Saline Water Desalination Research Articles

Technologies Available for Treatment of Saline Water for Livestock Drinking: A Review

Water is an essential nutrient required for physiological and metabolic processes in livestock. However, in many arid and semi-arid regions, freshwater resources are scarce, and saline or brackish water becomes the only available source. Consumption of saline water can adversely affect livestock productivity and health. Desalination offers a solution by converting saline water into potable quality. This review explores the technologies available for desalination of saline water for livestock drinking, encompassing thermal, membrane-based, chemical, and renewable energy-assisted systems. Reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), vapor compression distillation (VCD), and freeze desalination are examined in detail. Additionally, solar desalination and its potential for decentralized livestock farms is discussed. The review concludes by emphasizing the need for technology selection based on water quality, energy availability, scale of operation, and economic viability.

Influence of Silane Treatment on CNM/PAC/PVDF Properties and Performance for Water Desalination by VMD.

Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) is a promising process for water desalination. However, it suffers some obstacles, such as fouling and wetting, due to the inadequate hydrophobicity of the membrane and high vacuum pressure on the permeate side. Therefore, improving surface hydrophobicity and roughness is important. In this study, the effect of 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFTES) on the morphology and performance of CNM/PAC/PVDF membranes at various concentrations was investigated for the first time. Membrane characteristics such as FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, contact angle, and hydrophobicity before and after modification were analyzed and tested using VMD for water desalination. The results showed that the membrane coated with 1 wt.% PFTES had a higher permeate flux and lower rejection than the membranes coated with the 2 wt.% PFTES. The 2 wt.% PFTES enhanced the contact angle to 117° and increased the salt rejection above 99.9%, with the permeate flux set to 23.2 L/m2·h and at a 35 g/L NaCl feed solution, 65 °C feed temperature, a 0.6 L/min feed flow rate, and 21 kPa (abs) vacuum pressure. This means that 2 wt.% PFTES-coated PVDF membranes exhibited slightly lower permeate flux with higher hydrophobicity, salt rejection, and stability over long-term operation. These outstanding results indicate the potential of the novel CNM/PAC/PVDF/PFTES membranes for saline water desalination. Moreover, this study presents useful guidance for the enhancement of membrane structures and physical properties in the field of saline water desalination using porous CNM/PAC/PVDF/PFTES membranes.

Correction: Mibarki et al. An Effective Standalone Solar Air Gap Membrane Distillation Plant for Saline Water Desalination: Mathematical Model, Optimization. Water 2023, 15, 1141

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Synergy from the Stepped Hollow FeHCFe Nanocubes and the Dimorphic Polypyrrole for High-Performance Electrochemical Water Desalination.

Saline water desalination serves as an important route to increase freshwater supply, while capacitive deionization (CDI) has emerged as a promising technique to tackle this issue. To boost the successful application of CDI, development of advanced electrode materials is vital. Herein, we innovatively designed and synthesized a sophisticated Prussian blue/dimorphic polypyrrole composite for the hybrid CDI (HCDI). Specifically, the nanoparticle-like polypyrrole (PPy) in situ distributed on the surface of stepped hollow FeHCFe nanocubes, while the coexisting nanotube-like PPy interconnected the discrete stepped hollow FeHCFe nanocubes. The introduction of PPy nanoparticles/nanotubes promoted both electron and ion dynamics, and improved the electrochemical activity of FeHCFe. Meanwhile, the FeHCFe nanocubes with concave stepwise architecture on each side offered large accessible contact area for electrolyte, reduced Na+ migration path, improved tolerance for lattice expansion, and optimized redox sites for Na+ storage. Through such unique structural design and synergistic combination, the FeHCFe/PPy with appropriate component ratio achieved a remarkable desalination capacity and a fast desalination rate along with excellent cycling performance, outperforming other related materials. Moreover, the treated solution can meet the drinking water standard within 6 min via the use of six tandem HCDI cells. Density functional theory (DFT) revealed the mechanism of Na+ capture process and provided a fundamental understanding of the rapid Na+ migration and large Na+ storage capability. This study provides insights into ration design of superior electrode materials for high-performance electrochemical water desalination.

Modelling and Simulation of Solar Compound Parabolic Concentrator Integrated Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination System

Abstract This study introduces an innovative approach to saline water desalination using a stationary compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) to power a low-temperature thermal desalination (LTTD) system. The integration of CPC into LTTD was thermodynamically modeled and simulated under tropical climatic conditions. Key parameters, including hot feed saline water temperature, temperature gradient, cold water inlet temperature, feed saline water flow rate, flash chamber pressure, and varying salinity levels, were examined for their impact on freshwater production. Additionally, the design requirements for CPC arrays and economic considerations were thoroughly analyzed to achieve a large-scale freshwater production capacity of 1,000 L/day. The results showed that increasing the thermal gradient, feed saline water temperature and flow rate, while decreasing the flash chamber pressure, significantly enhanced freshwater production. For example, as the temperature gradient increased from 7°C to 20°C, the average freshwater yield rose from 75.23 L/hr to 120.19 L/hr. Achieving the target freshwater production required 126 to 152 CPC units with an area of approximately 3 m2 for hot feed saline water temperatures between 37°C and 50°C. Furthermore, increasing the feed saline water flow rate from 7,500 L/hr to 22,500 L/hr resulted in a 66.48% increase in freshwater yield. Reducing flash chamber pressure from 12.35 kPa to 4.5 kPa led to a substantial increase in potable water production, ranging from 21.65% to 90.9% across different temperature gradients. The study also evaluated the effects of salinity levels, finding a slight decrease in freshwater production with higher salinity.

Desalination of saline water and wastewater using graphene oxide mixed matrix membranes through pervaporation method

Desalination of saline water and wastewater using graphene oxide mixed matrix membranes through pervaporation method

Industrial high saline water desalination by activated carbon in a packed column- an experimental and CFD study

Abstract Salt adsorption from water onto the activated carbon was studied by a set of batch adsorption tests. Isotherms (Langmuir, Freundlich, Halsey and Redlich-Peterson) were used to study the experimental data for the adsorption isotherm analyzed. For magnesium, R 2 is equal to 0.98 for all isotherms, and for calcium, the Langmuir value is 0.97, while for sodium, the Langmuir value is 0.98, which is more suitable than the other isotherms. The experimental data were examined using three kinetic models, including first-second-order and intra-diffusion ones with R 2 value of 0.96, 0.67 and 0.93 respectively. According to the kinetic models, the first -order isotherm model better fit adsorption on the surface of activated carbon, as compared to other models. Similarly, the results of the experiment were provided via the computational fluid dynamics evaluation. Moreover, the results obtained by CFD were compared with the experimental data, and their accuracy was proved. Subsequently, the effects of changing the design and operating parameters, including flow rate (6, 12, 30 L min−1) and bed height (5, 10, 20 cm), on the performance of this tower were studied. The results showed that by reducing the adsorbent, the adsorbed metals increased and a longer bed was required for adsorption, which was not cost-effective. The amount of adsorption decreased as the flow rate increased, indicating that there was little contact between the metals and the adsorbent.

In-Situ Desalination-Coupled Electrolysis with a Membrane Stack System Producing Value-Added Chemicals

An efficient multi-functional electrolyzer with an electrodeposited Ni- and Fe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) anode and an electrodeposited NiMo cathode is designed for overall water splitting coupled with the desalination of saline water and production of acid and base solution. NiFe-LDH is characterized by abundant active sites for OH adsorption and an optimal binding energy for M-OH. Meanwhile, loading bimetallic NiMo on an active electrode for the HER has been known to improve the electrocatalytic activity and durability owing to its high surface area. The NiFe-LDH and NiMo pairs separated by a bipolar membrane (BPM) show overpotentials as low as those of noble metal catalysts for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions in 1 M KOH and 1 M H2SO4 solutions, respectively. Thereafter, the electrode pair with an array of anion- and cation-exchange membranes (AEMs and CEMs) in alternatively stacking manner showed the desalination of brackish water and seawater at specific energy consumption of 1.8 kW h m−3, with concurrent production of HCl and NaOH. The Faradaic efficiencies of the device for O2 and H2 production are >95% at J = 100 mA cm−2 over 20 h, while the initial pH values of the anolyte and catholyte remain unchanged. The proposed multi-functional electrolyzer is highly promising for converting electrical energy into hydrogen energy, simultaneously desalinating saline water, and producing value-added chemicals. Subsequently, we compared electrodialytic performance over unit cell thickness, types of ion exchange membranes, and number of stacks in the device.This work is financially supported by Korea Water Cluster (KWC) as Korea Water Cluster ProjectLab. This work was supported by the Technology Innovation Program (or Industrial Strategic Technology Development Program-Alchemist Project) (NTIS-1415187362, 20025773, Development of building-Integrated Carbon Control Technologies) funded By the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy(MOTIE, Korea).

Compact and Portable Desalination Using Architected Silver Sponge Electrodes

Freshwater, a resource critical to social and economic stability, can become temporarily inaccessible after natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Transport of water to remote areas during emergencies is expensive and potentially dangerous. Production of fresh water from local brackish and saline resources requires compact, mobile and energy-efficient devices. Reverse-osmosis (RO) uses high-pressure pumps that make down-sizing to mobile scales challenging, while an alternative to RO, capacitive deionization (CDI) based on low-density, low-capacity carbon electrodes, necessitates large footprint devices that are better suited for stationary desalination. Faradaic deionization (FDI) based on the silver–silver chloride conversion reaction provides high-capacity desalination in smaller formfactors. The silver electrode, with a theoretical capacity of 238 mAh/g, is used to remove chloride ions but the low-dimensional architectures of sheet and mesh electrodes limit material utilization. We have developed architected silver and silver chloride sponges that demonstrate high salt removal capacity (80 mg/g, 68 mg/cm2) owing to their high-surface area porous structure. The three-dimensionally interconnected silver network facilitates electronic and ionic transport throughout the bulk of the sponge, enabling scaling to millimeters-thick electrodes. We investigate the design of compact multi-channel flow-cell devices using Ag/AgCl sponges toward practical desalination of brackish and saline waters.

Desalination-Coupled (photo)Electrocatalysis for Production of Value-Added Chemicals

Water and energy are the most essential elements for a sustainable human society. They are strongly interdependent because energy production requires a significant amount of water, while the production, processing, distribution, and end-use of water requires large energy inputs. Several water-energy nexus technologies have emerged, including PV-electrolysis and microbial desalination. Herein, we propose a hybrid process that is driven by sunlight and boosted by electrodialysis. A sunlit inorganic photoanode initiates the desalination of saline water in the middle cell. As the chloride in the middle cell moves to the anode cell, the wastewater (WW) treatment is boosted by reactive chlorine species (RCS) generated via the reaction with photogenerated holes. An increase in the electrical conductivity in the anode cell further enhances the photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) WW treatment. Upon a potential bias, various value-added chemicals (H2 via water reduction, H2O2 via O2 reduction, and HCOOH via CO2 reduction) are produced in the cathode cell, and the production of the chemical is enhanced as the desalination proceeds because of sodium enrichment (i.e., conductivity increase). The uniqueness and advantages of this hybrid process include its broad range of operating conditions (virtually the entire pH range) and the wide variety of inorganic and organic substrates that can be treated (i.e., aquatic pollutants), while desalination boosts the overall operation and chloride catalyzes the anodic reaction, which in turn facilitates the desalination. Although tested as a proof-of-concept, the present technology opens up a novel field involving a sunlight-water-energy nexus, promising high efficiency desalination and the desalination-boosted remediation of water with simultaneous production of value-added chemicals.

Evaluation of Modified Conventional Still Distiller Using Coupled External Passive Condenser: An Experimental Study

Solar radiation plays an important part in the desalination of saline water owing to its abundance in areas with potable water shortage and it also occupies a paramount place in green energy generation due to its simplicity of application. Still distiller is viewed by researchers as a suitable source of potable water because of low cost of fabrication, easy operation and zero emission technology. Studies by researchers are geared towards exploring new models to improve the productivity of solar stills and enhance its production rate is ongoing. The main aspiration of this work is to experiment the consequence of introducing a passive condenser to a modified conventional solar still to enhance its productivity yield. It was observed that the modified passive still distiller coupled with the external condenser gave about 11.85% higher production yield in comparison with the modified conventional still distiller. Daily and accumulated distillate yield for the still distillers have been studied and analyzed. The result of the findings revealed that sawdust padding around the still distillers is recommended to maximize productivity leading to efficient water distillation in regions where that require still distiller usage. This recommendation has been seen to produce the desired result in accessing to potable water within areas where water scarcity prevails. This is suggested to contribute effectively bearing the cost ineffective water desalination technique.

Unlocking desalination’s potential: Harnessing MXene composite for sustainable desalination

Unlocking desalination’s potential: Harnessing MXene composite for sustainable desalination

Process intensification in the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) desalination by patterning membrane surface: A CFD study

Process intensification in the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) desalination by patterning membrane surface: A CFD study

Effective design of sustainable energy productivity based on the experimental investigation of the humidification-dehumidification-desalination system using hybrid optimization

Effective design of sustainable energy productivity based on the experimental investigation of the humidification-dehumidification-desalination system using hybrid optimization

Single modular flow-electrode capacitive deionization using modified Prussian blue analogues as cation intercalation electrode for continuous water desalination.

Ion back-diffusion hinders the practical application of conventional flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) under long-term operational conditions. To address this challenge, the present study integrated cation intercalation deionization (CID) with FCDI. A novel PFCDI-CID system was developed by utilizing a modified Prussian blue analogues owing to their enhanced rheological and electrochemical properties. The PFCDI-CID system achieved a high charge efficiency of 89.77% and an energy-normalized removal salt of 0.69 mol kJ-1 in single-cycle (SC) mode with the flow electrodes mass fraction of 2% and a desalinized water chamber-to-concentrated saline water chamber ratio of 2:1. Furthermore, under continuous operation for 12 h in SC mode, the PFCDI-CID system maintained stable desalination performance within the first 2 h. Over an extended duration, the average charge efficiency of the PFCDI-CID system was maintained at 88.44%, with an average energy-normalized removal salt of 0.65 mol kJ-1. The mechanism revealed that the desalination process involving the Prussian blue analogues primarily involves Na+ intercalation, accompanied by a small amount of electro-sorption process. This system exhibits the characteristics of conventional FCDI while enabling desalination and concentration of simulated saline water during brine discharge, thereby mitigating the impact of ion back-diffusion and broadening the application scope of FCDI.

Model-based zero liquid discharge desalination for land-locked arid/semi-arid regions in India

Model-based zero liquid discharge desalination for land-locked arid/semi-arid regions in India

Basil seed hydrogel incorporated activated carbon as a Capable, Bio-Based, and Cost-Effective interfacial solar steam generator

Basil seed hydrogel incorporated activated carbon as a Capable, Bio-Based, and Cost-Effective interfacial solar steam generator

Design and fabrication of porous three‐dimensional Ag-doped reduced graphene oxide (3D Ag@rGO) composite for interfacial solar desalination

Solar-driven interfacial desalination technology has shown great promise in tackling the urgent global water scarcity crisis due to its ability to localize heat and its high solar-to-thermal energy conversion efficiency. For the realization of sustainable saline water desalination, the exploration of novel photothermal materials with higher water vapor generation and photothermal conversion efficiency is indispensable. In the current study, a novel 3D interconnected monolithic Ag-doped rGO network was synthesized for efficient photothermal application. The Ultraviolet–Visible-Near Infrared (UV–Vis-NIR) and FTIR analyses demonstrated that the controlled hydrothermal reduction of GO enabled the restoration of the conjugated sp2 bonded carbon network and the subsequent electrical and thermal conductivity through a significant reduction of oxygen-containing functional groups while maintaining the hydrophilicity of the composite photothermal material. In the solar simulated interfacial desalination study conducted using 3.5 wt.% saline water, the average surface temperatures of the 3D material increased from 27.1 to 54.7 °C in an hour, achieving an average net dark-excluded evaporation rate of 1.40 kg m−2 h−1 and a photothermal conversion efficiency of ~ 97.54% under 1 sun solar irradiance. In the outdoor real-world application test carried out, the surface temperature of the 3D solar evaporator reached up to 60 °C and achieved a net water evaporation rate of 1.50 kg m−2 h−1 under actual solar irradiation. The 3D interwoven porous hierarchical evaporator displayed no salt precipitation over the 54-h period monitored, demonstrating the promising salt rejection and real-world application potential for efficient desalination of saline water.

Chemical grafting of hydrophobic functional groups on polyvinylidene fluoride side chain for vacuum membrane distillation applications

Chemical grafting of hydrophobic functional groups on polyvinylidene fluoride side chain for vacuum membrane distillation applications

A Development in Solar Desalination System with Flashing of Solar Heated Water

Solar still was successfully used for the desalination of saline water in many arid and oceanic regions of the world. But the yield of solar still was found very low and fluctuating. The new develop system with the flashing of solarheated water is found possible during the study of flashing of hot water in many thermal processes used during the chemical and pharmaceutical processes. A compact and effective desalination system using solar energy had designed during the research work from the design reviews collected from flashing hot water devices used in many thermal processes. The compact flash chamber and flash steam condenser are critical components developed for the novel desalination system using locally available materials during the research work. In present experimental work a flash chamber is designed for flashing of solar heated water. Experimental work shows that by increasing the mass flow rate of water from 0.01 kg/sec to 0.02 kg/sec the distillate output of water could be increased with higher temperature of water. It shows that around 38% of higher distillate output in water could be achieved with development of new system.