Fluid treatment apparatus with input and output fluid sensing

• US 20050247113A1
• Filed: 05/07/2004
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BL Technologies Inc. (Ashland Global Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sensicore, Inc. (Veolia Environnement SA)
• Inventors: Martin, Glenn, Man, Piu Francis, Kahn, Malcolm R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,104,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/53.10
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0006 Calibrating gas analysers
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/18 Water

Abstract

Various sensor unit configurations are disclosed within the context of a fluid quality monitoring system. The distribution of sensor units can be accomplished using existing product distribution channels to sell, distribute and install sensor units so that a fluid distribution monitoring system can be established at relatively low cost, on a wider basis, and by locating sensor units at the most desirable location from problem detection standpoint, the location of the end user.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a fluid, comprising:

a fluid treatment device;

a first sensor configured to be exposed to pre-treatment fluid that enters the fluid treatment device; and

a second sensor configured to be exposed to post-treatment fluid.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said fluid is water.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the fluid treatment device comprises at least one of a filter housing, a filter, a water-softening device, a distillation device, and a reverse-osmosis filtration device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the fluid treatment device comprises a filter housing for holding a filter, the first sensor being configured to be exposed to pre-treatment fluid and the second sensor being configured to be exposed post-treatment fluid.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first sensor comprises a plurality of sensing elements.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the second sensor comprises a plurality of sensing elements.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first sensor comprises an at least one of an ion-selective sensing element, an amperometric sensing element, a potentiometric sensing element, a conductivity sensing element, a temperature sensing element, an oxidation-reduction potential sensing element, a chlorine sensing element, an oxygen sensing element, an immunosensor, a DNA probe and an optical sensor.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the second sensor comprises at least one of an ion-selective sensing element, an amperometric sensing element, a potentiometric sensing element, a conductivity sensing element, a temperature sensing element, an oxidation-reduction potential sensing element, a chlorine sensing element, an oxygen sensing element, an immunosensor, a DNA probe and an optical sensor.

9. The system of claim 4, further comprising a processing unit coupled to the first and second sensors, the processing unit being configured to compare measurement data generated by the first and second sensors.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a communication unit coupled to the processing unit, the communication unit being configured to communicate measurement results generated by the processing unit to a remote communication device.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the processing unit comprises a first processing unit and a second processing unit, wherein the first processing unit is arranged with and coupled to the first sensor, and wherein the second processing unit is arranged with and coupled to the second sensor.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the first and second sensor units are attached to the filter housing.

13. The system of claim 4, further comprising a filter that filters the fluid.

14. The system of claims 13, wherein the first and second sensors are attached to the filter.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first and second sensor units are embedded within the filter.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate an identifier to indicate a replacement condition for a filter to be placed in the filter housing based upon the comparison of the measurement data from the first and second sensors.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising an indicator that indicates the replacement condition for the filter.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising a communication unit that communicates the replacement condition to a remote communication device.

19. The system of claim 9, further comprising a third sensor configured to be exposed to the pre-treatment fluid,

wherein the third sensor is coupled to the processing unit, and

wherein the processing unit is configured to

operate in conjunction with the first sensor to monitor the fluid,

generate a variable based on said monitoring,

generate a preliminary identifier if the variable is indicative of a detection condition, and

operate in conjunction with the third sensor to determine whether the detection condition has occurred based on new data.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a communication unit configured to report the detection condition to a remote communication device if the at least one processing unit confirms that the detection condition has occurred.

21. The system of claim 9, further comprising a third sensor unit configured to the pre-treatment fluid,

wherein the third sensor unit is coupled to the processing unit, and

wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to generate a sensor alert identifier if the third sensor provides a measurement reading that differs by a predetermined amount from a contemporaneous measurement reading of a same type provided by the first sensor.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the sensor alert identifier is indicative that the first sensor unit may be faulty.

23. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one of the first and second sensors is recalibrated by another sensor sensing substantially the same fluid conditions.

24. The system of claim 4, wherein the processing unit is configured to provide raw data generated by first and second sensors to the communication unit for communicating the raw data to a remote communication device.

25. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing unit is configured to provide processed data, locally processed by the processing unit, to the communication unit for communicating the processed data to the remote communication device.

26. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive an instruction from the remote communication device via the communication unit instructing the processing unit to determine in conjunction with the second sensor whether the detection condition occurred.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the fluid treatment device comprises a filter,

wherein the first sensor is attached to the filter, the first sensor being configured to be exposed to pre-treatment fluid, and

wherein the second sensor is attached to the filter, the second sensor being configured to be exposed to post-treatment fluid.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the first sensor comprises a plurality of sensing elements.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the second sensor comprises a plurality of sensing elements.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the first sensor comprises an at least one of an ion-selective sensing element, an amperometric sensing element, a potentiometric sensing element, a conductivity sensing element, a temperature sensing element, an oxidation-reduction potential sensing element, a chlorine sensing element, an oxygen sensing element, an immunosensor, a DNA probe and an optical sensor.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the second sensor comprises an at least one of an ion-selective sensing element, an amperometric sensing element, a potentiometric sensing element, a conductivity sensing element, a temperature sensing element, an oxidation-reduction potential sensing element, a chlorine sensing element, an oxygen sensing element, an immunosensor, a DNA probe and an optical sensor.

32. The system of claim 27, further comprising processing unit attached to the filter, the processing unit being configured to compare measurement data generated by the first and second sensors.

33. The system of claim 27, further comprising an interface attached to the filter that allows the first and second sensors to communicate with a processing unit located outside the filter.

34. The system of claim 27, further comprising:

a first processing unit arranged with and coupled to the first sensor; and

a second processing unit arranged with and coupled to the second sensor, the first and second processing units being configured to compare measurement data generated by the first and second sensors.

35. The system of claim 27, wherein the first and second sensors are embedded within the filter.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate an identifier to indicate a replacement condition for the filter based upon the comparison of the measurement data from the first and second sensors.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the first and second processing units are configured to generate an identifier to indicate a replacement condition for the filter based upon the comparison of the measurement data from the first and second sensors.

38. The system of claim 27, further comprising a third sensor attached to the filter.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the third sensor comprises a plurality of sensing elements configured to be exposed to pre-treatment fluid.

40. The system of claim 32, further comprising a third sensor attached to the filter and having a plurality of sensors configured to be exposed to pre-treatment fluid, wherein the third sensor is coupled to the processing unit,

wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to

operate in conjunction with the first sensor to monitor the fluid,

generate a variable based on said monitoring,

generate a preliminary identifier if the variable is indicative of a detection condition, and

operate in conjunction with the third sensor to determine whether the detection condition has occurred based on new data.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the processing unit is configured to communicate with a communication unit and to instruct the communication unit to report the detection condition to another communication unit if the processing unit confirms that the detection condition has occurred.

42. The system of claim 32, further comprising a third sensor attached to the filter and having a plurality of sensing elements configured to be exposed to pre-treatment fluid, wherein the third sensor is coupled to the processing unit, and

wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to generate a sensor alert identifier to be communicated to an indicator if the third sensor provides a measurement reading that differs by a predetermined amount from a contemporaneous measurement reading of a same type provided by the first sensor.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the sensor alert identifier is indicative that the first sensor may be faulty.

44. The system of claim 32, wherein the processing unit is configured to provide raw data generated by first and second sensors to the communication unit for communicating the raw data to the remote communication device.

45. The system of claim 32, wherein the processing unit is configured to provide processed data, locally processed by the processing unit, to the communication unit for communicating the processed data to a remote communication device.

46. The system of claim 32, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive an instruction from a remote communication device via the interface instructing the processing unit to determine in conjunction with the second sensor whether the detection condition occurred.

47. A method for monitoring a fluid, comprising:

sensing pre-treatment fluid that enters a fluid treatment device with a first sensor configured to be exposed to the pre-treatment fluid; and

sensing post-treatment fluid treated by the fluid treatment device with a second sensor configured to be exposed to the post-treatment fluid.