EA024894B1 - Apparatus for recovering draw solutes - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for recovering draw solutes using an osmotically driven membrane system. Draw solute recovery may be carried out by various means including the use of distillation columns and/or membranes, where the recovery may be assisted by a heat pump.

Description

In general, the present invention relates to osmotic membrane processes and, more particularly, to methods for reconstituting a solute involved in osmosis for osmotic membrane processes.

State of the art

In general, two solutions are involved in osmotic membrane processes, separated by a semipermeable membrane. One solution may be, for example, sea water, while another solution may be a concentrated solution that generates a concentration gradient between sea water and the concentrated solution. The specified gradient contributes to the extraction of water from seawater through a membrane that selectively passes water, but does not pass salt, into a concentrated solution. Gradually, the water that is introduced into the concentrated solution dilutes the specified solution. Then the dissolved substances must be removed from the diluted solution to produce drinking water. Typically, drinking water was obtained, for example, by distillation; however, the solutes were not restored and were not recycled.

Disclosure of invention

The present invention generally relates to osmotic membrane systems and methods, for example, direct osmosis (PO), pressure limited osmosis (PSC), osmotic dilution (ΟΌ), direct osmotic concentration (EOS), etc., as well as systems and methods for restoring the solute involved in osmosis in osmotic membrane systems / processes.

According to one aspect, the present invention relates to an osmotic membrane process in the form of: a separation process using direct osmosis. The process comprises the steps of bringing the first solution into contact with the first side of the semipermeable membrane, detecting at least one characteristic of the first solution, choosing a molar ratio for the concentrated osmosis solution containing ammonia and carbon dioxide based on at least one characteristic detected , a concentrated osmosis solution, containing ammonia and carbon dioxide with a selected molar ratio, is introduced into contact with the second side of the semipermeable membranes to maintain the necessary osmotic concentration gradient through the semipermeable membrane, allow at least a portion of the first solution to flow through the specified semipermeable membrane to form a second solution on the first side of the semipermeable membrane and a liquefied osmotic solution on the second side of the semipermeable membrane, at least at least part of the liquefied participating in osmosis solution in the separation process to restore those involved in osmosis dissolved x of the substances and the solvent stream, the solutes participating in the osmosis are reintroduced into contact with the second side of the semipermeable membrane to maintain the selected molar ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide in the concentrated dehydrated solution and the solvent stream is collected.

In various embodiments, the separation process involves the use of an absorber configured to condense the solutes involved in the osmosis into a concentrated osmosis solution. The solvent stream, the diluted osmosis participating solution, or the concentrated osmosis participating solution can be used as an absorbent material in the absorber. Also, cooling can be used in the absorber. In some embodiments, the process may further comprise compressing the gas stream obtained from separating the solutes involved in the osmosis from the diluted osmosis solution by using a gas compressor or a steam eductor that is hydraulically pressurized to absorb the liquid , to facilitate re-absorption of the solutes involved in osmosis into a concentrated osmosis solution. The specified process may further comprise the step of applying pressure to the first solution to increase or create a flow through the semipermeable membrane into the concentrated osmosis solution. The process further comprises the step of selecting a concentrated osmosis participating solution, in which the dissolved substance participating in osmosis is characterized by the ability to remove it from the specified solution or to introduce it into the specified solution, improved by the catalyst, which is characterized by the ability to remove it from the specified solution or its introduction into said solution improved by a physical agent or reusable chemical agent, or which is characterized by I the ability to remove it from the specified solution or to introduce it into the specified solution, improved by an electric energy field, magnetic energy field or other change in the medium, which increases the susceptibility of the solute involved in osmosis to separation to improve the removal of the solute involved in osmosis and its reuse.

According to additional embodiments, the process may further comprise detecting a volumetric change in at least one of the first solution and the concentrated solution participating in the osmosis, and changing the flow channel related to the semipermeable membrane in response to the detected change to maintain the necessary flow characteristics. According to other embodiments, the process may further comprise improving the removal or absorption of the solute involved in the osmosis by using a catalyst, a reagent, a consumed and reused material, an electric energy field, or a magnetic energy field. According to other embodiments, the process may further comprise reducing the energy of the process by using at least one of mechanical re-compression of the vapor, thermal re-compression of the vapor, vacuum distillation, gas purge distillation, vapor permeation membrane evaporation and / or closed-loop heat pump . The process may further comprise the step of using carbon dioxide to precipitate the solutes involved in osmosis and using ammonia to re-absorb the precipitate for pressure-limited osmosis. The process may further comprise the step of introducing a nucleating suspension into the first solution. According to at least one embodiment, the process may further comprise the step of using a supersaturation of the salts in the first solution during the first operation and diluting the saturated salt solution during the second operation before returning to the first operation for re-saturation.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a system for osmotic extraction of a solvent from a first solution. The system comprises a first chamber having an inlet fluidly connected to a source of the first solution, a second chamber having an inlet fluidly connected to a source of concentrated osmosis solution containing ammonia and carbon dioxide in a molar ratio of at least 1: 1, a semi-permeable membrane system separating the first chamber from the second chamber, a separation system fluidly connected downstream of the second chamber and configured to receive liquefaction osmotic solution participating in the osmosis from the second chamber and the recovery of the solutes involved in the osmosis and the solvent stream, and a recycling system containing an absorber configured to facilitate the reintroduction of the solutes involved in the osmosis into the second chamber to maintain a given molar ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide in concentrated dehydrated solution. According to one embodiment, said separation system comprises a distillation column.

In some embodiments, the absorber may comprise a packed type distillation column. According to at least one embodiment, the absorber comprises a membrane contact filter. The membrane contact filter can be made and located with the possibility of facilitating the parallel flow of the cooled absorbent substance and the sequential gas stream involved in the osmosis of the solute in the membrane contact filter. In some embodiments, the distillation column may comprise a membrane distillation device. According to some embodiments, the recycling system can additionally perform a compression operation downstream of the absorber to improve the condensation of the gases of the solute involved in the osmosis. According to at least one embodiment, said compression operation is carried out using a gas compressor, a steam eductor or a liquid stream eductor. The separation operation may further include a carbon sequestration circuit for absorbing and isolating the solutes participating in the osmosis, said carbon sequestration loop being configured to complete the absorption of the gases of the solute involved in the osmosis and increase their pressure to facilitate their absorption by the concentrated osmosis solution.

In some embodiments, the semi-permeable membrane system may comprise a membrane block immersed in the first solution, the concentrated osmosis participating solution flowing through the interior of the membrane block. According to at least one embodiment, the semi-permeable membrane system comprises a first flow channel associated with a first solution from which the solvent is recovered, said first flow channel having a tapering geometry or construction of flow dividers, so that the effective volume of the first flow channel decreases along the direction its length, and a second flow channel associated with a concentrated osmosis participating solution, into which a solvent extracted from the first solution is introduced, wherein azanny second flow channel has a flared geometry or structure comprises flow dividers so that the effective volume of said second flow channel increases along its length. According to some embodiments, the semi-permeable septum system comprises a pyramidal array of membrane blocks configured to reduce the volume of the first solution and increase the volume of the concentrated solution involved in the osmosis, said pyramidal array of membrane blocks being made in such a way that there are fewer membrane blocks in the counter flow configuration, oriented towards the inlet for the solution involved in the osmosis and the outlet for initial solution, and a larger number of membrane blocks oriented towards

- 2 024894 inlet for the source solution and the outlet for participating in the osmosis of the solution.

In addition, the system may contain downstream the zero-stream liquid discharge operation or otherwise reduce the stream operation in which an inlet is used to receive a concentrated solution. The system may further comprise a vacuum system or an air purge / desorption system configured to facilitate desorption by distillation of the solutes involved in the osmosis. The system may further comprise a system for evaporation through a permeable membrane, configured to desorb by distillation of the solutes involved in osmosis. According to some embodiments, said system for evaporating through a permeable membrane may comprise a membrane that is selective for the gases involved in the osmosis of the solute relative to water vapor. The system may further comprise a membrane distillation system for stripping the solutes involved in osmosis by distillation. According to at least some embodiments, membranes can be used both for isolating solutes involved in osmosis and for heat exchange in a block. In some embodiments, the reconstituted osmosis participating solutes can be delivered in at least one additional downstream operation.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for osmotic energy production. The method may comprise the steps of performing the membrane separation operation to form the first solution, precipitating the solutes involved in osmosis from the first solution, separating the precipitating solutes participating in osmosis to form the second solution, facilitating the extraction of gases from the second solution, and separating the gases in a manner such as kinetic differential absorption, and at least one separated gas is used to redissolve the precipitated solutes for the formations a third solution for reuse in the membrane separation step.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a direct osmosis separation process may include bringing the first solution into contact with the first side of the semi-permeable membrane, introducing the concentrated osmotic solution into contact with the second side of the semi-permeable membrane to maintain the desired osmotic concentration gradient on the semi-permeable membrane facilitate the flow of at least part of the first solution through a semipermeable membrane to form a second solution on the first side of the semi-permeable membrane and the liquefied osmosis participating solution on the second side of the semi-permeable membrane, at least a portion of the liquefied osmosis participating solution is fed into a separation operation to recover the solutes involved in the osmosis and the solvent stream, the dissolved substances participating in the osmosis are reintroduced in contact with the second side of the semipermeable membrane to maintain the desired molar ratio in the concentrated dehydrated solution and select outflow of solvent. According to at least one embodiment, the reconstituted osmosis participating solutes resulting from the separation operation are contacted with an absorbent solution.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for osmotic extraction of a solvent from a first solution may comprise a first chamber having an inlet connected in fluid to a source of the first solution, a second chamber having an inlet connected in fluid to a source of concentrated osmosis solution, a semi-permeable membrane separating the first chamber from the second chamber, and a separation system fluidly connected downstream of the second chamber and le to receive liquefied participating in osmosis of the solution from the second chamber and recovery involved in osmosis solute and solvent flow. The specified device may also contain a recovery system that contains an absorber configured to facilitate the reintroduction of the dissolved substances involved in the osmosis into the second chamber to maintain the required concentration of dissolved substances in the concentrated dehydrated solution.

In various embodiments, at least one of the separation system and the recovery system may comprise a membrane device. The specified membrane device can be made and located with the possibility of introducing the restored participating in the osmosis of the dissolved substance or dissolved substances into contact with the absorbent solution. The membrane device can additionally be made and arranged to be stripped by stripping, participating in the osmosis, dissolved substances from the liquefied solution participating in the osmosis. In some embodiments, at least one of the separation system and the recovery system may comprise a suspended liquid membrane. The separation operation may include a multistage step of reconstituting the solute using, for example, a distillation column or distillation membrane. In the case of multi-stage reduction of the solute, the system or systems can be designed and arranged in such a way that the material and energy are transmitted by a stream, and both of them flow sequentially. According to at least one embodiment, a multi-step solute reduction operation may include the use of at least one heat pump.

According to another aspect, a method for separating a dissolved substance and a product solvent from a solution participating in an osmosis using several distillation columns may comprise the steps of introducing a solution participating in the osmosis into each of at least a first distillation column and at least a second distillation column columns, apply thermal energy received from a source of thermal energy to the first distillation column to evaporate at least a portion of the solution involved in the osmosis in the first distillation column, the evaporated part of the osmosis solution from the first distillation column is directed to the second distillation column as an energy stream, so that the evaporated part of the osmosis solution from the first distillation column acts as a heat source for the second distillation column for evaporation, at least part of the solution involved in the osmosis in the second distillation column, and allow the course of the solution involved in the osmosis and en WGIG sequentially, at least first and second distillation columns whereby solutes involved in osmosis of the solution and the solvent product contained in the dehydrated solution, separated, at least in the first and second distillation columns. According to some embodiments, said method may comprise the step of facilitating the operation of at least one of the first and second distillation columns by means of a heat pump.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a device (and a method that is implemented by using said device) for reconstituting dissolved substances of an osmosis solution from a liquefied osmosis solution. The specified device contains: an osmotic membrane system containing a source of liquefied participating in the osmosis of a solution containing thermally removed solutes; and a separation system in fluid communication with the osmotic membrane system and comprising at least one membrane contact filter having a first side and a second side, the first side being in fluid communication with a source of liquefied osmotic solution.

According to at least one embodiment, said separation system further comprises: a source of thermal energy in fluid communication with the osmotic solution participating in the osmosis, for evaporating at least a part of the dissolved substances involved in the osmosis from the liquefied osmosis solution and a source of the absorbing solution located in hydraulic communication with the second side of the membrane contact filter. At least a portion of the vaporized solutes participating in the osmosis passes from the first side to the second side of the membrane contact filter and is absorbed by the absorbent solution.

In various embodiments, the absorbent solution also contains a source of thermal energy, for example in the form of water vapor. The separation system may also comprise a condenser communicating with the absorbent solution when said solution exits at least one membrane contact filter, a heat pump communicating with the membrane contact filter, and / or a reboiler communicating with the heat pump and a source of water discharged from the membrane contact filter. According to at least one embodiment, the membrane contact filter is a selective membrane, which essentially blocks the transmission of water vapor, but facilitates the transfer of evaporated solutes involved in osmosis. In one embodiment, the selective membrane is a suspended liquid membrane.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a device for reconstituting dissolved substances of an osmotic solution from an osmotic membrane system. The specified device contains: a membrane unit configured to receive a liquefied participating in the osmosis solution from the osmotic membrane system, containing at least one membrane system; and a heat pump unit in fluid communication with the membrane unit for supplying a heat source to the membrane unit. The specified membrane unit may contain at least one membrane system, which may be located in the housing. According to at least one embodiment, the at least one membrane system comprises at least one membrane system for desorption by distillation of solutes from a diluted osmosis solution (i.e., a desorption membrane) and at least one membrane system for contact dissolved substances involved in the osmosis of a solution with an absorbent solution (i.e., an absorbent membrane). In one embodiment, the membrane system is a multi-stage solute recovery system in which multiple membrane blocks are used with material and energy flows flowing sequentially or in parallel, depending on the particular application. The membrane system or membrane systems may comprise a selective membrane, such as, for example, 4,024,894 measures, a suspended liquid membrane. According to at least one embodiment, the heat pump unit comprises a heat pump that is in fluid communication with a source of vaporized osmosis participating solutes discharged by the membrane unit, and a riboiler in fluid communication with the water source discharged by the membrane unit.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a device for reconstituting solutes of an osmotic solution from an osmotic membrane system in which multi-step reconstitution of a solute is carried out using several distillation columns and / or membrane blocks. According to one embodiment, said device comprises a first distillation column (or membrane unit), a heat pump and a second distillation column (or membrane unit). The first distillation column comprises: a first inlet connected to a first source of a liquefied osmosis solution (for example, an osmotic membrane system) for introducing a portion of a liquefied osmosis solution into the first end of the first distillation column; a first heat transfer means coupled to the first distillation column at a second end, said first heat transfer means having an inlet coupled to the first heat source and an outlet coupled to the first distillation column for directing heat energy causing evaporation to the first distillation column dissolved substances of a liquefied osmotic solution in the first distillation column; a first outlet for removing the evaporated dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution from the first distillation column; and a second outlet for removing the bottom product from the first distillation column. According to another embodiment, the first thermal energy source may be introduced directly into the first distillation column. The heat pump is connected to the first outlet of the first distillation column. The second distillation column comprises: a first inlet connected to a second source of liquefied osmosis solution, for introducing a portion of the liquefied osmosis solution into the first end of the second distillation column; a second heat transfer means associated with the second distillation column at the second end, said second heat transfer means having an inlet coupled to a heat pump for receiving evaporated dissolved substances of the osmotic diluted solution for use as a second heat energy source; a first outlet associated with the second distillation column to direct a second heat source to the second distillation column to evaporate the dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution in the second distillation column; and a second outlet configured to return the evaporated solutes of the diluted osmosis solution from the first distillation column condensed in the second heat transfer means to the osmotic membrane system; a first outlet for removing evaporated dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution from the second distillation column; and a second outlet for removing the bottom product from the second distillation column.

According to various embodiments, the device comprises a second heat pump coupled to a first outlet of a second distillation column and at least a third distillation column. The third distillation column comprises a first inlet connected to a third source of a diluted osmosis solution (for example, an osmotic membrane system) for introducing a portion of the liquefied osmosis solution into the first end of the third distillation column; a third heat transfer agent associated with a third distillation column at a second end, said third heat transfer means having an inlet coupled to a second heat pump for receiving evaporated dissolved substances of a liquefied osmosis solution for use as a third heat source for use with a third distillation column, a first outlet associated with the third distillation column, for directing a third source of thermal energy gi into the third distillation column to cause the evaporation of the dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution in the third distillation chamber, and a second outlet configured to return the evaporated dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution from the second distillation column, condensed in the third heat transfer agent, to the osmotic membrane system; a first outlet for removing evaporated dissolved substances participating in the osmosis of the solution from the third distillation column; and a second outlet for removing the bottom product from the third distillation column. According to at least one embodiment, the first outlet of the third distillation column is configured to return the evaporated solutes of the diluted osmosis solution from the third distillation column to the osmotic membrane system. According to one embodiment, the first and second distillation columns are arranged to operate in parallel, and the osmotic membrane system is the first and second sources of the diluted osmotic solution. According to another embodiment, the first and second distillation columns are adapted for sequential operation, and the second product of the first distillation column is the second source of the liquefied osmosis solution.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a device for recovering solutes involved in osmosis from an osmotic membrane process. The specified device contains an osmotic membrane system containing a source of liquefied participating in the osmosis of a solution containing thermally removed solutes; and a separation unit in fluid communication with the osmotic membrane system, comprising: at least one of a membrane device or a distillation device that is in fluid communication with a source of liquefied osmotic solution; and at least one heat pump associated with at least one of the membrane device or distillation device and configured to provide a heat source (or facilitate the operation of an existing heat source) for at least one of the membrane device and the distillation device for evaporation thermally removed solutes.

In various embodiments, the membrane device comprises at least one membrane contact filter configured to at least one of the following: bring evaporated osmosis solutes into contact with the absorbent solution or stripping osmosis solutes by distillation of the solute osmosis from the liquefied osmosis solution. According to at least one embodiment, the membrane contact filter is a suspended liquid membrane. According to at least one embodiment, the distillation device comprises a multistage device for reconstituting the solute, for example, a multistage column and / or membrane distillation device. According to one embodiment, a multi-stage recovery device is configured and arranged so that material and energy flow sequentially, for example, through a first distillation column and a second distillation column.

According to another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for recovering solutes involved in osmosis from an osmotic membrane system. The method comprises the steps of: taking a source of a liquefied osmosis participating solution from an osmotic membrane system, said liquefied osmosis participating solution containing thermally removed solutes, introducing at least a part of the liquefied osmosis participating solution into the separation system, and introducing a source of thermal energy into the separation system, the dissolved substances of the liquefied solution participating in the osmosis are evaporated from the liquefied solution participating in the osmosis, the evaporated dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis participating solution are installed and the indicated dissolved substances of the osmotic participating solution are recycled from the separation system to the osmotic membrane system.

According to at least one embodiment, the step of evaporating the dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution contains a sub-step in which the dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution are exposed to a heat source using a membrane contact filter to desorb the dissolved substances by stripping from the liquefied osmosis solution. The step of reconstituting the evaporated dissolved substances of the osmosis participating solution contains a sub-step in which the evaporated dissolved substances of the osmosis participating solution is exposed to the absorbent solution using a membrane contact filter. According to other embodiments, the step of evaporating the dissolved substances of the liquefied osmosis solution comprises a sub-step in which the liquefied osmosis solution is subjected to a multi-stage reconstitution process of a solute, for example in a multi-stage distillation column. According to one embodiment, the liquefied osmosis solution and the heat source flow sequentially through a multi-stage solute recovery process, for example, at least through a first distillation column (or membrane block) and a second distillation column (or membrane block). In addition, the step of evaporating the dissolved substances of the diluted osmosis participating in the osmosis solution contains a sub-step in which the action of the heat source is improved by means of a heat pump.

These and other objectives, along with the advantages and features of the present invention described herein, will become apparent upon reading the description below and the accompanying drawings. In addition, it should be understood that the features of the various implementations described herein are not mutually exclusive and may exist in various combinations and permutations.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the accompanying drawings, like reference numbers generally refer to like elements in different views. In addition, the drawings are not necessarily scaled; on the other hand, 6,049,894, visual highlighting is generally used to illustrate the principles of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. For clarity, in the drawings, not all components are indicated with reference numbers. In the following detailed description, various embodiments of the present invention are presented with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of an osmotic membrane system / process that utilizes a solute reduction system according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2 schematically shows an osmotic membrane system / process according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3 schematically shows an alternative osmotic membrane system / process according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4 schematically shows another alternative osmotic membrane system / process according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 5 schematically shows another alternative osmotic membrane system / process according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 6 schematically shows a part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute in which a membrane contact filter is used to facilitate absorption of vapors of a osmosis solution according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 7 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute that uses a membrane contact filter to facilitate desorption of a osmosis solute according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. Figure 8 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute in which desorption and absorption functions of a liquefied osmosis solution are integrated in a single unit.

In FIG. 9 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute that utilizes membrane distillation integrated with a closed-loop heat pump according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 10 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute that utilizes membrane distillation integrated with an open-cycle heat pump according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 11 schematically shows a selective membrane for use in a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 12 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute in which a selective membrane is used to simultaneously desorb and absorb osmosis solutes, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 13 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 14 schematically shows a portion of a solute reduction system that utilizes multi-step solute reduction, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 15 schematically shows part of a solute reduction system that utilizes multi-step solute reduction facilitated by a heat pump according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 16 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute that uses a distillation column and a heat pump, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 17 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute in which a distillation column and a heat pump are used, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 18 schematically shows part of a system for reconstituting a osmosis solute in which an eductor is used, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention.

The implementation of the invention

Various embodiments of the present invention can be used in any osmotic membrane process under pressure, such as ΡΘ, ΡΚΌ, ΘΌ, EOS, etc. The osmotic membrane process under pressure to extract the solvent from the solution may generally comprise the step of bringing said solution into contact with the first surface of the direct osmosis membrane.

- 7,024,894

In some embodiments, the first solution (known as process or stock solution) may be sea water, hard water, wastewater, contaminated water, process effluent, or another aqueous solution. In at least one embodiment, the solvent is water; however, in other embodiments, non-aqueous solvents may be used. A second solution (known as a solution participating in osmosis) with an increased concentration of solute (s) compared to the first solution may be in contact with a second opposite surface of said direct osmosis membrane. A solvent, for example water, can be recovered from the first solution through a direct osmosis membrane into a second solution enriched in the solvent as a result of direct osmosis.

In direct osmosis, fluid transfer properties are generally used, including the movement of the solvent from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated solution. Osmotic pressure generally facilitates the transport of solvent through the direct osmosis membrane from the initial solution to the solution involved in osmosis. A solvent-enriched solution, also called a diluted osmosis solution, can be taken from the first outlet and subjected to a further separation process. In some non-limiting embodiments, purified water can be generated as a product from a solvent-rich solution. The second product stream, i.e. depleted in solvent or concentrated technological solution can be taken from the second outlet for disposal or further processing. The concentrated technological solution may contain at least one target compound, the concentration or other isolation of which may be necessary for subsequent use.

In FIG. 1 is a diagram of one exemplary osmotic membrane system / process 10 that utilizes a regeneration system 22 to produce osmosis solute according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, system / process 10 comprises a direct osmosis unit 12, such as those described in US Pat. Nos. 6391205 and 7560029, and PCT Publications No. AO 2009/155596 and AO 2011/053794, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Block 12 is in fluid communication with the source or main line 14 of the initial solution and the source or main line 16 involved in the osmosis of the solution. The source 16 of the osmosis solution may contain, for example, a saline solution, such as sea water, or another solution, as described below, which can act as an osmotic reagent for dewatering the source 14 by means of osmosis using a direct osmosis membrane located in block 12 Block 12 discharges a stream of concentrated solution 18 obtained from the initial solution from source 14, which can be sent for further processing. Unit 12 also discharges a liquefied osmosis solution 20, which can be further processed by a regeneration system 22, as described below, in which osmosis dissolved substances and the target solvent can be reduced. According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, the solutes involved in the osmosis are reduced for reuse. In FIG. 2-5 show various osmotic membrane systems / processes.

In FIG. 2 and 3 show osmotic membrane processes using direct osmosis according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, solution 14, for example seawater, hard water, wastewater, contaminated water or another solution called the first solution, is introduced into or placed in the first chamber 9. The first chamber 9 is in fluid communication with the semipermeable membrane 12, as indicated by arrow A. A second solution, the concentration of which is greater than the concentration of the first solution, is introduced into or located in the second chamber 11. A solution with a higher concentration allows the solvent, for example water, from the first solution located in the first chamber 9 to pass through an osmotic method through a semipermeable membrane 12 to a more concentrated second solution located in the second chamber 11, as indicated by arrow B. Deprived of most of its solvent , the first solution remaining in the first chamber 9 becomes concentrated in the dissolved substance. The dissolved substance can be removed as indicated by arrow C if it is recognized as waste. According to another embodiment, the solute may be the target compound and may be selected for further processing or used as a desired product technologically downstream. Then, the lower solvent-enriched second solution, located in the second chamber 11, is introduced, as indicated by the arrow в, into the third chamber 13. In the third chamber 13, the dissolved substances in the solvent-enriched second solution can be isolated and recycled back to the second chamber 11, as indicated by the arrow E, to maintain the concentration of the second solution. The third chamber 13 and the recycle operation (arrow E) are optional for at least one embodiment of the present invention. Then, the second solvent-enriched second solution remaining in the third chamber 13 can be introduced, as indicated by arrow P, into the fourth chamber 15. In the fourth chamber 15, the remaining solvent-enriched second solution can be heated to remove residual dissolved substances to produce a solvent, the flow of which is indicated

- 8,024,894 arrow C. According to some implementation options, such as those related to wastewater treatment, the stream of said solvent may be purified water. In the fourth chamber 15, residual dissolved substances can be removed by heating by splitting them into constituent gases, and these gases can be returned to the second chamber 11, as indicated by arrow H, to maintain the concentration gradient of the second solution in chamber 11 and used as a reagent .

Direct osmosis membranes in general can be semi-permeable, for example, to allow the passage of a solvent such as water, but to prevent the passage of dissolved substances such as sodium chloride, ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium carbamate, other salts, sugar, preparations or other compounds . Semi-permeable membranes of various types are suitable for this purpose, provided that they pass solvent (e.g. water), do not pass dissolved substances, and do not react with dissolved substances in solution. Said membrane can have various configurations, including thin films, porous fiber membranes, spiral wound membranes, monofilaments and disc tubes. Numerous well-known semipermeable membranes are commercially available that are distinguished by the presence of pores small enough to pass water and filter out solute molecules such as sodium chloride and its ionic molecular particles, such as chloride. Said semipermeable membranes can be made of organic or inorganic materials. In some embodiments, membranes made of materials such as cellulose acetate, nitrocellulose, polysulfone, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyamide and acrylonitrile copolymers can be used. Other membranes may be mineral membranes or ceramic membranes made of materials such as ΖιΌ ₂ and Τίρ ₂ .

In general, the material selected for use as a semi-permeable membrane must withstand various process conditions in which the membrane can be used. For example, it may be necessary for the membrane to withstand elevated temperatures, such as those used in sterilization, or in other high temperature processes. In some embodiments, a direct osmosis membrane unit can be used in a temperature range of about 0-100 ° C. According to some non-limiting embodiments, process temperatures may range from about 40-50 ° C. Similarly, it may be necessary for the membrane to maintain its integrity under various pH conditions. For example, at least one solution in a membrane medium, such as a solution involved in osmosis, may be more or less acidic or basic. According to some non-limiting embodiments, the direct osmosis membrane unit can be operated at a pH level in the range of about 2-11. In some non-limiting embodiments, the pH level may be in the range of about 7-10. The membranes used need not be made of the same material and may consist of different materials. According to at least one embodiment, the membrane may be asymmetric, such as a membrane with an active layer deposited on the first surface and a support layer located on the second surface. In some embodiments, the active layer as a whole may be a deflection layer. For example, in some non-limiting embodiments, the deflecting layer may block the passage of salts. In some embodiments, the backing layer, such as the backing layer, may generally be inactive.

According to at least one embodiment, at least one direct osmosis membrane may be located in the housing or casing. The housing as a whole may have a size and shape suitable for accommodating the membranes located therein. For example, the housing may substantially be cylindrical to accommodate spirally folded direct osmosis membranes. The housing of the indicated block may contain inlet openings for supplying the initial and osmotic solutions to the block, as well as outlet openings for extracting product streams from the block. In some embodiments, the housing may have at least one reservoir or chamber for holding or storing a fluid that will be introduced or removed from the block; according to at least one embodiment, the housing may be insulated.

According to at least one embodiment, the solutes involved in the osmosis can be reduced for reuse. Dissolved substances can be stripped by distillation from a liquefied osmosis solution to produce pure water substantially free of solutes. Gaseous solutes can then be condensed or absorbed to form a concentrated osmosis solution. Specified liquefied participating in the osmosis solution can be used in the absorber as an absorbent substance. In other embodiments, pure water can be used as an absorbent material to completely or partially absorb gas streams from the solute recycling system.

According to at least one embodiment, a portion of the liquefied osmosis solution can be used to absorb the gases involved in the osmosis of the dissolved substance 9,049,894, for example from a distillation column. According to at least one embodiment, cooling and mixing with the absorbent material may be carried out in the absorption column or membrane block described herein. The mixing of gases with a part of the liquefied osmosis participating solution, acting as an absorbent substance (followed by conversion into a concentrated osmosis participating solution), can occur in the tank. The tank as a whole can be sized to provide an area large enough to facilitate the interaction between the absorbent and gases. In some embodiments, a packed type distillation column may be used as an absorber. According to at least one embodiment, a desorption distillation column and an absorption column may be used in the compound. Heating may be carried out in the distillation column, while cooling and contacting the diluted absorbent material of the solution involved in the osmosis may occur in the absorption column. According to one embodiment, approximately 25% of the diluted osmosis solution can be directed to the absorber to serve as an absorbing fluid, while the remaining approximately 75% of the osmosis liquid is to be sent to the distillation section of the distillation column as feed stream. The balance between the two flows will determine the concentration of the reconcentrated osmosis solution returned to the membrane system, as well as the size of the absorber and / or stripping section, the degree of heating required in the stripping section, and the degree of cooling required before the absorber or stages of the absorber, after them and / or inside them.

According to at least one embodiment, it may be necessary to use low temperatures to desorb solutes using cheap low-temperature heat sources and due to the lack or absence of alternative solutions. However, the lower the desorption temperature, the lower the desorption pressure, the lower the condensation pressure, and the slower the absorption kinetics, which in some cases makes the absorption of certain compounds, such as carbon dioxide, a very difficult task. Various methods can be used to absorb the remaining gases after distillation of the dissolved substances, and some of them (usually about 60-80%) condense, and the remaining gases have a slight tendency to continue absorption in a short period of time.

In some embodiments, the remaining vapor may be compressed to increase its pressure and thus increase the absorption kinetics. A compressor may be used for this purpose. In other embodiments, a water-steam eductor may be used in which a small amount of water vapor can be mixed with evaporated solutes to increase the pressure to an intermediate level between the pressures of the two streams. In other embodiments, the pressure of the absorbent solution can be increased, after which the solution can be introduced into the eductor stream to trap and compress the vapor of the solute (as shown, for example, in FIGS. 16-18).

According to at least one embodiment, an absorber with a sequential vapor stream and a serial or parallel absorbent stream can be used in various configurations using membrane contact filters, a packed column structure or similar equipment (as shown, for example, in FIGS. 6-18 ) In one embodiment, the sequential vapor stream may be coupled to a parallel stream of absorbent material that is cooled to such an extent that additional cooling in the absorbent device is not required. According to other embodiments, cooling may be carried out in the absorbent device. The heat exchange surface and the mass contact surface can be used together in one device. An absorbent can be used to form a mixture, which can be sent to connect with a concentrated stream of the solution participating in the osmosis. Absorbent substances may contain a liquefied osmosis solution, purified water, water with added ammonia, liquid ammonia and non-volatile sequestrate (sequestration product) of carbon dioxide, which can then be removed to purified water or can be removed or destroyed.

According to at least one embodiment, the carbon dioxide absorption / desorption circuit may be implemented such that the solution is used as an absorbent material at low pressure to absorb carbon dioxide. Then the solution can be compressed into a liquid form and heated to separate carbon dioxide at a higher pressure, as a result of which it is possible to absorb said carbon dioxide in a condenser or in another way described above. Thus, some embodiments may resemble a carbon dioxide sequestration system. In some embodiments, the absorbent solution may contain ammonia in water. In other embodiments, the absorbent solution may contain a non-volatile solute that can complex with carbon dioxide and then release it, so that the solute is recycled in the absorbent system. In some embodiments, heating may be used.

- 10,024,894

In some embodiments, catalysts and / or reagents can be used. The use of a catalyst or reagent in at least one process or capacitor can increase the kinetics of condensation or reabsorption of the solute involved in osmosis.

According to at least one embodiment, the liquefied osmosis solution can be sent to the distillation section of the distillation column (as shown, for example, in FIG. 7), in which low-temperature heating causes evaporation of the solutes involved in the osmosis, leaving purified water essentially , without the specified dissolved substances. A heat exchanger can be used to condense part of the vapor. According to at least one embodiment, about 70% of the vapor can be condensed. The absorption system (shown, for example, in Fig. 6) can be used to introduce part of the remaining vapor for absorption into a liquefied osmosis solution. According to at least one embodiment, a concentrated ammonia solution can be used in the second absorption system to absorb the remaining vapors of the solute participating in the osmosis. The fluid flows from the condenser, as well as from the first and second absorbers can be mixed and used in whole or in part as a concentrated solution participating in the osmosis.

As indicated above, the separation process according to at least one embodiment may be started from the first solution contained in the first container 12. The first solution may be an aqueous or non-aqueous solution that must be treated to recover purified water to remove unwanted dissolved substances or in order to concentrate and restore the desired dissolved substances. Undesirable solutes include, but are not limited to, undesirable chemically precipitated soluble salts, such as sodium chloride (IaCl). Typical examples of the first solution can be aqueous solutions, such as sea water, brine and other saline solutions, hard water, saline water, industrial waste water and food streams related to highly purified technologies such as those related to cooking and pharmaceutical industries industry. In general, any type of solvent compatible with the osmosis solution, for example, any solvent capable of dissolving the solutes involved in osmosis, can be used. The first solution can be filtered and pre-treated by known methods to remove solid and chemical waste, biological contaminants, and prevent clogging of the membrane by other methods before osmotic separation and then introduced into the first chamber 9, as indicated by arrow 10.

In addition, the first solution may be any solution containing a solvent and at least one dissolved substance, for which it is necessary to perform separation, purification or processing of a different type. In some embodiments, the first solution may be non-potable water, such as seawater, saline water, hard water, domestic wastewater, and water for some industrial needs. It may be desirable to produce purified or potable water from said stream for subsequent use. Process wastewater to be treated may contain salts and other ionic particles such as chloride, sulfate, bromide, silicate, iodide, phosphate, sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, nitrate, arsenic, lithium, boron, strontium, molybdenum, manganese, aluminum, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, nickel, selenium, silver and zinc. In some embodiments, the first solution may be brine, such as saline water or seawater, wastewater, or other contaminated water. In other embodiments, the first solution may be process effluents containing at least one solute, such as target particles, which need to be concentrated, insulated or reduced. Such streams can be obtained from a process, such as pharmaceutical or food production. Target particles may contain pharmaceuticals, salts, enzymes, proteins, catalysts, microorganisms, organic compounds, inorganic compounds, chemical starting materials, chemical products, colloids, food products or contaminants. The first solution can be delivered to the direct osmosis membrane water treatment system from an upstream typical process, such as an industrial plant, or any other source, such as the ocean.

Like the first solution, the second solution may be an aqueous solution, i.e. the solvent in it may be water. In other embodiments, non-aqueous solutions, such as organic solvents, can also be used for said second solution. The second solution may be a solution participating in osmosis in which the concentration of the solute is higher than the first solution. The solution involved in osmosis as a whole may be capable of generating osmotic pressure in the osmotic membrane system. The specified osmotic pressure can be used for various purposes, including demineralization, water purification, solute concentration, energy production and other applications. A wide variety of dehydrated solutions can be used. According to some embodiments, the solution participating in the osmosis may contain at least one removable dissolved substance. According to at least some embodiments, thermally removable (thermolytic) solutes can be used. For example, a solution participating in osmosis may contain a thermolytic saline solution. In some embodiments, ammonia and an osmosis-participating carbon dioxide solution can be used, such as those described in US Pat. No. 7,560,029. In one embodiment, the second solution may be a concentrated solution of ammonia and carbon dioxide.

According to at least one embodiment, the ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide should essentially ensure the complete absorption of the gases of the solution involved in the osmosis into the absorbent fluid, i.e. a portion of the liquefied osmosis solution as described above, based on the highest concentration of the osmosis solution in the system. The concentration, volume and flow rate of the solution involved in osmosis as a whole should be consistent with the concentration, volume and flow rate of the initial solution, so that the desired difference between the osmotic pressures of the two solutions is maintained throughout the membrane system and the recovery range of the source water. According to at least one embodiment, said process parameters can be calculated taking into account the internal and external effects of concentration polarization in the membrane and its surface. According to one non-limiting embodiment of demineralization in a system for demineralizing seawater, an inlet flow rate of a concentrated osmosis solution of approximately 33% of the supply of salt water can be set, typically in the range of about 25 to 75%. When supplying water with low salinity, an input flow rate of the solution participating in the osmosis may require from about 5 to 25% of the feed water flow rate. The outlet flow rate of a diluted osmosis solution can usually be from about 50 to 100% of the feed water inlet and from about three to four brine discharges.

According to at least one embodiment, the ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide as a whole must be consistent with the concentration of the solution involved in the osmosis and the temperatures used in the process of removal and reduction of the dissolved substance involved in the osmosis. If the indicated ratio is not high enough, it is not possible to completely absorb the gases of the solute participating in the osmosis in salt for reuse in the concentrated solution, and if the indicated ratio is too high, there will be an excess of ammonia in the dehydrated solution, which will not condense properly in the desired temperature range required to use the waste heat to activate the process. For example, in some embodiments, the distillation column can desorb gases at a temperature of about 50 ° C, and the absorption column can operate at a temperature of about 20 ° C. The ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide should be selected with the possibility of preventing the passage of ammonia into the initial solution through the membrane. If the indicated ratio is too high, this can cause the presence of undissociated ammonia (usually predominantly ammonium) in a dehydrated solution with a concentration exceeding the necessary or desirable. Other parameters, such as the type of feed water, the required osmotic pressure, the required flow rate, the type of membrane and the concentration of the solution involved in the osmosis, can affect the preferred molar ratio of the solution involved in the osmosis. The ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide can be monitored and adjusted in the osmotic membrane process. According to at least one embodiment, the solution participating in the osmosis may contain ammonia and carbon dioxide in a molar ratio in excess of 1: 1. In some non-limiting embodiments, the ratio for the osmosis solution at a temperature of about 50 ° C. and the molar concentration of the osmosis solution, defined as the molar concentration of carbon dioxide in the solution, can be at least about 1.1: 1 for a 1 molar osmotic solution, about 1.2: 1 for a 1.5 molar osmosis solution, about 1.3: 1 for a 3 molar osmosis solution, about 1.4: 1 for a 4 molar osmosis solution solution, p about 1.5: 1 for a 4.5 molar osmosis solution, about 1.6: 1 for a 5 molar osmosis solution, about 1.7: 1 for a 5.5 molar osmosis solution, about 1, 8: 1 for a 7 molar osmosis solution, about 2.0: 1 for an 8 molar osmosis solution, and about 2.2: 1 for a 10 molar osmosis solution. Experiments show that the listed ratios are approximately the minimum ratios necessary for the stable solubility of solutions with the indicated concentrations at the indicated approximate temperature. At lower temperatures, higher ratios of ammonia to carbon dioxide are required for the same concentrations. At elevated temperatures, reduced ratios may be required, but some solution pressure may also prevent decomposition of solutes into gases. Ratios in excess of 1: 1, even at total concentrations of less than 2 moles, significantly increase the stability of solutions and prevent the release of carbon dioxide gas and, in general, the thermolytic decomposition of dehydrated solutions in response to even moderate heating and / or pressure reduction. The solution participating in osmosis as a whole has a concentration of solute that exceeds the concentration of the initial solution. This can be achieved by using dissolved substances that are sufficiently soluble to produce a solution having a higher concentration than the original solution. At least one parameter of the solution involved in the osmosis can be adjusted based on the process effluents supplied to the separation system for processing. For example, the volume, flow rate, or concentration of solutes in the stock solution may affect at least one parameter selected for the solution involved in the osmosis. Requirements related to the waste streams associated with the system can also affect at least one operational parameter. Other operating parameters can also be changed based on the specific application of the direct osmosis separation system. Preferably, the solute in the second solution should be easily removed from the solution using a separation process, said separation process separating the solute into at least one particle that is more soluble in the solvent of the solution, i.e. soluble particles, and particles that are poorly soluble in a solvent, i.e. sparingly soluble particles, and the dissolved substance should not pose a threat to health if an insignificant amount of it remains in the resulting solvent. The presence of soluble and sparingly soluble particles of the solute provides, if necessary, the ability to control solutions or control them. As a rule, the concentration of soluble and sparingly soluble particles of the solute in the solution reaches a value at which at a specific temperature, pressure, pH, etc. the number of particles of the solute does not increase or decrease relative to each other, i.e. the ratio of the concentration of soluble solute particles to the concentration of insoluble solute particles remains constant. This state is called equilibrium. Given the specific conditions of the solution, particles of the dissolved substance need not be present in a 1: 1 ratio in equilibrium. By adding the chemical designated here as the reagent, the balance between the solute particles can be shifted. By using the first reagent, the equilibrium of the solution can be shifted to increase the amount of soluble particles of the solute. Similarly, by using a second reagent, the equilibrium of the solution can be shifted to increase the amount of poorly soluble particles of the solute. After adding these reagents, the ratio of the particles of the solute can stabilize at a new level that meets the conditions of the solution. By controlling the equilibrium state in favor of soluble particles of the solute, a second solution can be reached whose concentration is close to saturation, i.e. to a state in which the solvent contained in said solution no longer dissolves the solute.

Preferred solutes for the second (osmosis participating) solution may be gaseous ammonia and carbon dioxide and their products, ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium carbamate. Ammonia and carbon dioxide, dissolved in water in a molar ratio of about 1, form a solution consisting mainly of ammonium bicarbonate and, to a lesser extent, associated products of ammonium carbonate and ammonium carbamate. The equilibrium in the specified solution is shifted towards poorly soluble particles of the dissolved substance, i.e. ammonium bicarbonate, due to soluble particles of the dissolved substance, ammonium carbamate and, to a lesser extent, ammonium carbonate. The creation of a buffer solution, consisting mainly of ammonium bicarbonate with an excess of ammonia, so that the molar ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide was more than 1, shifts the equilibrium of the solution towards more soluble particles of the dissolved substance, i.e. ammonium carbamate. Ammonia is characterized by increased solubility in water and is preferably adsorbed by the solution. Since ammonium carbamic acid is better adsorbed by the solvent from the second solution, its concentration can be increased to the extent that the solvent can no longer adsorb the dissolved substance, i.e. to saturation. According to some non-limiting embodiments, the concentration of solutes in said second solution achieved by said method is greater than about 2 moles, more than about 6 moles, or from about 6 to about 12 moles.

Ammonia may be the preferred first reagent for ammonium carbamate, since it is one of the chemical elements that result from the decomposition of ammonia contained in dissolved carbamic acid, in other words called a constituent element. In general, it is preferable that the solvent reagent which is the constituent element of the dissolved substance, like any additional reagent, can be easily removed from the solution when the solvent is removed, and according to a preferred embodiment, said constituent element can be recycled as the first reagent. However, other reagents can be taken into account that can control the equilibrium state of the particles of the solute in the solution, provided that the reagent is easily removed from the solution and the reagent is not harmful to health if a small amount of the reagent remains in the resulting solvent .

According to at least one embodiment, the solution involved in the osmosis as a whole should create an osmotic pressure and be easily removed, for example for regeneration and recirculation.

- 13,024,894

In some embodiments, the osmosis participating solution can be characterized by its ability to withstand the catalyzed phase transition in which the dissolved substance participating in osmosis takes a gaseous or solid form and can be isolated from the aqueous solution using a catalyst. In some embodiments, the mechanism of said phase transition may be associated with some other means, such as heating, cooling, adding a reagent, or introducing an electric or magnetic field. According to other embodiments, some chemical substance may be introduced into the solution to react with the dissolved substance involved in osmosis and to reverse or irreversibly reduce its concentration, change its reflective characteristics relative to the membrane, or facilitate its removal by other means. According to at least one embodiment, the use of an electric field can cause a change in the dehydrated solute, such as a phase transition, a change in the degree of ionization, or other electrically induced changes that facilitate removal of the solute. In some embodiments, the passage and / or removal of the solute can be controlled, for example, by adjusting the pH level, regulating the ionic properties of the solute, changing the physical size of the solute, or other changes that facilitate the passage of the solute involved in osmosis that was previously difficult. For example, ionic particles can be brought to a non-ionic state, or large particles can be made relatively smaller. In some embodiments, non-heating separation methods, such as electrodialysis (ΕΌ), cooling, evacuation, or pressure treatment, can be implemented. According to at least one embodiment, an electric gradient can be implemented according to at least one known separation method. In some embodiments, some separation methods, such as electrodialysis, can be used to reduce the amount of particles that need to be separated under relatively low electrical requirements. According to at least one embodiment, the solubility of the organic particles can be controlled, for example, by a change in temperature, pressure, pH or other characteristics of the solution. At least in some embodiments, ion-exchange separation can be carried out, such as a sodium ion-exchange purification method, or an acid-base ion-exchange to recycle dissolved substances involved in osmosis, containing, for example, ammonium salts.

According to at least one embodiment, the osmosis solutions described can be used in any osmotic membrane process, for example, in applications involving limited pressure osmosis, direct osmosis, or direct pressure osmosis. According to some embodiments, the solutions described in osmosis can be used in an osmotic heat engine, such as that described in PCT publication No. UO 2008/060435, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An osmotic heat engine can convert thermal energy into mechanical work by using a semi-permeable membrane to convert osmotic pressure into electricity. A concentrated osmosis solution of ammonia carbon dioxide can create a large osmotic pressure, which produces a water stream through a semipermeable membrane against the gradient of hydraulic pressure. The pressure drop with increasing volume involved in the osmosis solution in the turbine provides power generation. The process can be maintained in steady state by separating the diluted osmosis solution involved in the osmosis solution of increased concentration and the working fluid of deionized water for reuse in an osmotic heat engine. According to some embodiments, including the use of the described dehydrated solutions in an osmotic heat engine, the efficiency can be enhanced by the release of the solute involved in osmosis. According to at least one embodiment, the solutions described in osmosis can be used in systems and methods for storing energy in an energy system in which mineralization gradients, including osmotic pressure gradients or their differences between two solutions, can be used to generate hydraulic pressure in a concentrated solution , resulting in energy production. According to at least one embodiment encompassing the use of distillation columns, such as multi-stage distillation columns described in PCT publication No. UO 2007/1146094, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, a liquefied osmosis solution can be used as an absorbent solution. fluid in a heat exchanger or absorber for heat transfer at each stage. According to at least one embodiment, the solutions described in osmosis can also be used in various applications of concentration by direct osmosis (EOS).

As shown in FIG. 2-3, according to at least one embodiment, the osmotic membrane process can be started by bringing the first solution and the second solution into contact with the first and second sides of the semipermeable membrane 12, respectively. Despite the fact that the first and

- 14,024,894 the second solutions may remain stationary, preferably the first and second solutions are introduced by a cross-flow, i.e. flow parallel to the surface of the semi-permeable membrane 12. This increases the surface area of the semi-permeable septum 12 with which a given amount of solution comes into contact, and thus increases the efficiency of direct osmosis. Since the second solution in the second chamber 11 has a higher concentration of solute than the first solution in the first chamber 9, the solvent in the first solution diffuses into the second solution by direct osmosis. In some embodiments, the concentration difference between the two solutions is so large that the solvent passes through the semipermeable membrane 12 without additional pressure applied to the first solution. In general, approximately 50 to 99.9% of the solvent contained in the first solution can be removed as a result of this process. During this separation process, the concentration of the first solution increases as it loses the solvent, and the concentration of the second solution decreases as it receives the solvent. Despite this, the concentration gradient between these two solutions remains significant. The solvent-depleted solution located on the first side of the membrane and the diluted solution located on the second side of the membrane can be further processed to obtain at least one desired product. For example, a solvent-depleted solution located on the first side of the membrane may contain solutes, which are the target particles, the concentration and recovery of which is desirable. According to another embodiment, the solvent-depleted solution located on the first side of the membrane can be disposed of as waste. Similarly, a dilute solution located on the second side of the membrane can be enriched with a solvent and can be the target product.

Reset 18, i.e. concentrated first solution, has a high concentration of dissolved substances. Thus, excess solutes can be removed from the concentrated first solution before the first solution is returned to its source or the first solution is recycled using the present method. This can be accomplished, for example, by bringing the concentrated first solution into contact with a solar evaporator, a simple filtration mechanism through a sieve, a hydrocyclone or a mass precipitation, or another nucleation mechanism to isolate the solute. Said isolated solute may be further processed for consumer or industrial purposes.

Thus, by extracting the solvent from the first solution into the second solution using direct osmosis, a second solution enriched in solvent is formed, from which then, if necessary, dissolved substances can be removed to isolate the solvent. According to some non-limiting embodiments, this can be achieved by isolating the solutes from the solution, splitting the solutes into the constituent gases that evaporate from the solution, distilling the solvent from the solution, or absorbing the solutes from the surface. According to at least one embodiment, the removal of a part of the dissolved substances by evolution reduces the amount of energy required to heat the solution to break up the remaining dissolved substances, the decomposition resulting in the complete removal of the dissolved substances. The stages of potential isolation and decomposition are presented in the description of the third and fourth chambers 13 and 15, respectively.

The second solution, enriched in solvent, located in the second chamber 11, can be introduced into the third chamber 13, as indicated by arrow Ό. Then the solvent-enriched second solution can be treated to remove part of the solute from it by precipitation. To regulate the equilibrium state of soluble and sparingly soluble particles of a solute, a second reagent can be introduced in favor of sparingly soluble particles. As in the case of the first reagent, any chemical capable of regulating the equilibrium state is suitable for this purpose if it is easily removed from the second solution enriched in solvent and does not pose a health hazard. Preferably, the reagent is a constituent of the solute, and in the preferred case, the solute of ammonium carbamate is carbon dioxide in gaseous form. According to some non-limiting embodiments, if the solvent-enriched second solution contains carbon dioxide diffused therein, the ratio of ammonia to said carbon dioxide in the solution can be reduced to about 1-1.5, and the equilibrium state in the solvent-enriched second solution is shifted back to the sparingly soluble particles. solute i.e. ammonium bicarbonate. Then these sparingly soluble particles of the solute can be precipitated from the solution. The precipitation of ammonium bicarbonate can lead to a significant decrease in the concentration of dissolved substances in the solvent-enriched second solution to about 2-3 moles. Preferably, the temperature of the solvent-enriched second solution in the third chamber 13 is reduced to about 18-25 ° C and preferably about 2025 ° C to facilitate precipitation of the solute. Then the precipitated solute can be filtered from the solution.

In some embodiments, the precipitated solute may be filtered out in a third chamber 13; however, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the solution is sent to the filtration chamber 17, as shown by arrow I. The precipitated solute can be removed from the solvent-rich solution using known means, such as a hydrocyclone, sedimentation tank, filter columns, or by simple filtration on a sieve. For example, the precipitate can be removed from the solution by gravity, in which case the remaining solution can be siphoned. The remaining solvent-rich second solution can be transferred from the filter chamber 17 to the fourth chamber 15, as indicated by arrow P, in which it can be heated to decompose the solutes into its constituent gases. In one embodiment, said composite gases may be ammonia and carbon dioxide. The energy required for the separation process may be the thermal energy necessary to raise the temperature of the solution to a level at which complete removal of the dissolved substance occurs, i.e. ammonium carbamate. To compensate for the heat transfer losses arising from the enthalpy of evaporation and dissolution of the solutes recycled into the process, additional heating is also required. In particular, as a result of heating, the dissolved substances remaining in the second solution enriched in the solvent decompose into their constituent gases, which are removed from the specified solution. In some embodiments, rarefaction or ventilation can be applied to the solvent-rich second solution while it is heating to increase the efficiency and / or lower the temperature at which the gases resulting from decomposition evaporate from the solution. By generating a ventilation stream in the fourth chamber, all solutes can be removed at a lower temperature, which is lower than normal. As a result of this decomposition, a solvent product, such as drinking water, which can be further processed for final use, can be obtained. In general, potable water should have a pH of about 7, and it may be necessary to further adjust the pH and / or add the desired components, such as salts and / or residual disinfectants, to prepare the water for its intended use.

The second solution, enriched in solvent, can be heated using a combination of heat sources 19 supplied from the outside and heat pumped by means of a heat exchanger 38 from an exothermic input of gases and dissolved substances (as indicated by arrows I and K). The heat source 19 supplied from the outside can be any heat source, including solar and geothermal energy. These sources may be similar to the heat sources used in distillation. In some embodiments, the heat sources may be advantageously generated from combined power plants using waste heat from energy generation or from production processes. In addition, technological efficiency can be improved by using a heat exchanger 38 to trap the heat released in the previous steps of the present demineralization method. As indicated by arrows I and K in FIG. 3, heat released from chemical reactions in the second and third chambers 11, 13 can be directed to a heat exchanger 38, which then delivers the heat to the fourth chamber 15 to improve heating of the solvent-rich second solution, as indicated by arrow b. According to another embodiment, additional heat is generated by condensing the liberated constituent gases from the outside of the chamber 15, in which the second solution enriched in solvent is heated, and thus the energy of said exothermic reaction is transferred to the fourth chamber 15. After this, the condensate, which according to one embodiment is carbamic acid ammonium can be recycled to a second solution located in the second chamber 11.

Also, solutes and solute components removed from the second solution may preferably be recycled to limit environmental impact and reduce the cost of the present direct osmosis separation process. The precipitated solute removed from the filtration chamber can be recycled to the second chamber 11, in which it can dissolve in the second solution and thus maintain an increased concentration of the second solution, as indicated by arrow E. In addition, the constituent gases removed from the solvent-enriched second solution in the fourth chamber 15, can be recycled back to the second or third chamber 11, 13, as indicated by arrows H and M, respectively, in which they act as reagents. In one embodiment, the solute is ammonium carbamic acid, which decomposes into constituent gases: ammonia and carbon dioxide. Then, these gases are recycled to the second chamber 11, as indicated by arrow N. Since ammonia has better solubility than carbon dioxide, ammonia is preferably adsorbed by the second solution and acts as a reagent to regulate the equilibrium state of the solute particles in favor of ammonia carbamine. The remaining carbon dioxide is removed from the second chamber 11, as indicated by arrow M, and transferred to the third chamber 13, in which it acts as a reagent and shifts the equilibrium state of the second solution in favor of ammonium bicarbonate. Since, according to some embodiments, it is possible to recycle the constituent gases obtained from the decomposition of dissolved substances, it may be necessary to precipitate less than the optimum amount of dissolved substances to recycle a sufficient amount of gas to maintain the efficiency of the present process. Typically, the removal by precipitation of approximately half of the solutes from the solution should ensure that sufficient constituent gases are generated to support the current process. The process described above can be carried out continuously or periodically to improve the removal of solutes from the solvent during the process.

In FIG. 4 shows a plant implementing the present method according to one non-limiting embodiment. The specified installation contains a first chamber 9, which has an inlet 21 and an outlet 23. The inlet 21 of the first chamber 9 communicates with the source of the first solution, such as a collection tank for the solution, subjected to preliminary preparation or introduced from the upstream operation, or a natural source of the first solution, such as the sea, lake, river or bodies of water and waterways. The inlet 21 of the first chamber 9 may include an integrated pump for pumping the first solution from its source and / or a sieve or filter to remove particulate matter. The specified hole may also further comprise a heating or cooling device for controlling the temperature of the first solution. Similarly, the outlet 23 of the first chamber 9 may comprise an integrated pump for extracting the first solution from the first chamber 9. The outlet 23 may be used to recycle the first solution directly to the source of the first solution, although the first solution is preferably pumped into a settling device or by means of a precipitating device until it is returned to the source of the first solution. Such a precipitating device may comprise a natural vaporization bath, a simple sieve filtration mechanism, a hydrocyclone or a mass precipitation mechanism, or another nucleation device, or other types of devices known to those skilled in the art. The first chamber 9 is separated from the second chamber 11 by a semipermeable membrane 12.

The second chamber 11 has an inlet 25 and a first and second outlet 27, 29. The inlet 25 is a source of a second solution and may include an integrated pump as well as a heating device. The first outlet 27 of the second chamber 11 communicates with the third chamber 13 and is connected to a pipe for transferring the solvent-enriched second solution to the third chamber 13. Said first outlet 27 of the second chamber 11 may comprise an integrated pump for pumping the water-rich second solution from the second chamber 11. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the first outlet 27 of the second chamber 11 may comprise an integrated cooling device for cooling the solvent-rich watts fresh solution as described above. The second outlet 29 of the second chamber 11 comprises a conduit for transporting any gas remaining after the introduction of gases from the fourth chamber 15 into the second solution through the inlet 25, which according to one embodiment is preferably carbon dioxide in gaseous form, since ammonia is preferably expected to be absorbed the specified solution will be transferred to the third chamber 13.

According to some embodiments in the third chamber 13, part of the solute is precipitated from the solvent-rich second solution. The third chamber 13, in addition to the inlet openings for connecting to the outlet openings 27, 29, has an outlet opening 31 in communication with the filtration device 17 for separating the precipitate from the solvent-rich second solution. The filtration device 17 may be any of the types described above, and according to one embodiment, may also be a sedimentation tank. The filtration device 17 has two outlet openings 33, 35. The first outlet 33 can be used to remove the precipitated solute or return to the second chamber 11 through the second inlet 25, and the second outlet 35 can be used to transport the remaining solvent-enriched second solution into the fourth chamber 15. According to a further embodiment, the filtering device 17 may be integrated in the third chamber 13, and in this case the third chamber 13 should have an additional outlet, one outlet for transferring the remaining solvent-rich second solution to the fourth chamber 15 and another outlet for removing precipitated solute, or according to another embodiment, for returning the precipitated solute to the second chamber 11 through the second inlet 25.

The fourth chamber 15 may include an integrated heating device for heating the remaining solvent-rich second solution. The fourth chamber 15 also includes a first outlet 37, which may include an integrated vacuum device, fan or other device for generating air flow to remove constituent gases. Preferably, the first outlet 37 of the fourth chamber 15 is in communication with the inlet 25 of the second chamber 11 for recycling the constituent gases as the second solute. The second outlet 39 acts as a conduit for recovering the final solvent product, such as potable or purified water.

To carry out various holding and / or accumulating devices (chambers, reservoirs and storages), pipelines, water pipes and other equipment, any materials that can withstand the weight of solutions and are inert with respect to any dissolved substances contained in these solutions. Typical materials are stainless and inert materials such as stainless steel, plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), fiberglass, etc. The tanks may be of any suitable shape, but are usually cylindrical tanks, profiled or molded tanks, and the like. Storage facilities are usually water towers, cylindrical tanks, shaped or shaped tanks, etc. As described above, it should be noted that the chambers are shown as separate blocks in the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and if necessary, any number of chambers can be contained in a single tank, for example, two chambers separated by a semipermeable membrane 12.

The heating and cooling devices may be electric heaters, cooling units, solar collectors and heat exchangers, such as steam condensers, circulation pumps and the like, which are known in the art, but are preferably heat exchangers. Heating and cooling devices, along with any other equipment used in this method, which can consume some energy, can receive energy for their power supply from commonly used sources of any kind, including, for example, waste water vapor, solar energy, wind energy or geothermal energy as well as traditional sources.

In FIG. 5 shows a concentration method described below in accordance with at least one embodiment. The first solution 14 is in contact with one side of the direct osmosis membrane 12. According to embodiments in which the first solution 14 contains a stream of waste to be treated, the first solution 14 is usually aqueous and contains a solution of particles such as salts, proteins, catalysts, microorganisms, organic or inorganic substances, chemical starting materials or products, colloids or other constituent parts. According to embodiments in which the first solution 14 contains the desired target particles to be concentrated and reduced, the first solution may contain pharmaceutical preparations, salts, enzymes, protein, catalysts, microorganisms, organic compounds, inorganic compounds, chemical starting material, chemical products colloids, food products or impurities. The contact of the first solution 14 with one side of the membrane 12 can be achieved in various ways, according to two of which the membrane 12 is immersed in the solution, or the flow of solution along the membrane 12. The specified solution can be introduced continuously, periodically, once or many times into the tank or guide means. The specified input stream of the first solution 14 is not shown in the drawing.

The second solution 16, consisting, for example, of substances, including water, ammonia and carbon dioxide, capable of generating an osmotic pressure that is higher than the pressure of the first solution 14, is in contact with the side of the membrane, the opposite side, which is in contact with the first solution 14. This contact can be achieved in various ways, including immersion of the membrane 12 in a second solution (if immersion is not used for the first solution) or the direction of the second solution along the surface of the membrane 12, which is I am impervious to all or some of the particles of the first solution 14, such as salts, charged and / or large molecules, microorganisms and solid particles, but passes a solvent such as water and allows the formation of a difference in osmotic pressure between the first and second solutions to induce flow water through the membrane from the first solution to the second solution. Said stream may substantially dilute, partially dilute or substantially not dilute the second solution 16 and / or substantially concentrate, partially concentrate or substantially not concentrate the first solution 14. It is also expected that some, neither one, several, or one of the selected or target particles of the first solution may pass through the membrane 12 depending on its type and / or intended use of the method.

Part of the solvent-rich second solution is directed (in the form of stream 20) to the separation process 22 of the solute participating in the osmosis, for example using a distillation column, a distillation membrane device or by evaporation through a permeable baffle, during which the dissolved substances in the solvent-rich are removed a second solution, for example, dissolved ammonia and carbon dioxide containing particles of ammonium salts, by adding heat to the separation process 22 involved in osmosis of the dissolved substance and / or by applying the pressure difference to the above gases and / or generated in the process of separation of the dissolved substance involved in osmosis. According to at least one embodiment, a membrane separation method, such as evaporation through a permeable membrane, can separate gases from a liquefied osmosis solution with significant restrictions on the flow of water vapor, as a result of which the efficiency of the separation process can be improved. Evaporation materials may contain natural or synthetic polymers, such as polyurethane or natural rubber, or suspended liquid membranes that act as passive or active selective membranes for ammonia and carbon dioxide relative to

- 18,024,894 water vapor. In some embodiments, permeable vaporization or similar membrane separation methods may be used instead of processing in or in conjunction with a distillation column. According to at least one embodiment, an absorption column may also be used. According to another embodiment, the gases of stream 26 can be compressed to increase their temperature at which they can be reabsorbed by the solution participating in the osmosis completely or almost completely. According to at least one embodiment, the absorber may be used with cooling before or during reabsorption of the solutes involved in the osmosis. According to at least some embodiments, a portion of the liquefied osmosis participating stream may be directed to the absorber as a stream of absorbent material.

In the process of separating the solute involved in the osmosis, a solvent stream is produced, designated as stream 32, in which the particle concentration compared to stream 20 is partially, substantially or completely reduced, and a gas stream, designated as stream 26, contains particles removed from stream 20. Stream 26 is directed to a process 41 designed to recover a second solution 16, i.e. improving, changing or maintaining the characteristics of the second solution 16, such as volume or concentration. In this process, dissolution of particles in water, i.e. parts of the second solution, precipitation and mixing with the second solution or processing in some other way, so that the particles removed in the process 22 are reintroduced into the second solution. The indicated re-introduction is indicated by a dashed line as stream 45. The deviated components of solution 14 can be removed from solution 14 periodically or continuously when water is removed from the specified solution. This process may include precipitation, separation using a hydrocyclone, evolution, application of force (such as electrical or magnetic), purge, or other typical operation. Said stream of components removed from solution 14 is designated stream 18. According to some embodiments, stream 18 may be a desired product stream or may be disposed of as waste. In this method, osmotic pressure is used to remove the solvent from the solution by an osmotic stream through a semipermeable membrane, for example, separating the solvent from a pharmaceutical compound, food product or other desired particles in said solution, or to treat process effluents by removing unwanted dissolved substances and producing a purified product stream . Stream 18 can be further processed to remove any of the solutes involved in osmosis from the second solution 16, which migrated through the membrane to the first solution 14. This treatment may include distillation, air stripping, evaporation through a permeable septum, chlorination to a fracture point, ion exchange or another process. The solutes participating in the osmosis removed from stream 18 can be reintroduced into the second solution 16 by mixing with stream 45 or otherwise.

In FIG. 6-18 show various systems 22 for reconstituting a osmotic solute as described above that can be used with the osmotic membrane systems also described herein. According to at least one embodiment, a membrane contact filter, for example, described with reference to FIG. 6-10. The specified membrane used for the exchange of mass and energy between liquid and gas flows, in General, performs the functions of a distillation column in a membrane device. One advantage of this approach is that the liquid and gas volume flows and velocities are largely independent, such that water flooding, entrainment, foaming, and the like. don't arise. In some cases, if the liquid penetrates through the porous filter into the gas stream, this essentially does not occur. In addition, density differences are not used to force the two streams to interact, unlike traditional distillation columns. Instead, pressure is used to facilitate the flow of liquid and gas flows, as can be done in pipelines with only liquid or only with gas. Therefore, membrane-based distillation devices should not be placed vertically, as is necessary for traditional distillation columns. Thus, compact, horizontal membrane arrays, such as parallel blocks arranged in series, for example, can be used to perform the functions of high traditional large-diameter distillation columns. This design provides a significant reduction in requirements for overall area and height.

In addition, the mixing of the gas and liquid phases, which is traditionally carried out by means of a nozzle located in the distillation column, can now be provided by the surface of the membrane. A liquid stream can flow along one side of the membrane, while a gas stream flows from the other side, and free gas exchange occurs between the two phases through the pores in the membrane. Pore coating can be used if it does not block the transfer of gas to some extent, to which the benefits provided by the coating are still commercially viable. The membrane design may be dry or wet. In a dry membrane design, the pores of the membrane and the membrane material can be such that surface tension prevents the penetration of water through the pores into the gas stream. In a wet design, water

- 19 024894 can fill the pores, but does not leak beyond the specified pores into the gas stream in a significant amount. In any case, gas exchange essentially occurs.

Another advantage of using the described membrane contact filters for distillation is that there is no need to use metal to increase the life of the contact filters compared to alloys, which can be very expensive and can corrode for a long time. For example, if there is stream C1 in the stream. which boils at 100 ° C, in the amount of several thousandths of a million, for the manufacture of a contact filter block, it may be necessary to use titanium or Na8 alloys (e11о® (commercially available from Naupek 1p1egpa1yupa1, 1ps., Kokomo, Indiana), but which can be easily replaced by a polymer (for example, polyetheretherketone). An additional advantage of using the described membrane contact filters for reconstituting a solution involved in osmosis is that the temperatures required for said recovery The phenomena are within the permissible temperature range for polymers that can be used in these contact filters An additional advantage is that the NETP (flow length in one theoretical equilibrium stage) can be much smaller compared to a traditional nozzle, which can result in compact and less expensive contact filter arrays having the same functions as a large column have been achieved. Another advantage is that the membrane contact filters described provide much higher flow rate without causing problems such as ablation, thereby improving the efficiency of membrane area is substantially equivalent to the diameter of the column of fluid flow relative to the load. Another advantage is that traditional columns require an additional increase in height due to inserts located above and below the nozzle, providing separation of the liquid and gas phases, which is not necessary in the described membrane contact filters, since these two phases are not mixed in the same same channel, and thus their separation is optional.

In FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of a system 22 for reconstituting a osmosis solute in which a membrane device 24 is used to introduce vaporized osmosis solutes 26 obtained from a osmosis reconstitution of a solute into contact with an absorbent solution 28. According to some embodiments, the membrane device 24 may be a membrane contact filter. As shown in FIG. 6, the vaporized osmotic solutes 26 are supplied to the first side of the membrane contact filter 24 (as indicated by arrow 27), while the absorbent solution 28 is supplied to the second side of the membrane contact filter 24 (as indicated by arrow 29). The evaporated osmosis participating solutes can pass through the membrane contact filter 24 (as indicated by arrows 25) and be absorbed by the absorbing solution 28. According to at least one embodiment, the absorbing solution 28 is a diluted or concentrated osmosis participating solution that reabsorb the evaporated participating osmosis solutes to create a more concentrated source of osmosis solution for use / reuse tions in the osmotic membrane system / process.

According to at least one embodiment, in the recovery system 122 of the osmosis solute, the distillation column distillation column can be used, as shown in FIG. 7 to remove substantially all of the solutes involved in osmosis from a liquefied osmosis solution. As shown in FIG. 7, a liquefied osmotic solution 120 (e.g., from an osmotic membrane system) is transferred to one side of the membrane contact filter 124, while a water vapor source 130 (i.e., thermal energy) is supplied to the second side of the membrane contact filter 124. The liquefied osmosis solution 120 absorbs heat from water vapor 130, and the solutes involved in osmosis are desorbed from it by distillation. In particular, heat from water vapor 130 passes through a membrane contact filter 124 (as indicated by arrow 131) and thereby heats the liquefied osmosis solution 120, and evaporates the dissolved substances involved in osmosis. The vaporized osmosis solutes 126 pass through a membrane contact filter 124 (as indicated by arrow 127) and are absorbed by water vapor 130, whereby the concentrated osmosis solution 116 (substantially in vapor form) leaves the system 122. Desorption of dissolved osmosis substances from the liquefied participating in the osmosis solution 120 as a result leads to the removal of the source of water 132 from the system 122.

In addition to the present or another embodiment, a condenser can then be used to condense all or part of the vapor (as shown, for example, in FIG. 9). After this, a second membrane device can be used with the remaining vapor on the first side of the membrane contact filter 124 and an absorber on its second side. In some embodiments, distillation can be carried out on the second side with or without additional absorbent solution, so that the vapor can condense as it passes through the membrane device. In some embodiments, the capacitor may be located upstream of the membrane device. In other embodiments, various streams may be brought into contact with each other without an intermediate typical operation. In addition, the membrane absorber can completely condense vapors from the stripping section of the distillation column or from another recovery process of the solute involved in osmosis. In other embodiments, a membrane absorber can be used after the capacitor to complete re-absorption of the solutes and form a more concentrated osmosis solution. Such an approach may in particular be suitable for use to reduce the size of the solute reduction system. This approach in particular may also be suitable for use at low temperatures and pressures.

Membranes for use in various embodiments of systems for reconstituting a solute can be made essentially of any material suitable for this purpose, including, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTRE), polyvinylidene fluoride (RUER), polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polypropylene (PP ) In various embodiments, the membrane may be porous or continuous. The pores in the porous filter may have a size at which liquid (eg, water) cannot pass, and gases can pass through the membrane. The membrane may be in the form of porous fibers or a flat sheet. In the case of porous fibers, other fibers intended for heat transfer can be mixed with these fibers to improve the cooling of the membrane system and the condensation of gases. For example, some fibers may be impermeable, but allow heating or cooling of the osmosis solution by transferring heat to the walls of the fibers, while other fibers can be selective and used to separate and recycle the osmosis solution. The percentage of fibers of each type can be different, the longitudinal or vertical orientation of the different fibers can be changed, and according to some variants of implementation in some areas of the fiber can be stepped. Such measures can facilitate the reduction of energy requirements in applications where an osmotic heat engine is used. According to some implementation options, which cover relatively small-scale projects, a collapsible movable configuration with built-in mechanisms can be implemented. In flat sheet configurations, coolants can be integrated into the housing. In any membrane configuration, cooling may be used between the membrane steps. In addition, membranes may or may not be coated to suit a particular application and may be asymmetric or symmetrical. In some embodiments, a porous fiber, spirally wound or flat fiber, and skeleton membrane blocks containing a membrane can be used.

In some embodiments, a porous fiber, spirally wound or flat, and skeleton membrane blocks containing coated or uncoated porous filters can be used to distill thermally separated dehydrated solutions used in osmotic membrane processes, including energy generation and / or energy storage. According to at least one embodiment, a heat exchange surface in the form of fibers, membrane sheets, or other heat transfer materials can be integrated into the membrane blocks or interleaved with said blocks to improve the transfer of thermal energy and mass, as well as to condense the gaseous solute. Evaporation and absorption functions can be integrated into a single unit or evenly distributed between several membrane units. Evaporation and absorption functions can be performed using a single membrane. According to these embodiments, stripping from a liquefied osmosis solution by evaporation through a permeable membrane or by membrane distillation can be carried out on the first side, while gases are taken into solution from the opposite side of the membrane system. This, for example, may be an absorbing fluid, such as a diluted or concentrated osmosis solution.

In FIG. 8 shows one example of a reconstitution system 222 with evaporation functions of a liquefied osmosis solution and an absorption integrated in a single unit or device 224. According to at least one embodiment, the membrane unit 224 can be designed so that the desorption of the osmosis dissolved substances is carried out using one membrane system, and the absorption of gases by a solution participating in osmosis to increase its concentration for reuse is performed with and use of a capacitor and / or the second membrane system. According to another embodiment, or in addition to the present, stripping can be performed by membrane distillation, evaporation through a permeable baffle or other similar method, and absorption can be carried out using a membrane contact filter, by evaporation through a permeable baffle or other similar method.

As shown in FIG. 8, the solute recovery system comprises a membrane unit 224 having at least one absorbent membrane 224a and at least one de-absorbent membrane 224b. Block 224 acts similarly to the membranes described with reference to FIG. 6 and 7. In particular, water vapor 230 is supplied to one side of the membrane 224b of the stripping section, while the liquefied osmosis participating solution 220 is led to the other side of the membrane 224b of the stripping section. The liquefied dehydrated solution 220 transfers heat (as indicated by arrow 231) and thus solutes participating in the osmosis are evaporated, which pass through membrane 224b (as indicated by arrow 227), and water 232 exits block 224. Water vapor 230, now containing the vaporized in osmosis, the dissolved substances 226 are supplied to one side of the absorber membrane 224a, while the liquefied osmosis participating solution 220 is supplied to the other side of the absorber membrane, where it acts as an absorbent solution and absorbs the vaporized osmosis participating solutes 226 that pass through the membrane 224a (as indicated by arrow 225), resulting in a concentrated solution of osmosis participating in the osmosis solution 216 leaving block 226. According to one embodiment, block 224 contains an auxiliary sheet of material 234, such as an insulator, which prevents the interaction of the masses and / or heat of the two streams.

According to further embodiments, the membrane-based solute recovery system can be equipped with a heat pump that significantly improves energy efficiency, as shown in FIG. 9. In particular, in FIG. 9 shows a solute recovery system 322 that includes a membrane unit 324 connected to a closed-loop heat pump 340 equipped with a riboiler 342 and a condenser 344. The operation of the membrane unit 324 is similar to that of the units described above, and thus water vapor 330 is introduced into a block 324 (in this case, from a reboiler 342) between two membrane contact filters 324a, 324b, while a liquefied osmosis solution 320 is supplied to opposite sides of said membrane contact filters x filters 324a, 324b. Any number of membrane contact filters of any design can be used to suit a particular application.

Water vapor, now containing vaporized solutes 326, exits block 324 and is introduced into a condenser 344, in which at least a portion of the water vapor and vaporized solutes participating in the osmosis 326 are condensed and discharged as a concentrated osmosis solution 316. In some embodiments, capacitor 344 may be used with an absorbent solution. A heat pump 340, using the heat recovered in the condenser 344, raises the temperature of said steam and directs it to the reboiler 342 to generate water vapor 330. The heat pump 340 may be connected to an electric power source 346 or other energy source. Water 332 is discharged from the membrane unit 324 after the solutes involved in the osmosis are desorbed from the liquefied osmosis solution 320. At least a portion of the water 332 can be used by the roboiler 342 to generate additional water vapor 330.

In FIG. 10 shows an additional embodiment of a solute recovery system 422 that includes a membrane unit 424 connected to an open cycle heat pump 440 and a riboiler 442. The operation of the system 422 is similar to the operation of the system described with reference to FIG. 9. For example, a liquefied osmosis solution 420 is introduced into block 424 to one side of at least one of the membrane contact filters 424a, 424b, while water vapor 430 from riboiler 442 is introduced into block 424 to the opposite at least one side membrane contact filters 424a, 424b. Likewise, any number of membrane contact filters of any design can be used to suit a particular application. The vaporized osmotic solutes 426 are discharged from block 424 and sent to a heat pump 440, where their temperature rises, after which they are sent to a riboiler 442 to generate water vapor 430 for the desorption process. Riboiler 4 42 discharges the concentrated osmosis solution 416, which can be recycled back to the osmotic membrane system. Block 424 also discharges water 432, which, after further processing, can be completely and / or at least partially sent to the reboiler 442.

In FIG. 11 shows a portion of a selective membrane 524, made in the form of a suspended liquid membrane, which essentially blocks the transport of water vapor, but facilitates the transport of dissolved substances involved in osmosis with or without carriers. According to at least one embodiment, the selective material region 536 need not be liquid, but it can also be gel or solid, or it can be fully or partially a membrane instead of being placed in another material. In general, selective membranes can be used to reconstitute the solute involved in osmosis, for example, a suspended liquid membrane can be used to recycle the osmosis solution, in which a liquid, gel, polymer, or other material can be substantially impermeable to water, but permeable to ΝΗ ₃ and CO ₂ . In other embodiments, said selective membranes may contain carriers by which ΝΗ ₃ and / or CO ₂ can be transported. As one example, may

- 22 024894 non-polar liquid should be used, which allows the penetration of CO ₂ , but not water or water vapor, and contains carrier molecules for transporting ΝΗ ₃ .

In FIG. 12 shows the use of selective membrane 624 to facilitate simultaneous desorption and absorption of solutes involved in osmosis according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. On one side of the membrane 624, the stream 620a of the liquefied osmosis solution can be heated to thermolytic decomposition of, for example, ammonium salts and to increase the vapor pressure ΝΗ ₃ and CO ₂ . On the other hand of membrane 624, the liquefied osmosis solution 620b is cooled by absorption of 626 ΝΗ ₃ and CO ₂ gases and the formation of ammonium salts. Thus, the liquefied osmosis solution can be divided into two streams 620a, 620b, one of which is stripped off and becomes purified water 632, while the other of these streams increases its concentration and becomes a concentrated osmosis solution for reuse 616.

According to at least one embodiment, provided with carriers, a contact filter based on a suspended liquid membrane of the indicated type substantially reduces the amount of energy needed to recycle the solutes involved in the osmosis, since water is not transferred as a vapor as part of the separation, and such In this way, the enthalpy of evaporation of the water component of the heat load used in traditional distillation is maintained. In general terms, this effect can be applied to the recycling of any solute involved in osmosis that is thermally isolated, for example, from direct osmosis (RO), osmotic dissolution (OI), direct osmotic concentration (EOS) limited by osmosis pressure (ΡΚΌ) osmotic accumulation on a sieve (OO8) or similar osmotic membrane systems, so that the suspended barrier is relatively impermeable to water, but either transports the solutes involved in osmosis, or o contains carriers for the transfer of dissolved substances involved in osmosis, or provides some combination of these two options.

In FIG. 13 shows a portion of a osmosis solute recovery system 722 according to another embodiment for use with an osmotic membrane process / system 710. As shown in the drawing, a first portion of a osmosis fluid diluted solution 720a can be directed from a chamber 711 of a 710 system to a distillation column 750, while the second part of the liquefied osmosis solution 720b can be directed from the chamber 711 to the absorption unit 727. The stream 729 exiting the distillation column 750 can can be introduced into the absorption unit 727, in which it is mixed with a diluted osmosis solution 720b to return back to the chamber 711 to re-supply the solutes involved in the osmosis to the dry side of the direct osmosis membrane 712.

In some embodiments, solute recovery systems utilize multi-stage solute recovery systems, for example, a multi-stage distillation column or membrane distillation system. In a multi-stage distillation column, at least two columns can receive parallel flows of a diluted osmosis solution, each stream being completely processed to produce purified water with the desired concentration of the remaining dissolved substances involved in the osmosis, for example, less than about 1 million ΝΗ ₃ . Heat can flow sequentially between the columns, however, the heat consumed by the process is sent to the column cooler with the highest temperature and pressure, and the upper fraction of the vapor in the specified column condenses completely or partially on the outside of the heat transfer surfaces of the next column's riboiler in the sequence of temperatures and pressures . Said condensation can deliver the necessary heat for complete or partial separation in the second column, all of which is repeated successively for each column, until the heat extracted from cooling the upper fraction of the vapor in the column at the lowest temperature and pressure passes to the cooling stream. The number of steps that can be used between the upper and lower temperatures generally depends on the difference between the condensation temperatures and the temperatures of the column boilers closest to each other in the indicated sequence, which depends on the composition of the diluted osmosis solution. The desired temperature difference of the heat exchange equipment is also an important factor. The above description can also be applied to multistage membrane distillation.

In FIG. 14 shows a solute recovery system 822 that utilizes a multi-stage solute recovery process with successive streams of energy from a material according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. In particular, in FIG. 14 shows a multi-stage solute reduction process in which distillation using a multi-stage column is carried out; however, multistage membrane distillation is also included in the protection scope of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, flows of material (e.g., liquefied osmotic solution 820 resulting from an osmotic membrane process) and energy (e.g., water vapor 830) can

- 23 024894 to flow sequentially. The liquefied osmosis solution 820 is introduced into the first column 850a through the inlet 801a, while thermal energy 830 is supplied through the second inlet 802a at relatively high temperature and pressure to reduce the concentration of the feed stream 820. Vapor 830 'exits the first column 850a through the outlet 803a and can be used to supply heat to the next column 850b, which receives the residual product 820 'from the first column as feed material (through the outlet 804a and the inlet e 801b), which has a reduced temperature and pressure. The heated vapor 830 'can be introduced into the second column 850b via heat transfer means (e.g., riboiler) 842 through an inlet 805, an outlet 806 and a second inlet 802b. Condensed vapor leaves as a concentrated osmosis solution 816 through an outlet 807, while water 832 from the last column 850B exits through an outlet 804b. The indicated process can be repeated in any number of columns until the desired residual composition is achieved.

To increase the efficiency, various thermal effects can be used, similar to the implementation options described in US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0297431, McCit. which is fully incorporated herein by reference, in which the material is supplied in parallel and the energy flows are sequential. The specified method can be used with membrane contact filters operating at different pressures in a compact and efficient device. Said alternative method may be preferred when using high concentration feed streams and / or high temperature heat sources.

According to additional embodiments, the use of a heat pump can contribute to a multi-stage recovery process of a dissolved substance, which significantly increases the energy efficiency of media that use heat sources with a temperature higher than, for example, 20 ° C ambient temperature. According to some embodiments, a heat pump can be used in cases of burning fuel, high-temperature heat sources or backpressure turbines to supply heat to the recovery process of the solute involved in osmosis.

According to at least one embodiment, a heat pump such as a thermocompressor (also known as a jet eductor), a mechanical compressor (also known as a blower), an absorption heat pump, a closed-loop heat pump, a cooling type heat pump, or other similar device may be used in at least one vapor stream exiting the columns (or membrane blocks) to increase the temperature at which the components of the annogo vapor. In this case, the temperature differences between the steps can be reduced, as a result of which it is possible to use more steps within a given temperature difference or a given number of steps at reduced upper pressures and temperatures and / or increased lower pressures and temperatures. This approach can be used to increase energy efficiency in the first case or the efficiency of investment in the second case, or to achieve some combination of these two goals.

In FIG. 15 schematically shows one example of a multi-stage reduction of a solute using a heat pump, in which the process is carried out in the upper part of the stream using a closed or open cycle heat pump to bring the pressures closer in each column (or membrane unit), as a result of which the number of steps can be increased and overall efficiency improves. As shown in FIG. 15, a recovery system 822 similar to that described with reference to FIG. 14 and contains at least two distillation columns 850, in which the material is transferred by a stream (diluted osmotic solution 820), which is introduced (through inlets 801) into the columns 850 in parallel. A heat source (water vapor 830) is introduced (through inlet 802a) into the first column 850a at relatively high temperature and pressure to reduce the concentration of the feed stream 820a. Vapor 830 'from the first column 850a is sent to the heat pump 840 (through the outlet 803a), in which its temperature rises, and then is supplied to the next column 850b to reduce the concentration of the second feed stream 820b. According to at least one embodiment, the heated vapor 830 ′ may be introduced via heat transfer means (e.g., riboiler) 842, as described above with reference to FIG. 14. Condensed vapor can be discharged as a concentrated osmosis solution 816 or recycled to the osmotic membrane system. Each column 850 discharges water 832, which can be used as it is, or can be used for further processing depending on the quality requirements of the produced water 832.

According to another embodiment, the heat pumps of the type described above can be used with a single column (or diaphragm block) to take full advantage of the high efficiency of the heat pump, providing reduced latent heat generation, equipment compactness and investment efficiency. According to at least one

- 24 024894 variant of implementation of the heat pump can be used in the system to restore the dissolved substance to reduce the energy required for the process by recycling latent heat. This can also be done in embodiments using a single column / block heat pump.

Additional methods can be implemented to reduce the temperature difference needed for the system to recover and recycle the solute. For example, the gases of a solution involved in osmosis can be compressed to allow them to form a concentrated solution at a small temperature difference. The required temperature difference for any system can also be achieved by using an integrated mechanical or absorption heat pump.

In FIG. 16 shows one embodiment of a solute recovery system 922 that utilizes a distillation column with a half-open or half-closed heat pump configuration, wherein a portion of purified water 932 from column 950, with or without riboiler, can be directed completely or partially to pressure relief valve 956 reducing its pressure so that the water 932 can be partially or completely evaporated by transferring heat in the heat exchanger 938 from condensing the upper fraction of the vapor 930 'using eat a mixed absorbent substance or without it. Then, the specified water vapor 930 generated by the evaporation of purified water can be compressed by mechanical or thermo-jet means 952 to a state in which it can be used directly as a feed to the base of the column 950 (or one of the membrane contact filters described above) for desorption participating osmosis of dissolved substances. For example, a column 950 operating at a pressure of 230 mm RT. Art. (30.664 kPa), can produce an upper fraction of vapor 930 ', which condenses on one side of the heat exchanger 938 at a temperature of about 35-50 ° C, with water 932 on the opposite side of the heat exchanger 938, the pressure on which is reduced to about 75-90 mm RT. Art. (10-12 kPa), partially converted into water vapor 930. Then, the specified water vapor 930 can be compressed to a pressure of 230 mm RT. Art. (30.664 kPa), after which it is introduced directly into the base of the column or membrane block. The device described above can be called a heat pump with a half-open or half-closed configuration.

Other combinations of thermal and / or mechanical heat pumps can also be used in conjunction with a multi-stage configuration of distillation columns, both traditional and membrane-based, to find a compromise between the desire to increase the number of stages and the desire to minimize capital costs. Such combinations may include, for example, a thermocompressor in connection with at least one column, a mechanical compressor in connection with at least one of the other columns and, if necessary, other types of heat pumps in connection with other columns, as well as the interaction of heat fluxes, which can facilitate the implementation of an absorption heat pump in which heat absorbed at a low temperature can deliver less heat at a high temperature. The thermodynamic advantages of osmotic membrane systems with heat recovery over traditional systems, such as those based on membrane distillation or mechanical vapor recompression, which require the phase transformation of all produced water, can be fully realized.

In FIG. 17 shows an alternative implementation similar to that shown in FIG. 16, in which the thermocompressor 954 is used, so that part of the purified water 932 can be directly converted to water vapor (in the boiler 942) and introduced as a stream 930 at a relatively high pressure, used to increase the pressure of the vapor stream 930 'obtained at least from one of the columns 950, and thus increase the temperature of its condensation. According to one embodiment, an additional heat exchanger 938 and valve 956 are used in system 922, which, as described above and shown in FIG. 16 is configured to generate a vapor stream 930 for introduction into the thermocompressor 954. In this case, a reduction in the absolute level of specific heat can be achieved, but a small amount of purified water can be generated. As a non-limiting example, in a 2-3-stage system (in which one of the stages produces a smaller part of the separator), whose energy consumption is 381 mJ per 1 m ^{3 of} purified water, a thermocompressor can be used, which reduces this requirement to a potentially reduced value of 200- 250 mJ / m ³ and provides the possibility of using a 4-5-step configuration.

According to another alternative embodiment, a mechanical compressor with an electric or mechanical drive can be used to compress the vapor obtained from the upper part of the at least one column, and thus the temperature at which the specified stream condenses can be increased, as a result of which it is possible to increase the number of stages . In this case, there is no need to reduce the amount of purified water, but it requires electrical energy to replace part of the required heat. As a non-limiting example, in 2-3-stage systems requiring 381 mJ per 1 m ^{3 of} purified water, mechanical compression can be used to reduce this value to a potential

- 25 024894 of a reduced value of 150-200 mJ / m ³ , as a result of which the possibility of using a 4-5-stage design is provided. An additional amount of electricity may also be required, for example 12.8 kW, to maintain a COP equal to 5 (efficiency, a typical measure of the efficiency of a heat pump). The following describes the replacement of electrical energy with thermal energy in the present invention.

According to at least one embodiment shown in FIG. 18, vacuum distillation and / or gas absorption can be incorporated into the osmotic membrane systems described above. An eductor 1058, fed with a high-pressure aqueous solution (created by pump 1060), can be used to create a vacuum in a distillation column 1050. The gas-water mixture leaving the eductor 1058 can flow through a static mixer 1062 to improve the solubility of gases in water. The aqueous solution can then flow into a gas-liquid separator 1064, in which gas can be trapped and recycled, and part of the solution 1066 is recycled to drive the eductor.

By familiarizing yourself with some illustrative embodiments of the present invention described above, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above description is merely illustrative, non-limiting, and presented by way of example only. Various changes and other implementations may be made by those skilled in the art within the protection scope of the present invention, which should be considered as falling within the protection scope of the present invention. In particular, despite the fact that most of the examples presented in the present description cover specific combinations of method steps or system elements, it should be understood that these steps and these elements can be combined in other ways to achieve the same results.

In addition, it should also be understood that the present invention extends to every feature, system, subsystem or method described herein, as well as to any combination of at least two features, systems, subsystems or methods described herein, any a combination of at least two features, systems, subsystems and / or methods, if these features, systems, subsystems and methods are not mutually contradictory, should be considered as falling within the scope of protection of the present invention ia defined in the paragraphs of the attached formula. In addition, the steps of the method, elements and features described in relation to only one embodiment, should not be excluded from other embodiments in which they perform similar functions.

In addition, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the parameters and configurations described herein are only examples, and that the actual parameters and / or configurations depend on the particular application in which the systems and methods of the present invention are used. Those skilled in the art should also recognize or should be able to establish, on the basis of no more than a standard experiment, the equivalents of specific embodiments of the present invention. Thus, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein are presented by way of example only, and within the scope of protection of any claims and their equivalents, the present invention may be carried out in any way different from that specifically described herein.

Claims (10)

CLAIM 1. Installation for the restoration of dissolved substances participating in the osmosis solution from the osmotic membrane system, where the first solution and the concentrated participating in the osmosis solution enter the specified osmotic membrane system, and the concentrated first solution and the diluted participating in the osmosis solution containing the first distillation exit a device containing a first inlet associated with the first source of the specified liquefied participating in the osmosis solution, for the introduction of cha five of said liquefied participating in osmosis of the solution into the first end of the first distillation apparatus; first heat transfer means associated with the first distillation device at the second end, said first heat transfer means having an inlet coupled to the first heat energy source and an outlet coupled to the first distillation device to direct heat energy causing evaporation to the first distillation device participating in osmosis dissolved substances contained in the specified liquefied participating in osmosis solution in the first distillation device; a first outlet for removing said evaporated dissolved substances from the osmosis solution from the first distillation device; a second outlet for removing the bottom product from the first distillation device; a compressor associated with a first outlet of the first distillation device, for - 26,024,894 intake of the indicated evaporated dissolved substances participating in the osmosis of the solution; and a second distillation device comprising a first inlet coupled to a source of said concentrated first solution to introduce a portion of this concentrated first solution to the first end of the second distillation device; a second heat transfer means associated with the second distillation device at the second end, said second heat transfer means having an inlet coupled to a compressor for receiving compressed vaporized solutes of the solution from the osmosis coming from it for use as a second source of thermal energy; a first outlet associated with the second distillation device for directing a second source of thermal energy to a second distillation device for evaporating any dissolved substances involved in the osmosis of the solution in the second distillation device; and a second outlet configured to return the evaporated solutes of the solution participating in the osmosis from the first distillation device, condensed in the second heat transfer means, to the osmotic membrane system; a first outlet for removing the evaporated substances of the solution participating in the osmosis from the second distillation device; a second outlet for removing the bottom product from the second distillation device. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second compressor associated with a first outlet of a second distillation device; and at least a third distillation device comprising a first inlet connected to a second source of liquefied osmosis participating solution to introduce a portion of the liquefied osmosis participating solution to the first end of the third distillation device; a third heat transfer means associated with a third distillation device at the second end, said third heat transfer means having an inlet coupled to a second compressor for receiving compressed vaporized osmosis solutes for use as a third heat source for use with a third distillation device , a first outlet associated with a third distillation device for directing a third heat source to a third e a distillation device for causing evaporation of the solutes involved in the osmosis contained in the liquefied osmosis participating solution in the third distillation device; and a second outlet configured to return the vaporized solutes participating in the osmosis from the second distillation device condensed in the third heat transfer means to the osmotic membrane system; a first outlet for removing evaporated dissolved substances participating in the osmosis of the solution from the third distillation device; a second outlet for removing the bottom product from the third distillation device. 3. The installation according to claim 2, in which the first and third distillation devices are arranged for sequential operation, and the second product of the first distillation device is a second source of liquefied osmosis solution. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first distillation device and the second distillation device comprises a membrane distillation device. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one recirculation system located downstream of at least one of the first distillation device or second distillation device. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said at least one recirculation system comprises at least one of a compressor or eductor. 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said at least one recirculation system comprises an absorption system. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the absorption system comprises at least one of a membrane contact filter or a packed column. 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the absorption system comprises an absorbent comprising at least one of a diluted osmosis solution and a resulting solvent. 10. Installation according to claim 7, characterized in that the absorption system contains a catalyst.