Patent ID: 6830682
Filing Date: 2004-12-14
Classification: B01D,C02F,Y02A

Abstract:
An installation for desalinating or purifying saline or otherwise polluted input water, said installation comprising:a desalination fractionation installation including a shaft extending downward into land and having a hydrate formation region at a lower portion of said shaft; an input water conduit which is arranged to provide input water to said hydrate formation region; a gas supply conduit which is arranged to provide hydrate-forming gas to said hydrate formation region; and a hydrate dissociation region disposed at an upper portion of said installation and in fluid communication with said hydrate formation region, wherein natural pressurization in said hydrate formation region, created by the weight of input water in said shaft, is, by itself, insufficient to cause formation of hydrate of said hydrate-forming gas; wherein said hydrate dissociation region is artificially pressurized; and wherein the artificial pressurization in the dissociation region and the natural pressurization in the hydrate formation region combine to create pressurization in the hydrate formation region that is suitable for the spontaneous formation of hydrate of said hydrate-forming gas.