Cyclone assisted desalination system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11834348-B2
Application number	US-201915734082-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 21, 2019
Priority date	Jun 11, 2018
Publication date	Dec 5, 2023
Grant date	Dec 5, 2023

Abstract

A cyclone-assisted distillation system including an energy supply system configured to generate water vapor; a cyclone-generating device configured to generate a vortex with the water vapor received from the energy supply system, the vortex generating a water vapor jet; and a distillation system configured to generate distillated water from saltwater, based on a steam jet obtained from (1) the water vapor of the energy supply system and (2) the water vapor jet from the cyclone-generating device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cyclone-assisted distillation system comprising:
an energy supply system including a thermal oil tank configured to hold an oil, a solar concentrator configured to heat the oil, and an enclosure configured to hold a chemical compound, wherein the energy supply system is configured to generate first water vapor by heating the oil within the solar concentrator to dehydrate the chemical compound with the heated oil to generate the first water vapor;
a cyclone-generating device including,
a cyclone device having (1) a narrowing body, (2) an inlet port configured to receive a high-pressure water vapor from the energy supply system, (3) an input port at a first end of the narrowing body, and (4) an output port at a second end of the narrowing body, and
an evaporator enclosure configured to hold saltwater,
wherein the cyclone device is configured to generate a vortex within the narrowing body, with the high-pressure water vapor, the vortex generating flash evaporation at a surface of the saltwater in the evaporator enclosure so that a second water vapor is generated in the evaporator enclosure and the second water vapor enters the input port and is accelerated within the narrowing body, due to a pressure difference between the input port and the output port, which results in forming a water vapor jet, and the water vapor jet exits the cyclone device at the output port;

a first thermal vapor compressor, TVC 2 , having an input port, an output port, and a nozzle throat, and the thermal vapor compressor is configured to receive (1) the water vapor jet at the nozzle throat, and (2) the first water vapor at the input port, and further configured to form a steam jet and release the steam jet at the output port; and
a distillation system including plural tubes that receive the saltwater from the evaporator enclosure, the distillation system being configured to generate distillated water from the saltwater based on the steam jet obtained from the thermal vapor compressor.

2. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 1 , wherein the narrowing body of the cyclone device has a conical shape; and
wherein the inlet port is oriented to inject the high-pressure water vapor tangential to an interior wall of the cyclone device.

3. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 2 , wherein the cyclone-generating device further comprises:
a collecting device located inside the cyclone device and configured to collect fresh water formed by the high-pressure water vapor inside the cyclone device; and
a cooling pipe system mounted on an outside of the cyclone device for cooling the high-pressure water vapor.

4. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 3 , wherein the distillated water is discharged to a distillate tank of the distillation system and the cooling pipe system receives the saltwater from the distillation system and discharges the saltwater to the evaporator.

5. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a second thermal vapor compressor, TVC 1 , connected to the inlet port of the cyclone device, the TVC 1 being configured to absorb part of the second water vapors from the evaporator enclosure and to receive the first water vapors from the energy supply system, and to generate the high-pressure water vapor.

6. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 1 , wherein the first water vapors are generated by a boiler and a thermal energy storage system, TES, of the energy supply system, and the boiler is heated with hot oil.

7. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 6 , wherein the thermal oil tank is fluidly connected to the TES.

8. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 7 , wherein the TES is configured to stores the chemical compound that generates heat when reacting with water and absorbs energy when being dried.

9. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 8 , wherein the TES is configured such that the oil is passing the TES to receive heat.

10. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 8 , wherein the energy supply system further comprises:
a solar device configured such that the oil is passing the solar device for receiving heat.

11. The cyclone-assisted distillation system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a computing device that switches between a diurnal mode and a nocturnal mode,
wherein the diurnal mode uses solar energy for (1) generating the first water vapor in the energy supply system and (2) removing water from the chemical compound for storing energy into a thermal energy storage system, TES, and
wherein the nocturnal mode uses the energy stored in the TES for generating the first water vapor.

12. A cyclone-assisted distillation system comprising:
an energy supply system configured to generate water vapor, wherein the energy supply system includes a solar energy harvester device for collecting solar energy and a thermal energy storage system for storing part of the solar energy, the solar energy harvester device having an oil filled container and a concentrator that concentrates the solar energy onto the oil filled container, and the thermal energy storage system including an enclosure configured to store one or more chemical compounds;
a cyclone-generating device including,
a cyclone device having (1) a narrowing body, (2) an inlet port configured to receive a high-pressure water vapor from the energy supply system, (3) an input port at a first end of the narrowing body, and (4) an output port at a second end of the narrowing body, and
an evaporator enclosure configured to hold saltwater,
wherein the cyclone device is configured to generate a vortex within the narrowing body, with the high-pressure water vapor, the vortex generating flash evaporation at a surface of the saltwater in the evaporator enclosure so that a second water vapor is generated in the evaporator enclosure and the second water vapor enters the input port and is accelerated within the narrowing body, due to a pressure difference between the input port and the output port, which results in forming a water vapor jet, and the water vapor jet exits the cyclone device at the output port;

a thermal vapor compressor configured to receive the water vapor jet and the first water vapor, and further configured to form a steam jet; and
a distillation system including plural tubes configured to receive the saltwater from the evaporator enclosure, the distillation system being configured to generate distillated water from saltwater, based on the steam jet obtained from the thermal vapor compressor.

Assignees

• Univ King Abdullah Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Ng Kim Choon
• Burhan Muhammad
• Shahzad Muhammad Wakil
• Ybyraiymkul Doskhan

Classifications

• C02F1/043 Primary

  Details · CPC title

• B01D1/0047

  in a closed circuit (B01D3/007 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B01D1/0052

  Use of a liquid transfer medium or intermediate fluid, e.g. bain-marie · CPC title

• B01D1/0064

  Feeding of liquid into an evaporator · CPC title

• B01D3/065

  Multiple-effect flash distillation (more than two traps) · CPC title