New frontier of seawater desalination technology: seawater desalination membrane permeation carrier

Against the background of increasingly tense global water resources, seawater desalination technology, as an important way to solve the shortage of water resources, is receiving more and more attention. Among them, seawater desalination membrane permeation carrier has become a hot spot of current research due to its high efficiency and energy saving.

Seawater desalination membrane permeation carrier mainly relies on specific membrane materials, which, as permeation carriers, can selectively allow water molecules to pass through while blocking salt and other impurities. In energy-saving membrane desalination technology, reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and ultrafiltration (UF) membrane are the two most commonly used membrane materials.

Reverse osmosis membrane has become the first choice for seawater desalination due to its high desalination rate and good stability. It uses the characteristics of semi-permeable membrane to allow only water molecules to pass through under pressure, while retaining salt and other impurities on one side of the membrane. Ultrafiltration membrane is used as a pretreatment technology for reverse osmosis membrane to remove suspended matter, colloids and macromolecular organic matter in seawater to protect the reverse osmosis membrane from pollution and blockage.

Energy-saving membrane desalination technology not only improves the efficiency of seawater desalination, but also significantly reduces energy consumption. The key to this technology lies in the application of energy recovery devices, which can convert the high pressure at the concentrated water end into part of the inlet pressure, thereby reducing energy consumption.

With the continuous progress of membrane material science, the permeation carrier of seawater desalination membrane is also constantly innovating and developing. On the one hand, the research and development of new membrane materials will further improve the desalination rate and stability of the membrane and reduce the risk of membrane pollution and clogging. On the other hand, the integration and optimization of membrane technology will further improve the efficiency and energy saving effect of seawater desalination.

As a heat-membrane hybrid process, membrane distillation (MD) technology has the high salinity capacity of conventional thermal seawater desalination and the compact modular configuration of membrane systems. It uses hydrophobic porous membranes to separate the heated brine feed flow and the cold permeate flow, drives the transport of water vapor through the membrane through the temperature difference, and condenses on the permeate side to produce pure water. This technology is expected to become an important supplement to the field of seawater desalination in the future.

The widespread application of renewable energy and the development of smart grids will combine seawater desalination technology with renewable energy to achieve a green and low-carbon seawater desalination process, which will also be an important direction for future development. Using solar energy for seawater desalination can not only reduce energy consumption and costs, but also reduce dependence on fossil fuels and achieve sustainable development.

As an important way to solve the shortage of water resources, seawater desalination membrane permeation carriers are gaining more and more attention for their high efficiency and energy saving. With the continuous progress of membrane material science and the continuous innovation of technology, seawater desalination membrane technology will play a more important role in the future. In the near future, seawater desalination membrane technology will provide us with a more reliable and drought-resistant alternative water source, and make greater contributions to human survival and development.