Case 13607

Humidification-Dehumidification Water Desalination System Operating Under Reduced Pressure

Keywords:

Water desalination, water purification, sub-atmospheric, humidification-dehumidification

Applications:
  • Produce fresh water from seawater, groundwater or brackish water for daily domestic usage.
  • Produce fresh water for industrial applications, food processing and agricultural.

Problem:

Existing humidification-dehumidification desalination processes are not particularly energy efficient or productive.

Technology:

In this innovative technology, the pressure inside the humidifier and dehumidifier is lower than the atmospheric pressure during humidification dehumidification processes. As pressure of air decreases, the water vapor content in the humidified air increases, hence providing increased production of the fresh water.

Advantages:
  • Increase the productivity of freshwater to as much as 500 %
  • Found a practical and simple solution for the system to be working under lower atmospheric pressure without any significant additional energy input.

    • Inventors:
    • Professor John H. Lienhard(Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
    • Professor Mostafa H. Sharqawy (Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)
    • Professor Syed M. Zubair (Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)
    • Prakash Narayan Govindan (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)

    Intellectual Property:

    WO Patent Application PCT/US2010/47598 filed on September 2, 2010

    US Patent Application 12/554726 filed on September 4, 2009

    Publications:

    G.P. Narayan, M.H. Sharqawy, J.H. Lienhard V, S.M. Zubair, Thermodynamic Analysis of Humidification Dehumanization Desalination Cycles, Desalination and Water Treatment 16, pp. 339 – 353, 2010

    Last revised: Aug 24, 2011

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