# US 2014/0190909 A1 · Fresh water generation method

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- Number: US 2014/0190909 A1
- Document ID: US20140190909A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/239,911
- Filed: 2012-08-21
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2011-08-24
- Assignees: Toray Industries, Inc.
- Inventors: Masahide Taniguchi; Tomohiro Taniguchi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140190909A1

## CPC

- B01D 21/2416: {Liquid distributors with a plurality of feed points}
- B01D 36/04: Combinations of filters with settling tanks
- B01D 61/10: Accessories; Auxiliary operations
- C02F 1/00: Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage (C02F3/00 - C02F9/00 take precedence)
- C02F 1/006: {Water distributors either inside a treatment tank or directing the water to several treatment tanks; Water treatment plants incorporating these distributors, with or without chemical or biological tanks (for settling tanks B01D21/24)}
- C02F 1/441: {by reverse osmosis}
- B01D 21/02: Settling tanks {with single outlets for the separated liquid}
- C02F 3/1273: {Submerged membrane bioreactors}
- C02F 2103/007: {Contaminated open waterways, rivers, lakes or ponds}
- C02F 2209/001: Upstream control, i.e. monitoring for predictive control
- C02F 2209/08: Chemical Oxygen Demand [COD]; Biological Oxygen Demand [BOD]
- C02F 2209/20: Total organic carbon [TOC]
- Y02A 20/131: Reverse-osmosis
- Y02W 10/10: Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage
- 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
- Y02W: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT

## Abstract

A fresh water generation method by which product water satisfying target water quality can be stably and efficiently obtained even when raw water quality fluctuates, is provided by branching at least a part of a water flow line through which raw water 1 flows into a plurality of branch lines including a branch line A1 and a branch line A2 and differentiating retention times from branching to joining together between the branch line A1 and the branch line A2, in a fresh water generation method for obtaining product water by treating raw water 1.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A fresh water generation method for obtaining product water by treating raw water, the method comprising branching at least a part of a water flow line through which raw water flows into a plurality of branch lines including a branch line A1 and a branch line A2 and differentiating retention times from branching to joining together between the branch line A1 and the branch line A2.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein a volume of the branch line A1 is differentiated from a volume of the branch line A2.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein a feed flow rate to the branch line A1 is made to be substantially equivalent to a feed flow rate to the branch line A2.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein the branch line A1 and the branch line A2 have a function of sedimentation separation.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein the raw water is fed to the branch line A1 and the branch line A2 substantially at the same time.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein the retention times after branched are differentiated between the branch line A1 and the branch line A2, and thereafter a treatment is performed with a pretreatment unit in each branch line of the branch line A1 and the branch line A2, followed by joining together.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein a difference between the retention time in the branch line A1 and the retention time in the branch line A2 is from 4 hours to 8.5 hours.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein the branch lines comprise n lines (with the proviso that n is a natural number of 3 or more), and a difference in retention time between the different lines is from 8/n hours to 17/n hours, or from 8-8/n hours to 17-17/n hours.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein fresh water is produced using the raw water joined together from the plurality of branch lines.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein biological treatment is performed using the raw water joined together from the plurality of branch lines.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein a total salt concentration of the raw water fluctuates twice or more for one year.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The fresh water generation method according to claim 1, wherein raw water quality is measured at the time of feeding the raw water to the branch line A1 and the branch line A2, when the raw water quality satisfies predetermined conditions, the raw water is taken, and when the raw water quality does not satisfy the conditions, the raw water is fed to neither the branch line A1 nor the branch line A2.