A membrane evaporative condenser (MEC) includes a repeating sequence of channels for evaporation and/or condensation are arranged, each sequence of channels includes a condensation channel for condensation of a vapor to a liquid, an evaporation channel, and zero to one hundred evaporation-condensation channels. The condensation channel has walls of a non-permeable material which exterior to the condensation channel share the wall with a liquid evaporative medium (LEM) conduit that contains a LEM. The LEM conduit includes a moisture transfer membrane (MTM), where the LEM can evaporate into an evaporation channel or an evaporation-condensation channel that can amplify the effect of the heat transfer for additional mass transfer.

An ambient water condenser system is disclosed having a condensation chamber which at least partially contains or surrounds a fluid reservoir which contains a volume or mass of an aqueous hygroscopic solution for condensing water from ambient air and a distillation process for extracting the water from the solution. The fluid reservoir has a heat source, a lower porous hydrophobic membrane, and an upper porous hydrophobic membrane. The heat source causes the hygroscopic solution near the top of reservoir to have a higher temperature which causes it to have a higher water vapor pressure, whereby the water vapor passing through the upper porous hydrophobic membrane and into the condensation chamber condenses into liquid water.

Disclosed are methods for dehydrating a water containing source of formaldehyde in which water is separated from the water containing source of formaldehyde using a zeolite membrane. In certain aspects, the water containing source of formaldehyde includes a separation enhancer having a relative static permittivity ranging from 2.5 to 20, and the water containing source of formaldehyde may further include methanol. In certain aspects, (meth)acrylic acid alkyl ester may be produced using the dehydrated source of formaldehyde.

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus that uses a brine from a well that is used to both generate electricity and recover valuable minerals present in the brine. The method and apparatus uses a hydrophobic membrane to separate water vapor from the brine to concentrate the brine that is then used to recover the minerals.

The invention relates to a self-supporting highly moisture-permeable heat-insulating aerogel film and a preparation method thereof. The aerogel film is a self-supporting single-layer film with a SiO.sub.2 porous skeleton structure, having a thickness of 150 m to 300 m, which increases an exchange rate of vapor by 50% to 200%, and reduces a heat conductivity coefficient by 50% to 90%. The preparation method includes the following steps: (1) preparation of a template; (2) hydrolysis of nano-cellulose; (3) preparation of an aerogel film; and (4) post-treatment of the aerogel film.

Systems and methods for separating organic chloramines and inorganic chloramines from an aqueous solution. Such a method includes providing a first container containing an aqueous solution that includes organic and inorganic chloramines and free chlorine, providing a second container containing a trapping solution and a tubular hydrophobic membrane through which inorganic chloramines contained in the aqueous solution can diffuse into the trapping solution, pumping the aqueous solution from the first container through the tubular hydrophobic membrane of the second container; and collecting the aqueous solution pumped through the tubular hydrophobic membrane in a third container connected to the tubular hydrophobic membrane. After pumping is completed, the second container contains an aqueous solution containing the inorganic chloramines and the third container contains an aqueous solution containing the organic chloramines and the free chlorine.

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus that uses a brine from a well that is used to both generate electricity and recover valuable minerals present in the brine. The method and apparatus uses a hydrophobic membrane to separate water vapor from the brine to concentrate the brine that is then used to recover the minerals.

The present invention discloses high selectivity copolyimide membranes for gas, vapor, and liquid separations. Gas permeation tests on these copolyimide membranes demonstrated that they not only showed high selectivity for CO.sub.2/CH.sub.4 separation, but also showed extremely high selectivities for H.sub.2/CH.sub.4 and He/CH.sub.4 separations. These copolyimide membranes can be used for a wide range of gas, vapor, and liquid separations such as separations of CO.sub.2/CH.sub.4, He/CH.sub.4, CO.sub.2/N.sub.2, olefin/paraffin separations (e.g. propylene/propane separation), H.sub.2/CH.sub.4, He/CH.sub.4, O.sub.2/N.sub.2, iso/normal paraffins, polar molecules such as H.sub.2O, H.sub.2S, and NH.sub.3 mixtures with CH.sub.4, N.sub.2, H.sub.2. The high selectivity copolyimide membranes have UV cross-linkable sulfonyl functional groups and can be used for the preparation of UV cross-linked high selectivity copolyimide membranes with enhanced selectivities. The invention also includes blend polymer membranes comprising the high selectivity copolyimide and polyethersulfone. The blend polymer membranes comprising the high selectivity copolyimide and polyethersulfone can be further UV cross-linked under UV radiation.

A dehydration method is a dehydration method for selectively separating water from a mixture that contains water, and the method includes a step of supplying the mixture to a supply side space of a separation membrane, and a step of making a pressure difference between the supply side space and a permeation side space of the separation membrane. The separation membrane includes a first zeolite membrane that faces the permeation side space and is constituted by a first zeolite and a second zeolite membrane that faces the supply side space and is adjacent to the first zeolite membrane. The second zeolite membrane is constituted by a second zeolite that has the same framework structure as framework of the first zeolite and has a lower Si/Al atom ratio than a Si/Al atom ratio of the first zeolite.

The present disclosure is directed to a forward osmosis system/process utilized primarily in conjunction with a subsurface irrigation system/process. Saline wastewater or naturally saline water is treated using forward osmosis membranes that draw at least partially purified water from the wastewater into an osmotic draw solution (draw solution). The resulting diluted osmotic draw solution is then circulated through the subsurface irrigation system including one or more tubular membranes that reject the draw solution while permitting water in the diluted draw solution to pass through.