Desalination Market Ready For A Makeover

Experts say the desalination industry, long seen as a promising solution to water scarcity if it were not so expensive and energy-intensive, is ripe for innovation and technological upgrades.

"A combination of sensor-driven optimization and automation, plus new types of membranes, could eventually allow for desalination plants that are half the size and use commensurately less energy. Among other benefits, small, mobile desalination units could be used in agricultural regions hundreds of miles away from the ocean, where demand for water is great and growing," MIT Technology Review recently reported.

Yoram Cohen, a chemical engineer who leads the Water Technology Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, explained that desalination technology has not undergone a major makeover since the '80s.

"The time it takes to plan for big projects...makes it hard for investors to expect much payoff from new technologies, and U.S. federal research funding has gone to other priorities. Besides, it’s been possible to recycle or conserve water so that expensive desalination has been less necessary," the report said, citing Cohen.

But that could change in the coming years, according to Cohen.

"Desalination is now in a position to be transformed by the same kinds of sensing, automation, and algorithm-controlled processes that are remaking other industries," the report said.

Automated systems, for instance, may be able to run at half the cost of a typical desalination facility, according to Cohen.

"But more than that, a trailer-sized unit—able to adapt to different sites and conditions by the hour—could simply roll around and help farmers get fresh water no matter what they start with," the report continued.

The thickness of membranes in desalination equipment may also shrink in the coming years, resulting in less energy-intensive processes.

"It takes a lot of work to push water through the membranes—pressure that translates into high energy usage. Those relatively thick polyamide membranes, though far from ideal, are the best we’ve got right now. But a few groups are trying to come up with more efficient materials," the Review reported.

MIT mechanical engineer Rohit Karnik is working to make this happen.

His team "is building membranes a single atom thick, to help water molecules just pop through. The researchers blast graphene with ion beams and bathe it in chemicals to etch pores less than a nanometer across," the report said. "So far Karnik has fabricated a one-square-centimeter graphene membrane, punched holes in it, and shown that it can selectively hold back certain ions. But he’s not yet shown it can actually desalinate seawater, even on a lab bench."

Nanoengineering of existing membrane materials may also improve the desalination process, according to the report.

California is investing in desalination technology as a way to trudge through the drought and secure the water supply. "By fall 2015, the largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere will pump out 50 million gallons of water per day, which will supply San Diego County with nearly 10 percent of its water needs," ABC 7 recently reported.

A new report by Transparency Market Research says the desalination market is ripe for investment.

"The technology is expected to increase particularly in India and China in Asia Pacific region as the demand for fresh water is increasing because of urbanization and industrialization. In North American region, continuous developing plans for large desalination plants in California and Texas brings opportunities for the investors," the report said.