Chicago Bridge & Iron Company

Alan R Blankshain

Donald R Cutler

Apparatus comprising a freeze exchanger in which an aqueous mixture is indirectly cooled by a cooling fluid to produce an aqueous mixture containing ice; a centrifuge; a conduit for feeding an ice slurry from the freeze exchanger to the centrifuge; a heater; a conduit for feeding ice from the centrifuge to the heater to melt the ice; a water treatment apparatus; a conduit for feeding the water from the heater to the water treatment apparatus to condition the water for contact with a reverse osmosis membrane; a reverse osmosis apparatus; and a conduit for feeding the conditioned water to the reverse osmosis apparatus in which the water is purified by reverse osmosis. A method comprising feeding an aqueous mixture into indirect heat exchange with a cooling fluid to produce ice particles in the aqueous mixture and thus to form an ice slurry; centrifuging the ice slurry to separate the ice and form an aqueous effluent; melting the separated ice and treating the resulting water to remove components which damage a reverse osmosis membrane; and subjecting the treated water to reverse osmosis using a reverse osmosis membrane to produce potable water and an impure water stream.

Growing community of inventors

Murray, UT, United States of America

Alan R Blankshain