# US 10,501,343 B1 · Method of treating water with an ion exchange bed in a water treatment system

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,501,343 B1
- Document ID: US10501343B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 16/358,190
- Filed: 2019-03-19
- Granted: 2019-12-10
- Earliest claimed: 2018-08-08
- Assignees: Evoqua Water Technologies LLC
- Applicants: Evoqua Water Technologies LLC
- Inventors: Erich G. Hoefferle; Isabel Rozario; Stephen Mildner
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10501343B1

## CPC

- C02F 1/008: {Control or steering systems not provided for elsewhere in subclass C02F}
- C02F 1/42: by ion-exchange (ion-exchange in general B01J)
- B01J 49/85: Controlling or regulating devices therefor
- C02F 1/283: {using coal, charred products, or inorganic mixtures containing them}
- C02F 1/441: {by reverse osmosis}
- C02F 1/442: {by nanofiltration}
- C02F 1/444: {by ultrafiltration or microfiltration}
- C02F 1/4693: {electrodialysis}
- C02F 1/4695: {electrodeionisation}
- C02F 1/76: with halogens or compounds of halogens {(C02F1/4674 takes precedence)}
- C02F 2103/026: {Treating water for medical or cosmetic purposes}
- C02F 2103/04: for obtaining ultra-pure water
- C02F 2103/12: from the silicate or ceramic industries, e.g. waste waters from cement or glass factories
- C02F 2103/32: from the food or foodstuff industry, e.g. brewery waste waters
- C02F 2209/001: Upstream control, i.e. monitoring for predictive control
- C02F 2209/006: comprising a software program or a logic diagram
- C02F 2209/008: comprising telecommunication features, e.g. modems or antennas
- C02F 2209/02: Temperature
- C02F 2209/03: Pressure
- C02F 2209/04: Oxidation reduction potential [ORP]
- C02F 2209/05: Conductivity or salinity
- C02F 2209/055: Hardness
- C02F 2209/06: pH
- C02F 2209/11: Turbidity
- C02F 2209/40: Liquid flow rate
- C02F 2209/42: Liquid level
- C02F 2209/445: Filter life
- C02F 2303/14: Maintenance of water treatment installations
- C02F 2303/16: Regeneration of sorbents, filters
- C02F: TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE (separation in general B01D; special arrangements on waterborne vessels of installations for treating water, waste water or sewage, e.g. for producing fresh water, B63J; adding materials to water to prevent corrosion C23F; treating radioactively-contaminated liquids G21F9/04; regeneration of reactants for recirculation into processes, see the relevant places for the processes)
- B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS

## Abstract

A method of treating water in a water treatment system after a replacement of an ion exchange bed includes introducing water to be treated into the ion exchange bed of the water treatment system to produce treated water, calculating a current exchange daily average flow rate of water through the water treatment system, calculating a cumulative daily average flow rate of water through the water treatment system, and determining an estimated number of days remaining to exhaustion of the ion exchange bed based on the current exchange daily average flow rate and the cumulative daily average flow rate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of treating water with an ion exchange bed in a water treatment system, the method comprising:
introducing water to be treated into the ion exchange bed of the water treatment system to produce treated water;
calculating a current exchange daily average flow rate of water through the water treatment system for a current period of time;
calculating a cumulative daily average flow rate of water through the water treatment system including calculating the exchange daily average flow rate of water for a plurality of periods time between a plurality of instances of replacing the ion exchange bed;
determining an estimated number of days remaining to exhaustion of the ion exchange bed during the current period of time based on the current exchange daily average flow rate and the cumulative daily average flow rate;
generating a request for replacement of the ion exchange bed based on the estimated number of days remaining; and
transmitting the generated request for replacement of the ion exchange bed to a central server.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein determining the estimated number of days remaining comprises determining a weighted daily average flow rate involving applying a greater weighting to the cumulative daily average flow rate than a weighting applied to the current exchange daily average flow rate.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein determining the weighted daily average flow rate includes performing a calculation as follows:
Fweighted=[(wcumulative)×(Fcumulative)]+[(wcurrent)×(Fcurrent)]
wherein,
Fweighted=weighted daily average flow rate,
Fcurrent=current exchange daily average flow rate,
Fcumulative=cumulative daily average flow rate,
0.5≤wcumulative≤0.9,
0.1<wcurrent<0.5,
wcumulative+wcurrent=1.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein 0.2<wcurrent<0.4.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein wcurrent is about 0.3.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the water treatment system is located at a first site and the method further comprises determining whether to replace the ion exchange bed of the water treatment system at the first site and a second ion exchange bed of another water treatment system at a second site in a same service trip.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether to replace both the ion exchange bed of the water treatment system at the first site and the second ion exchange bed of the another water treatment system at the second site in the same service trip includes weighing a cost associated with regenerating the ion exchange bed from the first site and the ion exchange bed from the second site against a cost associated with different service trips to the first and the second sites.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the water treatment system is located at a first site in a network of a plurality of different sites each including at least one water treatment system having an ion exchange bed, and the method further comprises determining a subset of ion exchange beds of the plurality of sites to be replaced in a same service trip.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the cumulative daily average flow rate of water includes calculating a prior period average daily flow rate of water through the water treatment system for a time period including a predetermined number of instances of replacing the ion exchange bed immediately preceding the receipt of indication of replacement.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein calculating the prior period average daily flow rate of water includes applying a greater weight to flow rates of water through the ion exchange bed closer in time to the current period than to flow rates of water through the water treatment system further in time from the current period.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein determining the estimated number of days remaining to exhaustion is further based on a current tank capacity of the ion exchange bed and an average conductivity of the water for a current period.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
measuring a conductivity of the water to be treated during a current period;
determining a current average conductivity of water to be treated during the current period; and
wherein determining the estimated number of days remaining to exhaustion is further based on the determined current average conductivity.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein determining the estimated number of days remaining to exhaustion comprises performing a calculation as follows:
D
remaining
=
(
TC
current
(
ρ
current
*
(
conductivity
⁢
⁢
TDS
⁢
⁢
conv
)
⁢
/
⁢
grains
⁢
⁢
conversion
)
)
)
(
(
w
cumulative
*
F
cumulative
)
+
(
w
current
*
F
current
)
)
where,
Dremaining=estimated number of days remaining to exhaustion,
TCcurrent=current tank capacity,
ρcurrent=current daily average conductivity,
0.5≤wcumulative≤0.9,
Fcumulative=cumulative daily average flow rate,
0.1<wcurrent<0.5,
Fcurrent=current average flow rate,
wcumulative+wcurrent=1,
conductivity TDS conv=conductivity conversion factor ppm, and grains conversion=grains conversion factor is grains per gallon.