Patent Application
20210302090
The present invention relates to an adaptive vapor transfer pathway and its use in entrochemical systems.
Entrochemical systems are a class of semi-open systems through which solvent, normally water, flows. While multiple solvents may be used, for the purposes of this patent, entrochemical devices will be described using water, though it is understood that other solvents, such as alcohol, could easily be substituted for water. Entrochemical systems comprise two stages, which occur asynchronously but which work in concert to accomplish the movement of materials and energy via the increase and subsequent decrease of entropy in a solution. The first stage employs a movement of water from a solution containing relatively little or no dissolved solute into a solution containing a relatively larger amount of solute, though the two solutes need not be the same. A positive entropy change occurs when the water moves, making the process spontaneous.
The mechanism of the movement of water is evaporation from the lower concentration solution and subsequent condensation onto the higher concentration solution. This not only moves the water, but also the heat of vaporization. The process is made rapid by establishing a wet vacuum in the entire containing chamber. A wet vacuum is a vacuum state induced by removal of all the air in a container containing a solvent and replacement of the air with the vapor state of the solvent. In the event that the solutions involved contain dissolved air a vacuum might be needed to remove air that emerges during the process.
It is in this first stage that work is done. Work is done through two modalities. First, the elevated or lowered thermal gradient may be used to accomplish a task. Second, the movement of the fluid from one chamber to the next can be used to create movement in an apparatus which can transform the kinetic energy into another form. In the latter case, the work is limited by the entropy of mixing while the former is limited by the product of the heat of vaporization and the volume of the water transferred, less the entropy of mixing.
The second stage is the recharge stage. Similarly to the analogous situation in absorption refrigeration, the solution must be recharged once it has absorbed a significant amount of solvent. This recharge involves the movement of the absorbed solvent out of the solution. Differently from absorption refrigeration, the recharge is achieved by releasing the solvent from the apparatus, making this an open process, whereas absorption refrigeration is a closed system that recycles the water after removal from the desiccant. The movement of the water from the device re-concentrates the solution, re-enabling the first stage. Water is released from the solution, generally, but not necessarily through evaporation. If the water is evaporated, the energy used to achieve the evaporation can be, but doesn't have to be, environmental heat. Alternatively, the energy used to achieve the vaporization can be electricity, in which case the water transforms into hydrogen and oxygen gas, which is then removed from the solution.
The combined system therefore represents a practical way of using environmental thermal energy to drive work in the Stage 1 devices.
One of the interesting aspects of this kind of process is that the water, having evaporated from the less concentrated solution in Stage 1 devices, condenses on the high concentration solution and forms a relatively pure layer on top of the more concentrated solution. This layer determines the vapor pressure of the solution, and as it forms it raises the actual vapor pressure, reducing the equilibrium vapor pressure difference between the two solutions. This, in turn, reduces the rate at which the vapor moves between solutions, which reduces the thermal gradient and wattage. Eventually, the pressure difference becomes so small that the rate of transfer of solvent is so slow that the thermal gradient disappears.
In order to resolve this problem, Kazadi teaches in U.S. Pat. No. 9,702,573 that the higher concentration solution can be mixed. This effectively removes the low concentration layer, restoring functionality. A wide variety of mixing devices may be used, and Kazadi teaches that one may, among other methods, manually agitate the chamber or may use an embedded stirring rod. Another method of agitating the solution utilizes the airflow between the two water reservoirs itself. This elegant design uses the energy of the airflow itself to agitate the high concentration solution. A simple device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,702,573. This device comprises an elongated vapor transfer pathway between the less concentrated solution into the more concentrated solution in which the end of the pathway is situated below the surface of the concentrated solution. As the higher pressure vapor enters the chamber through the pathway it moves through the vapor transfer pathway below the surface of the high concentration solution, and forms water vapor bubbles in the high concentration solution at the end of the vapor transfer pathway. The movement of the bubbles then agitates and mixes the solution, effectively removing the low concentration layer. Of the options for mixing the liquid, the use of the vapor flow in generating mixing is the simplest system and likely has the lowest overall energy cost. Additionally, that energy is entirely provided by the moving vapor itself.
In any entrochemical stage 1 system, as the water is transferred from the low concentration solution to the higher concentration solution, the volumes of the solutions change. For entrochemical systems in which the vapor transfer pathway ends below the surface of the high concentration liquid, the pressure difference which must exist between the chambers is at least equal to ρgh where ρ is the density of the solution, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the depth of the vapor channel's end. As the volume of the water in the chamber changes, the depth of the vapor channel's end increases, and the requisite pressure difference increases as well. The rate of water vapor movement decreases, reducing the effective wattage of the device and the vapor's ability to mix the solution. Eventually, when enough liquid is transferred, the vapor no longer has sufficient pressure to enter the high concentration liquid and the device stops functioning.
Therefore it is advantageous to develop entrochemical stage one systems with at least one adaptive vapor transfer channel capable of automatically adjusting to the height of the liquid so as to maintain a relatively constant depth in the high concentration liquid.
Summary and Abstract summarize some aspects of the present invention. Simplifications or omissions may have been made to avoid obscuring the purpose of the Summary or the Abstract. These simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the invention, an entrochemical stage one system with an adjustable vapor transfer pathways is disclosed. The entrochemical stage one system with at least one adjustable vapor transfer pathway comprises one chamber containing a solution with a relatively low solute content, one chamber containing a solution with a relatively high solute content, and at least one vapor transfer pathway hermetically sealed between the two chambers, connecting the two chambers to one another, and which allows only vapor to pass into or out of the vapor transfer pathway. The part of the vapor transfer pathway contained within the chamber containing the solution with relatively high solute content largely comprises a vertically oriented assembly whose length is adjusted dynamically as a result of the variation of the height of the high concentration solution. The vapor transfer pathway further comprises an element that floats on or near the surface of the high concentration solution, and in so doing adjusts the height of the part of the vapor transfer pathways ending in the high concentration solution. This adjustment occurs in real time as the solution's height changes, enabling the vapor injection point to maintain its height at approximately the same depth.
In a second embodiment of the invention an entrochemical stage one device with an adjustable vapor transfer pathway is disclosed. The entrochemical stage one system with an adjustable vapor transfer pathways comprises one chamber containing a solution with a relatively low solute content, one chamber containing a solution with a relatively high solute content, and one vapor transfer pathway hermetically sealed between the two chambers, connecting the two chambers to one another, and which allows only vapor to pass into or out of the vapor transfer pathway. The adjustable vapor transfer pathway further comprises a static member that conducts vapor into the chamber with the high concentration solution and a second, movable member that is connected to the first using a swiveling connector capable of swiveling while maintaining a hermetic seal. An additional member attached to one end of the movable member floats at or near to the top of the high concentration solution. The flotation passively adjusts the height of the movable member of the vapor transfer pathway so that the point at which vapor enters the high concentration solution is maintained at a relatively constant point from the surface.
In a third embodiment of the invention an entrochemical stage one device with an actively managed vapor transfer pathway is disclosed. The entrochemical stage one system with an adjustable vapor transfer pathways comprises one chamber containing a solution with a relatively low solute content, one chamber containing a solution with a relatively high solute content, and one vapor transfer pathway hermetically sealed between the two chambers, connecting the two chambers to one another, and which allows only vapor to pass into or out of the vapor transfer pathway. The vapor transfer pathway further comprises an actuator, an injection height sensor, and a computer. The injection height sensor provides information about the height of the end of the vapor transfer pathway in the high concentration solution. The computer uses the sensor information to control the actuator. The actuator actively adjusts the height of the end of the vapor transfer pathway, controlling its depth in the high concentration solution.
Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. Like elements in the various figures are denoted by like reference numerals for consistency.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.
The detailed description is presented largely in terms of procedures, logic blocks, processing, and/or other symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble a novel water vapor injection system for stage 1 entrochemical systems. These process descriptions and representations are the means used by those experienced or skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.
Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the Specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, separate or alternative embodiments are not necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments.
One objective of a first embodiment of the present invention is to enable the injection of the vapor transferred from the chamber containing the low concentration solution to the chamber containing the high concentration solution in an entrochemical stage one device at or near a desired depth under the surface of the high concentration solution.
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A second embodiment of the current invention is illustrated in
A third embodiment of the current invention is illustrated in
While the invention has been described with respect to a single embodiment, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
