C210S903000, C422S024000, C422S186300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06251287
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the treatment of liquids and more particularly to the treatment of liquids to remove deleterious matter therefrom.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are many instances wherein it is necessary to treat a variety of liquids to remove deleterious or undesirable matter therefrom. One such instance relates to the treatment of water. In many parts of the world, there exists a need for potable water. In many locations, there are a variety of sources available for providing water but the water from such sources contains deleterious or undesirable matter therein. One such matter relates to nitrates, such as NO
3
. While several types of apparatus and methods have been used to remove such nitrates at least to the extent to make the water potable, there still remains a need for an efficient and economical system for the removal of such nitrates from such water. In one type of apparatus used to try to remove such nitrates, the water is passed through apparatus that is designed to remove such nitrates. The apparatus comprises an outer tube having an inlet and an outlet. Inside of the tube, a plurality of ultra violet lamps are mounted in a circumferentially spaced apart relationship. The ultra violet lamps emit light at a frequency designed to break down the nitrates in the water. The water flows through the inlet and around the ultra violet lamps and out through the outlet. While the apparatus does function to break down at least a majority of the nitrates in the water, a great many of the broken down nitrates rejoin together so that deleterious or undesirable nitrates remain in the water.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides apparatus and method for the treatment of contaminated water, particularly water contaminated with nitrates, so that the ionized nitrogen resulting from the treating apparatus or method are exposed to other quantities of the same ionized nitrogen to form a separate nitrogen gas that may be safely vented to the atmosphere.
In the apparatus and method for treating contaminated water containing deleterious or undesirable nitrates, the contaminated water is fed into a conventional treating apparatus which breaks down the contaminated water into ionized nitrogen (N
1
) and other substances such as oxygen 1 or 2. Before the ionized nitrogen can revert back by combining with other available materials, it is subjected to a sufficient quantity of additional ionized nitrogen so that the ionized nitrogens particles combine to form nitrogen gas (N
2
) which can be safely vented to the atmosphere. This is accomplished by combining the additional quantity of ionized nitrogen with the nitrate contaminated water prior to the treating apparatus so that the entire combination of the contaminated water and the additional quantity of the ionized nitrogen is subjected to the treating apparatus.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus for providing the additional desired quality of the ionized nitrogen to the contaminated water is a diffuser which is located to supply a stream of ionized nitrogen, preferably in a bubble formation wherein each bubble is of an average size of 1 mm. Preferably, the bubbles are spherical in shape. The diffuser is of the type marketed by Refraction Technologies Corp. under the trade designation “SOLIDOME”. While a diffuser is preferred, other types of apparatus may be used to supply the additional desired quantity of the ionized nitrogen. Also, different types of apparatus may be used to convert nitrogen gas into ionized nitrogen to be fed into the diffuser. In one type of such apparatus, nitrogen gas is fed into a housing and is subjected to ultra violet lamps which emit light at 185 nanometers to change the nitrogen gas into ionized nitrogen.
In one method of using the apparatus of the invention, a quantity of nitrate contaminated water from a well is measured to determine the quantity of nitrates contained in the quantity of the water. A calculation is then made to determine the quantity of ionized nitrogen that will be freed when the quantity of water is subjected to the above-described method for breaking down the nitrate contaminated water into ionized nitrogen to determine the quantity of ionized nitrogen resulting from the treatment. The diffuser is then controlled to emit ionized nitrogen into the nitrate contaminated water so that the quantity of ionized nitrogen is at least between about 0.75 to 2.5 times as great as the quantity of ionized nitrogen freed from the nitrate contaminated water. For example, if there are 100 particles of ionized nitrogen freed from the nitrate contaminated water for a predetermined time, there would be between about 175 to 350 particles of ionized nitrogen added. The nitrate contaminated water is then fed into the apparatus of this invention wherein it is combined with the ionized nitrogen being emitted by the diffuser, each at rates discussed more fully below. The combined nitrate contaminated water and the quantity of ionized nitrogen is then exposed to the treating apparatus which preferably comprises a plurality of ultra violet lamps emitting light at a frequency of about 254 nanometers. As the ionized nitrogen is freed from the contaminated water, the additional ionized nitrogen is available to form the nitrogen gas.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3862296 (1975-01-01), Dotson et al.
patent: 4995955 (1991-02-01), Kim et al.
patent: 5238581 (1993-08-01), Frame et al.
patent: 5660719 (1997-08-01), Kurtz et al.
patent: 5871620 (1999-02-01), Haug et al.
Boyd Donald L.
Fields William M.
Duft, Graziano & Forest, P.C.
Hoey Betsey Morrison
Simmons David A.
Water Systems Integrators, LLC
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