1. An induction stove assembly, the assembly comprising:
a cook-top;
an induction cooking zone above the cook-top;
a temperature sensor adjacent the induction cooking zone; and
a pad adapted to be placed on the cook-top such that its removal from the cook-top is not impeded and adapted to receive a cooking vessel placed in the induction cooking zone;
wherein the pad comprises a thermally insulating portion and a thermally transmissive member; and
wherein the thermally transmissive member is formed from a material having a higher thermal conductivity than a material of which the thermally insulating portion is formed.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is disposed beneath the cook-top.
3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the thermally transmissive member is disposed in the thermally insulating portion such that an uppermost surface of the thermally transmissive member is substantially flush with an uppermost surface of the thermally insulating portion and a lowermost surface of the thermally transmissive member is substantially flush with a lowermost surface of the thermally insulating member.
4. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the thermally transmissive member is comprised of aluminum.
5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the thermally transmissive member is composed of a material having a thermal conductivity of 1 W(m\xb7K) or greater.
6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the thermally transmissive member is composed of a material having a thermal conductivity of 10 W(m\xb7K) or greater.
7. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the surface area of the uppermost and lowermost surfaces of the thermally transmissive member are less than 10% of the total surface area of the pad.
8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the thermally transmissive member comprises a first part and a second part that are secured together by a threaded connection.
9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the widest portion of the thermally transmissive member has a diameter of about 0.5 inches.
10. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the thermally insulating portion of the pad is formed of silicone rubber.
11. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the pad is sized to substantially correspond to the size of the induction cooking zone.
12. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the assembly is portable.
13. A pad for use with an induction stove cook-top for receiving a cooking vessel located in an induction cooking zone, comprising:
a thermally insulating portion; and
a thermally transmissive member;
wherein the thermally transmissive member is disposed in the thermally insulating portion such that an uppermost surface of the thermally transmissive member is substantially flush with an uppermost surface of the thermally insulating portion and a lowermost surface of the thermally transmissive member is substantially flush with a lowermost surface of the thermally insulating member;
wherein the pad is sized to substantially correspond to the size of the induction cooking zone of the induction stove.
14. The pad of claim 13, wherein the thermally insulating portion of the pad is made of a flexible, shock-absorbing material.
15. The pad of claim 14, wherein the thermally insulating portion of the pad is comprised of silicone rubber.
16. The pad of claim 13, wherein the thermally transmissive member is comprised of aluminum.
17. The pad of claim 13, wherein the surface area of the top and bottom surfaces of the thermally transmissive member are less than 10% of the total surface area of the pad.
18. The pad of claim 13, wherein the thermally transmissive member comprises a first part and a second part that are secured together by a threaded connection.
19. The pad of claim 13, wherein the thermal conductivity of the thermally insulating portion is less than 1 W(m\xb7K).
20. The pad of claim 19, wherein the thermal conductivity of the thermally transmissive member is greater than 1 W(m\xb7K).
21. A method, comprising:
providing a pad for use on an induction stove, wherein said pad comprises a thermally insulating portion and a thermally transmissive member;
placing said pad on an induction stove cook-top;
placing a cooking vessel on said pad;
operating said induction stove such that heat is generated in the cooking vessel;
insulating a portion of said cook-top from the heat in the cooking vessel using the thermally insulating portion of the pad; and
transmitting heat generated in the cooking vessel to a sensor in the induction stove via said thermally transmissive member.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A multistage process for treating water comprising:
purifying a water stream in a membrane separation stage and a downstream deionization unit having at least one concentrate chamber and at least one diluate chamber;
separating the water stream in the membrane separation stage with at least two spirally wound membrane modules arranged in a tubular pressure vessel, one behind the other, in an axial direction and successively subjected to incoming flow of the water to be treated into a concentrate stream and at least two permeate streams of different electrical conductivity; and
feeding a) at least the permeate stream having the highest electrical conductivity at least partially into the at least one concentrate chamber and b) at least the permeate stream having the lowest electrical conductivity at least partially into the at least one diluate chamber of the downstream deionization unit.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two membrane modules are reverse osmosis modules andor nanofiltration modules.
3. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein concentrate exiting from the deionization unit is at least partially recirculated and added back to the water stream upstream of the membrane separation stage.
4. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water stream, before it is fed into the membrane separation stage, is partially desalinated andor softened by at least one ion exchanger.
5. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the permeate stream fed into the at least one concentrate chamber of the deionization unit is adjusted to an electrical conductivity of 5 \u03bcScm to 500 \u03bcScm.
6. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the permeate stream fed into the at least one concentrate chamber of the deionization unit is adjusted to an electrical conductivity of 10 \u03bcScm to 300 \u03bcScm.