# US 11,992,808 B2 · Membrane distillation module and multi-effect process > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,992,808 B2 - Document ID: US11992808B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/260,661 - Filed: 2018-07-23 - Published: 2021-08-26 - Granted: 2024-05-28 - Earliest claimed: 2018-07-23 - Assignees: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology - Applicants: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology - Inventors: Noreddine Ghaffour; Ahmad S. Alsaadi; Lijo Francis - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11992808B2 ## CPC - B01D 61/3641: {comprising multiple membrane distillation steps} - B01D 61/06: Energy recovery - B01D 61/366: {Apparatus therefor} - B01D 2311/2523: to feed side - B01D 2313/221: Heat exchangers - B01D 2317/025: Permeate series - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) ## Abstract A membrane distillation module includes a housing having a hot inlet for receiving a hot feed and a hot outlet for expelling the hot feed; a porous membrane located inside the housing and having an outside surface that defines an enclosure, the outside surface being configured to contact the hot feed, wherein the porous membrane is configured to prevent the hot feed from passing from outside the porous membrane to an inside of the enclosure; and a non-porous conduit located inside the enclosure, the non-porous conduit having an inlet for receiving a cold feed and an outlet for expelling the cold feed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A membrane distillation module comprising: a housing having first and second adjacent chambers, with no liquid communication between the first and second chambers, the first chamber having a hot inlet for receiving a hot feed and a hot outlet for expelling the hot feed, and the second chamber is configured to collect a distillate formed on a non-porous conduit; a porous membrane located inside the housing and having an outside surface that defines an enclosure, the outside surface being configured to contact the hot feed, wherein the porous membrane is configured to prevent the hot feed from passing from outside the porous membrane to an inside of the enclosure; and the non-porous conduit located inside the enclosure, the non-porous conduit having a side surface, an inlet for receiving a cold feed and an outlet for expelling the cold feed, the inlet and the outlet being located outside the first chamber, wherein an entirety of the side surface of the non-porous conduit is separated from the porous membrane by an air gap, and wherein each of the porous membrane and the non-porous conduit partially extends within the first chamber and partially extends within the second chamber. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The module of claim 1, wherein the porous membrane forms a channel that extends inside a first chamber formed inside the housing. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The module of claim 2, wherein the non-porous conduit extends parallel to the channel formed by the porous membrane. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The module of claim 2, wherein the first chamber is separated from the second chamber by a bottom wall. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The module of claim 4, wherein the bottom wall has holes that allow the distillate formed on an exterior surface of the non-porous conduit to gather inside the second chamber. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The module of claim 4, wherein the hot feed enters only the first chamber and the cold feed enters only inside the non-porous conduit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The module of claim 1, further comprising: additional non-porous conduits located inside the enclosure of the porous membrane. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The module of claim 7, wherein there is an air gap between the non-porous conduit and the additional non-porous conduits. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The module of claim 7, wherein vapors from the hot feed pass through the porous membrane and enter an air gap between the non-porous conduit and the additional non-porous conduits, and the vapors condense on the non-porous conduit and the additional non-porous conduits. ### Claim 10 A distillation system for generating a distillate, the system comprising: a first distillation module that receives a hot feed at an evaporation part; intermediate distillation modules that receive the hot feed from the first distillation module; and a last distillation module that receives the hot feed from the intermediate distillation modules, wherein at least the first distillation module uses an output feed of the evaporation part as a coolant for a condensation part of the first distillation module, and wherein the intermediate distillation module comprises: a housing having first and second adjacent chambers, with no liquid communication between the first and second chambers, the first chamber having a hot inlet for receiving the hot feed and a hot outlet for expelling the hot feed, and the second chamber is configured to collect a distillate formed on a non-porous conduit; a porous membrane located inside the housing and having an outside surface that defines an enclosure, the outside surface being configured to contact the hot feed, wherein the porous membrane is configured to prevent the hot feed from passing from outside the porous membrane to an inside of the enclosure; and the non-porous conduit located inside the enclosure, the non-porous conduit having a side surface, an inlet for receiving a cold feed and an outlet for expelling the cold feed, the inlet and the outlet being located outside the first chamber, wherein an entirety of the side surface of the non-porous conduit is separated from the porous membrane by an air gap, and wherein each of the porous membrane and the non-porous conduit partially extends within the first chamber and partially extends within the second chamber. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein each distillation module uses a corresponding output feed from an evaporation part as a coolant for a condensation part of the same distillation module. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, further comprising: a controller that adjusts a pressure inside each distillation module so that the pressure is equal to the saturation pressure of the feed.