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    • 专利摘要:
    A method for separating water from a saline solution using a directional solvent Substantially pure water is produced by desalination using a directional solvent that dissolves water in a directional way, but does not dissolve the salt. the directional solvent is heated to dissolve the water from the salt solution in the directional solvent. the remaining highly concentrated salt water is removed, and the directional solvent solution and water is cooled to precipitate substantially pure water from the solution.
    公开号:BR112012012220B1
    申请号:R112012012220-7
    申请日:2010-11-19
    公开日:2020-03-03
    发明作者:Anurag Bajpayee；Daniel Kraemer；Andrew Muto；Gang Chen；John Lienhard；Borivoje Mikic
    申请人:Massachusetts Institute Of Technology；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    METHOD FOR SEPARATING WATER FROM A SALINE SOLUTION WITH THE USE OF A DIRECTIONAL SOLVENT
    BACKGROUND
    In this century, the scarcity of fresh water is expected to overcome the scarcity of energy as a global concern for humanity, and these two challenges are inexorably linked. Fresh water is one of the most fundamental needs of humans and other organisms. Each human being needs to consume a minimum of about two liters per day, in addition to greater demands for fresh water in agricultural as well as industrial processes. However, techniques for transporting fresh water or producing fresh water through desalination tend to be highly demanding in relation to increasingly scarce supplies of energy at an affordable price.
    The dangers posed by insufficient water supplies are particularly serious. A scarcity of fresh water can lead to hunger, disease, death, forced mass migration, conflict / war between regions (from Darfur to southwest 20 America), and collapsing ecosystems. Despite the critical state of the need for fresh water and the profound consequences of shortages, fresh water supplies are particularly restricted. On Earth, 97.5% of the water is salty, and about 70% of the rest is trapped like ice (most in - 25 polar caps and glaciers), leaving only 0.75% of all Earth water as fresh water. available.
    In addition, that 0.75% of fresh water available is not evenly distributed. For example, highly populated developing countries, such as India and China, 30 have many regions that are subject to scarce supplies. In addition, the supply of fresh water is usually seasonally inconsistent. Typically limited to regional drainage basins, the water is heavy and its
    2/19 transport is costly and energy intensive.
    However, demands for fresh water are increasing across the globe. Reservoirs are drying up; aquifers are shrinking; rivers are receding; and the 5 glaciers and polar caps are decreasing. Growing populations increase demand, as do displacements in agriculture and increasing industrialization. Climate change poses even more threats in many regions. Consequently, the number of people facing water shortages is increasing.
    Huge amounts of energy are typically needed to produce fresh water from seawater (or, to a lesser extent, from brackish water), especially for remote locations. Reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the main desalination technology, but it is energy intensive and still relatively inefficient due to the great pressures needed to carry water through semipermeable membranes and their tendency to clog. In large-scale installations, the energy / volume required can be as little as 4 kWh / m 3 at a recovery of 30%, compared to the theoretical minimum of about 1 kWh / m 3 , although RO systems of smaller scale (for example, ships on board) have much worse efficiency, by an order of magnitude. Another popular method is multi-stage rapid distillation 25 (MSF), also an energy and capital intensive process.
    Instead of extracting pure water, electrochemical methods, such as electrodialysis (ED) and capacitive desalination (CD), extract only enough salt to obtain drinking water (<10 mM). Large-scale electrochemical desalination systems are less effective than RO facilities in seawater desalination (eg 7 kWh / m 3 is the state of the art in ED), but they become more effective for brackish water (eg example, CD can reach
    3/19
    0.6 kWh / m 3 ). In general, existing techniques for removing salt from water, some of which have been around for centuries, tend to be costly or complicated or both.
    SUMMARY
    Methods and devices for desalination of water using directional solvent extraction are described in the present invention. Various types of apparatus and method may include some or all of the elements, resources and steps described below.
    Certain solvents, such as edible oils (for example, soybean oil) and some fatty acids, have an unusual feature of being able to dissolve water in a directional manner while not dissolving other water-soluble salts, such as sodium chloride, or impurities and while they are insoluble or almost insoluble in water (that is, water dissolves in most of the directional solvent phase, but the directional solvent does not dissolve in most of the water phase in more than residual amounts). This phenomenon of directional solubility is explored, in the present invention, in a new method of temperature controlled desalination of a saline solution.
    In an example of the method, a saline solution (for example, sea water) is brought into contact with a directional solvent. The directional solvent can include a carboxylic acid (i.e., a compound that includes a carboxyl group, R-COOH), such as decanoic acid, CH3 (CH2) 8COOH. The saline solution and the solvent are heated before or after contact to accentuate the directional dissolution of the water in the solvent and thus produce distinct phases, a first phase that includes the solvent and water from the saline solution and a second phase that includes a highly saline concentrate. The first phase separates from the second phase and is extracted. Alternatively, the second phase can be
    4/19 extracted from the first phase. After extraction, the first phase is cooled to precipitate the solvent water; and the precipitated water is then removed from the solvent. The extracted water can be in the form of substantially pure water (for example, suitable for industrial or agricultural use or even meeting the purity standards of drinking water, such as 99.95% purity).
    The methods of this disclosure can use low quality heat, which can come from terrestrial heat sources, 10 from the ocean, the sun, or as residual heat from other processes. These desalination methods can also be easy to use and can offer energy and cost savings over current desalination methods.
    BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
    Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a laboratory scale, directional solvent extraction desalination process.
    Figure 2 is an illustration of an early stage in the process, where saline water is mixed with a directional solvent.
    Figure 3 is an illustration showing the use of a stirring plate to stir the mixture of saline water and solvent to create an emulsion.
    Figure 4 is an illustration showing the immersion of the emulsion in a hot water bath to raise the temperature of the emulsion.
    *
    Figure 5 is an illustration showing the separation of the heated emulsion in an upper layer of solvent with dissolved water and a lower layer of highly concentrated saline 30.
    Figure 6 is an illustration showing the decantation of the top layer of solvent and water dissolved in a tube.
    Figure 7 is an illustration showing the
    5/19 cooling the decanted solvent and dissolved water to precipitate small water droplets from the solvent.
    Figure 8 is an illustration showing the use of dielectrophoresis to separate the water droplets from the solvent, with the separated water being collected at the bottom of the tube.
    Figure 9 is an illustration showing the recovery of substantially pure water from the bottom of the tube.
    Figure 10 is an illustration showing the use of a stirring plate to stir the mixture of saline water and decanoic acid solvent to create a heated emulsion.
    Figure 11 is an illustration showing the separation of the heated emulsion in an upper layer of decanoic acid with dissolved water and a lower layer of highly concentrated saline water.
    Figure 12 is an illustration showing the decantation of the upper layer of solvent and water dissolved in a tube heated in a hot water bath.
    Figure 13 is an illustration showing the use of dielectrophoresis in a heated tube to separate the water droplets from the solvent, with the separate water being collected at the bottom of the tube.
    Figure 14 is a graph that plots the yield of fresh water from the decanoic acid solvent as a function of temperature.
    Figure 15 is a graph that plots the energy consumption for a desalination process using decanoic acid as a solvent as a function of temperature.
    In the accompanying drawings, similar reference characters refer to the same or similar parts from all different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, but instead, emphasis is placed on the particular principles illustrated, discussed below.
    DETAILED DESCRIPTION
    6/19
    The background and other features and advantages of various aspects of the invention (s) will be apparent from the following, from the more particular description of various specific concepts and modalities within the broader limits of the invention (s). Various aspects of the subject in question introduced above and discussed in more detail below can be implemented in any of a number of ways, as the subject in question is not limited to any particular way of implementation. Examples of specific deployments and applications are provided primarily for illustrative purposes.
    Unless otherwise defined, the terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present invention have the same meaning as commonly understood by one skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. It should also be understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technique and should not be interpreted in an idealized or excessively formal sense. unless expressly so defined in the present invention. For example, if a particular composition is referred to, imperfect, practical realities can apply, for example, the potential presence of at least residual impurities (for example, less than 0.1% by weight or volume) can be understood to be within the scope of the invention.
    Although the terms, first, second, third, etc., can be used in the present invention to describe various elements, those elements should not be limited by those terms. These terms are simply used to distinguish one element from another. Thus, a first element, discussed below, could be designated as a second
    7/19 element without departing from the teachings of the exemplary modalities.
    Spatial relation terms, such as, above, above, below, below, below and the like, can be used in the present invention to facilitate the description of the relationship of an element to another element, as illustrated in the figures. It should be understood that the terms of spatial relationship are intended to include different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation represented in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, the elements written as below or under other elements or resources would then be oriented above the other elements or resources. Thus, the exemplary term above can include both an upward and downward orientation. The apparatus can be oriented in another way (for example, rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations) and the spatial relationship descriptors used in the present invention interpreted accordingly.
    Furthermore, in this disclosure, when an element is referred to as being connected, connected to or coupled to another element, it may be directly connected, connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present unless otherwise specified.
    The terminology used in the present invention is for the purpose of describing particular modalities and is not intended to limit exemplary modalities. As used in the present invention, singular forms one, one and o / a are intended to include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Additionally, the terms, includes, includes, understands and understands specify the presence of the elements or steps
    8/19 determined, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements or stages.
    A batch, laboratory-scale exemplification of a desalination process is broadly and schematically illustrated in Figure 1 with several stages shown in greater detail in Figures 2 to 9. The process can also be performed on a larger, industrial scale using larger automatic devices. In addition, the process can also be conducted in a continuous, staged process, in which saline is continuously introduced and substantially pure water is continuously emitted.
    The process of Figure 1 begins at stage A with the addition of saline 12 and heat Q, to a directional solvent 14 in a container 16. Directional solvent 14 and saline 12 are mixed 11 to produce an emulsion 22, as shown in stage B. With the addition of more heat, Q, the water in the saline solution then dissolves in the directional solvent through stage C; and the concentrate remnant 30 of the saline solution sits 15 at the bottom of the container 16 in stage D.
    The vessel 16 is then removed from the heat source and the water solution in the directional solvent is decanted 17 from the vessel to a secondary vessel in stage E and allowed to cool to precipitate 19 water from the solution, as shown in stage F. Water precipitate settles 21 at the bottom of the vessel in stage G and is then recovered 23 as substantially pure water from the bottom of the vessel in stage H. As shown, the directional solvent can then be reused 25 as the process is repeated with additional saline.
    Turning to the steps of this process from the beginning in a more specific example, starting from Figure 2 (stage A in Figure 1), a saline solution 12 is added to a container (for example, a beaker) 16 filled with a
    9/19 directional solvent 14 at or near room temperature (for example, 25 to 35 ° C). Saline solution 12 can be naturally occurring - for example, in the form of saline water extracted from the sea. Directional solvent 14 can be, for example, an edible oil, such as soybean oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil or flax seed soil, which includes fatty acids. Alternatively, the directional solvent may consist essentially of one or more selected fatty acids. Suitable fatty acids include carbon chains of, for example, 6 to 13 carbon atoms, such as decanoic acid, which has a carbon chain length of 10 carbon atoms. The fatty acid can also be a solid at room temperature (for example, at about 30 ° C and / or below). Decanoic acid is considered to be substantially insoluble in water (for example, dissolving in water up to only about 40 to 50 parts per million); and decanoic acid is relatively harmless to humans, as it is naturally found in milk. In methods for separating water from a saline solution, a hydrophilic hydroxide group of the fatty acid can attach to the water in the saline solution.
    container 16 with the combined saline solution 12 and the directional solvent 14 are then mixed to form an emulsion. As shown in Figure 3 (stage B in Figure 1), in a laboratory scale environment, mixing can be performed on a magnetic stirring plate 20 with a magnetic stirrer 18 dripped into container 16. The stirring plate 20 moves magnetically the magnetic stirrer 18 in the container 16 to vigorously mix the solvent 14 and the saline solution 12 to produce an emulsion 22 of the two liquids. The mixing is carried out until the emulsion 22 appears blurred to the vision (for example, in this mode, for about 30 seconds).
    10/19
    Emulsion 22 in container 16 is exposed to a heat source 24 (for example, in the form of a hot water bath), as shown in Figure 4 (stage C in Figure 1), and preheated to a preheat temperature. -heating, for example, to about 75 ° C or, in other embodiments, only to a temperature as low as 40 ° C, with the high temperature reflected by the high mercury in the illustrated thermometer 26. Alternatively, the solvent 14 and / or saline 12 can be heated before contact or mixing. Heat can be provided, for example, by residual heat from another process or from terrestrial heat sources, from the ocean, or from simple solar heating from the sun. Emulsion 22 remains subjected to the heat source to maintain the preheat temperature (for example, for a day) to allow saline water to drip into emulsion 22 to dissolve in the directional solvent.
    Solution 28 of the solvent with the dissolved water rises to the top of container 16 and appears clear to the eye, while the concentrate remnant 30 of the saline separates at the bottom of container 16, as shown in Figure 5 (stage D in Figure 1).
    The container 16 is then removed from the heat source 24 and the solution 28 which includes the solvent and the dissolved water is decanted from the container 16 to the secondary vessels 32 (for example, in the form of conical tubes), as shown in Figure 6 (stage E in Figure 1), and allowed to cool (for example, in room air) back to room temperature, as shown in Figure 7 (stage F in Figure 1). As solution 28 cools, solution 28 becomes cloudy, indicating the precipitation of small droplets of water to form an emulsion 34.
    Optionally, to expedite the separation of precipitated water and the separation of water from the solvent, the emulsion 34
    11/19 of the precipitated water and the solvent, although kept in the tube
    32 in one Support 33, Can be submitted The dielectrophoresis, according shown at Figure 8 (internship G at Figure 1) . According shown, an source of food 40 is coupled per
    conductive wires 38 to a pair of electrodes 35 and 36 positioned at the bottom and top of the vessel 32. The power supply 40 produces a potential difference through the electrodes 35 and 36, in which the non-uniformity of the electrode shape (for example , a flat plate at one end and a needle at the other end) produces a non-uniform electric field that acts on the water droplets to separate them from the solvent. Consequently, substantially pure water 42, which has a higher density than the solvent, is collected at the bottom of the vessel 32 and removed through a hole in the bottom of the vessel and collected in a water reservoir 44 (in this embodiment, in the form of a beaker), as shown in Figure 9 (stage H in Figure 1).
    Substantially pure water 42 may have a salt content by weight of a, for example, less than 1.5%, less than 0.14%, or less than 0.05%. Optionally, additional desalination can be employed after the water separation methods described above to achieve a higher level of water purity. For example, a second stage of desalination can be in the form of reverse osmosis or rapid distillation.
    In large systems, heat recovery can be used to improve the effectiveness of the system. For example, the heat released in cooling to precipitate pure water can be used to heat the salt and water in oil emulsion.
    One application for this apparatus and methods is in the production of petroleum oil or natural gas, in which the directional solvent can be used to separate salts and other components that are insoluble in the directional solvent, for example
    12/19 example, from the water produced (that is, the water that is produced together with the oil and gas) or fracturing water (that is, hydraulic fracture water) that is generated, particularly when oil is extracted from sand tar or when shale natural gas is extracted. Fracturing water can have a salt concentration three times greater than that of typical seawater and can include, for example, benzene and heavy metals. Typically, produced water or fracturing water is transported off-site by treatment and / or contained in above-ground pools.
    Both reverse osmosis and rapid multistage osmosis exempt lower performance in the treatment of produced or fractured water, where a much higher salinity in produced or fractured water increases energy consumption and causes increased membrane obstruction. By mixing the water produced with the directional solvent instead, most of the water can be extracted in substantially pure form using energy and relatively low heat inputs and at a reasonable cost, leaving a much more residual product concentrated and of lower volume and allowing the extracted water to be reused in the oil extraction process, thus offering substantial environmental benefits in terms of waste retention, lower water demands, less environmental pollution and greater efficiency.
    EXAMPLE 1:
    MATERIALS, METHODS AND OBSERVATIONS:
    In a first experiment, soybean oil was used as the directional solvent. The soybean oil has a water saturation limit of 0.3% by volume at 25 ° C, and this saturation limit is expected to almost double at 60 ° C. Soy oil is inexpensive and readily available.
    An aqueous solution of sodium chloride was
    13/19 prepared to simulate sea water. The salt content of this solution was measured using a Horiba Salt Meter and was found to be 3.367% + 0.115%.
    About 6 ml of this salty solution was added to about 300 ml of soy oil and mixed vigorously in a container on a stirring plate to produce a saline in oil emulsion. The mixture was stirred for about 30 seconds until the contents of the container appear cloudy to the eye.
    This emulsion container was then placed in a hot water bath preheated to 75 ° C. The emulsion was left in the hot water bath for 24 hours (this incubation period can easily be shortened or increased to optimize processing speed or output) to allow part of the emulsion water to drip to dissolve in the oil. This directional dissolution of water in oil is expected to make the remaining droplets highly concentrated with salt, and these droplets are expected to separate under gravity at the bottom of a container.
    After 24 hours of incubation, the emulsion vessel was removed from the hot water bath. As expected, a significant amount of the salt solution had separated to the bottom of the container, and the oil above seemed clear to the eye. This change from cloudy to clear indicates that the emulsion droplets either dissolved or separated to the bottom of the container.
    oil above the separated salt solution was decanted into six different 50 ml conical tubes and allowed to cool in the air at room temperature. As expected, after several hours of downward cooling, the oil appeared to turn cloudy again, indicating the precipitation of small water droplets.
    To streamline the process of separating this water
    14/19 precipitated and its oil separation, the emulsions were subjected to dielectrophoresis. In the dielectrophoresis process, a non-uniform electric field was used to separate the particles (here, water droplets) from a host fluid (here, the oil). Specifically, the mixture was subjected to an electric field of about 2 kV / cm for about 5 minutes. Significant separation of water from the oil was observed. This separate and apparently desalinated water was removed through a hole in the bottom of the conical tubes. About 1.5 ml of water was recovered.
    The recovered water was tested using the Horiba Salt Meter and the final salt content was revealed to be 0.5833% ± 0.0681%.
    DISCUSSION:
    As expected, the salt content of the initial saline solution was significantly reduced using the demonstrated process.
    Although the final salt concentration was significantly lower than the initial concentration, it is not within the 0.05% consumption patterns. The salt remaining in the recovered water is attributed to the possibility that not all the undissolved water containing salt was separated before decanting and eventually mixed with the pure water. The salt content can be reduced by submitting the mixture to dielectrophoresis prior to cooling to accentuate the separation of highly emulsified salt water microdroplets and thus further reduce the final salt concentration of the recovered water. Alternatively, even with such a salt content, this process can be used as a first stage (pre-treatment) of desalination, in combination with, for example, the use of membrane-based water separation technology in a subsequent second stage. In this context, this first stage desalination process
    15/19 reduces the energy and cost needed to produce high-purity water in the second stage process.
    Another area for improvement was the small volume of pure water that was recovered; the pure water recovered was only about 0.5% of the volume of oil used. This limited recovery could make the process energy inefficient as well as inefficient in size. To address this issue, other directional solvents, such as decanoic acid, which are capable of dissolving larger amounts of water, can be used.
    Despite these areas that can be targeted for improvement, the results of this experiment were seen to be extremely promising; and it is believed that this method with the modifications contemplated could yield pure water while still maintaining energy and size efficacies.
    EXAMPLE 2:
    In an attempt to reveal a more effective process, a second experiment was conducted, in which the experiments described above were repeated using decanoic acid as the solvent. Decanoic acid dissolves about 3.4% water (i.e., so that the solution includes about 3.4% dissolved water) at 33 ° C and about 5.1% water at 62 ° C. Pure decanoic acid is a solid below 30 ° C.
    decanoic acid was initially slightly heated (to about 30 ° C) to melt before saline was added, and the stirring plate 20 was heated to heat the mixture (as shown by thermometer 26 reflecting an elevated temperature) when emulsion 22 is formed, as shown in Figure 10. After stirring, the emulsion was allowed to rest on the heating / stirring plate 20 to allow the separation of the solvent solution and dissolved water 28 from the highly remaining
    16/19 saline concentrate 30, as shown in Figure
    11.
    Subsequently, the phase containing solution of decanoic acid and dissolved water 28 was transferred to the conical tubes 32 placed in a water bath 48, as shown in Figure 12, in which the contents were allowed to cool and rest for several hours before separation end of substantially pure water. Then, as shown in Figure 13, heating was provided by means of a resistive heating coil 46 during dielectrophoresis to keep the decanoic acid above 30 ° C and prevent solidification. Finally, substantially pure water 42, which has a higher density than decanoic acid, is collected at the bottom of vessel 32 and removed through a hole in the bottom of vessel 32 and collected in a water reservoir 44, as shown in Figure 9. This second experiment includes experimental cycles in which the emulsion was heated to temperatures of 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, and 80 ° C. Starting from an initial salt content of 3.5% by weight by weight (w / w), the desalinated water contained between 0.06% and 0.11% of salt with a yield between 0.4% w / w 2 % w / w of desalinated water from the emulsion (where the yield is the weight of water recovered divided by the unit weight of the solvent used), depending on the higher operating temperature. Thus, this solvent is not only considerably more effective (than soy oil, as used in the first experiment), but salt removal is also much more effective with decanoic acid. The salinity of recovered water is in the range of agricultural drinking water standards. Figure 14 summarizes the results, in which the yields (circles) 49 and the salinity of the recovered water (triangles) 50 from different experimental cycles are plotted. Experimental yields are also plotted
    17/19 (squares) 52 when the pure water was dissolved in the decanoic acid. The dashed line 54 reflects the yield calculated from the solubility data of C. Hoerr, et al. , The Effect of Water on Solidification Points of Fatty Acids, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Volume 19, 126 to 128 (1942). Finally, the EPA salinity limit is shown as the line of dashes and dots 56 at the bottom of the graph, with WHO salinity plotted as a second line of dashes and dots 58 just above it.
    In addition, another benefit of using decanoic acid as a solvent is that decanoic acid is a solid below 30 ° C, and so if any solvent is left behind in the recovered water as an impurity, it can be easily removed by cooling the mixing below 30 ° C and separation of water from solid impurities.
    Energy consumption was calculated for an industrial desalination process using decanoic acid as the directional solvent and is summarized in Figure 15, in which the energy consumption of the experimental results (circles) 60 at the preheating temperatures of 40, 45 , 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 ° C, are compared with the literature values for reverse osmosis energy consumption (hollow triangles) 62 and multistage rapid (diamonds) 64. These consumption plots of energy represent the maximum amount of electrical work equivalent used to remove salt from seawater. Reverse osmosis temperature energy consumption (full triangles) 66 is also represented as the electricity is derived from a high temperature power station. In order to extrapolate the experimental results to numbers for a continuous industrial process, an efficiency of heat exchanger of 80% was assumed. The energy for converting work to the proposed process was made at
    18/19 effectiveness of Carnot, which is the maximum theoretical achievable with the use of a thermal machine. In reality, no thermal machine is effective at the low operating temperatures used here, and the actual electrical work equivalents could be much lower than those calculated. The dashed line 68 is not based on the energy consumption calculated from the solubility data of C. Hoerr, et al., The Effect of Water on Solidification Points of Fatty Acids, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Volume 19 , 126 to 128 (1942).
    In describing embodiments of the invention, specific terminology is used for the sake of clarity. For the purpose of description, the specific terms are intended to at least include technical and functional equivalents that operate in a similar way to achieve a similar result. In addition, in some instances where a particular embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of system elements or method steps, these elements or steps can be replaced by a single element or step; similarly, a single element or step can be replaced by a plurality of elements or steps that serve the same purpose. Furthermore, where parameters for various properties are specified in the present invention for the modalities of the invention, these parameters can be adjusted up or down by 1/100, 1/50, 1/20, 1/10, 1/5, 1 / 3, 1/2, 3/4, etc. (or up by a factor of 2, 5, 10, etc.), or by rounded approximations thereof, unless otherwise specified. In addition, although this invention has been shown and described with reference to particular modalities thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that various substitutions and changes in shape and details can be made in them without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, other aspects, functions and advantages
    19/19 are also within the scope of the invention; and all the modalities of the invention need not necessarily achieve all the advantages or possess all the characteristics described above. In addition, the steps, elements and resources discussed in the present invention in connection with one embodiment can similarly be used in conjunction with other embodiments. The contents of references, including reference texts, newspaper articles, patents, patent applications, etc., cited throughout the text are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety; and the components, steps and appropriate characterizations of those references may or may not be included in the embodiments of this invention. In addition, the components and steps identified in the Background section are integrated into this integral disclosure and can be used in conjunction with or used in place of the components and steps described elsewhere in the disclosure within the scope of the invention. In method claims, where stages are cited in a particular order - with or without sequenced preface characters added for ease of reference - stages should not be interpreted as being temporarily limited to the order in which they were cited, unless otherwise specified or implied by the terms and expressions.
    权利要求:
    Claims (15)
    [1]
    1. METHOD TO SEPARATE WATER FROM A SALINE SOLUTION WITH THE USE OF A DIRECTIONAL SOLVENT, the method being characterized by understanding:
    providing the directional solvent and the saline solution comprising water and at least one salt, wherein the directional solvent includes a carboxylic acid with a carbon chain of 6 to 13 carbon atoms;
    producing an emulsion of the saline solution in the directional solvent;
    heat the directional solvent before or after contact with the saline solution to produce a first phase that includes the directional solvent and water from the saline solution dissolved in the directional solvent, and a second phase that
    includes a highly remaining focused gives solution saline;to allow let the first phase separate gives Monday phase; to extract the first stage that includes O solvent
    directional and dissolved water from the highly concentrated remnant of the saline solution or extract the highly concentrated remnant from the saline solution from the first stage;
    cool the first phase after extraction to precipitate the water from the directional solvent; and removing precipitated water from the directional solvent in which the water is dissolved and precipitated from the solvent in an atmosphere with a pressure of less than 10 atm.
    [2]
    METHOD according to claim 1, characterized in that the directional solvent includes a compound that dissolves water, but does not dissolve impurities and salts soluble in water and that is completely or substantially insoluble in water.
    Petition 870190118567, of 11/14/2019, p. 4/8
    2/3
    [3]
    METHOD according to claim 1, characterized in that the directional solvent includes a compound with a hydrophilic hydroxide group, and in which the group
    hydrophilic hydroxide ifin binds to water saline solution. 4. METHOD, wake up with The claim 3, featured by the group hydroxide hydrophilic be part in a carboxyl group.5. METHOD, in wake up with The claim 4, featured by acid < carboxylic include decanoic acid. 6. METHOD, in wake up with The claim 1, featured fur directional solvent be a solid The temperatures 30 ° C and below. 7. METHOD, in wake up with The claim 1,
    characterized by further comprising mixing the directional solvent and the saline solution to produce the emulsion before heating the directional solvent and the saline solution.
    [4]
    METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises mixing the directional solvent and the saline solution to produce the emulsion after heating the directional solvent.
    [5]
    9. METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises using dielectrophoresis to separate the precipitated water from the directional solvent.
    [6]
    10. METHOD according to claim 1, characterized in that the directional solvent is heated using energy from an average temperature heat source of not more than 75 ° C.
    [7]
    11. METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized in that the directional solvent is heated using energy from a low temperature heat source of no more than 40 ° C.
    [8]
    12. METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized by the directional solvent and the saline solution
    Petition 870190118567, of 11/14/2019, p. 5/8
    3/3 to be heated using heat from another process.
    [9]
    13. METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized in that the directional solvent and the saline solution are heated using terrestrial heat or solar heat.
    [10]
    METHOD according to claim 1, characterized in that the precipitated water extracted has a salt content by weight by weight of less than 1.5%.
    [11]
    METHOD according to claim 1, characterized in that the precipitated water extracted has a salt content by weight by weight of less than 0.14%.
    [12]
    16. METHOD according to claim 1, characterized in that the precipitated water extracted has a salt content by weight by weight of less than 0.05%.
    [13]
    17. METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized by the separation of water from the saline solution with the use of directional solvent being a first stage in a multi-stage desalination process, the method also comprising submitting water precipitated, after extraction, to a second desalination stage to achieve a higher level of purity.
    [14]
    18. METHOD according to claim 17, characterized in that the second stage of desalination includes reverse osmosis or rapid distillation.
    [15]
    19. METHOD, according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises reusing the directional solvent to repeat the method of separating water from saline solution.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
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    AU2010324910A1|2012-06-21|
    US20120138532A1|2012-06-07|
    IL219799A|2016-03-31|
    JP5823407B2|2015-11-25|
    EP2504283A1|2012-10-03|
    RU2012123619A|2013-12-27|
    AU2010324910B2|2016-05-12|
    CN102712502A|2012-10-03|
    JP2013512092A|2013-04-11|
    PE20130171A1|2013-03-03|
    US8119007B2|2012-02-21|
    EP2504283B1|2016-01-27|
    IL219799D0|2012-07-31|
    CN102712502B|2014-01-08|
    WO2011066193A1|2011-06-03|
    CA2781419A1|2011-06-03|
    US8501007B2|2013-08-06|
    US20110108481A1|2011-05-12|
    RU2556669C2|2015-07-10|
    ZA201204346B|2013-08-28|
    CL2012001351A1|2012-10-12|
    BR112012012220A2|2017-12-26|
    ES2564319T3|2016-03-21|
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    法律状态:
    2018-04-10| B06F| Objections, documents and/or translations needed after an examination request according [chapter 6.6 patent gazette]|
    2018-12-04| B06T| Formal requirements before examination [chapter 6.20 patent gazette]|Free format text: O DEPOSITANTE DEVE RESPONDER A EXIGENCIA FORMULADA NESTE PARECER POR MEIO DO SERVICO DE CODIGO 206 EM ATE 60 (SESSENTA) DIAS, A PARTIR DA DATA DE PUBLICACAO NA RPI, SOB PENA DO ARQUIVAMENTO DO PEDIDO, DE ACORDO COM O ART. 34 DA LPI.PUBLIQUE-SE A EXIGENCIA (6.20). |
    2019-08-20| B06A| Patent application procedure suspended [chapter 6.1 patent gazette]|
    2020-01-14| B09A| Decision: intention to grant [chapter 9.1 patent gazette]|
    2020-03-03| B16A| Patent or certificate of addition of invention granted [chapter 16.1 patent gazette]|Free format text: PRAZO DE VALIDADE: 20 (VINTE) ANOS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE 19/11/2010, OBSERVADAS AS CONDICOES LEGAIS. |
    2021-09-14| B21F| Lapse acc. art. 78, item iv - on non-payment of the annual fees in time|Free format text: REFERENTE A 11A ANUIDADE. |
    2022-01-04| B24J| Lapse because of non-payment of annual fees (definitively: art 78 iv lpi, resolution 113/2013 art. 12)|Free format text: EM VIRTUDE DA EXTINCAO PUBLICADA NA RPI 2645 DE 14-09-2021 E CONSIDERANDO AUSENCIA DE MANIFESTACAO DENTRO DOS PRAZOS LEGAIS, INFORMO QUE CABE SER MANTIDA A EXTINCAO DA PATENTE E SEUS CERTIFICADOS, CONFORME O DISPOSTO NO ARTIGO 12, DA RESOLUCAO 113/2013. |
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    US26427009P| true| 2009-11-25|2009-11-25|
    US61/264,270|2009-11-25|
    PCT/US2010/057448|WO2011066193A1|2009-11-25|2010-11-19|Water desalination using directional solvent extraction|
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