This invention relates to an integrated
system for demineralizing and / or purifying water and simultaneously generating
hydrogen, comprising a heat dissipation element thermally connected to the
system for demineralizing and / or purifying water, which is hydraulically connected to an electrochemical unit for generating
hydrogen. The
system for demineralizing and / or purifying water operates on the principle of thermal
distillation via a membrane and includes at least two units, each unit comprising a first chamber and a second chamber.
Wastewater to be demineralized and / or purified flows under pressure in the first chamber, and demineralized and / or
purified water flows under pressure in the second chamber in the opposite direction to the flow of the
wastewater. The two chambers are separated by a preferably microporous hydrophobic membrane. The at least two units are placed in a thermally series and hydraulically parallel manner, with
continuous flow, wherein each unit is hydraulically connected. The system includes a
wastewater source and a demineralized and / or
purified water source. Specifically, each first chamber includes an inlet hydraulically connected to the
wastewater source for introducing wastewater into the first chamber, and each second chamber includes an inlet hydraulically connected to the demineralized and / or
purified water source for introducing demineralized and / or purified water into the second chamber. The first chamber also includes an outlet for discharging wastewater from the first chamber, and the second chamber also includes an outlet for discharging demineralized and / or purified water from the second chamber. Within each unit, the first chamber and the second chamber are spatially opposite each other, thus forming a first region and a second region spatially opposite to the first region in the unit. In the first region, the outlet of the second chamber is located near the inlet of the first chamber, and in the second region, the inlet of the second chamber is located near the outlet of the first chamber.