Electrolysis: processes – compositions used therein – and methods – Electrolytic material treatment – Organic
Patent
1997-01-30
1998-12-22
Phasge, Arun S.
Electrolysis: processes, compositions used therein, and methods
Electrolytic material treatment
Organic
205742, 204275, C02F 1461
Patent
active
058513752
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The application was filed as international application PCT/NZ95/00066 on Jul. 26, 1995.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an apparatus for disinfecting liquids, as a continuous process.
BACKGROUND ART
Over the centuries, the problem of adequately disinfecting a wide range of liquids--from drinking water to milk to chemical preparations to sewage--is one that has been tackled in many different ways, but as yet no complete satisfactory solution has been found. In particular, the disinfection of drinking water poses special problems; the method of the present invention is especially suitable for disinfecting drinking water, and will be discussed with a special reference to this application. However, it must be appreciated that the method and apparatus of the present invention may in fact be used to disinfect any of a wide variety of electrically conductive liquids.
Disinfecting a potable water supply poses particular problems:--firstly it can be contaminated with a wide range of disease bearing micro-organisms, which may vary greatly in size:--for example, one possible contaminant is a protozoa `Giardia` which is a relatively large micro-organism, but the same water supply may also be contaminated with bacteria and viruses, which are very much smaller. Thus, filtering the water to remove the micro-organisms often is not a viable option:--the size of some of these micro-organisms is so small that it simply is not feasible to force large volumes of water through the very fine filters needed to remove them. A further drawback to filtering is that it does not kill the contaminating micro-organisms, but merely removes them and there is no visible sign when a filter becomes choked or otherwise ceases to function correctly.
Another option for water disinfection is to use a chemical disinfecting agent such as chlorine, or sodium hypo-chlorite or ozone. The chemical treatment may be used in combination with filtration or on its own. Chemical disinfection is reasonably effective if used properly, but has a number of drawbacks:--firstly chemically resistant strains of micro-organisms tend to develop, and the longer chemical disinfection is used, the more likely this problem is to occur. Secondly, chemicals which are sufficiently powerful to disinfect large volumes of water quickly and effectively, inevitably are not entirely beneficial to human beings either, and there is increasing concern as to the effect of some of these chemicals on human beings, particularly when ingested over a long period of years. In addition, most people can detect the taste of treatment chemicals in a water supply, and find it unpleasant.
Ultraviolet radiation may also be used to disinfect a water supply. However, any turbidity in the water reduces its effectiveness and it is not in general suitable for large scale treatment.
A further method of disinfecting water, which has been proposed over the years, is to use electrical or electromagnetic treatment to kill micro-organisms present in the water.
There have been a very large number of prior proposals made describing different types of apparatus for electrical or electromagnetic disinfection of water or other liquids. These prior proposals are discussed below but it should be noted that a coherent discussion of prior proposals is made very difficult by the fact that in many of the patent specifications, relatively few details of the methods used are given, and in a majority of cases, no mechanism for the disinfecting effect of the treatment is described or even suggested. In the case of a number of the prior proposals, it is difficult to see how the described techniques could work, or at least could work effectively.
One major group of prior proposals deals with a technique known as electro-hydraulic shock. This technique involves sending an electrical arc through the fluid medium between electrodes in the medium. The electric arc imposes a sudden mechanical shock on any micro-organisms in its vicinity and, so to speak, bludgeons the micro-organisms to death. Devices of t
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Bodger Patrick S.
Jacquiery Andrew G.
Johnstone Paul T.
Ennotech Holdings Limited
Phasge Arun S,.
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