Patents by Inventor John Lienhard

John Lienhard has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11840462
    Abstract: A saline feed stream flows into a liquid-liquid extraction system; and a volatile organic solvent flows through a main compressor. The compressed volatile organic solvent then flows through a solvent regenerator, which can be a heat exchanger or a combination of a vaporization device and a condenser, to cool the volatile organic solvent. The cooled volatile organic solvent in liquid phase then flows into the liquid-liquid extraction system, where the saline feed stream contacts the volatile organic solvent to selectively extract water from the saline feed stream into the volatile organic solvent, producing a concentrated brine and an organic-rich mixture of water and the volatile organic solvent. The organic-rich mixture flows from the liquid-liquid extraction system into the solvent regenerator, where the organic-rich mixture is heated to produce an organic-rich vapor and desalinated water; and the organic-rich vapor is recycled as volatile organic solvent back into the liquid-liquid extraction system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignees: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
    Inventors: Aaron D. Wilson, John Lienhard, Akshay Deshmukh, Zi Hao Foo
  • Publication number: 20220212957
    Abstract: A saline feed stream flows into a liquid-liquid extraction system; and a volatile organic solvent flows through a main compressor. The compressed volatile organic solvent then flows through a solvent regenerator, which can be a heat exchanger or a combination of a vaporization device and a condenser, to cool the volatile organic solvent. The cooled volatile organic solvent in liquid phase then flows into the liquid-liquid extraction system, where the saline feed stream contacts the volatile organic solvent to selectively extract water from the saline feed stream into the volatile organic solvent, producing a concentrated brine and an organic-rich mixture of water and the volatile organic solvent. The organic-rich mixture flows from the liquid-liquid extraction system into the solvent regenerator, where the organic-rich mixture is heated to produce an organic-rich vapor and desalinated water; and the organic-rich vapor is recycled as volatile organic solvent back into the liquid-liquid extraction system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Applicants: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC
    Inventors: Aaron D. Wilson, John Lienhard, Akshay Deshmukh, Zi Hao Foo
  • Patent number: 5918648
    Abstract: A dispensing system for dispensing material onto a substrate. In one embodiment, the material is dispensed into a cavity of the substrate, the cavity having an unknown volume. The dispensing system includes a housing, a dispensing apparatus, coupled to the housing, that dispenses a metered quantity of material, and a volumetric measuring probe, coupled to the housing, and positionable over the cavity of the substrate to measure the volume of the cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 6, 1999
    Assignee: Speedline Techologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory L. Carr, William Cavallaro, John Lienhard