The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 04, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 13, 2007
Tzahi Y. Cath, Golden, CO (US);
Amy E. Childress, Reno, NV (US);
Christopher R. Martinetti, Reno, NV (US);
Tzahi Y. Cath, Golden, CO (US);
Amy E. Childress, Reno, NV (US);
Christopher R. Martinetti, Reno, NV (US);
Abstract
In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided for purifying a liquid, such as an impaired water. In some examples, seawater or brackish water is purified, such as to a potable level. Some configurations provide a system which includes a membrane-distillation unit, such as a vacuum-enhanced direct contact membrane distillation unit. The system also includes a forward-osmosis system, which may include one or more forward-osmosis units. A concentrated draw stream from the membrane-distillation unit, such as a concentrated brine solution, serves as a draw solution for a forward-osmosis unit, which may extract water from a source water, such as an impaired water. In some implementations, the forward-osmosis system includes a second forward-osmosis unit which uses the diluted draw solution from the first forward-osmosis unit as a draw solution to extract water from a source water. The system may include additional components, such as a heater or a buffer tank.