# US 2014/0190877 A1 · Electricity-free water purification installation with a membrane filter and a system of automatic backwashing of the filter > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0190877 A1 - Document ID: US20140190877A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/131,176 - Filed: 2012-07-05 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2011-07-06 - Inventors: Robertus Martinus Van Opdorp - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140190877A1 ## CPC - B01D 29/66: by flushing, e.g. counter-current air-bumps - B01D 61/18: Apparatus therefor - B01D 65/02: Membrane cleaning or sterilisation {; Membrane regeneration} - C02F 1/44: by dialysis, osmosis or reverse osmosis {(general membrane separation processes B01D61/00, membrane modules B01D63/00, electrodialysis C02F1/4693, combination of membrane modules and bioreactors C02F3/1268)} - B01D 2201/583: using the kinetic energy of the fluid circulating in the filtering device - B01D 2313/243: Pumps - B01D 2313/246: Energy recovery means - B01D 2313/46: Supply, recovery or discharge mechanisms of washing members - B01D 2321/04: Backflushing - B01D 2321/12: Use of permeate - C02F 2201/006: Cartridges - C02F 2201/009: Apparatus with independent power supply, e.g. solar cells, windpower or fuel cells - C02F 2303/16: Regeneration of sorbents, filters - Y02A 20/212: Solar-powered wastewater sewage treatment, e.g. spray evaporation - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) - 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) - Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ## Abstract Electricity free operating water purification installation with a membrane filter and a system of automatic backwashing of that filter characterised in that during the operation a fixed percentage is diversed from the outflow of filtered water and is stored in a container under progressive pressure, which to a certain maximum pressure is cut of from a feedback to the membrane filter, so that consequently after filtration of a certain volume of polluted water through the membrane filter the pressure in the container will exceed the maximum resistible pressure by the one way closure, which then will open so that the contents of the container will be forced back through the membrane filter under higher pressure than the original filtration pressure, whereby is provided in automatic closure after the container is emptied. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-7. (canceled) ### Claim 8 An electricity-free water treatment plant, comprising a membrane filter and a system of automatic backwashing of the membrane filter, wherein the water treatment plant further comprises: a supply pump configured to be operated physically to extract water to be treated from a wastewater source, and to push it with a pressure from a wastewater entrance through the membrane filter to an outlet to produce filtrate, in a filtering process; a rinsing water container, comprising a counter pressure generator; a non-electric secondary pump configured to divert, during the filtering process, a part of the filtrate through a one-way valve into the rinsing water container; a pressure limiting seal configured to be opened and closed, which seal is not electronically controlled, the seal sealing off the rinsing water container at a certain pressure from a feedback to the membrane filter, wherein the seal is configured to be non-electronically opened by overpressure, to more or less simultaneously interrupt the inflow of filtrate from the membrane filter, to close the drain to the outlet, and to open a drain on the wastewater entrance of the membrane filter, thereby allowing rinsing water from the rinsing water container to be discharged after backwashing through the membrane filter. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The water treatment plant according to claim 8, wherein the counter pressure generator comprises a bellow. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The water treatment plant according to claim 8, wherein the supply pump and the secondary pump are pulse pumps with a combined drive and different output rates, of which the supply pump has the higher output, while the secondary pump has the smaller output. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The water treatment plant according to claim 8, wherein the water treatment plant is configured to cause to correspond to each other: a percentage of filtrate to be diverted, the contents of the rinsing water container and the counter pressure generated within it, the pressure capacity and output of the secondary pump, and a maximum pressure resistance of the pressure limiting seal, such that, after the filtration of a given volume of wastewater, the rinsing water container, under a maximum pressure permitted by the pressure limiting seal, is filled with sufficient filtrate to wash back one time through the membrane filter a volume equal to the content of the membrane filter, and under a pressure which is at least twice the filtering pressure. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The water treatment plant according to claim 8, wherein the pressure limiting seal comprises: a closing component in a flow path from the filter to the rinsing water container, wherein the closing component is configured to be moved between a position in which it closes the connection between the rinsing water container and a feedback to the membrane filter; and a magnetic link comprising a component linked to the closing component and magnetically linkable by a magnetic force to a component fixed with respect to the rinsing water container, such that the closing component is fixed in the sealed position with a magnetic force which corresponds to a maximum pressure to be reached in the rinsing water container, where the actual pressure in the rinsing water container affecting the closing component results in a tensile force on the magnetic link with the opposite effect to that of the magnetic force. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The water treatment plant according to claim 12, wherein the closing component is formed by a piston which is configured to move axially in a cylinder, and which, in a closing position, is magnetically connected to the component which is fixed with respect to the rinsing water container, whereby in the closing position the piston closes off a feedback from the rinsing water container to the membrane filter and, in a temporary position wherein the magnetic link is interrupted as a consequence of overpressure in the rinsing water container, is moved in an axial direction against the pressure of a coil spring, in which temporary position a connection between the rinsing water container and the feedback is open for as long as rinsing water is pressed out of the rinsing water container by the counter pressure generator. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The water treatment plant according to claim 8, comprising indirectly controlled magnet valves configured to simultaneously effect blocking or passage of filtrate and rinsing water during the opening and closing of the pressure limiting seal, whereby an internal rod magnet positioned in each valve is controlled by two movable permanent magnets with polarisation opposite to each other, placed in sequence alongside the rod magnet outside that valve, wherein the magnet valves are mounted on a housing of the pressure limiting seal such that they are opened and closed by interaction between the rod magnets placed in the valve and oppositely polarised permanent magnets placed in an axial direction one behind the other on a moving component of the pressure limiting seal.