Bubble-column vapor mixture condenser
AssigneesMassachusetts Institute of Technology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
InventorsPrakash Narayan Govindan, Gregory P. Thiel, Ronan K. McGovern, John H. Lienhard, Mostafa H. Elsharqawy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a bubble-column vapor mixture condenser, a fluid source supplies a carrier-gas stream including a condensable fluid in vapor phase. The condensable fluid in liquid form is contained as a bath in a chamber in each stage of the condenser, and the carrier gas is bubbled through the bath to condense the fluid into the bath. Energy from condensation is recovered to a liquid composition in a conduit that passes through the liquid in the stages of the condenser. The bubble-column vapor mixture condenser can be used, e.g., in a humidification-dehumidification system for purifying a liquid, such as water.
Claims9
A humidification-dehumidification system comprising:
- a source of liquid including a vaporizable component;
- a humidifier including a carrier-gas inlet and a carrier-gas outlet;
- a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet, wherein the liquid inlet is coupled with the source of the liquid;
- and a chamber in which liquid introduced from the liquid inlet can contact a carrier gas containing a condensable fluid in vapor phase that is introduced from the carrier-gas inlet in a counterflow arrangement and in which a portion of the liquid can vaporize into the carrier gas;
- a bubble-column vapor mixture condenser including at least a first stage and a second stage, each stage including a carrier-gas inlet, a carrier-gas outlet and a chamber configured to contain a liquid bath in fluid communication with the carrier-gas inlet and the carrier-gas outlet, wherein the carrier-gas inlet of the first stage is in fluid communication with the carrier-gas outlet of the humidifier, wherein the carrier-gas outlet of the first-stage is in fluid communication with the carrier gas inlet of the second stage, and wherein the carrier-gas outlet of the second stage is in fluid communication with the carrier-gas inlet of the humidifier to facilitate flow of the carrier gas from the humidifier through the chamber of the first stage and then through the chamber of the second stage before returning to the humidifier;
- a conduit passing from the source of the liquid through the chamber of each stage of the bubble-column condenser to recover energy from condensation;
- and
- an intermediate exchange conduit coupled with (a) the conduit between the first stage and the second stage of the bubble-column vapor mixture condenser and (b) the humidifier chamber at an intermediate stage for transfer of the liquid therebetween.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.