40 results about "Reversed electrodialysis" patented technology

Systems and methods for microbial processes of generating products such as electrical power, hydrogen gas and methane, are provided according to aspects of the present invention which include a reaction chamber having a wall defining an interior of the reaction chamber and an exterior of the reaction chamber; an anode at least partially contained within an anode compartment of the reaction chamber; a plurality of exoelectrogenic microorganisms disposed in the anode compartment; a cathode at least partially contained within a cathode compartment of the reaction chamber; a conductive conduit for electrons in electrical communication with the anode and the cathode; and a reverse electrodialysis stack comprising a plurality of plurality of alternating anion selective barriers and cation selective barriers disposed between the anode and the cathode defining one or more saline material compartments and one or more lower-saline material compartments.

A system combines reverse electrodialysis and electrolysis to produce hydrogen gas from the controlled mixing of fresh and salt water. A battery stack is formed of alternating membranes of selectively cation-permeable and anion-permeable membranes. Alternating solutions of fresh and salt water flow between the alternating membrane types, causing cations to flow in one direction and anions in the opposite direction, generating a current and cumulative voltage through the stack—this is reverse electrodialysis. The ends of the stack are terminated in electrodes which are shorted together. A recirculating reagent solution flows back and forth between the cells adjacent to the end electrodes, promoting a hydrogen-producing electrolysis and avoiding generation of unwanted chemicals, for example, chlorine. Alterations in the reagent can cause production of antimicrobial compounds for cleansing the membranes. Periodic polarity reversals reduce membrane scale buildup and enhance efficiency.

A system or methodology for converting thermal energy obtained from solar thermal, photovoltaic, geothermal or industrial waste heat into electrical power is disclosed. The energy efficient way of transferring two steams of liquid solutions containing different concentrations of ionic species is disclosed. The combination of thermal gradient in addition to concentration gradient to improve efficiency, reduce or avoid fouling is disclosed. This invention describes a method of efficient ion migration from concentrated stream to dilute stream thereby improving DC power generation process. The utilization of solar thermal energy from solar collector or concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) generator system or solar thermal power generation (CSP) system provides the additional driving force for ions transport from concentrated stream to dilute stream, apart from the concentration grading to generating power. The thermal power is also used to bring back the diluted steam to original concentration in the reverse Electro dialysis system. The utilization of CPV process heat or solar or waste heat for bringing back the dilute stream into the concentrated stream for next operation of ions gradient power generation is also disclosed in this invention.

The invention provides equipment for directly producing hydrogen through osmotic energy and a use method for the equipment. Specifically, the equipment for directly producing the hydrogen through the osmotic energy comprises a reverse electrodialysis device, an anolyte storage tank, a catholyte storage tank, a concentrated solution storage tank and a diluted solution storage tank. According to the technical scheme, under the circumstance that a power source is not added externally, potential energy difference of saline solutions with different concentrations is used, an alkaline electrolyte and an acidic electrolyte are adopted in an anode chamber and a cathode chamber on the two sides of the reverse electrodialysis device correspondingly, hydrolysis half-reaction occurs on an electrode of the reverse electrodialysis device directly, the hydrogen and oxygen are generated, and the gases are separated on line through a gas-liquid separation system. Through the equipment and the use method, energy consumption of hydrolysis hydrogen production can be lowered, the electrode stability is improved, the process is simple, externally added energy is not needed, pollution is avoided, and hydrogen production efficiency is high.

Disclosed are membranes and processes for preparing membranes having weakly acidic or weakly basic groups comprising the steps of: (i)applying a curable composition to a support; (ii)curing the composition for less than 30 seconds to form a membrane; and (iii)optionally removing the membrane from the support; wherein the curable composition comprises a crosslinking agent having at least two acrylic groups. The membranes are particularly useful for producing electricity by reverse electrodialysis.

A system or methodology for converting thermal energy obtained from solar thermal, photovoltaic, geothermal or industrial waste heat into electrical power is disclosed. The energy efficient way of transferring two steams of liquid solutions containing different concentrations of ionic species is disclosed. The combination of thermal gradient in addition to concentration gradient to improve efficiency, reduce or avoid fouling is disclosed. This invention describes a method of efficient ion migration from concentrated stream to dilute stream thereby improving DC power generation process. The utilization of solar thermal energy from solar collector or concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) generator system or solar thermal power generation (CSP) system provides the additional driving force for ions transport from concentrated stream to dilute stream, apart from the concentration grading to generating power. The thermal power is also used to bring back the diluted steam to original concentration in the reverse Electro dialysis system. The utilization of CPV process heat or solar or waste heat for bringing back the dilute stream into the concentrated stream for next operation of ions gradient power generation is also disclosed in this invention.

The invention provides a closed type reverse electrodialysis generation device based on asymmetric ion exchange membranes. A reverse electrodialysis module of the generation device comprises asymmetric zwitterion exchange membranes in alternative arrangement, the diffusion of the ion is convenient, the thickness of the membrane layer is comparatively small at the same time, so that the membrane resistance is effectively reduced; secondly, by adopting the carbon nano-tube / lithium manganate electrode which is free from combining with the cathode and anode chambers, a salinity gradient generationdevice is simplified; furthermore, the device further performs heat exchange process in the system while utilizing the waste heat, and the energy is saved when the waste heat is converted into the electric energy; the working liquid is recycled in the whole generation process, the consumption of the salt and the water is greatly saved. The generation method based on the generation device has theadvantages of being small in membrane resistance, small in concentration polarization phenomenon, and high in generation efficiency. Numerous problems in the prior art are solved, and the method and device have good application prospect in the salinity gradient generation field.

A method of making a monomer solution of styrene sulfonic acid or the pyridine salt of styrene sulfonic acid or mixtures of both in an organic solvent, said solution being suitable for producing cation exchange membranes. The method comprises the steps of dissolving a metal salt of styrene sulfonate in said organic solvent and pyridinium styrene sulfonate. The mixture solution is reacted under conditions that generate a salt byproduct precipitate and the reactant product solution is collected. Embodiments of the present invention provide for cation exchange membranes and processes for their manufacture. Membranes made by the processes described herein combine low resistance and high permselectivity which make them highly effective for membrane components in desalination of water by electrodialysis (ED), as a power generating sources in reverse electrodialysis and as separators in fuels cells.

The invention discloses cold and heat energy storing and conversion system and method. With the adoption of the cold and heat energy storing and conversion system and method, electricity energy, heat energy and other surplus energy are stored, converted or transported in a form of aqueous solutions of LiBr, LiCl and Ca2Cl or a mixed solution of two or three of LiBr, LiCl and Ca2Cl; in case of need, the mechanical energy and electricity energy can be output through single-stage or multi-stage series-connected retarded osmosis or the electricity output can be output through reverse electrodialysis according to the osmotic pressure principle, or the mechanical energy and the electricity can be output to heat or cool a building or technically process and heat in a form of heat energy or cold energy under the water evaporating effect and the effect that thick solutions absorbs the water vapor.

The invention provides an application of an MXene membrane in reverse electrodialysis power generation, and the MXene membrane has a two-dimensional layered structure, wherein the thickness of the MXene membrane is 1-30 microns, and the single-layer spacing is 0.1-0.5nm. When the MXene membrane is applied in reverse electrodialysis power generation, a power generation system with higher membrane conductivity, stronger ion conductivity, larger ion exchange capacity, lower membrane resistance and stronger ion selectivity can be obtained, so that higher power generation efficiency is provided, and the maintenance time is long. Moreover, the MXene membrane is applied in the reverse electrodialysis power generation process, so the concentration and pH range of the concentrated salt solution andthe dilute salt solution can be expanded, high power generation efficiency can be ensured in the environments with small concentration difference, acidity and alkalinity, and the MXene membrane has agood application prospect in the field of reverse electrodialysis.

The invention discloses application of an ultrathin silicon nitride nanopore membrane in reverse electrodialysis power generation and a device. In the reverse electrodialysis power generation process,a high-concentration salt solution and a low-concentration salt solution form a concentration difference, so the cations in a high-concentration salt solution migrate into the low-concentration saltsolution through nanopores in a silicon nitride nanopore membrane by utilizing the cation selectivity of the silicon nitride nanopore membrane, and the cations directionally move to form an internal current; residual anions in the high-concentration saline solution are enriched on the surface of the anode electrode, the anode electrode and the anions are subjected to an oxidation reaction to loseelectrons, the electrons flow to the cathode electrode on the low-concentration saline solution side through an external circuit, and the cathode electrode obtains the electrons to be subjected to a reduction reaction to form a loop. According to the invention, the thickness and aperture of the silicon nitride film are selected from three aspects of ion selection performance, mechanical performance and processing difficulty of the ultrathin silicon nitride nanopore film, and high power generation efficiency can be obtained when the ultrathin silicon nitride nanopore film is applied to reverseelectrodialysis power generation.

The invention relates to a continuous salinity gradient power generation device. The device comprises a dilution device, a reverse electrodialyzer, a forward osmosis device, a concentrated salt liquid tank and a light salt liquid tank; the concentrated salt solution tank contains a concentrated salt solution, the light salt solution tank contains a light salt solution, and the concentration of the concentrated salt solution is greater than that of the light salt solution; the reverse electrodialyzer is provided with a cathode and an anode, and a cation exchange membrane, an anion exchange membrane, a thick liquid chamber and a thin liquid chamber are alternately arranged between the cathode and the anode; a potential difference is formed between the cathode and the anode of the reverse electrodialyzer; the concentrated salt solution circulates between a concentrated solution chamber and a concentrated salt solution tank of the reverse electrodialyzer, the light salt solution circulates between a light solution chamber and a light salt solution tank of the reverse electrodialyzer, the dilution device provides a diluent to maintain the light salt solution at a low concentration, the forward osmosis device provides a concentration effect to maintain the concentrated salt solution at a high concentration, and part of the light salt solution is concentrated and then is used for supplementing the strong salt solution. The device disclosed by the invention can realize cyclic continuous power generation by utilizing the salt concentration difference and has the characteristic of high power generation efficiency.

An ionic air cooling device comprising a salinity differential heat engine using a heat pump as the primary heat source and the mechanism by which the temperature differential is achieved. A closed loop thermodynamic cycle which produces a high thermodynamic efficiency in heat to energy conversion with a low temperature differential between the high and low sides, in addition to a net ambient temperature cooling effect by directly or indirectly converting ambient temperature / environmental low grade heat to electricity or potential kinetic energy or mechanical work. An ionic air cooling device which uses a salinity differential heat engine in which the heat energy can be converted to kinetic or electrical energy by means of pressure retarded osmosis, pressurized gas through volume confinement, or reversed electro dialysis.

The invention relates to a continuous salt difference power generation device, which includes a dilution device, a reverse electrodialyzer, a forward osmosis device, a concentrated salt liquid tank and a light salt liquid tank; the concentrated salt liquid tank contains the concentrated salt liquid, and the light salt liquid tank contains Light salt solution, the concentration of the concentrated salt solution is greater than that of the light salt solution; the reverse electrodialyzer is provided with a cathode and an anode, and between the cathode and the anode are alternately arranged cation exchange membranes and anion exchange membranes and alternately distributed concentrated solution chambers and Dilute liquid chamber; a potential difference is formed between the cathode and anode of the reverse electrodialyzer; the concentrated salt solution circulates between the concentrated liquid chamber of the reverse electrodialyzer and the concentrated salt liquid tank, and the light salt solution is circulated in the reverse electrodialyzer Circulation between the light liquid chamber and the light salt liquid tank, the dilution device provides diluent to maintain the light salt solution at a low concentration, the forward osmosis device provides concentration to maintain the concentrated salt solution at a high concentration, and concentrates part of the light salt solution Used to replenish concentrated brine. The device of the invention can utilize the salt concentration difference to realize cycle continuous power generation, and has the characteristics of high power generation efficiency.

The invention provides a nano fluid power generation method, an electrolytic tank device and a nano porous membrane; the method comprises the following steps: 1, the nano porous membrane is prepared;2, the nano porous membrane prepared in the step 1 is fixed at the openings of two tank shells, wherein the tank shells have openings in the middle positions of the side surfaces, the two tank shellsare connected, an electrolyte solution and a colloidal solution are added into the tank shell on one side, and equal amount of pure water is added into the tank shell on the other side; and 3, same kinds of Ag / AgCl electrodes are placed on the left and right sides of the tank shells, a voltage source and an ampere meter are connected, and an external voltage is applied to form the electrolytic tank device for reverse electrodialysis. The nano fluid power generation efficiency is regulated and controlled based on the ion selective transmission mechanism of the colloidal particles and the nano porous membrane; and the advantages of being low in environmental pollution, low in production cost, high in application value, high in practicability and wide in application range can be achieved.

The invention discloses a method for power generation by utilizing low-temperature waste heat and a special device for the method. The device comprises a reverse electrodialysis (RED) module, a distillation column and a heat exchanger, wherein an ammonium bicarbonate solution serves as a working liquid. A concentrated ammonium bicarbonate solution and a diluted ammonium bicarbonate solution respectively flow into a concentrated solution chamber and a diluted solution chamber of the RED module, and anions and cations migrate under the pushing of a concentration difference to realize power generation. Effluent of the diluted ammonium bicarbonate solution flows into the distillation column, and added ammonium bicarbonate is separated and introduced into effluent of the concentrated ammonium bicarbonate solution in the forms of ammonia and carbon dioxide to realize the regeneration of the ammonium bicarbonate solution. The regenerated diluted ammonium bicarbonate solution is cooled and then flows back to the RED module along with the regenerated concentrated ammonium bicarbonate solution so as to complete a power generation cycle. The method disclosed by the invention has the advantages that energy efficiency is not limited by the temperature of a heat source, and the method is particularly suitable for recycling the low-temperature waste heat; meanwhile, water consumption is low and the application region is wide; and in addition, the power generation cost is low, and a process is simple and is easy to operate.

Disclosed is an energy self-sufficient real time bio-signal monitoring and nutrient and / or drug delivery system based on salinity gradient power generation. The energy self-sufficient real time bio-signal monitoring and / or nutrient delivery system based on salinity gradient power generation includes: an electricity generation and nutrient and / or drug delivery module including a reverse electrodialysis device which generates electricity by using a nutrient and / or drug solution and discharge a diluted nutrient solution; and a bio-signal measuring unit inserted into the electricity generation and nutrient and / or drug delivery module and configured to receive electricity from the electricity generation and nutrient and / or drug delivery module and measure a bio-signal.

In a complex system including a desalination plant and a reverse electrodialysis equipment, a concentrated sea water discharged from the desalination plant having a salt concentration of about 50 to 75 g / L or about 50 to 60 g / L is provided as a high-concentration salt solution of the reverse electrodialysis equipment while low salinity water having a salt concentration of about 0.01 to 2 g / L, most preferably about 0.01 to 1 g / L, is provided as a low-concentration salt solution of the reverse electrodialysis equipment. Thereby, a recycling degree of a concentrated sea water may be enhanced as well as a power density produced by the complex system is significantly improved.

A reverse electrodialysis device, including an anode, a cathode, one or more single cells spaced apart from each other between the anode and the cathode, each single cell including a cation exchange membrane and an anion exchange membrane, and a shielding membrane disposed to define spaces between the anode and the single cell and / or between the cathode and the single cell. The cation exchange membrane and the shielding membrane include a porous polymer substrate and a polymer electrolyte incorporated into pores in the substrate.

A curable composition comprising the components (i) 0 to 60 wt% non-ionic crosslinker(s); (ii) 20 to 85 wt% curable ionic compound(s) comprising an anionic group and at least one ethylenically unsaturated group; (iii) 15 to 45 wt% solvent(s); (iv) 0 to 10 wt% of photoinitiator(s); and (v) 2 to 45 wt% of structure modifier(s); wherein the molar ratio of component (v) : (ii) is 0.25 to 0.65. The compositions are useful for preparing membranes for (reverse) electrodialysis.

The invention relates to a system and method for clean energy seawater desalination coupled with a salinity gradient energy power generation device, the system mainly comprises a power supply system module, a seawater desalination module and a salinity gradient energy power generation module, seawater desalination is completed by using a reverse osmosis technology, and power generation is carried out by using salinity gradient energy. Stable clean energy is used for reverse osmosis membrane method sea water desalination, meanwhile, high-salinity byproducts generated by sea water desalination are consumed through reverse electrodialysis salinity difference energy power generation, the environmental protection property of the whole sea water desalination process is improved, energy consumption is reduced, carbon emission is reduced, and economic benefits of sea water treatment are improved.

The present invention relates to a reverse electrodialysis coupled photocatalytic reactor, which comprises an anode chamber unit, a cathode chamber unit and a membrane stack unit, wherein the membranestack unit is fixed between the anode chamber unit and the cathode chamber unit through a screw. According to the present invention, with the reverse electrodialysis coupled photocatalytic reactor, the salt difference energy and the photocatalysis can be effectively compounded, the salt difference energy between concentrated ammonium hydrogen carbonate and diluent ammonium hydrogen carbonate is collected by the membrane stack unit formed by stacking the anion exchange membrane and the cation exchange membrane, and the generated electric energy is used as the bias voltage of the photocatalyticelectrode, wherein the ammonium hydrogen carbonate solution is easily decomposed due to being heating, such that the ammonium hydrogen carbonate solution can be extracted by using industrial waste heat so as to achieve recycling.

The invention relates to an iontophoresis device adopting an efficient environment-friendly biocompatible ion battery, in particular to an efficient environment-friendly biocompatible iontophoresis device driven by a reverse electrodialysis ion battery, which is made of substances, such as sediments, gas or non-ionidizable substances in water solution, formed through a reaction..