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US 5,203,993 AGranted
Method and apparatus for removing salt from sea water
AssigneeElectrostat Technologies, Inc.
InventorDominic S. Arbisi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for removing substantial portions of the saline content in salt water by passing air bubbles through the salt water in a tank to produce droplets having substantially reduced salt content and collecting said reduced salt droplets in a collection tank.
Claims10
A water desalination method comprising
- providing a supply tank with salt water contained therein,
- discharging bubbles of air upwardly through the salt water in the tank whereby the film surrounding each bubble will rupture as it passes through the top surface of the liquid in the supply tank to produce low salt content water droplets having an electrical charge inherently formed thereon,
- providing an electrostatic field above the surface of the salt water in the tank through which the droplets may pass,
- imposing a potential gradient above the surface of the liquid in the tank to move the droplets upwardly away from the surface of the supply water,
- providing a collection tank,
- imposing a crossflow of air supplied by a blower on the droplets discharged above the grid to transport said droplets into the collection tank.
3 more elements
Apparatus for the desalination of salt water, comprising,
- a supply tank for containing salt water,
- means for discharging air bubbles into the bottom of the tank in a substantially uniformly distributed pattern horizontally across the area thereof whereby said bubbles pass upwardly through the salt water in the tank and accumulate salt and disintegrate into electrostatically charged droplets when they pass upwardly through the surface of the salt water in the tank,
- a first grid extending across the top of the tank above the level of the salt water therein,
- means for imposing an electrostatic field in said grid to accelerate the droplets as they are discharged from the surface of the salt water in the tank,
- blower means producing crossflow of air across the top of the tank to carry off the droplets, and
- a collection tank for collecting the droplets transported by said air flow.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.