Patent ID: 8491795

Claim:
A method, comprising: directing the seawater into an osmotic chamber; allowing osmosis of water molecules through a membrane located between the seawater and a concentrated ammonia solution in the osmotic chamber, wherein the concentrated ammonia solution is converted to a diluted solution during the osmosis step; adjusting the pH of the diluted solution to around 11.5; removing some ammonia from the diluted solution using at least one vacuum stripping chamber; removing additional ammonia using a nanofilter configured to separate a concentrate and a permeate, the nanofilter having a high rejection rate of concentrated solutions comprising ionic ammonia species and another high rejection rate of concentrated solutions comprising nonionic ammonia species; adjusting the pH of the permeate to approximately neutral pH after nanofiltration; removing some remaining ammonia from the permeate using at least one ion-exchange column after the nanofiltration; and removing additional remaining ammonia from the diluted solution using breakpoint chlorination after ion exchange, wherein the method is performed at a temperature above freezing without a need for heating or cooling.