Patent ID: 11944937
Assignee: KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  C  Y | IPC B  C

Claim 9:
10. A membrane distillation system comprising:
a solar collector system configured to collect solar energy and supply heat;
a feed tank configured to hold a feed that is heated by the heat from the solar collector system;
a membrane that is configured to receive the feed on one side and allow only water vapor to pass through the membrane on the other side to generate fresh water;
a feed pump configured to circulate the feed with a flow velocity, from the feed tank to the membrane and back; and
a controller configured to control the feed pump by applying a first control mode during a day time, to the flow velocity of the feed, and by applying a second control mode during a night time, different from the first control mode, to the flow velocity of the feed,
wherein the first control mode is a model-free mode, which is configured to start and stop the feed used by the membrane distillation system, to keep a temperature of the feed in the feed tank within a threshold defined by a first set temperature and a second set temperature, for maximizing a daily fresh water production of the membrane distillation system.