DE29617981U1 - Water disinfection system - Google Patents

Description

Water disinfection system

Water disinfection systems are used especially in the dental and medical fields to improve water quality and to break down the germs and bacterial strains still contained in drinking water or added through the pipes. This prevents inflammation or even diseases in organs whose immune system has been weakened, for example by operations, which are rinsed with water or otherwise come into contact with it.

The known water disinfection systems work according to different functional principles, e.g.

Filtration, addition of chemical agents such as chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, ozone, etc., irradiation.

The disadvantage of using chemical agents is the relatively high technical and economic effort required to dose these agents and to monitor their dosage, as they are mostly cell poisons. The water treated in this way no longer complies with the drinking water regulations.

Some systems also work in combination, i.e. by means of filters, addition of chemical agents and irradiation.

The present invention is an economical and safe alternative to the known water disinfection systems. The water flowing through is intensively irradiated within a known, tubular double spiral system made of ozone-free quartz glass, in the middle of which is a UV burner. The disadvantage of this system is the poor cleaning option of the double glass spiral if cloudiness forms on the inside of the glass spiral as a result of phosphate or lime deposits and the water flowing through can therefore no longer be intensively irradiated.

Cleaning - depending on the water quality - at different intervals, e.g. by rinsing with technical citric acid, is therefore necessary.

Furthermore, irradiation with UV light has the disadvantage that a depot effect within the supply lines of the respective device is not achieved and therefore new contamination occurs in these areas.

The invention is based on the task of solving the difficulties listed above in a technically correct and economically justifiable manner.

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In a housing there is one double glass spiral made of ozone-free quartz glass, or two in series in a tandem arrangement. One side of the pipe spiral forms the water inlet, the other end the water outlet. In the middle of each glass spiral there is a UV burner that intensively irradiates the water flowing through. In order to reduce the cloudiness that - depending on the water quality - sooner or later occurs on the inside of the glass spiral, there is a storage container inside the housing for holding a rinsing liquid, preferably technical citric acid. From this storage container the rinsing flow is passed through the double spiral via a pump that is also installed until the coating is removed and the spiral is crystal clear again.

The flushing flow is directed out of the container and back into it after the corresponding valves in the circuit have been activated. The time required for this can be individually set using a built-in electronic timer. This process can run automatically thanks to the built-in components, e.g. during work breaks, i.e. without interrupting work.

A second container and pump are also built into the housing. The container contains 3% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) enriched with silver and phosphate to improve the depot effect. This agent is well known and is commercially available for alternative purposes.

Both pumps can only be switched separately. To do this, the required path is opened via the water inlet pressure and switching of the respective required valves via a special valve. Precautions must be taken to ensure that the _H202 solution cannot reach the rinsing area of the citric acid, but that the citric acid can also reach the area of the ^(V solution outside the housing area, depending on the preselected valve position. This has the advantage that limescale deposits on cannulas and nozzle holes can be removed automatically. This eliminates the need for manual cleaning or at least greatly reduces it.

The present circuit arrangement also ensures that if the pressure in the tap water system drops below 1.8 bar, the rinsing or disinfection phase can no longer be initiated, as the servo-controlled valves then close and thus no cleaning or disinfection liquid can reach the water inlet area.

Since the disinfectant solution must be allowed to take effect for between 3 and 12 hours to break down the contamination, depending on the level of contamination, the process of disinfecting the device should only be carried out manually using a safety system provided.

In order to be able to return to the working cycle after disinfecting the device, a key switch must first be operated. Only then can the corresponding inlet valve for the inlet water flow to the glass spiral be switched.

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The containers for H2O2 and citric acid are each equipped with optical and acoustic controls for level monitoring. The acoustic signal can be switched off in the reserve area and in the "empty" or "full" area. However, when the main switch is operated again, the acoustic signal is activated again to prevent the reported fill level from being forgotten. The optical displays remain in operation and cannot be influenced by the "acknowledge button" of the acoustic signal. After a red LED is displayed for "empty" for H2O2 and "full" for citric acid, the respective pump can only be put into operation again after the corresponding liquid level has been corrected.

The UV burner is monitored via an optical display. If the UV burner fails, the water continues to flow into the device area without being irradiated, but there are no interruptions to work due to the water being switched off.

The service life of the UV lamp is significantly increased by using an electronic ballast.

The device operates almost silently during the working cycle, as only the UV burner is in operation and can therefore be set up in the respective practice. If, due to a lack of space or other reasons, the device is to be set up in an equipment room, for example, all functions can be monitored and, if necessary, operated from here via a special display box with remote control.

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Claims (7)

Sheet - 4 - Ralentan nsorüche 1. Water disinfection system in which the water supplied to the respective device on the inlet side is exposed to intensive UV radiation by being guided in a double-spiral glass tube with an internal UV burner for the purpose of better fanning out, characterized by the following features: Circuit arrangement for supplying tap water through an ozone-free quartz glass tube system designed as a double spiral, in which the possibility of chemical cleaning of the inside of the glass tube is provided to maintain the UV irradiation principle. Furthermore, devices are provided that supplement the depot effect that is not present in the UV irradiation principle in such a way that the entire device line system can be filled with an active substance that can prevent the formation of germs and bacterial strains during work breaks. This circuit principle also enables cleaning of limescale deposits inside the device and on the connected instruments. Special decalcification devices for the device area are therefore no longer required. For the circuit arrangement, see cycles 1 to 4 and the circuit diagram: 5/ Sheet - 5 - Circuit arrangement: Cycle 1 : Water flow "irradiation", ie normal working position. Switching sequence: R 1 (Pos. 7) is opened by inlet water pressure, main valve (Pos. 1) open, water flows through the tubes UV 1 / UV 2 (Pos. 18) and is thereby intensively irradiated with UV. Output valve (Pos. 2) open. R4 (Pos. 17) is opened by inlet water pressure. Remark: In the event of a power failure and/or failure of the UV burner, work can continue without "disinfection" as there is no interruption in the water supply. Cycle 2: Cleaning of the glass tube(s) using, for example, technical citric acid. Circuit sequence: R 1 (Pos. 7) open; pilot (Pos. 6) open; main valve (Pos. 1) closed; pilot Citrus B (Pos. 4) open; valve Citrus A (Pos. 9) open; pump (Pos. 10) delivers from tank 1E1A (Pos. 12); outlet valve (Pos. 2) closed; pilot Citrus A (Pos. 3) open; valve (Pos. 8) open. The citric acid is pumped through the glass coil(s) UV 1 / UV 2 at the above valve positions. Remark: The process of “cleaning the glass tubes” using cleaning agents can only be initiated by activating the pilot (item 6). Cycle 3: Disinfection of the pipe system inside the device, e.g. using H2O2. Circuit sequence: R 1 (item 7) open; pilot (item 6) open; main valve (item 1) closed; pump (item 13) feeds from tank BEH1A (item 16) via R3 (item 14) into the device inlet. Remark: By closing the main valve (item 1) with tap water via the pilot (item 6), no disinfection solution can enter the fresh water circuit. 6/ · ■ Sheet - 6 - Cycle 4: Decalcification of nozzle openings, valve holes, etc. inside the device. Switching sequence: R 1 (item 7) open; pilot (item 6) open; main valve (item 1) closed; pump (item 10) feeds from tank BEH1E1A (item 12) via glass tubes UV 1 / UV 2 (item 18) and outlet valve (item 2) open, to the device inlet. Remark: This makes it possible to remove limescale build-up within the device. A separate descaling device for the device area is no longer required. 7/ Sheet-7- 2. Water disinfection system according to claim 1, characterized in that two or more double-spiral glass tubes are present to increase the disinfection volume. 3. Water disinfection system according to claim 1, which has storage containers for holding cleaning and disinfection agents, in which a level monitoring of the fill levels is present and is displayed optically and acoustically. 4. Water disinfection system according to claim 1, wherein the optically displayed fill level is supplemented by an acoustic signal that can be switched off using a so-called acknowledgement button. If the main switch is pressed again after switching off, the acoustic signal sounds again in order to avoid forgetting the respective fill level message. 5. Water disinfection systems according to claim 1, characterized in that the valves for the cleaning and disinfectant agents are servo-controlled by the water inlet pressure. As a result, the disinfectant or cleaning agent pump is only activated when there is a water pressure of approx. 2 bar, i.e. if the pressure drops, e.g. if a pipe breaks, no disinfectant or cleaning agent can get into the fresh water network. 6. Water disinfection system according to claim 1, characterized in that To return to the basic function after the disinfection phase, a key switch must be manually reset by an operator for safety reasons. 7. Water disinfection system according to claim 1, characterized in that the valves for the cleaning and disinfecting agent are replaced by manually operable, mechanical actuators, preferably ball valves, which in their actuating position have corresponding switching means which initiate the respective pump switching process. An example circuit arrangement is shown in the drawing on page 9. 8th/