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US 7,458,231 B1Granted
Simultaneous regasification of liquefied natural gas and desalination
AssigneeUop LLC
InventorsKurt M. Vanden Bussche, Blaise J. Arena
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Abstract
A process and apparatus is presented for the desalination of water by freezing seawater. The process is integrated into a liquefied natural gas regasification system.
Claims11
A process for desalination of water comprising:
- continuously passing liquefied natural gas through a first side of a heat exchanger;
- passing salt water through a second side of the heat exchanger at a pressure that is at least atmospheric;
- forming an ice-brine mixture in the second side of the heat exchanger and forming a vaporized natural gas stream on the first side of the heat exchanger;
- and
- separating the ice from the ice-brine mixture, and drawing off a first stream comprising an ice enriched mixture and a second stream comprising a first brine stream.
2 more elements
An apparatus for desalinating salt water comprising:
- a first heat exchange unit having a first side with an inlet in fluid communication with liquefied natural gas and an outlet for passing natural gas that is at least partially vaporized, and a second side having an inlet in fluid communication with salt water, and operated at a pressure that is at least atmospheric and an outlet for passing an ice-brine mixture;
- a separation unit with an inlet in fluid communication with the first heat exchanger second side outlet, a first outlet for passing an ice stream and a second outlet for passing a brine stream;
- a wash unit with an inlet in fluid communication with the separation unit first outlet, and a first outlet for passing a washed ice stream and a second outlet for passing a rinsed brine stream;
- and
- a second heat exchange unit having a first side with an inlet in fluid communication with the wash unit first outlet, a first outlet for passing melted ice, a second inlet in fluid communication with a salt water source, and a second outlet for passing cooled salt water.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.