초록

A method and a system to produce a distillate stream from an aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid by a thermal distillation process using at least one of a heated aqueous stream from a turbine system intercooler and a stack heater as a heat source.

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1. In a method for producing a distillate stream from a first aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid by a multi-effect distillation process by heating at least a portion of the first aqueous stream by a heat source and passing the portion of the first aqueous stream to a multi-effect

1. In a method for producing a distillate stream from a first aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid by a multi-effect distillation process by heating at least a portion of the first aqueous stream by a heat source and passing the portion of the first aqueous stream to a multi-effect distillation process, the multi-effect distillation process comprising a plurality of vessels, the improvement comprising; heating the portion of the first aqueous stream by heat exchange with a heat source comprising a compressor intercooler or a stack heater to produce a first heated aqueous stream and passing the first heated aqueous stream to the multi-effect distillation process as at least one of a heat supply and a feed water stream to produce the distillate stream, wherein a second aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid is withdrawn from the multi-effect distillation process at a selected temperature and passed to heat exchange with an exhaust gas stream in a heat recovery system to produce a second heated aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid at an increased temperature and returned to the multi-effect distillation process and wherein the first heated aqueous stream is passed to the multiple effect distillation process via a flash box. 2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the multi-effect distillation process includes a plurality of effects each containing, a heat exchanger and a fluid transport apparatus for passing fluids to, from and between effects, a feed inlet and a heating fluid inlet into the heat exchanger. 3. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the heat source comprises a compressor intercooler. 4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the multi-effect distillation process is selected from the group consisting of thermal vapor compression, mechanical vapor compression, adsorption vapor compression and absorption vapor compression arrangements. 5. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the multi-effect distillation process is selected from the group consisting of a feed forward, parallel, and a parallel cross/cross flow arrangement. 6. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the first aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid is seawater. 7. The improvement of claim 6 wherein the seawater is heated prior to charging the seawater to the multi-effect distillation process. 8. The improvement of claim 7 wherein the seawater is heated by heat exchange with the distillate stream from a multi-effect distillation process to produce a cooled liquid distillate stream. 9. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the first aqueous stream passed to heat in the heat source is seawater. 10. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the first heated aqueous stream is selected from a heated distillate stream and a heated seawater stream. 11. The improvement of claim 1 wherein the first heated aqueous stream is heated indirectly by the intercooler by an intermediate heat transfer fluid. 12. In a method for producing a distillate stream from a first aqueous steam containing at least one dissolved solid by a multi-effect distillation process by heating at least a portion of the distillate stream by a heat source and passing the portion of the distillate stream to a multi-effect distillation process which comprises a plurality of vessels; the improvement comprising; heating the portion of the distillate stream by heat exchange with a heat source comprising at least one of a compressor intercooler or a stack heater to produce a heated distillate stream and passing the heated distillate stream to the multi-effect distillation process as at least one of a heat supply and a feed water stream to produce the distillate stream, wherein a second aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid is withdrawn from the multi-effect distillation process at a selected temperature and passed to heat exchange with an exhaust gas stream in a stack heater to produce a second aqueous stream containing at least one dissolved solid at an increased temperature and returned to the multi-effect distillation process, and wherein the heated distillate stream is passed to a multi-effect distillation process via a flash box. 13. The improvement of claim 12 wherein the heat source comprises a compressor intercooler.