Water Desalination Research Paper

Water desalination is the way to provide clean and fresh water to use it in either drinking or agriculture. It can be done by using various technologies that are able to extract the unwanted minerals from the seawater to make it clean.

A. History of water desalination

The process of water desalination has a long and rich history. According to A Short History (2015, p.1), in the ancient Greece, Aristotle and a group of intellectuals marked the beginning of the desalination process. They used soil deposits to produce clean water from the sea. Desalination by evaporation was first used in boats prior to the second world war (A Short History, 2015, p.1). According to A Short History (2015, p.1), in 1955, USA introduced the first modern desalination

According to Berger (2012, p.1), desalination battery is run by doing reverse cycles on the mixing entropy battery. The contains some materials that are capable of taking out the salt from seawater (Berger, 2012, p.1). According to Smith, as cited by Lavars (2016, p.1), the salt is diffused from the positive electrode to the negative electrode in the battery using a separator. A membrane is then put between the electrodes to prevent the sodium from entering, so it cannot be mixed with the water that has been desalinated. Figure 3 shows the structure of the sodium battery. It illustrates the area where the freshwater production occurs, which is in the separator.

B. Advantages

Desalination battery has inspired scientists of its remarkable advantages. Despite the fact that sodium battery is in its early stages, it has proved it effectiveness in cost and has become a solution to problems related to energy (Lavars, 2016, p.1). According to Smith, as cited by Lavars (2016, p.1), sodium battery can differ in size, either big or small, depends on what application it is used for. In addition, it needs a small amount of energy to extract the salt from water.

C.

The technology was introduced by members of a research team at the university of Alexandria in Egypt (Nield, 2015, p.1).

A. How it works

Pervaporation uses simple steps in order to produce clean water. According to Nield (2015, p.1), the technology uses a membrane that is able to extract the salt and other water contaminants from water, and evaporate them. After the evaporation, the remaining part must be warmed up and condensed, so it can become freshwater (Nield, 2015, p.1).

B. Advantages

Using pervaporation will help us in many different ways. According to Danise (2015, p.1), the membrane can be built using cheap materials, which would be a great choice for developed countries. The technology can also clean water from high concentrated salt effectively (Nield, 2015, p.2). According to El-Shafi, as cited by Danise (2015, p.1), no electricity is needed if we use pervaporation.

C. Disadvantages

Despite the good advantages pervaporation provides, it contains some disadvantages. According to Nield (2015, p.2), there is a problem with pervporation and that is the production of water waste during the process. The membranes used in pervaporation might not be able to perform very effeciently (Nield, 2015, p.2).