Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research (IC&SR) , IIT Madras
A Portable Water Filtration Device for Removing Impurities from Water using Contaminant-specific Purification Cartridges
Categories for this Invention
Technology: Continuous-flow greywater sink;
Industry & Application: Home Appliances;
Market: The global flow chemistry market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% during 2024-2030.
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Problem Statement
- Generally, Domestic water treatment and recycling systems remain largely unexplored due to the large space requirements, high initial investment, & substantial variation in input water quality.
- There are a few treatment method discussed herein which could not provide the suitable solutions by eradicating above issues.
- Hence, there is a need to address said issues in efficient matter.
Technology
- The present invention describes water purification device wherein the contaminants are removed by a multi-step filtration process. (Refer Fig 1a & 1b)
- The filtration process comprises several components including:
- a) a re-usable and washable pre-filter for removal of suspended particulate and macroscopic impurities;
- b) hollow fiber and electrospun fiber membrane module for microfiltration and ultra-filtration,
- having pore size of less than or equal to nanometers, to remove microbial contamination;
- c) a compact modular annular housing filtration unit with region-specific contaminant removing nanocomposite materials housing and nanomaterials decorated activated coconut charcoal housing for biocidal activity and organic contaminant removal; and
- d) a bellow pump unit to develop pressure inside the feed water container reservoir.
- The contaminants are removed by a multi-step filtration process encompassing particulate filtration, filtration of regional & microbial contaminants using nanomaterials and membranes, and filtration of organic materials by membrane.
- Further, the nanomaterial decorated carbon cartridge at a flow rate of equal to or greater than 200ml/min.
- The regional contaminants are from arsenic, iron, fluoride, uranium, lead, nickel, chromium, manganese, magnesium, cadmium, mercury and pesticides or combination thereof in the water soluble forms.
- The Water purification device filters impurities in multiple filtration processes using contaminant-specific purification cartridges.
Key Features / Value Proposition
Technical Perspective:
- Facilities portable hand-held, hand-operated and electricity-free water purification device.
- The membrane filtration is by hollow fiber membrane and electrospun membrane with flowrate equal to or greater than 200 ml/min.
- The nanomaterials decorated carbon filter removes organic & metal ion contaminations at a concentration of 0-0.5 ppb with feed input of 100 ppb.
- The purification occurs with the transverse flow of water in membrane cartridge and reverse directional flow in annular housing.
- Removal of multiple contaminants occurs in a sequence of particulate removal, turbidity removal, microbial removal, regional contaminant removal & organic contaminants removal.
- The purifier cartridge has an in-built color indicator to indicate cartridge life and its performance. (Refer Fig 2)
- The membrane cartridge uses electrospun membrane cartridge or hollow fiber membrane cartridge for microfiltration and ultrafiltration.
Industrial Perspective:
- The device filters output water with arsenic concentration below 10 ppb with input concentration in the range of 10 ppb – 300 ppb.
- The device filters microbial contaminations including bacterial and viral contaminants.
- Cost-effective water purification device and simply applicable home appliances & Industrial Applications.
Questions about this Technology?
Contact For Licensing
sm-marketing@imail.iitm.ac.in
ipoffice2@iitm.ac.in
Research Lab
Prof. Pradeep T
Department of Chemistry,
Intellectual Property
IITM IDF Ref. 1638
IN Patent No: 373947
PCT Application No. PCT/IN2018/050895
Technology Readiness Level
TRL-4
Proof of Concept ready, tested in lab.