Sea water desalination and thermal energy conversion
AssigneeEmpire Technology Development LLC
InventorValangiman Subramanian Ramamurthy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for energy conversion includes a first sub-system to be disposed at about a surface of the ocean and a second sub-system to be disposed at an ocean depth. The first sub-system includes an evaporation unit. The system also includes a turbine that is coupled between the first and second sub-systems. The first heat exchange unit is configured to vaporize a working fluid, the vaporized working fluid turns the turbine. The second sub-system is configured to condense the working fluid.
Claims15
A system comprising:
- a first sub-system to be disposed at or near a surface of an ocean, the first sub-system including an evaporation unit;
- a second sub-system to be disposed at an ocean depth of at least 500 meters;
- a turbine;
- a pump disposed between the turbine and the second sub-system;
- and
- a collection tank coupled to the second sub-system,
- wherein:
- the evaporation unit is configured to vaporize a working fluid comprising seawater by use of heat from fluid located at or near the surface of the ocean that is at a temperature sufficient to vaporize the working fluid,
- the turbine is configured to turn in response to receipt of the vaporized working fluid,
- the pump is configured to pump the vaporized working fluid from the turbine to the second sub-system at the ocean depth,
- the second sub-system is configured to condense the working fluid with seawater located adjacent to the second sub-system at the ocean depth to produce desalinated water, and
- the collection tank is configured to collect the desalinated water from the second sub-system.
A method to convert energy from an ocean comprising:
- vaporizing a working fluid comprising seawater by a first heat exchange unit of a first sub-system located at or near a surface of the ocean by use of heat from fluid located at or near the surface of the ocean that is at a temperature sufficient to vaporize the working fluid;
- using the vaporized working fluid to produce work;
- directing the vaporized working fluid to a second sub-system located at an ocean depth of at least 500 meters, wherein a second heat exchanger condenses the vaporized working fluid with seawater located adjacent to the second sub-system to produce desalinated water;
- and
- directing the desalinated water to a collection tank.
A method to desalinate seawater comprising:
- vaporizing seawater to form water vapor with an evaporation unit of a first sub-system located at or near a surface of the ocean by use of heat from fluid located at or near the surface of the ocean that is at a temperature sufficient to vaporize the seawater;
- using the vaporized seawater to produce work;
- directing the vaporized seawater to a second sub-system located at an ocean depth of at least 500 meters, wherein the second sub-system condenses the vaporized seawater with seawater located adjacent to the second sub-system to produce desalinated water;
- and
- directing the desalinated water to a collection tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.