Mobile humidification-dehumidification desalination systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10463985-B2
Application number	US-201615161186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2016
Priority date	May 21, 2015
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

Embodiments described herein generally relate to humidification-dehumidification desalination systems, including apparatuses that include a vessel comprising a humidification region (e.g., a bubble column humidification region) and a dehumidification region (e.g., a bubble column dehumidification region), mobile humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination systems (e.g., systems having a relatively low height and/or a relatively small footprint), and associated systems and methods. Certain embodiments generally relate to methods of operating, controlling, and/or cleaning desalination systems comprising a plurality of desalination units (e.g., HDH desalination units).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A desalination system, comprising:
a vessel, comprising:
a bubble column humidification region comprising a humidification region liquid inlet fluidically connected to a source of salt-containing water, a humidification region gas inlet fluidically connected to a source of a gas, a humidification region gas outlet, and one or more bubble generators, wherein the bubble column humidification region is configured to produce a vapor-containing humidification region gas outlet stream enriched in water vapor relative to the gas received from the humidification region gas inlet; and
a bubble column dehumidification region comprising a dehumidification region gas inlet fluidically connected to the humidification region gas outlet, a dehumidification region gas outlet, a dehumidification region water outlet, and one or more bubble generators, wherein the bubble column dehumidification region is configured to remove at least a portion of the water vapor from the vapor-containing humidification region gas outlet stream to produce a dehumidification region water outlet stream and a dehumidification region gas outlet stream lean in water vapor relative to the humidification region gas outlet stream,

wherein:
the vessel has a height of about 5 m or less, and
the bubble column humidification region and the bubble column dehumidification region are arranged within the vessel such that there is a fluidic pathway, within the vessel, from the bubble column humidification region to the bubble column dehumidification region.

2. The desalination system of claim 1 , wherein the humidification region is configured to evaporate at least about 500 barrels per day.

3. The desalination system of claim 1 , wherein the humidification region is configured to evaporate between about 500 barrels per day and about 2,500 barrels per day.

4. The desalination system of claim 1 , wherein the dehumidification region is configured to condense at least about 500 barrels per day.

5. The desalination system of claim 1 , wherein the dehumidification region is configured to condense between about 500 barrels per day and about 2,500 barrels per day.

6. The desalination system of claim 1 , wherein the vessel has a footprint in the range of about 10 m 2 to about 100 m 2 .

7. The desalination system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more bubble generators of the humidification region and/or dehumidification region comprise a sparger plate comprising a plurality of holes.

8. The desalination system of claim 1 , further comprising an external heat exchanger fluidically connected to the humidification region liquid inlet and the dehumidification region water outlet.

9. The desalination system of claim 1 , further comprising a shipping trailer, wherein the vessel is positioned on the shipping trailer.

10. The desalination system of claim 9 , wherein the shipping trailer comprises a flatbed trailer, a step deck trailer, or a lowboy trailer.

11. The desalination system of claim 10 , wherein the flatbed trailer has a length of about 48 feet and a width of about 8 feet, 6 inches.

12. The desalination system of claim 10 , wherein the flatbed trailer has a length of about 53 feet and a width of about 8 feet, 6 inches.

13. The desalination system of claim 9 , wherein the vessel occupies at least about 75% of the available cargo area of the shipping trailer.

14. The desalination system of claim 9 , wherein the vessel is contoured to fit around a wheel well of the shipping trailer.

15. The desalination system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more wheels integrated with the vessel.

16. The desalination system of claim 1 , further comprising a shipping container, wherein the vessel is positioned within the shipping container.

17. The desalination system of claim 16 , wherein the shipping container is an intermodal shipping container.

18. The desalination system of claim 16 , wherein the shipping container has a nominal length of 20 feet or 40 feet.

19. The desalination system of claim 16 , wherein the shipping container has a height of 8 feet, 6 inches or 9 feet, 6 inches.

Assignees

• Gradiant Corp

Inventors

• Govindan Prakash Narayan
• St John Maximus G
• Lam Steven

Classifications

• B01D5/003

  within column(s) · CPC title

• C02F1/52

  by flocculation or precipitation of suspended impurities {(C02F1/463 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• Y02W10/37

  using solar energy · CPC title

• C02F1/10

  by direct contact with a particulate solid or with a fluid, as a heat transfer medium · CPC title

• C02F2201/008

  Mobile apparatus and plants, e.g. mounted on a vehicle · CPC title