Applications of the bittern produced using the evaporation process of the Floating Salt Farm.
A Floating Salt Farm is an offshore system which uses extracted seawater to produce crystallized salt and bittern with desired properties, such as mineral composition, through the evaporation process. This present application is regarding three different applications of the bittern produced using the Floating Salt Farm.
A method of generating electricity is by using osmotic power (or salinity gradient power). Osmotic power is the energy acquirable by using the osmotic pressure difference between two different types of water with different salinity levels, in which the energy is used to generate electricity. By traditional methods, two different types of water with different salinity levels are used: (1) seawater, which is extracted from the sea, and (2) freshwater, which can be extracted from rivers. Therefore, by traditional methods, osmotic power plants must be at locations where seawater and freshwater are readily available to be extracted, such as at river deltas, which are then used to generate electricity. However, by using the Floating Salt Farm jointly with an osmotic power (or salinity gradient power) plant, the osmotic power plant can be installed and used at any offshore location regardless whether there would be a freshwater source available to be used. The bittern produced using the Floating Salt Farm would be used instead to generate electricity with the osmotic power plant, in which the used bittern would be reliably and regularly delivered to the osmotic power plant from the Floating Salt Farm.
Conventionally, when ice and snow on the ground, such as on pavements in urban areas, need to be melted, salt brine and/or granular salt are applied to the ice and snow. However, by using salt brine or granular salt to melt the ice and snow, metals and other materials can react to the applied salt brine or granular salt, and undergo corrosion. To lessen the corrosion of metals and other materials when melting the ice and snow, bittern and/or crystallized salt produced from the Floating Salt Farm can be applied. The bittern and/or crystallized salt from the Floating Salt Farm would be produced to have suitable properties to lessen corrosion of metals and other materials when used to melt the ice and snow.
Halophytes, which are plants which use saline water, naturally grow near bodies of saline water, such as on the seaside. Halophytes grown in a halophyte farm, however, can be grown without being located near saline water sources because the halophytes are maintained by adjusting the saline soil to have the suitable salinity and properties. However, in a halophyte farm, where there may not be saline water sources readily available, bittern produced with the Floating Salt Farm can be used to maintain suitable conditions of the saline soil of the halophytes.
A Floating Salt Farm is an offshore system in which its purpose is to produce crystallized salt and bittern using the evaporation process. The Floating Salt Farm can be operated continuously at any time and at any location, in the condition that energy sources are reliably and regularly supplied. Different energy sources can be used in combination to supply the operating Floating Salt Farm with energy continuously. The extracted seawater, which is used to produce the crystallized salt and bittern with the Floating Salt Farm, can have properties, such as mineral composition, which have been affected by volcanic activities. Crystallized salt and bittern can also be produced with the Floating Salt Farm by using seawater extracted at various water depths, in which the extracted seawater can have suitable and/or desired mineral compositions. The properties of the produced crystallized salt and bittern, such as mineral composition, can also be affected by placing contents inside the evaporator tank of the Floating Salt Farm with the extracted seawater during the evaporation process. This present application is regarding three different applications of the bittern produced using the Floating Salt Farm.
An osmotic power (or salinity gradient power) plant can be used jointly with the Floating Salt Farm to generate electricity at any offshore location by using the bittern produced with the Floating Salt Farm and regardless whether there would be a freshwater source available to be used. To generate electricity using osmotic power (or salinity gradient power), two different types of water with different salinity levels are used. By traditional methods, an osmotic power plant uses (1) seawater, which is extracted from the sea, and (2) freshwater, which can be extracted from rivers, to generate electricity. However, for an osmotic power plant used jointly with the Floating Salt Farm, the two different types of water with different salinity levels used instead would be: (1) bittern, which is produced using the Floating Salt Farm and has a higher salinity level than the seawater used, and (2) seawater, which is extracted from the sea and has a lower salinity level than the bittern used. Therefore, by using the osmotic power plant jointly with the Floating Salt Farm, in place of using seawater and freshwater, bittern and seawater would be used instead. The salinity level of the bittern produced with the Floating Salt Farm to be used for the osmotic power plant, can be adjusted to have the desired salinity level. For osmotic power plants, the salinity level difference between the two different types of water used, determines the power output of the osmotic power plant. Therefore, by adjusting the salinity level of the bittern produced with the Floating Salt Farm, the power output of the osmotic power plant can be controlled.
When melting ice and snow on the ground, such as on pavements in urban areas, salt brine and/or granular salt are applied on the ice and snow. However, metals, such as steel, and other materials can react to the applied salt brine and/or granular salt and undergo corrosion. However, the corrosion of metals and other materials caused by salt brine and/or granular salt can be lessened by instead applying bittern and/or crystallized salt with suitable properties produced using the Floating Salt Farm. The bittern and/or crystallized salt would be produced by using seawater which has been affected by volcanic activities, in which the seawater would have a substantial amount of silica content (silicon dioxide). By using this affected seawater, bittern and/or crystallized salt which are high in silica content can be produced using the evaporation process of the Floating Salt Farm. The silica content of the produced bittern and/or crystallized salt to be used to melt ice and snow can lessen the corrosion of affected metals and other materials. Therefore, when melting the ice and snow on the ground, by using the bittern and/or crystallized salt which are both high in silica content, the corrosion of affected metals and other materials would be less compared to the corrosion caused by using conventional salt brine and/or granular salt.
Halophytes, plants which are grown on saline soil, naturally grow near bodies of saline water, such as on the seaside. However, in a halophyte farm, where there may not be saline water readily available for use, the soil conditions of the halophyte farm must be maintained to have suitable soil conditions for halophytes. In order to adjust the salinity of the soil of the halophyte farm, the produced bittern from the Floating Salt Farm can be delivered to the halophyte farm and applied accordingly to adjust the salinity of the saline soil. By using the produced bittern from the Floating Salt Farm instead of using saline water, which can be seawater, the volume of the produced bittern to be delivered to and used for the halophyte farm to adjust the salinity of the saline soil, would be much less because the salinity of the produced bittern is much higher than the salinity of seawater. The purpose of the produced bittern delivered to the halophyte farm is to maintain suitable conditions of saline soil of the halophytes. The produced bittern would have desired mineral compositions, in which the mineral composition of the bittern would influence the mineral composition of the saline soil of the halophyte farm.
Detailed embodiments of the invention can be illustrated using the accompanying drawings as reference.
A Floating Salt Farm is an offshore system in which its purpose is to produce crystallized salt and bittern through the evaporation process using extracted seawater.
The buoyant foundation 101 of the Floating Salt Farm must have sufficient buoyancy and be able to support the weight of the Floating Salt Farm components 201, as shown in
The Floating Salt Farm can be reinforced with offshore structures 103. At locations where the Floating Salt Farm cannot be reinforced with offshore structures 103, the Floating Salt Farm can be moved by towboat 301, as shown in
A method of generating electricity is by using osmotic power (or salinity gradient power). Osmotic power is the energy acquirable by using the osmotic pressure difference between two different types of water with different salinity levels, as shown in
An osmotic power (or salinity gradient power) plant 401 is a system which uses osmotic pressure difference to generate electricity. An osmotic power plant 401 can be used jointly with the Floating Salt Farm, as shown in
To generate electricity using the osmotic power plant 401 used jointly with the Floating Salt Farm, two different types of water with different salinity levels are used: (1) bittern, which is produced using the Floating Salt Farm and has a higher salinity level than the seawater used, and (2) seawater, which is extracted from the sea and has a lower salinity level than the bittern used. The bittern used for the osmotic power plant 401 is delivered from the Floating Salt Farm to the bittern supply tank 203 of the osmotic power plant 401 through the bittern tube 503, as shown in
Offshore wind turbines 501 can be used to supply electricity to power the Floating Salt Farm, as shown in
The osmotic power plant 401 can be used jointly with the Floating Salt Farm, in which the energy sources used to operate Floating Salt Farm are reliably and regularly supplied. These energy sources can also be jointly used to operate the osmotic power plant 401 and Floating Salt Farm continuously at any time, in the condition that energy sources are reliably and regularly supplied.
The bittern produced with the Floating Salt Farm is delivered to the osmotic power plant 401 through the bittern tube 503, which is connected between the Floating Salt Farm and the osmotic power plant 401, as shown in
An embodiment of the osmotic power plant 401 used jointly with the Floating Salt Farm, in which both are installed on a single buoyant foundation 101, is shown in
At locations where higher stability may be needed, such as at locations with recurring inclement weather conditions, the osmotic power plant 401 can be installed at a safe location, such as the harbor with a breakwater 204 as shown in
The buoyant foundation 101, in which the osmotic power plant 401 is installed onto, can be connected to an offshore structure 103, which is used to reinforce the buoyant foundation 101 of the osmotic power plant 401, as shown in
The buoyant foundation 101 of the osmotic power plant 401 can have an installed motor propeller component 304, as shown in
The bittern produced with the Floating Salt Farm, which is located offshore, can be reliably and continuously delivered through a transport vessel 302 to the osmotic power plant 401, which is installed onshore, as shown in
The seawater to be used for the Floating Salt Farm can be extracted at various water depths at a certain offshore location to extract seawater with desired mineral composition using a seawater extraction vessel 303, as shown in
The extracted seawater, in which has been affected by volcanic activities and used to produce crystallized salt and bittern with Floating Salt Farm, can have a substantial amount of silica content (silicon dioxide). The volcanic activities, in which have affected the seawater to be extracted and used for the evaporation process of the Floating Salt Farm, can be from underwater volcanoes 601, as shown in
The saline soil of the halophyte farm, as shown in
The salinity level and the silica content of the produced crystallized salt and bittern can be modified by adjusting the heating temperature and heating time of the evaporation process of the Floating Salt Farm accordingly. Another method to increase the salinity level and the silica content of the produced bittern can be by reusing the produced bittern for other additional and multiple evaporation process cycles of the Floating Salt Farm, in which, after each evaporation process cycle, additional extracted seawater and/or other previously produced bittern would be added to the evaporator tank 205, as shown in
The contents and properties, such as mineral composition, of the produced crystallized salt and bittern can be affected by placing contents inside the evaporator tank 205 of the Floating Salt Farm using the extracted seawater during the evaporation process. An embodiment of the evaporator tank 205, which has an evaporator plate component 206 installed, is shown in
The present application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/662,534, filed Oct. 28, 2012, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.