Clathrate desalination (Mouchel and Water Science)
Technology Idol
What is it?
The partnership of Mouchel and Water Science has come up with a new approach to separating fresh water from seawater based on trapping water molecules in carbon dioxide molecules as clathrates.
Who is responsible?
Carbon dioxide forms a clathrate with water spontaneously at more than 30
bar pressure and less than 80 degrees Celcius temperature. The new multipass solution
developed by the team for separating and cleaning the clathrate
crystals holds the key to the concept's main attraction - ultra-low
energy use. The breakthrough system is predicted to reduce energy
consumption to below 1.3 kWh/m3, with the thermodynamics of
salt solutions providing the simple explanation behind the baseline
economics. An additional benefit is that the need for the chemicals
used in traditional RO processes simply disappears.
The development team has only proved its technology in the lab so
far, but is in the process of obtaining government funding for the
next stage of development. A prototype small-scale plant should
follow, and the target is to have a commercial plant up and running
within two years. The hope is to be able to apply the technology
in large-scale industrial desalination plants, remote desalination
facilities using renewable energy (such as those in hotels), and in the oil & gas sector, for the treatment of waste well water.