Science Forums 2

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Mercedes Benzene

No. Honestly I don't think it would be profitable for anything other than NaCl. Everything else is just present in too small of quantities. That's just my opinion though, since I don't have much knowledge in the natural resources department.

you are probably right.
But what if you were dealing with massive gigolitres of water?
what if you improved recovery technology rather than just removing salt?

Have you seen this?

I

live on the Central Coast of NSW surrounded by power stations that use salt water to cool the plants.
I have often wondered (with 16% water in the dam) why the power stations can't also desalinate water

I talked to a Guy at a recent conference who worked for a big power Station up north.
I ran the "de-sal at power plant" idea by him and he thought it was a good idea.
Power Stations, as you know, need to keep a base load going.
At night, he said, they need to gradually "step down" their massive generators. CO2 wise, this is not very efficient use of the energy produced by burning the coal. A lot of energy is wasted gradually stepping down the massive generators over a period of hours.
Sometimes they need to expend a lot of energy going to get an extra power station on line to cope with peak demand.
He also said that seawater used for cooling is warmed to 50C anyway, so it is not a lot more to get to 101C.
I suppose it is a matter of economics, perhaps of perception, perhaps of conservative thinking; but the Professor's new technology (below) looks good.
What do you think?

Professor Discovers Better Way To Desalinate Water

Science Daily — Chemical engineer Kamalesh Sirkar, PhD, a distinguished professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and an expert in membrane separation technology, is leading a team of researchers to develop a breakthrough method to desalinate water. Sirkar, who holds more than 20 patents in the field of membrane separation, said that using his technology, engineers will be able to recover water from brines with the highest salt concentrations. The Bureau of Reclamation in the Department of Interior is funding the project.

Kamalesh K. Sirkar, PhD, is a distinguished professor of chemical engineering and the sponsored chair for membrane separations and the director for the Center for Membrane Technologies at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

"Our process will work especially well with brines holding salt concentrations above 5.5 percent," Sirkar said. Currently, 5.5 percent is the highest percentage of salt in brine that can be treated using reverse osmosis.

"We especially like our new process because we can fuel it with low grade, inexpensive waste heat," Sirkar said. "Cheap heat costs less, but can heat brine efficiently."

ScienceDaily: Professor Discovers Better Way To Desalinate Water

Professor Discovers Better Way To Desalinate Water
On desalination and putting back the salt
Desalination - Ask a Real Expert - Ask an expert - The Lab - Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Gateway to Science

Desalination - Ask an expert - The Lab - Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Gateway to Science