WO2017155496A1

WO2017155496A1 - Tsws quad, 3-stage sub1 fast-flo poe potable water treatment system (tm) 2015

Info

Publication number: WO2017155496A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/016226
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert BAÑOS
Original assignee: Baños Robert
Priority date: 2016-03-08
Filing date: 2016-03-08
Publication date: 2017-09-14

Abstract

The QUAD 3-Stage Sub-1 micron filtration system is a POE (Point of Entry) system design to provide fast water-flow potable water to all water taps within the building while also removing or reducing most TDS metals such as Chromium 6, Boron, NO₃, Fe3, Arsenic, and other water toxic components. Traditionally these difficult-to-remove known carcinogens and cancer-inducing compounds require "Slow-Flow" 1.5 gpm (Gallon per Minute) due to the requirement to match submicron-sized metals or ions to carbon pore adhesion surfaces within the carbon-based membranes. TSWS applies a new technology to achieve whole-house filtration normally relegated to RO appliances, which are site-specific point of use (POU) water products. The public health aspect of the TWSW design cannot be overemphasized.

Description

TSWS QUAD, 3-STAGE SUB1 FAST-FLO POE POTABLE WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM ^iim» *"^s

Water - The New Gold Standard ^tm

TAP SAFE WATER SOLUTIONS, INC. (TSWS) is an OEM company. We seek a patent for our "plug and play" water filtration appliance that we feel provides a unique freshwater solution to dwindling freshwater reserves. This TSWS appliance is a Point of Entry "Fast Flow" unit providing water with Endocrine contaminants, Selected Haloacetic acids and Selected Halogenated Methanes at levels below EPA/ NSF potable standards. Accepted standards (MCLs) in ppb (parts per billion of contaminant) are respectively 10, 60 and 80. Filtrated water meets or exceeds NSF 42, 53, 55 and 61¹. Parts per billion levels are at or below NSF standards of 10, 60, 80. Finally, this TSWS appliance is uniquely designed to provide better than 7 gpm (gallon per minute) flows into the building. Typically this is the lower end of flows satisfying demand of a four-person household, which consume a nominal .45 acre foot/ year. Estimates herein are based on the nominal 0.5 AF / year/ household (4) or some 20,375 cubic feet (163,000 gallons).

RO units typically remove most sub 1 micron VOC and metal solids, endocrine impactors and byproducts from chlorine disinfection. Their drawbacks are two: slow flow rates limiting them to small daily volumes of processed water (typically 3 - 5 gallons) and the typical 20 -25 gallons fresh water lost to the drain in order to process the three - five gallons gained. Annualized, this water waste is approximately 7000 gal/ year or eighteen days worth of water use for a family of four. Every 20 RO units by this yardstick throw away back into the drain a single family's annual water demand (about Vi acre foot) over the space of one year!

The TSWS design loses no water per day, uses carbon block membrane technology filtering but in a unique tapered multi filter design allowing much faster throughput over the same carbon adsorption area. Pore adhesion efficiencies - typically 2 gpm ideal, 1.8gpm actual - are improved with improved surface loadings exceeding 6 gpm/ft^A2. With advanced design , TSWS sees improvements in gpms approaching the theoretical maximums in one of three ways. The enclosed patent design is a concept design with electrical analogs of dc voltage, current and dc resistance applied respectively psi (source - surface loading), water (untreated), and membrane resistivity.

At TSWS we think a paradigm shift in thinking about fresh water in the US must happen on commercially large scales. On one hand, an aging fresh water supply infrastructure in the country is a serious problem in virtually all states with over 310000 water main breaks each year in the US (2014 statistics). On the other hand, reduced fresh water supplies from ground water aquifers, snowmelt and other natural sources is rapidly diminishing due rising mean global temperatures. TSWS believes its novel designs can have wide appeal to those wishing to preserve existing aquifers, conserve existing finished (potable) water by collecting and substituting Rainwater, or to purify and detoxify existing potable water streams. ORIGINALITY

PRO BLE M STATE M E NT

How CAN WE SOLVE THE TECHNICAL PROBLEMS OF DELIVERING HIGH SPEED POINT OF ENTRY WATER FILTERED TO UNDER 0.5 MICRON PURITY? FLOW RATES ARE LIMITED BY EXISTING PHYSICAL ADHESION REQUIREMENTS OF CARBON PORE SURFACES TO THE MOLECULES OF INTEREST. ELECTRO KINETIC ADHESION IMPROVES FILTRATION BY IMPROVING THE CARBON ISOTHERM BUT SETS A LOWER BOUND ON WATER FLOW THROUGH THE DEVICE. POE CARBON BLOCK DEVICES WHOSE GAL/MINUTE (GPM) HAVE UPPER LIMITS IN THE 5 GPM (20 LPM) RANGE HAVE CON COMITANT PROBLEMS OF CHANNELING AND LEAD TO INEFFICIENCIES IN THROUGHPUT, OUR RESEARCH PRODUCES AN AMBIENT TEMPERATURE 3 STAGE DEVICE WHICH CAN PROCESS 1 600 GALLONS EVERY 4 DAYS OR SOME 400 GAL/DAY - MOST OF THIS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 5 - 1 0 PM . THIS IS SOME 88 GALLONS/HR FOR 5 HOURS, THE TSWS FILTRATION SYSTEM

ACCOMMODATES A FLOW RATE EQUIVALENT TO A PERSON'S DAILY WATER CONSUMPTION IN A SINGLE HOUR BY IMPROVING PRESENT SURFACE LOADINGS OF 6GPM/FT^A2 USING EXISTING MEMBRANES AND FILTER HARNESSES.

NOVELTY

MARKET CO M PETITION

WHOLE HOUSE WATER FILTERING TECHNOLOGY IS IN AN ADVANCE STAGE OF R a D. UNTIL MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY IS REPLACED WITH A DNA OR OTHER MOLECULAR ADSORPTION

TECHNOLOGY, MEMBRANES, WIDELY AVAILABLE IN EXISTING MARKETS WILL CONTINUE TO BE USED. CONCOMITANT COSTS FOR PLUMBING ASSOCIATED WITH EXISTING PRODUCT INSTALLATIONS IS ABSENT IN THE TSWS MODEL. THE APPLIANCE IS A STAND-ALONE UNIT AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE WITH REQUIREMENTS TO REPLACE FILTERS 2, 3 OR 4 TIMES A YEAR IN TYPICAL INSTALLATIONS AND GEOLOGICAL STRATA. EXISTING UNITS ARE TWICE THE COST OF THE TSWS SYSTEM IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS.

MARKET PE N ETRATION

EXISTING PURIFICATION PROCESSES ARE LIMITED BY THE REQUIREMENT OF SLOW FLOW RATES REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE SMALL PARTICLE SIZE FILTERING. THE SMALLER THE MOLECULE BEING FILTERED, THE SMALLER THE SIEVE; HENCE A GOOD QUALITY RO UNIT WILL FORCE WATER THROUGH SUB 1 MICRON FILTERS BUT PRODUCE ONLY 5 GALLONS PER DAY OF POTABLE , CLEAN WATER. TSWS FEELS THAT THE COMPANY HAS A MARKET FOR A FAST-FLOW DEVICE WHERE NONE NOW EXISTS.

UNIQUENESS OF DESIGN

RISK/ REWARD

MARKET SUCCESS, MEASURED BY INDUSTRY STANDARDS OF RISK/REWARD IS ASSURED BY INITIAL

CAPITALIZATION TO [A] COMPLETE PROTOTYPES, [B] CREATE INITIAL PUBLIC MARKET EXPOSURE AND [C] COMPLETE CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH. TSWS FEELS IT WILL MARKET A POE DESIGN NOT SEEN IN THE POTABLE WATER INDUSTRY AND INTENDS TO REMAIN AT THE FOREFRONT OF INNOVATION OF POE SOLUTIONS TO FRESH WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR ITS CUSTOMERS BY PUTTING ENGINEERING AND CHEMISTRY AT THE CENTER OF THE COMPANY'S R & D. DRAWINGS:

NOTE: PATENT DRAWINGS (artwork) includes two membrane filters and four membrane filters installed in unit. The engineering calculations in the utility patent will disclose flow- rates for both two filters and four filters. These filter assemblies constitute "Stage ii". Stage I, and Stage iii remain unchanged for either the two filter or four filter enclosure. The Case itself remains the same although larger in one case than in the other to accommodate ease of handling and filter change-outs in the four filter design. This provisional patent is meant to cover the general whole-house filter design "External" to the building. This design feature makes it unique because no existing whole-house water filtering system exists for POE (Point of Entry) applications. The Number of filters employed in the design necessitates a larger footprint within the case for four filters hence patent submissions will be submitted for each at the time the utility patents are executed. The engineering and hydraulics for both size enclosures remains unchanged. The flow-rates are computed for both the two and the four to exceed 7gpm (gallon per minute) upon demand and for a sustained uninterrupted 35 minutes of use on any single demand. The Quad 3-Stage System is designed for a maximum 400 gallon-per-day (gpd) throughput of potable water into the building. Four hundred gpd is an expected 100 gpd-person figure of merit used in calculations for the United States only. This figure is drastically reduced outside of the USA.

PATENT ' drawings include the following: QUAD (four filter arrangements) + DUAL filter arrangements to demonstrate given stages. All final stages are QUAD Design.

ASSEMBLY and DETAIL:

D wg 9. la ASSEMBLY DWG - DUAL MULTIPLAN (for demo only)

Dwg 9.1c ASSEMBLY DWG - QUAD.3-STAGE.SUB1.FRONT

Dwg 9.1d ASSEMBLY DWG - QUAD.3-STAGE.SUB1.PLAN

ENCLOSURE (Designed by STRATUS ENGINEERING)

Dwg 9.2a MULTIVIEW - MULTIPLAN - ENCLOSURE for QUAD 3-STAGE.SUB1

Dwg 9.2b ISO OPEN DWG - CASE- ISO.SIDE

Dwg 9.2c ISO OPEN DWG - CASE- iso.FRONT

Dwg 9.2d ISO OPEN DWG - CASE- iso.REAR

Dwg 9.2g ISO OPEN DWG - CASE- ISO.DUAL (not QUAD) .3 -STAGE.LEFT VIEW

Dwg 9.2h ISO OPEN DWG - CASE- ISO.DUAL (not QUAD) .3 -STAGE.RIGHT VIEW

QUAD (FOUR FILTER DESIGN) (Designed by TSWS, Inc.)

Dwg 9.3a DWG - QUAD.3-STAGE.SUBl.STAGEii.ISO

Dwg 9.3b ASSEMBLY DWG - QUAD.3-STAGE.SUB1.STAGEU.FRONT

Dwg 9.3c ASSEMBLY DWG - DUAL.3-STAGE.SUBl.STAGEiii. UV.FRONT INVENTED ELEMENTS NEW TO THIS DESIGN:

[1] TSWS : Carbon Block cylinders in parallel (stage II) and in quad (stage II) with turbidity - reducing geometry (improved laminar flow); improved carbon isotherm using enhanced charged ion transfer, and filter-doubling capability. Detail not shown in drawings.

Existing systems: None in the whole-house water filtering space.

[2] Stainless steel connector valves ¾" inlet (bottom) and ¾" outlet (top) for stage II

Existing systems: None in the whole-house water Point-of-Entry (POE) filtering space.

[3] TSWS Quick-release filter exchange allowing easy access and change out of CB filters (stages I and II)

Existing systems: None in the POE design space. Systems do exist in the POU design space

[4] TSWS Automated filter-life digital remote sensor indicator for filter replacement

Existing systems: DASHBOARD- heads - up displays exist with this feature (indoor only)

[5] TSWS Case Enclosure (housing unit) designed for all weather Point-of-Entry Home Water filtering Unit. Intended for external (ambient air) installation.

Existing systems: None

Claims

CLAIM:

THIS PRODUCT IS A DEVICE WITH AN INPUT AND EXIT PORT FOR ALLOWING WELL, MUNICIPAL OR TANK WATER TO ENTER AND THEN EXIT. THE DEVICE PROCESSES WATER THROUGH THREE STAGES TO REMOVE COMPLETELY OR REDUCE SUBSTANTIALLY KNOWN ESTROGEN MIMICING PHTHALATES, DES, BPH, HALOGENATED METHANES AND HALOGENATED ACIDS. FINISH WATER IS USUALLY WELL BELOW ANSI /NSF POTABLE WATER STANDARDS AND AT OR BELOW EPA CONTAMINANT CONCENTRATION LEVELS (MCLS).

THE DEVICE IS DESIGNED FOR WHOLE-HOUSE FAST FLOW OPERATION WHILE SIMULTANEOULSY REDUCING HEAVY METAL PRODUCTS (MOLECULAR SPECIES INCLUDE ARSENIC, CHROMIU M, MERCURY, BORON, LEAD, SOME RADIO NUCLIDES SUCH AS ARGON, RADON). THE MODEST FOOTPRINT, 1M X 1M X 0.7M, EASILY ALLOWS PARALLEL PROCESSING TO PROVIDE DAILY THROUGHPUT OF 6000 GALLONS (22,800 L). THE DEVICE REDUCES PHARMACEUTICAL AND HEALTH-CARE PRODUCTS, HALOACETIC ACIDS INCLUDING THE VERY TOXIC IDOACETIC ACID, AND OTHER BYPRODUCTS OF CHLORINATION INCLUDING HALOGENATED METHANES SUCH AS BROMOFORM AND CHLOROFORM.