A conductive nanoporous membrane system has a first ion exchange membrane formed from a nanoporous substrate that is coated with a metal or carbon or conductive polymers to form a conductive membrane, a second ion exchange membrane that is also formed from a nanoporous substrate coated with a metal to form a conductive membrane is positioned in spaced relation to the first conductive membrane and coupled to a voltage source; the negatively potential membrane acts as a cation exchange membrane in the presence of an electrolyte, and the positively connected electrode behave as anodic exchange membrane in the presence of an electrolyte due to the formation of electrical double layers at the interface between metal and liquid electrolyte.

Device for water disinfection by ultrafiltration. The device comprises a filtering assembly with at least one ultrafiltration membrane (6) inside a casing (10); a pump (5, 15), powered with electrical energy, configured for driving water to be filtered to said at least one ultrafiltration membrane (6); and an electric supply connection (2) for powering said pump (5) from a power supply. Said at least one ultrafiltration membrane is located in said casing (10) in a position in which it receives the feed flow of the water to be filtered by gravity or pressure; the electric power supply is provided by a battery included in a portable communication device (4); and the intensity of the current consumed by the pump (5, 15) is below 1.2 A, with a supply voltage of up to 24 V.

The pressure-reduced saline water treatment system combines both forward osmosis and reverse osmosis techniques for the desalination of salt water, such as seawater. A feed side of the reverse osmosis desalination unit is in fluid communication with the feed side of the forward osmosis desalination unit, such that seawater drawn through the feed side of the forward osmosis desalination unit is fed into the feed side of the reverse osmosis desalination unit. The reverse osmosis desalination unit outputs product water extracted from the seawater from a permeate side thereof. The feed side of the reverse osmosis desalination unit outputs a reject stream, which is fed to a draw side of the forward osmosis desalination unit, such that the draw side of the forward osmosis desalination unit receives the reject stream and outputs concentrated brine.

A system for recovering organic acid products from a multicomponent feed solution includes: a first electrode; a second electrode positioned in opposition to the first electrode; a cation exchange membrane and an anion exchange membrane disposed between the first and second electrodes, thereby defining a feed channel extending between the cation and anion exchange membranes for delivery of a multicomponent feed solution including an organic acid and an inorganic salt; a functionalized membrane disposed between the cation or anion exchange membrane and the first or second electrode, thereby defining an accumulating channel extending between the cation or anion exchange membrane and the functionalized membrane for collecting charged organic species separated from the multicomponent feed solution; and a redox channel containing the first and second electrodes and being separated from the feed and accumulating channels by the cation or anion exchange membrane and the functionalized membrane.

A wave-actuated system for desalination of water by reverse osmosis (RO) having a wave energy converter (WEC) subsystem and a RO desalination subsystem is disclosed. The WEC subsystem has a float, a reaction member, and a hydraulic cylinder connected between the float and the reaction member and defining first and second variable volume chambers The RO desalination subsystem has a RO cell containing a RO membrane and a flow smoothing device (FSD). During a first stroke of the WEC subsystem: the float moves in a first direction; and seawater is supplied from the first variable volume chamber to the RO cell and to the FSD. During a second stroke of the WEC subsystem: the float moves in a second direction; seawater is supplied from a seawater intake to the first variable volume chamber; and seawater is supplied from the FSD to the RO cell.

A mobile power generation/water purification system includes, in a housing thereof: a photovoltaic power generation device; a battery that stores electricity generated by the photovoltaic power generation device; a control unit that receives electric power from the battery; and a drive means controlled by the control unit and using the battery as an electric power source. A water purification device is disposed inside the housing in a single flow path connectable to a suction hose and an outflow hose. The drive means of the water purification device is a plurality of drive pumps which are electrically connected to the battery by respective conductive cables. The photovoltaic power generation device is a solar panel wound around a rotation shaft inside the housing. The solar panel can be pulled out directly in a horizontal direction from a horizontally elongated cutout window of the housing.

Radiative heating and radiative feed modification systems and methods using microwave, radio frequency, magnetic field and ultrasound in membrane separation processes including membrane distillation (MD), reverse osmosis, forward osmosis and pervaporation are disclosed. Membrane distillation systems include at least one MD module, the MD module having at least one membrane, a feed inlet operable to receive a feed media and a feed outlet, and a radiative energy source operable to apply radiation to a feed media entering the feed inlet.

A device for the electrodeionization of a sample liquid. The device has an anode chamber having two openings and an anode, a cathode chamber having two openings and a cathode, and a treatment chamber, that is arranged between the anode chamber and the cathode chamber and has two openings and ion exchanger. The anode chamber and the cathode chamber are separated from the treatment chamber in each case by a permselective membrane and an energy source is operatively connected to the anode and the cathode. In addition, a method for the electrodeionization of a sample liquid is provided.

A fluid treatment apparatus is constructed from at least one electrochemical cell including a bipolar ion exchange membrane and having a single output orifice to deliver treated fluid. The apparatus may employ a power supply transformer featuring a magnetic dispersion bridge to regulate the magnetic flux to secondary coils, thereby limiting the current delivered to the load and protecting the apparatus from over-current damage. The cell includes a membrane assembly which incorporates both the inner and outer electrodes to provide repeatable assembly and service, as well as reliable performance. The apparatus will provide continuous fluid treatment when designed with at least two stages, each stage including at least one cell, in which one stage is treating influent solution and another stage is regenerating. A method to operate these apparatus includes the steps of deionizing influent solution without interruption, halting deionization water flow and removing power from the deionization cells, flushing the liquid between membrane layers to the drain outlet, initiating regeneration power, and initiating regeneration flow.

Embodiments of this invention provide an integrated system for clean energy generation and storage and RO desalination. The integrated system includes a first subsystem that stores hydraulic energy. The integrated system further includes a second subsystem that desalinates water. The integration system also includes a penstock that facilitates flow of the water between the first subsystem and the second subsystem. The integrated subsystem may also incorporate solar and/or wind power generation plants as a power source for the integrated system.