A SALT WATER DESALINATION PROCESS USING ION SELECTIVE MEMBRANES

Abstract: The invention is directed to an improved desalination process to produce potable water. The process represents an improvement of hybrid of membrane and desalination technologies. The improvement of the invention comprises the operation of an ion selective membrane at a variable pressure as a function of the cost of electricity to form a softened salt water that is blended in variable proportions, to increase the top operating temperature of the desalination system and increase recovery of potable water, with untreated salt water.

Description: A SALT WATER DESALINATION PROCESS USING ION SELECTIVE MEMBRANES This application claims priority to L S provisional patent application having the application number 60/150, 159, filed August 20, 1999 Background of the Invention 1 Technical Field The present invention relates to a water purification process and more particularly, it relates to an improved process for the desalination of salt water by the strategic use of ion selective membranes to form a variable make-up that is fed to a desalination unit to produce a water product of potable quality 2 Description of Related Art The basic processes for the desalination of salt water to produce a water product of potable quality include, for example, multistage flash distillation multieffect distillation, reverse osmosis and vapor compression distillation Each of these processes are well established technologies having their own unique characteristics and limitations The high content of scale forming ions, saline and other impurities found in untreated salt water has a negative impact on the efficiency, energy consumption and maintenance of large scale plants which employ any of these conventional desalination processes Due to such high concentrations of impurities, it is commonly known to add antiscallmg chemicals to the feed or equipment to minimize the adverse consequences of scale forming ions Multistage flash distillers which are in common use worldwide for large scale desalination projects are limited in their performance by the maximum brine temperature (top brine temperature or TBT) that can be used in the process At temperatures higher than the maximum, scale inhibitors are ineffective and significant fouling of the internal surfaces will rapidly occur This can be expensive and time consuming to remove Membrane technology has been used in the pre-treatment of salt water to reduce the high ionic content of salt water relative to fresh water For example, U S Patent No 4,723,603 discloses a process for removing precursor ions from an injection water which formed insoluble salt precipitates in situ when they contacted resident ions already present in a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation The precursor ions of the insoluble salt precipitates are removed by means of a RO membrane More lmportantlv for desalination WO 99/16714 discloses the combination ot membrane technologv with the basic desalination processes to from a drinkable water product According to this document, saline water containing a high content of hardness scaling ions is passed through a nanofiltration membrane to form make-up to a desalination s stem Nanofiltration softening membranes are used for the selectiv e removal of hardness scale forming ions and other impurities to soften seawater Due to nanofiltration treatment the make-up has a reduced ionic content w hen it passes through the desalination svstem It is reported that there is a reduction of scaling and fouling tendency when this combination of nanofiltration and desalination sv stems is employed However, the document does not suggest any means of taking advantage of the interrelationship among certain conditions e g , pressure temperature and make-up to achieve an optimal system and recovery It will be seen that in spite ot these disclosures there is still a great need for a process that optimizes the combination of these two technologies to improves the operating conditions efficiency and yield of this type of hybrid desalination systems Summary of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an improved process for desalinating salt water at optimal operating conditions In accordance with the invention, the content of hardness ions is sufficiently reduced from the make-up to a desalination system such that the desired top operating temperature, or desired recovery of potable water product, of any desalination system can be achieved As a direct result, a number of adv antages are realized which include a more cost-efficient operation of desalination plants a reduction in the energy consumption of such plants and an increased yield of potable water In addition, the use of chemical anti-sca ng agents is advantageously minimized or completely eliminated These and other advantages are achieved by specific improvements of hybrid desalination s stems based on combined membrane and conventional desalination technologies As used throughout the following discussion, the term salt water ' shall mean to include water having a significant concentration of hardness or scale forming ions, e g , sulfate calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate ions Sources of salt water which are contemplated bv the present invention include, without limitation, ocean water, gulf water reject, blowdown and recv cle brine in solution and impaired water containing soluble salts having an ionic content of hardness ions in excess of 1,500 mg/liter In accordance with the present invention a first stream of salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions is passed through an ion selective membrane to form a softened ? salt water product having a reduced content of hardness ions The softened salt water is blended with a second stream of salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions to form a feed to a desalination svstem The feed is then introduced to the desalination svstem to form a water product of potable quality The softened salt water content of the feed is at least 5% The desalination system may be one or more desalination processes including reverse osmosis, multistage flash distillation, multieffect distillation and vapor compression distillation In one embodiment of the invention, a nanofiltration (NF) membrane is employed as the ion selective membrane A NF membrane softening system comprising one or more of such NF membranes is combined with a multistage flash (MSF) distillation plant The NF system is introduced after the MSF-dearerator In one embodiment untreated saltwater is first subjected to a deaeration pre-treatment step before entering the NF system Alternatively a stream of softened sea water exits the NF svstem and then enters the MSF-dearerator for the removal of non-condensable gases from the softened water A. portion of the stream of untreated salt water is pre-heated b> the heat of a reject stream exiting the reject section of the desalination plant before passing through the NF membrane system The MSF distillation svstem is operated at a TBT of 95-180°C The NF membrane system is operated at a variable pressure of 5-60 bar To be discussed in more detail, the ability to vary the operating pressure of the NF svstem provides a means of control over the ionic content and quantity of softened salt water In another embodiment of the invention, the softened salt water is stored in a buffer system from where it is blended with a stream of untreated salt water to form the feed to the desalination system Alternatively, the softened salt water that is stored in the buffer svstem is injected into the desalination system Additionally this reserved supply of softened salt water is used to form a cluster feeding system wherein the softened salt water is fed from the buffer system to two or more desalination systems for blending with untreated salt water In yet another embodiment, a partial stream of reject brine, blowdown or recycled bπne produced during the desalination process is subject to a nanofiltration step and recycled through the desalination system Brief Description of the Drawings Fig 1 is a schematic flow diagram of an integrated hybrid desalination process using a hybrid of nanofiltration and desalination systems in accordance with the invention Fig 2 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating the process of the invention as applied to multistage flash distillation in accordance with the invention Fig 3 is a schematic flow diagram showing the integration of a nanofiltration plant with an existing multistage flash distiller utilizing the process of the invention Fig 4 is a graph showing the percentage increase in distillate production from a hybrid of nanofiltration and multistage flash distillation systems Fig 5 is a graph showing the reduction in salinity bv nanofiltration as a function of applied pressure Figs 6-9 plot the anhydrite scaling index against NF treated make-up blend ratios and at various concentration factors Description of the Preferred Embodiments The prior art desalination processes which are based on combined ion selective membrane and conventional water desalination systems are significantly improved with the present invention Having read and understood the features and principles of the invention as presently described and shown in the figures, an experienced engineer in designing, manufacturing and operating water desalination systems of the type contemplated by this invention would be able to practice the invention and realize its benefits According to one aspect of the invention, the improvement resides with the discovery that the make-up to the desalination plant can be purposefully configured at any stage of operation to achieve higher top operating temperatures and increased yields of potable water Surprisingly, it has been discovered that even a partial elimination of calcium and sulfate ions from the feed will advantageously improve the performance of desalination plants This improvement is not suggested by the prior art Specifically, bv using a feed comprising vanable proportions of softened and untreated salt water, the concentration of hardness ions is sufficiently reduced, thereby allowing a beneficial increase in the TBT of the desalination process Higher operating temperatures provide an increase in productivity, recovery and performance at lower energy and chemical consumption As a result, the cost of desalinated water production, including operation and maintenance, when compared to the prior art hybrid systems is dramatically reduced In accordance with the present invention, one or more ion selective membranes is introduced into a desalination system for the purpose of providing flexibility in managing the ionic content of the make-up to the desalination plant Any of the known and art-recognized desalination systems can be used in the present invention Desalination processes such as reverse osmosis multistage flash distillation multieffect distillation and vapor compression distillation are known throughout the relevant industry and sufficiently described in the literature The operation of any of these conventional systems is considered to be well within the purv iew ot the skilled artisan Similarly, ion selective membranes are known in the art As contemplated bv the present invention, the membrane is preferably one which selectively prevents the hardening ions from passing across it while at the same time allowing the water ana harmless ions to pass across it For the express purposes of the invention, the membrane is used for the selectiv e removal of hardness ions to soften salt water The selectivity of a membrane is a function of the particular properties of the membrane, including the pore size or electrical charge of the membrane Accordingly, any of the known and commercially available ion selective membranes which meet theses criteria can be used with the invention For example, a polvamide membrane is particularly effective for selectively preventing sulfate, calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate ions from passing across it A polvamide membrane having the trade name SR90-400 (Film Tec Corporation) or Hydranautics CTC- 1 is preferred A membrane element comparison of Filmtec SR90 400 and Hydranautics CTC-1 is shown in Table 1 TABLE 1 MEMBRANE ELEMENTS COMPARISON The following sequence of Tables 2-5 demonstrates that the use of ion selective membranes will remove a large proportion of the most significant scaling compounds from sea water make-up to be fed to a desalination unit The typical chemical composition of MSF recycle and the average sea water feed of Arabian Gulf sea w ater is shown in Table 2 below However pursuant to the invention, a first stream of salt water having a high concentration of hardness ions is passed through an ion selective membrane to form a softened salt water The softened sea water is then blended with normal untreated sea ater to lo er the scaling potential of the make- up The data of Table 3 is representative of the performance of a NF membrane In addition, Table 3 shows the removal of sulfate, magnesium calcium and bicarbonate ions in much larger percentages than monovalent ions of sodium, potassium and chloride Typical reductions of sulfate, calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate ions are shown in Table 4 when a NF membrane Filmtec SR90 is used Table 4 demonstrates the ability to emplov NF technology to achieve a higher system rejection of scaling ions in the first stage ersus subsequent stages of nanofiltration Finally, Figure 5 shows performance of nanofiltration membranes as developed by Hydranautics TABLE 2 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MSF RECYCLE AND AVERAGE SEAWATER FEED TABLE 3 NANOFILTRATION NF MEMBRANE PERFORMANCE TABLE 4 NF MEMBRANE SOFTENING TABLE 5 NF MEMBRANE PERFORMANCE Howev er the advantages and improvements of the present invention do not reside with the mere combination, as disclosed by WO 99/16714, of an ion selectiv e membrane and a desalination process for the production of potable water Rather, the prev iously unrecognized advantage of the present invention resides, in part, with the introduction of a feed of variable proportions of softened and untreated salt water to a desalination svstem to increase the top operating temperature of the svstem and increase the yield of potable water In contrast, WO 99/16714 teaches a hybrid process wherein 100% of the feed is subjected to a nanofiltration pre- treatment process prior to being feed to a desalination unit Furthermore, the ion selective membrane can be advantageously operated, in accordance with the invention, at a variable pressure as a function of energy costs to achieve a significant improvement in the cost-efficiency of the desalination plant There is no illustration or suggestion in WO 99/16714 that a variable percentage of make-up and/or operating pressure would advantageously improv e the performance of desalination plants In accordance with the broad aspects of the invention, a first stream of salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions is passed through an ion selective membrane to form a softened salt water having a reduced concentration of hardness ions The softened salt water is blended with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions to form a feed to a desalination system The feed is then introduced to a desalination system to form a water product of potable quality The percentage of softened salt water is at least 5% of the make-up It should be recognized that the source of softened salt water can also be supplied bv any salt water stream that has already passed through the ion selective membrane and/or desalination system and that is recycled through the desalination system It is the reduced concentration of hardness ions that is determinative of the suitability of softened salt water for blending to form make-up to a desalination system as contemplated by the present invention A further protection against scale forming ions, in particular carbonate and magnesium hydroxide scale, is the addition of stoichiometπc amounts of acid, e g , 10-100 ppm of sea water feed, prior to passing the sea water through an ion selective membrane Examples of acid that are suitable for this purpose include hydrochloric and sulfuric acid The addition of acid protects the ion selectiv e membrane improves rejection and filtration, and reduces alkalinity Furthermore, the combination of the acid and membrane treatment affords an additional protection to the desalination plant by reducing or optionally eliminating the use of antiscalants Figure 1 illustrates a basic flow diagram of an integrated h bπd desalination process using a hvbπd of selective ionic membrane and desalination systems including multistage flash distillation multieffect distillation vapor compression distillation and re erse osmosis desalination As shown in Figure 1 , a stream of intake salt water is blended with a portion of make-up stream from the heat reject section of the distillation plant The make-up stream from the heat reject section is characterized bv a reduced content of hardness ions The sea water stream to be subjected to NF treatment undergoes pre-treatment to remove suspended solids by means of fixed media filtration or micro- or ultra-filtration equipment The sea water stream with a silt density index (SDI) of 5 or better is pressurized between 5-80 bars below the osmotic pressure of the solution and enters the NF membrane unit The NF membrane assembly is composed of several arrays with a tvpical two to one ratio Each of the NF modules contains from 4-8 NF elements The treated softened sea water stream is then blended with untreated salt water to form make-up to any of the shown distillation units Another important and advantageous aspect of the invention is the recognition that the ion selective membrane can be operated at a variable pressure as a function of the cost of electncity to maximize the energy efficiency and yield of the desalination plant Generally speaking, the ion selective membrane is operated at pressures of 5-80 bars, but in all cases below the osmotic pressure of the salt water stream to be treated At the upper range of operating pressures, there is an increased reduction of scaling ions and total salinity However, operation of the ion selective membrane system at such higher pressures requires a greater demand for energy utilization Therefore, the variability of operating pressures as a function of the cost of electricity optimizes the energy efficiency and yield of the desalination plant This option is particularly advantageous in regions like the Middle East where there are wide seasonal and daily variations with regard to the utilization of power For example, in summer when there is a maximum peak demand for energy at an associated higher cost the ion selective membrane system is operated at the lowest possible pressure thereby minimizing energy consumption without adversely effecting a reduction of scaling ion content Conversely, at off- peak power demand during the winter, the ion selective membrane system is operated at the upper range of operating pressures to increase the productivity and efficiency of the desalination plant The ability to control the operating pressure of such systems is within the skill of the expenenced plant operator This advantage enables the plant operator to determine the ionic content and quality of the softened water product at the most energy efficient conditions at the time of operation The invention also provides an option to recvcle a portion of a brine stream through the ion selective membrane system The treated stream is then combined with the recvcle flow with a sufficient reduction in scaling ions to permit an increase in the top operating temperatures of the desalination system Similarly in another embodiment, an ion selectiv e membrane sv stem is introduced at the point of brine blowdown where the concentration of scaling ions is the highest A portion of the blowdown is then subjected to a nanofiltration step and recycled to the desalination system An advantageous embodiment of the present invention is the combination of a NF membrane system with MSF distillation The principles of MSF distillation are simple Sea water feed is pressurized and heated to the maximum plant temperature When the heated liquid is discharged into a chamber maintained slightly below the saturation vapor pressure of the liquid, a fraction of its water content flashes into steam The flash steam is then stripped of suspended brine droplets as it passes through a mist eliminator and condenses on the exterior surface of heat transfer tubing The condensed liquid drips into trays as hot product water The unflashed brine enters a second chamber, or stage, where it flashes to steam at a lower temperature, thereby producing an additional quantity of product water Simultaneously, the distillate from the first stage passes to the distillate trav in the second stage and gives up some of its heat The flash-cooling process is repeated from stage to stage until both the cooled bnne and the cooled distillate are finally discharged from the plant as blowdown brine and product water, respectively The recirculating stream flowing through the interior of the tubes that condenses the vapor in each stage serves to remove the latent heat of condensation In so doing, the circulating brine is pre-heated to almost the maximum operating temperature of the process, simultaneously recovering the energy of the condensing vapor This portion of the multistage flash distillation plant is called the ' heat recovery" section The pre-heated brine is finally brought up to the maximum operating temperature in a brine heater supplied with steam from an external source At the cool end of the plant, a separate set of tubes is installed in several of the stages in a "heat rejection" section to remove the waste heat A small fraction of this coolant becomes pre-heated make-up water According to one embodiment of the invention, a NF membrane softening system is introduced in a MSF distillation system after the MSF-deaeration unit As a result of this arrangement, oxygen, residual chlorine and reduce corrosion are removed from the stream of untreated salt water before it enters the NF membrane system Specifically, the stream of salt water to be subjected to NF treatment is subjected to a deaeration pre-treatment step before passing through the NF membrane svstem Alternatively, a stream of softened salt water exiting the NF system is blended with a stream of untreated salt water The blend passes through the MSF-deaeration unit before entering the distillation unit A portion of the stream of untreated salt water is pre-heated by the heat of a reject stream of the desalination system before passing through the NF membrane system In contrast to conv entional MSF desalination plants operating at temperatures between 95- 1 12°C, the MSF distillation system of the invention is operated at a temperature of 95-180"C This top temperature is beyond that which is currently achievable by existing methods and specifically by the use of chemical additives Figure 2 provides a schematic representation of the process of the invention as applied to MSF A projected commercial operation utilizing NF and MSF is represented in Figure 3 The reference numbers appearing in Figure 3 refer to the operating conditions, as set forth in Tables 8- 1 1, at the identified stages of the system As shown in Figure 3, the NF unit is introduced as a svstem on the warm feed that is part of the sea water cooling system before entering the MSF- deaerator The recovery of water heat and the warming of the stream of sea water entering the nanofiltration system significantly increases the fluxes and productivity of the NF elements By this arrangement, it is possible to remove oxygen, residual chlorine and carbon dioxide from the feed stream and reduce its corrosiveness before the stream enters the MSF unit The carbon dioxide released in the NF system can be recovered for beneficial uses, e g , the post-treatment of the recovered water product Figure 4 shows that the NF system and process permits a safe increase in TBT, e g , up to 125°C This same Figure demonstrates a percentage increase in distillate production from MSF plants using NF systems of the present invention As shown in Figure 5, a reduction of total salinity by the NF system of the invention as a function of applied pressure permits not only a reduction of scaling compounds but also a partial reduction in total salinity The reduction of total salinity as achieved by the invention has the benefit of reducing boiling point elevation, improving the thermodynamic properties of brine, improving heat transfer coefficient and optimizing the make-up requirements The use of the present invention will also reduce fouling factors as shown in Table 6 TABLE 6 In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, softened salt water is stored in a buffer system This stored supply of softened water is available for blending with untreated salt water to form make-up that is introduced to the desalination system In the absence of blending, the softened salt water that is stored in the buffer sv stem can be injected directly into the desalination system The supply of reserved softened salt water can be used to form a cluster feeding system wherein the softened salt water is fed to two or more desalination systems for blending with untreated salt water The implicit advantage of this arrangement is the ability to determine the ionic content of the feed that is eventually passed to the desalination system Consequently, it is possible to adjust operating conditions of the plant to control energy consumption Moreover, the buffer svstem permits the shutdown of the ion selective membrane system without effecting the continuous operation of the desalination unit A simulation was conducted to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of NF pre- treatment of make-up water to a ty pical MSF distiller in accordance with the process of the invention The reference plant is an existing 5mιgd MSF distiller in the Middle East The reference plant was chosen as being relatively new (less than four years old) and comprises two identical 5mgιd units The plant is situated in the Arabian Gulf and operates as part of a power and desalination plant The plant operates with a TBT between 106°C and 1 12°C The guaranteed unit heat rate at 106°C TBT and 38°C sea water (summer conditions) is 7 5 kg of distillate per 2326 kJ of heat input The NF design of the study was based on coagulation and multimedia filtration for pre- treatment with Dow Filtec membranes, operating at manufacturer recommended conditions with a system recovery rate of 75% Blending calculations were performed using varying proportions of NF product water with heated sea water to produce a modified blended MSF make-up water The results are shown in Table 7 below The resulting blended MSF make-up water was then used as the input water for purposes of the simulation TABLE 7 *TDS = total dissolved solids The anhydrite scaling index (SI) against NF tieated make-up blend ratios was then calculated and plotted at various concentration factors (CF) At each of four possible operating temperatures (1 15°C, 120°C, 125°C and 130°C), the maximum limit on allowable scaling index (SI) is shown Figures 6-9 From this data, it is evident that the concentration factor (CF) affects the required NF blend ratio significantly. For example, an increase in CF from 1 4 to 1 5 requires an increase in NF blend ration of approximately 10%. Figure 3 shows a process flow diagram illustrating a proposed integration of a NF plant and a MSF plant such as the reference MSF plant used in the simulation As a result of the integration pursuant to the process of the invention, it is possible to raise the TBT of the MSF plant, i e , a typical 5migd multistage flash installation operating at 106°C, to 125°C with 25% nanofiltration and increase output by 33 8% Similarly, the TBT of the same MSF plant can be raised to 121°C TBT with 10% nanofiltration and an increased output of 25% Tables 8-1 1 are heat and mass balance flow sheets for different alternatives (125°C TBT and 121°C TBT) operating in accordance with the invention The flow sheets of Tables 8 and 10 are directed to summer conditions when the temperature of sea water is in the region of 38°C whereas Tables 9 and 1 1 are directed to winter conditions when the temperature of sea water is 15"C Reference number 13 of Figure 3 and the corresponding column 13 of Tables 8-1 1 relate to distillate production from the NF-MSF system in accordance with the invention TABLE S 125°C TBT, 38°C SW, 20% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 8 (continued) 125°C TBT, 38°C SW, 20% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 9 125°C TBT; 15°C SW, 20% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 9 (continued) 125°C TBT, 15°C SW, 20% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 10 121°C TBT, 38°C SW, 10% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 10 (continued) 121°C TBT, 38°C SW; 10% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 1 1 121°C TBT, 16°C SW; 10% NF MAKE-UP TABLE 1 1 (continued) 121°C TBT, 16°C SW, 10% NF MAKE-UP The data of Tables 8-1 1 demonstrate that the TBT and output of a MSF plant are substantially increased through the use of NF pre-treatment and blending of the make-up water These improvements are achieved by blending a stream of softened salt water and untreated salt water to form a feed to the desalination system As a result, it is possible to operate the MSF plant at a higher TBT Advantageously, the increased output is attained at lower operating costs for the NF and MSF plants Although the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the present invention may be changed or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed

Claims: What is claimed is 1 An improved desalination process to produce potable water which comprises (a) passing a first stream of salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions through an ion selective membrane to form a softened salt water having a reduced content of hardness ions, (b) blending the softened salt water with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions to form a feed to a desalination system (c) introducing the feed to the desalination system to form a water product of potable quality, wherein the improvement comprises the introduction of a feed of variable proportions of softened and untreated salt water to the desalination system to increase the top operating temperature of the system and increase recovery of potable water 2 The desalination process according to claim 1, wherein the softened salt water content of the feed is at least 5% 3 The desalination process according to claim 1 , wherein the feed is passed through at least one desalination system selected from the group consisting of reverse osmosis, multistage flash distillation, multieffect distillation and vapor compression distillation 4 The desalination process according to claim 3, wherein the desalination system is thermal driven and selected from the group consisting of multistage flash distillation and multieffect distillation 5 The desalination process according to claim 3, wherein the desalination system is electric driven and selected from the group consisting of reverse osmosis and vapor compression distillation 6 The desalination process according to claim 3, wherein the desalination system is multistage flash distillation 7 The desalination process according to claim 6, wherein the multistage flash distillation system is operated at a temperature of 95-180°C 8 The desalination process according to claim 1 or 6 wherein the ion selective membrane is a nanofiltration membrane 9 The desalination process according to claim 8, wherein the first stream of salt water is subjected to a deaeration pre-treatment step after passing through a softening system composed of one or more nanofiltration membranes 10 The desalination process according to claim 9, wherein the first stream of salt water is preheated by the heat of a reject stream of the desalination system before deaeration 1 1 The desalination process according to any one of claims 1 or 4-7, wherein the ion selective membrane is operated at a variable pressure of 5-80 bar 12 The desalination process according to claim 1 1, wherein the ionic content and quantity of softened salt water varies with the operating pressure of the ion selective membrane 13 The desalination process according to claim 1, wherein the softened salt water is stored in a buffer system 14 The desalination process according to claim 13, wherein the softened salt water stored in the buffer system is blended with the second stream of untreated salt water to form the feed to the desalination system 15 The desalination process according to claim 13, wherein the softened salt water stored in the buffer system is injected into the desalination system 16 The desalination process according to claim 1, wherein the softened salt water is fed by a cluster system to two or more desalination systems and blended with the second seawater stream of each system 17 The desalination process according to claim 1, wherein the desalination system produces brine containing water selected from the group consisting of reject, blowdown and recycled brine which is partially subjected to a nanofiltration step and recycled through the desalination system 18 The desalination process according to claim 1, wherein a stoichiometπc amount of acid is added to the first stream before that stream passes through the ion selective membrane 19. An improved desalination process to produce potable water which comprises: (a) passing a first stream of salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions through an ion selective membrane to form a softened salt water product having a reduced content of hardness ions, wherein the ion selective membrane is operated at variable pressure as a function of the cost of electricity; (b) blending the softened salt water with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions from a buffer system to form a feed to a desalination system; (c) introducing the feed from the buffer system to the desalination system to form a water product of potable quality, wherein the improvement comprises the operation of the ion selective membrane at a variable pressure as a function of the cost of electricity to form the softened salt water that is blended in variable proportions, to increase the top operating temperature of the desalination system and increase recovery of potable water, with the untreated salt water. 20. The desalination process according to claim 19, wherein the feed is passed through at least one desalination system selected from the group consisting of reverse osmosis, multistage flash distillation, multieffect distillation and vapor compression distillation. 21. The desalination process according to claim 19, wherein the ion selective membrane comprises a nanofiltration membrane softening system. 22. The desalination process according to claim 21, wherein the ion selective membrane is operated at a variable pressure of 5-80 bar. 23. The desalination process according to claim 19 and 22, wherein the ionic content and quantity of softened salt water varies with the operating pressure of the ion selective membrane. 24. An improved desalination process which comprises: (a) blending a first stream of softened salt water having a substantially reduced concentration of hardness ions with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions to form a feed to a desalination system, and (b) passing the feed through the desalination system to form a water product of potable quality, wherein the improvement comprises the introduction of a feed of variable proportions of softened and untreated salt water to the desalination system to increase the top operating temperature of the system and increase recovery of potable water 25 The desalination process of claim 24, wherein the stream of softened salt water is obtained by passing untreated salt water across an ion selective membrane to reduce the ionic content of the first stream 26 The desalination process of claim 24, wherein the stream of softened salt water is brine containing water produced by the desalination system, and wherein the brine containing water is selected from the group consisting of reject, blowdown and recycled brine AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 19 January 2001 (19.01.01); original claims 24 and 26 amended; other claims unchanged (2 pages)] 19. An improved desalination process to produce potable water which comprises: (a) passing a first stream of salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions through an ion selective membrane to form a softened salt water product having a reduced content of hardness ions, wherein the ion selective membrane is operated at variable pressure as a function of the cost of electricity; (b) blending the softened salt water with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions from a buffer system to form a feed to a desalination system; (c) introducing the feed from the buffer system to the desalination system to form a water product of potable quality, wherein the improvement comprises the operation of the ion selective membrane at a variable pressure as a function of the cost of electricity to form the softened salt water that is blended in variable proportions, to increase the top operating temperature of the desalination system and increase recovery of potable water, with the untreated salt water. 20. The desalination process according to claim 19, wherein the feed is passed through at least one desalination system selected from the group consisting of reverse osmosis, multistage flash distillation, multieffect distillation and vapor compression distillation. 21. The desalination process according to claim 19, wherein the ion selective membrane comprises a nanofiltration membrane softening system. 22. The desalination process according to claim 21, wherein the ion selective membrane is operated at a variable pressure of 5-80 bar. 23. The desalination process according to claim 19 and 22, wherein the ionic content and quantity of softened salt water varies with the operating pressure of the ion selective membrane. 24. An improved desalination process which comprises: (a) blending a first stream of softened water having a substantially reduced concentration of hardness ions with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions to form a feed to a desalination system, wherein the source of the first and second streams are different, and (b) passing the feed through the desalination system to form a water product of potable quality, wherein the improvement comprises the introduction of a feed of variable proportions of softened and untreated salt water to the desalination system to increase the top operating temperature of the system and increase recovery of potable water. 25. The desalination process of claim 24, wherein the stream of softened salt water is obtained by passing untreated salt water across an ion selective membrane to reduce the ionic content of the first stream. 26. The desalination process of claim 24, wherein the stream of softened salt water is brine containing water produced by the desalination system, and wherein the brine containing water is selected from the group consisting of reject, blowdown. distillate, and recycled brine. STATEMENT UNDER ARTICLE 19 Applicant respectfully submits this communication to amend the claims of the referenced application under Article 19. Two (2) replacement sheets are submitted as part of this communication to replace the corresponding sheets of claims filed with the original application. Claims 1-23 and 25 are unchanged. Claims 24 and 26 are replaced by amended claims 24 and 26, respectively. The differences between claims 24 and 26, as originally filed, and amended claims 24 and 26, respectively, are shown as follows (where underlining indicates text to be inserted): 24. An improved desalination process which comprises: (a) blending a first stream of softened salt water having a substantially reduced concentration of hardness ions with a second stream of untreated salt water containing a high concentration of hardness ions to form a feed to a desalination system, wherein the source of the first and second streams are different, and (b) passing the feed through the desalination system to form a water product of potable quality, wherein the improvement comprises the introduction of a feed of variable proportions of softened and untreated salt water to the desalination system to increase the top operating temperature of the system and increase recovery of potable water. 26 . The desalination process of claim 24, wherein the stream of softened salt water is brine containing water produced by the desalination system, and wherein the brine containing water is selected from the group consisting of reject, blowdown. distillate, and recycled brine.

Inventors: AWERBUCH LEON, AWERBUCH, LEON
Applicants: AWERBUCH LEON, L E T LEADING EDGE TECHNOLOGIE, AWERBUCH, LEON, L.E.T. LEADING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
Application year: 2000
Main classification: C02F1
IPC codes: B01D1, B01D3, B01D61, C02F1