Automated Alkalinity monitoring

[Jeff.:P]

Verrry interesting..

http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/automatic-regular-unattended-alkalinity-monitoring.264562/

 

[Marshall O]

That was what I referenced in another thread a couple of weeks ago ☺ I can't wait until this is in production!

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Rice]

Looks like the real deal. Jake Adams interview should be on reefbuilders.com soon.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Jeff.:P]

Niiice thats great, missing macna this year

 

[Joe Rice]

It's pretty simple. Uses a peristaltic pump do draw in tank water, then reagent, mixes the two and does a colorimetric test. Then uses the same pump to discard the waste out another line. Just a prototype but quite nicely crafted. Sounds like lots of companies have expressed interest in bring it to production.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Jeff.:P]

I wonder much tank water it uses per test. I imagine you end-up draining the tank a bit over several days.

 

[Jim Tansey]

If it works as described why is it limited to only Alk??? Sounds like its an automatic Hanner tester that checks on a periodic basis.

Jim

 

[Marshall O]

I wonder much tank water it uses per test. I imagine you end-up draining the tank a bit over several days.

I'm guessing it's minimal for a larger system. It's using a small peristaltic pump. I never saw the flow rate listed. A BRS 1.1mL dosing pump running 24/7 would go through about 3 gallons in a week, to give you an idea.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

 

[Marshall O]

If it works as described why is it limited to only Alk??? Sounds like its an automatic Hanner tester that checks on a periodic basis.

Jim

The design could be used to test anything that uses a reagent. Similar real time testers are used throughout the water and waste water industry to constantly measure parameters. Many things we test for do not require reagents, such as pH, salinity, ORP, DO, etc. But there are plenty that do, including Alkalinity.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

 

[dz6t]

The design could be used to test anything that uses a reagent. Similar real time testers are used throughout the water and waste water industry to constantly measure parameters. Many things we test for do not require reagents, such as pH, salinity, ORP, DO, etc. But there are plenty that do, including Alkalinity.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

Exactly. That is why there is no way to patent the thing as it is a small scale model of what have been using all along.

 

[IPWitan]

Come on Dong, that response lacks creativity... Give the lawyer some money and we can find something to patent. j/k

There may be something unique about how he is doing this though, which could be novel sufficient for a patent. Almost all patents are building upon existing inventions. But yes, the big picture concept has been done before. Notwithstanding, I am curious why something hasn't been brought to market at our price point before.

Perhaps I am only chiming in to ensure that those creative and inventive souls on these boards don't think there is no chance to protect their inventions just because something similar may exist in the market place.

*disclaimer - I am an intellectual property attorney. I don't write patents, but I do enforcement them. Today I work for a company and am not in private practice.

 

[this is me]

So the pump draws water from the tank, mixes with some reagent, and read the color and display the ALK level.
That pump better be accurate and consistent overtime. And must be able to easy calibrate for different line length and head pressure.
I also see discarding the final solution can be problematic in some set up.

 

[Joe Rice]

The design could be used to test anything that uses a reagent. Similar real time testers are used throughout the water and waste water industry to constantly measure parameters. Many things we test for do not require reagents, such as pH, salinity, ORP, DO, etc. But there are plenty that do, including Alkalinity.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

http://www.reefkinetics.com/

Here's a company that was at MACNA with a soon-to-be-released product that promises to be able to do multiple different kinds of tests. They say it'll retail for between $600 and $800, not including reagents. Personally I think Reefkinetics and Mindstream are both making a big mistake trying to do anything beyond alkalinity. Bringing a new product to market takes a lot of work. Adding bells and whistles just makes it harder, gets you to market later, makes the product more expensive and harder to support.

 

[dz6t]

Being in the pharmaceutical industry makes me very skeptical about patents.
I involved in many patent writing and can't help it, sorry.
May be his code can be patent-able.
Since he showed it in public without a patent, he just became his own prior art right?

 

[Joe Rice]

So the pump draws water from the tank, mixes with some reagent, and read the color and display the ALK level.
That pump better be accurate and consistent overtime. And must be able to easy calibrate for different line length and head pressure.
I also see discarding the final solution can be problematic in some set up.

Jim Welsh, the inventor, has done a lot of testing and so far it seems to be very consistent. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a calibration process required to take into account setup differences but he seems to be a real stickler and I'm sure these are issues he's taken into account. Peristaltic pumps are used to deliver life-critical medications so I'm sure there are high quality ones available that will be consistent over time. Big thing is to hope that whoever licenses this - if that's the route he goes - doesn't cheap out on components.

 

[dz6t]

So the pump draws water from the tank, mixes with some reagent, and read the color and display the ALK level.
That pump better be accurate and consistent overtime. And must be able to easy calibrate for different line length and head pressure.
I also see discarding the final solution can be problematic in some set up.

Agree, also this extend of automation on Alk can be deadly.

 

[this is me]

Agree, also this extend of automation on Alk can be deadly.

Do you mean the reagent is deadly? I see a lot of warning label as to not to breathe the stuff and such.
When I said discarding, I mean you need to find a place to drain the constant solution. And draining into the sink will probably not be good.

 

[this is me]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking on this exciting new device. Just that it may or may not be practical.

 

[Jim Tansey]

So the pump draws water from the tank, mixes with some reagent, and read the color and display the ALK level.
That pump better be accurate and consistent overtime. And must be able to easy calibrate for different line length and head pressure.
I also see discarding the final solution can be problematic in some set up.

I would think the part about an accurate pump could be easily skirted by just over flowing a known volume and then internally transferring to the test sample no need for an accurate pump. This thing is no more than an automated Hanna type tester.

Jim

 

[this is me]

I'll wait for the day I can lay in bed and watch my reef thrive without touching anything.
Actually, I've tried watching some live cam from the Great Barrier Reef and some aquariums. I got bored after 10mins!