Batch desalination configuration bests standard reverse osmosis approach

Friday, November 18, 2016 - 16:21 in Physics & Chemistry

With water scarcity affecting nearly 2 billion people — many of whom live near the oceans — “water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink” has become a common cry for more than just wayward sailors. Desalination through reverse osmosis (RO) has long offered one solution to help meet global water needs in the face of population growth, development, and climate change. However, removing salt from water is energy-intensive. A team of MIT researchers has responded by creating new designs for reverse osmosis desalination that significantly exceeds the energy efficiency of state-of-the-art techniques. Instead of the standard steady flow operation, their two proposed configurations vary the salinity of a set volume of water over time, essentially providing desalination in “batches.” This batch approach could substantially reduce the energy use of future desalination systems. The team is co-led by two MIT mechanical engineers, PhD candidate Emily Tow and postdoc David Warsinger, and...

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