DESALINATION
WHAT IS DESALINATION?
It’s the process that removes dissolve salts from raw water or seawater, reducing the Total Disolved Solids (TDS) concentration to a minimum so it can be used for residential, commercial or industrial applications.
We can classify water by TDS concentration using the following rule:
- Freshwater – Less than 1,000 ppm
- Slightly saline water – From 1,000 ppm to 3,000 ppm
- Moderately saline water – From 3,000 ppm to 10,000 ppm
- Highly saline water – From 10,000 ppm to 35,000 ppm
Ninty seven percent (97%) of the world’s water is “saline”, to put that in perspective, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) there is approximately 324,088,000 cubic miles of saline water in the world, and the water consumption in 2010 was near 960 cubic miles.
“The scarcity of freshwater resources and the need for additional water supplies is already critical in many arid regions of the world and will be increasingly important in the future. Many arid areas simply do not have freshwater resources in the form of surface water such as rivers and lakes. They may have only limited underground water resources, some that are becoming more brackish as extraction of water from the aquifers continues.” USGS
HOW DO YOU DESALINATE WATER?
There are mainly two physicals phenomenons that can help us desalinate water:
- Evaporation (Distillation)
Heating water causes a change of the physical state from liquid to gas and therefore a separation from dissolve solid (that precipitate)
- Reverse Osmosis (RO)
It is a water treatment method that uses the physical phenomenon of osmosis to generate fresh water (product) with a low concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS).
By creating a pressure differential in a semi-permeable membrane large enough to reverse the osmosis process a liquid can be saturated with dissolved solids (rejection) and thus obtain the product water with a low TDS content.
WHY DESALINATION WITH REVERSE OSMOSIS?
The fresh water needs in the world are increasing exponentially over time, thus people needs better and better solutions that can solve this problem.
WATER QUALITY
A typical reverse osmosis membrane can filtrate up to 99% of the TDS contained in the water.
SPACE AND TIME EFICIENT
A desalination plant mainly consist of pressure vessels arrays that can be arrange in very efficient space modules and in very little time.
ENERGY EFFICIENT
The equipment used in a desalination plant are engineered to take a full advantage of the energy supply. High efficiency pumps, energy recovery devices (ERD) and solar systems makes the RO industry a go-to in water treatment.
OUR SOLUTION
Typically we recommend the following steps:
Complete flowchart for desalination below showing the ADVANCEES systems. This flowchart vary based on raw water quality and customer’s requirement. Many options and combinations are possible, the best solution needs to accommodate the minimum life cycle cost such as low operating cost, low maintenance, easy to operate and monitor.
What makes water saline?
Saline water has large levels of dissolved salts (referred to as “concentrations”). The concentration in this context is the quantity of salt in water (by weight), given in “parts per million” (ppm). If dissolved salts are present in water at a concentration of 10,000 parts per million (ppm), dissolved salts account for one percent of the water’s weight.
THE BEST DESALINATION PROCESS
Remove salt and other contaminants from seawater to make freshwater for drinking and irrigation. Desalination is essential to securing sustainable water supplies as population, urbanization, and climate change worsen the global water crisis.
Ancient civilizations used distillation to harvest freshwater from seawater. In the mid-20th century, technology and the necessity to solve water scarcity in arid places led to contemporary desalination processes.
Two basic forms of desalination exist thermal and membrane. Thermal desalination heats seawater to steam, which is condensed to get fresh water. Semi-permeable membranes extract salt and other contaminants from water in membrane desalination.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is the most popular membrane desalination method due of its efficiency and minimal energy use. Seawater is driven through a semi-permeable membrane under high pressure in RO, retaining salts and other impurities.
Thermal desalination using MSF distillation flashes seawater into steam at low pressures and condenses it to get fresh water. Although energy-intensive, this process produces vast amounts of freshwater.
The thermal desalination method MED uses numerous evaporation and condensation phases to create fresh water. Reusing heat between stages makes MED systems more energy efficient than MSF distillation.
ED uses ion-selective membranes and electric fields to desalinate saltwater. Although ED systems use less energy than thermal desalination, they remove salts less efficiently.
CDI is a new desalination method that uses electrodes to adsorb seawater ions on porous surfaces. This process is still developing but may save energy and money.
Multiple desalination technologies are combined in hybrid systems to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Hybrid systems can increase water recovery and reduce energy use by combining RO and thermal desalination or ED and CDI.
To alleviate water scarcity and ensure a dependable water supply, desalination has various advantages. Desalination can maintain coastal and arid populations with freshwater from plentiful seawater supplies.
Desalination has drawbacks including high energy use, environmental effects, and brine disposal. The energy-intensive process of desalination can worsen climate change and destroy marine habitats by releasing brine into the ocean.
Recent desalination technology improvements aim to boost efficiency, lower prices, and lessen environmental effects. Solar energy powers desalination, a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Forward osmosis and nanotechnology may improve membrane performance and water recovery.
Desalination is growing worldwide, especially in water-scarce areas. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel depend on desalination for freshwater. Desalination plants offer water during droughts in Australia, and coastal US communities are studying it as a solution.
With continued research and development to improve efficiency, lower prices, and reduce environmental impact, desalination has a bright future. As technology advances, desalination will become more vital for global water security.
In the face of rising demand and climate change, desalination is essential for water sustainability. Desalination could solve the worldwide water dilemma by using the seas’ immense resources.
ADVANCEES
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