Energy may be stored by injecting fluid into a fracture in the earth and producing the fluid back while recovering power and/or desalinating water. The method may be particularly adapted to storage of large amounts of energy such as in grid-scale electric energy systems. The fracture may be formed and treated with resin so as to limit fluid loss and to increase propagation pressure. The fluid may be water containing a dissolved salt or fresh water and a portion or all of the water may be desalinated using pressure in the water when it is produced.

Methods and apparatus for integrated alkali metal extraction are disclosed. Various exchange media are used to separate a chosen alkali metal, usually lithium, from a source stream and render the alkali metal into a product. In some cases, absorption/desorption processes, using solid and/or liquid absorption media, are used to purify a brine stream into a concentrate stream having elevated concentration of the desired alkali metal. Various processes, which may include use of liquid absorbents, electrochemical processing, centrifugation, evaporation, electrical mixing and separation, or combinations thereof, are used to separate the chosen metal from the source, and aqueous streams are recycled among the processes to facilitate the various separations.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for maximizing the generation of large-scale renewable energy (LSRE) by pressure-enhanced osmosis (PEO) and synergistic effects, in which a PEO module is designed by increasing the maximum power generation by increase of the dilution factor β to enhance a power output beyond ten times of the conventional PRO method, and even more power can be generated by the PEO method by incorporation with synergistic effects to form two types of PEO systems: (1) a surficial PEO system, in which the synergistic effects are achieved through combined effects of FO and nanofiltration (NF) or ultrafiltration (UF), and application of an energy exchange and fluid recovery device for re-concentration and reuse of the draw solution, (2) a subsurface PEO system, synergistic effects are achieved through application of the gravitational potential, application of waste heat from power generation, and application of an uplift chamber.

The present invention relates to the field of degradation with hyperthermophilic organisms, and in particular to the use of hyperthermophilic degradation to produce heat and energy rich components including hydrogen and ethanol from a biomass. In some embodiments, a biomass is fermented in the presence of hyperthermophilic organisms to produce heat. The heat is used to heat a liquid which is used directly in a heat pump or radiant heat or to produce electricity or drive a steam turbine. In some embodiments, acetate is utilized as a substrate to produce energy by methanogenesis.

A wastewater treatment system and method for remediating wastewater and human waste that is self-contained and that has no connection to a municipal wastewater system and no connection to an electrical grid. The domestic toilet and wastewater treatment system can be powered by a photovoltaic panel as a source of electricity. The system includes an electrochemical cell that allows a waste stream to be disinfected in a few hours to a condition where no viable bacterial colonies can be cultured. The system produces a liquid stream that is suitable for system flushing or for uses in which non-potable water is acceptable. The system can generate hydrogen as a product that can be used to generate power. The system can generate nitrate, urea, ammonia and phosphate for use as fertilizer. The disinfected residual organic solids are also completely disinfected for potential use as an organic soil amendment for agriculture.

The present invention provides a novel floating and renewable energy-powered desalination vessel, which also functions as a wind turbine generator and wave energy generator platform. With energy derived from the wind and waves, the vessel performs reverse osmosis within a vertically positioned cylindrical section extending below a buoyancy chamber. The cylindrical section contains reverse osmosis membranes located above a seawater screening and filtration system, which serve as ballast. The entire vessel and power systems are configured to have the center of mass below the center of buoyancy, forming a vertically stable floating structure with minimum pitch, roll, and wave heave in high sea states. The electric power generated is utilized internally to produce desalinated water or hydrogen from the desalinated water's electrolysis, power an onboard data center, or power delivery to a shoreside power grid. In addition to a wind turbine generator and a wave energy generator, a photovoltaic array or a marine current generator may be utilized to power these applications. Alternatively, the desalination vessel operates with the assistance of shore-based power provided by cable.

Techniques for controlled aeration (140) of wastewater (190) include determining a first aeration intensity for a first aeration interval and a different second aeration intensity for a second aeration interval (225) based on a current energy price (215), a predicted energy price (221), and a regulatory surveillance period (201) during which a regulated critical parameter is monitored for regulatory compliance. Wastewater is aerated at the first aeration intensity for the first aeration interval; and at the second aeration intensity for the second aeration interval. The first aeration interval is short compared to the regulatory surveillance period, the second aeration interval is short compared to the regulatory surveillance period and does not overlap the first aeration interval, and the first aeration intensity is less than the second aeration intensity.

A process for treating waste water, including the steps of extracting by forward osmosis treated water from a wastewater feed stream and transferring it to a saline draw stream, and extracting from the saline draw stream treated water by a reverse osmosis process.

A reverse osmosis water production apparatus for use in a body of water includes a first section defining a buoyancy chamber and an elongate second section connected to the first section and configured to define an elongate chamber which extends downward beneath a waterline in use. The elongate chamber is provided with a plurality of elongate reverse osmosis membrane tubes, each tube containing a reverse osmosis membrane. A longitudinal axis of each reverse osmosis membrane tube is substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the elongate chamber and the reverse osmosis membrane tubes are arranged around a passage.

The present invention generally relates to a system for treating effluent water. More particularly, it provides a robust apparatus for treating waste liquid by optimizing solar and wind energy to maximize the evaporation rate as compare to natural evaporation rate. The main object of the present invention is to provide a system for evaporating RO reject and other effluent liquid and other liquids, by optimizing system to solar and wind energy to maximize vaporization rate and recovery rate at marginal operational cost.