WO2008031904A1

WO2008031904A1 - Environmental desalination plants

Info

Publication number: WO2008031904A1
Application number: PCT/ES2007/000511
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fernando Ruiz Del Olmo
Original assignee: Prextor Systems, S.L.
Priority date: 2006-09-11
Filing date: 2007-09-10
Publication date: 2008-03-20

Abstract

The invention relates to environmental desalination plants. The inventive environmental desalination plants are essentially based on the use of renewable energies for operation and aim to produce zero brine discharge into the sea. For this purpose, the plants make use of PREXTOR systems for harnessing energy from renewable energy sources and/or wind compressors or pumps as well as systems for treating brine originating from reverse osmosis filters, involving pre-hyperconcentration of the brine, evaporation, distillation and/or freezing. Said plants can be converted into electric power stations. In addition, when submarine gas batteries are used differences in sea level caused by the tides can be used to obtain extra energy which transforms the submarine batteries into a unique electric power system enabling same to be used for said purpose even independently of the seawater desalination application.

Description

'ENVIRONMENTAL DESALATING PLANTS'

b. Sector of the technique referred to in the invention

The invention falls within the framework of hydraulics and thermodynamics, in particular in the field of desalination of seawater, even though its applications cover many other fields, such as energy storage, energy use of sea waves , of the differences in sea level produced by the tides or of the force of the wind, as well as the regulation of the electrical energy.

The new technology developed and described in this document includes innovative energy storage systems, as well as innovative systems of energy use of sea waves, differences, sea level produced by the tides or wind force based in the technologies of pressure exchangers of split-chambers (IPCD's), whose international patent application PCT / ES2007 / 000346 is being processed, and of balancing valves for flow distribution, whose invention patent application No. P200700797 is also It is being processed, both patents being inventions of the principal author of this invention. C. State of the art

Desalination of sea or brackish water

There are currently various methods of desalination of seawater

6 brackish, among which we can mention the reverse osmosis, the distillation,

The freezing, the lightning evaporation and the formation of hydrates. Of all of them, the technology that is currently being developed is reverse osmosis.

Reverse osmosis consists in subjecting salt water, once pre-harvested, to a pressure higher than its osmotic pressure. When the water enters in these circumstances in contact with a semipermeable membrane, the phenomenon of the reverse osmosis occurs, that is, that the water (fresh water) leaves the saline solution (salt water) and transfers the membrane, leaving a solution more concentrated salt water (brine).

The osmotic pressure of! salt water increases with the temperature and with the concentration of the solution. It is in any case high pressures that involve a very high consumption of electrical energy.

Since the brine leaves the reverse osmosis filters with a fairly high pressure, there are recovery systems for this energy. Pressure exchangers are currently being used more and more. In the document of international patent application PCT / ES2007 / 000346 to which reference has been made, the pressure exchangers of unfolded chambers and some of their applications to desalination are presented.

. On the other hand, there are currently some designs of desalination plants by evaporation of seawater that use solar energy for heating.

The systems of energy use of sea waves

Numerous studies and patents have been developed on this subject, and there are even some plants already in operation, usually for electric power generation, but mostly at the experimental level. It _is. You can say without risk to be mistaken that it is a technical sector in full boil at the moment, since the potential of obtainable energy, you leave them is very important, especially in certain areas of! planet.

The systems of energy use of the differences in sea level produced by the tides

Likewise, numerous studies and patents on this subject have also been developed, and there are even some plants already in operation. The technology that has been most developed consists in the creation of a dike, normally taking advantage to close an existing fall while at tide it goes up or down, opening and closing floodgates at high tide and at low tide to fill and drain the created enclosure between the cove and the dike. The turbines take advantage of the unevenness created to generate. Energy electric

The generation of electrical energy from the force of the wind

Wind turbines have developed enormously in recent times, and consist of a tower that has the rotor at its top • with blades that - are moved by ^• the wind, - the generator and the multiplier.

Hydraulic turbines

Hydraulic turbines are devices that generate electrical energy from the hydraulic energy available in a fluid.

electrochemical batteries

>. »,. They are ... electrochemical devices that store energy in chemical form. To do this, they previously need to be charged from an electric current. Once charged, they keep stored the energy that has been applied to them and then download it again when connected again to an electrical circuit.

Therefore, current batteries are charged with electric power, which has previously been generated with any of the technologies currently available.

Reversible pumping stations

The production of electricity comes from a high percentage of plants that necessarily produce electricity from. shape continued, as is the case of thermal power plants, or at times that cannot be controlled, as is the case of wind-generating plants, since they generate electricity when there is wind.

Obviously, the demand for electrical energy is not continuous over time, there being a huge decrease in it at night. That is why reversible pumping plants are built, which consist of pumping water at night through a forced pipe to a certain height, with the consequent consumption of electrical energy, leaving it stored until the next day, and then turbinating it, generating Ia consequent electrical energy. In this way, better regulation is achieved, adjusting to a greater extent the production of electrical energy to the demand.

Reversible pumping plants are currently the most commonly used system to store energy on a large scale.

The use of a gas under pressure as a means of energy storage

There is another feasible way to store energy on a large scale, and it is using the energy to compress a gas inside a pressure tank, then leaving it closed until the energy is needed again, at which time the tank is opened. new and the gas inside is turbined.

However, this system has major drawbacks against it:

- the construction of a large tank of storage, whose walls have to be able to withstand the pressure of the gas inside, and this requires high thicknesses of steel or high resistance maíerial eíros with significant economic costs

- the gases undergo significant heating when compressed, which means that, if they are to be stored after compression, it is necessary to thermally isolate the storage tank, which again implies high economic costs

Due to these inconveniences, the storage of pressurized gas is used only at an industrial level for certain applications, but it has not been used until now as a system for regulating large-scale electrical energy more than in those places where it is available from an abandoned mine or natural caverns for gas storage, which may be able to withstand gas pressure and maintain acceptable thermal insulation. This is what has been called CAES (Compressed Air Energy Storage) technology.

Once the problems of the construction of a pressure tank for gas storage have been overcome, the generation of electric power incorporating CAES technology presents significant operational advantages over conventional technologies for generating electric power through gas turbines or cycle plants combined. Pressure exchangers of unfolded chambers (IPCD's)

They are characterized by being pressure exchangers in which the chambers in which the exchange of pressure takes place are divided into two, one for each of the fluids. In this way, each of the fluids only circulates through its corresponding chamber, making it impossible to mix them.

The IPCD's can have multiple stages, unfolding in several the fluid chambers whose pressure is transferred, which are used or not depending on the available fluid pressure, by means of a valve system, thus managing to transmit a pressure as homogeneous as possible to the fluid at pressurize.

The chambers of the fluid to be pressurized can also be unfolded, thus being able to pressurize it at different pressures with the same pressure of the feed fluid.

Balancing valves for flow distribution

They are valves specially designed to distribute large flows to pressure exchangers without requiring energy consumption, adjusting the opening and closing speeds at the speed of the fluid to be distributed and minimizing energy losses.

Search in espaceπet

An exhaustive search has been carried out in the Spanish database of patent documents related to all the topics described here, and it has been possible to verify that, although currently there is An important development of all these technologies, none of them brings the innovations that are going to be presented here.

d. Explanation of the invention

Technical problems raised by the desalination of seawater

The main problem that is the desalination of water is the high energy consumption that is necessary to carry out the process.

In addition, after the desalination process, a very large brine flow occurs, which in the case of seawater desalination plants is normally redirected to the sea, with the corresponding economic cost, and associated environmental problems.

Technical problems posed by hydraulic turbines

The turbines have the disadvantage that they are designed for a given height and flow rate. If they deviate from that design point, the performance drops considerably. In any case, turbines have been developed with adjustable blades that mitigate this circumstance, but there is still an environment of height and flow outside of which there are no acceptable yields.

Technical problems posed by the energy use systems of sea waves

AND! principals! problem that arises for this type of systems resides in which the height, direction and time between wave peaks is very variable in time, requiring a system that is versatile enough to give acceptable performance in any of the possible situations.

Technical problems posed by the systems of energy use of differences in sea level - produced by tides

The dike model described above has a strong environmental impact. Apart from that, the height of sea water that is available to feed the turbine is variable, because when the cove is filled or emptied, the level of the water in it is approaching that of the sea level until reaching reach it. That is why turbines can never give good performance.

Problems .- technicians raised by the generation of electrical energy from the force of the wind

Again in these technologies it is very difficult to find a system that provides good performance, since the wind direction and intensity varies in a wide range. In fact, current wind turbines only take full advantage of the available wind energy until the wind speed is such that the nominal power of the generator is reached. From this point, for higher wind speeds, in modern wind turbines with adjustable blades the power obtained by them remains practically constant, while the available wind energy grows with the wind speed cube. In addition, current wind turbines have a system that blocks them when they are presented minimum and maximum values of wind intensity.

On the other hand, there is another drawback that is preventing further development of wind farms today, which is their environmental impact. That is why, and of course because the quality of the wind is better offshore and because there is no need to acquire land or reach agreements with their owners to install wind farms, so even more and more wind farms are being developed within from the sea, at a certain distance from the coast.

Technical problems raised by electrochemical batteries

Batteries that store energy in chemical form have a high cost and occupy an important volume, so it is unthinkable to use them to store energy in significant quantities.

. In addition, they deteriorate with use until they have to be discarded, thus generating a highly polluting residue.

Technical problems raised by reversible pumping plants

They present the problem that it is necessary to have a geographical difference between the place where the water is stored for pumping or from the turbination and the place where the water for its turbination is stored ^' from its pumping. In practice they are built taking advantage of natural geographical slopes.

In addition, the use of water in a liquid state requires large volumes of storage places and sections of the pipe forced high.

Technical problems posed by the use of a gas under pressure as an energy storage medium

As explained above, large-scale energy storage is not feasible by introducing a pressure gas into a closed tank, due to the wall thicknesses and insulation that are necessary.

Storage in abandoned mines or caverns (technology

CAES) has the obvious drawback that it is available and that its characteristics also allow its use to house the air under pressure. In addition, there is another very clear inconvenience that CAES technology presents, since while the mine or cavern is filled or emptied, the air pressure is gradually increasing or decreasing, and this implies, without a doubt, that neither the compressors nor the turbines of The installation work at full capacity at all times.

General description of the invention and solutions provided

Main object of the invention

The main object of the invention consists in obtaining procedures for desalination of seawater that are based on the use of renewable energy for its operation, and that try to produce a zero discharge of brine into the sea. Due to these characteristics, desalination plants that use the technology that SΘ will present below have been called plants environmental desalination plants.

The technology of pressure exchangers of unfolded chambers (IPCD's), in connection with the balancing valves for flow distribution, developed by the main author of this invention, allows to devise systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves, of the differences in the level of the sea produced by the tides and even the force of the wind that will suppose a remarkable improvement of the performance that the systems that are currently in operation present. Environmental desalination plants will capture energy from one or more of the sources mentioned by the procedures described below.

The main problem presented by renewable energy sources is that they occur very differently over time, and with very different intensities. For this, it is essential Ia

\ incorporation of an energy storage system that allows the equipment that uses these energy sources to work at full capacity at all times. The invention includes several possible energy storage systems, which will be described later.

Finally, the invention includes a system to separate the water from the salt from the brine, producing a zero spillage of brine into the sea, thus avoiding contamination of the sea, and obtaining desalinated water and salt as products.

The fluid battery

The basic idea of ía. fluid battery consists in using the pressure of a fluid (charging fluid) to transmit it to a gas (storage fluid) that is in a sealed chamber, then leaving the chamber where the gas is located so that the energy that has transmitted the fluid to the gas is stored in it, to be used later when necessary by transmitting the gas pressure in the chamber to a third fluid (discharge fluid):

The exchange of pressures between the loading and unloading fluids and the gas when the fluid battery is charged and discharged can be carried out by any type of pressure exchange system, but the incorporation of multi-stage IPCDs allows to manage the gas pressure variations of storage in the chamber with hardly any loss of energy.

Temperature and volume of the chamber

As is well known, the pressure of a gas is directly proportional to the temperature at which it is located and inversely proportional to the volume it occupies. By transmitting the pressure of the charge fluid to the gas, the volume it occupies is reduced, and, if the temperature remains constant, the pressure of the gas increases. in the chamber. This implies that the resistance that the gas opposes to the loading fluid during the loading, as well as the force exerted on the discharge fluid during the discharge, will suffer a variation along the stroke of the piston, pistons or exchange system of pressures that mount.

For all the above, the camera can be designed with a large volume with respect to! that will be compressed and expanded during, the exchanges of pressures with the other fluids, so that the variation in pressures in the gas is reduced. In addition, pressure exchanges can be carried out through multi-stage IPCDs, so that the different stages are put into operation depending on the pressure of the gas in the chamber, thus optimizing the performance in energy transfers between the gas in the chamber and the other two fluids.

Another interesting possibility is to cool the gas prior to charging the battery of fluids and heat it before discharge, relying on

It is solar energy or in any other medium, so that the energy that the load fluid must transfer when charging is reduced and the energy that is transferred to the discharge fluid when it is discharged is extended.

Pressure regulation system

As described, in fluid batteries there is the disadvantage of increasing the gas pressure during the charging of the battery, although various methods have been described aimed at reducing this problem.

There is a way to completely solve this problem, and it consists in letting the gas expand through another conduit during the loading, using the energy of this expansion to transmit it to a fourth fluid (regulating fluid), either causing it to rise , or by moving it when it is stored at a certain static pressure. For this, any type of pressure exchange system can be used. This process has been called the pressure regulation system. AND! The system described in the previous paragraph ensures that the gas pressure remains constant at all times, and that is why in certain situations it may be interesting to replace it with a liquid, and even eliminate it and use the charging fluid itself instead.

Underwater battery

More specifically, the battery can be located submerged where there is water under a certain static pressure (seas, lakes, reservoirs, etc.). It would be constructed in such a way that at least one of the walls thereof can move freely against the pressurized water from the outside, so that the pressure inside is equalized with that of the outside. Thus, the battery would be filled by inflating a pressurized fluid (specifically at the static pressure to which the water is subjected to the depth to which the battery is located), it would subsequently keep the stored energy by closing a valve, and it would empty simply by letting off the gas moved by the thrust of the water under static pressure. It is what has been called the underwater battery.

For the construction of underwater batteries that use a gas as a fluid ^, for storage, as well as for the supply pipe, the provision of a counterweight that prevents the ascent of the battery by flotation is necessary.

The storage of fluids in underwater batteries has the added advantage! that allows the energy use of the differences in sea level caused by the tides, simply charging the battery during low tide and discharging it during high tide. Systems of energy use of sea waves

As described in section d "Explanation of the invention. Problems posed by the energetic use of ocean waves", the main drawback of these plants is that the height, direction and time between peaks of the Waves vary greatly over time, requiring a system that is versatile enough to give acceptable performance in any of the possible situations.

With the use of multi-stage IPCDs and batteries, this inconvenience can be overcome, since the presence of multiple stages gives the system enough versatility so that they are able to make better use of the energy available to the waves.

Systems that combine pressure exchange and energy storage in fluid batteries have been called PREXTOR (Pressure Exchange & Storage Systems) systems.

The advantages and disadvantages of the application of PREXTOR systems to the different procedures for capturing the energy of sea waves have been studied, and the results of this study have been reflected in Table 1 attached on the following page.

After the study carried out, the current trend towards aerial OWC systems seems to be justified, especially when it comes to the use of wave energy along the coastline. OR

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Table 1 (I) Comparison of the different systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves

sway over OWC

Description OWC airborne OWC articulated tapchan floating turbine thrust front spherical fixed kneecap is capable of is capable of

Immune to the energy apt to capture an avoids the ease of simplicity in differences in kinetics and the greater

Pr greater riincipales advantages turbinado of construction and the level of the potential sea without proportion of the proportion of the sea water assembly operation produced by need of energy kinetic energy

Or the potential converting tides of Ia de la ola

> wave

D implies the implies the implies the co by being turbinated by turbine than by being

The kneecap under the

C above the level of seawater energy, seawater, seawater, above water level CO can give the sea, the result is that it entails that leads from the sea, the many

C system has reduced many many many system has problems OR be very robust problems problems problems be very robust

Or mechanical mechanical mechanics ∞

The turbine generator The turbine Ia turbine The generator Ia turbine generator m works with works with works with works with works with works with rincipales many much much many many many disadvantages frequency out frequency out frequency out frequency out frequency out frequency out frequency out frequency out

IO of its point of its point of its point of its point of its point of its point of its point of its design point design design design design design design when turbinated requires a wet air dimensions to be on the system of necessary for sea level also exist, the positioning of the system problems ducts has to depend on the corrosion towards the turbine in the very robust direction of the huge turbine waves

Table 1 (11) Comparison of the different systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves

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Table 1 (111) Comparison of the different systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves

However, as shown in Table 1, the incorporation of IPCD technology to these systems, even though it is perfectly applicable to the OWC air systems and will undoubtedly achieve a significant improvement in their performance, opens new doors to other systems that, presenting better yields, have not been developed significantly due to certain inconveniences shown in the table and that the IPCD technology can circumvent. These systems are the submerged OWC and the front thrust system.

Since, on the one hand, according to the information available, it seems that the energy of a wave is divided into approximately equal proportions of kinetic energy and potential energy (this is something to be confirmed during the experimentation phase ), and, on the other hand, the aerial structures at sea level require an enormous robustness (since the thrust of the waves is much greater the more towards the surface, due to the movement of the water particles in a wave, according to shown in Figure 1), and have a strong environmental impact, it seems logical to think that, if it is possible to solve the problems of marine corrosion, the option of submerged OWC systems with the incorporation of IPCD technology is outlined as The most interesting, even more so if previous systems of wave concentration and conversion of kinetic energy are incorporated.

Systems near the coast line

Since the final destination of the energy obtained will normally be on the mainland, it seems logical to think that the largest field

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) of application of the OWC systems submerged with IPCD technology resides in facilities near the coast line, at the minimum possible depth so that they are at all times submerged, taking into account the deviations of the sea level produced by the tides and the expected wave limit conditions.

As for the spatial arrangement of the same, in facilities close to the coastline the most interesting option seems to be the horizontal one, because, if carried out vertically, the system would require a much greater robustness, since, as explained above , the thrust of the waves is much greater the more towards the surface, as shown in Figure 1.

In the Figure. 2 shows a scheme of a system of use of wave energy by the OWC procedure submerged horizontally with IPCD technology. The seawater, thanks to the increase in potential energy that the wave confers, drives the pistons of the different stages of the IPCD, which in turn transmit the pressure to the high-pressure cylinders, of smaller cross-section, where a pressure is compressed fluid up to a certain pressure. The control system must have information about the sea level at all times and as a result activate and deactivate the corresponding stages of the high pressure cylinders.

Kinetic energy collection systems

There is another possibility that may be interesting that consists in providing the system with an additional system for capturing kinetic energy by frontal thrust, again with IPCD technology, substitute or even complementary to the conversion system of Ia

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) potential kinetic energy. This system would be placed on the IPCD to capture the potential energy, and could be designed so that it was always submerged or semi-submerged, neglecting the obtaining of part of the kinetic energy in exchange for lowering the system's robustness requirement and avoiding or reducing The environmental impact It could also be thought that the system went up and down with the tide in a way that optimized the energy collection and minimized the environmental impact, this being a tool, in addition, to avoid having to size the system for the harshest conditions of waves, being able to simply submerge during heavy swells.

Systems for converting the potential kinetic energy

Returning to the scheme of Figure. 2, the initial ramp with which the waves meet constitutes a system of converting part of their kinetic energy into potential. This ramp could be straight, as in the figure, or curve, so that the conversion of the energy is optimized taking into account the movement of the water particles in a wave.

Wave concentration system

In addition, as explained, a wave concentration system can be added, so that in each IPCD the energy of a larger portion of the wavefront is captured than its own transverse dimension, thus reducing the dimensions of the installation with the consequent economic saving. This system would consist of two vertical walls on the sides of the wave concentration ramp that are closed as the ramp rises until it reaches its highest point to be very close to each other, being at the distance it occupies

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) the IPCD.

Increase in the potential energy of the waves when entering resonance

If the described system of wave concentration is used, and even if it is used with the ramp of conversion of the potential kinetic energy, the ramp and / or the side walls can be designed in such a way that the waves from which it is expected dispose predominantly enter resonance and therefore significantly increase their potential energy. In this sense, you can even study moving walls to adapt at any time to the characteristics of the waves and bring it into resonance.

Application to environmental desalination plants

The application to the desalination of the presented system of use of the energy of the waves of the sea is direct and immediate. There are multiple possibilities to do so, but perhaps the most obvious is that of using pretreated water to be pressurized in the high pressure cylinders of the IPCD for the use of the energy of sea waves, subsequently feeding the storage system of Ia energy and reverse osmosis filtration that will be described in section f "Detailed exposition of at least one embodiment of the invention". To be able to do so, due to the oscillating nature of the pressure generated in the IPCD, it will be necessary to have a boiler that adjusts the pressure of the pretreated and pressurized water to its working pressure in the installation, as will be described in section f "Exposure detailed of at least one embodiment of the invention ".

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Underwater pretreatment

One more step could be taken, and to locate the pretreatment of the desalination plant under the sea, at the level of the IPCD for the use of the energy of the sea waves, which would have to be a depth that would allow the feeding of seawater to pretreatment without prior pumping. The pretreatment system could be located within the ramp of conversion of kinetic energy into potential of the IPCD, and the weight of the sand filters (essential part of the pretreatment) would be used to avoid the flotation of the IPCD and to give it the necessary stability for its functioning under the sea. On the other hand, the collection of seawater could be carried out at the bottom and in the sea, where the water is cooler and its osmotic pressure is lower, and lead to pretreatment without pumping due to the static pressure of the water itself.

System behavior before changes in wave direction

There is an additional problem to be solved in the systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves, which is that their direction is variable in time.

One way to solve this problem could be to design a set of modular IPCDs that could rotate to adjust at any time to the direction of the waves, although this turn would require a significant energy cost. An interesting option in this regard would be to place a sail that, depending on the direction of the wind, used its force to position the IPCD.

In any case, in facilities near the coast the address of

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) The waves vary at an angle that is not excessively high, and it is quite possible that with a series of modular IPCDs with the proposed wave concentration system it may be sufficient to achieve acceptable yields at all times.

IPCD's buoy mounting

The potential energy collection system can also be designed as a buoy with a float system that pushes up a piston that charges the battery of fluids by means of an IPCD. This could be more convenient when it is intended to take advantage of the energy of the offshore waves, since at these depths it would be unthinkable to turn to systems of conversion of kinetic energy into potential and of wave concentration, and, in addition, offshore there are usually multiple trains of waves in different directions that are interacting with each other.

Control of the pressure of the housing chamber of the high pressure cylinders

One of the main problems for harnessing the energy of sea waves is the existence of sea level variations produced by the tides, which prevents a large number of current harvesting systems from enjoying good performance and that It makes facilities more expensive because it forces them to have much larger dimensions than those necessary to cover the range of heights of waves that are adopted in the design. One of the great advantages of the IPCD for the use of the potential wave energy included in Figure 2 is precisely that, by controlling the pressure of the chamber where the high-pressure cylinders are located, it is possible to

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) adjust the system to sea level variations, and therefore the performance and dimensions of the system can be optimized.

In addition, this system allows to play with the absolute pressures of the batteries of the energy storage system, which will be described later.

Fight against marine corrosion

Despite all the advantages and possibilities set forth, the proposed system has a fundamental drawback that has already been pointed out previously and that is inherent in any underwater installation, and is the strong corrosion produced by seawater.

To combat corrosion problems, the following measures will be taken:

- design the low pressure chamber (the one that is in contact with seawater) with plastic materials

- provide the chamber with high pressure cylinders in a controlled and safe atmosphere

- Another interesting possibility is the provision of an outer sheet of polyethylene or any other plastic material that encompasses a certain amount of an innocuous fluid that will move to one side and the other continuously moving the pistons but avoiding their contact with water of sea

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Energy use of sea level differences caused by tides

As described in section d "Explanation of the invention.

Problems posed by the generation of electrical energy from the differences in sea level produced by the tides ", the main drawback presented by these plants is that the height of seawater that is available to power the turbine is variable , because as the cove is filled or emptied or whatever the place where the water is stored, the level of the water in it is approaching the level of the sea until it reaches it.

With the use of multi-stage IPCDs, balancing valves and fluid batteries, this inconvenience can be avoided, being able to make completely versatile plants that are able to make better use of the energy provided by changes in sea level.

There are many provisions with which you can materialize plants with this technology. It can be used in plants with the dam closing an existing cove, or in any of the other plants already devised. In general, these plants should include the following extra elements:

- a balancing valve for flow distribution, which will be used to distribute the incoming sea water flow to one and another low pressure chamber of a multi-stage IPCD

- a multi-stage IPCD, where seawater will press a large disk or piston through which it will give pressure to a fluid

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) housed in high pressure chambers, of smaller section

In environmental desalination plants, the seawater pressure can be transferred to the pretreated seawater, to pressurize it and introduce it into the energy storage system and reverse osmosis filtering that will be described later in section f "Detailed exposure of at least one embodiment of the invention ". Similarly to the case of the use of sea wave energy, the pretreatment of sea water in environmental desalination plants with this system of energy use of sea level differences caused by tides could also be located under the sea.

In addition, environmental desalination plants that use fluid batteries can achieve extra energy use from the tides, as described above.

Energy use of wind force

As described in section d "Explanation of the invention. Problems posed by the generation of electric power from wind", the main drawback of these plants is that it is again very difficult to find a system that provides a good performance, since the wind direction and intensity varies in a wide range. In fact, current wind turbines have a system that blocks them when minimum and maximum wind intensity values are presented.

With the use of IPCD technology, balancing valves for flow distribution and fluid batteries, this inconvenience can be avoided, being able to perform fully versatile plants that

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) are able to make better use of the energy provided by wind force.

There are many provisions with which you can materialize plants with this technology. In general, these plants should consist of:

- a wind pick-up system that can rotate and / or has deployable ailerons to capture oblique winds

- a balancing valve for flow distribution, which will be used to distribute the incoming wind flow to one and another low-pressure chamber of a multi-stage IPCD, where the wind will transfer its pressure to another fluid

- an IPCD, where the wind will press a large disk or piston through which it will give its pressure to a fluid housed in the high-pressure chambers, of smaller section

The rotation of the wind pick-up system depending on the wind direction, and even that of the entire system, can be achieved with a sail taking advantage of the wind direction.

Wind pumps and compressors

On the other hand, you can also design a windmill with a rotor and blades such as those used in current wind turbines, but instead of having a generator use the movement of the rotor to pump or compress a fluid, relying on a multiplier, which serves to charge a battery of fluids and / or to

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Any other application such as seawater desalination. They are what have been called wind pumps and compressors.

The fluid inlet and outlet pipes could be installed inside the windmill tower, normally hollow. The application to desalination can be particularly interesting because it can be used as a fluid to pump water from the pretreatment, to raise it in pressure and feed the reverse osmosis filters and / or to the battery of high pressure fluids. Moreover, once again, pretreatment could be arranged under the sea, at the depth necessary to not require a previous pumping system, and located next to the tower or towers of a windmill or offshore wind farm. In these cases, as the towers of the mills are usually quite high, part of the pressure of the pretreated and pressurized sea water in the mills could be used to yield it to the seawater itself when leaving the pretreatment that has to rise to the mill , and thus avoid limitations due to the suction height.

Another application that can be of great interest is to use a marine wind compressor to compress air from the atmosphere, subsequently storing the compressed air in an underwater gas battery.

Large chambers and pistons in IPCDs

IPCDs for the energy use of sea waves and tidal waves require large low pressure chambers. This greatly complicates their machining, and the use of bellows-type cameras and even sheets of material can be an interesting option to avoid this inconvenience.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) plastic that move displaced by the movement of the pistons, and prevent the existence of seawater leaks towards the high pressure side. Reinforced plastics can be used to avoid deformations and losses in the chambers of sheets of plastic material, or even place a rigid outer jacket with an inner lubricant to prevent losses when the sheet of plastic material is deformed under pressure.

On the other hand, the IPCD's for the use of wind force have the same drawback, and, as if that were not enough, it is difficult to get the piston to maintain its rigidity in the face of the efforts to which it is subjected, due to the essential high section change of the cameras. In addition, it is of interest that the piston weighs as little as possible, especially when it comes to horizontal arrangements.

A possible way to solve these problems could be the use of chambers and pistons made of sail-like fabrics, providing the pistons with a rigid structure in the form of concentric crowns and / or radial bars with which the pressures are pressed. high pressure cylinders. Thus, the rest of the piston would be a weightless fabric that would function as a ship's sail and pull the piston structure. On the other hand, balancing valves for flow distribution can also be made of sail-like fabrics.

This system would also be extrapolated to IPCDs for the energy use of sea waves and tidal waves, although the "sail" would be made as plastic sheets.

Finally, there is still a problem that has not been solved, and that is the high pressure cylinders of the IPCDs for

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) energy use of sea waves, tidal waves and wind waves may require extremely elongated high pressure cylinders, which can lead to mechanical problems, mainly in horizontal arrangements.

To solve this last problem, it may be necessary to sacrifice some of the performance of the system, placing support brackets for the chambers (which involve friction), and even resorting to the transfer of forces through a system of pulleys or levers to transform narrow and elongated cameras in other wide and short.

Zero Brine Discharge System

As explained, the desalination processes currently used involve obtaining a very large amount of brine, the discharge of which constitutes an environmental problem in addition to a considerable economic cost.

Reverse osmosis requires a much lower energy consumption than other technologies, and that is why it is being imposed on other desalination technologies, except for those times when a thermal energy source is available that does not involve an additional economic cost (cooling water of power plants, etc.). Attempts are also being made on the use of solar energy as a source of thermal energy.

The first idea for environmental desalination plants is to use first the reverse osmosis to desalinate seawater, more energy efficient, and use evaporation technologies and

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) / or light distillation based on solar energy or any other source of thermal energy available for the subsequent treatment of the brine, with the idea of getting as close as possible and even reaching the goal of total separation of water and salt.

Prior obtaining of hyperconcentrated brine

The complete separation of the water from the salt is technically feasible when distillation, evaporation or freezing technologies are used, but it requires, as explained, an extremely important energy consumption.

As for the reverse osmosis technology, it is possible to perform a cascade assembly of the brine treatment, so that the brine that is obtained is again subjected to a reverse osmosis process, with which it is obtained an increasingly concentrated brine. However, if this is not usually practiced in desalination plants, it is because the osmotic pressure of the brine is increased proportionally to the salt concentration in it, and to be able to desalinate the brine, it would be necessary to resort to very high electropump groups pressures that greatly complicate the installation.

The use of IPCD technology makes it possible to work at very high pressures without major problems, because it is as simple as changing the section of the exchangers and conveniently distributing the efforts.

Once the hyperconcentrated brine is obtained, evaporation and / or light distillation technologies can be used, either from Ia

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) solar thermal energy or taking advantage of any source of thermal energy available in the area (water from cooling circuits of power plants, etc).

Use of heat generated during gas compression

There is a drawback for the use of underwater gas batteries and it lies in the heat generated during the compression of the gas.

To solve this, there are several possible alternatives, which are also combinable with each other:

- thermally insulate the battery and the corresponding conduction (in this sense, it is important to mention that, if dry earth packed with an impermeable material is used as a counterweight, it may not be necessary to have any additional insulating material)

- let the heat generated be lost, and take advantage of the heating of sea water for the location of a high-performance fish farm (in favor of this it must be said that the cooling of a gas stored in a pressure tank is not the same) on land that if it is stored in an underwater battery, since in it the pressure remains constant, thus achieving that the loss of work due to cooling is much lower, especially considering that the slopes of the adiabatic and the isotherms are very similar)

- use the heat generated during the compression of the gas

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) (normally air from the atmosphere) to transmit it to the brine or hyperconcentrated brine, to, as described above, use technologies of evaporation and / or distillation of lightning, also relying on solar energy or any other source of thermal energy available if necessary, to completely separate the water from the salt of the brine

In the latter case, the heat exchange between the gas and the brine could be done on the mainland, before sending the compressed gas to the battery, or a system with concentric pipes could be designed for the underwater conduction of gas to the battery that carry and bring the brine to the underwater battery, exchanging heat with the gas in the pipes and even in the underwater battery itself.

This system, although it would greatly complicate the underwater installation, could have a very important additional benefit in its favor, and it is the fact that the return of the heated brine would be carried out from the depth to which the battery is located to the surface , thus constantly lowering the pressure of the brine, and thus achieving a process similar to that of lightning distillation, that is, when lowering the pressure of the brine its evaporation is caused, but this time not as a "lightning "when entering a stage of lower pressure, but continuously. At the highest point, that is, on the surface, a vacuum pump would be arranged to remove the steam from the upper part of the column, lowering the pressure on the liquid column. In fact, if this process proves to be efficient, it can even be used on land to evaporate the brine, from any source of thermal energy, in particular from solar energy, taking advantage of the fact that in solar furnaces the water must be raised towards the point of confluence of the solar rays, and being able to do several

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) confluence steps in the tower, depending on the arrangement of the heliostats.

In the case of heat exchange between the gas and the brine on the mainland, there is the disadvantage that the gas is at a very high pressure and the heat exchanger can be complex and uneconomic. To solve this problem, the gas can be passed through a chamber inside which is a flexible and temperature resistant hose, which feeds on the pressurized brine and makes a long journey through the interior of the gas chamber , producing heat exchange. Thus, it is not necessary that the hose must withstand the pressures of the gas and the brine because they are very similar. On the other hand, this inconvenience can also be solved by replacing the flexible hose with a fixed wall coil, without the need to withstand the pressure of the working fluids, but providing the system with a safety system that always keeps the pressure of the both fluids

Freeze desalination

To freeze water, in principle, much less heat exchange is required with another medium than to evaporate it. However, there is a problem and it is the retention of salt during the formation of the ice crystals that forces a subsequent washing and worsens the performance. At the moment, this procedure is only considered as a means to take advantage of the cold generated in the regasification stations of liquefied natural gas. Undoubtedly, it is also influenced by this fact the technological impossibility of generating cold directly, being necessary to perform it by extracting heat and transmitting it to a hot spot,

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Which means an additional loss of performance.

The proposed energy storage system, elevating the pretreated seawater level, can be used to freeze it, at least a part of it during the nights, when temperatures are lower, and taking advantage of the fact that temperatures are also more low due to altitude. Desalinated water could be used directly or mixed with pretreated seawater to reduce its osmotic pressure. In addition, with this storage system, the reverse osmosis filters can be played with feeding and do it fundamentally at night, when the water is colder and has lower osmotic pressure.

Finally, through the technology of IPCD's and balancing valves for flow distribution, it is even possible to raise the sea water directly to the tank or raised raft (high pressure battery), almost without the need for pumping or use systems of Ia energy of sea waves, tides or wind.

You could simply use the desalinated water pressure that comes back to give it to the sea water that has to rise, therefore requiring an additional supply of sufficient energy just to overcome the pressure losses in the pipes. Another option would be to carry out a two-stage process, freezing plus reverse osmosis, maintaining the global scheme of energy supply to raise the water, desalt it by freezing and use the descent of pressurized brine to feed it to the reverse osmosis filters. Even a new stage of heating the final brine obtained to separate the water from the salt could be placed as previously mentioned.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Continuous use of the brine pressure

Next, a procedure is described, based on the use of the IPCD technology and fluid batteries, to perform the reverse osmosis when it is intended to be done by discharging a fluid battery from the IPCD technology.

The system consists of mounting the reverse osmosis filters of a desalination plant, individually or in groups that are in parallel, so that they are fed from pretreated and pressurized water in a feedback IPCD, where the Ia is transferred pressure from a double source: in a first stage from a battery of fluids or any other source of pressures, and in a second stage from the brine pressure itself obtained in the filters.

Thus, as the pretreated sea water circulates through the reverse osmosis filters, the pressurized brine is produced, and is used continuously to help pressurize the pretreated sea water and feed the filters.

Regulation of electrical energy

Normally it will be advisable to design the environmental desalination plants with an auxiliary system for charging the battery or fluid batteries by means of electro-pump groups (if the storage fluid is a liquid) or of compressors (if it is a gas) and / or with a auxiliary system of turbines for the discharge, to make them work at first and / or the second during the day, thanks to the energy storage capacity of the plant, so that

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) the plant is really becoming a system for regulating electrical energy. This will optimize the volume of the batteries, guaranteeing a constant production of desalinated water.

In addition, in the case of using underwater gas batteries, as mentioned, it is possible to play with the differences in the level of the sea produced by the tides to obtain an extra energy that converts the underwater batteries into a unique system of regulation of Ia electric energy that allows us to think about its application in itself regardless of the desalination of seawater.

Advantages of the invention with respect to the prior art

The advantages provided by the invention over existing technologies are evident, and have been widely revealed in section d "Explanation of the invention. General description of the invention and solutions provided"

As a summary, it can be said that the application of IPCD's technology and balancing valves allows to develop systems of energy use of sea waves, the differences in sea level produced by the tides, and even the force of the wind that yields much higher than the procedures currently used for these tasks.

On the other hand, fluid batteries represent an enormous advantage for all types of industrial processes that are supplied with renewable energy sources, very heterogeneous in availability and intensity at all times, since they can be used to store energy at peak disposal times. of the primary energy source (when

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) It is very windy in the wind power plants, when a wave passes in the swell plants, in the high tide and / or the low tide in the tidal plants, etc.), and gradually use it throughout the whole time, which reduces considerably the size of the equipment that uses the accumulated energy and allows them to work at full capacity at all times.

In particular, the application of these technologies to the desalination of seawater is very feasible, due to the possibility of feeding the high pressure cylinders of the IPCD's of pretreated seawater, and of the versatility thereof, which allow adjustment The outlet pressure at any predetermined value.

In addition, the exposed techniques of cascade treatment by reverse osmosis, distillation and freezing of the brine and even of the seawater itself mean again increases in the energy yields of said processes, and the possibility of obtaining a zero discharge of brine at sea, completely separating the water from the salt and avoiding its discharge back to the sea.

In general, environmental desalination plants that obtain energy from various renewable energy sources are especially interesting, as they can better utilize battery capacities.

In its application to the generation of electrical energy, the systems described also suppose great advantages over the actulales, since the dimensions of the turbine or turbines of the plant are considerably reduced, being able to resort to pelton turbines, which give better overall yields. In addition, with this technology you can

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) get the turbines to work at full capacity at all times, due to the capacity of regulation given by the stages, the boiler and the fluid batteries. On the other hand, the fluid to be turbined does not have to be seawater, so that the level of requirement required in terms of the materials of manufacture of the turbine or turbines falls.

In the case of the use of a gas as a storage fluid, another very important advantage is that a very important part of the primary energy available is used to compress the gas, and the rest to move it towards the battery. This means that the necessary volume of the battery is much smaller than in the case that the storage fluid is a liquid, the lower the higher the gas pressure in the battery.

In addition, if working with air, the atmosphere itself can be used as a low-pressure battery, conveniently adjusting the pressure of the accommodation chambers of the high-pressure cylinders of the IPCDs, as explained.

and. Description of the drawings

Four figures are provided to help explain the operation of environmental desalination plants. All of them are referred to from different points of this document, explaining in detail their content. In any case, the relation and content of each one of them are compiled here:

Figure 1: Movement of water particles in a wave (source:

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Wave energy University of cantabria)

Figure 2: Diagram of an IPCD in horizontal arrangement for the use of the energy of sea waves in the vicinity of the coastline, equipped with a conversion ramp of the potential kinetic energy

Figure 3: Scheme of an environmental desalination plant with systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves, the differences in sea level produced by the tides and / or the wind force, also having a storage system for energy in the form of elevation of the pretreated water level, and with a cascade treatment for the hyperconcentration of the brine and a final separation of the salt and water from the solar energy

Figure 4: Scheme of an environmental desalination plant with systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves, the differences in sea level produced by the tides and / or the force of the wind, also having a storage system for The energy in the form of accumulation of compressed air in a submarine gas battery, and with a cascade treatment for the hyperconcentration of the brine and a final separation of the salt and water from the heat generated during the compression of the air and / or of solar energy

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) F. Detailed presentation of at least one embodiment of the invention

Operation with pretreated seawater as energy storage fluid

Figure 3 shows a scheme of an environmental desalination plant with systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves, the differences in sea level produced by the tides and / or the wind force, also having a energy storage system in the form of elevation of the pretreated water level, and with a cascade treatment for the hyperconcentration of the brine and a final separation of the salt and the water from the solar energy. In general, the system consists of the following fundamental elements:

- a system for capturing the energy of waves, tides and / or wind based on IPCD's (1), as described above. In the case of harnessing the energy of the waves, the IPCDs may be of a single line, as it appears in the scheme of Figure 3. For the use of the tides and the wind they must be at least two lines, and they will go preceded by a balancing valve for flow distribution, as described above.

Alternatively, or in combination with the above, a pretreated sea water wind pump (2) with a pre-treated sea water lift system can be provided from the pressure of part of the pressurized water in the wind pump (3) , as described above

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) - a seawater intake and pretreatment system (4) for feeding the energy storage system and filtering by reverse osmosis, which can be found located at sea or on land, as described above.

- a low pressure battery (5), which will be fed from seawater from pretreatment, which will serve to pressurize said pretreated seawater when it must move the pistons during the turn of the stroke and / or to feed the wind pump, and which may also be a raft or a tank arranged at a lower level, or even an underwater battery

- a high-pressure battery (6), which will be fed from the pretreated and pressurized seawater in the IPCD's that exceeds the nominal capacity of the reverse osmosis filters, which may be a reservoir or reservoir, and that will be arranged at a high level

- a boiler (7), which allows the pressurized fluid in the IPCDs at the peak of the disposition of renewable energy sources to supply the plant, in addition to feeding the reverse osmosis filtering system to circulate towards the high-pressure battery in real time, since, if the high-pressure battery is at a considerable distance, if it is not placed, transients would occur that would prevent the system from functioning properly. This boiler is particularly important in the event that the plant has a system to take advantage of the

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) Sea wave energy. If not, it is possible that it can be suppressed whenever the installation is designed correctly

- a system of check valves, which force the fluid at any moment to circulate towards the corresponding battery

- a gate valve system, governed by a control system, that enable / disable high pressure stages of IPCDs

- a pumping and / or auxiliary turbination system (8), to charge the high-pressure battery and / or feed to the reverse osmosis filters when there are long periods with little disposition of renewable energy sources, and to use their energy to transform it into electrical energy when desired

- a battery of reverse osmosis filters (9), which is fed from the pretreated and pressurized seawater from the IPCDs, the high pressure battery or directly from the auxiliary pumping system and subject it to a reverse osmosis process, obtaining desalinated water and pressurized brine. In case the sufficient geographical slope is not available so that the high-pressure battery is located at a sufficient height so that the column of water coming from it is subjected to a static pressure equal to the osmotic pressure of the sea water, it will be necessary to precede the reverse osmosis filter battery of a pre-pumping system (10), or a new IPCD with a section change, which could even be retoralized

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) by the pressure of the brine, according to the system of continuous use of the pressure of the brine described, to raise the pressure of the pretreated water to said osmotic pressure

- A system of IPCD's for recovery of the energy of the pressurized brine (11), in which it yields its pressure to the pre-treated seawater for feeding to the reverse osmosis filters

- a raft or storage tank for depressurized brine (12)

- a brine hyperconcentration system (13) by cascade treatment in new reverse osmosis filters, as described above, using the energy of the high pressure battery itself

- a raft or storage tank of the hyperconcentrated and depressurized brine (14)

- a post-treatment system of the hyperconcentrated brine (15) for the complete separation of the water from the salt, based on the use of solar energy

- It would also be possible to use a solar cooling system with thermal cooling machines (absorption and / or adsorption) (16) to cool the pretreated sea water before entering the reverse osmosis filters, so that the osmotic pressure is lowered The most possible

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) - Although it does not appear in Figure 3, normally the plant must have a raft or final deposit for desalinated water storage, with a conduit system that will collect it from all points of the plant in which it is obtained

- an integrated control system of the plant, which manages at all times the stages that must be put into action in each of the IPCD's of the plant based on the available energy, and manages the energy storage system in a timely manner , trying to minimize (even to zero when possible) the auxiliary pumping system, and, if necessary, operating with it at night. On the other hand, the control system must take full advantage of the extra pressure of the low pressure battery during high tide, in the case of an underwater battery. In addition, by controlling the pressure of the housing chamber of the high pressure cylinders, you can play with the dimensions of the batteries, to be able to locate them where it is most convenient

Operation with compressed air as energy storage fluid

Figure 4 shows a scheme of an environmental desalination plant with systems for harnessing the energy of sea waves, the differences in sea level produced by the tides and / or the force of the wind, also having a energy storage system in the form of an underwater air battery

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) compressed, and with a cascade treatment for the hyperconcentration of the brine and a final separation of the salt and the water from the solar energy. In general, the system consists of the same elements as that of Figure 3 but with the following differences:

- In this model two low pressure batteries coexist: the one of pretreated sea water (5), and the atmosphere itself, which acts as a low pressure battery of the air line

- The high pressure battery (6) is now an underwater battery

- in these plants the boiler (7) can be fed with gas from the underwater battery, thus reducing considerably the size thereof

- an IPCD (17) is incorporated for the transfer to atmospheric air of the pressure of the pre-treated and pressurized sea water that exceeds the nominal capacity of the reverse osmosis filters. This IPCD (17) can be designed so that it also works in reverse during the discharge of the battery, that is, using the air pressure to transfer it to the pretreated seawater. Alternatively, special stages could be enabled for operation with air in the high pressure cylinders of the IPCDs for the use of waves, tides and / or wind, thus suppressing this new IPCD (17) and certainly increasing the system performance , although complicating the design of IPCDs for the use of waves, tides and / or wind

- Hyperconcentrated brine treatment systems

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) (15) and cooling of pretreated seawater prior to its entry into reverse osmosis filters, to reduce its osmotic pressure (16) can be maintained based on the use of solar energy and / or the use of heat generated during the compression of the air, in such a way that the compressed air is cooled at a constant pressure before entering the underwater battery

- an air heating system from the underwater battery can be incorporated when it is to be discharged (18), based on solar energy or any other available thermal energy source

- a system of turbochargers (19) (or turbines and / or compressors) can also be incorporated into the installation, which serve to charge the underwater battery when there are long periods with little disposition of renewable energy sources and / or that They can be used to generate electrical energy from the air coming from the battery and heated. It would even be possible to couple the turbine rotor to a pump that propel pretreated seawater to the reverse osmosis filters, instead of using the IPCD

g. Industrial applications of the invention

The industrial applications of the invention are multiple, and have been widely described in the previous sections.

As a summary, it can be said that all systems subject to

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) These patents are applicable by themselves or jointly for the desalination of seawater, for the generation of electrical energy and for the regulation of electrical energy. They could also be applied to pressurize any type of fluid for later use in any type of process, whether industrial or not.

Finally, and as also described above, there can be a collateral industrial application that is the creation of marine environments with higher temperature water for the location of a fish farm.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)

Claims

1. The fluid battery, characterized by using the pressure of a fluid (charging fluid) to transmit it to a gas (storage fluid), which may have been previously cooled, introducing it into a sealed chamber, by means of chamber pressure exchangers unfolded (IPCD's) and / or balancing valves for flow distribution, leaving the sealed chamber closed in such a way that the energy that has transmitted the fluid to the gas is stored in it, to be used later when necessary to transmit the pressure of the gas, which can be previously heated, to a third fluid (discharge fluid), again via IPCDs and balancing valves for flow distribution

2. The fluid batteries, according to claim 1, characterized in that a pressure regulation system is incorporated, consisting of allowing the gas to expand through another conduit during charging, maintaining its pressure constant and using the energy of this expansion to transmit to a fourth fluid (regulation fluid), either by raising the elevation, or by moving it when it is stored at a certain static pressure. In this type of fluid batteries it is possible to replace the storage gas with a liquid, and even eliminate and use the charging fluid itself instead. In particular, these batteries can be located submerged (called underwater batteries) where there is water under a certain static pressure (seas, lakes, reservoirs, etc.), being built in such a way that at least one of the walls of the same can move freely against the water at the pressure from the outside, so that the pressure inside is equal to that of the outside. These batteries are

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) they fill by blowing a pressurized fluid (specifically to the static pressure to which the water is subjected to the depth to which the battery is located), subsequently maintain the stored energy by closing a valve, and empty simply by letting the gas moved discharge by the thrust of the water under static pressure.

3. The systems for the energy use of sea waves, tides and wind, characterized by the use of IPCD technology and / or balancing valves for flow distribution and / or fluid batteries (PREXTOR systems)

4. The submerged IPCD for harnessing the energy of the sea waves in the vicinity of the coast, characterized by incorporating a 90 ° turn prior to feeding the low pressure chambers, arranged horizontally, where the seawater, Due to its increase in potential energy due to the flow, it presses the pistons and transmits the pressure to the high-pressure cylinders, with a smaller cross-sectional area and also horizontally, where a fluid is compressed up to a certain pressure, the housing housing being high pressure cylinders equipped with an innocuous atmosphere under controlled pressure depending on sea level. On the other hand, the system can be equipped with an additional system for capturing kinetic energy by frontal thrust, again with IPCD technology, which can even go up and down with the tides to optimize energy capture and minimize environmental impact

5. The system for converting the kinetic energy into potential and / or concentration of the waves, consisting of providing the submerged IPCDs to take advantage of the energy of the sea waves in the vicinity of the coast, according to claim 4, of a ramp , straight or curved, for prior conversion of the kinetic energy into potential, and / or of a system

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) of concentration of the waves by means of two vertical walls on the sides of the ramp of concentration of the waves that are closed as the ramp rises until reaching its highest point to be very close to each other, being at the distance it occupies the IPCD, in such a way that the energy of a larger portion of the wave front is captured than its own transverse dimension, the ramp and / or the side walls being designed in such a way that the waves expected to be predominantly available come into resonance and therefore significantly increase your potential energy. You can even make mobile walls to adapt at all times to the characteristics of the waves and make it come into resonance. In addition, the entire system can be rotated to adjust at all times to the predominant direction of the waves, even relying on the force of the wind on a sail that rises to the surface

6. The IPCD for harnessing the potential energy of the offshore waves, characterized by being mounted vertically, as a buoy, with a system of floats that press the high-pressure cylinders, whose housing chamber is equipped with an innocuous atmosphere under controlled pressure

7. The rotation mechanism as a function of the wind direction of the wind collection system in the PREXTOR systems for the use of the wind force, according to claim 3, and even of the whole system, consisting of incorporating a sail that positions to the system taking advantage of the wind direction

8. Wind pumps and compressors, which consist of windmills with a rotor and blades such as those used in current wind turbines, but instead of having a

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) generator use the movement of the rotor to pump or compress a fluid, relying on a multiplier

9. The balancing valves for flow distribution and the low-pressure chambers or cylinders of large dimensions for IPCDs, characterized by being made of sheets of plastic material or fabrics, which advance in the case of balancing valves by force of the fluid and in the case of the low pressure chambers displaced by the movement of the pistons, preventing the existence of leaks towards the high pressure side. For the latter, reinforced plastics can be used to avoid deformations and losses, or even place a rigid outer jacket with an inner lubricant

10. The pistons for large-sized IPCDs, characterized by being made of plastic or woven materials by way of sail, being provided with a rigid structure as a concentric crowns and / or radial bars with which high-pressure cylinders are pressed Pressure

11. The system for reducing the length of high-pressure cylinders of large-sized IPCDs, characterized by the incorporation into the IPCD of a system of pulleys or levers between the pistons and high-pressure cylinders to perform a force transfer and transform the narrow and elongated chambers into other wide and short

12. The system for obtaining hyperconcentrated brine in desalination plants, consisting of a cascade filtration assembly, in such a way that the brine that is obtained is again subjected to a reverse osmosis process, whereby a brine increasingly concentrated, and characterized by using the technology of

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) IPCD's and fluid batteries to avoid having to resort to very high pressure pumps

13. The continuous liquid distillation system, characterized by causing them to rise through a conduit as they are warming up, thus constantly lowering the pressure of the liquid by being subjected to lower static pressure when it is rising, thereby achieving greater evaporation. At the highest point, there is a vacuum pump that extracts the steam from the upper part of the column, lowering the pressure on the liquid column. This system can be fed in particular from solar energy, taking advantage of the fact that in solar furnaces the water must be elevated towards the point of confluence of the solar rays, and being able to make several steps of confluence in the tower, depending on the arrangement of the heliostats

14. Environmental desalination plants, characterized by being based primarily on the use of renewable energy for their operation (first objective), and for trying to produce a zero discharge of brine into the sea (second objective). In order to achieve the first objective, the environmental desalination plants incorporate PREXTOR systems for the energy use of sea waves, tides and / or wind, and / or pumps and / or wind compressors, according to previous claims, using pre-treated seawater for It would pressurize the IPCD's and / ά in the wind pumps and feed the reverse osmosis filtration and energy storage system, consisting of the elevation of elevation towards a raft or elevated reservoir (high pressure battery) of pretreated seawater that exceeds the nominal capacity of the reverse osmosis filters during periods of high primary energy availability, relying on the high pressure battery to feed the reverse osmosis filters during periods of poor disposal of

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) primary energy, and being equipped with a boiler that dampens pressure oscillations, especially when the energy of sea waves is used. To achieve the second objective, environmental desalination plants use brine treatment systems from reverse osmosis filters, using prior brine hyperconcentration, evaporation, distillation and / or freezing technologies.

15. The desalination system by elevation of elevation and freezing of sea water, consisting in proceeding to the freezing of pretreated sea water and stored in the high-pressure battery of an environmental desalination plant, according to claim 14, or at least one part of it during the nights, when the temperatures are lower, and taking advantage of the fact that the temperatures are also lower due to the altitude. Desalinated water could be used directly or mixed again with pretreated seawater to reduce its osmotic pressure. In addition, with this storage system, the reverse osmosis filters can be played with feeding and do it fundamentally at night, when the water is colder and has lower osmotic pressure. In addition, through the technology of IPCD's and balancing valves for flow distribution, it is even possible to raise seawater directly to a reservoir or raised raft (high-pressure battery), almost without the need for pumping or use systems of Ia energy of sea waves, tides or wind. You can simply use the pressure of the desalinated water that comes back to give it to the sea water that has to rise, therefore requiring an additional supply of sufficient energy just to overcome the pressure losses in the pipes. Another option is to carry out a two-stage process, freezing plus reverse osmosis, maintaining the global scheme of energy supply to raise the water, desalt it by

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) freezing and use the lowering of pressurized brine to feed the reverse osmosis filters. Even a new stage of heating the final brine obtained to separate the water from the salt can be placed behind

16. The environmental desalination plants, according to claim 14, characterized by using an underwater battery as a high-pressure battery, adding special stages fed by atmospheric air in the IPCD's of energy use of waves, tides and / or wind or using a Reversible IPCD in which the pretreated and pressurized sea water that exceeds the nominal capacity of the reverse osmosis filters yields its pressure to air from the atmosphere that once pressurized is used to charge the underwater battery, being able to use previously the generated heat during the compression as a source of thermal energy for the processes of treatment of the brine, according to previous claims, and even being able to use the residual heat to create a zone of higher temperature in the sea suitable for fish farms. In addition, solar energy or any other source of thermal energy available can be used to heat the air coming from the underwater battery prior to its discharge, and thus increase the work done in the reversible IPCD to give it its pressure to the water coming from the pretreatment

17. The heat exchange system between the storage gas and the brine in environmental desalination plants, according to claim 16, and in general between two fluids at high and similar pressures, consisting in passing the gas through a chamber inside which find a flexible and temperature resistant hose, which feeds on the pressurized brine and travels long inside the gas chamber, producing heat exchange, or

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) either replacing the flexible hose with a fixed wall coil, without the need to withstand the pressure of the working fluids, but providing the system with a safety system that always keeps the pressures of both fluids equalized

18. The system of continuous use of the pressure of the brine in environmental desalination plants, according to previous claims, consisting of the assembly of the reverse osmosis filters of a desalination plant, individually or in groups that are in parallel, of such so that they are fed from pretreated and pressurized water in a feedback IPCD, where the pressure is transferred from a double source: in a first stage from a battery of fluids or any other source of pressures, and in a second stage from the brine pressure itself obtained in the filters

19. The use of environmental desalination plants, according to previous claims, as centrals for regulating electrical energy, consisting of complementary to an auxiliary system for charging the battery or fluid batteries by means of electro-pump groups Cs / the storage fluid is a liquid) or of compressors (if it is a gas), and / or with a turbine system as an auxiliary discharge system, to make them work at night and / or second during the day, thanks to the capacity of energy storage of the plant. In addition, in the case of using underwater gas batteries, you can play with the differences in sea level produced by the tides to obtain an extra energy that converts the underwater batteries into a unique system of regulation of the electrical energy that allows their application itself regardless of even desalination of seawater

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)

20. The location under the sea of the pretreatment of the environmental desalination plants, according to previous claims, consisting in arranging it at sufficient depth to allow the feeding of sea water to the pretreatment without the need for prior pumping, the seawater collection being available at the bottom and offshore, where the water is cooler and its osmotic pressure is lower, and lead it to pretreatment without pumping due to the static pressure of the water itself

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)