General Electric Company

Texaco Inc.

Enviro Water Minerals Company, Inc.

Hl Seawater Holdings, LLC

Texaco Development Corporation

Greatpoint Energy, Inc.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Paul Steven Wallace

Kay Anderson Johnson

Pradeep Stanley Thacker

George Morris Gulko

Delome D Fair

Arnaldo Frydman

Janice L Kasbaum

Aaron John Avagliano

James Michael Storey

John D Winter

Henry C Chan

Alma I Rodarte

Fred C Jahnke

Frederick C Jahnke

Jacquelyn Gayle Niccum

Jyung-Hoon Kim

R Walter Barkley

M Kay Anderson

Clint F Penrose

Jacqueline G Niccum

Daniel W Tse

A water processing system includes a pretreatment system disposed within the water processing system. The pretreatment system may treat a feed stream including oil and brine and to generate a first brine stream. The pretreatment system includes a first filtration system that may receive the feed stream, the first filtration system may separate the feed stream into a hydrocarbon stream and an intermediate brine stream, the intermediate brine stream includes a plurality of minerals, and the hydrocarbon stream includes water, the oil, and suspended solids. The water processing system also includes a mineral removal system fluidly coupled to and disposed downstream from the first filtration system. The mineral removal system may receive and remove the plurality of minerals from the first brine stream output from the pretreatment system. The mineral removal system includes a first mineral removal unit that may remove a first portion of the plurality of minerals from the first brine stream and to generate a second brine stream. The water processing system also includes a hydrocarbon removal system disposed within the pretreatment system and fluidly coupled to the first filtration system. The hydrocarbon removal system may receive the hydrocarbon stream, to recover the oil, and to generate a recovered oil stream.

System and method for treating hydrocarbon-containing feed streams

A method includes supplying a supersaturated brine stream having a plurality of minerals and anti-scalant from a water treatment system to a gypsum removal system disposed within a mineral removal system. The gypsum removal system includes a gypsum reactor that may receive the supersaturated brine, may deactivate the anti-scalant such that gypsum precipitates from the supersaturated brine, and may generate a gypsum slurry having a mixture of desupersaturated brine, precipitated gypsum, and the anti-scalant in solution with the desupersaturated brine. The method also includes supplying gypsum seed crystals to the gypsum reactor. The gypsum seed crystals may precipitate the gypsum from the supersaturated brine to generate the gypsum slurry. The method also includes directing a first portion of the gypsum slurry from the gypsum reactor to a gypsum settler. The gypsum settler may reactivate the anti-scalant such that the anti-scalant absorbs onto the precipitated gypsum to remove the anti-scalant from the desupersaturated brine and may generate anti-scalant-gypsum crystals and a desupersaturated overflow having at least a portion of the plurality of minerals. The method further includes generating the gypsum seed crystals supplied to the gypsum reactor using the anti-scalant-gypsum crystals.

System and method for removal of scale forming components

A system includes an ion exchange softener fluidly coupled to a wastewater treatment system. The first ion exchange softener may receive a first brine stream from the wastewater treatment system and to remove a plurality of minerals from the first brine stream to generate a second brine stream including the plurality of minerals and a third brine stream. The system also includes a mineral removal system disposed downstream from the ion exchange softener and that may receive the second brine stream and to generate a sodium chloride (NaCl) brine stream and an acid and caustic production system disposed downstream from and fluidly coupled to the mineral removal system. The acid and caustic production system includes a first electrodialysis (ED) system that may receive the NaCl brine stream from the mineral removal system and to generate hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) from the NaCl brine stream. The system also includes a second ED system disposed downstream from the ion exchange softener and upstream of the acid and caustic production system. The second ED system is fluidly coupled to the ion exchange softener and to the acid and caustic production system, and the second ED may generate desalinated water from the third brine stream and an ED concentrate stream. The second ED system may direct the ED concentrate stream to the acid and caustic production system.

System for removing minerals from a brine

An environmentally supportive seawater intake system includes a first filtering system in communication with raw seawater for providing a flow of seawater in a first direction into a raceway. A second filtering system is also in communication with seawater in the raceway and is adapted to receive a portion of the seawater in the raceway and directing it in a second direction away from the flow of residual water in the raceway. An input device receives the second portion flowing in the second direction, and a recovery system receives and returns the first, residual portion to the sea environment.

Desalination intake system with net positive impact on habitat

A method includes treating a first brine stream including a plurality of minerals with an anti-scalant to produce a treated brine. The first brine stream is provided by a wastewater treatment system. The method also includes directing the treated brine to a first nanofiltration (NF) system disposed downstream from and fluidly coupled to the wastewater treatment system, generating a first NF permeate stream and a first NF non-permeate stream from the treated brine in the first NF system, directing the first NF non-permeate stream to a mineral removal system disposed downstream from and fluidly coupled to the first NF system, and removing the plurality of minerals from the first NF non-permeate stream to generate a first overflow stream in the mineral removal system. The first overflow stream comprises at least a portion of the plurality of minerals. The method also includes routing a first portion of the first overflow stream to a hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) production system disposed downstream from and fluidly coupled to the mineral removal system. The HCl and NaOH production system includes a second NF system that may receive the first portion of the first overflow stream and may generate a second brine stream from the first portion of the first overflow stream. The method further includes directing the second brine stream to a first electrodialysis (ED) system disposed within the HCl and NaOH production system and fluidly coupled to the second NF system. The first ED system may generate HCl and NaOH from the second brine stream.

System and methods for removing minerals from a brine using electrodialysis

A method of producing desalinated water and recovering minerals from the feedwater uses membrane separation and electrodialysis brine concentration. This process can recover all of the minerals as high purity industrial minerals, including capturing the calcium and sulfate as agricultural grade gypsum and boron as high purity boric acid. In addition the process allows the use of low cost lime or dolime to produce valuable magnesium hydroxide.

Membrane and electrodialysis based seawater desalination with salt, boron and gypsum recovery

A heating system for desalination. One system includes a desalination system configured to receive a brine and to produce desalinated water from the brine. The system also includes a power production system having an engine configured to provide power to the desalination system. The power production system does not include combined cycle power production. The system also includes a heating system driven by the power production system and configured to provide heat for heating the brine.

Heating system for desalination

A system for rinsing electrodialysis electrodes includes an anode input coupled to an anode of an electrodialysis (ED) system for receiving a first fluid from the anode. The first fluid is for removing ions from the anode. The system also includes an anode output coupled to the anode of the ED system for providing the first fluid to the anode. The system includes a cathode input coupled to a cathode of the ED system for receiving a second fluid from the cathode. The second fluid is for removing ions from the cathode of the ED system. The system also includes a cathode output coupled to the cathode of the ED system for providing the second fluid to the cathode. The system includes an air stripper for receiving the first and/or second fluid, and for removing oxygen and/or a chlorine gas from the first and/or second fluid.

System for rinsing electrodialysis electrodes

A system includes an ion separation unit that may receive dilute hydrochloric acid and may generate a concentrated hydrochloric acid and a chamber fluidly coupled to the ion separation unit. The chamber may receive the concentrated hydrochloric acid and may separate the concentrated hydrochloric acid into a liquid concentrated hydrochloric acid and a vapor containing vaporized hydrochloric acid. The system also includes a scrubber fluidly coupled to the chamber. The scrubber may receive the vapor from the chamber, and the scrubber is may remove at least a portion of the vaporized hydrochloric acid from the vapor via a purified condensate to generate a purified vapor and the dilute hydrochloric acid. The system also includes a condenser fluidly coupled to the scrubber The condenser may receive the purified vapor from the scrubber to condense the purified vapor into the purified condensate, and to output the purified condensate to the scrubber.

Hydrochloric acid production system

A method includes flowing brine including one or more hardness minerals from a desalination system to a mineral removal system. The method also includes removing the one or more hardness minerals from the brine in an ion separation system disposed upstream from and fluidly coupled to the mineral removal system. The ion separation system may generate a first softened brine and includes a plurality of ion exchange subsystems each including an ion exchange resin. The method also includes saturating the ion exchange resin of at least one ion exchange subsystem with the one or more hardness minerals removed from the brine and regenerating the saturated ion exchange resin. The method further includes recovering the one or more hardness minerals from the ion exchange resin via the mineral removal system. The mineral removal system is fluidly coupled to the ion separation system.

System and method for regenerating an ion separation resin

A system for removing minerals from a brine using electrodialysis. One system includes a gypsum removal system configured to receive a feed stream having a first amount of gypsum, to extract at least a portion of the gypsum from the feed stream, and to produce a first output having a second amount of the gypsum less than the first amount of the gypsum. The system also includes an electrodialysis (ED) system fluidly coupled to the gypsum removal system and configured to receive the first output from the gypsum removal system, to produce a second output having a substantially sulfate hardness free sodium sulfate solution, to produce a third output having a sodium chloride solution, and to produce a fourth output having a mineral solution.

System for removing minerals from a brine using electrodialysis

A system for removing high purity salt from a brine. One system includes a first evaporator configured to receive a brine stream, to produce a first output comprising a sodium chloride slurry, and to produce a first intermediate output. The system also includes a second evaporator fluidly coupled to the first evaporator and configured to receive the first intermediate output, to produce a first recovery output, and to produce a second intermediate output. The system includes a third evaporator fluidly coupled to the second evaporator and configured to receive the second intermediate output and to produce a second recovery output. The first recovery output and the second recovery output are used to produce the brine stream received by the first evaporator.

System for removing high purity salt from a brine

In one embodiment, a method includes providing agricultural grade gypsum to a mixing device using a conveyor, providing a fluid to the mixing device using a pump, mixing the agricultural grade gypsum with the fluid to produce a gypsum slurry using the mixing device, and pumping the gypsum slurry to a storage tank. In another embodiment a system includes a conveyor providing an agricultural grade gypsum, a pump providing a fluid, a mixing device configured to mix the agricultural grade gypsum provided by the conveyor with the fluid provided by the pump to produce a gypsum slurry, and a slurry pump configured to pump the gypsum slurry from the mixing device to a storage tank.

Growing community of inventors

Katy, TX, United States of America

Paul Steven Wallace