Electro-Chlorination Technology for Disinfection of Drinking Water: A Patent Landscape

Abstract

Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2015, which are defined to achieve an improved and more sustainable future, promote safe and affordable drinking water facilities for all, till 2030. The rural and remotely placed population worldwide faces the problem of a shortage of pathogen-free drinking water due to the huge capital and maintenance costs involved in water purification. The current chemical disinfection treatment which is widely used for water disinfection has several disadvantages including the formation of Disinfection By-Products (DBPs). Electrochlorination is one of the best alternatives as per the literature that can be installed as a decentralized system in a remote location and can overcome most of the issues related to chemical disinfection. The present paper provides an overview of the innovations in the area of electro-chlorination as a disinfection technique through a detailed patent analysis. The patenting activity and publications are considered an indicator of research and innovation in the field. The patent analysis is also supported by literature analysis for understanding the research trends and the extent of research in the area. The patent data from the year 2000 to 2021 are analyzed country-wise and year-wise. The paper also discusses the IPC, CPC codes, assignees, investors, US class codes, patents types, and citations analysis for the patents in the field of electro-chlorination and DBPs. The keywords used for patent analysis are ‘Electro- chlorination’ and ‘Water’ and ‘Disinfection’ and ‘Disinfection by Products’.