Described herein are methods of recovering lithium from dilute lithium sources. The methods include concentrating a dilute aqueous lithium source to yield an extraction feed having an extraction lithium concentration; extracting lithium from the extraction feed using direct lithium extraction in an extraction stage to yield a lithium intermediate; concentrating a stream obtained from the lithium intermediate in a concentration stage to yield a lithium concentrate; and converting lithium in the lithium concentrate to lithium hydroxide.

Described herein are methods of recovering lithium from dilute lithium sources. The methods include extracting lithium from an extraction feed using direct lithium extraction in an extraction stage to yield a lithium intermediate, performing one or more concentration operations, each concentration operation concentrating an input stream to yield an output feed, wherein the input stream is obtained from the lithium intermediate and/or the extraction feed is obtained from the output feed. At least one of the concentration operations includes a membrane separation operation having a plurality of reactors in series each having a semi-permeable membrane, such as a counter-flow reverse osmosis operation. Methods may also include generating a low TDS stream as a permeate from any of the one or more concentration operations, wherein the low TDS stream is recycled or used as fresh water.

The present invention relates to a counterflow membrane module configured to separate a feed fluid into a permeate fluid and a residue fluid across one or more membrane sheet(s). The counterflow module comprises a second end offset from a first end along the first direction where an inlet is provided at the first end and an outlet is provided at the second end. The one or more membrane sheet(s) each have a first portion, a second portion and a permeate section. A conduit is adjacent to the permeate section of the membrane and is configured to receive and output the permeate fluid separated from the feed fluid.

An apparatus for reverse osmosis, the apparatus comprising: a single-stage reverse osmosis (SSRO) unit; and a counter-current membrane cascade with recycle (CMCR) unit comprising a plurality of stages of reverse osmosis including at least a first stage and a second stage wherein permeate from the first stage is configured to be introduced as feed to the second stage; wherein retenate from the SSRO unit is configured to be introduced as feed to the first stage, and wherein product obtained using the apparatus comprises permeate from the SSRO unit and permeate from a last stage of the CMCR unit.

A hollow fiber membrane bundle useful for manufacturing a wide variety of hollow fiber membrane modules having different flow configurations includes hollow fiber membranes arranged around a porous support tube, a cured resin tubesheet formed at first end of the bundle, and either a cured resin nub or a cured resin tubesheet formed at a second end of the bundle. The bore(s) of the hollow fiber membranes are open at a face of the tubesheet adjacent the first end of the bundle. The tubesheet has an annular structure that encapsulates the hollow fiber membranes and the porous support tube at the first end of the bundle but which does not completely block a bore of the porous support tube, wherein the collection tube has a plurality of orifices formed therein at least at positions adjacent the nub.

A fuel cell humidifier may completely or substantially completely prevent condensate water from entering a running fuel cell stack. The fuel cell humidifier includes a housing; a plurality of hollow fiber membranes arranged in the housing; a cap which is coupled to one end of the housing and has an air discharge port for supplying humidified air to the fuel cell stack; and a bypass tube for transferring condensate water generated from the humidified air to an interior space of the housing through which a discharge gas flows, wherein a first end of the bypass tube is disposed inside the air discharge port, and the bypass tube is in fluid communication with the interior space of the housing through a second end of the bypass tube.

This system for concentrating solvent-containing articles involves a first step in which: a supply flow (a) comprising solvent-containing articles containing a solute and a solvent (b) is caused to flow counter to or parallel with a permeant flow (d) through a forward osmosis membrane (o); the solvent (b) contained in the supply flow (a) is made to pass through the forward osmosis membrane (o) and to move into the permeant flow (d); and a concentrate flow (c) formed from the concentrated solvent-containing articles and a flow (e) formed from the diluted permeant flow (d) are obtained, wherein the permeant flow (d) is an inorganic salt solution containing multivalent cations, and the temperature of the permeant flow (d) in the aforementioned first step is 5-60 C.

Methods and systems for the separation of isotopes from an aqueous stream are described as can be utilized in one embodiment to remove and recover tritium from contaminated water. Methods include counter-current flow of an aqueous stream on either side of a separation membrane. The separation membrane includes an isotope selective layer (e.g., graphene) and an ion conductive supporting layer (e.g., Nafion). An electronic driving force encourages passage of isotopes selectively across the membrane to enrich the flow in the isotopes.

Various embodiments disclosed relate to methods of separating volatile compounds from a liquid feed mixture comprising an emulsion. In various embodiments, the method includes contacting a first side of a first membrane with a liquid feed mixture including an emulsion having a polymer, and at least one volatile compound. The method can also include contacting a second side of the first membrane with a sweep medium including at least one a sweep fluid to produce a permeate mixture on the second side of the first membrane and a retentate mixture on the first side of the first membrane, wherein the permeate mixture is enriched in the volatile compound, and the retentate mixture is depleted in the volatile compound.

A membrane assembly includes a tube container having an inlet conduit and a first outlet conduit both oriented in a radial direction, and a second outlet conduit oriented in an axial direction; and a hollow fiber membrane element disposed inside the tube container, the hollow first membrane element comprising a first adapter with an axial permeate fluid passage in a center thereof and an inlet gas passage in a peripheral portion thereof; and a second adapter with an axial permeate fluid passage in a center thereof and a non-permeate fluid passage in a peripheral portion thereof.