Case 14295

Method, System and Apparatus for High Efficiency Thermal Desalination

Keywords:

Humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination, evaporator, condenser, Multi-Stage flash (MSF), Multi-Effect Distillation (MED)

Applications:

Water purification, especially desalination of sea water

Problem:

Maximum brine temperature and heat input are limited by calcium sulphate precipitation and hard scales on heat transfer equipment, resulting in lower thermal performance.

Technology:

The invention improves the performance of previously patented humidification dehumidification desalination systems by identifying methods and apparatuses to increase the temperature and pressure of the energy input without exceeding a top brine temperature. It also entails a method to optimally recover and reuse the energy input to the system to attain maximum efficiency of water production.

Advantages:

Avoids fouling typically associated with high temperature energy source desalination systems.

The system performance can be high for these systems under optimum conditions (a Gained-output-ratio GOR of 20 is possible).

Increases the quality of the steam, by reducing the total entropy rate by up to 50%

Inventors:
  • Professor John H. Lienhard (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
  • Syed M. Zubair (Department of Mechanical Engineering, KFUPM)
  • Prakash Narayan Govindan (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
  • Karan Hemant Mistry (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)

Intellectual Property:

US Non-Provisional Utility Patent Application 13/028170 filed 2/15/2011

PCT Utility Patent Application PCT/US2012/024287 filed 2/8/2012

Gulf Cooperation Council Utility Patent Application 2012/20506 filed 2/13/2012

Publications:

K.H. Mistry, G.P. Narayan, A. Mitsos, J.H. Lienhard V. Multi-pressure humidification-dehumidification desalination using thermal vapor compression and energy recovery. Submitted to: Proceedings of the 21st National & 10th ISHMT-ASME Heat and Mass Transfer Conference. December 27-30, 2011, IIT Madras, India. ISHMT_USA_015

Related Cases:

MIT TLO Case 13622: Efficient Humidification-Dehumidification Water Desalination

Last revised: May 11, 2012

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