Patent attributes
A water purification system that produces freshwater from saltwater/contaminated water via two closed but connected and offset heating-evaporation-condensation-cooling processes that share energy via two heat exchangers. The system includes a closed air subsystem and a closed refrigerant subsystem. The closed air subsystem uses air repeatedly heated via a heat exchanger and a supplemental heating source. In the air/refrigerant heat exchanger, hot compressed gas refrigerant from the closed refrigerant system releases heat and undergoes a phase change to a liquid refrigerant. The supplemental heating source adds heat energy to produce hot, dry air delivered to a water evaporator containing saltwater/contaminated water. The hot, dry air causes evaporation of the saltwater/contaminated water forming hot air/water vapor. The hot air/water vapor is then delivered to an expander/condenser heat exchanger, where it is condensed into freshwater by the phase change of the liquid refrigerant back into a gas refrigerant. The two subsystems operate continuously and repeatedly exchange energies to efficiently produce freshwater.