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This is the winning sentence for me: Unlike some desalination systems, there is no accumulation of salt or concentrated brines to be disposed of.
by vr46 5y ago
This is the winning sentence for me:
Unlike some desalination systems, there is no accumulation of salt or concentrated brines to be disposed of.
- creshal 5y agoOr is it? > In a free-floating configuration, any salt that accumulates during the day would simply be carried back out at night through the wicking material and back into the seawater, according to the researchers. This is fine for a small scale demonstration unit, but with bigger plants you will again run into the problem of over-salinating seawater, destroying the environment (and reducing your still's efficiency). So once you get past a certain scale, you'll again need to redirect the wick into some waste brine tank and figure out logistics for disposing it.
- hoseja 5y agoThat would have to be a very small sea indeed.
- creshal 5y agoI'll assume the device isn't using an infinitely long wick, so you face the same outflow problems as traditional plants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Outflow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination#Outflow
- Chris2048 5y agoCan salt be compressed and then just buried?
- creshal 5y agoSure, it's just that in this regard it has no advantage over other desalination technologies. You always have to deal with the excess salt, MIT is dishonest in waving away these concerns.
- vr46 5y agoYes, the waste always has to go somewhere, the choices are really about how quickly and how concentrated the waste is. (And where it goes, I suppose)
- vr46 5y agoThe factor for me is that they are at least thinking about it. It feels as though the waste is an afterthought every time I read about desalination.