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EP-3706885-B1 - FLOW CONTROL IN LARGE-NUMBERED, SERIES-COUPLED VESSELS OF REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEMS

EP3706885B1EP 3706885 B1EP3706885 B1EP 3706885B1EP-3706885-B1

Inventors

  • MCGOVERN, RONAN K.
  • CONNORS, Grace
  • HEMMERT, Dana
  • WEINER, ADAM
  • PRATO, Thomas

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20181106

Claims (11)

  1. A reverse osmosis filtration system configured to filter ethanol from alcoholic beverages, the system comprising: a set of at least five reverse osmosis pressure vessels (505a, 505b, 505c, 505d, 505e, 505f), each vessel having a feed inlet (509), a retentate outlet (512), and a permeate outlet (511), the vessels being coupled so that each successive vessel has (a) its feed inlet coupled (512) to the retentate outlet of its preceding vessel and (b) its permeate outlet coupled (511) to the permeate outlet of its preceding vessel, wherein each pressure vessel (505x) includes an inner shell (701) having an outer surface and a thermal insulation layer (404, 702) having an R- value of 0.1 and 5 m 2 K/W and being disposed on the outer surface (701b) of the inner shell (701).
  2. A filtration system according to claim 1, wherein the permeate outlet of a last vessel in the set is also coupled to the feed inlet of a first vessel in the set to provide a recycling flow path.
  3. A filtration system according to any one of claims 1 through 2, further comprising a first pass (500a, 602a) having a first stage reverse osmosis unit (302) and second stage reverse osmosis unit (303), wherein the set of at least five pressure vessels is distributed between the first and second stage reverse osmosis units.
  4. A filtration system according to any one of claims 1 through 3, wherein the feed inlet of a first one of the set of at least five pressure vessels is coupled to a high-pressure pump (301, 402, 503).
  5. A filtration system according to claim 4, wherein an inlet of the high-pressure pump is coupled to a heat exchanger (401, 502).
  6. A filtration system according to claim 5, wherein an inlet of the heat exchanger is coupled to a low-pressure pump.
  7. A filtration system according to any one of claims 1 through 6, wherein the permeate outlet of a first one of the set of at least five pressure vessel is coupled to a high-pressure pump (530).
  8. A filtration system according to claim 7, wherein the pump (530) is coupled to an inlet of one of an additional set of reverse osmosis pressure vessels (505g, 505h, 505i), each of the vessels of the additional set being coupled in series with one another so that each successive vessel has (a) its feed inlet coupled to the retentate outlet of its preceding vessel and (b) its permeate outlet coupled to the permeate outlet of its preceding vessel.
  9. A filtration system according to any one of claims 1 through 8, further comprising a set of cleaning inlets coupled to a cleaning tank, each cleaning inlet coupled in parallel to a feed inlet or retentate outlet of a first end of a corresponding one of the set of pressure vessels, or a set of cleaning outlets, each cleaning outlet coupled in parallel to a feed inlet or retentate outlet of a second end of a corresponding one of the set of pressure vessels, or a low-pressure pump (523) coupled to the set of cleaning inlets.
  10. A filtration system according to any one of claims 1 through 9 further comprising at least one back-flow preventor configured to prevent a reverse surge of permeate through the one or more reverse osmosis membrane elements.
  11. A filtration system according to any one of claims 1 through 10, wherein the inner shell of each reverse osmosis pressure vessel is a fiberglass shell (701), the fiberglass shell having a first end, a second end, a middle portion disposed between the first and second ends, and a cylindrical volume (704) within its interior configured to hold one or more reverse osmosis membrane elements; wherein the insulation layer (702) is disposed on the outer surface (701b) of the fiberglass shell in the middle portion; and each reverse osmosis pressure vessel includes a sealant layer (703) disposed on an outer surface of the insulation layer and disposed on the first end and the second end of the fiberglass shell.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to flow control in reverse osmosis systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for flow control in large-numbered, series-coupled vessels of reverse osmosis systems, as well as to reverse osmosis pressure vessels having integrated insulation for use in such systems. Technical Field Alcoholic beverages can be manufactured by means of reverse osmosis and IL67072A shows an example of a known technology. However, there is still need for improvements in the field. Summary of the Embodiments In accordance with the invention as defined in the claims, a reverse osmosis filtration system, which is configured to filter ethanol from alcoholic beverages, includes a set of at least five reverse osmosis pressure vessels, each vessel having a feed inlet, a retentate outlet, and a permeate outlet, the vessels being coupled so that each successive vessel has (a) its feed inlet coupled to the retentate outlet of its preceding vessel and (b) its permeate outlet coupled to the permeate outlet of its preceding vessel, wherein each pressure vessel includes an inner shell having an outer surface and a thermal insulation with an R-value of 0.1 and 5 m2 K/W layer disposed on the outer surface of the inner shell. In a related embodiment, the permeate outlet of a last vessel in the set is also coupled to the feed inlet of a first vessel in the set to provide a recycling flow path. Optionally, the system includes a first pass unit having a first stage unit and second stage unit, wherein the set of at least five filtration vessels is distributed between the first and second stage units. Optionally, the feed inlet of a first one of the set of at least five pressure vessels is coupled to a high-pressure pump. In another related embodiment, the permeate outlet is a front permeate outlet and the vessel also has a back permeate outlet and wherein the back permeate outlet of one vessel is coupled to the front permeate outlet of a successive vessel. In another related embodiment, an inlet of the high-pressure pump is coupled to a heat exchanger. Optionally, an inlet of the heat exchanger is coupled to a low-pressure pump. Optionally, the permeate outlet of a first one of the set of at least five filtration vessels is coupled to a high-pressure pump. In yet another related embodiment, the pump is coupled to an inlet of one of an additional set of reverse osmosis pressure vessels, each of vessels of the additional set being coupled in series with one another. In another related embodiment, the system includes a set of cleaning inlets coupled to a cleaning tank, each cleaning inlet coupled in parallel to a feed inlet or retentate outlet of a first end of a corresponding one of the set of pressure vessels. Optionally, the system includes a set of cleaning outlets, each cleaning outlet coupled in parallel to a feed inlet or retentate outlet of a second end of a corresponding one of the set of pressure vessels. Optionally, the system includes a low-pressure pump coupled to set of cleaning inlets. In yet another related embodiment, a permeate outlet of an intermediate one of the set of at least five pressure vessels is coupled to the feed inlet of a first one of the set of at least five pressure vessels. Optionally, the set includes up to 25 reverse osmosis pressure vessels. Optionally, each vessel has one to eight reverse osmosis membrane elements. In yet another related embodiment, each pressure vessel has three or four reverse osmosis membrane elements. In another related embodiment, the filtration system includes at least one back-flow preventor configured to prevent a reverse surge of permeate through the one or more reverse osmosis membrane elements. Optionally, each reverse osmosis membrane element is spiral wound. Optionally, each reverse osmosis membrane element is 37 inches (94 cm) to 43 inches (109 cm) in length. Optionally, the filtration system is configured to filter ethanol from alcoholic beverages. In a further embodiment, the inner shell of each reverse osmosis pressure vessel is a fiberglass shell, the fiberglass shell having a first end, a second end, a middle portion disposed between the first and second ends, an inner surface having a surface roughness value Ra ranging from about 0.38 µm to about 0.82 µm, and a cylindrical volume within its interior configured to hold one or more reverse osmosis membrane elements; wherein the insulation layer is disposed on the outer surface of the fiberglass shell in the middle portion; and each reverse osmosis pressure vessel includes a sealant layer disposed on an outer surface of the insulation layer and disposed on the first end and the second end of the fiberglass shell. In another embodiment, there is provided a cleanable pressure vessel configured to hold one or more reverse osmosis membrane elements; in this embodiment, the pressure vessel includes a fiberglass shell having a first end, a second end, a middle portion disposed betwe