Other

Dead Sea Works Ltd.

Hydration Systems LLC

General Electric Company

Upen Jayant Bharwada

Kenneth R Ward

John R Herron

James Jeffrey Harris

Travis Gerald Stifter

Thomas Martin Aune

Walter L Schultz

Mark Schutter

William B Laidlaw

Integrated, sequential stages of nanofiltration, forward osmosis, and reverse osmosis and related membranes provide an Integrated Osmosis structure, systems and methods. By optimally placing and using the desired characteristics of each membrane, performance and cost effectiveness not attainable individually is obtained. Integrated Osmosis systems provide high diffusive and osmotic permeability, high rejection, low power consumption, high mass transfer, and favorable Peclet number, by manipulating convection, advection and diffusion, low concentration polarization gradients, low reverse salt flux and effective restoration of performance after cleaning fouled membranes. Benefits include increased permeate recovery and decreased waste concentrate volume from reverse osmosis processes or other elevated osmotic pressure solutions. Integrated Osmosis first employs nanofiltration for selective harvesting of solutes, proffering a reduced osmotic pressure permeate. Forward osmosis dewaters the lowered osmotic pressure permeate generating a dilute draw solution which serves as feed to a reverse osmosis process. Reverse osmosis permeate provides freshwater and concentrate provides draw solution for the forward osmosis process.

Integrated osmosis systems and methods

Described herein is a submerged plate membrane device intended for use in forward osmosis processes, particularly for concentrating various process streams such as those in ponds. Particular examples of feed streams that may be concentrated are for example the following feed solutions: brines, seawater, drilling mud, waste water, bio-digestate, and the like. Thus, the process and device described herein are useful for de-watering, and thus concentrating, the content of solar evaporation ponds and drilling mud ponds.

Submerged plate forward osmosis systems

COabsorption and desorption affords differing osmotic pressure metal salt osmolyte draw solutions from a common solution. These draw solutions serve a staged forward osmosis membrane process. First stage draw solution is the lowest osmotic pressure osmolyte. First stage concentrate is fed to the second stage and fresh water is externally extracted from the first stage diluted osmolyte. Concentrated first stage osmolyte returns from fresh water extraction, blends and is heated with solid precipitates of the lower osmotic pressure solute. COdesorbs from the lower osmotic pressure osmolyte converting to a higher osmotic pressure osmolyte. The higher osmotic pressure osmolyte serves as second stage draw solution to further dewatering the first stage concentrate. Second stage concentrate conveys to external processing or discharge. COabsorption converts the dilute high osmotic pressure osmolyte from the second stage to the lower osmotic pressure osmolyte serving as draw solution in the first stage.

Alternating osmotic pressure from a metal salt osmolyte to enhance forward osmosis processes

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Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America

Upen Jayant Bharwada