IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0089369
(2005-03-25)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
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출원인 / 주소 |
- Marine Desalination Systems, L. L.C.
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
7 인용 특허 :
21 |
초록
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Processes and apparatus are disclosed for separating and purifying aqueous solutions such as seawater by causing a substantially impermeable mat of gas hydrate to form on a porous restraint. Once the mat of gas hydrate has formed on the porous restraint, the portion of the mat of gas hydrate adjacen
Processes and apparatus are disclosed for separating and purifying aqueous solutions such as seawater by causing a substantially impermeable mat of gas hydrate to form on a porous restraint. Once the mat of gas hydrate has formed on the porous restraint, the portion of the mat of gas hydrate adjacent to the restraint is caused to dissociate and flow through the restraint, e.g., by lowering the pressure in a collection region on the opposite side of the restraint. The purified or desalinated water may then be recovered from the collection region. The process may be used for marine desalination as well as for drying wet gas and hydrocarbon solutions. If conditions in the solution are not conductive to forming hydrate, a heated or refrigerated porous restraint may be used to create hydrate-forming conditions near the restraint, thereby causing gas hydrates to form directly on the surface of the restraint.
대표청구항
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The invention claimed is: 1. Apparatus for separating components of a fluid system, said fluid system being 1) a solution comprising a solute dissolved in a solvent, 2) a suspension comprising solid material suspended within a suspension suspending fluid, or 3) an emulsion comprising liquid materia
The invention claimed is: 1. Apparatus for separating components of a fluid system, said fluid system being 1) a solution comprising a solute dissolved in a solvent, 2) a suspension comprising solid material suspended within a suspension suspending fluid, or 3) an emulsion comprising liquid material suspended within an emulsion suspending fluid, said apparatus being configured to use clathrate having a crystalline structure comprising one or more guest molecules disposed within a cage structure formed from a plurality of host molecules to separate said components of said fluid system, said apparatus comprising: a containment vessel; a permeable restraint disposed within said containment vessel and dividing said containment vessel into a clathrate formation and/or accumulation region on one side of said permeable restraint and a collection region on an opposite side of said permeable restraint, said permeable restraint being sufficiently permeable that said host molecules and said guest molecules are able to pass through it, from said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region and into said collection region, upon dissociation of clathrate against said permeable restraint; an inlet for introducing said fluid system into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region; an outlet for removing residual fluid remaining in said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region after clathrate has formed therein and/or accumulated against said permeable restraint; means for inducing a layer of clathrate that, during operation of said apparatus, has formed on or accumulated against a side of said permeable restraint facing said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region to dissociate into said host molecules and said guest molecules such that said host molecules and said guest molecules can pass through said permeable restraint and into said collection region; and an outlet for collecting said host molecules and an outlet for collecting said guest molecules from said collection region. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for inducing comprises means for heating the side of said permeable restraint on which or against which said layer of clathrate has formed or accumulated. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said means for heating comprises a series of heating passages disposed within or on said permeable restraint. 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said means for heating comprises resistance heaters. 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said means for heating comprises Pelletier thermoelectric effect heaters. 6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said means for heating comprises magnetocaloric devices. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint has a plurality of pores extending through it from said one side thereof to said opposite side thereof. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said pores are conical, with the diameter of said pores decreasing from said one side of said permeable restraint to said opposite side of said permeable restraint. 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said means for inducing comprises means for reducing pressure within said collection region during operation of said apparatus, the reduced pressure within said collection region acting on said layer of hydrate through said pores. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pressure-reducing pumps. 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pumps disposed in fluid communication with said collection region via said outlet for collecting said host molecules. 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pumps disposed in fluid communication with said collection region via said outlet for collecting said guest molecules. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint comprises a cooling system. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said cooling system comprises a plurality of cooling passages extending through said permeable restraint. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said cooling passages circulate cooling fluid therein. 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said cooling passages contain Pelletier thermoelectric effect cooling members. 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said cooling passages contain magnetocaloric effect cooling devices. 18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint has a plurality of pores extending through it from said one side thereof to said opposite side thereof and wherein said permeable restraint comprises a cooling system comprising a plurality of cooling passages extending through said restraint, said cooling passages being arranged so as to extend in between said plurality of pores and generally parallel with the sides of said permeable restraint. 19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint comprises a heating system. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said heating system comprises a plurality of heating passages extending through said permeable restraint. 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said heating passages circulate heating fluid therein. 22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said heating passages have resistance heaters disposed therein. 23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said heating passages have Pelletier thermoelectric effect heaters disposed therein. 24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said heating passages have magnetocaloric heaters disposed therein. 25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint has a plurality of pores extending through it from said one side thereof to said opposite side thereof and wherein said permeable restraint comprises a heating system comprising a plurality of heating passages extending through said restraint, said heating passages being arranged so as to extend in between said plurality of pores and generally parallel with the sides of said permeable restraint. 26. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus is configured such that said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region and said collection region are vertically disposed relative to each other. 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said permeable restraint is generally planar and horizontally oriented and wherein said permeable restraint extends across said containment vessel to divide said containment vessel into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region and said collection region. 28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is disposed above said collection region and wherein said apparatus is configured for use with negatively buoyant clathrate which sinks or settles toward said permeable restraint to form said layer of clathrate. 29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is disposed below said collection region and wherein said apparatus is configured for use with positively buoyant clathrate which rises toward said permeable restraint to form said layer of clathrate. 30. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint is a contoured restraint which has an interior lumen or compartment formed therein and wherein during operation of the apparatus, said permeable restraint is immersed in and surrounded by said fluid system 1) with the region of space exterior to said permeable restraint and bounded at least in part by walls of said containment vessel forming said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region; and 2) with said interior lumen or compartment forming said collection region. 31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is generally cylindrical and said permeable restraint is generally centrally and coaxially disposed within said containment vessel. 32. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a conduit extending through the interior lumen or compartment of said permeable restraint and having one or more fluid system outlets disposed exteriorly to said permeable restraint, wherein said inlet for introducing said fluid system into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region comprises said one or more fluid system outlets. 33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein said one or more fluid system outlets is or are configured to cause fluid system disposed within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region to rotate within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region during operation of said apparatus, said apparatus being configured for use with clathrate that is positively buoyant relative to said fluid system such that as said fluid system rotates within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region, centrifugal forces cause said fluid system to migrate radially outwardly and said clathrate to migrate radially inwardly toward said permeable restraint. 34. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said permeable restraint is a contoured restraint which has a lumen or compartment formed therein and wherein during operation of the apparatus, said permeable restraint surrounds said fluid system with said lumen or compartment forming said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region and the region of space exterior to said permeable restraint and bounded at least in part by walls of said containment vessel forming said collection region. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein said lumen or compartment, and hence said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region, is generally cylindrical and said permeable restraint is generally radially outwardly and coaxially disposed within said containment vessel. 36. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising a conduit extending into the interior lumen or compartment of said permeable restraint and having one or more fluid system outlets disposed interiorly to said permeable restraint, wherein said inlet for introducing said fluid system into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region comprises said one or more fluid system outlets. 37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said one or more fluid system outlets is or are configured to cause fluid system disposed within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region to rotate within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region during operation of said apparatus, said apparatus being configured for use with clathrate that is negatively buoyant relative to said fluid system such that as said fluid system rotates within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region, centrifugal forces cause said fluid system to migrate radially inwardly and said clathrate to migrate radially outwardly toward said permeable restraint. 38. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said containment vessel comprises a pressure vessel which is pressurizeable to pressure conditions within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region that are conducive to formation of/and or to maintenance of stability of clathrate within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region. 39. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said containment vessel is disposed at a lower region of a shaft, said shaft having a length sufficient for the weight of a column of said fluid system of the same length as said shaft to generate pressure conditions within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region that are conducive to formation of and/or maintenance of stability of clathrate within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region. 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said shaft extends down into the ground. 41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said shaft has a solid, sealing partition extending across it and said containment vessel is defined between said solid, sealing partition and a bottom portion of said shaft. 42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein said collection region is disposed between said solid, sealing partition and said permeable restraint and said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is disposed between said permeable restraint and said bottom portion of said shaft, said apparatus being configured for use with clathrate that is positively buoyant relative to said fluid system and that rises toward and accumulates along a lower surface of said permeable restraint. 43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is disposed between said solid, sealing partition and said permeable restraint and said collection region is disposed between said permeable restraint and said bottom portion of said shaft, said apparatus being configured for use with clathrate that is negatively buoyant relative to said fluid system and that settles or sinks toward and accumulates on an upper surface of said permeable restraint. 44. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein a portion of said shaft above said solid, sealing partition forms a reservoir portion of said shaft in which said fluid system can be held before being introduced into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region, said apparatus further comprising a bypass pipe establishing fluid communication between said reservoir portion and said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region such that said fluid system can pass from said reservoir portion into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region. 45. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus is configured to be submerged in a naturally occurring body of said fluid system at a depth sufficient for the weight of a column of said fluid system above said apparatus to generate pressure conditions that are conducive to formation of and/or maintenance of stability of clathrate within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region. 46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is open to said naturally occurring body of said fluid system such that said fluid system naturally enters said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region. 47. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is open to said naturally occurring body of said fluid system and is configured such that residual fluids remaining after clathrate is formed in said fluid system contained within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region sink or settle naturally out of said apparatus and into said naturally occurring body of said fluid system. 48. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region is disposed at a lower portion of said apparatus and is open at a lower end thereof to said naturally occurring body of fluid system such that said fluid system naturally enters said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region through the open lower end thereof and such that residual fluids remaining after clathrate is formed in said fluid system contained within said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region sink or settle naturally out of said apparatus through the open lower end of said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region and into said naturally occurring body of said fluid system. 49. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said outlet for collecting said host molecules and said outlet for collecting said guest molecules from said collection region comprise a single, unitary outlet by means of which both said guest molecules and said host molecules are collected. 50. The apparatus of claim 1, said apparatus further comprising a clathrate-forming-substance introducing system, said clathrate-forming-substance introducing system comprising one or more conduits configured and disposed to introduce a clathrate-forming substance into said clathrate formation and/or accumulation region, which clathrate-forming substance combines with said solvent, said suspension suspending fluid, or said emulsion suspending fluid during operation of said apparatus to form said clathrate under suitable conditions of temperature and pressure. 51. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for inducing comprises means for reducing pressure within said collection region. 52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pressure-reducing pumps. 53. Apparatus for separating components of a fluid system in which said apparatus is immersed, said fluid system being 1) a solution comprising a solute dissolved in a solvent, 2) a suspension comprising solid material suspended within a suspension suspending fluid, 3) an emulsion comprising liquid material suspended within an emulsion suspending fluid, or 4) a gaseous or non-aqueous medium with water contained therein, said apparatus being configured to use clathrate having a crystalline structure comprising one or more guest molecules disposed within a cage structure formed from a plurality of host molecules to separate said components of said fluid system, said apparatus comprising: a contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint configured to form a generally enclosed interior lumen or compartment therein which comprises a collection region, said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint having a plurality of pores extending through it from one surface bounding said interior lumen or compartment to an opposite, exterior-facing surface thereof, said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint further having a cooling system configured to cool at least said opposite, exterior-facing surface so as to cool portions of said fluid system in contact with or in proximity to said opposite, exterior-facing surface to form a generally solid layer of clathrate thereon, said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint being sufficiently permeable that said guest molecules and said host molecules are able to pass through it and into said interior lumen or compartment upon dissociation of clathrate from portions of said layer of clathrate that are in contact with or adjacent to said exterior-facing surface of said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint; means for inducing said portions of said layer of clathrate that are in contact with or adjacent to said exterior-facing surface of said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint to dissociate into said host molecules and said guest molecules such that said host molecules and said guest molecules can pass through said permeable restraint and into said collection region; and a conduit configured and disposed to convey said guest molecules out of said interior lumen or compartment and a conduit configured and disposed to convey said host molecules out of said interior lumen or compartment after said guest molecules and said host molecules have passed through said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint and into said collection region. 54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said cooling system comprises a plurality of cooling passages extending through said permeable restraint, said cooling passages being arranged so as to extend in between said plurality of pores and generally parallel with the sides of said permeable restraint. 55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said cooling passages circulate cooling fluid therein. 56. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said cooling passages contain Pelletier thermoelectric effect cooling members. 57. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said cooling passages contain magnetocaloric effect cooling devices. 58. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said pores are conical, with the diameter of said pores decreasing from the exterior-facing surface of said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint to said one surface bounding said interior lumen or compartment of said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint. 59. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said means for inducing comprises means for heating said exterior-facing surface of said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint. 60. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein said means for heating comprises a series of heating passages disposed within or on said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint, said heating passages being arranged so as to extend in between said plurality of pores and generally parallel with the sides of said permeable restraint. 61. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein said means for heating comprises resistance heaters. 62. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein said means for heating comprises Pelletier thermoelectric effect heaters. 63. The apparatus of claim 59, wherein said means for heating comprises magnetocaloric devices. 64. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said means for inducing comprises means for reducing pressure within said collection region, the reduced pressure within said collection region acting on said portions of said layer of clathrate that are in contact with or adjacent to said exterior-facing surface of said contoured, thermally assisted permeable restraint through said pores. 65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pressure-reducing pumps. 66. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pumps disposed in fluid communication with said conduit configured and disposed to convey said guest molecules out of said interior lumen or compartment. 67. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said means for reducing pressure comprises one or more pumps disposed in fluid communication with said conduit configured and disposed to convey said host molecules out of said interior lumen or compartment. 68. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said conduit configured and disposed to convey said guest molecules out of said interior lumen or compartment and said conduit configured and disposed to convey said host molecules out of said interior lumen or compartment comprise a single, unitary conduit. 69. Apparatus for forming hydrate or other clathrate, comprising: a vessel in which components of said hydrate or clathrate can be located; and a permeable hydrate-formation or clathrate-formation support member disposed within said vessel, said support member having a plurality of pores of diminishing cross-sectional configuration formed through the thickness thereof and said support member having a cooling system by means of which said support member is cooled so as to facilitate formation of hydrate or clathrate on a surface thereof.
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