Tyler Weinstein
Disclaimer-This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not professional, paper. This paper is based on publicly available information and may not provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for any purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL WATER DESALINATION
Tyler Weinstein ()
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Tyler Weinstein
INTRODUCTION TO REVERSE OSMOSIS
Since the 1940s, methods of producing clean, desalinated water have become more complex, according to APEC Water, a reverse osmosis corporation based in California [1]. After the discovery that salt water could be converted into fresh water, tedious research was put into making this process more efficient in terms of energy, cost, and maintenance of waste products [1]. Currently, the most common practice is traditional reverse osmosis, which removes water from the salt via filtration through a membrane, leaving behind highly concentrated salts, states Adionics, a company which works to more efficiently produce freshwater [2]. However, the need for reverse osmosis is becoming even more demanding; in the wake of global desertification, these practices need to be redesigned to more effectively produce clean, freshwater. These innovations include creating reverse osmotic practices that use less energy, in order to reduce our carbon footprint.
One such technology which aims to make desalination and reverse osmosis more economically competitive is Adionics’ AquaOmnes Technology. Instead of removing water from potentially hazardous salts, the AquaOmnes system removes the salts from the water, leaving behind fresh, potable water [2]. This is different from traditional reverse osmosis in that reverse osmosis utilizes a selectively-permeable filter to desalinate water. AquaOmnes uses a chemical named Flionex which “is based on a liquid-liquid deionization technology” [2].This patented chemical works to “selectively remove or retain certain salts” via alterations in the composition of the chemical [2]. Unlike traditional reverse osmosis, AquaOmnes utilizes Flionex to bind to specified salts in the water and removes them, leaving behind the purified water. Currently, third-party research on the patented Flionex chemical is limited, and more research needs to be done on the possible harmful effects of Flionex on the environment. According to Suez Environment, a partner of Adionics, Flionex is easily regenerated due to its low heat of formation [3].Through these chemical processes and the use of Flionex, Adionics is able to efficiently purify drinkable water with its new innovative system. I believe that environmental engineers should continue to fund technology and research, like AquaOmnes, in order to eventually eliminate global cataclysms like droughts and famines.
SELF-RELEVANCE: WHY DOES DESALINATION MATTER TO ME?
As a child, I grew up in one of the most arid areas in the United States of America. Southern Arizona is known as much for its hot, dry heat as it is for its massive, unrelenting desert. In these living conditions, droughts and water scarcity are almost inevitable. The Arizona Experience, an organization dedicated to informing people around the world about the state of Arizona and what it has to offer, states that Arizona gets about 40% of its water from the Colorado River and another 40% from its own groundwater [4]. Since Arizona’s induction into the Union in 1912, water conservation efforts have been an uphill battle [4]. While these organizations work tirelessly to conserve water; in practice, the necessity to consume water wins out, and drastic water resource depletion occurs.
The populace of Arizona understands the dire situation of water depletion. Personally, I have dealt with and experienced situations without water. There have been times where I’ve gone 2 to 3 days without running water. This is due to the ever-shrinking water levels at the sites where wells are drilled. While there were still ways for us to get water, these situations made me think about similar instances of water depletion globally.
In my first paper, I mentioned how I wanted to become a part of the Model United Nations club at the University of Pittsburgh [5]. This is because global politics have always been important to me and because I was in the club in high school. Through my experience in Model UN, I have become more aware of global events, and have put more credence into the UN and other organizations to try and solve these problems. One issue that is seemingly ubiquitous in developing nations is access to clean, potable water. From the deserts of Saharan Africa to the Brazilian Rainforest, water shortages are hitting some of the poorest nations hard [6]. These devastating catastrophes leave death in their wake. As I have become more aware of these catastrophes, I have understood more and more why desalination and technologies such as AquaOmnes are so important to the future of not only the US, but the entire world.
THE FACTS: REVERSE OSMOSIS NOW
Reverse osmosis is a necessary practice for the future of sustainable, potable water. However, the ways in which reverse osmosis is carried out can always be altered to make the process more efficient. According to Veera Gnaneswar Gude, a Civil Engineer at Oregon Institute of Technology, pumping freshwater vertically from ground water 100-200 ft requires 0.14-0.24 kWh/m3, which is equivalent to powering a typical large LCD TV for an hour [7]. Additionally, the cost of freshwater that has been desalinated via traditional methods is about $0.25/m3, but it varies according to conditions around the desalination plant [7]. While this may not seem like much, on a national scale, this amounts to massive amounts of money and energy. For developed nations, like the US, costs like this are easily affordable. However, developing nations such as those in Africa may not be able to afford these costs. This yields a new issue: how to make reverse osmosis more energy efficient and less expensive. AquaOmnes is one solution to such a convoluted issue. According to Adionics, creator of the AquaOmnes technology, “[AquaOmnes] can be powered by renewable energy sources” due to its low energy consumption [2]. This would help to drive down the energy expenditure and the overall cost of reverse osmosis. The decreased cost and energy consumption makes AquaOmnes a feasible reverse osmosis alternative for developed and developing nations alike.
FIGURE 1 [2]
Graph of Energy Usage of AquaOmnes versus Traditional Reverse Osmosis Practices
This figure elucidates the amount of energy required for AquaOmnes in comparison to current reverse osmosis models. It shows that energy expenditure is almost a whole order of magnitude lower for AquaOmnes to produce brines with concentration of about 300g/L, in terms of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in solution [2].
According to National Geographic, the drought in the Horn of Africa is affecting 13 million people, and droughts in the US in the last 30 years have cost the nation $195 billion [8]. One reason that solving this problem is necessary is because drought affects many different aspects of society: agriculture, public health, and the economy, to name a few [8]. Engineers need to research possible ways of mitigating a drought’s effect on our society as a whole in order to keep productivity and survival rates high. This is especially important for developing countries like Ethiopia and Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, which endure the harsh climate of the unrelenting Sahara Desert. AquaOmnes would be immensely useful in countries with low water levels; therefore, it is imperative that this sort of technology be funded heavily in order to save energy and produce as much clean, freshwater as possible.
Cost of reverse osmosis is also a large issue which prevents it from becoming more favorable as a means of producing freshwater. Currently, the cost of traditional reverse osmosis methods at Askelon in Israel is about $0.50/m3, according to Columbia University’s NIEHS Superfund Research Program [9]. However, the program also claims that “on average water produced by desalination is 3.5x more expensive than water from other freshwater sources” [9]. If reverse osmosis practices are not economically favorable, investment in these practices will not become widespread, and the technology’s global impact will be very limited. Adionics states that its technology can produce equivalent brines to that of traditional reverse osmosis at an eighth of the cost [2]. The Superfund Research Program states that energy will always “[account] for at least 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of produced water” [9]. With these two facts in mind, AquaOmnes could potentially cut the cost of desalination in half due to the savings from decreased energy consumption. In fact, Adionics is working with Degrémont Industry, an industrial water treatment company, in Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates in order to create a desalination plant running on renewable energy resources [2][10]. This project will significantly lower the cost of production of freshwater and will lead desalination into a more economically competitive future. Hopefully, these trials in the UAE will prove successful and will serve as a paradigm to the rest of the world that alternative forms of reverse osmosis, with the assistance of AquaOmnes and Adionics, can be profitable.
THE FUTURE OF POTABLE WATER
Currently, reverse osmosis is energy inefficient and not economically competitive; however, the future is bright. Innovations are occurring daily which decrease the energy threshold, and by extension, the cost, of reverse osmosis. Adionics’ solution to both of those issues is AquaOmnes. AquaOmnes clearly demonstrates that it can solve many of the current problems of traditional reverse osmosis practices. One of the largest issues is, indeed, energy consumption, which AquaOmnes limits to about one eighth of the energy used traditionally.In a later abstract of her research, Civil Engineer Veera Gnaneswar Gude admonishes the public to recognize the “critical era of severe water stress” [11]. It is evident that action must be taken to supplant the natural freshwater supply of our planet. Environmentalist Cheryl Katz also enumerates on the growing necessity to produce freshwater from seawater in the coming years, further showcasing just how dire the need is for improved technology in this sector [12].
Further research and investigation into Flionex’s effects on the environment are necessary. Hopefully, the trials in the United Arab Emirates will prove successful so that the world can follow suit in producing desalinated water efficiently. Through implementation of AquaOmnes and similar technologies, we can begin to replenish the global, potable water supply. To me, that is especially important because it directly impacts my family, my friends, and my entire home city of Tucson. This world needs AquaOmnes such that children do not die from dehydration and diarrhea. It is necessary that environmentalists, businessmen, and politicians work together to help this wonderful piece of technology flourish around the world. Then, we will see new abundances of freshwater for all to enjoy.
SOURCES
[1] “History of Reverse Osmosis Filtration.” APEC Water. 2014. Accessed 10.30.16
[2] “AquaOmnes Technology.” Adionics Advanced Ionic Solutions. 2016. Accessed 10.30.16
[3] “Low energy desalting pilot unit.” Global Expertise Center in Le Pecq-Croissy. 2015. Accessed 10.31.16
[4] “Arizona’s Water: Uses and Sources.” The Arizona
[5] T. Weinstein. “Section 2: Lighting the Way.” The Swanson School and Me: Making My Mark on the World. 2016. p. 2
[6] “Water crisis in Brazil: Why the largest city in the Americas is drying out.” Humanosphere. 2015. Accessed 10.30.16
[7] V. Gnaneswar Gude. “Energy consumption and recovery in reverse osmosis.” Desalination and Water Treatment. 3.21.2011. Accessed 10.30.16
[8] “Drought.” National Geographic Society. 2016. Accessed 10.30.16
[9] “Desalination in a Global Context.” Superfund Research Program. 2016. Accessed 10.30.16
[10] “Degrémont, a Subsidiary of Suez Environment, Awarded by Masdar a Contract for an Advanced Energy-Efficient Desalination Pilot Project in Abu Dhabi.” Degrémont. 2014. Accessed 10.30.16
[11] “Desalination and sustainability – An appraisal and current perspective.” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. 2016. Accessed 11.01.16
[12] “New Desalination Technologies Spur Growth in Recycling Water.” Environment360. 2014. Accessed 11.01.16
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Among the people I would like to acknowledge is my dear friend, Steven Corcoran for reading through my essay and affirming its quality and checking for formatting errors. Another person I would like to thank is my roommate, Alex Gosciniak, for putting up with long hours of griping and complaining from across the room. Along this same line, I would like to thank my Writing Instructor, Professor Sachdeva, for continually putting up with my ridiculous emails in regards to this paper.
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