Desalination Research Articles

Evaluating physico-chemical and biological impacts of brine discharges for a sustainable desalination development on South America's Pacific coast.

Evaluating physico-chemical and biological impacts of brine discharges for a sustainable desalination development on South America's Pacific coast.

Comparative assessment for the zero‑carbon desalination plant using nanofiltration pretreatment and membrane contactor-based carbon mineralization technology

Comparative assessment for the zero‑carbon desalination plant using nanofiltration pretreatment and membrane contactor-based carbon mineralization technology

Advanced M-Cycle System for Simultaneous Cooling and Water Desalination

Advanced M-Cycle System for Simultaneous Cooling and Water Desalination

High-recovery and chemical-free desalination of sodium chloride-containing waters with modified electrodialysis metathesis

High-recovery and chemical-free desalination of sodium chloride-containing waters with modified electrodialysis metathesis

Global energy consumption of water treatment technologies.

Global energy consumption of water treatment technologies.

Cost determination of water production in a nanofiltration desalination plant powered by a hybrid renewable energy system. Case study of Cobquecura, Chile

Cost determination of water production in a nanofiltration desalination plant powered by a hybrid renewable energy system. Case study of Cobquecura, Chile

Impact of desalination plant brine discharge on macrobenthic communities in the Persian Gulf

Impact of desalination plant brine discharge on macrobenthic communities in the Persian Gulf

Analyzing decarbonization policies targeting interdependent electric power and water desalination infrastructure: A case study for Kuwait

Analyzing decarbonization policies targeting interdependent electric power and water desalination infrastructure: A case study for Kuwait

Management strategies for efficient energy production of brackish water desalination ensuring reliability, cost reduction, and sustainability

Management strategies for efficient energy production of brackish water desalination ensuring reliability, cost reduction, and sustainability

Carbon nanomats from poly (vinyl alcohol) electrospun nanofibers as potential electrode for water desalination

Carbon nanomats from poly (vinyl alcohol) electrospun nanofibers as potential electrode for water desalination

Clay/carbon composite aerogels for effective solar-driven water desalination and treatment

Clay/carbon composite aerogels for effective solar-driven water desalination and treatment

Advanced surface-engineered fluorinated polyimide membranes for sustainable high-salinity water desalination

Advanced surface-engineered fluorinated polyimide membranes for sustainable high-salinity water desalination

Sea Water Desalination Using Waste Heat: A Desalination System for Small and Medium Ships Using Exhaust Heat of the Engine

Marine engine-generated waste heat presents a great potential for efficient desalination. In this research, the investigators explore a desalination system that uses the exhaust gas of a marine engine to convert seawater into fresh water. The configuration includes a heat exchanger that transfers the exhaust heat to a thermal desalination unit, where seawater is vaporized and condensed into freshwater. By tapping into waste heat, this system not only cuts down on fuel consumption but also lessens environmental impact and boosts the availability of fresh water onboard. This makes it a perfect fit for fishing vessels, cargo ships, and offshore platforms. The study emphasizes the design, efficiency, and economic viability of merging desalination with marine engines, presenting a sustainable approach to producing fresh water at sea.

Direct Quantification of Ion Partitioning and Diffusion Resistances in Reverse Osmosis Membranes via Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

Polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are crucial for water desalination and purification, where salt ion transport is governed by partitioning and diffusion through the PA film. Despite extensive research, decoupling these two steps and quantifying their relative contributions remain challenging due to the lack of reliable characterization methods. Here, we develop a rapid, reproducible electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) protocol incorporating advanced electrical equivalent circuits to directly quantify partitioning and diffusion resistance. Its validity is verified through membrane filtration experiments and activation energy analysis. Our findings reveal that diffusion dominates ion transport resistance, with values 4.5 to 6.0 times higher than partitioning resistance across diverse monovalent cations. However, we discovered a critical concentration-dependent behavior where partitioning resistance becomes increasingly significant at lower electrolyte concentrations, eventually equaling diffusion resistance near 0.1 mM. We also uncovered that the anomalously low rejection of NH4+ of RO membranes stemmed from significantly reduced diffusion resistance, likely due to moderate hydrogen-bonding interactions with membrane pores or its tetrahedral geometry. This quantitative insight into transport resistance mechanisms establishes new design principles for next-generation RO membranes, enabling tailored strategies for applications ranging from high-salinity desalination to the removal of low-concentration micropollutants.

Green hydrogen production: synergizing efficient water desalination and food crop by products.

Growing concerns of climate change have made it imperative to look for clean energy sources for a sustainable future. Energy security is also a prime concern for any rising economy. One such source of energy that has gained the spotlight in the recent times is green hydrogen (H2). One way to produce green H2 is by water electrolysis using renewable energy (RE). Green hydrogen production through water electrolysis accounts for only 4% of the total hydrogne production worldwide. This process requires ultrapure water to be used in the electrolyzer. This makes low-cost water treatment as a prerequisite for green H2 production. This review emphasizes on low cost, high-recovery water desalination and distillation by using solar photovoltaic (PV) and multi-effect distillation (MED) by using a low-grade thermal energy source. This study focuses on the integration of water desalination and green H2 production for sustainable development. The study emphasizes on the importance of sustainable water availability for sustainable H2 production. To realize H2 as a future of emission-free energy, one must have to look at the sustainable water solutions. Producing green H2 at a global scale could strain freshwater sources for drinking, irrigation, and industrial purposes. The vast amount of seawater may help solve this problem if desalination can be achieved at a lower cost. Therefore, desalination and distillation technologies will play a pivotal role in green H2 economy. This study endeavors to provide a comprehensive review on potential sustainable solution to interlinked problems of hydrogen energy and water.

Overcoming the Limitations of Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation in Sustainable Hybrid Processes Managing the Water–Energy Nexus

Energy-efficient and cost-effective water desalination systems can significantly replenish freshwater reserves without further stressing limited energy resources. Currently, the majority of the desalination systems are operated by non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuel power plants. The viability of any desalination process depends primarily on the type and amount of energy it utilizes and on the product recovery. In recent years, membrane distillation (MD) and forward osmosis (FO) have drawn the attention of the scientific community because of FO’s low energy demand and the potential of MD operation with low-grade heat or a renewable source like geothermal, wind, or solar energy. Despite the numerous potential advantages of MD and FO, there are still some limitations that negatively affect their performance associated with the water–energy nexus. This critical review focuses on the hybrid forward osmosis–membrane distillation (FO-MD) processes, emphasizing energy demand and product quality. It starts with exploring the limitations of MD and FO as standalone processes and their performance. Based on this, the importance of combining these technologies into an FO-MD hybrid process and the resulting strengths of it will be demonstrated. The promising applications of this hybrid process and their advantages will be also explored. Furthermore, the performance of FO-MD processes will be compared with other hybrid processes like FO–nanofiltration (FO-NF) and FO–reverse osmosis (FO-RO). It will be outlined how the FO-MD hybrid process could outperform other hybrid processes when utilizing a low-grade heat source. In conclusion, it will be shown that the FO-MD hybrid process can offer a sustainable solution to address water scarcity and efficiently manage the water–energy nexus.

Energy savings in SWRO desalination via PRO hybridization: a parametric study

This study investigates the potential for energy reduction in a full-scale Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant through hybrid integration with Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO). A pilot test using a 60 m2 PRO membrane kit helped determine key operating parameters, including draw solution (DS) pressure and resulting dilution fluxes. Subsequently, a full-scale analysis was conducted with 650 m2 of PRO membrane area. The integration demonstrated up to 12.56% reduction in specific energy consumption under optimized conditions. Energy savings were found to correlate positively with lower feed pressures, higher brine availability, and optimal dilution rates, while being negatively impacted by pressure losses and high DS-to-FS flow ratios. The study confirms the viability of PRO-SWRO hybridization as a method for enhancing desalination energy efficiency, and highlights areas for further optimization in membrane design and hydraulic configuration.

Seamless incorporation of artificial water channels in defect-free polyamide membrane for desalination of brackish water

Artificial water channels (AWCs) show the potential for overcoming the permeability-selectivity tradeoff of polyamide (PA) membranes. However, the availability of biomimetic materials and limitations posed by fabrication-induced defects make the development of AWC-PA membranes a daunting task. Herein, we synthesize imidazolylethyl-ureidoethyl-phenyl (IUP) compounds to form AWC by self-assembling and provide a strategy to seamlessly incorporate AWC in defect-free PA membranes. IUP compounds are molecularly designed with enhanced nature to form AWC due to π-π stacking interactions. In addition, nanosized colloid AWC aggregates can be obtained in water directly with the aid of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and conveniently incorporated into PA layers. The AWC not only promotes the preferential selective passage of water but also exhibits good compatibility with the surrounding PA matrix. The biomimetic membranes demonstrate a water permeance of 4.3 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and NaCl rejection of 99.3%, much higher than that observed with marketed state-of-the-art membranes. Mechanism understanding reveals that the compatible interaction between AWC, SDS and PA matrix is a necessary requisite to fabricate defect-free AWC-PA layers. This strategy can be easily extended to industrial scale and the biomimetic membranes may represent the development direction of the next generation of high-performance reverse osmosis membranes.

Photothermal-Responsive Aerogel-Hydrogel Binary System for Efficient Water Purification and All-Weather Hydrovoltaic Generation.

Hydrovoltaic generators (HVGs) convert abundant water energy into distributed electricity to promote the Internet of Things. Realizing low-cost yet high-performance HVG remains challenging, hindering its commercialization and application. Inspired by the xylem conduits in plants, which transport water and nutrients, an aerogel-hydrogel binary-component system (SHA-HVG) is developed. It consists of a photothermal graphite-doped polyvinylidene fluoride (G-PVDF) aerogel, infilled with a thermosensitive wettability-switchable sulfonic acid-modified polyisopropylacrylamide hydrogel (S-PNIPAM) by in situ polymerization, which significantly promotes water/ion transporting and boosts electricity output. SHA-HVG demonstrates all-weather high output by cooperating power generation mechanisms of thermosensitive hydrogel-promoted surface photothermal evaporation during the daytime and sulfonic group-enhanced ion concentration gradient at nighttime, resulting in efficient water desalination (2.75 kg m-2 h-1) and a 2669% increase in power density (56.86 µW cm-2) compared to single-component HVG of G-PVDF. SHA-HVG is chemically stable and can be reactivated/recycled to improve its power generation efficiency to ∼130% by increasing its built-in ionic environment. A marine/offshore cultivation system is demonstrated using an SHA-HVG array, realizing an autonomous greenhouse for water desalination, self-irrigation, and self-powered environment monitoring. This work presents a cost-effective HVG strategy for efficient seawater desalination and electricity harvesting, envisioning the development of distributed energy, smart agriculture, and offshore planting.

Synergistic Super-Hygroscopic Composite Gel for Enhanced Atmospheric Water Harvesting and Desalination Applications.

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) produces freshwater by capturing moisture from air, offering a sustainable and decentralized solution to water scarcity without geographical limitations. Sorption-based vapor condensation has gained significant attention for garnering fresh drinking water. However, the development of multifunctional water sorption materials with versatile applications remains unexplored. In this work, the development of a super-hygroscopic composite gel composed of valine, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and N-isopropyl acrylamide-based thermoresponsive hydrogel (Valine-HEMA-NIPAM) with NH2-MIL-53(Al) metal-organic framework and hygroscopic CaCl2 salt is reported. The composite leverages the synergistic hygroscopic properties of its components, achieving a water generation capacity of 4.48gg-1 at 25°C at 90% humidity. The molecular level integration of the MOF's photothermal activity along with thermo-responsive PNIPAM polymer, which exhibits a reversible hydrophilic and hydrophobic phase transition, enables efficient photo-thermal responsiveness, resulting in complete water release within 30min. The porous architecture and hygroscopic design facilitate efficient moisture capture, in situ water liquefaction, and effective water storage and release under varying weather conditions. Furthermore, the material exhibits promising desalination performance with an evaporation rate of 2.98 kg m-2h-1. This study not only addresses water scarcity but also highlights the potential for developing advanced porous composite materials for AWH and broader environmental applications.