US 10,519,051 B2Granted

Systems and methods for the treatment of ballast water

OwnerRichard W. Fahs, II, Matthew D. W. Fahsinventors

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Abstract

A system has been developed to treat ballast water by selectively dissociating target molecules into component products compositionally distinct from the target molecule, wherein the bonds of the target molecule do not reform because the components are no longer reactive with each other. Dissociation is affected by treating the target molecule with light at a frequency and intensity, alone or in combination with a catalyst in an amount effective to selectively break bonds within the target molecule. Dissociation does not result in re-association into the target molecule by the reverse process, and does not produce component products which have a change in oxidation number or state incorporated oxygen or other additives because the process does not proceed via a typical reduction-oxidation mechanism.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system for fluid remediation comprising:

a chamber having an interior and an exterior, one or more inlet ports, and one or more outlet ports,
one or more energy of dissociation sources coupled to a pulse generator, and
one or more fluid treatment units coupled to the one or more inlet ports of the chamber,
wherein the system is configured so that fluid is capable of flowing into the chamber through the one or more inlet ports, through the one or more fluid treatment units proximate to the one or more energy of dissociation sources for treatment of the fluid, and out of the chamber through the one or more outlet ports,
wherein the one or more energy of dissociation sources is configured to provide one or more pulses of energy in an effective amount, intensity, pulse frequency, and pulse duration to dissociate one or more target bonds in one or more target molecules present in the fluid to dissociate the one or more target molecules into component products comprising ions or atoms of elements found within the one or more target molecules with a chemical formula distinct from the one or more target molecules, and
wherein the one or more energy of dissociation sources comprises:
a protective tube, and
one or more flash tubes disposed within an interior of the protective tube,
wherein the one or more energy of dissociation sources comprises at least one optical filter disposed to filter selected wavelengths of light produced by the one or more flash tubes to suppress production of one or more unwanted byproducts.

6 more elements

A system for fluid remediation comprising:

a chamber having an interior and an exterior, one or more inlet ports, and one or more outlet ports,
one or more energy of dissociation sources coupled to a pulse generator, and
one or more fluid treatment units coupled to the one or more inlet ports of the chamber,
wherein the system is configured so that fluid is capable of flowing into the chamber through the one or more inlet ports, through the one or more fluid treatment units proximate to the one or more energy of dissociation sources for treatment of the fluid, and out of the chamber through the one or more outlet ports,
wherein the one or more energy of dissociation sources is configured to provide one or more pulses of energy in an effective amount, intensity, pulse frequency, and pulse duration to dissociate one or more target bonds in one or more target molecules present in the fluid to dissociate the one or more target molecules into component products comprising ions or atoms of elements found within the one or more target molecules with a chemical formula distinct from the one or more target molecules, and
wherein the one or more energy of dissociation sources comprises:
a protective tube, and
one or more flash tubes disposed within an interior of the protective tube and operable to produce ultraviolet light in a wavelength range of 185 to 280 nanometers,
wherein an optical filter is disposed to filter the produced ultraviolet light and is operable to:
permit light transmission in a selected portion of the wavelength range that includes a wavelength of 254 nanometers, and
suppress light transmission in another portion of the wavelength range that is outside the selected portion of the wavelength range.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/207,012Filed 30 Nov 2018 · continuation
Priority: 25 Aug 2009
Published: US 2019/0337826 A17 Nov 2019
Granted: 31 Dec 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

C02F 1/725
By oxidation: by catalytic oxidation
C02F 1/001
Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage: processes for the treatment of water whereby the filtration technique is of importance
C02F 1/30
Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage: by irradiation
C02F 1/325
With ultraviolet light: irradiation devices or lamp constructions

Family

Application61/236,592Us provisional application · filed 25 Aug 2009
Application61/306,281Us provisional application · filed 19 Feb 2010
Application61/315,262Us provisional application · filed 18 Mar 2010
Application12/861,524Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 23 Aug 2010
Application13/404,929Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 24 Feb 2012
US 8,202,500 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 19 Jun 2012
Application61/715,640Us provisional application · filed 18 Oct 2012
Application13/775,773Parent of this continuation · filed 25 Feb 2013
US 9,073,766 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 7 Jul 2015
US 2019/0337826 A1Pre-grant publication · published 7 Nov 2019
US 10,287,193 B2Parent of this continuation
Application13/775,773Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 2011/0206593 A1Published application
US 2013/0056648 A1Published application
US 2013/0213899 A1Published application
US 10,519,051 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.