Heat Recovery Patents (Class 159/4.1)
  • Patent number: 11123682
    Abstract: A liquid desiccant system including a high desorber, a low desorber, and an absorber that are in fluid communication with a working solution, where the high desorber provides rejected water vapor from the working fluid for condensation in a condenser of the low desorber that provides heat for rejection of additional water from the working solution in the low desorber effectively multiplying the heat provided for desorption. The low desorber provided the concentrated working solution to the absorber where water from ambient air is condensed into the concentrated working solution to provide a dilute working solution within a working solution conduit of the absorber that is thermally coupled to an internal cooler of the absorber. In some embodiments, the working solution can be an aqueous solution of at least one ionic liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Saeed Moghaddam
  • Patent number: 10577675
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing a material are provided, the material being the upper layer from a metal melting process, the material containing one or more salts, the material containing one or more metals, the salts and/or metals being recycled as a result of the method/apparatus. The method includes feeding the material to a leaching step; obtaining a leachate from the leaching step; feeding the leachate to a drying step or spray drying step; obtaining a solid from the drying step or spray drying step. Off gases from the leaching step are used to provide heat to the drying step. The drying step provides a product well suited to being turned into pellets for reuse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: ALTEK EUROPE LIMITED
    Inventors: Alan Peel, Andrew Gibbs
  • Patent number: 10330360
    Abstract: An air conditioning and water producing system includes a heat pumping unit and a membrane contactor in thermal communication with the heat pumping unit. The membrane contactor is configured such that a first brine flow is cooled by the heat pumping unit and diluted at the membrane contactor. A distiller is in thermal communication with the heat pumping unit and the membrane contactor such that a second brine flow is heated by the heat pumping unit and conveyed through the distiller. Thermal interaction between the second brine flow and the first brine flow flowing through the distiller extracts water from the second brine flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: CARRIER CORPORATION
    Inventor: Zidu Ma
  • Patent number: 10222087
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method of cooling by latent energy transfer and, in particular, to cool a fluid by discharging unwanted low temperature thermal energy to a surrounding ambient environment utilizing a fluid evaporation process involving permitted or forced ventilation of air across a surface area of a heat transfer fluid. The invention further relates to an air treatment system utilizing the cooled heat transfer fluid for cooling air and for supplying ventilation air to the evaporation process. A body of liquid is cooled close to the prevailing wet bulb temperature, discharging unwanted thermal energy to the surroundings, rendering the liquid suitable as a cooling medium for removing unwanted thermal energy from a location or in a process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Intex Holdings Pty Ltd
    Inventor: Roger Philip Davies
  • Patent number: 9784489
    Abstract: An air conditioning and water producing system includes a heat pumping unit and a membrane contactor in thermal communication with the heat pumping unit. The membrane contactor is configured such that a first brine flow is cooled by the heat pumping unit and diluted at the membrane contactor. A distiller is in thermal communication with the heat pumping unit and the membrane contactor such that a second brine flow is heated by the heat pumping unit and conveyed through the distiller. Thermal interaction between the second brine flow and the first brine flow flowing through the distiller extracts water from the second brine flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: CARRIER CORPORATION
    Inventor: Zidu Ma
  • Patent number: 9518765
    Abstract: A branch controller operates with a system for temperature and humidity control. The branch controller includes a fluid control system for controlling a flow of the liquid desiccant in an arrangement of channels forming a first path for exchanging the liquid desiccant between a liquid desiccant conditioning unit and at least a first space conditioning unit and a second path for directing the liquid desiccant received from the first space conditioning unit to a second space conditioning unit. The branch controller includes a processor for comparing operational conditions of the first space conditioning unit and the second space conditioning unit. The processor selects between the first path and the second path based on the comparison and commands the fluid control system to control the flow of the liquid desiccant according to the selected path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher Laughman, Daniel J Burns, Scott A. Bortoff, Richard C. Waters
  • Patent number: 8727325
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed at a system, apparatus and method for concentrating a solution. The system includes a humidification device and a solution flow path for flow of a solution to be concentrated to the humidification device. The humidification device includes humidification media to facilitate evaporation of liquid from the solution to be concentrated to gas as the solution to be concentrated passes through the humidification media thereby concentrating the solution. The method includes flowing a solution to be concentrated along a flow path to a humidification device including humidification media, flowing a gas through the humidification media, and flowing the solution to be concentrated through the humidification media. There is evaporation of liquid from the solution to the gas as the solution passes through the humidification media thereby concentrating the solution and producing a humidified gas. The solution to be concentrated may be salt water and the gas may be air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Saltworks Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Stuart Sparrow, Henry Tsin, Hojung Kim, Ross Coleman
  • Patent number: 8591704
    Abstract: A fractionation process for producing at least two concentration fractions of a fluid including a solute, suspended or dissolved content using at least two fluidly connected evaporator units is provided. The process includes the steps of: feeding a feed fluid including a solute, suspended or dissolved content into at least a first evaporator unit; evaporating a first amount of fluid from the feed fluid in at least the first evaporator unit to produce a first concentrated fluid; feeding at least a portion of the first concentrated fluid into at least a second evaporator unit; and evaporating a second amount of fluid from the first concentrated fluid in at least the second evaporator unit to produce a second concentrated fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Creative Water Technology Ltd.
    Inventor: Stephen Shelley
  • Publication number: 20130092327
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a spray drying apparatus (1) comprising; a spray dryer chamber (10) with a feed inlet device (11), a process air inlet (12) and a process air discharge (13), a process air temperature measuring means (16), and a process air heater (17) for heating a process air volume, an adsorption dehumidification device for dehumidification of the process air comprising an adsorption source (41), a process air section (43) and a regeneration air section (44) and having means (22, 23) for heating a regeneration air volume to a regeneration air temperature and means (25) for measuring the regeneration air temperature, and a regeneration air fan (30) configured for transporting the regeneration air volume, and moisture content measuring means (18, 19) for determining a moisture content in the process air.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Publication date: April 18, 2013
    Inventors: Lars Valentin, Jannik Reiner Clausen, Søren Rønnow Olesen
  • Patent number: 6699369
    Abstract: A method for removing dissolved solids, particularly salts, from water. An apparatus for performing the inventive method is disclosed. The aqueous solution to be treated, for example sea water, is atomized using special non-pneumatic nozzles, and sprayed into an evaporation chamber through which air, heated by waste heat, is blown. The micro-droplets undergo rapid evaporation in the chamber, resulting in the separation of the salt solids from the vapor phase of the water. The mixture of suspended solids and water vapor is filtered to remove and collect the salts, and the water vapor is condensed to collect the salt-free water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Assignee: Aquasonics International
    Inventors: William Francis Hartman, Larry Joe Kepley, Jerry Van Fox
  • Patent number: 6500216
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus of producing natural salt or fresh water by treating sea water in an extremely short period of time and with high efficiently. The distilled water and salt components are treated for expediting crystallization of the salt components by evaporating water components by atomizing sea water and blowing warm wind thereto. During this treatment, there are provided a method and an apparatus of arranging net or cloth at one stage or a plurality of stages in a midway of a flow of the evaporated water components and adhering the salt components on the net or the cloth when the evaporated water components pass through the net or the cloth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Inventor: Masakatsu Takayasu
  • Patent number: 6200428
    Abstract: Wastewater treatment apparatus having a fluid receiving vessel for collecting and heating wastewater to a temperature below boiling, a superheated vaporizing chamber and at least one spray head to spray wastewater into the vaporizing chamber for conversion of the wastewater to vapor to be withdrawn from the apparatus, with the contaminants in the wastewater collected in the apparatus for separate removal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Inventor: Raymond E. VanKouwenberg