Membrane Desalination: Generally, Membrane desalination processes use either pressure-driven or electrical-driven technologies. The pressure-driven membrane technologies include reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration(NF), ultrafiltration(UF), and microfiltration(MF). Electrical-driven membrane technologies that are effective with salt removal include Electrodialysis (ED) and Electrodialysis reversal (EDR) (Tamim Younos).
1)Pressure-driven methods: a) Reverse Osmosis uses the principle of osmosis to remove salt and other impurities, by using pressure to push water through a series of semi-permeable …show more content…
The process uses a driving force to transfer ionic species(e.g. of a salt) from one solution(the dilute) through cathode and anode(in an electrodialysis cell) to another solution(the concentrate), creating a more dilute stream. It selectively removes dissolved solid particles based on their electrical charge, by transferring the brackish water ions through a semi permeable ion exchange membrane charged with an electrical potential. EDR is just a variation of the ED process and they work the same way, except that the polarity of the DC power is reversed two to four times per hour. When the polarity is reversed, the salt water dilute and concentrate compartments are also reversed and so are the chemical reactions at both electrodes. This polarity reversal helps prevent the formation of scale on the membranes. Because only the ions, rather than the water molecules, pass through the membrane, the rate at which these processes can desalinate is much higher than that of Reverse Osmosis and other pressure driven methods (New Desalination Technique Also Cleans and Disinfects Water). Thermal Desalination: Thermal desalination uses heat released usually as waste heat from power plants or refineries, to evaporate and condense water to purify it, as is done in the natural process of precipitation. Thermal distillation