Desalination Ocean freighter
Research and development in seawater desalination has evolved over nearly 50 years, resulting in the development of electroosmosis, reverse osmosis, and supplemental desalination systems. Since the early 1970s, reverse osmosis desalination technology, with its advantages of low investment and short construction cycles, has gradually become the mainstream technology in the desalination field. According to statistics, from 2015 to 2016, reverse osmosis desalination technology held a market share of over 75%, maintaining an absolute dominant position. However, for desalination, beverages are a key factor in determining the cost and efficiency of water. Effectively addressing the osmosis problem in reverse osmosis desalination systems is crucial for breakthroughs in reverse osmosis desalination technology.
Reverse osmosis requires operation at high pressures of 5.0 to 8.0 MPa, while the brine discharged from the membrane assembly has approximately the same pressure. Therefore, effectively recovering and utilizing the excess pressure energy in the brine is a key technology for reducing the cost of reverse osmosis desalination. Currently, the main known applications of excess pressure energy recovery devices are hydraulic turbine and positive displacement types. The hydraulic turbine type primarily utilizes a shaft seal, which results in high frictional resistance and reduces energy conversion efficiency, while the positive displacement type is prone to fluid mixing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an excess pressure energy recovery device that offers high energy conversion efficiency and zero leakage between fluids.
