Abstract
Due to advances in desalination technology, desalination has been considered as a practical method to meet the increasing global fresh water demand. This paper explores the status of the desalination industry and research work in South Korea. Desalination plant designs, statistics, and the roadmap for desalination research were analyzed. To reduce energy consumption in desalination, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) has been intensively investigated. Recently, alternative desalination technologies, including forward osmosis, pressure-retarded osmosis, membrane distillation, capacitive deionization, renewable-energy-powered desalination, and desalination batteries have also been actively studied. Related major consortium-based desalination research projects and their pilot plants suggest insights into lowering the energy consumption of desalination and mitigation of the environmental impact of SWRO brine as well. Finally, considerations concerning further development are suggested based on the current status of desalination technology in South Korea.
Highlights
There is enough fresh water to meet demands at the global level on an annual basis, spatial and temporal variations of water demand and availability lead to water shortage problems in several parts of the world [1]
Before 2000, when thermal desalination was the main technology in the seawater desalination market, South Korean companies occupied a large portion of the seawater desalination market
This review aims to share the history of desalination technology in South Korea and provide insights into the development direction of the desalination industry and its research targets
Summary
There is enough fresh water to meet demands at the global level on an annual basis, spatial and temporal variations of water demand and availability lead to water shortage problems in several parts of the world [1]. The keywords ranked 11th to 20th include capacitive deionization, membrane distillation, and forward osmosis, which are alternative desalination technologies, showing the trend of desalination research in South Korea toward low-energy desalination. After the seawater engineering and architecture of high-efficiency RO (SEAHERO) R&D project (2007–2012) was launched by the CSDP for the development of SWRO plant technologies, desalination research projects based on new alternative desalination technologies were initiated between 2009 and 2014. The South Korean companies Doosan Heavy, Hyosung, and Woongjin Chemical participated in the SEAHERO R&D program They were in charge of developing design and engineering technology, a high-pressure pump, and the SWRO membrane, respectively, to achieve localization of major parts of the SWRO process. The high-pressure pump developed in this project led to export-worthy performance [29]
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