Experimental study on seawater desalination through supercooled water dynamic ice making

Abstract

The existing methods for seawater freezing desalination include direct crystal suspension freezing and indirect progressive contact freezing (IPCF). However, freeze desalination is rarely used because of the low rates of desalination and freshwater production along with the relatively high treatment costs. In this study, we evaluated a new freeze desalination method using supercooled water dynamic ice making. The proposed method had a theoretical energy consumption of only 58% of that needed for IPCF. With gravity filtration separation of the produced ice–water mixture for 20 min or centrifugal dehydration for 1 min, a 0.5% salt content standard for freshwater and a 60% freshwater yield were attained. In addition, the method produced ice crystals with minimal impurities, after brine attached to the surface was removed through centrifugal dehydration, a 0.05% salt content standard for drinking water was achieved.