Patent ID: 8500960

Claim:
A desalinization system comprising a membrane assembly disposed between a flow of a first material having a first temperature and comprising a high-dipole moment liquid and a plurality of dissolved ions and a flow of a second material having a second temperature, the second temperature being lower than the first temperature, the membrane assembly comprising a membrane coupled to a support, the membrane being in contact with the flow of the first material and the support being in contact with the flow of the second material, the membrane assembly being configured to allow at least a portion of the high-dipole moment first material to pass through the membrane assembly into the second material, wherein the membrane assembly comprises a non-porous selective transfer membrane comprising ionomeric polymer domains, the membrane permeable to high dipole materials while precluding passage of dissolved ions through the membrane assembly, wherein when the high-dipole moment liquid joins with the second material, the high-dipole moment liquid transfers thermal energy to the second material increasing the second temperature, the system further comprising: a heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a portion of the thermal energy transferred to the second material to a portion of the flow of the first material before the portion of the flow of the first material contacts the membrane.