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US 6,649,027 B1Granted
Water reclamation system
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsAllen Kent MacKnight, Alex M. Lubman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A water reclamation system for a closed environment includes a mixer that receives brine. A processor is downstream of the mixer, with the processor distilling substantially salt-free water from the brine in the substantial absence of salt crystallization. A crystallizer subsystem is downstream of the processor, with the crystallizer subsystem crystallizing salt from the brine and recycling the brine to the mixer.
Claims34
A method of reclaiming water, comprising:
- mixing in a mixer input brine with recycle brine;
- outputting a mixture from the mixer to a processor;
- outputting from said processor substantially salt-free water from the mix of input brine and recycle brine, said processor being disposed downstream of said mixer, and wherein the step of outputting a substantially salt-free water occurs in the substantial absence of salt crystallization in said processor;
- outputting from the processor a flow having a high concentration of salts to a crystallizer subsystem;
- outputting from the crystallizer subsystem a salt, said subsystem being disposed downstream of said processor;
- and
- flowing said recycle brine from said crystallizer subsystem to said mixer;
- wherein the crystallizer subsystem includes a crystal processor and the method further comprising the steps of:
- outputting a salt concentration from the crystal processor into a cooler wherein said cooler cools the salt concentration;
- forming a crystallized salt from the salt concentration;
- inputting the recycle brine into a filter;
- capturing the crystallized salt in a the filter;
- allowing the recycle brine to exit the filter;
- inputting the recycle brine into a pump;
- outputting the recycle brine from the pump into a valve;
- and
- directing an output from the valve into the crystal processor and the mixer.
14 more elements
A method of reclaiming water, comprising:
- mixing in a mixer input brine with recycle brine;
- outputting a mixture from the mixer to a processor;
- outputting from said processor substantially salt-free water from the mix of the input brine and the recycle brine, said processor being disposed downstream of said mixer, and wherein the step of outputting a substantially salt-free water occurs in the substantial absence of salt crystallization in said processor;
- outputting from the processor a flow having a high concentration of salts to a crystallizer subsystem;
- outputting from the crystallizer subsystem a salt, said subsystem being disposed downstream of said processor;
- and
- flowing said recycle brine from said crystallizer subsystem to said mixer,
- wherein the crystallizer subsystem includes a crystal processor and the method further comprising the steps of:
- inputting the output from the processor into the crystal processor where the output from the crystal processor is a salt concentration
- cooling the crystal processor with a heat exchanger;
- forming a crystallized salt from the salt concentration;
- inputting the recycle brine into a filter;
- capturing the crystallized salt In a the filter;
- allowing the recycle brine to exit the filter;
- inputting the recycle brine into a pump;
- and
- directing the recycle brine from the pump into the mixer.
14 more elements
A method of reclaiming water in a closed environment, comprising the steps of:
- mixing in a mixer input brine with recycle brine;
- feeding an output mix of said brine and recycle brine to a processor;
- distilling said output mix in said processor to yield a substantially salt-free water from the mix of said input brine and recycle brine, said processor being disposed downstream of said mixer wherein the step of distilling said output mix occurs in the substantial absence of salt crystallization in said processor;
- feeding said recycle brine from said processor to a crystallizer subsystem;
- crystallizing in said crystallizer subsystem a salt from said input brine, said subsystem being disposed downstream of said processor;
- and
- flowing said recycle brine from said crystallizer subsystem to said mixer,
- wherein the crystallizer subsystem includes a crystal processor and the method further comprising the steps of:
- outputting a salt concentration from the crystal processor into a cooler wherein said cooler cools the salt concentration;
- forming a crystallized salt from the salt concentration;
- inputting the recycle brine into a filter;
- capturing the crystallized salt in a the filter;
- allowing the recycle brine to exit the filter;
- inputting the recycle brine into a pump;
- outputting the recycle brine from the pump into a valve;
- and
- directing an output from the valve into the crystal processor and the mixer.
14 more elements
A method of reclaiming water in a closed environment, comprising the steps of:
- mixing in a mixer input brine with recycle brine;
- feeding an output mix of said brine and recycle brine to a processor;
- distilling said output mix in said processor to yield a substantially salt-free water from the mix of said input brine and recycle brine, said processor being disposed downstream of said mixer, wherein the step of distilling said output mix occurs in the substantial absence of salt crystallization in said processor;
- feeding said recycle brine from said processor to a crystallizer subsystem;
- crystallizing in said crystallizer subsystem a salt from said input brine, said subsystem being disposed downstream of said processor;
- and flowing said recycle brine from said crystallizer subsystem to said mixer,
- wherein the crystallizer subsystem includes a crystal processor and the method further comprising the steps of:
- inputting the output from the processor into the crystal processor where the output from the processor Is a salt concentration;
- cooling the crystal processor with a heat exchanger;
- forming a crystallized salt from the salt concentration;
- inputting the recycle brine into a filter;
- capturing the crystallized salt in the a filter;
- allowing the recycle brine to exit the filter;
- inputting the recycle brine into a pump;
- and
- directing the recycle brine from the pump into the mixer.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.