- Geothermal desalination
Geothermal desalination is a proven process under development for the production of
fresh water using heat energy. Claimed benefits of this method ofdesalination are that it requires less maintenance thanreverse osmosis membranes and that the primaryenergy input is fromgeothermal heat , which is a low-environmental-impact source of energy.Around 1995, several entrepreneurswho came togetherwhere with an idea to use geothermal water directly as a source for desalination. In 1998, several individuals began working with evaporation/condensation air loop
desalination . The experiment was moderately successful and aproof of concept , proving that geothermal waters could be used as process water to produce potable water in 2001. In 2003 Professor Ronald A. Newcomb, formerly working on the process with Autek LLC, now atSan Diego State University International Consortium for Advanced Technologies and Security or “ICATS” began to work to enhance the process of using geothermal energy for the purpose of desalination. The University explains that the device is owned by World Wide Assets LLC and Strident Ltd. and that geothermal energy is a primary energy source.In 2005 some testing was done in a fifth prototype of a device referred to as a delta t device a closed air loop, atmospheric pressure, evaporation condensation loop geothermally powered desalination device. The device used filtered sea water from
Scripps Institute of Oceanography and reduced the salt concentration from 35,000 ppm to 51 ppm.A total of five prototypes and three modifications demonstrated that, with process water approaching 210 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) and a chill source about 35 °F (2 °C), a full-size device would produce about one-half
acre foot (600 m³) of water per day.Salt concentration in the wastewater would only be about 10% above the level of the original water, thus, from, say, 35,000 to about 38,000parts per million , well within the ability of osmoregulators to adjust.SDSU ICATS continues to develop different devices for the same purpose with the goal of making desalination an environmentally friendly process.
ee also
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Geothermal power External links
* [http://www.worldwideassetsllc.com/ World Wide Assets LLC (DE)]
* [http://www.stridentltd.com/ Strident Ltd (NV)]
* [http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/icats/ International Consortium of Advanced Technologies and Security at SDSU]
* [http://www.erec-renewables.org/documents/K4RES-H/K4RES-H_Geothermal_desalination.pdf European Renewable Energy Council - Geothermal Desalination]
* [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0306-2619(99)00071-9 ScienceDirect - Heat Transfer and Evaporation in Geothermal Desalination Units]References
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