Data collection systems and methods for water/fluids

Abstract

A system and method for controlling a fluid or specifically water treatment system having a plurality of multiple module treatment sites utilizing both low latency local control and higher latency global operational control is provided. Said multiple module treatment site comprises one or more multitude Pulse Effect Distillation (PED) modules, one or more pretreatment units, and one or more sludge concentration and storage units. Said control system and method examines sensor signals corresponding to selected PED parameters of the same PED module and takes actions based on measured and estimated PED parameters. The actions taken might comprise one or more of the following: opening or closing the flow control valves for input water, produced water, and brine, activating compressor RPM and torque control, turning on/off the starting/stabilizing heaters, processing and selectively forwarding processed signals and actions.

Claims

1. A fluid treatment system comprising; a plurality of fluid treatment processing modules located within a site, wherein each said processing module is comprised of at least one from the list of; sensors and/or transducers, electronic control means and/or data communications means; wherein each said module may receive sensor signals from each said sensor so as to have said module's electronic control means form and/or execute a model predictive decision process wherewith to determine action to be taken through one or more of each said transducers for the purpose of maximizing operational efficiency within each said module and when necessary use, and said data communications means transmits processed module status data to one or more site control panels; one or more site control panels overseeing one or more processing modules within a site, wherein each said site control panel is in communication with one or more said fluid treatment modules in order to communicate status information to/from one or more said modules, collect, process, analyze and/or update information about said one or more panels, communicate to/from one or more operational control center(s) and update individual processing module(s) reference parameters through said communication means; one or more operational control center(s) in communications with said one or more site control panels in order to communicate site specific reference parameters and/or status updates to/from said one or more site control panels, wherein said one or more operation control center(s) utilize site control strategy means to analyze, generate and periodically update individual processing module specific parameters based on site parameters that are common to a plurality of processing modules, so that based on desired optimal individual module response, individual parameters for one or more said process modules control are distributed to each said module via one or more of said control panels.

2. the system of claim 1 wherein; said site control strategy means include site/individual module data/status attributes comprised of at least one of: site fluid demands, site safety parameters, site source fluid status, site logarithmic mean temperature difference, module flow rates, module status, module schedule maintenance and/or module deviation from normal parameters; and said data communications means may be comprised of at least one of: wired or wireless links, encrypted radio links, secured private network connection, Wi-Fi (including but not limited to IEEE802.11n, 802.11ac and similar variations), ZigBee, Bluetooth, Cellular radio (including but not limited to 3G, 4G, LTE and similar variations);

3. the system of claim 2 wherein; selected process information from one or more said process modules from one or more sites is presented through a user interface to a human so that they may be adjusted through human assisted actions.

4. the system of claim 3 wherein; said information presented to said human is comprised of at least one of: general account information, site-wide operation status, maintenance records, alarm history, service contract status, financial balance sheets, and/or regulatory compliance records.

5. the system of claim 4 wherein; said fluid control modules are Pulse Effect Distillation (PED) modules.

6. the system of claim 5 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a private secure cloud.

7. the system of claim 5 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a virtual private network tunnel to a web based cloud.

8. the system of claim 2 wherein; said fluid control modules are Pulse Effect Distillation (PED) modules.

9. the system of claim 8 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a private secure cloud.

10. the system of claim 8 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a virtual private network tunnel to a web based cloud.

11. A fluid treatment method comprising; providing a plurality of fluid treatment processing modules located within a site, wherein each said processing module is comprised of at least one from the list of; sensors and/or transducers, electronic control means and/or data communications means; wherein each said module may receive sensor signals from each said sensor so as to have said module's electronic control means form and/or execute a model predictive decision process wherewith to determine action to be taken through one or more of each said transducers for the purpose of maximizing operational efficiency within each said module and when necessary use, and said data communications means transmits processed module status data to one or more site control panels; providing one or more site control panels overseeing one or more processing modules within a site, wherein each said site control panel is in communication with one or more said fluid treatment modules in order to communicate status information to/from one or more said modules, collect, process, analyze and/or update information about said one or more panels, communicate to/from one or more operational control center(s) and update individual processing module(s) reference parameters through said communication means; providing one or more operational control center(s) in communications with said one or more site control panels in order to communicate site specific reference parameters and/or status updates to/from said one or more site control panels, wherein said one or more operation control center(s) utilize site control strategy means to analyze, generate and periodically update individual processing module specific parameters based on site parameters that are common to a plurality of processing modules, so that based on desired optimal individual module response, individual parameters for one or more said process modules control are distributed to each said module via one or more of said control panels.

12. the method of claim 11 wherein; said site control strategy means include site/individual module data/status attributes comprised of at least one of: site fluid demands, site safety parameters, site source fluid status, site logarithmic mean temperature difference, module flow rates, module status, module schedule maintenance and/or module deviation from normal parameters; and said data communications means may be comprised of at least one of: wired or wireless links, encrypted radio links, secured private network connection, Wi-Fi (including but not limited to IEEE802.11n, 802.11ac and similar variations), ZigBee, Bluetooth, Cellular radio (including but not limited to 3G, 4G, LTE and similar variations);

13. the method of claim 12 wherein; selected process information from one or more said process modules from one or more sites is presented through a user interface to a human so that they may be adjusted through human assisted actions.

14. the method of claim 13 wherein; said information presented to said human is comprised of at least one of: general account information, site-wide operation status, maintenance records, alarm history, service contract status, financial balance sheets, and/or regulatory compliance records.

15. the method of claim 14 wherein; said fluid control modules are Pulse Effect Distillation (PED) modules.

16. the method of claim 15 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a private secure cloud.

17. the method of claim 15 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a virtual private network tunnel to a web based cloud.

18. the method of claim 12 wherein; said fluid control modules are Pulse Effect Distillation (PED) modules.

19. the method of claim 18 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a private secure cloud.

20. the method of claim 18 wherein; said one or more operational control center(s) and said one or more site control panel(s) are located in a virtual private network tunnel to a web based cloud.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] These, as well as other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reference to the following drawings in conjunction with more detailed description to be followed, wherein:

[0034] FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram depicting a typical sensor and actuator arrangement in a PED module, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0035] FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic representation showing how sensors and actuators in a plurality of PED modules are interconnected to a central control panel within a water treatment site, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. Note: PED* denotes PED with utilizing Spectrometer and/or Sensors for such: Temperature; Pressure; Humidity; TDS; pH; Conductivity; TOC (Total Organic Carbon); ORP (Oxygen Reduction Potential); Chlorine; Chemical Contaminants; . . . .

[0036] FIG. 3 is an exemplary schematic block diagram depicting the way a plurality of water treatment sites communicate with a operation control center, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0037] FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow chart of an MCU based automatic control of a PED module, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0038] FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow chart of a site management in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0039] FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow chart of an operation control management in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0040] FIG. 7 is an exemplary schematic diagram depicting a typical multi processing module communication means link to a cloud database and web app operation center, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0041] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram depicting a typical sensor and actuator arrangement in a processing module, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0042] The above-described and other features will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, drawings, and appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0043] This section is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of the present invention and to briefly introduce some preferred embodiments. Simplifications or omissions may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of the section. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0044] To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative embodiments and examples will now be described. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. The compositions, apparatuses, systems and/or methods described herein may be adapted and modified as is appropriate for the application being addressed and that those described herein may be employed in other suitable applications, and that such other additions and modifications will not depart from the scope hereof.

[0045] Simplifications or omissions may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of the section. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

[0046] As used in the specification and claims, the singular forms a, an and the include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, the term a transaction may include a plurality of transaction unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used in the specification and claims, singular names or types referenced include variations within the family of said name unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0047] Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words lower, upper, bottom, top, front, back, left, right and sides designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made, but are not limiting with respect to the orientation in which the modules or any assembly of them may be used.

[0048] It is acknowledged that the term comprise may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term comprise shall have an inclusive meaningi.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term comprised or comprising is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.

[0049] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic diagram depicting a typical sensor and actuator arrangement in a PED module 1 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. The PED module comprises a plurality of evaporation cavities 111, of which only one is shown, a plurality of condensation cavities 112, of which only one is shown, a larger throughput compressor 12, a smaller throughput compressor 13, a digitally controlled valve (DCV) 142 controlling a product water outlet 147, a DCV 148 controlling a source water inlet 143 which also doubles as a back wash effluent outlet (hence the bidirectional arrow), a high pressure water back wash pump 145 and a back wash DCV 146. The set of DCV valves and compressors/pump, micro-bubble-generator/mister 17 as well as the starter/stabilizer heating coil 160 are considered as the set of actuators, and there are temperature sensors (denoted by T), pressure sensors (denoted by P), flow sensors (denoted by R for flow Rate), and TDS sensors (denoted by tds) which measure the water/air temperatures, pressures, total dissolved solid concentrations (TDS), and flow rates in and out of the various inlets/outlets and brine outlet.

[0050] The PED module has a closed internal air loop actuated by the two compressors 12 and 13 which together form a compander (compressor-expander) arrangement.

[0051] Owing to the larger volume of gas 12 can push through, and the relatively smaller volume of gas 13 can deliver, the gas pressure in the condenser 111 will be less than that of the evaporator 112. The input source water through 143 is mixed with the compressed air coming from the micro-bubble generator/mister 17 to generate a fine mist of droplets 157 directed at the common heat exchange wall 14. The droplets are heated by the heat exchanger through the wall 14 to generate a saturated vapor 156 which is drawn into the inlet of the compressor 12 which is then compressed and sent forward to the proximal (relative to 12) end of the condenser 112. As the compressed air is now supersaturated, condensation takes place until the excess vapor is removed. As the saturated air travels further downstream, the condensation continue to take place as the air is adjusting to lower and lower saturated pressure, until the air is almost fully depleted of the moisture 158. The relatively dry air 158 is recompressed by 13 to power the micro-bubble generator. The lower pressure in the evaporator cavity 111 also helps to cause the input mist to flash into vapor. The portion of the water 18 within the evaporator cavity 111 that is not evaporated at the end of the evaporation path is reflowed toward the distal end through a narrow counter-flow heat exchange tunnel 113 to preheat the source water. The brine DCV 141 is opened whenever the measured TDS from the TDS sensor before 141 exceeds a threshold value, and it is closed when the measured TDS level drops below a lower threshold value.

[0052] The set points of the TDS thresholds for 141 is determined by the electronic control means, which may be comprised in one embodiment of a micro-controller (MCU) 2 which also receives signals from all the temperature, pressure, and TDS sensors and determines what actions to take an sends control signals to corresponding actuators via controller outputs 3. The inflow and outflow rates from the flow meters are integrated by 2 to determine if a partial or total blockage had occurred, or when there is a strong possibility of a leak, or if the current TDS measurements greatly exceed the moving-averaged TDS values by a large threshold. When some or all of these conditions occurred, there is a strong indication that said PED module should receive accelerated maintenance schedule such as shortening the intervals between back washing, or that the PED cartridge needs replacement, or the entire PED unit should be taken offline and replaced.

[0053] The MCU is also responsible for using the collected sensor data as well as historical data for past sensor data and actions taken to estimate the counter-flow heat exchange LMTD to compute the expected entropy production rate. This could be used to perform local optimization of the PED module subjected to the constraint set forth by the site control panel.

[0054] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation showing how sensors and actuators in a plurality of PED modules are interconnected to a central control panel within a water treatment site 4. The sensor and actuator signals are processed by the embedded micro-controller 2 of each PED module and selectively send to the central control panel 43 via a shared data communications mean. Such data communications mean could be a control (and power) bus 42, or optionally, a radio data communication network with a radio unit 43 on each PED module communicating with said MCU 2.

[0055] The radio unit could employ any wireless data communications mean, such as Zigbee, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11n/ac, or cellular radio (2G, 3G, 4G) if the area of coverage exceeds the range that could be provided by aforementioned shorter range wireless technologies. It is vital that the data communication network employed is secure and private to prevent hacking as any hijacked network could be used to take over the control of the water treatment facility with predictably dire consequence.

[0056] While each MCU attached to a PED module is able to perform model predictive computations based on processed sensor input data to estimate net entropy production rate and utilize the resulting model to determine optimal actions to be taken to improve energy and operational efficiencies, such local control strategy is not necessarily optimal for the water treatment site in question. By communicating individual PED status or telemetry data to the control panel, it permits the control panel to provide additional optimization tasks such as load balancing to improve site energy efficiency and operational/maintenance costs and buffering of pre-processed water to relieve peak hour demands. The central control panel also can provide site statistics to individual PED modules to assist said PED to modify the predictive model accordingly to improve its prediction accuracy.

[0057] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram depicting the way a plurality of water treatment sites 4 communicate with a operation control center 53. The information each PED control panel collected is analyzed and selectively forwarded to the operation control center 53 via a private data communications network 51, or they could also be transmitted via a radio link with radio unit 52 connected to the control panel of each module.

[0058] The main task of the operation control center is to perform large scale load balancing taking into account the water supplies and demands of each site, and its respective water treatment capacity. Its secondary task is to provide a human friendly user interface, preferably a graphical user interface, to allow wide area monitoring of all the water treatment sites. Thirdly, the operation control center posts processed site data into a database which can be accessed by any authorized user via a secured channel. The information accessible by users includes general account information, site-wide operation status, maintenance records, alarm history, service contract status, financial balance sheets, and regulatory compliance records.

[0059] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a MCU based automatic control of a PED module. In this preferred approach, the MCU of the PED module downloads reference parameters from site control panel 600, and receives sensors data from the array of sensors 605, and computes moving averages of sensor data 607. Using moving average data and estimated internal entropy production rate data, a model based computation is carried out to estimate leakage/blockage probabilities 610. If the leakage probability exceeds a confidence level threshold which is based on said reference parameters received 615, the PED module in question is taken offline and alarm is sent to site control panel 617. If, on the other hand, the blockage probability exceeds a confidence level threshold which is based on said reference parameters received 620, the PED module in question is marked for immediate back wash operation to unclog the PED cartridge 627, or in case the cartridge is deemed unusable, the cartridge is marked for replacement at the next maintenance cycle. Otherwise the LMTD data for all heat exchange surfaces are computed and net entropy production rates are estimated accordingly 625. The computed data is fed to a hill climbing algorithm, which could be a simple gradient descent algorithm, or a Newton or quasi-Newton quadratic search algorithm, or their equivalents, to determine the optimal control actions to be taken 630.

[0060] If the action as determined by said algorithm is to introduce direct heat to stabilize the PED operation 635, then an electric heater is turned on to increase the maximum temperature within the evaporator cavities 637. If there is either inadequate compression, too much compression, or the gas flow rate is not in normal range 640, then the compressor RPM speeds or the torque value are adjusted 547. If the accumulated brine concentration estimated based on measured TDS value and brine temperature is higher than the respective reference parameters 645, then the brine valve opens to drain the accumulated brine until the TDS value drops to normal range 657. If the estimated blockage rate exceeds the reference rate 650, then the inflow rate is reduced and the brine concentration is lowered by increasing the frequency at which the brine is drained 667. Finally, if the demand for product water is reduced 655, then the inflow rate and compressor settings are adjusted accordingly to satisfy the demand as well as the load balancing action 677.

[0061] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a site management in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. In this approach, the site control panel collects processed data from individual PED modules 730, and receives reference parameters for site PED modules from operation control center 735. These information are employed to perform load balancing computation based on supply/demand requests from operation control center 700 and processed PED data 740. The reference parameters are delivered to PED modules 745, and selected data including status information about each PED module, general statistics, and alarms, to operation control center 755.

[0062] FIGS. 6-8 show a flow chart of an operation control management in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, and sends forward site specific reference parameters to affiliated sites 845. In this, the operation control center collects processed data from affiliated water treatment sites 830. Together with operator feedback and commands 800, a load balancing computation is computed taking into consideration site specific data available 840. The generated reference parameters are sent to affiliated sites 845, Selected status, statistics, alarms, and regulatory information are displayed on a user interface, preferably graphic user interface 855, to allow center operators to monitor the activities and status of affiliated sites and make changes by overriding computer generated parameters or automatically generated requests 800.

[0063] Those with ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that the parameters and structures described herein are merely exemplary and that actual parameters or constructs will depend on specific applications in which the systems and methods are used. It will also be appreciated that, using no more than routine experimentation, that embodiments described herein are presented by way of examples only and that, within the scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

[0064] The system/process for collecting and gathering data described in this patent application/document can also be used to gather the same or similar data from any other liquid/fluid purification or filtering system, not just a PED system.

CONCLUSION

[0065] In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiment without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. Also, such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. Further, in the claims hereafter, the structures, materials, acts and equivalents of all means or step-plus function elements are intended to include any structure, materials or acts for performing their cited functions.

[0066] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly any preferred embodiments are merely possible examples of the implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Any variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit of the principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure and present invention and protected by the following claims.

[0067] The present invention has been described in sufficient detail with a certain degree of particularity. The utilities thereof are appreciated by those skilled in the art. It is understood to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure of embodiments has been made by way of examples only and that numerous changes in the arrangement and combination of parts may be resorted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the forgoing description of embodiments.