Recent Developments in Low-Energy Desalination Technologies: Forward Osmosis, Membrane Distillation, and Adsorption Desalination

Gary Amy, Noreddine Ghaffour, Suzana Nunes, Kim Choon Ng

Advances in Desalination
Materials
Aquaporins (biomimetric membranes) Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) Graphene Thin Film (inorganic-organic) Nanocomposites etc Forward Osmosis (FO) Membrane Distillation (MD) Adsorption Desalination (AD) Capacitive Deioniniation (CDI) etc

Processes

Process
Multi Stage Flash/MSF (without waste heat) MSF (with waste heat)

Total Energy (kW-h/m3)

55-57 10 - 16

Capital Cost ($/m3/d)

1000 - 1500

Unit Water ($/m3)

0.8 -1.0

Multi Effect Distillation/MED (w/o waste heat)

MED (with waste heat) Sea Water Reverse Osmosis/SWRO SWRO (with energy recovery) Innovative Technologies/Hybridization

40-43
6-9 3-6 2-3 < 2.0 *

900 - 1200 800 - 1000 < 800 < 800

0.6 0.8 0.5 0.8 0.45 0.6 <0.5

* Thermodynamically minimum energy requirement for desalination 0.75 kWh/m3; <2.0 kWh/m3 attained by improving efficiency/hybridization

Energy Requirements

(Source: Ghaffour and Ng, 2011)

Conventional technologies: minimize energy requirements by waste heat, energy recovery Thermal desalination energy reduction by co-location with power plant

Thermal > SWRO > Innovative processes

Forward Osmosis (FO)

H

O H
H H

O
H H

H H

H H

O H O H
H H

O HH O H O H
H

O H
H H H

O O H
H

O
H H

O H OH H O H
H H H O H H H H

O H
O
H H

H2O
H H

Wastewater H Effluent HO (low TDS) O H O H

H H H H H

Water transport driven by osmosis

Seawater (high TDS)
H H

O
H H

O O O

O O H
H

O H
H H

H H

O FO Membrane

Pollutants (NO3-, PO43-, EDCs, TORCs, etc.) Organic Foulants (Humics, protein, etc.) Heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Cd, Mn, etc.)

Objective: Water (only) Extraction

Forward Osmosis (FO) RO-like membrane, but process is osmosis-driven not pressure-driven Low energy alternative to SWRO Lower salinity or impaired quality source (e.g. WW) as feed solution; higher salinity draw solution Research Needs/ Process Improvements New/better FO Membranes (open support layer; thickness and porosity) Minimize internal concentration polarization (within support layer) Assess/minimize fouling/biofouling Novel draw solutions (seawater vs. synthetic solutions)

Concentrated DS

FO

Back pressure regulator

RO

RO brine

Diluted DS

pump product

Draw Solution
Need high solubility, low cost, high osmotic pressure solution Easily separable and reusable Non-Toxic and eco-friendly

Post Treatment
Recovery of product water from diluted draw solution Recovery and recirculation of draw solution (components) Concentrated feed: treatment and/or environmental impact?

Need for Novel Draw Solutions

Forward Osmosis Desalination (FOD)

Direct FOD

Indirect FOD

Company X (NaCl as DS with RO recovery) FO as Pretreatment RO?

Forward Osmosis (FO) for Water Desalination and Reuse in Coastal Cities
Post-treatment (concentrated WW)

FO
Concentrated Wastewater effluent

Seawater

Wastewater effluent

Post-treatment (lower salinity)

Diluted seawater

Diluted Draw Solution: LPRO (fate of organic micropollutants & pathogens?) Concentrated Feed Solution: Anaerobic Treatment (primary effluent?)

FO Status: Membranes
FO RO: Key focus on structure and
support layer, with goal of flux comparable to RO

Under development: Thin-film composite

membranes by interfacial polymerization

New Membranes Development of high performance

thin-film composite (TFC) membranes for FO application

Thin-film composite membrane interfacial polymerisation

Polyamide active layer on top of

polysulfone support layer

Finger like morphologies

[Source: Peinemann, Nunes, 2008; Elimelch and Yip, 2010 (bottom)]

FO + Nanoparticles Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as draw solution in FO MNPs exert osmotic pressure, easily recovered from draw solution by applying magnetic field
FO + High MW Polyelectrolytes High MW polyelectrolytes, separable by (low pressure) UF Limitations/Research Needs MNPs and high MW polyelectrolytes' size distribution, concentration in draw solution, aggregation and stability Osmotic pressure (limited to brackish water?)

Osmosis

(Source Chung, 2011)

Draw Solution (higher osmotic Pressure)

Feed Solution (lower osmotic pressure)

The Ammonium-Carbonate Direct Desalination System (Elimelich, 2010)

Limitations: Energy Input (if no waste heat) Residual Ammonia Carbonate Scaling

Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO): A Special Case of FO

PRO
Pressure created by flow of freshwater into salt water Pressure used to run a turbine Blue energy In Norway, River Water and Seawater

Research Questions Theoretical Yields

Develop PRO Membrane (PRO FO) Improve Power Efficiency (W/m2) Identify Applications Desalination * Brine & Wastewater Effluent Piloting/Up-Scaling

Membrane Distillation (MD)

Hot Feed

Cold Permeate

Membrane: High hydrophobicity High thermal stability High porosity Chemical stability

http://www.purity.se/company/technologies.html

1 KwH/m3 w/ waste heat (PUB)

Membrane Distillation (MD) Evaporation process involving hydrophobic membrane Water vapor transported through membrane Temperature driven (lower than conventional distillation) Can be coupled with waste heat, or solar (solar-MD) MD applicable to extreme salinity (e.g.. Arabian Gulf)

Research Needs Improved MD membranes, increased flux (85 LMH with

Membrane

Little or no effect on flux Potential Application: MSF Brines; Produced Water

Concentrate 60C Distillate 30C

99.95% salt rejection with fabricated nanofiber membranes)

Flat sheet

Hollow fiber

Nanofiber Feed 90C

Distillate 60C

Reduce temperature polarization (through spacers) Process modeling and scale-up

(Source: Ghaffour 2011, Tzahi Y. Cath 2008)

Module design and lab-scale performance testing

Materials: - Commercial and new membranes (higher flux) Pilot testing (scale-up): MSF Brine, Produced Water

FO + MD
FO and MD integrated, FO is employed to draw water from dilute feed solution to concentrate solution, and MD is used to recover water from draw solution, permitting recycling

Osmosis

Research Needs
Feasibility/optimization of FO-MD hybrid process in water treatment and in desalination Improved FO and MD membranes to increase flux, minimize fouling

+
Osmosis Heat
(Source: Chung, 2011)

Draw Solution (higher osmotic Pressure)

Feed Solution (lower osmotic pressure)

Adsorption Desalination (AD) using Silica Gel

Silica Gel (hydroscopic)

Adsorption and Desorption

Water Vaporization (at the Evaporator)

Silica Beads Adsorption Desorption (by Solar heat)

Condensed water Vapor (at the Condenser)

AD Mesaporous adsorbent, such as silica, is used to adsorb water vapor, Heat (solar energy) is used to desorb water Produces two useful effects (cooling and water desalination) with low temperature heat input (~65oC) Low energy (1.4 kWh/m3 ) usage and no moving parts Economical

Process

kWh/m3*

US$/m3

Thermal Membrane AD

6 -16 3-6 1.4-1.9

0.60-1.00 0.45- 0.80 0.29-0.30

* Total energy (includes thermal and electrical)

( PCT/SG2009/ 000223, filing No. 61/226,783, No.: 61/297,347, PCT/SG2012/000076)

Saudi Arabia KAUST, 10Rtons Solar Powered

Singapore -45Rtons Each, Solar Powered

3 prototypes in Saudi Arabia and Singapore 1 commercial prototype in Poland (Wroclaw University of Technology) 3 large Adsorption Desalination and Cooling (ADC) planned for KSA
H
Reaction bed tower

Singapore NUS 10Rtons, Waste Heat Prototype

4 Condenser 2 3

5 Purified water storage tank

Reaction bed tower

Evaporator 1

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

Covert chemical energy to electrical energy (bioelectricity) Two chambers, anode (oxygen starved /anaerobic) and cathode (oxygen rich/aerobic) Substrate (e.g., wastewater) Third Celldoes with Electrodialysis (ED) Membranes: What this have to do w/ desalination? Anion (AEM) and Cation (CEM) Exchange Membranes introduced to anaerobic chamber, oxidized and releases electrons Electrons migrate toward cathode, in aerobic chamber

Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC)

Third chamber, ions move from middle chamber to balance charge, due to protons produced by bacteria at the anode, protons removed at the cathode

(Source: Bruce Logan, Penn State University)

Knowledge Gaps Opportunity for low-energy desalination Proof of concept in batch-mode

Next, continuous mode & pilot scale Most ED membranes developed for brackish, not seawater, desalination Use of novel ion-exchange membranes Possible fouling of membranes Presently limited to 90% TDS reduction with single ED New, multiple stacks (Stacked MDC, SMDC) with ion exchange membranes, up to 98% reduction Use of wastewater vs. simple substrate (integrated desalination & WW treatment) MDC-RO Hybrids

(Source Logan, 2011)

Technology Integration

Energy Recovery + Wastewater Treatment + Water Reuse

A Technology Roadmap for Low-Energy (-Cost) Desalination

Current 3.0 4.0 kWh/m3 Near Horizon < 2.0 kWh/m3 Far Horizon: Approach 1.0 kWh/m3

Seawater
Reverse Osmosis (SWRO)

Forward Osmosis (FO)

Membrane Distillation (MD) Adsorption Desalination (AD)

Microbial Desal. Cell (MDC) Microbial Osmotic FC (MOFC)

http://wdrc.kaust.edu.sa

Beyond Electrodialysis (ED)

Electrodeionization (EDI) Similar to ED but also includes mixed-bed
ion-exchange resins between anion and cation membranes (to facilitate ion removals)

Capacitive Deionization (CDI)

External electric charge applied on pair of

electrodes to feed water; ions migrate towards electrode of opposite charges and adsorb; in regeneration cycle, electric charge is turned off, adsorbed ions are released

Key Research Need

Application to higher salinity waters

(seawater) What is salinity niche?