METHOD OF PERFORMING A CLEANING OPERATION ON A WATER FILTRATION DEVICE
The method is used for performing a cleaning operation on a water filtration device having an inlet, a concentrate outlet, a permeate outlet, a filtration membrane between the inlet and the permeate outlet, the filtration membrane filtering water under pressure during a filtration operation of the water filtration device, and a recirculation line leading from at least one of the concentrate outlet and the permeate outlet back to the inlet. The method generally has a step of performing the cleaning operation including recirculating a solution along the recirculation line, the solution having at least water and one cleaning agent, the step of recirculating including maintaining a circulation of the solution along the entire length of the recirculation line.
1 . A method of performing a cleaning operation on a water filtration device having an inlet, a concentrate outlet, a permeate outlet, a filtration membrane between the inlet and the permeate outlet, the filtration membrane filtering water under pressure during a filtration operation of the water filtration device, and a recirculation line leading from at least one of the concentrate outlet and the permeate outlet back to the inlet, the method comprising:
performing the cleaning operation including recirculating a solution along the recirculation line, the solution having at least water and a cleaning agent, the step of recirculating including maintaining a circulation of the solution along the entire length of the recirculation line.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring at least one parameter of the solution at one or more positions along the length of the recirculation line during said recirculating.
3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising heating the solution during said recirculating based on said monitoring.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of a composition, a pH value, an oxidation reduction potential value, a color, a hardness, a streaming current, an organic matter concentration and a temperature of the solution.
5 . The method of claim 2 further comprising adding the cleaning agent to the recirculation line based on said monitoring.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein said adding is performed simultaneously to said recirculating.
7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising flowing at least a portion of the solution out of the recirculation line, along a disposal line, and to waste.
8 . The method of claim 7 wherein said flowing is performed subsequently to said recirculating.
9 . The method of claim 7 wherein said flowing further includes neutralizing the solution by adding a flow of at least one neutralizing agent to the flow of the at least a portion of the solution in the disposal line.
10 . The method of claim 9 further comprising a step of monitoring at least one parameter of the at least a portion of the solution in the disposal line, wherein a flow rate of the flow of the at least one neutralizing agent is based on the step of monitoring.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein said monitoring in the disposal line is performed upstream from said neutralizing.
12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of the flow rate, a pH value and an oxidation reduction potential value.
13 . The method of claim 1 further comprising circulating feed water to the recirculation line via the inlet during said recirculating.
14 . The method of claim 1 wherein said performing the cleaning operation further comprises stopping said recirculating and soaking the filtration membrane for a given period of time and then resuming said recirculating.
15 . The method of claim 1 wherein the recirculation line is closed during said recirculating.
16 . A water filtration system having a membrane filter, the membrane filter having an inlet and at least one outlet, the water filtration system having a tankless recirculation line leading from the at least one outlet of the membrane filter back to the inlet of the membrane filter, the water filtration system having a pump in the tankless recirculation line, the pump being operable to recirculate liquid along the tankless recirculation line and across the membrane filter.
17 . The water filtration system of claim 16 comprising a cleaning agent feed system operable to feed at least one cleaning agent into the liquid.
18 . The water filtration system of claim 17 further comprising a monitoring device operable to monitor at least one parameter of the liquid and a computer configured to operate the cleaning agent feed system based on an input from the monitoring device.
19 . The water filtration system of claim 16 wherein the tankless recirculation line has a disposal line leading out of the tankless recirculation line, the water filtration system further comprising neutralizing agent feed system having a dosing pump connected to the disposal line via a dosing pump connection, a monitoring device upstream of the dosing pump connection and a computer configured to operate the dosing pump based on an input from the monitoring device.
20 . The water filtration system of claim 16 wherein the tankless recirculation line has one or more filters to capture the matter being cleaned off a surface of the membrane filter during said cleaning operation.