Current development and future prospect review of freeze desalination

Abstract

Freeze desalination (FD) is an emerging technology to overcome limitations of membrane- and thermal-energy-based desalination processes. Extant studies concerning FD have primarily focused on ice-quality and productivity enhancement. Numerous crystallizer designs operating under various conditions have been investigated to achieve highest possible fresh-water purity. Few post-treatment techniques have also been developed to boost quality and productivity of fresh water. Some obstacles, have been faced in attempts to scale-up the FD process, and possible remedies to these are discussed in this paper. In addition, there exists a possibility towards combining FD with other desalination technologies, thereby developing a hybrid process. The proposed paper discusses extant research trends in FD as a comprehensive review along with discussion of future prospects concerning utility of the FD process.