Apparatus for membrane distillation using solar absorber and heat pump

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11052349-B2
Application number	US-201916695185-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 26, 2019
Priority date	Sep 16, 2019
Publication date	Jul 6, 2021
Grant date	Jul 6, 2021

Abstract

The present disclosure to an apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump, in which in the implementation of a membrane distillation process for producing treated water using a temperature difference between raw water and a coolant, raw water is heated using the solar absorber with improved heat collection efficiency, and through this, the treated water production efficiency of the membrane distillation process is improved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump, comprising:
a raw water circulation pipe that circulates raw water in a raw water tank;
a solar heat absorbing device provided on one side of the raw water circulation pipe to heat the raw water in the raw water circulation pipe;
the raw water tank that receives the raw water heated by the solar heat absorbing device through the raw water circulation pipe and supplies the raw water to a membrane distillation module;
the membrane distillation module that produces treated water from the raw water through a membrane distillation process;
a coolant tank that supplies a coolant to the membrane distillation module and collects the treated water produced by the membrane distillation module; and
the heat pump that heats the raw water and cools down the coolant when a temperature difference between the raw water in the raw water tank and the coolant in the coolant tank is smaller than a reference value.

2. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 1 , wherein a raw water storage channel is provided in part of the raw water circulation pipe, and the solar heat absorbing device is provided on the raw water storage channel, and
the solar heat absorbing device includes a metal plate provided on the raw water storage channel to transfer solar heat absorbed by the solar absorber to the raw water in the raw water storage channel, and the solar absorber provided on the metal plate to absorb the solar heat.

3. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 1 , wherein the heat pump includes:
a refrigerant circulation pipe formed of a closed loop where a refrigerant circulates, and disposed such that the refrigerant circulation pipe goes through a condenser and an evaporator,
a compressor provided in a position of the refrigerant circulation pipe to compress the refrigerant,
an expansion valve provided in a different position of the refrigerant circulation pipe to expand the refrigerant having passed through the condenser,
the condenser in which a raw water-side pipe is disposed together with the refrigerant circulation pipe through which the refrigerant compressed at high temperature and high pressure passes, to heat the raw water by heat exchange between the refrigerant of high temperature and the raw water of relatively low temperature, and
the evaporator in which a coolant-side pipe is disposed together with the refrigerant circulation pipe through which the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve passes, to cool down the coolant by heat exchange between the expanded refrigerant of low temperature and the coolant of relatively high temperature,
wherein the raw water-side pipe extends from a position of the raw water tank, goes through the condenser and is connected to a different position of the raw water tank, and the coolant-side pipe extends from a position of the coolant tank, goes through the evaporator and is connected to a different position of the coolant tank.

4. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 3 , wherein a first thermometer is provided on one side of the raw water tank to measure the temperature of the raw water, and a second thermometer is provided on one side of the coolant tank to measure the temperature of the coolant, and
a control means is further provided to calculate a difference between the temperature of the raw water measured by the first thermometer and the temperature of the coolant measured by the second thermometer, and when the corresponding difference is smaller than the reference value, control the heat pump to operate.

5. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 2 , wherein the solar absorber has a structure in which a Ti-MgF 2 double layer including a MgF 2 layer on a Ti layer is repeatedly stacked multiple times.

6. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 1 , wherein the membrane distillation module has any one configuration of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), air gap membrane distillation (AGMD), vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) and sweep gas membrane distillation (SGMD).

7. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 1 , wherein a phase change material is provided on one side of the raw water tank, and
the phase change material absorbs heat of the raw water and stores the heat when the temperature of the raw water is equal to or higher than a melting point, and releases the stored heat when the temperature of the raw water is lower than the melting point.

8. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 7 , wherein an inner wall is provided at a location spaced apart from an inner surface of the raw water tank, and the phase change material is provided in a space between the inner surface and the inner wall, and
the phase change material provided between the inner surface and the inner wall surrounds the raw water of the raw water tank, and the space between the inner surface and the inner wall is spatially separated from a space in which the raw water of the raw water tank is provided.

9. An apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump, comprising:
a raw water tank provided with a solar heat absorbing device to supply raw water heated by the solar heat absorbing device to a membrane distillation module;
the membrane distillation module that produces treated water from the raw water through a membrane distillation process;
a coolant tank that supplies a coolant to the membrane distillation module and collects the treated water produced by the membrane distillation module; and
the heat pump that heats the raw water and cools down the coolant when a temperature difference between the raw water in the raw water tank and the coolant in the coolant tank is smaller than a reference value,
wherein the solar heat absorbing device is provided on an upper surface or a side of the raw water tank.

10. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 9 , wherein the solar heat absorbing device includes a metal plate mounted on the upper surface or the side of the raw water tank to provide a seating space for the solar absorber and to collect solar heat, and the solar absorber provided in a groove of the metal plate to absorb the collected solar heat.

11. The apparatus for membrane distillation using a solar absorber and a heat pump according to claim 9 , wherein the heat pump includes:
a refrigerant circulation pipe formed of a closed loop where a refrigerant circulates, and disposed such that the refrigerant circulation pipe goes through a condenser and an evaporator,
a compressor provided in a position of the refrigerant circulation pipe to compress the refrigerant,
an expansion valve provided in a different position of the refrigerant circulation pipe to expand the refrigerant having passed through the condenser,
the condenser in which a raw water-side pipe is disposed together with the refrigerant circulation pipe through which the refrigerant compressed at high temperature and high pressure passes, to heat the raw water by heat exchange between the refrigerant of high temperature and the raw water of relatively low temperature, and
the evaporator in which a coolant-side pipe is disposed together with the refrigerant circulation pipe through which the refrigerant expanded by the

Assignees

• Korea Inst Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Song Kyung Guen
• Choi Won Jun
• Shin Jae Won
• Cho Jin-Soo
• Wang Dasom

Classifications

• B01D2313/221

  Heat exchangers · CPC title

• B01D61/364 Primary

  Membrane distillation · CPC title

• B01D2313/367

  Renewable energy sources, e.g. wind or solar sources · CPC title

• B01D2311/2523

  to feed side · CPC title

• B01D2313/22

  Cooling or heating elements · CPC title