Renewable energy powered membrane desalination — review of recent development

Abstract

Due to current water stress, there is a problem with hygiene and sanitation in many parts of the world. According to predictions from the United Nations, more than 2.7 billion people will be challenged by water scarcity by the middle of the century. The water industry is increasingly interested in desalination of the sea, ocean, and brackish water. Desalination processes are widely classified as thermal or membrane technologies. In the Middle East, thermal desalination remains the primary technology of choice, but membrane processes, for example reverse osmosis (RO), have evolved rapidly and in many other parts of the world are currently even surpassing thermal processes. The purpose of this paper is to review the renewable energy source, the technology, desalination systems, and their possible integration with renewable energy resources and their cost. This article suggests that the most practical renewable desalination techniques to be used are the solar photovoltaic integrated RO desalination process, the hybrid solar photovoltaic-wind integrated RO desalination process, the hybrid solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) integrated RO desalination process, and the hybrid solar photovoltaic-thermal effect distillation (PVT-MED) desalination process. However, intensive research is still required to minimize the cost, reduce the heat loss, enhance the performance, and increase the productivity.

Electrostatically induced reconstruction of the 3D nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx electrode and its excellent desalination performance for hybrid capacitive deionization

“…1.2 V was adopted for ion adsorption while 0 V was used for ion desorption. Desalination capacity was calculated using formula (2).…”

“…The crisis of freshwater shortage [1][2][3] has greatly facilitated the development of desalination technologies, which include thermal evaporation, 4 electrodialysis, 5 membrane separation, 6 etc. Nevertheless, compared with those traditional desalination technologies, the emerging capacitive deionization technology (CDI) 7,8 holds significant promise for desalination thanks to its low power consumption, straightforward handling, and minimal maintenance expense.…”

Electrohydrodynamic atomization of CNT on PTFE membrane for scaling resistant membranes in membrane distillation

“…Solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, and ocean thermocline are some of the renewable energies that can be utilized for generating power to operate the industrial desalination processes. Effective use of renewable energy sources helps to minimize the usage of fossil fuel energy and thereby the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [7][8][9][10] .…”

Polymethyl Methacrylate/Polypyrrole Porous Membranes Prepared by Breath Figure Method with Superior Salt Resistance for High‐Efficiency Interfacial Solar Evaporation

“…[4] Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE), being one of the most viable renewable seawater desalination methods, demands more development to lower costs and improve reuse rates and photothermal conversion efficiency. [5] The traditional solar desalination method involves directly heating the entire water body; heat is generated on the surface of the receiver, while steam is generated in other parts of the system, resulting in a large heat loss due to the separation of heat and steam generation and a low solar evaporation efficiency. [6] In recent years, an interfacial evaporation method has been proposed, which selectively heats the evaporating section of the water rather than the entire water body, greatly lowering heat loss and enhancing evaporation efficiency.…”

“…[ 4 ] Solar‐driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE), being one of the most viable renewable seawater desalination methods, demands more development to lower costs and improve reuse rates and photothermal conversion efficiency. [ 5 ]…”