Carwash and wastewater regeneration system
A means and method of treating wastewater generated during the washing of on road and off-road vehicles by means of a filtration, advanced oxidation and post process filtration to produce a water consisting of near neutral pH, Low Total Dissolved Solids, Low Total Suspended Solids, Low Iron, Low Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), Low Bacteria, Low Sulfur and high clarity, such that the water is suited for all commercial vehicle washing operations.
1 . A vehicle washing system comprising: a receptacle for wastewater; a reclaim tank configured to receive wastewater from the receptacle and to separate low and high density solids in wastewater; a pump operable to draw wastewater from the reclaim tank; an injector nozzle fluidly coupled downstream of the pump and operable to introduce oxidizer into the wastewater; a bypass circuit configured to bypass the injector nozzle and having lower flow resistance than the injector nozzle, the bypass circuit comprising a control valve operable to vary flow rate in the injector nozzle; a junction fluidly coupled downstream of, and configured to join fluid under process from, the bypass circuit and the injector nozzle; an electro-chemical cell fluidly coupled downstream of the junction and comprising a plurality of electrodes coated with Mixed Metal Oxides (MMO}, and wherein the plurality of electrodes are configured to have a voltage potential imposed between them to oxidize organic compounds when applied to the wastewater and resulting in forming Chlorine Dioxide (C102), wherein the voltage potential is imposed in a time variant manner during operation, and wherein the time variant manner in which voltage potential is imposed includes a plurality of non-zero voltages; a polishing filter fluidly coupled downstream of the electro-chemical cell and comprising a pressure vessel and a filtration media operable to filter the wastewater, wherein after the polishing filter the wastewater has become re-generated water; a reservoir fluidly coupled downstream of the polishing filter and operable to store re-generated water; and a washing apparatus fluidly coupled downstream of the reservoir and operable to apply the re-generated water to a vehicle.
2 . A system for re-generating wastewater, comprising: a receptacle for wastewater;
a reclaim tank configured to receive wastewater from the receptacle;
a pump operable to draw wastewater from the reclaim tank;
an injector nozzle fluidly coupled downstream of the pump and operable to introduce oxidizer into the wastewater;
an electro-chemical cell fluidly coupled downstream of the injector nozzle and comprising a plurality of electrodes coated with Mixed Metal Oxides (MMO}, and wherein the plurality of electrodes are configured to have a voltage potential imposed between them to oxidize organic compounds when applied to the wastewater resulting in forming Chlorine Dioxide (C102), wherein the voltage potential is imposed in a time variant manner during operation; and, and wherein the time variant manner in which voltage potential is imposed includes a plurality of non-zero voltages; and
a polishing filter fluidly coupled downstream of the electro-chemical cell and comprising filtration media operable to filter the wastewater, wherein after the polishing filter the wastewater has become re-generated water.
3 . The system of claim 2 further comprising a hydrocyclone fluidly coupled between the pump and the injector nozzle and configured to reject high-density solids to an underflow.
4 . The system of claim 2 wherein the reclaim tank comprises two or more baffles configured to divide the reclaim tank into an input compartment, a second compartment, and a final compartment, and wherein the input compartment and second compartment are fluidly coupled by a first conduit and the second compartment and the final compartment are fluidly coupled by a second conduit.
5 . The system of claim 3 further comprising a throttle valve fluidly coupled between the reclaim tank and the hydrocyclone.
6 . The system of claim 2 further comprising a throttle valve fluidly coupled between the reclaim tank and the injector nozzle.
7 . A method of re-generating water in a vehicle washing system, comprising: collecting wastewater from washing a vehicle in a receptacle; receiving the wastewater from the receptacle in a reclaim tank, the reclaim tank configured to separate low and high density solids in the wastewater; drawing the wastewater from the reclaim tank with a pump configured to direct the wastewater to a reservoir; injecting, by an injector nozzle, oxidizer into the wastewater from the pump; applying, by an electro-chemical cell, a voltage potential between a plurality of electrodes coated with Mixed Metal Oxides (MMO}, wherein the voltage potential is imposed in a time variant manner during operation and is configured to oxidize organic compounds in the wastewater and result in the formation of Chlorine Dioxide (C102), and wherein the time variant manner in which voltage potential is imposed includes a plurality of non-zero voltages; and filtering, by a polishing filter, the wastewater from the electro-chemical cell, the polishing filter comprising filtration media operable to filter the wastewater, the wastewater then considered re-generated water; and receiving, by the reservoir, the re-generated water from the polishing filter.
8 . The method of claim 7 further comprising supplying, by a dosing pump, chemical oxidizer to the reclaim tank.
9 . The vehicle washing system of claim 1 , further comprising a power supply coupled to the electro-chemical cell, the power supply operable to impose the voltage potential in a time variant manner during operation.
10 . The vehicle washing system of claim 9 , wherein the power supply applies the voltage potential in a time variant manner via direct current (DC).
11 . The vehicle washing system of claim 9 , wherein the power supply applies the voltage potential in a time variant manner via a sine waveform.
12 . The vehicle washing system of claim 9 , wherein the power supply applies the voltage potential in a time variant manner via a square waveform.
13 . The vehicle washing system of claim 9 , wherein the power supply applies the voltage potential in a time variant manner via a triangle waveform.
14 . The vehicle washing system of claim 9 , wherein the power supply applies the voltage potential in a time variant manner via an arbitrary waveform.
15 . The vehicle washing system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller operable to impose the voltage potential in a time variant manner during operation.
16 . The system for re-generating wastewater of claim 2 , further comprising a power supply coupled to the electro-chemical cell, the power supply operable to impose the voltage potential in a time variant manner during operation.
17 . The system for re-generating wastewater of claim 2 , further comprising a controller coupled to the electro-chemical cell, the controller operable to impose the voltage potential in a time variant manner during operation.
18 . The method of re-generating water in a vehicle washing system of claim 7 , wherein the applying the voltage potential by the electro-chemical cell is performed by a controller coupled to the electro-chemical cell.