Once the salinity level and the number of particles decrease to specific thresholds, the device notifies the user that the water is drinkable. The researchers designed the device for nonexperts, with just one button to launch the automatic desalination and purification process. They shrunk and stacked the ICP and electrodialysis modules to improve their energy efficiency and enable them to fit inside a portable device. “While it is true that some charged particles could be captured on the ion exchange membrane, if they get trapped, we just reverse the polarity of the electric field and the charged particles can be easily removed,” Yoon explains. This minimized energy usage while ensuring the process remains self-cleaning. The optimal setup includes a two-stage ICP process, with water flowing through six modules in the first stage then through three in the second stage, followed by a single electrodialysis process. Yoon and Kang used machine learning to find the ideal combination of ICP and electrodialysis modules. So the researchers incorporated a second process, known as electrodialysis, to remove remaining salt ions. Since it only requires a low-pressure pump, ICP uses less energy than other techniques.īut ICP does not always remove all the salts floating in the middle of the channel. The process removes both dissolved and suspended solids, allowing clean water to pass through the channel. The charged particles are funneled into a second stream of water that is eventually discharged. The membranes repel positively or negatively charged particles - including salt molecules, bacteria, and viruses - as they flow past. Rather than filtering water, the ICP process applies an electrical field to membranes placed above and below a channel of water. Instead, their unit relies on a technique called ion concentration polarization (ICP), which was pioneered by Han’s group more than 10 years ago. The research has been published online in Environmental Science and Technology.Ĭommercially available portable desalination units typically require high-pressure pumps to push water through filters, which are very difficult to miniaturize without compromising the energy-efficiency of the device, explains Yoon. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). Kwon, a former postdoc SungKu Kang, a postdoc at Northeastern University and Eric Brack of the U.S. Joining Han on the paper are first author Junghyo Yoon, a research scientist in RLE Hyukjin J. We worked for years on the physics behind individual desalination processes, but pushing all those advances into a box, building a system, and demonstrating it in the ocean, that was a really meaningful and rewarding experience for me,” says senior author Jongyoon Han, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of biological engineering, and a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE). “This is really the culmination of a 10-year journey that I and my group have been on. It could also be used to aid refugees fleeing natural disasters or by soldiers carrying out long-term military operations. This could enable the unit to be deployed in remote and severely resource-limited areas, such as communities on small islands or aboard seafaring cargo ships. Eliminating the need for replacement filters greatly reduces the long-term maintenance requirements. Unlike other portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water. The technology is packaged into a user-friendly device that runs with the push of one button. It automatically generates drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization quality standards. The suitcase-sized device, which requires less power to operate than a cell phone charger, can also be driven by a small, portable solar panel, which can be purchased online for around $50. MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kilograms, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water.
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