US-12623929-B2 - Internet-of-things enabled deionization tank configuration artificial intelligence algorithm

US12623929B2US 12623929 B2US12623929 B2US 12623929B2US-12623929-B2

Abstract

A method of treating water in a water treatment system comprises introducing water to be treated into an ion exchange bed of the water treatment system to produce treated water, receiving an output water quality indication from a controller associated with the ion exchange bed, determining, by an algorithm, responsive to the output water quality indication, whether to replace the ion exchange bed based on a remaining capacity of the ion exchange bed, current operational parameters of the water treatment system, and historical data regarding operation of the water treatment system, and responsive to the water quality indication, providing, by the algorithm, a recommendation to a service provider of the water treatment system that there is one of no action required, that the ion exchange bed should be monitored, or that a service order for replacement of the ion exchange bed should be generated.

Inventors

Justin Bakow
Ronald Parks

Assignees

EVOQUA WATER TECHNOLOGIES LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220111

Claims (11)

1 . A method of treating water in a water treatment system, the method comprising: introducing water to be treated into an ion exchange bed of the water treatment system to produce treated water; receiving an output water quality indication from a controller associated with the ion exchange bed; determining, by an algorithm, responsive to the output water quality indication, whether to replace the ion exchange bed based on a remaining capacity of the ion exchange bed, current operational parameters of the water treatment system, and historical data regarding operation of the water treatment system; and responsive to the output water quality indication, providing, by the algorithm, a recommendation to a service provider of the water treatment system that there is one of no action required, that the ion exchange bed should be monitored, or that a service order for replacement of the ion exchange bed should be generated, and an indication of a confidence level of the provided recommendation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising replacing the ion exchange bed responsive to the algorithm indicating that the replacement of the ion exchange bed is warranted.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the algorithm determines the confidence level based on the historical data regarding one of instances of the replacement of the ion exchange bed or instances of replacement of an ion exchange bed of another water treatment system, ion exchange bed alarm status, and the remaining capacity of the ion exchange bed.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein responsive to providing the recommendation that the ion exchange bed should be monitored the algorithm performs additional monitoring of one or more of a status of the output water quality indication, a flow rate of the water through the ion exchange bed, a quality measure of the water, and the remaining capacity of the ion exchange bed.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the algorithm modifies the recommendation that the ion exchange bed should be monitored to one of a recommendation that the ion exchange bed should be replaced or a recommendation that no action is required responsive to analysis of data gathered during the additional monitoring.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the additional monitoring includes receiving the data regarding the one or more of the status of the output water quality indication, the flow rate of the water through the ion exchange bed, or the quality measure of the water multiple times per day.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the current operational parameters of the water treatment system include flow rate and conductivity of the treated water.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the current operational parameters of the water treatment system further include environmental conditions at the water treatment system.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the current operational parameters of the water treatment system further include time of year.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the historical data regarding the operation of the water treatment system includes environmental conditions at the water treatment system between previous occurrences of the replacement of the ion exchange bed.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the historical data regarding the operation of the water treatment system includes times of year of previous occurrences of the replacement of the ion exchange bed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 63/135,778, titled “IoT Enabled Deionization Tank Configuration AI Algorithm,” filed on Jan. 11, 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. BACKGROUND Field of Disclosure Aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are directed generally to methods and apparatus for monitoring, controlling, and maintaining water treatment systems, and in particular to systems and methods of monitoring the condition of ion exchange-based water treatment systems. Discussion of Related Art Deionized (DI) water is an ingredient in hundreds of applications, including medical, laboratory processes, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, electronics manufacturing, food processing, plating, countless industrial processes, and even the spot-free rinse water at the local car wash. Typically, it serves as an ultra-pure ingredient, a cleaning solvent, or as the foundation of a process water recovery/reuse strategy. Deionized water meeting Water-For-Injection (WFI) standards of purity is used as the basis for saline and other solutions to be injected into the body during medical procedures. Its bacteria-free and mineral-free purity helps assure the quality and stability of the solution as other ingredients are added to it. DI laboratory water is typically used to clean instruments and lab equipment and to perform tissue cell culture, blood fractionation, and other lab procedures. Deionized water in the pharmaceutical industry is used for preparing culture media, for making up aqueous solutions, and for washing containers and apparatus. It is also used as a raw material, ingredient, and solvent in the processing, formulation, and manufacture of pharmaceutical and neutraceutical products, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediates, compendial articles, and analytical reagents. In semiconductor manufacturing, deionized water's properties for absorbing minerals, enhancing detergents and residue-free drying make it useful for rinsing and cleaning semiconductor wafers. It is also used in wet etching, bacterial testing and many other processes throughout the fabrication facility. Deionized water is commonly used to top up lead-acid batteries, cooling systems and for other applications. Deionized water is often used as an ingredient to add purity, stability and performance in many hair care, skin care, body care, baby care, sun care and makeup products, where it is sometimes referred to as “aqua” on product ingredient labels. Because of its high relative dielectric constant, deionized water is used as a high voltage dielectric in many pulsed power applications for energy research. Deionized water is used as both an ingredient and a process element in food and beverage processing. As an ingredient, it offers stability, purity and sanitation. As a process element, it is used for effective sanitation. In industrial plants, DI water facilitates water and wastewater recycling; adds efficiency and life extension to boiler and steam processes. Deionized water is used to pretreat boiler feed water to reduce scaling and energy use and to control deposition, carryover and corrosion in the boiler system. As such, DI water is an essential element in boiler water recycling. Deionized water can pretreat cooling tower make-up water to help reduce scaling and reduce energy use in power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, food processing plants, semiconductor plants, and other industrial facilities. When used as a rinse after washing cars, windows, and similar applications, deionized spot-free rinse water dries without leaving spots caused by dissolved solutes, eliminating post-wash wipedowns. Flow meters, conductivity and resistivity meters, temperature sensors, pH sensors and hydrogen sulfide sensors, for example, along with other scientific instruments are widely used in many remote locations for a variety of purposes including monitoring the condition of a water purification system. It is often necessary for workmen to physically visit the remote sites to monitor the flow meters or other instruments (e.g., samplers) to gather data. Multiple site visits in numerous locations is a challenging, labor intensive, and expensive task. Ensuring that each site is operational, and that maintenance or service is regularly scheduled provides for obtaining accurate and reliable data. SUMMARY In accordance with one aspect, there is provided a method of treating water in a water treatment system. The method comprises introducing water to be treated into an ion exchange bed of the water treatment system to produce treated water, receiving an output water quality indication from a controller associated with the ion exchange bed, determining, by an algorithm, responsive to the output water quality indication, whether to replace the ion exchange bed based on