Hybrid desalination system

A hybrid desalination system, comprising:

• a reverse osmosis filtration system having a seawater inlet port adapted for receiving seawater, a brine outlet port adapted for outputting a first brine reject stream, and a permeate outlet port;
• a condenser having:
• a brine inlet port connected to the brine outlet port of the reverse osmosis filtration system for receiving the first brine reject stream;
• a vapor inlet;
• a cooled brine outlet port adapted for outputting the first brine reject stream as cooled brine;
• and
• a condensed water outlet;
• a multi-effect distillation system having:
• a steam inlet adapted for receiving steam from an external source;
• a brine inlet;
• a distillate outlet connected to the permeate outlet of the reverse osmosis filtration system to form a combined desalinated water output conduit, the condensed water outlet of the condenser being connected to the combined desalinated water output conduit;
• a vapor outlet connected to the vapor inlet of the condenser;
• a brine outlet adapted for outputting a second brine reject stream;
• and
• a return condensate outlet;
• and
• a forward osmosis filtration system having a feed side and a draw side, the feed side having a brine inlet connected to the cooled brine outlet of the condenser for receiving the first brine reject stream and a brine outlet adapted for outputting a third brine reject stream, the draw side having a brine inlet connected to the brine outlet of the multi-effect distillation system for receiving the second brine reject stream and a brine outlet connected to the brine inlet of the multi-effect distillation system for transferring dilute brine from the forward osmosis filtration system to the multi-effect distillation system.

A method of desalinating seawater, comprising the steps of:

• processing the seawater in a condenser to produce a stream of cooled seawater;
• filtering the seawater in a reverse osmosis filtration system to produce a first brine reject steam and a permeate stream;
• filtering the first brine reject stream through a forward osmosis filtration system to obtain a stream of dilute brine;
• inputting the stream of dilute brine to a multiple-effect distillation system to obtain vapor output and a distillate output stream;
• processing the vapor output of the multiple-effect distillation system through the condenser to output condensed water;
• and
• combining the permeate stream, the distillate output stream, and the condensed water in a common conduit to provide a combined desalinated water output.