Patent ID: 7560029
Filing Date: 2009-07-14
Classification: B01D,C02F,Y02A,Y02W

Abstract:
1. An osmotic method for extracting a solvent from a first solution comprising the steps of: a. exposing the first solution to a first surface of a semi-permeable membrane; b. adjusting the equilibrium in a second solution to increase the amount of a soluble species of solute in the second solution by adding a first reagent comprising a mixture of carbon dioxide and ammonia gasses, such that the concentration of the second solution is greater than that of the first solution and adjusting the second solution with sufficient ammonia gas so that the ratio of ammonia to carbon dioxide in the solution is greater than 1; c. exposing the second solution to a second opposed surface of the membrane; d. drawing a solvent from the first solution through the membrane and into the second solution producing a solvent-enriched second solution; and e. heating the solvent-enriched second solution to decompose the remaining solute into its constituent gasses to produce a solvent, wherein the constituent gasses comprise carbon dioxide and ammonia; and wherein the constituent gasses are recycled within the process as the first reagent and wherein the equilibrium of the second solution is shifted towards the soluble species of solute in the second solution.