| Entries |
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| 20110192796 | ULTRA-PASTEURIZATION FOR DIALYSIS MACHINES - Disclosed herein are water purification and supply systems for medical devices and methods of using. In an embodiment, the system includes A dialysis system includes a filtration system capable of filtering a water stream, a water purification system capable of purifying said water stream in a non-batch process, a mixing system capable of producing a stream of dialysate from mixing one or more dialysate components with the water stream in a non-batch process, and a dialyzer system. The dialyzer may be a microfluidic dialyzer capable of being fluidly coupled to the stream of dialysate and a blood stream. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20100116741 | Reverse Osmosis System - An apparatus for purifying water according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a feed line fluidically connected to a reverse osmosis module containing a semipermeable membrane. The semipermeable membrane produces purified water and a concentrate. A drain line is also connected to the reverse osmosis module configured to transport concentrate. A product line is connected to the reverse osmosis module for transporting purified water. Operatively associated with the product line and drain line is a shut-off mechanism containing a pressure sensor operatively associated with an appliance configured to activate the shut-off mechanism. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20130032540 | LIGHTWEIGHT MODULAR WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM WITH RECONFIGURABLE PUMP POWER OPTIONS - A modular water purification system has a high pressure pump interchangeably received into one of two or more alternative power modules that can rely on different energy sources, such as an combustion engine module or an electric motor module. The pump applies water pressure to a reverse osmosis filter element. The system is reconfigurable for a given deployment, such as with a higher pressure pump operation for a high dissolved solute concentration, such as sea water desalination, or at a lower pressure for fresh water. Modules for deploying parallel paths each having a high pressure pump and reverse osmosis filter can be supplied as an addendum, or included in the supplied unit. The supplied unit is dimensioned so that the modules are stackable atop one another and in abutment to fill out a rectilinear volume on a pallet. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20100072136 | DESALINATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED TREATMENT OF BRACKISH CONCENTRATE AND SEAWATER - Various embodiments described herein provide methods and apparatus for producing purified water from sea water or some other salty or brackish water source by using brackish concentrate mixed with salty water. The various embodiments also provide methods and apparatus for the treatment of toxicity of brackish concentrate, which brackish concentrate exhibits on aquatic life inhabiting the area of discharge of the brackish concentrate, as well as a method for environmentally safe disposal of brackish concentrate. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20130043190 | High Recovery Drinking Water Process - Disclosed is a process that uses reverse osmosis (RO) or nanofiltration (NF) membranes and ion exchange (IX) water softening resins to maximize the production of drinking water, purified industrial service water or recycled purified municipal or industrial effluents. The membrane and ion exchange units are configured in a manner that enables operation of the system at high permeate recoveries in the range 90% to 99%, thus producing purified drinking water with a minimum volume of wastewater to drains and a very low membrane cleaning or membrane replacement frequency. The process mitigates membrane fouling and scale formation and minimizes the use of water treatment chemicals including acidic and alkali solutions and sodium chloride salt that is normally required to regenerate the IX resin. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130134094 | Methods and Apparatus for Removing Impurities from Water - Methods and apparatus for removing contaminants from wastewater with a high salinity content are provided. The methods include injecting a flocculant and other agents and mixing it with the wastewater. The mixture is held in a clarifying tank. The resulting clarified product is filtered through a micro filter. In the final stage, the micro filter output is passed through a series of reverse osmosis membrane. To present a stream with the appropriate salinity for the reverse osmosis filter, the micro filter output is mixed with previously cleaned water to reduce the concentration of total dissolved solids. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130082001 | Fresh Water Generating Apparatus and Fresh Water Generating Method - An object of the present invention is to provide a fresh water generating apparatus that is capable of efficiently producing fresh water according to an intended use, while utilizing wastewater. Provided is a fresh water generating apparatus equipped with a seawater-treating reverse osmosis membrane device that produces fresh water from seawater by a reverse osmosis membrane, which includes: a mixing section that mixes wastewater as dilution water with a portion of seawater to be subjected to membrane treatment to produce mixed water; a first seawater-treating reverse osmosis membrane device that acts as the seawater-treating reverse osmosis membrane device to filter the mixed water; and a second seawater-treating reverse osmosis membrane device that acts as the seawater-treating reverse osmosis membrane device to filter the remaining portion of the seawater to be subjected to membrane treatment, in an unmixed state with the dilution water. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130087502 | WATER IMPURITY REMOVAL METHODS AND SYSTEMS - Methods and systems for enhanced water treatment comprise inorganic filter systems for impurity removal. Embodiments for water impurity removal include introducing contaminated water into an impurity removal system having an inorganic filter. The inorganic filter comprises an inorganic membrane layer supported by an inorganic support. The inorganic membrane layer comprises pores sized from about 1,000 Daltons to about 10 microns for filtering impurities such as kinetic hydrate inhibitor. Other pre-treatment and post-treatment stages may be included. The inorganic membrane layer or inorganic membrane support may comprise a ceramic such as alumina, zirconia, silica, silicon carbide, and mixed oxides. As compared to conventional methods, advantages of certain embodiments include one or more of: higher efficiencies, higher capacities, higher integrity against more aggressive feeds and higher temperatures, increased impurity recyclability, increased product quality, increased automation, increased simplicity, reduced waste, high modularization allowing enhanced scale-up, and lower operational and capital costs. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130087501 | SEAWATER DESALINATION PROCESS - In a desalination system, water is treated, for example by reverse osmosis, to produce desalinated product water and a reject stream. Salt from the reject stream is transferred to a flow of low salinity wastewater, such as effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. For example, the reject stream may be fed to the high salinity cell in an electrodialysis (ED) unit. The adjacent low salinity cell receives the low salinity wastewater. The high salinity and low salinity cells are separated by ion exchange membranes. The salty wastewater is discharged, for example to the ocean. The salt-reduced reject stream is treated to extract more product water from it, for example by recycling it to the feed water. Less feed water is needed to produce a given volume of product water. If a thermal desalination unit is combined with divalent ion selective ion exchange membranes, then scaling is reduced. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20120223018 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECYCLING AND TREATING DYEING WASTEWATER - A method and system for recycling and treating dyeing wastewater are provided. To begin with, the dyeing wastewater is added with an adsorbent for assisted decolorization and filtration. Then, the wastewater is filtered with a first filtration device having hydrophilic membranes. The liquid having passed through the hydrophilic membranes undergoes an RO membrane-base filtration process to produce recycled water and concentrated wastewater. The concentrated wastewater is delivered into a second filtration device having hydrophobic membranes, before a micro-bubbling process is performed on the concentrated wastewater in the second filtration device to turn the concentrated wastewater into a creamy-white nebulized working liquid of high gas content. The steam in the working liquid can readily pass through the hydrophobic membranes to produce an effluent that meets effluent standards. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20090236286 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PROCESSES FOR PRODUCING POTABLE WATER UTILIZING REVERSE OSMOSIS AT OCEAN DEPTH IN COMBINATION WITH SHIPBOARD MOISTURE DEHUMIDIFICATION - Devices and methods for producing purified water. The device includes a reverse osmosis subsystem, a dehumidification subsystem and a purified water storage tank fluidly coupled to the subsystems such that purified water produced by each can be locally stored. A vehicular platform, such as a ship, can be used to locate the device adjacent a supply of saline water and humid air. A saline water inlet, membrane and purified water outlet cooperate in the reverse osmosis subsystem to allow preferential passage of water relative to salt in a saline water supply, while the dehumidification subsystem includes a heat exchanger that extracts moisture from the ambient humid air. Purified water produced by each of the subsystems can be used as a potable water source. When used in conjunction with a ship, part or all of the reverse osmosis subsystem can be submersed to a depth sufficient to generate a hydrostatic pressure that is in turn sufficient to passively operate the reverse osmosis membrane such that additional pressurizing equipment, such as a pump, is not needed. Furthermore, the temperature of the water purified by the reverse osmosis subsystem may be low enough to be used as a condensing agent for the ambient humid air passing through the dehumidification subsystem. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20120234760 | DESALINATION APPARATUS AND DESALINATION METHOD - A desalination apparatus includes a first reverse osmosis membrane device | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120234759 | DESALINATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED TREATMENT OF BRACKISH CONCENTRATE AND SEAWATER - Various embodiments described herein provide methods and apparatus for producing purified water from sea water or some other salty or brackish water source by using brackish concentrate mixed with salty water. The various embodiments also provide methods and apparatus for the treatment of toxicity of brackish concentrate, which brackish concentrate exhibits on aquatic life inhabiting the area of discharge of the brackish concentrate, as well as a method for environmentally safe disposal of brackish concentrate. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120234758 | FORWARD OSMOSIS MEMBRANES - Forward osmosis membranes include an active layer and a thin support layer. A bilayer substrate including a removable backing layer may allow forward osmosis membranes with reduced supporting layer thickness to be processed on existing manufacturing lines. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20110132842 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PROCESSES FOR PRODUCING POTABLE WATER UTILIZING REVERSE OSMOSIS AT OCEAN DEPTH IN COMBINATION WITH SHIPBOARD MOISTURE DEHUMIDIFICATION - Devices and methods for producing purified water. The device includes a reverse osmosis subsystem, a dehumidification subsystem and a purified water storage tank fluidly coupled to the subsystems such that purified water produced by each can be locally stored. A vehicular platform, such as a ship, can be used to locate the device adjacent a supply of saline water and humid air. A saline water inlet, membrane and purified water outlet cooperate in the reverse osmosis subsystem to allow preferential passage of water relative to salt in a saline water supply, while the dehumidification subsystem includes a heat exchanger that extracts moisture from the ambient humid air. Purified water produced by each of the subsystems can be used as a potable water source. When used in conjunction with a ship, part or all of the reverse osmosis subsystem can be submersed to a depth sufficient to generate a hydrostatic pressure that is in turn sufficient to passively operate the reverse osmosis membrane such that additional pressurizing equipment, such as a pump, is not needed. Furthermore, the temperature of the water purified by the reverse osmosis subsystem may be low enough to be used as a condensing agent for the ambient humid air passing through the dehumidification subsystem. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20090188866 | Desalination with production of brine fuel - The present invention involves a water-based vessel for the production of desalinated water and concentrated brine. The former is usable for drinking water in areas that lack sufficient potable water, while the latter may be used as fuel in electricity production. The invention additionally includes capabilities of providing electricity, food, and lodging in response to emergency conditions. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20080277344 | BRACKISH AND SEA WATER DESALINATION USING A HYBRID ION EXCHANGE-NANOFILTRATION PROCESS - Desalination is carried out by a hybrid ion exchange-nanofiltration process in which ion exchange is followed by pressure-driven nanofiltration. Monovalent ions of sodium and chloride of saline water are exchanged for equivalent concentrations of poly-valent ions (for example, sodium ions for magnesium ions or chloride ions for sulfate ions) when passed through ion exchangers in the form of those poly-valent ions. The resultant solution has a lower osmotic pressure than the initial solution containing monovalent sodium and chloride ions, and requires less transmembrane pressure for membrane desalination compared to traditional reverse osmosis. The concentrated reject stream from the membrane process is used as regenerant for the exhausted ion exchanger, which has been converted to monovalent anionic or cationic form. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20110290728 | SWRO Pressure Vessel and Process That Increases Production and Product Quality and Avoids Scaling Problems - An SWRO module for use in a desalination plant receives refresh water to increase production and product quality and reduce scaling problems. The SWRO module includes a pressure vessel having a front-end feed port, a rear-end brine port and a rear-end permeate port. A plurality of RO membrane elements are located in series within the pressure vessel. At least one refresh port leading to an interconnector mixing zone within the pressure vessel is located between two of the plurality of RO membrane elements. The port is configured such that refresh water added to the SWRO module through the refresh port mixes with the feed water supplied through the front-end feed port in the interconnector mixing zone. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110006005 | DESALINATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A desalination system comprises a reverse osmosis device, a pump for pressurizing fluid to be desalinated, a supply conduit for supplying the pressurized fluid to the reverse osmosis device, and a wave power system for driving operation of the pump, wherein the wave power system comprises a turbine connectable to a transmission for driving operation of the pump and arranged such that in operation rotation of the turbine provides mechanical energy to the transmission to drive operation of the pump; and a wave energy conversion device connectable to a turbine fluid supply conduit for supplying fluid to the turbine, wherein the wave energy conversion device is arranged to operate in response to wave motion to transfer fluid through the turbine fluid supply conduit to drive rotation of the turbine. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20090139932 | WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD USING REVERSE OSMOSIS REJECT STREAM IN AN ELECTRODEIONIZATION UNIT - A method for purifying water, comprising separating a supply stream into a permeate stream and a reject stream, removing non-monovalent salt impurities from the reject stream to produce a treated stream; providing the treated stream to a concentrating compartment of an electrodeionization unit; and, producing an EDI product stream of purified water. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090188867 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROCESSING WASTE WATER - A method for processing wastewater is provided. The method includes concentrating a flow of the wastewater using a reverse osmosis process membrane, and evaporating the concentrated flow to produce at least distillate and solids. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20120024789 | Surface Modification of Polyamide Reverse Osmosis Membranes - The present invention relates to surface modification of reverse osmosis membranes to introduce antifouling properties without compromising the separation properties of the original membranes. This approach utilizes: providing a coated membrane surface having enhanced hydrophilic characteristics that prevents the biofoulants from settling; have a surface that consists of hydrophilic brushes that unsettle any biofoulants that get through; and having antimicrobial ions present in the membrane coatings and able to remove or minimize any remaining biofoulants without leaching into the permeate. These coatings are made using dendritic polymers such as hyperbranched polymers or dendrimers. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20090120877 | METHOD FOR DESALINATION - The invention provides a process for producing a desalinated aqueous liquid. The process comprising passing a de-gassed aqueous liquid ( | 05-14-2009 |
| 20100084340 | ZERO WASTE REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM AND DOWNSTREAM RINSING - A system for regulating a reverse osmosis system to obtain zero wastewater includes a fresh water supply, a reverse osmosis apparatus, a concentrate storage tank and a permeate storage tank, a concentrate solenoid valve and a permeate solenoid valve, a permeate heater, an institutional dishmachine and a control system. The reverse osmosis apparatus filters water from the fresh water supply into a concentrate rinse stream and a permeate rinse stream. The concentrate storage tank and the permeate storage tank are downstream of the reverse osmosis apparatus and receiving the concentrate rinse stream and the permeate rinse stream, respectively. The concentrate solenoid valve and the permeate solenoid valve control the flow of the concentrate rinse stream and the permeate rinse stream, respectively, from their respective storage tank. The permeate heater heats the permeate rinse stream to a predetermined temperature. The institutional dishmachine successively receives the concentrate rinse stream and the permeate rinse stream during a rinse cycle of the institutional dishmachine. The control system is operatively connected to the concentrate solenoid valve and the permeate solenoid valve and control flow of the rinse streams into the institutional dishmachine. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20110266224 | Enhanced High Water Recovery Membrane Process - Disclosed is an economical process for the purification of water containing soluble and sparingly soluble inorganic compounds using single-stage or two-stage membrane processes that integrate membrane water purification with chemical precipitation softening and residual hardness and silica removal from the membrane concentrates using ion exchange resins and silica sequestering media, respectively. The purified water recovery in the present invention will not be adversely affected by design and/or operational deficiencies in the chemical precipitation softening system that may result in higher residual hardness and silica in the supernatant from the clarifier. The water is first pretreated to remove suspended solids, oil, iron, manganese and soluble organics if significant using a suitable oil separation device, secondary biological treatment, aeration, chemical oxidation, coagulation, flocculation, single or multi-media filtration, micro-media filtration, ultrafiltration, microfiltration or a combination of these pretreatment steps. The water is further preconditioned with acid and antiscalant. A large fraction of the pretreated water is purified in the first stage low pressure membrane system, RO1. The RO1 concentrate is combined with recycled second stage RO2 membrane concentrate and softened through a chemical precipitation step, followed by an ion exchange softening and polishing step to completely remove the hardness and followed by a silica sequestering unit to completely remove silica. The completely softened and silica-free high TDS combined membrane concentrate is introduced into the second stage high pressure membrane system RO2 to achieve further purified water recovery, resulting in an overall purified water recovery at a rate of 67% to 99.9% of the Influent Water, without precipitation of scale and fouling compounds on the membrane surface. A small high TDS RO2 reject stream is combined with clarifier bottoms and removed from the process to control the osmotic pressure. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20090272692 | THIN FILM MEMBRANES WITH ADDITIVES FOR FORWARD AND PRESSURE RETARDED OSMOSIS - A thin film composite or TFC membrane formed by interfacial polymerization of an organic and aqueous phase on a support membrane with nanoparticles in the discrimination layer and/or the support membrane, optimized by the selection of nanoparticles for membrane flux, hydrophilicity and to minimize thickness of the support membrane while maintaining the strength and ruggedness characteristics required for forward osmosis (FO) and/or pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) so that the flux flow paths are less tortuous than conventional support membranes and thereby provide increased flux flow. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090272691 | METHOD OF CONDITIONING A MIXED LIQUOR CONTAINING NONIONIC POLYSACCHARIDES AND/OR NONIONIC ORGANIC MOLECULES - A method of conditioning a membrane biological reactor mixed liquor containing one or more nonionic polysaccharides and/or one or more organic molecules is disclosed. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20110198290 | CONTROL SCHEME FOR A REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM USING A HYDRAULIC ENERGY MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION SYSTEM - A reverse osmosis system and method of operating the same includes a first pump receiving feed fluid at a first pressure and increasingly pressurizing the feed fluid to a second pressure higher than the first pressure. A membrane housing having an inlet, a membrane, a permeate outlet and a brine outlet. The inlet receiving feed fluid. A hydraulic energy management integration system (HEMI) having a turbine portion, a pump portion and a motor. The brine outlet fluid is in fluid communication with the turbine portion. The reverse osmosis system also includes a second pump and a controller controlling the motor to retard rotation of the HEMI while the first pump increasingly pressurizes the feed fluid to the second pressure. The controller also controls the motor to increase a HEMI speed so that feed fluid pressure increases above the second pressure after the second pressure is reached, and, when a feed fluid reaches the second pressure at the fluid inlet, controls the second pump to increase the feed fluid pressure to a third pressure. The controller controls the motor to reduce the HEMI speed after the third pressure and controls the motor to change the HEMI speed based on a membrane pressure. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20120031844 | FLOW-SWITCH-CONTROLLED, ZERO WASTE REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM - A flow-switch controlled, zero waste reverse osmosis water treatment system having a first conduit for providing a supply of water, a second conduit having an inlet in fluid communication with the first conduit for selectively receiving a flow of water from the first conduit, a reverse osmosis element positioned along the second conduit, the reverse osmosis element separating the flow of water within the second conduit into a purified water stream and a reject water stream, a purified water conduit having an inlet configured to receive the purified water stream and a reject water conduit having an inlet configured to receive the reject water stream and an outlet in fluid communication with the first conduit. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20080290033 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RECOVERY OF WATER CONTAINING SILICA - Disclosed are embodiments of a method and apparatus for the treatment of water containing silica in order to recover as much treated water from a water source as possible while minimizing the generation of waste products. Other embodiments include removing specific elements from the water source and utilizing those elements. Embodiments of the method and apparatus uses in-line physical and physio-chemical treatment methods to remove potential biological, colloidal and hardness foulants continually so that there is minimal loss of water from the water source stream and minimal addition of chemicals to accomplish removal or reduction of these potential recovery-limiting foulants. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20100126935 | METHOD OF MEMBRANE SEPARATION AND MEMBRANE SEPARATION APPARATUS - A method of membrane separation and membrane separation apparatus, with which not only a supply liquid can be evaluated but also the problems, such as scale, occurring on reverse osmosis membrane can be monitored in a highly straightforward fashion. There is provided a membrane separation apparatus equipped with reverse osmosis membrane module ( | 05-27-2010 |
| 20110049052 | METHOD FOR INHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF SILICA AND/OR SILICATE COMPOUNDS IN AQUEOUS SYSTEMS - A method inhibits the deposition of silica and/or silicate compounds on a surface in an aqueous system. The method includes the step of adding a polymer to the aqueous system. The polymer comprises the reaction product of a natural oil component and an alkylene oxide. The polymer of the subject invention has a core, comprising a fatty acid or an ester thereof, and a plurality of polymeric side chains bonded to the core. The plurality of polymeric side chains comprise alkyleneoxy groups selected from the group of ethyleneoxy groups, propyleneoxy groups, butyleneoxy groups, and combinations thereof. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20090139933 | MOBILE DESALINATION PLANTS AND SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR PRODUCING DESALINATED WATER - A desalination vessel has a water intake system having a water intake configured to be in communication with a body of water, and a water intake pump configured to draw water from the body of water, a water desalination system configured to produce desalinated water and concentrate from water drawn from the body of water, a mixing tank on the desalination vessel configured to mix the concentrate with water drawn from the body of water to produce diluted concentrate, and a concentrate discharge system configured to discharge the diluted concentrate into the body of water. The desalination vessel is configured to float on the body of water. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090200238 | TWIN TANK WATER-ON-WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM - A water-on-water filtration system that includes a filter member and two storage vessels. The system includes a plurality of valves that are controlled to place a first of the storage vessels in a fill state in which the first storage vessel is being filled with filtered water, and concurrently place the second of the storage vessels in a service state in which filtered water held in the second storage vessel is delivered as an output of the filtration system. The filtration system can be configured to supply a constant output of filtered water to meet a constant demand while using a relatively small filter member and relatively small storage vessels. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20120103906 | Closed Circuit Desalination Retrofit For Improved Performance Of Common Reverse Osmosis Systems - The retrofit technology utilizes pressurized brine of convention RO to feed a Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD) unit; wherein, further desalination takes place to a desired recovery level. The application exemplified in FIG. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120103905 | Microfiltration method and system - A microfiltration method and system for treating production water, for example, from oil and gas operations so that the treated water can be put to a beneficial user(s) such as agriculture, irrigation, industrial or municipal or potable applications. The production water is treated using a ceramic microfilter after pretreatment, for example, to remove volatile hydrocarbons and heavier oils, such as paraffins and asphaltenes, that could foul the ceramic filter. The effluent from the ceramic microfiltration can be further treated, for example, with activated charcoal or otherwise for the intended end use. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20100163489 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT - The present disclosure is directed towards systems and methods for the treatment of wastewater. A system in accordance with one particular embodiment may include at least one resin tank including an ion exchange resin configured to target a particular metal. The at least one resin tank may be configured to receive an output from an oxidation reactor configured to receive a flow of wastewater from a wastewater producing process. The system may further include a vacuum filter band system configured to receive a saturated resin tank and to apply a water rinse to the resin to generate a resin slurry, the vacuum filter band system including a vacuum filter band configured to receive the resin slurry. Numerous other embodiments are also within the scope of the present disclosure. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100276369 | Desalination System - A reverse osmotic desalinisation system including a desalinisation unit having at least one semi-permeable membrane in direct contact with a body of saline water at a depth d | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100213129 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PURIFYING WATER BY FORWARD OSMOSIS - A water purification apparatus comprising a semi-permeable membrane capable of being contacted with a water source; a superabsorbent polymer capable of absorbing water across said semi-permeable membrane; a pressure application surface capable of transmitting pressure to the gel; and a permeable membrane through which absorbed water is capable of being released from the gel upon application of pressure thereto from said pressure application surface, wherein said permeable membrane is isolated in use from the water source by an isolation means | 08-26-2010 |
| 20080230477 | Blast energy accumulator and energy conversion device and method - An energy accumulator includes a blast chamber, an explosive charge and a detonator that explodes the charge within the blast chamber. A piston forms part of the blast chamber and connects to an energy accumulator or potential energy storage device such as a spring. When an explosive charge is detonated, the piston is forced away from the blast chamber. Energy from the displacement of the piston is captured in the energy accumulator. The energy accumulator forces a fluid through different devices requiring high pressure such as desalinators, ultra and micro filters or chromatographs. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20100032377 | Apparatus and methods for solution processing using reverse osmosis - Equipment, systems, processes and techniques for conducting reverse osmosis processing of solutions are described. The techniques can be applied to provide diluted solution (i.e. purified solvent), concentrate solution or each. A variety of specific equipment, example systems and processes are depicted and described. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100294718 | LIQUID PURIFICATION SYSTEM USING A MEDIUM PRESSURE MEMBRANE - The invention relates to a reverse-osmosis purification system that comprises at least one liquid supply ( | 11-25-2010 |
| 20110006006 | Combined Axial Piston Liquid Pump and Energy Recovery Pressure Exchanger - A pumping machine, that can serve a system as the sole main pump for pressurizing a primary liquid flow, incorporates, in a single machine, a rotor-drum type AP (axial piston) pump and a PX (pressure exchanger) that recovers energy from a secondary liquid flow such as the brine discharge from an RO seawater desalination system, with benefits including fewer moving parts and small machine size along with lower capital and operating costs. A single rotor-drum containing the cylinders and pistons is located between two end blocks, one or both configured with manifold passageways, ports and sliding valves. A swash-plate at one end reciprocates the pistons axially when the rotor-drum is rotated. Two working chambers, primary and secondary, are formed at opposite ends of a single piston in each cylinder, thus enabling the single rotor-drum to function as a primary liquid-pressurizing axial pump (AP) with sliding valves at the primary end enabling primary liquid pumping, and as a secondary outflow-driven pressure exchanger (PX) recovering energy from pressure drop in the secondary liquid flow and thus contributing work to primary pumping, saving energy and reducing operating costs. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110011802 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY GENERATING ENERGY AND TREATING WATER - A system that enables cooling a concentrated photovoltaic cell, while simultaneously treating water, e.g., desalinating sea water. A concentrated PV panel converts solar energy to electric power. Recirculated water e.g., reclaimed or sea water, at an optimized temperature range flows into the PV panel to cool the solar PV cells. The recirculated water is heated by the PV panel and is then directed to a water treatment unit, e.g., a heat exchanger or water desalinator. The water treatment unit may be a high temperature reverse osmosis (RO) unit, or a bacterial water treatment plant. A flow of water to be treated enters the heat exchanger/desalinator unit. Heat from the heated recirculated water is used to treat the cooler water. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110240557 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REVERSE OSMOSIS PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE USING NORMALIZATION DATA - The present invention can include a reverse osmosis unit, a control system, a display, and/or a memory. The reverse osmosis unit can include a filtration unit, a liquid utilization system, and/or an instrumentation system. The filtration unit includes a plurality of filter banks which each have a plurality of filter unit. The filtration unit receives a feed liquid and generates permeate and concentrate. The permeate is sent to the liquid utilization system, while the concentrate is removed. The instrumentation system can include a plurality of sensors to detect operational data of the feed liquid, permeate, and/or concentrate. Using the operational data and equations, the control unit can calculate the normalized permeate flow rate indicating whether the filters should be cleaned and/or replaced. The operational data and the equations can be used to determine whether the pressure and/or flow can be manipulated without damaging the filters. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20100307975 | WATER TREATMENT AND REUSE SYSTEM - System and methods are disclosed for filtering wastewater. In one embodiment, a water filtering system comprises a first filtering stage and a second filtering stage. The first filtering stage receives a flow of wastewater, and uses electrocoagulation to separate suspended particles from the wastewater and produce filtered wastewater. The second filtering stage receives the filtered wastewater from the first filtering stage, and uses mechanical filtering to remove suspended particles from the filtered wastewater and produce filtered water that is substantially free from suspended particles. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20110174736 | FORWARD OSMOSIS DEVICE - The invention relates to a forward osmosis (FO) device ( | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110049053 | METHOD FOR INHIBITING THE DEPOSITION OF SILICA AND/OR SILICATE COMPOUNDS IN AQUEOUS SYSTEMS - A method of inhibiting the deposition of silica and/or silicate compounds on a surface in an aqueous system is provided. The method comprises the step of adding a polymer to the aqueous system. The polymer comprises at least one constitutional unit (i) and at least one additional constitutional unit (ii). The constitutional unit (i) is represented by the formula: | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110247980 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO RECOVER WASTE HEAT TO PREHEAT FEED WATER FOR A REVERSE OSMOSIS UNIT - In one embodiment, the present invention includes a liquid processing system. In the liquid processing system, a first liquid source transmits feed liquid to a heat exchange unit while a heat generation unit transmits warm coolant to the heat exchange unit. A heat generation unit warms the feed liquid while cooling the warm coolant. The warmed feed liquid is sent to a pump, and cooled feed liquid from a second liquid source is mixed with the warmed feed liquid as necessary until a target temperature is reached. The warmed feed liquid is sent to a reverse osmosis unit for filtering and the resulting permeate is sent to the liquid utilization unit. The cooled coolant is sent from the heat exchange unit to the storage tank and if the cooled coolant is not cool enough, it is sent to a cooling tower for further cooling. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20090242485 | PURIFIED WATER DISPENSING MACHINE - A unique water purification system for use in vending machine applications. The invention can be configured several different ways, with the goal of purifying the water through the reverse osmosis component, and optionally sanitizing it with UV light, then re-mineralizing the water, and finally optionally alkalizing and electrolyzing with an electric-based water ionizing machine. The result is water from which all impurities have been removed and disinfected by optional ultra violet treatment, but which also contains never before seen amounts of beneficial alkaline helpful minerals and/or powerful anti-oxidants. Without adding the minerals, the machine would not ionize and alkalize the water as efficiently. This unique combination of reverse osmosis, with optional UV, will create very pure water that can then have liquid or granular minerals added, and be alkalized and ionized to make it very healthy for human consumption. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090001020 | DESALINATION METHODS AND SYSTEMS THAT INCLUDE CARBONATE COMPOUND PRECIPITATION - Desalination methods that include carbonate compound precipitation are provided. In certain embodiments, feed water is subjected to carbonate compound precipitation conditions prior to desalination. In certain embodiments, desalination waste brine is subjected to carbonate compound precipitation conditions. In yet other embodiments, both feed water and waste brine are subjected to carbonate compound precipitation conditions. Aspects of embodiments of the invention include carbone dioxide sequestration. Embodiments of the invention further employ a precipitate product of the carbonate compound precipitation conditions as a building material, e.g., a cement. Also provided are systems configured for use in methods of the invention. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20110163036 | Method and Apparatus for Generating Fresh Water, and Method and Apparatus for Desalinating Sea Water - An object is to provide a fresh water generating method that is capable of efficiently producing purified water, such as fresh water, from unpurified water, such as sea water. Provided is a fresh water generating method for generating fresh water by way of reverse osmosis membrane filtration, which includes mixing sea water with low salt concentration water having a salt concentration lower than sea water to produce mixed water, and subjecting the mixed water prepared by the mixing to reverse osmosis membrane filtration, thereby generating fresh water. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20120145636 | High Efficiency Water Purification System - A high efficiency water purification system is provided incorporating recovery of a portion concentrate wastewater associated with the reverse osmosis unit. This reduces the overall volume of concentrate wastewater requiring discharge/disposal by reusing the purified concentrate of a concentrate recovery units as RO feed water. Initial feedwater is pressurized and passed through an RO membrane, and separated into a permeate flow and a concentrate flow. A portion of the higher pressure concentrate is then directed to an additional set of thin film composite membranes (concentrate recovery membranes). The concentrate recovery membranes are arranged in an array such that the concentrate pressure is adequate to provide the force required to drive the concentrate through the recovery system membranes. The permeate produced by the concentrate recovery system is directed back to the feed of the primary RO unit; thereby, reducing the volume of raw feed water required for system operation. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120145634 | High Efficiency Water Purification System - A high efficiency water purification system is provided incorporating a process to recover a portion of the concentrate wastewater associated with the reverse osmosis unit to reduce the overall volume of concentrate wastewater requiring discharge/disposal by reusing the purified concentrate of a concentrate recovery units as RO feed water. The initial municipal feedwater is pressurized and passed through an RO membrane, and separated into a permeate flow and a concentrate flow. After passing through the membrane, a portion of the higher pressure concentrate is then directed to an additional set of thin film composite membranes (concentrate recovery membranes). The concentrate is drawn from the primary RO unit upstream of a concentrate flow control valve where the pressure is typically 100-600 psig. The concentrate recovery membranes are arranged in an array such that the concentrate pressure is adequate to provide the force required to drive the concentrate through the recovery system membranes. The permeate produced by the concentrate recovery system is directed back to the feed of the primary RO unit; thereby, reducing the volume of raw feed water required for system operation. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20110094965 | Enhanced High Water Recovery Membrane Process - Disclosed is an economical process for the purification of water containing soluble and sparingly soluble inorganic compounds using single-stage or two-stage membrane processes that integrate membrane water purification with chemical precipitation softening and residual hardness and silica removal from the membrane concentrates using ion exchange resins and silica sequestering media, respectively. The purified water recovery is not adversely affected by design and/or operational deficiencies in the chemical precipitation softening system that may result in higher residual hardness and silica in the supernatant from the clarifier. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20100237016 | DEPTH EXPOSED MEMBRANE FOR WATER EXTRACTION - A DEMWAX™ water treatment system includes membrane modules and a collection channel. The membrane modules are submerged at depth and tethered to one or more anchors on the ocean floor. A breathing tube extends between the collection channel and a buoy floating on the surface of the ocean to expose the collection channel to atmospheric pressure. A pump pumps the permeate from the collection channel to shore through a permeate pipe. One or more permeate storage tanks can optionally be disposed within the system, for example, as part of or extending from the collection channel, to provide extra storage. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20110147310 | Method and Apparatus for Generating Fresh Water, and Method and Apparatus for Desalinating Sea Water - An object is to provide a fresh water generating method that is capable of efficiently producing purified water, such as fresh water, from unpurified water, such as sea water. Provided is a fresh water generating method for generating fresh water by way of reverse osmosis membrane filtration, which includes mixing sea water with low salt concentration water having a salt concentration lower than sea water to produce mixed water, and subjecting the mixed water prepared by the mixing to reverse osmosis membrane filtration, thereby generating fresh water. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110147309 | PROCESS FOR THE DESALINATION AND ELIMINATION OF BORON FROM WATER AND EQUIPMENT TO CARRY OUT SAID PROCESS - The present invention relates to a method for performing desalination and eliminating boron from water, which comprises carrying out a first reverse-osmosis step where the saline water is supplied into a reverse-osmosis membrane container which comprises a plurality of membranes interconnected in series, arranging between two of said membranes a blind interconnector which separates the flows of permeate in two membrane sections, i.e. the flow situated upstream of the blind interconnector and the flow situated downstream of the blind interconnector, defining two respective stages, and carrying out at least one second reverse-osmosis step which comprises low-pressure and high-flow membranes or medium-pressure and medium-flow membranes and which is supplied with some or all of the water obtained from the permeate of the membranes of the first step which are situated upstream of the blind interconnector, i.e. the first stage of the first step. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110049054 | WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM - A treatment system and process is described herein to separate constituent parts from aqueous-based products or by-products, such as wastewater from a cellulosic ethanol process. The treatment system may include an ultrafiltration system, a first reverse osmosis system and a second reverse osmosis system. The treatment system may be configured to operate in modified batch mode. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20120037566 | OSMOTICALLY-ASSISTED DESALINATION METHOD AND SYSTEM - Systems and methods for osmotically assisted desalination include using a pressurized concentrate from a pressure desalination process to pressurize a feed to the desalination process. The depressurized concentrate thereby produced is used as a draw solution for a pressure-retarded osmosis process. The pressure-retarded osmosis unit produces a pressurized draw solution stream that is used to pressurize another feed to the desalination process. In one example, the feed to the pressure-retarded osmosis process is impaired water. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20080203026 | Reverse Osmosis Filtration System Storage Tanks - A reverse osmosis product water storage tank having first and second molded shells coupled together to form an enclosure, a bladder within the enclosure and coupled to separate product water from squeeze water within the enclosure, a first port through a wall of the enclosure to provide water access to the product water side of the bladder, a second port through a wall of the enclosure to provide squeeze water access to the squeeze water side of the bladder and wherein the inner surfaces of the enclosure having a topography configured to define a plurality of channels between the inner surfaces of the enclosure and the bladder when the bladder is full of product water for accommodating squeeze water flow into the enclosure between the enclosure and the bladder when the bladder is full of product water. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20110303608 | Desalination System - A desalination system is provided that may be operated in a self-sustained fashion. The desalination system is comprised of (i) a wind turbine; (ii) an air compressor coupled to, and powered by, the wind turbine; (iii) a compressed air storage tank for storing the pressurized air from the air compressor; (iv) a pneumatic actuator that is powered by compressed air stored in the air storage tank; (v) at least one compression cylinder coupled to, and powered by, the pneumatic actuator; (vi) a source of salt water that is introduced into the compression chamber(s) of the compression cylinder(s); and (vii) a reverse osmosis desalination column that is configured to receive pressurized salt water from the compression cylinder(s) and output desalinated water. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20120145633 | ULTRA-SOUND ENHANCED CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATION OF OIL FROM OILY SOLIDS IN WATER AND WASTEWATER - Methods are provided for separating solids containing oily/water of the type normally encountered in SAGD and hydraulic fracturing operations. The solids containing oily/water is subjected to ultrasound separation techniques and mechanical separation operations. The mechanical separation operation may, preferably, comprise centrifugal separation such as that in which the treated solids containing oily/water is separated into a solids fraction, an oil fraction, and a water fraction. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120145635 | TREATMENT OF WATERS WITH MULTIPLE CONTAMINANTS - The present invention provides for a process for treating water with multiple contaminants. The process includes filtering the water to remove relatively large particulates and immiscible organic fluids. The pH of the water is adjusted. Components such as sulfates are added to precipitate heavy metals. Any suspended solids and residual organic compounds are removed with an enhanced air flotation device. The resulting water is then passed through a reverse osmosis system whereby the water is treated in a cascading stage-wise manner with one or more selective membrane units. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20110108484 | METHOD OF IMPROVING PERFORMANCE OF A REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM FOR SEAWATER DESALINATION, AND MODIFIED REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM OBTAINED THEREBY - A method for improving performance of an original reverse osmosis system for seawater desalination, the original system comprising a high pressure pump, a reverse osmosis membrane arrangement, a pump hydraulic line and a turbine hydraulic line, the method comprising operating the motor at a power lower than a normal operation power; providing an energy recovery device; splitting new brine flow to a first brine flow; supplying an additional seawater; providing a booster pump; providing an energy recovery device hydraulic line; providing a first booster pump hydraulic line; and providing a second booster pump hydraulic line. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20120006749 | VESSEL DESALINATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A multi-ported vessel system includes an outer pressure vessel containing a plurality of flow distribution tubes, each of which comprises a plurality of reverse osmosis membrane elements aligned serially within each tube. The outer pressure vessel includes bypass flow paths whereby feed water flows around each of the tubes within the vessel. Slots are disposed in the flow distribution tubes at the upstream end of each RO membrane element such that feed water reaches all RO membrane elements of the tubes in parallel. The serial alignment of the membranes also allows for serial water processing also. A product water tube collects the purified water from the reverse osmosis elements and provides it to a product water port. Brine water is provided to an output port to be discarded of for further processing. The parallel processing of feed water by all membrane elements results in increased productivity and reduced costs. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120055878 | Structure for Molecular Separations - A process of producing a structure for molecular separations includes providing a plurality of template materials. The template materials are selected from biomolecules, biopolymers, polymers, or combinations thereof. A sieve material, suitable for producing a structure for molecular separations, is provided around the template materials. The template materials are positioned in an arrangement for leaving pores suitable for molecular separations. The template materials are removed to leave pores in the sieve material and produce the structure suitable for molecular separations. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120205313 | Sulfate removal from aqueous waste streams with recycle - This invention provides for sulfate removal from a water source by a reverse osmosis (RO) or nanofiltration (NF) process where the concentrate stream is treated to precipitate and remove reject sulfate and recycle the discharged concentrate water and any backwash water used to clean a filter used to prepare feed water for the RO or NF process. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20100116742 | REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM - An apparatus for purifying water according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a feed line fluidically connected to a reverse osmosis module containing a semipermeable membrane. The semipermeable membrane produces purified water and a concentrate. A drain line is also connected to the reverse osmosis module configured to transport concentrate. A product line is connected to the reverse osmosis module for transporting purified water. Operatively associated with the product line and drain line is a shut-off mechanism containing a pressure sensor or gasket operatively associated with an appliance configured to activate the shut-off mechanism. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20120125851 | TRANSPORTABLE DISASTER-RELIEF SYSTEMS - A transportable disaster-relief generating system is a power generated, multi-functional, and compact relief unit with means for providing area lighting via a power generator, purifying and storing potable water from a non-potable water source, and creating ice utilizing purified water. The disaster-relief unit of the present invention may further provide a portable ice storage bin in a knockdown configuration to hold a large quantity of ice. A bladder may be used to hold potable water produced. The equipment is physically protected by the structural framework and base. The device may comprise access doors and suitable paneling on the walls and roof of the device. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20110180480 | REVERSE-OSMOSIS SYSTEM WITH AN APPARATUS FOR REDUCING NOISE AND METHOD FOR REDUCING NOISE IN A REVERSE-OSMOSIS SYSTEM - The present invention relates to a reverse osmosis system having an apparatus for noise cancellation of the reverse osmosis system, wherein the apparatus has at least one sensor for the detection of at least one noise emitted by the reverse osmosis system; at least one controller connected to the sensor for the evaluation of the signal or signals obtained from the sensor; and at least one actuator connected to the controller, with the actuator being designed such that it generates an acoustic signal or a vibration by means of which the noise emitted by the reverse osmosis system is damped or cancelled out. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20120255908 | WATER CONSERVATION METHODS COMBINING OSMOTIC MEMBRANE PROCESSED WATER FOR SUBSEQUENT EFFICIENT USE IN COOLING TOWER APPLICATIONS - Synergies in recovery of reverse osmosis (RO) membrane process reject waste and forward osmosis (FO) membrane process water extraction, using such osmotic process byproducts in applications for makeup to evaporative cooling towers, concurrent with use of specific corrosion and scale inhibition methods that permit tower water discharge reduction to approach zero blowdown. Such synergies are derived from methods for application of subsequent RO feed water and reject wastewater with pre-treatment steps, and FO process optimization steps to permit water quality and economic performance efficiencies when used as makeup to evaporative cooling systems. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20100326917 | WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM - A water treatment system including a reverse osmosis module and a control valve controlling communication between a water source and the module. A feedwater biased storage tank stores permeate and its pressurization by feedwater is controlled by a feedwater control valve. Flow of signal pressure to a signal pressure chamber of the feedwater control valve is restricted to reduce the rate at which a fluid generated force is applied. A check valve in parallel with the restriction allows relatively unrestricted flow out of the signal chamber when signal pressure is terminated. A tank pressurization control valve controls the operation of the feedwater control valve and controls the pressurization of a feedwater biasing chamber in the storage tank. Per-meate is stored in an accumulator for flushing the reverse osmosis module when the storage tank reaches a predetermined limit. Cleaning substances or additives can be introduced into the system | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110036774 | Spiral Wound Membrane Module for Forward Osmotic Use - A spiral wound membrane module for forward osmotic use is disclosed. The membrane module may generally include a forward osmosis membrane in a spiral wound configuration. The module may include two inlets and two outlets, and may define first and second fluid flow paths. The inlets to each of the fluid flow paths may be generally isolated so as to prevent mixing. In some embodiments, the membrane module may include a distributer region and a collector region. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20100230352 | CONTINUOUS PROCESS BATCH-OPERATED REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM WITH IN-TANK MEMBRANES AND CIRCULATION - A reverse osmosis system and method for operating the same includes a pressure tank having a first end and a second end, the pressure tank has a first volume adjacent to the first end and a second volume adjacent to the second end and a third volume between the first volume and the second volume and a fluid passage fluidically coupling the second volume to the first volume. The reverse osmosis system also includes a plurality of membranes disposed within the third volume generating permeate and a permeate manifold receiving permeate from the membranes and fluidically communicating permeate out of the pressure tank. A feed line couples feed fluid into the pressure tank. A first pump pressurizes the feed line. A second pump is disposed within the tank and circulates brine fluid from the second volume through the fluid passage. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20120298584 | LIQUID RECOVERY AND PURIFICATION IN BIOMASS PRETREATMENT PROCESS - The invention includes a process for recovering the liquids used in pretreatment of biomass for production of bio-fuels and other biomass based products. Liquid recovery and purifications minimizes waste production and enhances process profitability. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120273422 | Apparatus and methods for solution processing using reverse osmosis - Equipment, systems, processes and techniques for conducting reverse osmosis processing of solutions are described. The techniques can be applied to provide diluted solution (i.e. purified solvent), concentrate solution or each. A variety of specific equipment, example systems and processes are depicted and described. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120279923 | CONTINUOUS PROCESS BATCH-OPERATED REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM WITH IN-TANK MEMBRANES AND CIRCULATION - A reverse osmosis system and method for operating the same includes a pressure tank having a first end and a second end, the pressure tank has a first volume adjacent to the first end and a second volume adjacent to the second end and a third volume between the first volume and the second volume and a fluid passage fluidically coupling the second volume to the first volume. The reverse osmosis system also includes a plurality of membranes disposed within the third volume generating permeate and a permeate manifold receiving permeate from the membranes and fluidically communicating permeate out of the pressure tank. A feed line couples feed fluid into the pressure tank. A first pump pressurizes the feed line. A second pump is disposed within the tank and circulates brine fluid from the second volume through the fluid passage. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120325748 | ANTIMICROBIAL WATER TREATMENT MEMBRANES AND PRODUCTION THEREOF - The present invention discloses antimicrobial water treatment membranes, comprising a water treatment membrane, covalently attached to one or more antimicrobial peptides or derivatives thereof, either directly or via one or more tether molecules. There are also provided a process for preparing these antimicrobial membranes, and uses thereof in water treatment applications. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20110309020 | Phononic Crystal Desalination System and Methods of Use - Disclosed herein are systems and methods for desalination of salt water based on an engineered acoustic field that causes constructive and destructive interference at pre-computed spatial positions. The engineered acoustic field can cause high-pressure and low-pressure regions where desalination membranes are located. The induced pressure from the acoustic field can force pure water through the membranes leaving ionic and dissolved molecular species behind. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20120091062 | Osmotic Desalination Process - An energy efficient desalination process that does not produce waste products involves the extraction of water from a first solution, such as seawater, by using a second concentrated solution to draw the water from the first solution across a semi-permeable membrane. By manipulating the equilibrium of the soluble and insoluble species of solute within the second solution in favor of the soluble species of the solute, a saturated second solution can be used to generate osmotic pressure on the first solution. Also, by adjusting the equilibrium in favor of the less soluble species after the water has been drawn from the first solution, a portion of the solute can easily be precipitated out. Heating the second solution decomposes the solute into its constituent gases. The constituent gases and precipitated solute may be recycled through the process to affect the changes in equilibrium and eliminate waste products. Additionally, by using the waste steam from industrial sources and a heat pump to effectively distribute heat through the present method, the present method exhibits greater energy efficiency than prior art methods. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120138536 | REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM WITH CONTROL BASED ON FLOW RATES IN THE PERMEATE AND BRINE STREAMS - A reverse osmosis system includes a membrane chamber having a feed line. The chamber generates a permeate stream and a brine stream from the feed line. A feed pump pressurizes the feed line. A first flow meter generates a first flow signal corresponding to a flow of fluid in the permeate stream. A booster device has a turbine in fluid communication with the brine stream and a pump in fluid communication with the feed line. A motor is coupled to the turbine device and a variable frequency drive is attached to the turbine device operating in response to the first flow signal. A second flow meter generates a second flow signal corresponding to a flow of fluid in the brine stream and a variable size nozzle operates an opening in response to the second flow meter. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20080203025 | LOW PRESSURE PRODUCTION OF DRINKING WATER - An apparatus and methods for producing purified drinking water are disclosed. A hand pump is used in a closed system to generate pressure sufficient to pass the untreated water through a system of filters and a reverse osmosis membrane. The system preferably includes an ultrafiltration filter. The resulting water is substantially pure, being free of bacteria and having a significant amount of minerals and salts removed to make it safe for drinking. The system can produce enough potable water to supply the daily needs for a small village. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080230476 | Method and System for Increasing Recovery and Preventing Precipitation Fouling in Pressure-Driven Membrane Processes - The invention provides a process for purifying water containing soluble species capable of forming one or more sparingly soluble salts or minerals, said process comprising feeding a pressurized water stream into a treatment zone having one or more membranes disposed therein, passing said stream along said membrane(s) to recover a permeate and to withdraw a concentrate therefrom while periodically reversing the direction of the flow of said stream in said treatment zone, wherein the periodicity of the flow reversal is such that said one or more membranes are exposed to supersaturation conditions evolving in said water stream for a period of time which is less then the time required for said supersaturated water stream to precipitate one or more of said sparingly soluble salts and/or minerals therefrom. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20130112622 | NEW LIQUID PROCESSING DEVICE - The present invention refers to a device, comprising a hollow body having at least one open end and at least one barrier inside of the hollow body, which is non-permeable for liquids and solids under ambience conditions, however, becomes liquid-permeable by applying an external force like pressure, drag force or driving power to said barrier, wherein said barrier is spaced from at least one open end of the hollow body, the use of such a device for processing of a liquid sample, a method for preparation of said device and a method for isolation or purification of any biomolecules using said device. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130118982 | WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM - A treatment system and process is described herein to separate constituent parts from aqueous-based products or by-products, such as wastewater from a cellulosic ethanol process. The treatment system may include an ultrafiltration system, a first reverse osmosis system and a second reverse osmosis system. The treatment system may be configured to operate in modified batch mode. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130140235 | DESALINATION SYSTEM - The invention provides methods and an apparatus for more efficiently and economically producing purified water from sea water or some other salty or brackish water source. The efficiency is derived from the co-location with a power plant or other thermal generating source that will heat the feed water. Reverse osmosis membrane filtration systems work optimally when the feed water is at certain higher temperature, where that temperature is typically higher than the feed water at ambient temperatures. By using the heated sea water as the byproduct of the power plant electricity generating process and if necessary mixing it with ambient temperature sea water, if needed to lower the water temperature, and using this feed water with a higher temperature than ambient water temperature, the efficiency of the reverse osmosis system can be increased. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130146540 | SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR TREATING WATER AND SPIRAL WOUND MEMBRANE ELEMENT - A spiral would membrane element has a feed channel spacer providing a tortuous feed flow path through an open spacer mesh material. The feed flow path may force the feed liquid to flow across substantially all of an adjacent membrane surface. The length of the flow path and average cross-flow velocity are increased relative to a straight flow path. A rise in pressure drop that might otherwise be produced by the increased average cross-flow velocity is reduced by the open spacer mesh. In a system having two or more upstream and downstream spiral wound membrane elements, a downstream element may have a feed channel spacer providing a tortuous flow path while an upstream element has a feed channel spacer providing a less tortuous flow path or a straight flow path. | 06-13-2013 |
| 20130146541 | FLUID PURIFICATION METHODS, DEVICES, AND SYSTEMS - A fluid purification system has cells whose purifying capability can be regenerated. Some of the cells are arranged in series to reach a high level of purification. An automatic valve network is controlled to cycle the cells in a way that levels the loads on each, thereby maximizing the service interval for replacing expired cells, enabling all of the cells to be replaced at the same time after having each contributing approximately equally to the purification load, and operated such that at any one time, at least one cell is regenerated so as to enable continuous up-time. | 06-13-2013 |
