Patent Application
20240246846
The present disclosure relates to wastewater treatment systems that produce treated effluent that may be suitable for one or more reuse, including the production of potable water.
Potable water is safe to be used as drinking water. Potable water or drinking water comes from surface and ground water sources and is then treated to meet state and federal standards for water that is safe to consume. Consumption of untreated water can cause gastrointestinal problems. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established national Primary Drinking Water Regulations that identify the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for a variety of contaminants. In a municipal setting, potable water may be efficiently distributed through a system of pipes referred to as a water supply distribution system.
Water reclamation is the process of converting municipal or industrial wastewater into treated effluent that can be reused for one or more purposes. The reuse of treated effluent may be categorized by the end use of the treated effluent, including urban reuse, agricultural reuse or irrigation, environmental reuse, industrial reuse, or potable water reuse, or any other governmental approved use. The injection of treated effluent into the water supply distribution system is known as direct potable reuse.
Some embodiments provide a method for producing potable water from wastewater. The method comprises obtaining a wastewater influent from a wastewater source and processing the wastewater influent in a membrane bioreactor to produce a treated effluent, with an optional final treatment to potable levels through reverse osmosis or UV as desired for some applications. Optionally, some embodiments may further comprise injecting the permeate effluent stream into a subterranean formation through an injection well, extracting formation water from the subterranean formation through a recovery well, processing the formation water in a reverse osmosis system to produce a permeate water stream, and supplying the permeate water stream to a potable water distribution system.
Some embodiments provide a wastewater treatment system. One wastewater treatment system comprises a membrane bioreactor having a first inlet coupled to receive wastewater influent from a wastewater source and producing a treated effluent, and the first reverse osmosis system having a first inlet receiving the treated effluent and a permeate effluent outlet coupled to a permeate effluent vessel. Optionally, the system may further include an injection well having an injection pump inlet coupled to the permeate vessel and an injection pump outlet coupled to an injection well that extends into a subterranean formation, a recovery well pump having a recovery pump inlet coupled to a recovery well that extends into the subterranean formation and a recovery pump outlet, and a reverse osmosis system having a second inlet coupled to the recovery pump outlet and a permeate water outlet coupled to a permeate water vessel, wherein the permeate water vessel is coupled to a potable water distribution system.
Some embodiments provide a method for producing potable water from wastewater. The method comprises obtaining a wastewater influent from a wastewater source, processing the wastewater influent in a membrane bioreactor to produce a treated effluent, and processing the treated effluent in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system to produce a permeate effluent stream. Optionally, some embodiments may further comprise injecting the permeate effluent stream into a subterranean formation through an injection well, extracting formation water from the subterranean formation through a recovery well, processing the formation water in a reverse osmosis system to produce a permeate water stream, and supplying the permeate water stream to a potable water distribution system.
A wastewater treatment plant or system is a facility configured to perform a wastewater treatment process. A wastewater treatment process is a process used to remove or degrade contaminants from untreated wastewater and produce treated effluent for some type of end use, reuse and/or discharge into the environment. The type of untreated wastewater may include industrial wastewater, agricultural wastewater, or domestic wastewater, also referred to as municipal wastewater or sewage. Domestic or municipal wastewater may include, for example, water from households, such as wastewater from toilets, showers, sinks and various appliances. Optionally, the untreated wastewater may be delivered to the wastewater treatment plant by a truck, such as a pump truck, or through a pipe coupled to a municipal sewer system, which may be a combined sewer system that further includes stormwater and other urban runoff water.
A wastewater treatment plant utilizes sludge as a source of bacteria for reducing organic material in the untreated wastewater and may also produce excess sludge that must be removed from the wastewater treatment plant. During startup, the wastewater treatment plant may be seeded with sludge, whereas a portion of the sludge may be removed from the wastewater treatment plant during normal operation.
A membrane bioreactor (MBR) is a wastewater treatment process or unit that combines a membrane separation process, such as microfiltration or ultrafiltration, with a biological wastewater treatment process, such as a conventional activated sludge treatment process. A membrane having a very fine pore size is used to retain microorganisms and particulates within an aerated vessel and produce a highly clarified water effluent. The membranes may be made with an organic polymer, such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylsulphone (PES), polysulphone (PS), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), or a ceramic material, such as aluminium oxide (alumina), silicon carbide, titanium dioxide (titania) or zirconium dioxide (zirconia). One preferred membrane has a constant pore size over the entirety of a membrane plate and the constant pore size is preferable about 0.038 microns. Many available membrane plates may have a stated nominal pore size, but the actual range of pore sizes within the membrane may vary greatly, such as pore sizes varying by as much as 0.06 microns from one pore to another. Suitable membrane modules having a consistent pore size may be obtained from A3-USA located in North Carolina. Regardless of the exact type of membrane bioreactor or membrane construction, the membrane bioreactor produces a treated effluent stream. In one option, the membrane bioreactor may be a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR), which is characterized by the membrane being located inside the biological reactor and submerged in the wastewater or sludge that is being treated. In another option, a settling vessel or pond and an aeration vessel or process may be upstream of the membrane bioreactor to receive the wastewater and provide that wastewater to the membrane bioreactor.
A reverse osmosis (RO) system removes contaminants from the treated effluent when pressure forces water molecules in the treated effluent through a semipermeable membrane. The semipermeable membrane in a reverse osmosis system has small pores that block contaminants but allow the passage of water molecules. Treated effluent may be pressurized such that water molecules within the treated effluent flow from the more contaminant-concentrated side of the membrane to the less contaminant-concentrated side to provide a permeate effluent with fewer contaminants. The aqueous stream produced through the RO membrane is referred to as the permeate, whereas the treated effluent and contaminants that do not pass through the RO membrane are referred to as the concentrate, RO waste or brine.
An injection well is a structure used to place fluid underground into a porous geologic subterranean formation. The underground formation may range from deep sandstone or limestone to a shallow soil layer, or even an aquifer. Injection well construction depends on the type of fluid and the depth to which the fluid is being injected but may be bored or drilled with a tubular shaft. An injection well pump may be used to convey treated effluent into an injection well pipe that extends downward into the subterranean formation.
A recovery well is a structure used to extract underground water from a porous geologic subterranean formation. A recovery well pump may be used to draw water from the subterranean formation and up through a recovery well pipe to an above ground location. Without limitation, the injection well and/or the recovery well at any particular site may extend underground to any subsurface depth.
A distance of separation between an injection well and a recovery well may have a direct effect on the amount of remediation, conditioning and/or mixing that the treated effluent will experience as it passes from the injection site through the subterranean formation to the recovery well site. Without limitation, a preferred distance of separation is between about 200 feet and about 500 feet but may vary according to the porosity of subterranean formation.
In some embodiments, the method of wastewater processing may further include a chemical treatment, such as chlorine injection, to the permeate from the reverse osmosis system before the permeate water is delivered to a selected end use or reuse, such as a water supply distribution system. In one example, the method may include adding from 0.5 part per million to 2 parts per million of chlorine to the permeate water before supplying the permeate water to the potable water distribution system.
In some embodiments, the method may further comprise an ultraviolet light treatment of the treated effluent produced by the membrane bioreactor or the water obtained from the recovery well. The ultraviolet light treatment may be used in combination with, or instead of, the reverse osmosis system and/or the chemical treatment. The selection and use of these post-recovery processes may vary depending on the selected end use or reuse of the water.
In some embodiments, the MBR system forms a first waste stream and the reverse osmosis system forms a second waste stream. The first and second waste streams include the materials that do not pass through the membrane of each system. Optionally, the first and second waste streams may be combined for disposal.
In some embodiments, the reverse osmosis system may be replaced by, or used in combination with, the chemical treatment and/or the ultraviolet treatment. In other words, the nature of the wastewater treatment process prior to the injection well may be selected in order to meet applicable wastewater quality standards for injection into a subterranean formation and the nature of the water treatment process subsequent to the recovery well may be selected in order to meet applicable water quality standards for delivery into a water supply distribution system.
Some embodiments provide a wastewater treatment system comprising a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system having a first inlet coupled to receive wastewater influent from a wastewater source and an outlet producing treated effluent. An MBR system has a first inlet coupled to the treated effluent outlet of the membrane bioreactor system and a permeate effluent outlet coupled to a permeate effluent vessel. Optionally, the wastewater treatment system may further include an injection well having an injection pump inlet coupled to the permeate effluent vessel and an injection pump outlet coupled to the injection well that extends into a subterranean formation. Furthermore, the system may include a recovery well pump having a recovery pump inlet coupled to a recovery well that extends into the subterranean formation and a recovery pump outlet. Still further, a reverse osmosis system may have an inlet coupled to the recovery pump outlet and a permeate water outlet coupled to a permeate water vessel, which may be coupled to a potable water distribution system.
In some embodiments, the treated effluent produced by the wastewater treatment systems and methods described herein may be discharged to other processes or uses. Some of these processes or uses may be surface applications, sub-surface applications, and/or direct reuse. Non-limiting examples of surface applications for the treated effluent include surface drip tubing, surface spray fields, surface evaporation ponds and/or any evaporation method. Non-limiting examples of subsurface application for the treated effluent include input to an injection well, such as a Class 1, 3, 4 or 5 injection well (as defined and regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and subsurface drip tubing. Non-limiting examples of direct reuse include agriculture, home, business, manufacturing and the like. In still further examples, the treated effluent may be discharged into a body of water or soil formation. Embodiments may provide the treated effluent to a public water supply (PWS).
In some embodiments, the wastewater treatment may include additional treatment processes. For example, the treated effluent permeate from the permeate vessel may be treated with ultraviolet (UV) light and/or passed through a reverse osmosis (RO) unit. The choice to include one or more of these additional treatment processes will depend upon the intended end use, reuse or application for the treated effluent.
In some embodiments, the wastewater treatment system may include a spectrometer. A spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. The term “spectrometer” is often broadly used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the spectral components are somehow mixed. A preferred spectrometer is an optical spectrometer. The spectrometer is preferably positioned to test the quality of the treated effluent prior to discharge or use, such as between a final treatment stage and the discharge point. Essentially, this spectrometer is used as a last safety measure to ensure the treated effluent is not discharged if it still contains contaminants. If the spectrometer registers some spectral component that should not be present, a controller may automatically actuate a valve system to divert the flow away from the intended discharge method and into some other form of a holding system until the treated effluent and/or the wastewater treatment system can be evaluated to determine the cause of the spectral component. Once adequately addressed or reprocessed, the valve system may then redirect the flow to the intended discharge method. The valve system may be directly downstream of the spectrometer and may include one or more manual and/or automated valves which will be used to control the direction of the flow.
In some embodiments, the wastewater treatment system may be started (i.e., “seeded”) with a sludge that contains various microorganisms that are beneficial for wastewater treatment. By seeding the wastewater treatment system, these important microorganisms are known to be present in the system even prior to receiving influent untreated wastewater.
The term “sludge” refers to an aqueous liquid, which is typically brown and viscous, that remains after raw sewage has been filtered to remove debris. The sludge itself is inhabited by a diverse community of microbes (also known as “microorganisms”), for example including bacteria, protozoans and even some eukaryotes like tardigrades, that arise from various biological processes and sources to end up in the sewers connecting our homes to the waste management facility. Sludge comprises an incredibly rich medium, full of organic matter including fecal matter in which bacteria thrive. Once this sludge has been processed by bacteria, it is called activated sludge, which can refer to both the organic and biological matter itself and the waste management process.
The wastewater treatment system provides conditions that enable these microbes to thrive, which in turn helps to reduce the amount of waste contained in the wastewater since the bacteria consumes the organic matter. The term “activated sludge” refers to sludge in which bacteria is active in consuming organic matter as opposed to a septic tank where the conditions are stagnant and there is a much lower rate at which bacteria consume organic matter. The sludge that is initially brought in to seed the wastewater treatment system is not raw sewage, but a byproduct of raw sewage that has gone through some form of biological treatment. This sludge contains organic matter and, due to treatment with air, has a high level of bacterial activity for consuming more organic matter. Sludge may be obtained from another wastewater treatment plant or similar biological process for the purpose of seeding the wastewater treatment plant.
The waste activated sludge process is a kind of sewage treatment that blows oxygen (typically in the form of air) into unsettled, raw or untreated sewage, which fosters bacterial digestion of pollutants and organic matter to keep a wastewater treatment system in balance (i.e., balancing a mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration in accordance with an incoming biological oxygen demand (BOD)). The process of blowing oxygen (or air) through a wastewater stream is referred to as “aeration” (oxic) and takes place in an aeration (oxic) vessel. Once this process establishes “activated sludge”, the activated sludge may be used to seed the wastewater treatment system.
Activated sludge may be added to the wastewater treatment system from time to time or in response to some condition that has caused a reduction in the amount of activated sludge present in the wastewater treatment system. For example, a supplemental activated sludge may be added to the wastewater treatment system if the wastewater treatment system receives a load of waste that unknowingly contains chemicals, such as bleach, that kill or reduce the bacteria in the system. Alternatively, it may be possible to raise the concentration of bacteria in the wastewater treatment system by adding other products, such as sugar.
The seeded wastewater treatment system provides a combination of processes with air (oxic processes) and without air (anoxic processes) creating a balance of oxic and anoxic conditions found to achieve the most effective treatment levels, known as nitrification and denitrification. The balance between oxic and anoxic conditions may be periodically or continuously adjusted to achieve a desired treatment level.
A recovery well 50 extracts water from the subterranean formation. An amount of remediation, conditioning and/or mixing of treated effluent will vary based on the type of formation, the distance of separation between the injection and recovery wells, the treated effluent flow rate into the subterranean formation, the water flow rate out of the subterranean formation and other process conditions. The water produced from the recovery well 50 is directed to a reverse osmosis system 60 to form a potable water permeate stream. The potable water permeate is subsequently supplied to a potable water system 70, such as a water supply distribution system. Additional processing steps may be included without departing from the disclosed embodiments.
The wastewater influent to the wastewater treatment plant 20 is output to a membrane bioreactor 20 that produces a treated effluent. When the MBR system 20 is ready to process the treated effluent, an effluent pump 24 may be used to draw the treated effluent from the membrane bioreactor 20. The treated effluent may be delivered directly to the permeate vessel 32 or to the optional first reverse osmosis system 30 under pressure. Optionally, the first reverse osmosis system 30 may include its own pumps to bring the treated effluent up to a sufficiently high pressure to effectively utilize the semipermeable membranes within the first reverse osmosis system 30. The treated effluent permeate that passes through the semipermeable membranes of the first reverse osmosis system 30 may be collected in a first permeate vessel 32.
Treated effluent permeate from the first permeate vessel 32 may be provided to the injection well 40 using a first permeate pump 34. The injection well 40 may include its own injection well pump (not shown) to push the water down an injection well pipe 42 and into the subterranean formation 90.
The recovery well 50 includes a recovery well pipe 52 that extends into the subterranean formation 90 at a point that is some distance of separation from the injection well pipe 42. It should be recognized that the treated effluent flow dynamics within the subterranean formation 90 is not as simple as the treated effluent from the injection well flowing directly to the recovery well. Rather, the treated effluent from the injection well may mix with existing formation water and flow through irregular or tortuous paths in directions toward and away from the recovery well as dictated by pressure gradients.
A recovery well pump (not shown) draws water up the recovery well pipe 52 from the subterranean formation 90 and delivers the produced water to a reverse osmosis system 60. Optionally, the reverse osmosis system 60 may include its own pumps to bring the water up to a sufficiently high pressure to effectively utilize the semipermeable membranes within the reverse osmosis system 60. The water permeate that passes through the semipermeable membranes of the reverse osmosis system 60 may be collected in a second permeate vessel 62.
As needed, permeate water from the second permeate vessel 62 may be withdrawn by a potable permeate pump 64 having an outlet that is coupled to a water supply distribution system 70. Optionally, a source of chlorine 100 may inject chlorine (Cl2) into the potable permeate water as it is transferred to the water supply distribution system 70 or within the potable permeate vessel 62.
In some options, the recovery well pipe may be high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. Preferably, all components downstream of the recovery well pump 50 are approved for use in potable water systems so as to avoid any re-introduction of contamination.
Treated effluent from the permeate vessel 32 (see
The influent pumps 14 transfer the influent untreated wastewater through a screen and auger unit 15 and into a first equalization vessel. The screen and auger unit is designed to remove garbage that is not readily subject to biological degradation, such as discarded consumer products. For example, the influent untreated wastewater may be delivered onto the screen, such that the untreated wastewater passes through the screen into the first equalization vessel 111. However, the screen prevents passage of any garbage, and the auger draws the garbage across and away from the screen so that the garbage falls into a waste container 16.
Any number of equalization vessels may be included in the wastewater treatment system 110. The one or more equalization (EQ) vessels, such as the five equalization vessels 111-115 shown in
Wastewater or sludge from the membrane bioreactor 20 in
In the illustrated embodiment, the membrane bioreactor 20 includes five vessels connected in a series by interconnecting pipes 26 (four connecting pipes shown). For example, the membrane bioreactor 20 includes a first anoxic vessel 150 with a first mixer 152, a first oxic vessel 154 with a first set of fine air diffusers 156, a second anoxic vessel 158 with a second mixer 160, a second oxic vessel 162 with a second set of fine air diffusers 164, and a membrane vessel 166 with a plurality of submerged membrane modules 168 (a set of 24 membrane modules shown). The first set of fine air diffusers 156 in the first oxic vessel 154 and the second set of fine air diffusers 164 in the second oxic vessel 162 are supplied with air from the blowers 141, 142, 143, which may be operated collectively or separately.
Equalization pumps 169 transfer untreated wastewater from the final equalization vessel 114 into a first anoxic vessel 150. The anoxic vessels 150, 158 are vessels with no added air, such that the oxygen content is low and may be substantially depleted. The low oxygen content in each anoxic vessel causes denitrification of the organic content in the water, such as the conversion of nitrate to molecular nitrogen (N2). The oxic vessels 154, 162 are vessels with plenty of oxygen provided by fine air diffusers 156, 164, respectively. The high oxygen content in each oxic vessel causes nitrification, such as the conversion of ammonia nitrogen to nitrate.
Wastewater that has been processed through the last (i.e., second in this example) oxic vessel 162 then flows to the membrane vessel 166. The membrane vessel 166 includes a set of submerged Maxflow membrane (ultrafiltration) modules 168. The submerged membrane modules have fine pores that allow the passage of water molecules (i.e., the permeate) therethrough, but prevent the passage of organic matter (i.e., the retentate) that exceeds the pore size of the membrane. Permeate pumps 172 draw a suction on the inside of the membrane modules 168 that pulls water molecule (permeate) through the pores of the membrane material that forms the membrane modules. This process may be referred to as ultrafiltration. The treated effluent (permeate) that is drawn through the permeate pumps 172 may in this non-limiting example, then be subjected to ultraviolet (UV) light in ultraviolet units 174 before being conveyed to the third section of the wastewater treatment process 110 in
Recycle pumps 170 return sludge or mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) from the membrane vessel 166 back to the first anoxic vessel 150 to cause circulation through the vessels 150, 154, 158, 162. 166 in series. This circulation of the sludge or mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) may serve to maintain a healthy population of bacteria throughout the membrane bioreactor 20 and provide a greater level of remediation.
An automatic cleaning of the membrane modules may be implemented using sodium hypochlorite or similar cleaning chemical. For example, a dosing unit 176 (such as a Dosatron® water driven hydraulic motor piston pump) may be supplied with a sodium hypochlorite solution for cleaning the membrane modules. A chemical pump 178 may also be used to provide a defoamer and/or other chemical to the membrane vessel 166, the second oxic vessel 162, and/or the first oxic vessel 154.
In another non-limiting example, the system may support performance of a method of cleaning the membrane modules 168. Accordingly, when the membrane modules reach a certain pressure (i.e., resistance due to material building on the membranes), the controller may cause the permeate pump to reverse direction and pull sodium hypochlorite into the inner space of the membrane modules or plates. The sodium hypochlorite may be allowed to soak for a given amount of time, then the permeate pumps reversed again to their original direction to draw out the sodium hypochlorite and then continue the process of extracting treated effluent from the membrane modules. Other cleaning methods may be used.
It should be recognized that the wastewater treatment system 110 of
A hard drive interface 232 is also coupled to the system bus 206. The hard drive interface 232 interfaces with a hard drive 234. In some embodiments, the hard drive 234 communicates with system memory 236, which is also coupled to the system bus 206. System memory is defined as a lowest level of volatile memory in the computer 200. This volatile memory includes additional higher levels of volatile memory (not shown), including, but not limited to, cache memory, registers and buffers. Data that populates the system memory 236 includes the operating system (OS) 238 and application programs 244. The hardware elements depicted in the computer 200 are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative. For instance, the computer 200 may include non-volatile memory and the like.
The operating system 238 includes a shell 240 for providing transparent user access to resources such as application programs 244. Generally, the shell 240 is a program that provides an interpreter and an interface between the user and the operating system. More specifically, the shell 240 executes commands that are entered into a command line user interface or from a file. Thus, the shell 240, also called a command processor, is generally the highest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as a command interpreter. The shell provides a system prompt, interprets commands entered by keyboard, mouse, or other user input media, and sends the interpreted command(s) to the appropriate lower levels of the operating system (e.g., a kernel 242) for processing. Note that while the shell 240 may be a text-based, line-oriented user interface, embodiments may support other user interface modes, such as graphical, voice, gestural, etc.
As depicted, the operating system 238 also includes the kernel 242, which includes lower levels of functionality for the operating system 238, including providing essential services required by other parts of the operating system 238 and application programs 244. Such essential services may include memory management, process and task management, disk management, and mouse and keyboard management. As shown, the computer 200 includes application programs 244 in the system memory of the computer 200, including, without limitation, a process control application 250 for controlling the wastewater treatment system and a user interface 252 supporting remote user monitoring and control.
It should be understood that embodiments of the systems may include controllers (computers) and control elements for controlling and managing the operation of individual components of the system and/or the overall process. Furthermore, any of the disclosed processes may be implemented and controlled using program instructions that are executable by a computer processor to cause the computer to communicate with individual components of the system to provide control signals. Various sensors may also provide input to the computer and inform control logic implemented by the program instructions. Furthermore, embodiments may include computer program products that include program instructions for implementing or initiating any one or more aspects of the methods described herein. Similarly, the system embodiments may include a computer that processes the program instructions to implement or initiate any one or more aspects of the methods described herein.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments may take the form of a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable storage medium(s) may be utilized. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Furthermore, any program instruction or code that is embodied on such computer readable storage media (including forms referred to as volatile memory) that is not a transitory signal are, for the avoidance of doubt, considered “non-transitory”.
Program code embodied on a computer readable storage medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out various operations may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Embodiments may be described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, and/or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored on computer readable storage media is not a transitory signal, such that the program instructions can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, and such that the program instructions stored in the computer readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The terms “preferably,” “preferred,” “prefer,” “optionally,” “may” and similar terms are used to indicate that an item, condition or step being referred to is an optional (not required) feature of the embodiment.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or steps plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Embodiments have been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but it is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading this disclosure. The disclosed embodiments were chosen and described as non-limiting examples to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand these embodiments and other embodiments involving modifications suited to a particular implementation.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63439903 | Jan 2023 | US |
