Low scale potential water treatment

Abstract

An electrochemical treating device having low scale potential is disclosed. The device has a variety of configurations directed to the layering of the anionic exchange and cationic exchange. The treatment device can also comprise unevenly sized ion exchange resin beads and/or have at least one compartment that provides a dominating resistance that results in a uniform current distribution throughout the apparatus.

1 . An electrodeionization apparatus having an anode compartment and a cathode compartment, comprising: 
 a first depleting compartment disposed between the anode compartment and the cathode compartment;    a concentrating compartment in ionic communication with the depleting compartment;    a second depleting compartment in ionic communication with the concentrating compartment; and    a first barrier cell in ionic communication with and disposed between the first depleting compartment and at least one of the anode compartment and the cathode compartment.    
     
     
         2 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first barrier cell is at least partially defined by a cation selective membrane disposed adjacent the first depleting compartment.  
     
     
         3 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the first barrier cell is at least partially defined by an anion selective membrane and disposed adjacent the cathode compartment.  
     
     
         4 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising a second barrier cell in ionic communication with the second depleting compartment, 
 wherein the first barrier cell contains a layer of media comprising a mixture of anion exchange media and cation exchange media and    wherein the second barrier cell contains a layer of media comprising a mixture of anion exchange media and cation exchange media.    
     
     
         5 . (canceled)  
     
     
         6 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a second barrier cell in ionic communication with the second depleting compartment, 
 wherein the second barrier cell is disposed between the anode compartment and the second depleting compartment and    wherein the second barrier cell is at least partially defined by an anion selective membrane disposed adjacent the second depleting compartment.    
     
     
         7 . (canceled)  
     
     
         8 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the second barrier cell further comprises a cation selective membrane disposed adjacent the anode compartment.  
     
     
         9 . (canceled)  
     
     
         10 . (canceled)  
     
     
         11 . An electrodeionization apparatus comprising: 
 a depleting compartment; and    a first concentrating compartment in ionic communication with the depleting compartment, and defined at least partially by an anion selective membrane and a cation selective membrane, the first concentrating compartment containing at least partially a first zone comprising substantially of cation exchange media that is substantially separated from the anion selective membrane by a second zone comprising substantially of anion exchange media.    
     
     
         12 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising a second concentrating compartment in ionic communication with the depleting compartment, the second concentrating compartment defined at least partially by a cation selective membrane and an anion selective membrane and containing a first portion comprising ion exchange media and a second portion comprising ion exchange media, each of the first and second portions partially fills a lengthwise segment of the second concentrating compartment.  
     
     
         13 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the first portion is predominantly comprised of cation exchange media and is disposed adjacent the cation selective membrane of the second concentrating compartment.  
     
     
         14 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the second portion is substantially comprised of anion exchange media and is substantially separated from the cation selective membrane of the second compartment by the first portion of cation exchange media.  
     
     
         15 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first and second concentrating compartments further comprises electrochemically inert media.  
     
     
         16 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising a source of an acidic solution in fluid communication with an inlet of the first concentrating compartment.  
     
     
         17 . (canceled)  
     
     
         18 . (canceled)  
     
     
         19 . An electrodeionization apparatus comprising: 
 a depleting compartment;    a first concentrating compartment in ionic communication with the depleting compartment, the first concentrating compartment comprising media with a first effective current resistance; and    a second concentrating compartment in ionic communication with the depleting compartment, wherein a portion of the second concentrating compartment comprising media with a second effective current resistance greater than the first effective current resistance.    
     
     
         20 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the second effective resistance of the at least a portion of the second concentrating compartment is at least two times greater than the first effective resistance.  
     
     
         21 . (canceled)  
     
     
         22 . (canceled)  
     
     
         23 . (canceled)  
     
     
         24 . (canceled)  
     
     
         25 . An electrodeionization apparatus having at least one compartment with at least one outlet port defined by a distributor having a plurality of apertures, comprising: 
 a first layer of particles in the compartment bounded by ion selective membranes, the particles comprising media having a first effective diameter less than the smallest dimension of the apertures; and    a second layer of particles in the compartment downstream of the first layer, the second layer of particles having a second effective diameter greater than the first effective diameter and greater than the smallest dimension of the apertures.    
     
     
         26 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 25 , further comprising a third layer of particles disposed upstream of the first layer of particles.  
     
     
         27 . (canceled)  
     
     
         28 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 25 , wherein at least one of the first layer, the second layer, and the third layer comprises ion exchange resin.  
     
     
         29 . (canceled)  
     
     
         30 . (canceled)  
     
     
         31 . An electrodeionization system comprising: 
 a source of water to be treated;    a treating module comprising a depleting compartment and a concentrating compartment, the treating module fluidly connected to the source of water to be treated;    an electrolytic module comprising an acid-generating compartment, the electrolytic module fluidly connected upstream of the concentrating compartment; and    a source of a brine solution fluidly connected to an inlet of the acid-generating compartment of the electrolytic module.    
     
     
         32 . The electrodeionization system of  claim 31 , wherein an outlet of the depleting compartment is fluidly connected to the inlet of the acid-generating compartment.  
     
     
         33 . The electrodeionization system of  claim 32 , wherein the electrolytic module further comprises a base-generating compartment in ionic communication with the acid-generating compartment and wherein an outlet of the concentrating compartment is fluidly connected to an outlet of the base-generating compartment.  
     
     
         34 . (canceled)  
     
     
         35 . An electrodeionization apparatus comprising a compartment containing a mixture of first type of ion exchange resins and a second type of ion exchange resins, the first type of ion exchange resins having an average diameter at least 1.3 times greater than an average diameter of the second type of ion exchange resins.  
     
     
         36 . (canceled)  
     
     
         37 . (canceled)  
     
     
         38 . (canceled)  
     
     
         39 . (canceled)  
     
     
         40 . An electrodeionization apparatus comprising: 
 a depleting compartment at least partially defined by a cation selective membrane and an anion selective membrane; and    a concentrating compartment at least partially defined by the anion selective membrane and containing a first layer of anion exchange media and a second layer of media disposed downstream of the first layer, the second layer comprising anion exchange media and cation exchange media.    
     
     
         41 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein the second layer is disposed downstream of the first layer, and comprises a first zone comprising cation exchange media that is substantially separated from the anion selective membrane by a second zone comprising anion exchange media.  
     
     
         42 . (canceled)  
     
     
         43 . (canceled)  
     
     
         44 . (canceled)  
     
     
         45 . (canceled)  
     
     
         46 . A method of treating water in an electrodeionization device, comprising: 
 introducing water having anionic and cationic species into a depleting compartment of the electrodeionization device;    promoting transport of at least a portion of the cationic species into a first barrier cell disposed between the depleting compartment and a cathode compartment of the electrodeionization device; and    promoting transport of at least a portion of the anionic species into a second barrier cell disposed between the depleting compartment and an anode compartment of the electrodeionization device.    
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein promoting transport of at least a portion of the cationic species comprises inhibiting transport of the cationic species from the first barrier cell into the cathode compartment.  
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein promoting transport of at least a portion of the anionic species comprises inhibiting transport of the anionic species from the second barrier cell into the anode compartment, and further comprising introducing at least a portion of water leaving the depleting compartment into at least one of the cathode compartment and the anode compartment.  
     
     
         49 . (canceled)  
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising maintaining a fluid flow velocity of greater than 2 gallons per minute per square foot through the concentrating compartment.  
     
     
         51 . (canceled)  
     
     
         52 . A method of treating water, comprising: 
 introducing water to be treated into a depleting compartment of an electrodeionization device, the depleting compartment having at least one layer of ion exchange media; and    promoting transport of at least a portion of anionic species from the water introduced into the depleting compartment from a first layer of ion exchange media into a first concentrating compartment to produce water having a first intermediate quality, the first concentrating compartment defined at least partially by an anion selective membrane and a cation selective membrane, the first concentrating compartment containing at least partially a first zone comprising cation exchange media that is substantially separated from the anion selective membrane by a second zone comprising anion exchange media and    comprising maintaining a fluid flow velocity of greater than 2 gallons per minute per square foot through the first concentrating compartment.    
     
     
         53 . (canceled)  
     
     
         54 . A method of treating water in an electrodeionization device comprising: 
 introducing water to be treated comprising undesirable species into a depleting compartment of the electrodeionization device;    promoting transport of the undesirable species from the depleting compartment to a concentrating compartment of the electrodeionization device to produce the treated water;    electrolytically generating an acid solution and a basic solution in the ancillary module;    introducing at least a portion of the acid solution into the concentrating compartment.    
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein electrolytically generating the acid solution comprises introducing a halide salt solution into the ancillary module.  
     
     
         56 . (canceled)  
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56 , further comprising neutralizing an outlet stream from the concentrating compartment with the basic solution.  
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 57 , further comprising mixing a portion of the treated water with the brine solution and introducing the mixture into the ancillary module.  
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 58 , wherein introducing the acid solution into the concentrating compartment comprises introducing an acidic solution having a pH of less than 4.3 into the concentrating compartment.  
     
     
         60 . (canceled)  
     
     
         61 . A water treatment system comprising: 
 a source of a water to be treated; and    an electrodeionization device comprising a first depleting compartment and a second depleting compartment, each of the first and second depleting compartment fluidly connected to the source of water to be treated in a parallel flow configuration; and a first concentrating compartment in ionic communication with the first depleting compartment and a second concentrating compartment fluidly connected to downstream of the first concentrating compartment.    
     
     
         62 . The system of  claim 61 , wherein the electrodeionization device further comprises a first electrode compartment fluidly connected upstream of the first concentrating compartment.  
     
     
         63 . An electrodeionization apparatus comprising: 
 a plurality of depleting compartments configured to have liquid flowing therein along parallel flow paths; and    a plurality of concentrating compartments in ionic communication with at least one depleting compartment, wherein at least portion of the concentrating compartments are arranged serially.    
     
     
         64 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 63 , wherein the plurality of concentrating compartment define a single flow path through the electrodeionization apparatus.  
     
     
         65 . The electrodeionization apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein the concentrating compartment is fluidly connected downstream of a chiller.