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Chemist Uses CO2 to Convert Seawater into Drinking Water
- ggm 6y agoHow bio-active is the diamine, and how much remains in the potable water? What happens to the CO2 afterward, if the salt is released? If this doesn't bind the CO2 permanently then its only about water desal. If it bound the CO2 it has dual-purpose.
- refurb 6y agoYou're asking the right questions! Even a few PPM of the diamine left in the water is going to be an issue either due to toxicity or if non-toxic, water quality (i.e. taste and perception of potability). The "switchable" chelating agent is pretty interesting, but I haven't been close enough to know if this is groundbreaking or just an advancement of an exiting phenomenon. I might be a major cynic here, but my guess is that this is really cool science and like a lot of cool, basic science, the researchers need to find a practical use for it. That helps translate "cool basic science" into "existing new technology". My PI did it when I was in graduate school - we always talked about our new molecules as being potential cancer treatments when really the focus was on the basic organic chemistry. It's a lot easier to win grants saying you're developing "new anti-cancer compounds" than being honest and saying your research is focused on the development of "novel chalcogen compounds that undergo pericyclic rearrangements to form strained heterocycles".
- ggm 6y agoA lot of deep groundwater (associated with gas, oil) is both salty, and gassy. If this technique is about converting mine waste to semi-potable for use in agriculture, or mining, and also uses the CO2 on-hand, and salt on-hand, its a virtuous industrial circle. I'd hate it since it would be monetizing part of the mining industry I don't like, but it makes economic sense in the narrow. If diamine is bad, and gets into the food chain this wreaks longterm harm. If the liberated salt is bad, likewise. I tend to "stop the mining" but understanding the pressure of water issues on mining and farming, there may be huge upsides here.
- junon 6y ago> salty, and gassy Deep groundwater passes the vibe check.
- vbezhenar 6y agoMost of water is used for technical purposes, not for drinking. Like washing hands, body or dishes. If it's safe for that, that would be huge achievement is this process is cheaper than conventional methods.
- hamandcheese 6y agoI'm not sure how practical it is to have two classes of water for different purposes though, given most buildings come with only one set of pipes.
- Xylakant 6y agoThere's also other non-domestic uses that could greatly benefit from cheap large-scale desalination: Agriculture in arid regions. Sea water is not an option, but taste is not a primary concern.
- unsigner 6y agoTaste might be a concern if the chemicals pass in the edible parts of the plants.
- julosflb 6y agoIndeed, domestic uses account only for 11% of the global fresh water usage. Main uses are agricultural and industry (http://www.fao.org/aquastat/en/overview/methodology/water-use http://www.fao.org/aquastat/en/overview/methodology/water-us...)
- wtracy 6y agoTaste might not be a concern, but toxicity would be even more if a concern if the crops bioconcentrate the chemical.
- xbmcuser 6y agoIn large parts of the world we can't drink water out of the tap. So we buy drinking water separately. I don't think it is that big a deal.
- omosubi 6y agoThis is the original press release including video clip https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2020/09/chemist-uses-co2-to-convert-seawater-into-drinking-water/ https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2020/09/chemist-uses-co2-to-conv...
- aazaa 6y ago> The technology works by adding the compound diamine to saltwater. The type of diamine used is CO2-responsive, meaning that the substance’s behaviour can be controlled when it comes into contact with CO2. The diamine binds with the added CO2 and thereafter acts as a sponge to absorb the salt, which can then be separated. The entire process takes 1-10 minutes. Once the CO2 is removed, the salt is released again – allowing for the chemicals to be reused for several more rounds of desalination. This article leaves a lot to be desired. There is no compound called "diamine." Diamines are a class of compounds. Without knowing which one is being used, there's not much of a discussion to be had. We can say nothing about practicality or environmental impact, not to mention a host of other issues. What may be happening here is the formation of a dicarboxamide, which then does something. That carboxamide formation is not likely to be reversible at room temperature. The article has no link to the primary paper, where issues like this could readily be addressed, and there is absolutely no excuse to ever neglect to do so in 2020.
- neltnerb 6y ago"Currently, the CowaTech technology is at technology readiness level (TRL) 2-3." Which, for the uninitiated, means it is starting feasibility testing and are just barely starting development. I would bet they haven't solved that in any significant scale, that sort of issue wouldn't have come up yet at their development level.
- taheca 6y agoThis thread is why I love hackernews
- jerome-jh 6y agoIntuitively, I'm not a specialist, if water desalinization with there compound was more energy efficient than the current process, they would be on course to demonstrate it. They would not be working on "water bottles [...] for outdoor activities". Since they estimate a 50% efficiency gain would make it viable, it probably consumes about 125% energy compared to the current process.
- TimTheTinker 6y agoMore info from the Danish company that is commercializing this process: https://www.cowatech.dk/technology https://www.cowatech.dk/technology > Currently, the CowaTech technology is at technology readiness level (TRL) 2-3.
- m463 6y agoI've never heard of "technology readiness level" but it is fascinating and came from NASA the original scale went 1-7 where 1 meant "Basic Principles Observed and Reported" and 7 meant "System Adequacy Validated in Space" The current scale(s) seems to be 1-9, and my take on 2-3 is "press release" :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_readiness_level https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_readiness_level
- basicplus2 6y agoCarbamate Formation in Aqueous - diamine - CO2 Systems https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610213002798 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187661021...
- extropy 6y agoThat's 7 years old by a Norwegian university, unlikely to be the thing.
- heyflyguy 6y agoI know I am way oversimplifying this. Last week I made a trip to sand hill road and had some fun. My most interesting takeaway from the trip wasn't any of those meetings, it was the many signs along I-5 between LA and SF. Yall need water, bad. I hope this is a potential solution.
- softblush 6y agoWhat a cryptic message. How is somebody from outside the USA supposed to understand what you are saying?
- nullc 6y agoBy the power of goooooglllleeeee! https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/96228/who-is-behind-those-water-signs-on-the-i-5 https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/96228/who-is-behind-those-...
- codemusings 6y agoI mean it is cryptic. But it's not exactly a secret that California suffers from water shortages.
- xtracto 6y agoTo Californians..
- nullc 6y agoI feel like this is the other way around. 95% of what I hear about California water shortage stuff has been from people outside of the state. That and wildfires 500 miles away from me are about all people outside of the state ever seen to hear about. From the way they tell it it sounds like they're concerned that I'm going to die of thirst.
- codemusings 6y agoI'm German. It was on the news that Californians were instructed to conserve water in their households because of annual droughts.
- fbn79 6y agoAm I wrong or the technology can be used one day to create Stillsuit (https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Stillsuit https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Stillsuit) as described in Dune by Frank Herbert?
- tsimionescu 6y agoWe already have other methods of desalinating water, so not sure why this would be a step forward toward that idea. Also, a Stillsuit was not supposed to desalinate saltwater, but to purify urine and sweat, which contain many more chemicals than just NaCl.
- scoot 6y agoIt seems like you would roast to death before you die of dehydration.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Knufen 6y agoThis is pretty cool. I do organic synthesis in the lab right next to Jiwoong Lee, two of my good friends work on this project. It is not as amazing as the article makes it sound. Though low in energy it needs pressure and no one wants to drink the "diamine" compound, so added energy to remove this is needed. Give it 10-15 years.
- Pick-A-Hill2019 6y agoThanks for posting. I was curious about the potability of the diamine compound and your post answers it perfectly :)
- kostko 6y agoAnd now he's dead like the rest of them...
- devy 6y agoCan't post this link to Facebook as they ban this site ineffableisland.com. Here is the reason: "This URL goes against our Community Standards on spam: ineffableisland.com"
- TheRealPomax 6y agoThere is precious little actual information in this article, and as the top comment already puts out, doesn't tell the whole story either.
- hexbinencoded 6y agoThunderf00t busted video incoming. It's vaporware hype until proven otherwise.