Biomimetic water membrane comprising aquaporins used in the production of salinity power
AssigneeAquaporin A/S
InventorPeter Holme Jensen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides methods for producing salinity power using pressure retarded osmosis and a biometric membrane (e.g., a liquid bilayer membrane or a lipid membrane containing multiple bilayers of fused deposited lipid vesicles) containing aquaporin water channels. The invention also provides power plants for producing salinity energy using pressure retarded osmosis and a biometric water membrane containing functional aquaporin channels.
Claims12
A method for the production of salinity power using pressure retarded osmosis, said method comprising utilizing a biomimetic membrane comprising aquaporin water channels to increase hydrostatic pressure and using the increase in hydrostatic pressure as a source of salinity power.
A method for producing salinity energy using pressure retarded osmosis, comprising the steps of:
- 1) leading a first aqueous solution into at least one first vessel;
- 2) leading a second aqueous solution into at least one second vessel, said first aqueous solution having a higher concentration of sodium chloride than said second aqueous solution, and wherein said at least first and at least second vessels are mutually separated by a water-permeable wall comprising a biomimetic membrane comprising aquaporin water channels, whereby water moves from the at least one second vessel to the at least one first vessel so as to build up a positive hydrostatic pressure in the at least one first vessel relative to the at least one second vessel;
- and
- 3) utilizing said hydrostatic pressure as a source of energy.
A power plant for producing salinity energy using pressure retarded osmosis comprising:
- at least one first and at least one second water reservoir, which are separated by a biomimetic membrane comprising aquaporin water channels;
- and
- at least one means for extracting energy from a hydrostatic pressure difference between the at least one first and at least one second reservoir.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.