WO2016040973A1

WO2016040973A1 - Transportable device for gravity filtering water

Info

Publication number: WO2016040973A1
Application number: PCT/AT2015/050227
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hakim EL KHIAR; Vili BRANDT; Martin GLAVINA
Original assignee: Deltacore Gmbh
Priority date: 2014-09-15
Filing date: 2015-09-14
Publication date: 2016-03-24
Also published as: AT516360A1; AT516360B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a transportable device for gravity filtering water in order to provide water, comprising a device housing (G) having a filter arrangement. In order to create advantageous filter conditions, according to the invention, the filter arrangement comprises at least one pre-filter, in particular a nylon pre-filter (3) and a carbon filter (4), which opens into a first chamber (6) in the device housing (G), said first chamber (6) having a filter (7), in particular made of ultra-filtration fiber, arranged in the chamber (6), which connects to a nanofilter (12) allocated to a second chamber (13) via an opening in a partition (10), and that the second chamber (13) has an outlet (14) for purified water, wherein the volumes of the first and second chamber (6, 13) are sized such that contaminants retained by the filter arrangement can be back-flushed out of the device upon reversing the flow direction of the water through the filter arrangement, in particular by rotating the device 180° about a horizontal axis.

Description

TRANSPORTABLE DEVICE FOR GRAVITATION FILTRATION OF WATER

Technical area

The invention relates to a portable device for the gravitational filtration of water to provide drinking water, comprising a device housing having a filter assembly, in particular a device which is filled with contaminated water, which is subsequently filtered by gravity to pure drinking water.

Background Art There are some known solutions of portable gravitational filtration devices, most of which are geostationated, d. H. stationary devices. A known solution for transportable gravitational filtration of contaminated water to pure drinking water is disclosed in US Pat. No. 7,862,720 B2. According to this document, the gravitational filtration is passed through the housing of the device via an inflow channel along the entire device. In the channel there are filter inserts, which are replaced when the water flow through the filters is reduced or when the filters are clogged. The device terminates with a mouthpiece or outlet for the purified water and may include a prefilter assembly of liners having a reservoir chamber capability forming the filter system. The storage chamber may be an expandable bellows, which is designed such that it can be coupled to the transportable device.

From US 625929 B1 filters are known which have a ceramic housing and are filled inside with granulated activated carbon. They are used in various variants in filter devices. In the device according to US Pat. No. 7,862,720 B2, the use of chemical filter elements with chlorine or iodine is also possible. Normally, the pore of a carbon filter has a size between 0.35 and 0.45 microns. The solution is impractical from the point of view of filter replacement, since the replacement of the filter system or a single filter in the form of filter inserts is necessary in order to perform the filtration undisturbed or in a secured quality.

Another solution for the filtration of contaminated water to pure water is known from US 7,507,338 B2. The solution does not allow gravity filtration, as the water is fed to a series of filters with a pressure pump.

US Pat. No. 8,313,644 B2 discloses a solution for the filtration of contaminated water in the form of a bottle with an integrated filter arrangement which is actuated by means of a push lever or rod. The liquid is filled through a hollow rod, in the compressed bottle, the water is then filtered by pushing the lever or the rod by compression through the closed bottle bottom so that the filtered water along the double inner walls of the bottle up in the tube flows to the user and the user can drink the purified water. The pressure in the bottle, which is supplied by means of the push or pull lever, is the driving force for the filtration.

Presentation of the invention

The object of the invention is to form a device of the type described so compact that on the one hand easily transportable ausgestaltbar and on the other hand has a low-cost self-cleaning function. The invention solves this problem with the characterizing features 1 and 7. Advantageous developments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims. With the invention, a gravitational filter device is provided which has a self-cleaning function. The self-cleaning is carried out in particular by backwashing the device with water present in the device. The device for gravity filtration of the water can be used multiple times, without it being necessary to manually replace the respective filter system or individual filters.

The problem with the gravitational filtration of contaminated water to pure drinking water is inventively solved in that a frequent replacement of the filter assemblies is not necessary, since the device has a self-cleaning function, which is also based on the gravitational filtration, in one of the filtration of contaminated Water of opposite direction acts.

Brief description of the drawings

In the drawing, the invention is illustrated with reference to an embodiment. Show it:

1 shows a device according to the invention in cross section in filter position and

2 shows the device of FIG. 1 in rotated by 180 ° position for rinsing the filter assembly with returning, filtered water for self-cleaning of the filter assembly. Way to carry out the invention

Fig. 1 shows, inter alia, the water-impermeable device housing G. The device in the embodiment has a height of 560 mm and a diameter of 1 10 mm, wherein it is assembled in the form of a cylinder. The device according to the invention comprises a plurality of filter arrangements connected to one another in the inner part of the device housing G. The first filter assembly functions as a pre-filter assembly known in the art. The second filter assembly removes the coarse sized particles, the third filter assembly removes colloidal particles, microorganisms and pyrogens The fourth filter arrangement removes the finest particles which, if still present in the water, can be detrimental.

The device comprises a water inlet 1, to which a threaded ring 2 and a pre-filter 3 made of nylon connect. The threaded ring 2 is used to set the pre-filter 3 and the carbon filter 4 in the housing G. By turning the threaded ring clockwise, the ring 2 moves in the thread against the pre-filter 3 and the carbon filter 4 and pushes and presses the pre-filter 3 and the carbon filter 4 against a perforated disc 5. The carbon filter 4 consists of a higher pack of carbon foam. The perforated PE disc 5, holds the carbon filter 4 back and allows pre-purified water in a first chamber 6 through. In the first

Chamber 6 is a filter 7, in particular a longitudinal filter made of ultrafiltration fibers. At the edge at the bottom of the wall 8 of the first chamber 6, an O-ring 9 is arranged, over which a sleeve is supported on a cutting disc 10, which separates the first chamber 6 from a second chamber 13. The filter 7 is attached via an O-ring 1 1 to the cutting wheel 10, in particular screwed to it. To the cutting disk 10 is in the adjoining chamber 13, a further filter 13, a nanofilter, attached via a further O-ring 1 1 to the cutting wheel 10, in particular screwed. The second chamber 13 is provided with an outlet 14 for discharging purified water of a device. At the bottom of the second chamber 13 may still od a check valve or a switching valve. Like. Be provided for flow control or control of pure water or to close the outlet.

The nylon prefilter 3 is a synthetic coarse pre-filter assembly and consists of non-deformable nylon 6 / nylon 66 fibers used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The pore size is 300 microns, the binding of the material is single-row.

The carbon filter 4 consists of carbon foam, ie activated carbon with pore sizes from 2 to 50 nm. By adsorption, all chemical contaminants are removed from the water, since the molecules adhere in the gaseous or liquid state to the active surface. This is done in such a way that the macro- port the organic material over the macropores of sizes up to 50 nm, whereas in microtransport it moves over the meso- and micropores of the activated carbon. The micropores are on the order of 2 nm and the mesopores 2-50 nm. In sorption, the organic material physically adheres to the activated carbon surface in the meso- and micropores and the level of sorption activity depends on the concentration of substances, ie Impurities in the water, the water temperature and the electron charge of the molecules.

The filter 7 of ultrafiltration fibers separates the dissolved molecules according to their size or molecular weight. The ultrafiltration fibers in the filter are a hard, thin and selectively permeable membrane with pore sizes of 0.01 micron that retains most of the molecules, including colloids, microorganisms and pyrogens.

The nano-filter 12 with electropositive charges is an excellent filtration medium with a unique combination of high efficiency, capacity, flow and minimum pressure drop. The fibers contain a wide range of contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, DNA, endotoxins, heavy metals and other organic or inorganic contaminants.

Fig. 1 illustrates the process of gravitational filtration of contaminated water into pure water. The water flows through the water inlet 1 through the nylon prefilter 3, which is formed by a polypropylene mesh, with larger particles being retained. As a result of the gravitational force, the water continues to flow through the filter 4, which consists of activated carbon foam, whereby the chemical contaminants are removed by absorption from the water. The water then flows into the first chamber 6 and from there through the filter 7 composed of ultrafiltration fibers whose ultrafiltration fibers act like a molecular sieve. In the first chamber 6, all particles larger than 0.01 microns are retained, thus removing from the water microorganisms including colloidal particles and pyrogens. The thus purified water then continues to pass through the nanofilter 12, which has a high electropositive temperature. In this phase, heavy metals, endotoxins, viruses and other organic or inorganic contaminants are removed.

For self-cleaning of the device according to the invention, the device is rotated by 180 ° about a horizontal axis, after which the water present in the device rinses the filter assembly by means of the gravitational force. The remaining water in the device flows by the gravitational force in the reverse direction through the filter assemblies in the device and through the opening through which previously the contaminated water was filled, out. In this step, the filter assembly in the device is automatically backwashed, after which the device is ready for further filtration. When the wastewater to be purified flows through the device, it flows through various layers or different filtration media; this means that the water in the device is cleaned differently in different stages at the same time. When the device is rotated 180 °, the variously purified waters flow through the filters and clean them. At the top of the device or behind the nanofilter 12 is located in the self-cleaning the most thoroughly purified water, which rinses all last filter arrangements. Behind the carbon filter 4 is the water which has been cleaned only with the charcoal filter 4, and this water returns first through the charcoal filter 4 in the opposite direction. Thereafter, the water from the first chamber 6 and then the water from the second chamber 13 passes through the carbon filter 4 from the device. It is essential that each filter or filter assembly, irrespective of the pores, be flushed out with water in this gravitational manner. The portable device works on a gravitational and hygroscopic basis and does not require additional power to operate. Such purified water surpasses the most demanding health standards in the world. The device can convert a microbiologically and chemically contaminated water source into pure drinking water.

Claims

claims

1 . Transportable apparatus for the gravitational filtration of water to provide drinking water, comprising a device housing (G) having a filter arrangement, characterized in that the filter arrangement comprises at least one prefilter, in particular a nylon prefilter (3) and a carbon filter (4) a first chamber (6) in the device housing (G) opens, which first chamber (6) via a in the chamber (6) arranged filter (7), in particular of ultrafiltration fiber, has, via a passage in a cutting disc (10) one, a second chamber (13) associated with nanofilter (12) connects, and that the second chamber (13) has a outlet (14) for purified water listen, wherein the volumes of the first and the second chamber (6, 13) sized are that retained by the filter assembly impurities in a reversal of the flow direction of the water through the filter assembly, in particular by rotating the Device around a horizontal axis by 180 °, are back-rinsed from the device.

2. Transportable device according to claim 1, characterized in that the first chamber (6) and the second chamber (13) are separated by a cutting disc (10), to which in the first chamber (6) of the filter (7) and in the second chamber (13) of the nanofilter (12) is attached, wherein the filters (7, 12) in particular via threaded lugs with each other or with the cutting disc (10) are screwed.

3. Transportable device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the nylon prefilter (3) consists of non-deformable fibers of nylon 6 / nylon 66, which fibers form a polypropylene network with a pore size of 300 micrometers.

4. Transportable device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the carbon filter (4) consists of carbon foam, namely activated carbon with pore sizes of 2 to 50 nm.

5. Transportable device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ultrafiltration fibers in the filter (7) form a hard, thin and selectively permeable membrane with pore sizes of 0.01 microns.

6. Transportable device according to one of claims 1 to 5, character- ized in that the nanofilter (12) consists of nanofibers, which have a high electropositive charge.

7. A process for the gravitational filtration of water with a filter arrangement, characterized in that the contaminated water is passed through an inlet (1) through a nylon prefilter (3) which retains larger particles, after which the water is forced through a carbon filter (4) by gravity. the chemical contaminant is absorbed from the water, after which the water is passed through a filter (7) which retains all particles larger than 0.01 microns and removes microorganisms including colloidal particles and pyrogens from the water, whereafter the thus pre-purified water passes through a nanofilter (12) in which heavy metals, endotoxins, viruses as well as various organic and inorganic contaminants are retained, and in that the device for self-cleaning of the filter assembly is rotated through 180 ° about a horizontal axis and the filter assembly using the gravitational force by Rückaussp already filtered water through the filter assembly and through the inlet (1) are emptied, the water present in the device at various stages of cleaning flows back through the filters (12, 7, 4, 3) and cleans them, the most thoroughly cleaned Water that is in the self-cleaning in the last chamber (13) of the device rinses all the filter assemblies (12, 7, 4, 3).