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Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation
IEREK Interdisciplinary Series for Sustainable Development
Inamuddin · Anish Khan Editors
Sustainable Materials
and Systems for
Water Desalination
IEREK Interdisciplinary Series for Sustainable
Development
Editorial Board
Anna Laura Pisello, Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Italy
Dean Hawkes, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Hocine Bougdah, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK
Federica Rosso, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Hassan Abdalla, University of East London, London, UK
Sofia-Natalia Boemi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Nabil Mohareb, Faculty of Architecture - Design and Built Environment,
Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon
Saleh Mesbah Elkaffas, Arab Academy for Science, Technology, Egypt
Emmanuel Bozonnet, University of la Rochelle, La Rochelle, France
Gloria Pignatta, University of Perugia, Italy
Yasser Mahgoub, Qatar University, Qatar
Luciano De Bonis, University of Molise, Italy
Stella Kostopoulou, Regional and Tourism Development, University of Thessaloniki,
Thessaloniki, Greece
Biswajeet Pradhan, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney,
Sydney, Australia
Md. Abdul Mannan, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
Chaham Alalouch, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
Iman O. Gawad, Helwan University, Egypt
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Inamuddin Anish Khan
Editors
Sustainable Materials
and Systems for Water
Desalination
123
Editors
Inamuddin Anish Khan
Department of Applied Chemistry Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Engineering and Technology Faculty of Science
Zakir Husain College of Engineering King Abdulaziz University
and Technology Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh, India
ISSN 2522-8714 ISSN 2522-8722 (electronic)

IEREK Interdisciplinary Series for Sustainable Development
ISBN 978-3-030-72872-4 ISBN 978-3-030-72873-1 (eBook)
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Contents
Natural Zeolites for Seawater Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Joshua Gorimbo, Charles Rashama, and Clayton Bhondayi
Desalination Using Electrodialysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Mayur R. Ladole, Sujata S. Patil, Pavan M. Paraskar, Pravin B. Pokale,
and Pravin D. Patil
Membrane Fouling in Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Maryam Ahmadzadeh Tofighy and Toraj Mohammadi
Zeolite Membranes for Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Catia Algieri, Enrico Drioli, and Francesca Macedonio
Integrating Desalination Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Mashura Shammi
Reverse Osmosis Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Ashish Kapoor, Muthamilselvi Ponnuchamy, and Sivaraman Prabhakar
Desalination by Membrane Distillation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Sadaf Ahmad, Bakar bin Khatab Abbasi, Bushra Anees Palvasha,
Muhammad Shahid Nazir, and Mohd. Azmuddin Abdullah
Nuclear Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Ahmad Mukhtar, Sidra Saqib, Sami Ullah, Muhammad Sagir, M. Bilal Tahir,
Abid Mahmood, Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi, Muhammad Ali Assiri,
Muhammad Ibrahim, and Anam Ali
Desalination Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Zahra Pezeshki and Ahmed Kettab
Carbon Nanotubes Composite Membrane for Water Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Shabnam Taghipour, Ali Khadir, and Mohammadhossein Taghipour
Integrated Desalination Systems Coupled with Nuclear Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
K. V. Narayana Saibaba
Carbon-Based Materials for Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Marzie Fatehi and Ali Mohebbi
Microbial Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji, Abel Inobeme, Olugbemi Tope Olaniyan,
Frances. N. Olisaka, Ruth Ebunoluwa Bodunrinde, and Mohd Imran Ahamed
v
vi Contents
Graphene Composite Membrane for Water Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Deepak Senapati, Jagannath Panda, Rashmirekha Tripathy, Tejaswini Sahoo,
J. R. Sahu, Madhuri Hembram, Saraswati Soren, C. K. Rath, T. K. Bastia,
and Rojalin Sahu
Renewable Energy-Assisted Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
V. C. Akubude, A. P. Adeagbo, C. C. Asuzu, J. A. Oyedokun, and K. N. Nwaigwe
Natural Zeolites for Seawater Desalination
Joshua Gorimbo , Charles Rashama , and Clayton Bhondayi
Abstract combination with silica gel as adsorbents. In the mem-

brane technology the thermally driven pervaporation is
Freshwater shortage is one of the major challenges
preferred over reverse osmosis for both natural and
confronting the world today mainly due to climate
synthetic zeolites. When natural zeolites sectioned from
change, population growth and urbanisation. Seawater
host rocks are used directly without any modification they
desalination appears to be an attractive means for
tend to deliver low water fluxes. On the other hand,
freshwater production. Utilisation of natural zeolites in
synthetic zeolites are costly to produce, although they
seawater desalination is currently one of the understudied
offer opportunities to tailor make the required membrane
pathways probably due to other competing technologies,
properties. Research into the use of natural zeolites for
variable properties which makes designing and control-
seawater desalination to produce water for agricultural
ling the zeolite-based process difficult. In some cases,
processes by exploiting the cationic exchange properties
zeolites do not produce water suitable for human
of this material seems to be gaining traction especially in
consumption. However, zeolites abundancy, low cost of
Japan. The research so far indicates high rejection of Na+
production, high water fluxes, high ion rejections, high
from seawater and when the cationic exchanger is
thermal and chemical stability as well as compatibility
coupled to an anion exchange material, water suitable
with soil when disposed by landfilling renders them an
for agricultural purposes can be produced. This use of
attractive and sustainable option for intergration into
natural zeolites is attractively sustainable in that it can
future seawater desalination applications. Research into
remove only the unwanted salts leaving those that are
the use natural zeolites in desalination is therefore
beneficial to plants in the main product. This ensures that
ongoing. In this chapter, we review the recent research
the exchanger can treat more volumes before getting
that focuses on seawater desalination using natural
saturated. The use of seawater for agricultural purposes
zeolites. The chapter starts with a brief overview of
alleviates the dependence on freshwater sources making it
natural zeolites properties and relative abundancy. We
available for other needful purposes like drinking,
then talk about current desalination technologies that exist
sanitation and industrial manufacturing uses.
commercially in industry before delving into the research
on seawater desalination using natural zeolites. Generally,
Keywords

not much work has been done on the use of zeolites to
desalinate seawater when compared to its use in wastew- Adsorption Ion exchange Zéolites Pervaporation
ater treatment. The available literature suggests that Reverse osmosis Desalination
researchers have applied natural zeolites in adsorptive
desalination, membrane and ion exchange technology Nomenclature, Acronyms and Abbreviations
taking advantage of zeolites’ molecular sieve and cation
AD Adsorptive desalination
exchange properties. On adsorptive desalination zeolites
IZA-SC Structure Commission of the International
have demonstrated potential to replace or work in
Zeolite Association
LD Liquid discharge
J. Gorimbo (&) C. Rashama C. Bhondayi
Institute for the Development of Energy for African Sustainability MED Multi-effect distillation
(IDEAS), University of South Africa’s College of Science, MED-AD Multi-effect distillation and adsorption cycle
Engineering and Technology, Cnr Pioneer and Christian De Wet MKP Monopotassium phosphate
Roads, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1710, South Africa
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Materials and Systems for Water Desalination,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72873-1_1
2 J. Gorimbo et al.
MSF Multi-stage flash pressure pumps (Youssef et al., 2014). Another challenge
MVC Mechanical vapor compression with reverse osmosis is the use of many strong chemicals in
RO Reverse osmosis water pre-treatment and membrane cleaning processes (Sal-
RR Recovery ratio iby et al., 2009). High energy demand and chemical con-
SDG Sustainable development goal sumption results in environmentally unsustainable operations
TDS Total dissolved salts due to greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and
TDS Total dissolved solids coal dust) emissions from power plants and chemicals that
WHO World Health Organization end up in the environment where they affect biodiversity.
ZLD Zero discharge Youssef et al. (2014) highlighted that adsorption desalination
ZSM-5 Zeolite Socony Mobil #5 is a much less energy demanding option and uses virtually
no chemicals. However, the technology is still under com-
mercial development (Ng et al., 2014). This is the same
status with technologies like zeolitic pervaporation, cationic
1 Introduction exchange and reverse osmosis using zeolitic membranes
(Aghakhani et al., 2013; Sazali et al., 2019; Wajima, 2019).
The ever-increasing water demand as a result of rapid A review of studies related to natural zeolites use in seawater
growth in global population, urbanisation and the dimin- desalination creates a quick reference source for academia,
ishing supply of water due to climate change are exacer- public or private sector industry stakeholders in their deci-
bating water scarcity in some regions in the world (Djuma sion making towards this subject.
et al., 2016; Richter et al., 2013). More water is being drawn
out of the conventional water sources than is being replaced
by precipitation, runoff and recharge (Richter et al., 2013). It 2 Natural Zeolite Chemistry
is thus expected that by 2025, 60% of the world population
will face severe water scarcity (Schewe et al., 2014). This is Natural zeolites are commonly used in environmental
an infraction of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, applications and in different industrial applications because
which is aimed at ensuring the availability of clean water to of their high abundance, availability and low costs (Stocker
current and future generations (United Nations, 2015). et al., 2017). Most naturally occurring zeolites originate from
Richter et al. (2013) defines water scarcity as a depletion in volcanic activity. During and after a volcanic eruption,
usable water from available freshwater sources. This means magma which is molten rock breaks through the earth’s crust
that a portion of the drawn water is consumed and is not and flows out in form of lava accompanied by gases, dust
returned to the water source. Additionally, if the water is and thick ash (Moshoeshoe et al., 2017). Detailed zeolite
returned with properties different from its original state, i.e. formation is explained somewhere (Bish & Ming, 1955;
heavily polluted or it is returned to a different source from Glauco & Ermanno, 2018). Natural zeolite chemical com-
where it was originally drawn, this contributes to water position is governed by the geological settings and condi-
scarcity because this depletes the volume of available water tions during mineral formation, and they represent a
on the original source. Thus, one way of mitigating water heterogeneous mixture of zeolite minerals together with
scarcity is sustainable use of water otherwise known as varying amounts of gangue minerals (e.g. quartz, feldspars
demand side management. This approach includes strategies and phyllosilicates) (Gorimbo et al., 2014; Stocker et al.,
such as water conservation, recycling, rain harvesting and 2017).
improved efficiencies at point of use. While these may help Natural zeolites are hydrated aluminosilicate minerals
to narrow the gap between demand and supply side other made from interlinked tetrahedra of alumina (AlO4) and
means to obtain water must be explored. silica (SiO4), with pores occupied by water, alkali, and
Unconventional water resources, such as seawater can be alkaline earth-metal cations (Moshoeshoe et al., 2017). The
desalinated, to fill the gap between demand and supply. The Si/Al distribution within the zeolite tetrahedral framework
earth contains 97.5% seawater with average salinity of determines the nature of the extra framework cations. The
35,000 ppm while freshwater sources make up for the greater the substitution of Si with Al, the larger the charge
remainder. Of the freshwater 80% is locked in glaciers while deficiency which must be compensated by cations entering
remaining 20% is in rivers, lakes, and aquifers (Ibrahim the structure. The +3 charge on the Al makes the framework
et al., 2017). There is a compelling case to tap into the negatively charged and the extra framework cations inor-
seawater resource. Different technologies exist for seawater ganic or organic cations balances the charge to keep the
desalination and the major ones are thermal distillation overall framework neutral (Auerbach, 1983). Zeolites gen-
which demands a lot of thermal energy and reverse osmosis erally act as good cation exchangers as a result of their
which demands high electrical energy input to operate high negatively charged surface. The zeolite chemical
Natural Zeolites for Seawater Desalination 3
composition can be best described as having three compo- The chain of fibrous zeolites
nents: (i) extra framework cations, (ii) framework (alumi-
nosilicates) and (iii) sorbed phase (which is mainly water). • The singly connected 4-ring chain
Table 1 shows some of the documented zeolites with the • The doubly connected 4-ring chain
three components. The sorbed phase is governed by the extra • The 6-ring, single or double
framework cations, thus divalent channel cations will have • The hexagonal sheet with handles
more channel H2O than mono-valent cations. Divalent • The heulandite unit.
cations, like Ca2+ and Mg2+, generally have larger hydration
spheres than monovalent cations, like Na+ and K+ (Atkins, These complex structural units mostly are simply con-
2018). There is also more room in the channels for H2O nected to form the actual frameworks, but in some cases
because one Ca2+ occupies less space than two Na+ ions vertices, edges or also faces are shared with nearby units.
(Peter et al., 2018). Pictorial views of representative structure are given in
A database of zeolite structures provides structural Fig. 1.
information on all of the Zeolite Framework types that have The general formula of most natural zeolite is best
been approved by the Structure Commission of the Inter- expressed as crystallographic unit cell as Mx/n[(AIO2)
national Zeolite Association (IZA-SC) (Baerlocher et al., x (SiO2)y].wH2O where M is the cation of valence n, w is the
2007). The zeolites are then grouped according to their number of water molecules and the ratio y/x usually has
structural morphology and as per Nickel-Strunz classifica- values of 1–5 depending upon the structure (Glauco &
tion as: (Auerbach, 1983; First et al., 2011; Merkle & Ermanno, 2018). The sum (x + y) is the total number of
Slaughter, 1967). tetrahedra in the unit cell. The portion in square brackets
Table 1 Schematic chemical formulae of some of the natural zeolites structural group as per Nickel-Strunz classification (Bish & Ming, 1955)
Structure Schematic Chemical formulae of Average Si/ Range of Si/ Dominant extra Subordinate extra
type code chemical natural zeolites (Si + Al + Be) (Si + Al + Be) framework cations framework cations
formula
HEU Heulandite (Na, K, 0.81 0.73–085 Na, Ca, K Mg, Sr, Ba
Clinoptilolite Ca0.5)7[Al7Si29O72]
0.22H2O
CHA Chabazite (Ca0.5, Na, K)4[Al4Si8O24] 0.67 0.58–0.81 Ca, Na, K Sr, Na, Ba, K
0.12H2O
Willhendersonite Ca2(Ca0.5, K)2[Al6Si6O24] 0.50 Ca K
0.10H2O
ANA Analcime Na16[Al16Si32O96] 0.67 0.60–0.74 Na Ca, K, Mg
Wairakite 0.16H2O 0.67 0.65–0.70 Ca Na, Cs
Ca8[Al16Si32O96]0.16H2O
NAT Natrolite Na16[Al16Si24O80] 0.60 0.58–0.61 Na Ca
Mesolite 0.16H2O 0.60 0.58–0.62 Na, Ca –
Scolecite Na16Ca16[Al48Si72O240] 0.60 0.60–0.61 Ca Na
Gonnardite- 0.64H2O 0.57 0.52–0.63 Na Ca
Tetranatrolite Ca8[Al16Si24O80]0.24H2O
Na12Ca2.5[Al17Si23O80]
0.20H2O
LAU Laumontite Ca4[Al8Si16O48]0.16H2O 0.67 0.65–0.69 Ca Na, K
FER Ferrierite (Mg0.5NaK)6[Al6Si30O72] 0.83 0.78–0.88 Mg, Na, K Ca, Sr, Ba
0.20H2O
LEV Levyne (Ca0.5, Na,)6[Al6Si12O36] 0.66 0.62–0.70 Ca, Na K
0.18H2O
LOV Lovdarite Na13K4[Be8AlSi27O72] 0.75 – Na K
0.20H2O
MAZ Mazzite Mg2.5K2Ca1.5[Al10Si26O72] 0.72 – Mg K, Ca, Na, Ba
0.30H2O
“Nickel-Strunz Classification—Primary Groups 10th ed”. mindat.org. Retrieved 22 March 2020
4 J. Gorimbo et al.
Fig. 1 Four representations of the periodic zeolite framework c analcime framework (ANA) representing chains of single connected
a heulandite (HEU) series viewed down the crystallographic [001] 4-membered rings (structural projection along [111] direction), d na-
direction, representing the chains of T10O20 tetrahedra (T = combined trolite framework (NAT) representing zeolites with T5O10 units
Si and Al), b chabazite framework (CHA) representing chains of (T = combined Si and Al), the fibrous zeolites viewed along [001]
6-membered rings (tabular zeolites) viewed normal to [001] direction, direction (Baerlocher et al., 2007)
represents the tetrahedral framework and is characterised by of the most common mineral-forming elements and its
an overall negative charge which increases as the Si/Al ratio composition may vary not only from a mineral species to
decreases. The part outside the square brackets consists of another but also within the same mineral species.
exchangeable extra framework cations, which neutralise the
framework negative charge, and, finally, water molecules
which often coordinate the extra framework cations (Auer- 2.2 The Relative Abundance of Naturals Zeolites
bach, 1983; Bish & Ming, 1955).
Annually global production of zeolites was consistently
around 3.2 million tons between 2002 and 2012. This pro-
2.1 The Major Difference Between Natural duction was spread across 26 countries with the main pro-
and Synthesis Zeolites ducer, China contributing approximately 65% of the world
total production (Marantos et al., 2012). The second main
Use of synthetic zeolites started around 1950 (Sherman, producer of zeolites produces only 450,000 tons per year
1999) with an advantage of tailoring structural properties while the rest of the countries each produced between 700
such as internal pore volumes, molecular-size pores, regu- and 160,000 tons per year. The combined zeolite production
larity of crystal structures, and the diverse framework from Canada, Russia, the Philippines, Greece and Italy is
chemical compositions. Dozens more artificial, synthetic just 4500 tons. Very little production come from Germany,
zeolites are in use. The main differences between natural and Argentina, Serbia and Slovenia with these countries’ com-
synthetic zeolites include the time scale in which they are bined production per year falling below 2000 tons. South
produced, the amount of material used to produce them and Africa is the only country in Africa that mines zeolites at
the quality of zeolites. Natural zeolites have many more two sites one in Northern KwaZulu Natal (KZN) and the
chemical elements in its structure, and they are found in other one in Western Cape (WC), Riversdale both producing
many geological environments hence they have much a total of 10,000 tons per year. The South African com-
greater structural and crystal chemical variability than syn- modity is composed of mainly clinoptilolite, sepiolite, albite,
thetic zeolites. Synthetic zeolites can be created in few hours quartz, muscovite and mordenite with the KZN product
or few days in the laboratory whereas natural zeolites can be averaging 50% zeolitic minerals while the WC contain
generated in years or a million years (Auerbach, 1983). between 20 and 50% zeolitic minerals (Diale et al., 2011).
Clearly a synthetic compound has a chemical composition Though currently most of the global zeolite production is
made of the ingredients used in the synthesis, hence used in applications construction and agricultural industries
well-known composition to the producer. The production of (Mumpton, 1999), the scope for their sustainable use in
a synthetic zeolite is also aimed at providing the material seawater desalination is the focus in this review. The bar
with certain wanted properties, i.e. it tends to be tailored to chart, Fig. 2 depicts the statistics for 26 zeolite producing
specific industrial needs. Whereas a natural zeolite is made countries across the globe.
Fig. 2 World zeolite production

statistics (drawn from data in
Marantos et al., 2012). Others
include Ukraine, Hungary, New
Zealand, Cuba, Bulgaria, South
Africa, Australia, Spain, Canada,
Greece, Italy, the Philippines,
Russia, Mexico, Argentina,
German, Serbia and Slovenia
with each contributing less than
1% of the global total production
2.3 Desalination the excess pressure. According to Shahzad et al. (2017)

operating plants typically consist of five major components
Desalination is the process of removing salts and other as shown in Fig. 5 which include: (i) the seawater intake
dissolved chemicals from the seawater from water to pro- system, (ii) feed pre-treatment facility, (iii) high pressure
duce water that meets the desired quality/salinity (Darre & pumps, (iv) RO membranes, and (v) brine disposal and
Toor, 2018; Sepehr et al., 2017). For potable water, the post-treatment facility (Harandi et al., 2017). These com-
requirements are defined by the World Health Organizations ponents contribute to the overall performance of a desali-
(WHO) with the salinity limit set at 500 ppm (Esfahani nation plant which in most cases is measured as a recovery
et al., 2016). Figure 3 is a typical schematic of a desalination ratio (RR). The recovery ratio also known as the purifica-
system. Currently four technologies are available for water tion process efficiency and it is a measure of the fraction of
desalination and these include thermal processes, membrane feed water that is converted into high quality water. Several
processes, chemical desalination and adsorption technolo- factors obviously influence RR, these include, feedwater
gies (see Fig. 4). Of the four, thermal-based and quality and availability, product water quality, economics,
membrane-based processes dominate the seawater desalina- pre-treatment, post-treatment requirements and desalination
tion market and accounts for the bulk of the 15,906 desali- technology capability. However, it is sufficient to state that
nation plants that are currently operational (Jones et al., improvements in energy recovery systems as well as
2019). Membrane-based processes include ultrafiltration, membrane technology have improved RR from around 25%
electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis (Darre & Toor, 2018). in the 1980s to 35% in the 1990s with current estimates
Among the membrane processes, reverse osmosis is the ranging between 45 and 50% (Ghaffour et al., 2013; Xu
mature technology and accounts for approximately 60% of et al., 2013). Membranes that are used for desalination are
desalination plants installed and is considered to be the made from synthetic organic polymers, RO membranes are
standard desalination technique (Charcosset, 2009). either cellulose acetate or polysulfone coated with aromatic
Thermal-based processes include multi-stage flash (MSF), polyamides (Johnson & Busch, 2010) and they usually
multi-effect distillation (MED), vapour compression distil- come in four basic modules viz. plate-and-frame, tubular,
lation, humidification-dehumidification (El-Ghonemy, 2018; spiral wound, and hollow fibre. A thorough discussion on
Jones et al., 2019). Globally, thermal-based processes these modules can be found elsewhere (Johnson & Busch,
especially MSF and MED accounts for 26% and 8% of 2010).
desalinated water respectively. Other technologies as cate-
gorised by Jones et al. (2019) contribute less than 1%. 2.3.2 Thermal-Based Processes
Thermal-based processes rely on supplying thermal energy
2.3.1 Reverse Osmosis (RO) to seawater to convert the water into vapour then condensing
This process is based on applying excess pressure (hy- the vapour to get potable water (Harandi et al., 2017).
draulic pressure osmotic pressure) to force water to flow Thermal technologies are mostly used for water with high
across a semi-permeable membrane from higher to lower salinity levels and in regions where the cost of energy is low
solute concentration. High pressure pumps are used to apply or where waste heat is readily available (Al-Sahali &
6 J. Gorimbo et al.
Fig. 3 Typical desalination

process showing inputs and
output, total dissolved salts
(TDS), liquid discharge (LD),
zero discharge
(ZLD) (Ahmadvand et al., 2019)
Fig. 4 Classification of different

major desalination technologies
(Youssef et al., 2014).
Multiple-stage flash distillation
(MSF), multi-effect desalination
(MED), vapour compression
distillation (MCV),
humidification–dehumidification
desalination (HDH), freezing
(Frz), electrodialysis desalination
(ED), solar desalination (SD), ion
exchange (I.Ex), reverse osmosis
(RO), forward osmosis (FO),
nanofiltration (NF), liquid–liquid
extraction (LLE), and gas hydrate
(G.Hyd)
Fig. 5 Schematic of a reverse

osmosis plant (Harandi et al.,
2017)
Ettouney, 2007; Ng et al., 2013). Figure 6a, b shows the 2.3.3 Zeolite-Based Systems
schematic of the MSF and MED while description of the A cursory look at literature indicates that zeolites have
other thermal process can be found herein (Al-Sahali & numerous uses (Eroglu et al., 2017; Gorimbo, 2011; Gor-
Ettouney, 2007; El-Dessouky & Ettouney, 2002). Table 2 imbo et al., 2014; Kallo, 2001). However, in relation to
compares the thermal-based technologies. seawater desalination, the available data suggest that the
Fig. 6 a Schematic of
multi-stage flash
(MSF) desalination plant (Miller,
2003). b Schematic of
multi-effect distillation
(MED) desalination plant (Miller,
2003)
technologies that can be applied vary depending on whether typically been used for wastewater treatment, e.g. (Metes
one is considering natural or synthetic zeolites. Thus, water et al., 2004; Watanabe et al., 2004). The choice of a zeolite
desalination research has been performed using zeolite for a function stems from their inherent differences. The
membranes in both Reverse Osmosis (RO) and pervapora- following observations are made and documented: (Auer-
tion systems. Examples of studies conducted using both bach, 1983; Glauco & Ermanno, 2018; Moshoeshoe et al.,
natural and synthetic zeolites are shown in Table 3. Gen- 2017).
erally, the research on the membrane technology seems to
be dominated by synthetic zeolites when compared to nat- • Synthetics are costly to produce since they are produced
ural zeolites as shown in Table 3 with research on using from energy consuming chemicals while naturals are
pervaporation and conventional reverse osmosis is avail- processed from natural ore bodies,
able. On the other hand, natural zeolites membranes • Synthetic zeolites have a silica to alumina ratio of 1–1
research seems to have picked up recently (articles around and natural clinoptilolite (clino) zeolites have a 5–1 ratio,
2012) with most of the work based on pervaporation. • Natural zeolites are more resistant to mildly acid envi-
However, for desalination purposes natural zeolites seem to ronment, than synthetic zeolites.
have found favour in ion exchange technology with huge
potential in producing water for agricultural purposes from The end use of the desalinated water can also dictate the
seawater (Wajima, 2019) while synthetic zeolites have choice of zeolite.
8 J. Gorimbo et al.
Table 2 Summary of thermal bases technologies (El-Dessouky & Ettouney, 2002; Younos & Tulou, 2009)
Technology Advantage and disadvantages Type of feed water
Multi-stage flash (MSF) Advantages Seawater
(i) Reliable proven technology
(ii) Can operate with waste thermal energy
(iii) Can handle large capacities
Disadvantages
(i) Requires highest amount of energy of all technologies
(ii) Larger footprint required
Multi-effect distillation (MED) Advantages Seawater
(i) Requires less energy than MSF
(ii) Can operate using waste thermal energy
(iii) Can handle large capacities
(iv) Very high quality product water (<10 mg/L TDS)
Disadvantages
(i) High amounts of energy
(ii) Scaling on tubing that lowers heat transfer
Mechanical vapour compression (MVC) Advantages Seawater and brackish water
(i) Improves process thermal efficiency
(ii) Meet needs in remote areas,
(ii) Transportable
(iii) Accommodates wide range of salt concentrations
Disadvantages
(i) Compressor needs higher levels of maintenance
(ii) Limited to smaller sized plant
Humidification-dehumidification Advantages Seawater or brackish
(i) Can utilise sustainable energy sources
(ii) Can operate at low temperature
(ii) Low technology level requirements
Disadvantages
(i) Small capacity production plants
Table 3 Research and technologies for seawater desalination using zeolites

Technology Available research
Natural zeolites Synthetic zeolites
Membrane Reverse No information available to date (according to Duke et al. (2009), Li et al. (2004), Lin and Murad
osmosis authors knowledge) (2001), Zhu et al. (2014)
Pervaporation An et al. (2014), Swanson et al. (2012) Cho et al. (2011), Drobek et al. (2012), Duke et al. (2009)
Ion exchange Shimzu et al. (2007), Wajima (2013), Wibowo Wajima (2018)
et al. (2017)
Synthetic Zeolites-Reverse Osmosis The synthetic membrane was also tested for by multi-ion
The research on using synthetic zeolites as RO membranes water and it revealed rejection rates ranging from 58 to 88%
for desalination processes can be traced back to the mod- with water flux of 0.058 kgm−2 h−1, and applied pressure of
elling work that was done by Lin and Murad (2001) wherein 2.4 MPa (Li op. cit.). More research followed, e.g. Zhu et al.
a perfect crystal of all-Si, ZK-4 membrane was shown to (2014) synthesised MFI-type silicalite membrane and tested
reject 100% Na+. This work became the precursor for the membrane with RO using any artificial seawater (0.3 wt
experimental validation that was later performed by Li et al. % TDS). The work indicated rejection rates above 93% for
(2004). In this work, Li op. cit. synthesised alumina- major ions while an 83% rejection rate was observed for
supported MFI-type zeolite membranes through in situ Na+, the experiments were run for 145 h under an applied
crystallisation and tested the membrane through an RO pressure of 700 kPa. Zeolites-based membranes are more
set-up. Results using a 0.1 M NaCl solution demonstrated energy efficient with higher permeability and selectivity than
76% Na+ rejection rates at a water flux of about organic polymeric materials making nanocomposites RO
0.112 kgm−2 h−1 under an applied pressure of 2.07 MPa. membrane that incorporate organic polymers and zeolites
better performers in desalination than organic polymer only synthetic zeolites were tested: zeolite-4A and zeolite-13X
based RO units (Shi et al., 2019; Subramani et al., 2011). and a natural zeolite (Nitto). Wajima tested the ability of the
These membranes incorporating zeolites also find applica- synthetic zeolites to remove Na+ from seawater treated with
tion in RO, pervaporation, nanofiltration and membrane calcined hydrotalcite (to remove anions). Their work indi-
distillation desalination systems (Cho et al., 2011). cated that Na+ removal using natural zeolite is lower than
that using synthetic zeolites and the decrease in salinity was
Synthetic Zeolites-Pervaporation a function of Na+ content in the solution.
Work has also been done with synthetic zeolites while
applying the pervaporation membrane technology. Duke Natural Zeolites-Pervaporation
et al. (2009) synthesised silicalite and ZSM-5 zeolite mem- Membranes made of natural zeolites have molecular sieve
branes and performed seawater (3.8%w/w) desalination tests properties (largest channel of the clinoptilolite framework is
using pervaporation, and reverse osmosis (RO). Results from 0.44 0.72 nm (Kazemimoghadam & Mohammadi,
the pervaporation mode of operation indicated rejection rates 2007)), and they typically have been used in the thermal
above 99%, optimal temperature for pervaporation was driven pervaporation (Table 2). Two types of membranes
found to be 80 °C and flux was found to be a function of from natural zeolites have been identified viz. (1) mem-
Si/Al ratio; the authors observed a 30% increase in flux for branes, directly sectioned from mineral deposits (Swenson
Si/Al ratio 100. Cho et al. (2011) also performed pervapo- et al., 2012) and clinoptilolite-based phosphate composite
ration desalination tests with NaA zeolite membrane. The membranes (An et al., 2014). The work on sectioning a
authors claimed that to their knowledge their work was the membrane from a natural deposit of a zeolite was done using
first application of this type of membrane for pervaporation high density deposit zeolites obtained from Mt. Kobau and
in seawater desalination. In this work instead of synthetic Manery Creek area of British Columbia, Canada. Run of
seawater, the authors obtained seawater from Boryeong mine samples were machined into thin sections that were
Beach on the West Sea coast of the Korean peninsula. Their used in the pervaporative desalination of water samples with
results indicated more than 99.9% salt rejections for all the varying salinity levels, including synthetic seawater. Results
ions except for boron, water flux was measured to be indicated complete rejection of magnesium, sodium and
1.9 kg/m2 h at 69 °C. Further work on desalination using calcium ions. Water flux decreased from 2.5 to 0.39 kg/m2 h
pervaporation was done (Drobek et al., 2012). They syn- when feed concentration was increased from 100 and
thesised ZSM-5 membranes through secondary growth on 5500 mg/L Na+. Tests were done at 95 °C. Similarly, the
tubular ceramic supports and desalination was done on same authors (Swenson et al., 2012) further tested their
synthetic seawater NaCl in concentrations corresponding to concept’s efficacy to reduce contamination in wastewater
brackish (0.3–1 wt%), sea (3.5 wt%) and brine (7.5–15 wt obtained from in situ extraction of oil sands. Their results
%) water. Results from this work show rejection rates indicated again a reduction in the ionic content and near
ranging between 75 and 90% depending on concentration of complete removal all toluene from synthetic process water
NaCl. Fluxes as high as 11.5 kg/m2 h for seawater at tem- by pervaporation. It was noted that membrane flux was a
perature of 75 °C. As of 2018 no known pervaporation function of toluene concentration.
desalination plant had been operationalized though perva- While using membranes machined from hard rock as
poration as a technology is commercially applied in other molecular sieves offers a great opportunity to utilise natural
processes like alcohol separation (Xie et al., 2018). Collab- zeolites with minimum modification, it however may have
orators from two Chinese universities, Ningbo University limited industrial uses for the following reasons:
and Jiaxing University are busy with research on developing
composite pervaporation membranes that contain nanotube (i) membranes require high density zeolites and therefore
material and polyamide (Shi et al., 2019). Benefits of such a its deposit dependent (An et al., 2014),
material include higher water permeability and selectivity. (ii) mining and transportation methods must be precise to
Similar research direction has also been reported in some minimise fracture propagation and,
Malaysian universities (Sazali et al., 2019). (iii) the low fluxes may render operations uneconomical.
Synthetic Zeolites-Ion Exchange Instead, An et al. (2014) suggested manufacturing

The high ion exchange capacity and absorptivity of zeolites low-cost clinoptilolite-based phosphate composite mem-
have long been known (Watanabe et al., 2005) consequently branes that are scalable and property tuneable. Phosphate
they have been used for wastewater treatment. Wajima mixture was prepared by mixing Monopotassium Phosphate
(2018) tested the exchange ability of both natural and syn- (MKP) and Magnesium oxide (MgO) on 1:2 ratio. This
thetic zeolites for seawater desalination. The followings mixture was further mixed with Clinoptilolite powder on 1:1
10 J. Gorimbo et al.
ratio and dry pressed and steamed to produce the membrane. natural zeolite desalinated seawater for agriculture. For
Pervaporative water desalination was evaluated on the instance, in their early work (Tomoe et al., 2007), they used
membrane at two levels of salt concentration, i.e. 50 and a combination of Hydrotalcite as inorganic matter to remove
1400 ppm, interestingly, these membranes show improved anions such as Cl− followed by cation removal by a
sodium removal rates (over 95%) at higher water fluxes mordenite-type natural zeolite; both chloride and sodium
(15 kg/m2 h) when desalinating 1400 ppm saline water. ions were reduced. Seawater used in this study was collected
These membranes offer great potential. from the surface of layer of Imari Bay, Saga Prefecture,
Japan. Ion exchange experiments were performed by adding
Natural Zeolites-Ion Exchange 20 g of natural zeolite to 100 mL of anion depleted seawater
Seawater desalination that takes advantage of cation and stirred for an hour. Figure 7a shows the results obtained.
exchange capacity of natural zeolites has also been demon- Wajima (2013) further expanded on this work by testing
strated mostly by Tomoe et al. (2007), Wajima (2013, 2019) several kinds of Japanese natural zeolites, i.e. Iizaka-zeolite
and Wibowo et al. (2017). The bulk of the work has been (IZ), Tenkawachi-zeolite (TZ), Koriyama-zeolite (KZ),
centred on the removal of Na+ from seawater for purposes of Futatsui-zeolite (FZ) and Niki-zeolite (NZ) following the
crop cultivation and reducing salinity in salted soils. It has procedure presented by Shimzu et al. (2007) with the fol-
been established that agriculture utilises about 70% of lowing exceptions: (1) each treatment was stirred for two
available freshwater, consumes more than more than 50% of hours before filtration (2) the treatments were repeated 10
drawn water (Shiklomanov, 2000) and is dominantly times. Table 4 shows the cation exchange capacity of each
responsible for water depletion and scarcity (Richter et al., zeolite use in this work.
2013). Seawater is a readily available resource that can be Generally, Na+ concentration in seawater could be
tapped into for agricultural water supply. It is known that reduced by natural zeolite treatment. The trends (Fig. 7b)
seawater contains essential elements that are important for suggest that the higher the CEC number the higher the
plant growth, however the excessive amounts of NaCl makes reduction in sodium ions except for sample FZ. Thus, IZ and
it unsuitable to be used directly. Wajima (2018) argues that KZ indicate higher Na+ reduction than those with TZ and
the conventional and established methods of seawater NZ. Note also that sample IZ and KZ have higher Ca2+ ions
desalination are all designed to produce high quality water than TZ, NZ and FZ, thus it could be deducted that these
suitable for domestic and industrial use; agriculture does not reductions correlated closely with an increase in Ca2+ ions.
require the same quality of water. Wajima’s work spanning Wajima (2018) expanded on the work they performed
from the mid-2000 to date indicate a possibility of using (Shimzu et al., 2007) into a single step process where both
Fig. 7 Variation of Na+

concentration as of number of
treatments with zeolite a Tomoe
et al. (2007) b Wajima (2013)
Table 4 Cation exchange Exchangeable cation/mmol g−1

capacity (CEC) for samples tested
(Wajima, 2013) Sample Type of crystal Na+ K+ Mg2+ Ca2+ CCE/mmol g−1
IZ Mor. 0.56 0.21 0.03 0.44 1.67
TZ Mor. 0.7 0.11 0.06 0.24 1.27
KZ Mor. 0.58 0.28 0.02 0.4 1.51
NZ Cli. 0.88 0.2 0.02 0.23 1.27
FZ Cli. 0.84 0.71 0.02 0.7 1.67
Mor.: Mordenite-type zeolite, Cli.: Clinoptilolite type zeolite
the Sodium ion and chloride ion are removed by a mixture of characteristics of type membrane; however, the work on
natural zeolites and Calcined Hydrotalcite (CHT). This work composite membranes may offer great opportunity of pro-
suggest that it is possible to produce water for agricultural ducing zeolite membranes that are scaleable, tuneable and
cultivation from high salinity water using the mixture of cost fraction of that require to produce synthetic membranes.
natural zeolite and CHT. Finally, after having established There is opportunity for further research to improve both
this possibility Wajima (2019) used ion-exchanged natural cation rejection and water flux. The work reported in liter-
zeolite to test the possibility of growing Radish sprout using ature (An et al., 2014) used a clinoptilolite membrane, other
the solution produced. Two sets of desalination experiments zeolites or a mixture thereof may yet produce different
were carried out. In the first set desalination of seawater was performance characteristics. Cost-benefit analysis need to be
conducted using five different ion-exchanged natural zeo- carried out with results from actual seawater/brackish water
lites, Na+-, K+-, NH4+-, Mg2+- and Ca2+-zeolite following run on pilot scale.
the procedure described by Wajima (2013). In the second set
of experiments a column with Ca-exchanged natural zeolite
was prepared by running a solution of 1 M Ca(NO3)2 3.2 Ion Exchange
through a column packed with zeolite particles with the
diameter of 1.0 mm. Seawater was then circulated through The cation exchange capacity of natural zeolites has also been
this column for 2 h and repeated 3 more times on fresh tested for seawater desalination and it offers the greatest
columns. Results from these experiments show that seawater opportunity for sustainable desalination of water. Research
can be desalinated with ion-exchanged natural zeolites reported to date used actual seawater and is specifically tar-
however the Radish sprout could only grow in the solution geted at removing mainly sodium chloride from seawater with
after 4 times zeolite treatment of seawater. a specific target of producing water for agricultural purposes.
Wibowo et al. (2017) also carried out some seawater Experimental results by Wajima (2019) prove that it is pos-
desalination experiments using natural zeolites obtained sible to then grow plants using zeolite ion-exchanged seawa-
from Sukabumi, Bandung, Indonesia. Their work involved ter. The natural zeolites can be reused repeatedly by exchange
activating natural zeolites by heating in a furnace under with other, e.g. K+, NH4+, Mg2+ (Wajima et al., 2006).
atmospheric condition. Desalination was performed by If the use of natural zeolites to desalinate water for
adding different masses of activated zeolites to 100 ml of agriculture is successful, it will go a long to reduce water
seawater with average salinity of 35.0 ppm. Their results scarcity by reducing amount freshwater used for agricultural
also confirmed that natural zeolites could be used for sea- purposes. While there is an obvious opportunity further work
water desalination. is required to establish how sustainable the process given
that experimental data show that to get appreciable reduction
in NaCl, 5–10 cycles of mixing and filtration with a new
3 The Future Perspectives of Seawater dose of fresh zeolite at every cycle must be done. Each
Desalination Using Natural Zeolites mixing cycle lasting 2 h. This needs to be optimised
investigated further because each mixing cycle consumes
3.1 Membranes energy albeit at levels lower than current desalination
methods.
Research on seawater desalination systems that takes
advantages on the molecular sieve and cation exchange
capacity of zeolites has been done. The research on molec- 4 Conclusion
ular sieve properties has been focused primarily on the
thermally drive pervaporation membrane process. Two Research to utilise abundant, low-cost natural zeolites for
major types of membranes have been identified viz. desalination is ongoing. The bulk of the work that uses
(i) membranes sectioned from high density zeolite deposits natural zeolites is based on ion exchange technology. This
and (ii) clinoptilolite-phosphate composite. While these research work using ion exchange technology specifically
present a major step towards understating and eventual targets water suitable for agricultural purposes. However,
utilisation of natural zeolites in seawater desalination, the there is also little research activity focused on using zeolites
use of membranes sectioned from deposits of high density as adsorbents in adsorptive desalination. Natural
zeolites may find limited use industrial wise because of low zeolite-organic polymer composite membranes suitable to
water fluxes and the dependents on deposit which does not desalinate through reverse osmosis or pervaporation to meet
offer control and tuneablity of critical parameters/sieving potable and industrial water quality are also being studied.
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Desalination Using Electrodialysis
Mayur R. Ladole, Sujata S. Patil, Pavan M. Paraskar, Pravin B. Pokale,

and Pravin D. Patil
Abstract 1 Introduction
Dwindling water quality has become a global matter of
concern due to the overgrowing expansion of industrial/ The desalination process is the membrane-driven technology
agricultural activities and climate change that threatens to which is used for the removal of dissolved minerals from
cause significant alterations to the hydrological cycle. seawater, brackish water, and wastewater. Considering the
There is an urgent need to treat water from unconventional availability of water on the earth's surface, 71% of the total
sources due to the increase in the pollution levels and a water resources are in the form of ice and oceans (Chen et al.,
decrease in groundwater availability. Membrane desali- 2010; Woo et al., 2019). However, only 3% of the water has
nation technology has gained tremendous importance in considered fresh and appropriate for drinking purpose
the recent past owing to its exceptional capability of water (Mohammadi & Kaviani, 2003; Sadrzadeh & Mohammadi,
treatment. The electrodialysis (ED) is one of the promising 2008). Due to high total dissolved solids (TDS) and salt
membrane desalination technologies, thanks to its wide content, the water from oceans and seas is not drinkable and
range of applications, the flexibility of operation, and cannot be utilized directly for other applications as well. In
robustness. The present chapter covers the essential order to make water more suitable for various applications,
aspects of the desalination process carried out using ED desalination is necessary that reduces the salts and other
technology. The chapter highlights the history of ED impurities. It can be done in multiple ways by adopting vari-
development, the principle of operation, different parts of ous processes while improving the quality of water. The var-
ED cell, and preparation of dimensionally stable anode. It ious processes which are used around the globe are reverse
also highlights the principle of operation and the concept osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), multi-stage flash desali-
of reverse electrodialysis (RED) while considering chal- nation (MSF), and multi-effect evaporation/distillation (MED);
lenges and opportunities in the field. these processes are considered as leading methods which are
being used by millions of people for freshwater production
Keywords (Al-Amshawee et al., 2020; Carolin et al., 2017). However,

some processes, such as membrane capacitive deionization
Membrane desalination Electrodialysis (MCDI) and capacitive deionization (CDI) are also tested but
Dimensionally stable anode Reverse electrodialysis only at the laboratory scale (Carolin et al., 2017). The benefits,
drawbacks, and energy consumption of some of the desali-
nation technologies are illustrated in Table 1.
M. R. Ladole S. S. Patil P. M. Paraskar The ED is a promising method that has been explored for
Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical many years. It is an electrochemical method that works on
Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400019, India
the principle of ion separation through the membranes which
P. B. Pokale are electrically charged. The ions move from one solution to
Department of Electronics Engineering, Priyadarshini
J. L. Chaturvedi College of Engineering and Technology, Nagpur, another under the impact of an electric current as of the
Maharashtra 440024, India driving force (Al-Amshawee et al., 2020). Typically, an ED
P. D. Patil (&) cell consists of ion-exchange membranes arranged one after
Department of Basic Science and Humanities, Mukesh Patel another between cathode and anode to form separate cells.
School of Technology Management and Engineering, SVKM’s The ED process has been widely utilized for the retrieval of
NMIMS University, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400056, India useful chemicals, mainly from effluents, salt production,
e-mail: pravin.patil@nmims.edu

16 M. R. Ladole et al.
Table 1 Summary of wastewater treatment processes using desalination

Sr. No. Technology for Consumption Benefits Limitations References
desalination of energy
(kWh m−3)
1 Membrane operations 2–6 (i) Less (i) Less durability Ahmed and Ahmaruzzaman (2016),
using pressure utilization of and fouling of Buonomenna and Bae (2015), Subramani
energy membranes and Jacangelo (2015)
(ii) Ease in (ii) A lesser rate
scale-up of water recovery
(iii) No need for (iii) Excess
chemical scaling issues
additives
(iv) No need for
energy recovery;
devices
(v) Less space
required
(vi) Proven and
well-studied
technology
2 Direct osmosis or * 21 (i) Production of (i) Higher energy Zhao et al. (2019)
forward osmosis a highly salted requirements
solution
(ii) Option to
select appropriate
draw solute
3 Electrodialysis (ED) 1–12 (i) Rate of brine (i) Capital cost Nguyen et al. (2013), Zhao et al. (2019)
removal is high requirement is
(ii) Production of very high
a highly salted (ii) Less water
solution recovery
(iii) Lesser
scaling formation
4 Mechanical vapor 20–25 (i) Proven (i) Scaling issues Zhao et al. (2019)
compression (MVC) technology (ii) Consumes
(ii) Easy to more energy
control
parameters
5 Multi-effect 7–25 (i) Proven (i) Excess energy Zhao et al. (2019)
evaporation/distillation technology requirement
(MED) (ii) Scaling issue
6 Multi-stage flash 14–25 (i) Low Scaling (i) Lower water Al-Amshawee et al. (2020), Zhao et al.
desalination (MSF) formation recovery rates (2019)
(ii) High rate of
evaporation
7 Desalination using 1.38 (i) No limitation (i) Used only up Ng et al. (2013), Subramani and
adsorption on feed water to demonstration Jacangelo (2015)
(ii) Stationary level
operation
(iii) High
rejection rate
8 Membrane distillations 22–67 (i) Can withhold (i) Requires high Zhao et al. (2019)
salinity up to energy
200 g L−1 (ii) Low water
(ii) Less fouling recovery
industrial wastewater, and drinking water. The operating History

conditions, challenges, and advantages of some of the In 1980, the ED was first introduced by Maigrot and Sabates
applications of ED have been shown in Table 2. (Campione et al., 2018; Shaposhnik & Kesore, 1997).
Desalination Using Electrodialysis 17
Table 2 Strength and challenges involved in electrodialysis technologies for desalination

Sr. No. Electrodialysis Strengths of ED process Challenges References
technologies
1 Power free (i) Technically feasible (i) Concentration polarization Luo et al. (2017)
electrodialysis (PFED) (ii) Economically attractive (ii) RED internal resistance is slightly
for freshwater generation (iii) No requirement of batteries lower than ED resistance
(iv) The voltage produced by RED is (iii) At high concentration, less
steady perm-selectivity of membrane
2 For the brine (i) The increasing current density (i) The increasing flow rate decreases Xu et al. (2018)
groundwater with selective membranes turns into salt removal efficiency
desalination, the mono excess elimination of salt at a higher (ii) Stack resistance and membrane
and divalent membrane flow rate deposition
used for selective ED (ii) Considering the massive scope (iii) The efficacy of desalting using a
of working operations, a selective selective monovalent membrane was
membrane demonstrated stable ions found to be the same when compared
(iii) The inorganic components were with the efficiency of a standard grade
removed at higher applied voltage membrane during the pilot and
(iv) The concentration polarization bench-scale ED
of the membrane interface was
controlled by pulsed electric field
3 Electrodialysis reversal (i) Capable of generating high (i) Variation in points due depletion of Zhao et al. (2018)
(EDR) for industrial RO concentrated salt solution ions
salt-water treatment (ii) Organic fouling was not noticed (ii) The resistance in the EDR process
even after six days of continuous enhanced during 8 h of operation
working (iii) Precipitation of calcium carbonate
4 Ion-exchange (i) High recovery (i) Only removes ions, organics and Online and
membranes for (ii) Little to no feed pre-treatment colloids are not removed Dharmalingam
electrodialysis required (ii) Selection of membranes and (2015)
desalination (iii) Membrane-based desalination stacks highly dependent on feed water
technology does not need any chemistry
thermal energy
(iv) It can be used for desalting a
wide range of salinity concentration
level from brackish to seawater
5 Electrodialysis with a (i) Reduction in resistant for the (i) Soluble elements cannot be Ge et al. (2015),
nanofiltration membrane migration of ions separated from the water Van der Bruggen
(EDNF) (ii) EDNF enhances the limiting (ii) Less chemical resistance and et al. (2008)
current density limited lifetime of membranes
(iii) Improved ion flux
(iv) It offers higher acid recovery
and demineralization rate
6 Photovoltaic (i) The brackish water with 1000– (i) Higher setup cost Development of
electrodialysis 5000 mg/L TDS content along with Photovoltaic
desalination (PVED) seawater can be efficiently and Electrodialysis
effectively processed using PVED Desalination
(ii) At higher temperatures and lower System (2016)
flow rates in the feed stream, the
effectivity of PVED is higher
7 Bench-scale batch ED (i) Low cost (i) 0.3–6.3% losses of organic Luiz et al. (2017)
operation for (ii) The ionic migration rate moieties on the ED membrane
improvement in increases with an increase in salt
bio-refinery streams content
8 RED pilot-scale for (i) Renewable and sustainable (i) Spacers clogging Nam et al. (2018)
municipal and seawater energy source (ii) Inorganic precipitation due to
treatment (ii) High efficiency fouling
The ED was utilized as an early concept for the demineral- of current. Though the term electrodialysis was never used by
ization of sugar syrup using a carbon electrode. Perman- the group, it was officially found in a patent that was pub-
ganate as the membrane and dynamo was used for the supply lished in 1900 (Grebenyuk & Grebenyuk, 2002). In this
patent, Schollmeyer described the use of ED for the purifi- The introduction of ED at commercial levels was
cation of sugar syrup but with soluble iron or zinc anodes. achieved in the early 1960s, and that was even ten years
Regardless of this, it was also theoretically claimed that ED before the implementation of RO (Chen et al., 2010). The
was never surfaced until 1911 when Teorell experimentally successful progress of the ED system provided a
confirmed the barring principle presented by Donnan after a cost-effective technology for the removal of salt from sea-
few years of its first report (Donnan, 1924; Grebenyuk & water. Further ED was expanded for the treatment of food
Grebenyuk, 2002). In view of this principle, it was likely to processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and water/
prepare membranes that allow the selective transfer of cations wastewater treatment. ED was a well-established technol-
and anions using fixed negative and positive charges, ogy with a multitude of schemes functioning worldwide;
respectively. The development in the theory of electro- however, its exposure to seawater desalination was very less
chemical principles leading the behavior of ion-exchange compared to thermal or RO methods. In the 1990s, there was
membranes (IEMs) came with the possible expansion of not a single plant for desalination working on the principle
newer membrane sheets and to the conceptualization of of electrodialysis with a size of 500 m3/day or higher
multiple compartment electrodialysis (Shaposhnik & Kesore, (Turek, 2003). In the World Congress on Desalination and
1997). The actual perception of ED with multiple compart- Water Reuse, only one report was surfaced in 2002 deter-
ments with alternate anion and cation exchange membrane mining ED. In 1974, several plants in Japan, China, and
(CEM) was only realized in 1950. Two scientists, namely W. India used electrodialysis for desalting seawater but were
A. McRay and W. Juda, had developed the first ion-exchange relatively small, with a capacity of around 120 m3/day (Seto
(synthetic) membrane using resins. The membranes were first et al., 1978). In 1981, A 200 m3/day capacity ED setup was
used in 1954 by Ionics (USA) for Aramco (Saudi Arabia), installed and operated at Xisha Islands, China, for seawater
which is the first desalination plant based on ED technology desalination. After several years of execution, the ED
(Grebenyuk & Grebenyuk, 2002). However, many other ED technology was modified to work beyond the design indices.
units were subsequently developed. Figure 1 illustrates the Lately, several plants were opened in India between 1988
history and development of ED and related processes with and 1993, with overall size each of 5 m3/day (Turek, 2003).
respect to technological developments. However, it was always stated that ED could be compared
with thermal methods or RO (in the range salinity of feed
In 1974, there was a breakthrough expansion of a concept water up to 8–10 g/L) due to the cost associated with ED
called electrodialysis reversal (EDR) (Campione et al., 2018; desalination which is relative to the amount of salt that has to
Grebenyuk & Grebenyuk, 2002). Using the new concept of be carried through the membrane (Turek, 2003).
EDR, the ED process can be used by a periodic change in the
current, preventing membrane fouling. This process has ED Applications
become a revolution for large-scale industrial applications. The ED has a broader application for the removal of salt
Thereafter, many applications based on ED and alternatives from brackish water to drinkable water. In Japan, the pro-
were established and made available to the research com- duction of table salt is carried out using the ED process.
munity, offering further support for developing electro- Initially, ED was mainly used for the desalination of cheese
membrane technologies.
Fig. 1 Timeline for the development of desalination technologies (Copyright 2019 Elsevier. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission) (Woo
et al., 2019)
whey in the food industry. Annually, the total volume of and electrochemical characteristics. The main benefits of ED
3 million tons of cheese whey was treated using more than include ease in operation, extended membrane life, a higher
25,000 m2 of installed membrane area (Grandison, 1996). rate of water recovery compared to RO. Moreover, unlike
There are various plants that exist with an estimated size of RO, it does not require a lot of pre- and post-treatment while
50,000 kg/day demineralization of liquid whey. Around being able to operate at a higher temperature.
10% of the solid part consists of salts (mainly KCL), which
forbids its direct use in the formulation of infants due to the Principle of ED
requirement of a high-level demineralization (purification). It In general, ED is the process of the removal of salt resulted
is projected that about 65% of the ED demineralized whey from the application of electric potential. Due to the presence
discovered an end-use in the new-born formulation. Another of salt in the solution as separated ions, the applied electric
application of whey minerals (reduced) comprises drinks, current attracts the ions on the basis of the charge. In ED,
dry mixes, animal feeds, ice cream, bakery goods, salad two electrodes viz. cathode and anode are kept separately
dressing, and confectionery coatings. It was also described using the stack altering the anion and CEMs with the solu-
that there was an improvement in the textural and flavor tion in between them. After applying electric field to both
quality of milk products (fermented) using the deacidifica- cathode and anode, anions get attracted toward the anode,
tion and demineralization process. ED is also used for the while passing through the anion exchange membranes and
extraction of salts from wine and grape musts with improved are held by CEMs. Similarly, the cations move toward the
stability. Moreover, ED is also potentially used in the cathode, passing through the CEMs, and are held by anion
refining of sugar from beet and cane. However, the com- exchange membranes (Fig. 2). Thus, the process comes with
mercialization of these applications is limited due to mem- two different streams: the concentrate (brine) and dilute
brane fouling issues caused by the occurrence of a wide (deionized water) (Khan et al., 2016). As ED removes only
range of organic compounds. ED has found a bunch of ions during the process, the fouling of membrane by
applications in biotechnology, particularly for process con- uncharged ions is less severe in comparison with RO.
trol, i.e., changing the pH of media used for fermentation or However, ED is not capable of separating uncharged things
enzyme reactors or as one of the components in such as bacteria or viruses.
down-streaming processing. The ED process can also be
integrated for reactor designs or into continuous fermenta-
tion. The ED can also be used for the isolation of inhibitive 2 Design of ED Cell
metabolites for continuous fermentation. A group of
researchers demonstrated an increase in lactic acid produc- The electrodialysis process is operated in either batch mode
tion with the use of ED technology (Grandison, 1996). or continuous mode (Fig. 3). The setup can be organized in
series or parallel form to achieve an expected degree of
ED for Desalination demineralization. Typically, the ED system is comprised of
The ED finds its major application in the desalination pro- many elements, including a pre-treatment system, mem-
cess. It is a method that is driven with the help of electrical branes, membrane stacks, spacers, electrodes, pumping
energy separating salt ions from water using IEMs. It only systems, and post-treatment systems. The schematics of the
constituted 3% of the worldwide desalination capacity to typical ED stack design is shown in Fig. 4.
feed water. The frequency of ED is expected to grow due to
novel, cost-effective membranes. The application of ED is
significantly particular as it is a membrane technology 2.1 Pre-treatment System
considered to be a progressive environmental technology
that allows the progress of fresh recovery and treatment of The purpose of pre-treatment system is to eliminate the
water. As the reusability of water, an area of great interest coarse particles from water before initialization of ED pro-
has witnessed massive progress in the treatment procedures, cess. The occurrence of metal oxides, microbes, suspended
the production of new membranes has gained tremendous solids, and organic acids creates major issues and can alter
attention. For more than 60 years, ED has been considered the chemical composition while damaging the membranes.
as a well-proven technology for the treatment industrial and The suspended particles with an average diameter above
municipal wastewater and brackish water along with the 10 mm capable of clogging the membrane have to be
removal of heavy metals and production of bases and acids removed. Large colloids, metal oxides, and organic anions
via its ability to eliminate non-ionic and ionic substances are responsible for neutralizing the membranes while
using the effect of electric current (Al-Amshawee et al., affecting the selectivity of the membrane. Depending on the
2020). These applications are improved by continuous nature of feedwater, the complexity and type of the
enhancement in the IEM with improved physicochemical pre-treatment method are determined. The pre-treatment
Fig. 2 Schematics setup of ED stack (Copyright 2019 Elsevier. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission) (Khan et al., 2016)
methods include removal of impurities using flocculation

(for colloids), filtration, and activated carbon filtration (for
organic matter). It is well known that the large colloids and
organic molecules (charged) such as humic acid are removed
by filtration since they are too large in size to be removed
during the ED process through the membrane (Chen et al.,
2010). Microbial contamination and growth are other issues
leading to membrane fouling. Hence, in order to disinfect
these microbes, chlorine is generally used. However, the
removal of chlorine from the inlet solution is important as it
may damage the membrane. The fouling of membranes from
soluble salts such as calcium sulfate is prevented by using
sodium hexametaphosphate. After the completion of the
pre-treatment, the feed water is supplied through the ED
stack (Chen et al., 2010).
2.2 Ion-Exchange Membranes
The IEMs are one of the main parts of ED cells. These

membranes are arranged one after another between cathode
and anode electrodes in the ED compartment to disperse two
streams while carrying out the selective transportation of
ions from the inlet (Strathmann, 2010). The IEMs are
Fig. 3 Process of electrodialysis in batch mode and continuous mode ion-selective, where the transfer of ions takes place, driven
(Copyright 2010 Springer Nature. All rights reserved, reprinted with
permission) (Chen et al., 2010) by the difference in the concentration called electro-osmosis,
Fig. 4 Schematics and structure

of ion-exchange membrane stack
design (Copyright 2010 Elsevier.
All rights reserved, reprinted with
permission) (Strathmann, 2010)
i.e., electric potential. Moreover, the capacity of IEMs is heterogeneous IEMs. The first homogeneous IEM was
based on electrostatic interactions (sorption) and dispersion developed in 1933, which was fully bonded with uniform
of ions (Al-Amshawee et al., 2020; Palatý et al., 2009). The charges, while the heterogenous IEMs have uncharged bind-
IEMs are used in applications such as high-water recovery, ing polymer. Homogenous membranes are extensively used
high desalination, hydrogen production (electrolysis of for the manufacturing of table salt (Sata, 2000).
water), chemical conversion into electricity (energy con-
version and storage), and chemicals synthesis (electro- 2.2.1 Homogeneous Membrane
chemical reaction). Despite these applications, the In this type of IEMs, the membrane matrix is fully dis-
technology is not favored at an industrial scale due to its tributed homogenously with charged groups. The
energy-intensive nature, high resistivity, and poor selectiv- cross-linked polystyrene modified with sulfonate groups are
ity. Membranes other than IEMs, known as conventional components of cation-selective membranes. Also, the
membranes, are characterized on the basis of pore size and anion-selective membranes contain cross-linked polystyrene
the material; however, the IEMs are characterized on the modified with quaternary ammonium groups. Three essential
basis of molecular charge interaction. Therefore, being manufacturing methods are identified for homogeneous
non-selective and due to the ohmic barrier, the conventional membranes (Nagarale et al., 2006; Strathmann et al., 2013;
membranes are not useful for ED applications. Xu, 2005); (a) monomer polymerization, (b) polymeric film
IEMs are principally classified on the basis of their charged introduction with charged moieties, and (c) incorporation of
groups known as anion exchange membrane (AEM) and ca- charged moieties into the polymer, accompanied by melting
tion exchange membrane (CEM). They are made up of thin of polymer while forming into a type of film. The
polymeric films such as polyethylene, polysulphone, polystyrene-divinylbenzene-based membranes are an example of
styrene, etc., and have charged groups. The AEMs have a the use of monomers for homogeneous structures produc-
positive charge and mainly consists of secondary amine (– tion. Such membranes are extensively utilized in ED and can
NRH2+), tertiary amine (–NR2H+), quaternary amine (– be found from aminated or sulfonated styrene-
NR3+), and ammonium (–NH3+, SR2+, PR3+) which are divinylbenzene copolymers (Sata, 2000; Shahi et al.,
covalently attached to the backbone of the polymeric mem- 2000). Also, these membranes are used for the production of
brane and blocks the negatively charged ions and only permits table salt by concentrating seawater concerning a require-
the positively charged ions to pass. On the other side, CEMs ment of increased selectivity of monovalent ions (Sata,
have negatively charged groups attached, such as carboxylic 2000). Considering another preparation process, fluorocar-
acid (–COO−), sulfonic acid (–SO3−, C6H4O−), phosphonic bon, polypropylene polymers, and polyethylene are
acid (–PO3H−), phosphoryl (–PO32−) and these membranes employed for IEMs manufacturing (Xu, 2005). The func-
carry out the exact opposite work of AEMs (Mei & Tang, tionalization of these films, in this case, is generally carried
2018). These important characteristics originated and were out by grafting acrylic monomers to get the weak acid CEMs
described by Donnan (Galama et al., 2013). Considering the (Choi & Nho, 2000; Gineste et al., 1993; Gupta & Chapiro,
properties (physical) of IEMs such as active surface charge 1989; Hegazy et al., 1990; Horsfall & Lovell, 2003). Also,
distribution, hydrophilicity, resistance to electricity, surface styrene, which is a vinyl monomer, is attached to the poly-
roughness, etc., along with the manufacturing methods of both mer film and then aminated or sulfonated to produce strong
AEM and CEM, they are classified into homogeneous and acid AEMs (Herman et al., 2003; Lee et al., 1993) or CEMs
(Gupta et al., 1996; Yamaki et al., 2003). The third method semi-interpenetrating polymer (sIPN) networks (Choi et al.,
of preparation, is usually implemented for soluble polymers, 2003; Lebrun et al., 2002, 2004; Lin et al., 2007; Wang
including sulfonated polymers and polyether ketone et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2007). The preparation of IPN
(Nagarale et al., 2005a; Xu, 2005). These membranes are involves mixing two polymers cross-linked due to fixed
highly important as they are considered to be a promising entanglement. However, the sIPN consists of branched or
possibility for manufacturing low-cost membranes for ED linear polyelectrolyte immobilized in a polymeric matrix
and other methods employed at stringent conditions such as (cross-linked). Its specific structure permits mechanical and
high temperatures (Nagarale et al., 2006). The electrospin- electrochemical attributes to be incorporated for particular
ning process, coupled with hot-pressing, is a laboratory-scale applications (Chen & Chen, 2005; Vermaas et al., 2011).
method which is proposed for the manufacturing of Grafting by radiation is another method for membrane
nano-porous IEMs (Ran et al., 2017). In this process, it is preparation representing another class of IEMs. It allows
possible to produce a nanofibrous structure consisting of discordant polymers (to be linked), hence enhancing their
large surface area and high porosity along with higher tensile overall properties. Further, these membranes are readily
modulus in comparison with the bulk material. These IEMs altered by selecting the desired degree of grafting (Nagarale
are found to have significant applications in diffusion dial- et al., 2006). Various studies dealing with the characteriza-
ysis (Ran et al., 2017). tion and preparation of IEMs employing the grafting process
while utilizing them in ED systems have been investigated
2.2.2 Heterogeneous Membrane (Brack et al., 2000; Kostov & Atanassov, 1993; Kostov &
Heterogenous IEMs contain ion-exchange (IX) groups in Turmanova, 1997; Kostov et al., 1992; Nasef et al., 2000).
small areas that are spread all over the inert support matrix to The former group of a special type of membrane is rendered
provide mechanical support. One such simple form has by a mixture of inorganic or organic IEMs. By mixing the
highly fine cation and anion exchange resins distributed in characteristic of polymers with inorganic or chemical
polypropylene. Also, a much smaller heterogeneous distri- materials, thermal and mechanical steadiness has been sig-
bution of IX is possibly made from polyvinyl chloride nificantly magnified (Xu, 2005). Therefore, primarily for
plastisol. The heterogeneous membranes have excellent fuel applications, these membranes are used (Depre et al.,
mechanical strength and thickness, but possess poor elec- 1998, 2000; Gautier-Luneau et al., 1992; Kim et al., 2004,
trochemical properties. Due to the use of low-cost binding 2005; Mauritz et al., 2004; Nagarale et al., 2004; Walcarius,
polymers, these membranes are usually cost less (Nagarale 2001; Zou et al., 2004). The membrane hybrid structures are
et al., 2006). These IEMs are usually produced by the typically found through in situ polymerization, blending,
incorporation of resins (ion exchange) into polymer sheers intercalation, sol–gel process, or molecular self-assembling,
with three different processes (Nagarale et al., 2005b, 2006); the latter being the most widely used (Kogure et al., 1997;
(a) incorporation of particles into polymer sheet, (b) molding Ohya et al., 1995). Specific improvement has been devel-
(dry) of resins and inert polymer followed by milling, and oped in the special membranes by the incorporation of fixed
(c) dissolution of resins in the mixture consisting of a binder charges of both negative and positive in the same membrane
(film-forming) accompanied by casting and vaporization of (Campione et al., 2018; Xu, 2005).
the solvent. Additionally, the new manufacturing processes
have been developed with a target to improvise the IEMs Bipolar membranes
structure. Hence, the blending of polymer and pore-filling
processes (alternatives) was lately introduced (Ran et al., The bipolar membranes (BPM) are one of the outstanding
2017). The particle size distribution is a crucial feature that examples of special IEMs. BPM consists of a layer of anion
heavily affects the mechanical behavior of heterogeneous exchange overlaid with a CEM layer. Such types of mem-
membranes. More specifically, with the decreasing particle branes are specifically employed in applications such as
size, the flexibility increases, and with an increase in particle electrodialysis, where splitting of water is enhanced to pro-
loading, brittleness increases (Campione et al., 2018; Vyas duce acid-alkaline and acid solutions (Tanaka, 1999; Xu,
et al., 2001). 2005). These membranes are manufactured by various
methods such as adhering commercial anion and cations
2.2.3 Special Ion-Exchange Membranes exchange membranes (or vice versa) (Hao et al., 2001),
These are the types of membranes that are developed by molding polyelectrolyte solution of cation exchange on a
putting a lot of effort into concentrating on the alteration of membrane of anion exchange (Frilette, 1956), or function-
membrane properties. This leads to the development of alizing both planes of the standard membrane (Fu et al.,
special membraned categorized by artificial structure and 2003; Zhili et al., 1993). Two other exceptional types of
specific preparative methods (Nagarale et al., 2006; Xu, membranes contain both classes of charges, the mosaic and
2005). The examples are interpenetrating (IPN) and amphoteric membranes (Xu, 2005). The earlier represent
randomly dispersed weak basic and weak acid groups. The 2006). The capacity of ion exchange specifies the number of
main characteristic of charged groups is to respond to pH charges (fixed) in the IEM. The IEC is frequently revealed as
variation, hence altering the anionic and cationic selective milliequivalent (meq) of functional groups/cm3 or gram of
character of the membrane. It is helpful for the amphoteric dry membrane and is beneficial to determine the concen-
membranes, specifically in distinct applications employed in tration of the fixed charge. IEC is the titration method in
industrial and biomedical sectors (Xu, 2005). These mem- which sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is used for negative
branes are distinguished by cation and anion exchange zones groups, whereas hydrochloric acid (HCL) is used for posi-
agreed in a coextending (parallel) way inside a single tive groups (Ataollahi et al., 2017; Liang et al., 2017;
membrane (Higa et al., 2008). Due to this, in each layer, Nagarale et al., 2005a). The electrodialysis and related
there is a circulation of individual current, pointing to a salt processes involve the substantial concentration differences in
permeability and negative osmosis greater than the neutral two compartments. Therefore, the water and salt dispersed
species. Considering these unique features, BMPs are con- through the IEMs can facilitate an influential determinant
sidered as a capable mediator for the waste stream treatment defining the performance of the process. The diffusion of salt
in which organic compounds and salts are separated. How- can be readily determined to employ the time-lag method or
ever, these membranes are not commercially available some other superior technique using tracers (radioactive)
(Campione et al., 2018; Xu, 2005). (Campione et al., 2018). The movement of water through the
membranes depends upon two mechanisms: osmosis (due to
2.2.4 IEMs Properties and Characterization osmotic pressure difference) and electro-osmosis. The water
The membrane performance evaluation is one of the essen- osmosis permeability can be determined by estimating the
tial factors and can be evaluated by grouping into three weight difference in the reservoirs, intermittently turning off
distinct sections; physicochemical, electrochemical, and the stack current to eliminate the electroosmotic effect
mechanical. In order to employ ED systems in industrial (Galama et al., 2014). The critical influence on the perfor-
applications, the mechanical stability of the membrane plays mance of IEMs is mainly based on the electrochemical
an essential role. Various such tests are developed to eval- properties. Particularly two types of electrochemical prop-
uate mechanical stability of the membrane (Wang et al., erties to be estimated are electrical resistance and
2017a) as follows; (A) Creep and relaxation tests (Majsztrik perm-selectivity. The selectivity of the membrane for the
et al., 2008), (B) The Uniaxial tensile test: used to estimate passage of counter-ions is indicated by perm-selectivity. The
yield strength, Young’s modulus, strain-softening/ passage of co-ions between compartments is allowed by a
strain-hardening, and elongation at break, (C) Dynamical low perm-selective membrane, thus affecting the separation
mechanical analysis is extensively accepted to investigate efficiency negatively. The membrane perm-selectivity is
the glass transition temperature and viscoelastic properties, determined rapidly by measuring the non-ohmic potential of
and (D) Bursting test: a membrane is subjected to increasing membranes (Campione et al., 2018; Nagarale et al., 2006;
pressure until the failure befalls. The mechanical character- Nemati et al., 2017).
istics of IEMs are widely affected by varying features of the
membrane material such as water uptake, cross-linking,
along with some operating conditions such as temperature 2.3 Spacers
and aging (Garcia-Vasquez et al., 2013). Precisely, with an
increase in temperature, Young’s modulus decreases The IEMs cation and anion are separated by the spacers,
(Kawano et al., 2002), and membranes turn to be stiffer due which are frequently made up of a polymer such as poly-
to an increase in the degree of cross-linking. On the other vinyl chloride, polyethylene, or speciality polymer. The
hand, if water uptake is significantly higher, membranes main purpose of the spacer is to provide support to the
plasticize (Safronova et al., 2016). membranes. Figure 5 shows the different types of conven-
The physicochemical properties of IEMs are character- tional and non-conventional spacers. Generally, the spacers
ized by IEC (ion-exchange capacity), swelling, the perme- are made in a maze structure, ensuring that they are not
ability of chemicals, ions stability (permeability to diffusion pressed onto each other. The maze structure also provides
and conductivity), and neutral species (diffusion perme- flow dynamics or uniform flow by promoting turbulence
ation). The degree of the swelling has an immediate impact (Bruggen, 2015). The spacers also keep the membranes
on the perm-selectivity, specific conductivity (electrical), apart. Along with this, due to the solution distribution by the
and dimensional stability. Further, the extent of swelling can presence of spacers, it helps to increase the limiting current
be estimated by calculating the difference of weight between density. The spacers are selected considering the interpre-
the swollen and dry membrane (Ataollahi et al., 2017; Liang tation of the following necessities (Tanaka, 2012, 2015):
et al., 2017). For the calculation of volumetric swelling, the (a) ease in air release, (b) less electric current transmission
density of membrane material is needed (Nagarale et al., effect, (c) lowered blockage of flow-pass (caused due to the
Fig. 5 Different kinds of conventional and non-conventional spacers (Copyright 2018 Elsevier. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission)
(Campione et al., 2018)
formation of fine suspended particles in the feeding solu- 2017). Also, the presence of non-conductive spacers mini-
tion), and (d) lower friction head loss. Further, the structures mizes the active membrane area for ionic conduction and
of a spacer are classified as (i) wave porous plate, (ii) diag- makes the movement of ions more ancillary, which resulted
onal net, (iii) honeycomb net, (iv) expanded PVC, and in higher ohmic resistance, particularly in LS compartments
(v) porous wave plate. (Długołecki et al., 2010; Mei & Tang, 2018; Post et al.,
Spacers are usually used in reverse electrodialysis 2008). Along with this, when the pumping solutions are
(RED) stacks to support IEMs, promote mixing and provide filled in the spacer compartments, it can serve as the primary
the flow channels (Vermaas et al., 2014). It can improve source of energy loss due to substantial pressure drops
mixing, thus minimizing the concentration polarization (Veerman et al., 2009; Vermaas et al., 2011, 2014). The
while reducing the non-ohmic resistance (Kwon et al., significant impacts of spacers depend largely on its geometry
and material used (Długołecki et al., 2010; Gurreri et al., couples (e.g., FeCl3/FeCl2, [Fe(CN)6]3/[Fe (CN)6]4 and Fe
2012; Post et al., 2008; Veerman et al., 2009). Along with (III)-EDTA/Fe(II)-EDTA) (Scialdone et al., 2012) with
spacer configuration, it is also important to confirm proper reactive electrodes (e.g., Cu–CuSO4 system and Zn–ZnSO4)
feed flow circulation by modifying the flow supply. This can and with inert electrodes (e.g., titanium mesh coated by Ru–
be attained via modification in the water supply pattern, such Ir metal oxide electrodes, graphite electrodes, etc.) (Mei &
as broader feed manifolds and the addition of more Tang, 2018). There is a need to change the feed solution
water-inlet and outlet that could ultimately result in higher periodically and electric current inversion for reactive elec-
net power density. trodes (Mei & Tang, 2018; Veerman et al., 2010). Hence,
homogeneous redox couples with inert electrodes are
preferred.
2.4 Electrodes
2.4.1 DSA Preparation
The anode material is made up of platinum-plated magnetite, Dimensionally stabilized anodes (DSA) were invented by
graphite, titanium, whereas cathode is usually made using Beer in the 1960s, and since then, it has become one of the
iron or stainless-steel material. The conductors used can be most essential electrodes considered in electrochemical
of any shape such as net, flat, or bar. The stacks and elec- engineering (Chen & Chen, 2005). As the evaluation of Cl
trode chambers are partitioned to avoid solutions to get and O leads to the degradation of electrodes; Beer’s inven-
mixed. The oxidizing substances such as chlorine gas is tion has overcome this technical limitation affecting the
usually get evolved in the anode chamber. Due to the chlorine-alkali industry. In numerous electrochemical pro-
evaluation of these oxidizing substances, the IEMs are easily cesses such as water electrolysis, electroplating, metal
depreciated. Hence, it is required to put a buffer chamber in electrowinning, and electro-floatation along with Cl evolu-
between two sheets of partitions (Tanaka, 2015). The tion, substantial efforts have been carried out to study the
material used for the partition is an IEM (fluorocarbon evaluation of O, which is common in anodic reaction. In
membrane), a battery partition, or an asbestos sheet. The general, the DSA electrodes are made by using precious
precipitation of magnesium hydroxides can be prevented in conducting metal oxides as electrocatalysts (Chen & Chen,
the cathode chamber by the addition of an acid solution into 2005). The typical process of DSA preparation has been well
the cathode solution and operating ED under controlled pH explained by Chen et al. (2005). In the process, the combi-
condition of the cathode solution. The electrode chamber is nation of three metal oxides in various concentrations takes
supplied with a concentrated solution or feeding solution place. The detailed procedure is described below.
(Tanaka, 2015). However, sodium thiosulfate or sodium
sulfite is used in the discharge solution to reduce the con- Precursor preparation
centration of oxidizing substances in the anode solution. To
achieve the neutralization of the solution, a sodium sulfate Tin chloride (1.227 g SnCl45H2O, 98+%), antimony chlo-
solution is supplemented to the cathode and anode chamber, ride (0.171 g SbCl3, 99+%) ruthenium chloride (0.161 g
by mixing the effluent of both chambers. RuCl3 H2O, 47.0% Ru) with the molar ratio of 70:15:15
The electrode system consists of electrodes in which (Sn:SB:Sn) was dissolved in solution consisting of iso-
electrolytes are put in the electrode compartments. In these propanol (10 mL, 99.7%) and 0.5 mL hydrochloric acid
compartments, with the help of redox reaction, the ionic (37%). It is advisable to prepare the precursor solution
current is converted to electric current. The system is pri- freshly before coating to be done.
marily divided into two groups, with and without reverse
electrode reactions (Veerman et al., 2010). The latter typi- Electrode preparation
cally involved redox reactions (e.g., water splitting) and gas
formation (e.g., H2, O2, and Cl2) (Jagur-Grodzinskr & In the next step of the electrode preparation, titanium disks,
Kramer, 1986). These electrode systems usually lose the with 12.7 mm in diameter and 2 mm thickness with a
high voltage toward gas generation, and additional devices working area of 1.27 cm2, were fabricated using titanium
are needed for the collective toxic (e.g., Cl2) and/or explo- rod (99.2%, Grade 2, McMaster-CARR, CA) and utilized as
sive gases (e.g., H2) (Scialdone et al., 2012; Veerman et al., the electrode material for coating. The thermal decomposi-
2010). tion method was utilized for electrode preparation. Before
In order to improvise the performance for the generation coating, the titanium piece was pre-treated using sandblast-
of power and safety issues, systems with electrodes carrying ing, washed with tap water followed by 10 min ultrasound
the opposite reactions are commonly used, where no net cleaning using DI, 2 min etching in hydrochloric acid
reactions take place. Further, two sub-groups are made for (37%), and further 10 min cleaning using DI under ultra-
the electrode systems, systems with homogeneous redox sonic irradiation. After completing the pre-treatment process,
the titanium disks were subjected to the coating at ambient 2.5 Solution Pumping System
temperature with the precursor solution and kept for drying
at 80 °C for 5 min to permit the evaporation of solvents. The pumping system is one of the critical components in the
Further, the disk was subjected to calcination at 555 °C for ED setup. The pump used maybe a low-pressure, which can
5 min. The coating procedure was repeated 20 times. After circulate the solution throughout the stack. In this type of
the coating process, the disk was galvanized for 1 h at 550 ° system, the pump essentially requires sufficient power to
C. About 1.5 mg/cm2 oxide was coated on the disk. minimize water resistance when it crosses through the small
channels. However, when the feed solution salt concentra-
2.4.2 Characterization tion decreases, the solution power requirement increases.
The successful glazing and composition of the metal oxides The pressure drops inside each stack ranging from 15 to 30
on titanium disks were confirmed and analyzed by X-ray psi for flow cells, and in tortuous cells, it varies up to 70–90
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (Fig. 6). The composition psi. Sometimes, there might be a requirement of inter-stage
and concentrations of individual metal ions on the titanium pumps in order to pump water through 2–4 cells in series
disks of the coating material were obtained using an with respect to the degree of purification required (Chen
inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP-AMS). The et al., 2010).
titanium disk was dissolved in boiling HCL (37%), and the
concentrations were measured using ICP-AMS. Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) (Fig. 7) and X-ray diffraction 3 Post-treatment
(XRD) (Fig. 8) was used to study the surface morphology
and microstructure of the coating. The voltammetry behavior The quality of desalinated water is highly influenced by the
was inspected using a galvanostat (Fig. 9) (Chen & Chen, technology used for salt removal or desalination (i.e., ED or
2005). related processes) along with the design aspects of the same.
Fig. 6 XPS spectra of Ti/RuO2–

Sb2O5–SnO2 (Copyright 2005
Elsevier. All rights reserved,
reprinted with permission) (Chen
& Chen, 2005)
Fig. 7 SEM images of Ti/RuO2–Sb2O5–SnO2 (Copyright 2005 Fig. 9 The cyclic voltammograms gained in a 0.5 M H2SO4 at the
Elsevier. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission) (Chen & scanning rate of 0.1 Vs−1 at 25 °C (Copyright 2005 Elsevier. All rights
Chen, 2005) reserved, reprinted with permission) (Chen & Chen, 2005)
plant in the world. However, recently Israel and Cyprus

adopted some regulations for the desalinated water. In the
year 2007, the Israeli Ministry of Health approved the water
quality criteria specifically for desalinated water (Lahav &
Birnhack, 2007; Martínez-Alvarez et al., 2016). The same
identical set of standard parameters were used by the Water
Development Department in Cyprus (Philippou, 2015).
Apart from these regulations, there are a few authorized
norms that are practiced in many countries leading to vari-
ations in the quality of water that barely meet the end-user
requirements concerning the public health while maintaining
the integrity of the distribution system. Moreover, the
presence of calcium in processed water is recommended for
public health concerning the CaCO precipitation index,
which is crucial for water corrosivity potential, is not
addressed (Birnhack & Lahav, 2018). Therefore, the
post-treatment should consist of stabilization of water while
Fig. 8 XRD analysis spectra of Ti/RuOx–Sb2O5–SnO2 with a scanning
rate of 0.002/s (Copyright 2005 Elsevier. All rights reserved, reprinted making it delivered to the end-users. Also, an adjustment of
with permission) (Chen & Chen, 2005) pH while removing unwanted gases must be conducted. In
the case of higher salt concentration, the combination of
different processes such as RO and IX should be employed.
The efficiency of the process is also associated with the
presence of TDS and any particular species concentrations
(Birnhack & Lahav, 2018; Delion et al., 2004; Withers, 4 Electrodialysis Reversal
2005). Although, in most of the cases, the desalinated water
is soft (presence of very less magnesium and calcium ions), The IEMs used in the ED process can get fouled after a
slightly acidic, and has very less buffering capacity. Hence, specific period of time. Hence, the research efforts have been
water with such qualities cannot be sent directly for irriga- made to overcome this issue. The process of EDR was
tion and domestic consumption (Delion et al., 2004). The established to minimize the fouling that mainly occurred in
post-treatment is required and applied to improve the overall membranes. In the early 1970s, a company based in the USA
quality of desalinated water, targeting potential users. From launched the commercial EDR process for electrodialysis.
the literature survey, it was found that there are no standards Typically, the EDR process is comprised of a self-cleaning
set for the water quality processed from the desalination continuous ED setup (Reahl, 2006). The EDR process was
developed on the basis of ED technology. During the EDR with a higher concentration in the brine or concentrates the
process, the reversal of membrane polarity can take place streams with a more concise flow into waste (Tsiakis &
several times (up to an hour). The salt-water stream was Papageorgiou, 2005). The significant benefit of EDR is its
converted to the water stream and vice versa. It resulted in capability of cleansing colloidal particulates, which are
the attraction of ions in the reverse direction across the generated on the surface of membranes throughout the
membrane stacks (Chen et al., 2010). With an immediate operations (Fig. 10). The removal of deposit on the mem-
effect of reversing the flow and polarity, the outlet water can branes is done by periodically changing the DC power
be discarded until the lines and stacks are washed out while polarity in an EDR system, thus reversing the driving force
required water quality is attained. The flushing step takes for this deposition (Allison, 1995). EDR technology offers
about 1–2 min, and then the unit continues to produce water. several benefits. It can help cleaning automatically every 10–
This process of EDR is highly important in flushing and 20 min while reducing fouling, slimes, and scaling. It also
breaking out the slimes, scales, and other deposits from the helps in the production of freshwater while enhancing the
cells to prevent problems that can occur in the near future. life of membranes in the EDR system. The stacks in the
The flushing will allow the unit to function with fewer EDR system can be easily cleaned. The EDR system is less
pre-treatment chemicals, which ultimately reduces the foul- sensitive than RO towards the removal of metal oxides and
ing of membranes. More specifically, the EDR system works particulate matters. The EDR system is highly stable and can
Fig. 10 The displacement and

deposition of colloidal
particulates during EDR
operation (Copyright 2010
Springer Nature. All rights
reserved, reprinted with
permission) (Chen et al., 2010)
be operated continuously without having any limitation solution passes among AEM and CEM, whereas the basic
concerning silica. Moreover, the EDR system can function and acid solution flows two other channels, respectively
with an effective residual of chloramines, chlorine dioxide, (Strathmann, 2010). After the supply of electric potential to
and chlorine that ultimately prevents the biological fouling. the conductors, water gets stuck beneath these bipolar
membranes and is induced to split by catalytic mechanism
into OH− and H+ ions, which then travel through an anionic
5 Advanced Applications and cationic layer of BPM, to reach alkaline and acidic
compartments correspondingly.
There are wide processes related to ED using IEMs that are At the instant, both cations and anions travel through
proposed and are increasing a lot of interest among the IEMs from the brine solution, electrically balancing the
scientific community around the globe. Hence some distinct channel of OH− and H+, thus generating the basic and acid
technologies, exploring the usage of ED promoting opti- solutions and returning the electroneutrality. However, the
mization and progress of system component are deliberated arrangement or the use of all the three compartments dif-
hereby: fused is difficult to operate, and hence many times, only a
two-compartment scheme is used, in which the product
Electrodialysis with bipolar membranes obtained is either base or acid solution. The excess of H+ and
OH− generated is absorbed by the salt solution. The com-
The special IEMs are used in the electrodialysis process with bination can only be used, specifically when it is not suitable
BiPolar Membranes (EBPM), which consist of two layers of to get a highly purified base and acid (Pourcelly, 2002).
anion and cation exchange membranes adhered to each other The EBPM process is considered as an industrial opponent
mainly employed to manufacture bases and acids from a of the electrolysis process for the manufacturing of basic and
brine solution. The EBPM stack consisted of AEM, a BPM, acidic compounds. There are several scientific works avail-
and a CEM in an alternating manner. The EBPM unit stack able confirming how EBPM could reach to very low-energy
consists of three channels and three membranes, placed one intakes, particularly considering conductive a perm-selective
after another or in an alternating manner (Fig. 11). The brine membrane. However, in everyday usage, the amount of
Fig. 11 The use of bipolar membranes in the electrodialysis cell in a conventional three cell compartment configuration (Copyright 2002 Springer
Nature. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission) (Pourcelly, 2002)
energy required is significantly improved by the ohmic separated channels divided by a bipolar membrane
resistance of stack, the non-ideal perm-selectivity of the (Fig. 12b) (Strathmann, 2010).
bipolar/homopolar membrane, and diffusional losses (Pour- The resins help ions to move faster from the channel from
celly, 2002). One of the particular and interesting applica- one membrane to another in the dilute compartment; hence
tions of EBPM is the valorization and treatment of waste salt the conductivity of a dilute solution is restricted (Alvarado &
solution originated by desalination units (Badruzzaman Chen, 2014). Therefore, CEDI finds practical usage in the
et al., 2009; Fernandez-Gonzalez et al., 2017; Ibáñez et al., manufacturing of solutions of dilute water for medium and
2013; Koter & Warszawski, 2006; Mavrov et al., 1999; Reig small-scale utilization. To elaborate, CEDI is generally
et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2014; Yang et al., 2014). This accepted for the synthesis of ultrapure water in pharma,
process can also be used to change high intense NaCl (with electronics, and food industries (Alvarado & Chen, 2014;
some extra minor elements) solution into NaOH and HCL. Dermentzis, 2008; Strathmann, 2010). Also, CEDI is
A salt solution is diluted to weaken the removal issues while explored for the elimination of toxic metals from wastewater
obtaining some important products. Though EBPM offers treatment. The vital benefit of mixed bed resins is the
some environmental advantages, it has a few drawbacks simultaneous removal of cations and anions while prevent-
related to a number of technical, economic concerns along ing double passage solution need and lowering the residence
with membrane performance (i.e., electro-osmosis and lim- time inside the CEDI unit (Campione et al., 2018).
ited perm-selectivity).
Capacitive deionization
Continuous electro-deionization
Capacitive Deionization (CDI) is an ion transfer and
Continuous Electro-Deionization (CEDI) is measured as a desalination method depending on the usage of materials
hybrid-type process of blending ED and ion-exchange (capacitive) to release/eliminate ions from/into mixture in a
deionization. Typically, the CEDI unit resembles configu- cyclic fashion (Strathmann, 2010). In the CDI process, the
ration to ED, with alternating IEMs, dilute, and concentrate brine mixture passes from the compartment among two
units in which the feed solutions travel. Compared to ED separate capacitive electrodes; those are frequently protected
systems, in CEDI, a minimum one course is occupied with with an IEM to enhance the current efficacy, therefore,
ion-exchange resins. The CEDI can be arranged in two enhancing the performance of the process (Andelman,
probable provisions; (a) the compartment (dilute) can be 2011). When an electric potential difference is applied to the
occupied with a mixture of cation and anion exchange resins electrodes, the ions travel, rendering to the produced field of
(Fig. 12a) the cationic and anionic resins are kept into two electricity, ultimately captivated on the surface of electrodes
Fig. 12 Representation of continuous electro-deionization stacks in two different channels filled with cation and anion exchange resins
two different layouts a the conventional stack in which the dilute which are separated by a bipolar membrane (Copyright 2010 Elsevier.
channel is mixed with anion and cation exchange resins, b stack with All rights reserved, reprinted with permission) (Strathmann, 2010)
(capacitive), and eliminating brine from the feed water to subjected to the application of potential. Due to this, a flux of
produce desalinated water. The polarity of the electrodes cations and anions gets formed in opposite directions.
gets reversed after reaching the highest capacity of elec- In the case, when CEMs are selected as a selective layer,
trodes followed by discharging of ions within the channel sodium ions are discharged from the compartment to form a
accompanying purge stream flowing, thus, reviving the reduction region at the one side of the partition and con-
electrodes to produce brine in concentrated form to be dis- centrated enhanced zone at the opposing side. In contrast,
posed of. CDI is yet to be fully developed method; however, anions transfer from the reduction to the fortified area,
real applications are reported, and some commercially staying obstructed in the upper section of the channel by
manufacturers are already existed (Oren, 2008). Recently, CEMs. In ED, the limiting current is reached, when the ion
CDI experiences from market entry concerns, which might concentration at the membrane boundary move toward zero.
be due to challenges in the upscaling concerning the huge Although, ions move in a much faster way when limiting
quantity and cost of electrode material required for high current is applied in the presence of the porous medium that
volume plants (Anderson et al., 2010). is weakly charged. A sharp boundary gets formed by shock
waves among the depleted and un-depleted zones when the
Shock electrodialysis over limiting current reaches the endpoint of the zone of
depletion circulated via pores. When the mixtures pass
Considering the operating conditions in ED, the over limit- between the two distinct zones are divided by a splitter kept
ing and limiting currents are possible, yet these are neglected in the end section of the channel, both brine streams and
in standard operation (Campione et al., 2018). Even though, desalinated water are obtained separately (Deng et al., 2015).
shock electrodialysis concept is nowadays recommended for The discussion is still going on regarding the phenomena of
the desalination of water operated under limiting current shock ED at over limiting current conditions (Dydek et al.,
conditions (Deng et al., 2013, 2015; Schlumpberger et al., 2011; Mani et al., 2009; Yaroshchuk, 2012). It is believed
2015). The repeating unit of shock ED consisted of a porous that two main phenomena occur, surface convention and
medium (weakly charged) arranged in a compartment surface migration (Dydek et al., 2011). In the first phe-
between two same-charged membranes of ion exchange nomena, shock ED occurs by electroosmotic flow leading in
(AEMs or CEMs) (Fig. 13). Conventionally, in electrodial- large-sized pores, whereas the second phenomena occur due
ysis, a number of repeating units are there next to IEMs, and to sub-micropore. Shock ED is one of the current tech-
electrodes are placed at both the end of piles. When the brine nologies, which are still at the primary stage of progress.
solution enters through channels, the electrodes are Even though there are no applications at the industrial scale,
Fig. 13 The shock

electrodialysis diagram with an
indication of system repeating
unit (Copyright 2018 Elsevier.
All rights reserved, reprinted with
permission) (Campione et al.,
2018)
some scientists have shown a small and scalable model that concentrated seawater stream can further be fed to the salt
is capable of eliminating more than 99% of salt from the feed removal compartment, where the requirement of energy to
water while obtaining the concentration of salt up to 0.1 M arrive at the target concertation will be significantly reduced.
(Schlumpberger et al., 2015). Moreover, another group has Along with this, to decrease the complete consumption of the
produced a small setup explaining the opportunity to employ whole process, the energy from the RED unit will be further
shock ED in disinfection, separation, and filtration (Deng used. Also, the demand for the overall process can be addi-
et al., 2015). tionally reduced by using the RED energy generation. In the
second type of configuration where units II and III are cou-
RED-ED couplings for low-energy desalination pled together, the RED unit can be employed for the
post-treatment while mixing the brine with impaired water. It
Recently, significant progress has been made in the field of helps to recover energy from the two waste streams along
ED for salt removal by linking with osmotic dilution or with the modification of the disposal issue. The two
salinity gradient power devices for low-energy desalination arrangements can also be practiced concurrently.
(Vanoppen et al., 2016). In consideration of all the various Additionally, in the operation mode of classical SGP, two
alternatives, the coupling of ED with RED or, specifically, different modes can be operated using the RED unit, thus
with a unit of desalination, CDI, or RO (Jande & Kim, 2014), helping as an improved device of osmotic dilution (Vanoppen
resulted in a technological breakthrough, especially for sea- et al., 2016); (a) scRED (short-circuited reverse electrodialy-
water treatment (Campione et al., 2018; Feinberg et al., 2013; sis), and (b) ARED (assisted reverse electrodialysis). In
Kwon et al., 2015; Li et al., 2013; Mei & Tang, 2017; Wang scRED method, enhancement in the rate of salt transfer from
et al., 2017b). Figure 14 represents the possibility of cou- concentrated to dilute compartment occurs. The external load
plings in RED-ED setup. In its initial configuration of Unit of the RED unit is short-circuited, thus, abandoning to energy
I-II, the RED is employed for the pre-treatment process. As production and hence enhancing the dilution effect. In ARED
soon as a less salt solution, unfavorable for non-potable water method, an extra external electric potential is applied to the
synthesis, is available, it is used for the dilution of inlet RED unit to attain an enhanced current inside the scRED unit.
feed-in RED unit and seawater being used as a concentrate. This possibly consumes energy while supporting the process
Power is produced because of the alteration in the salinity of dilution, thus, enhancing the highest possible current in
concentration. Exit mixture from RED seawater is further scRED. Considering both scenarios, the coupling with the
diluted, which is attributed to the transfer of salt into reduced first configuration gains more advantages, in which the dilute
water without being directly mixed with it. The initial less plays an important function in decreasing the complete
Fig. 14 The RED/ED integration possibilities. Unit I represent RED relevant dilution with the decreased water stream. Coupling Unit I, II,
(scRED, ARED) used as the pre-treatment for the dilution before and III represents the most complete integration possibility (Copyright
supplying the seawater inlet to ED (Unit II). Unit III shows RED used 2018 Elsevier. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission) (Cam-
as the post-treatment for energy recovery from waste salt solution and pione et al., 2018)
consumption of energy, whereas in the second, the dilution is industries, evaluation of innovative applications, and man-
deemed advantageous, solely for environmental purposes. ufacturing of new IEMs. The important factor in the ED
Considering the complexity of some methods, it is tough to process is IEMs. As IEMs are responsible for the transport
evaluate which of the RED operations method is the most of ions from one side to another, it is very necessary to
appropriate to get the complete energy utilization. Moreover, consider the important design aspects of IEMs such as a
there is a significant increase in capital costs, when the dilu- manufacturer of high permeable, low resistance membranes
tion process is used at high levels, this mainly depends on the for high salt concentration solutions and development of
quantity of membrane area required to carry out the process. surface modification techniques with an improved property
In view of this, for such hybrid processes, the optimization of of IEMs. Along with this, the cost associated with ED is
some parameters is very important. In some literature, the equally important; hence, the development of a low-cost
coupling process of RED-RO has been studied by many model is important for growth in the market. Also, the
researchers; though, all are at a conceptual level (Feinberg electrodes which are required for the current dissipation are
et al., 2013; Kwon et al., 2015; Li et al., 2013; Mei & Tang, crucial. As anode gets degraded with the oxidizing agents, a
2017). Particularly, Li et al. (2013) explained the RO-RED dimensionally stabilized electrode preparation is very
method simply utilizing a mathematical model, proving that essential. Also, the process of DSA preparation is com-
the method can possibly achieve * 50% less energy prehensively discussed. The prolonged use of IEMs causes
requirement in comparison with the very high-level seawater membrane fouling; hence, the removal of the deposits is
RO. Vanoppen et al. (2016) have done a reasonable investi- pivotal to improve the ED performance. This can be done
gation for combined RED-RO operational modes, explaining using the concept called EDR. Overall, the ED can be
and identifying the various advantages of reduction in energy used as a promising technology for various applications in
consumption and operational ranges. In these scenarios, it has wastewater treatment, industrial effluent, food, and
been found that there is a decrease in the specific energy pharma.
(< 1 kWh/m3) and exhibited to be achievable theoretically,
even though there is a requirement of an increase in overall
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Membrane Fouling in Desalination
Maryam Ahmadzadeh Tofighy and Toraj Mohammadi
Abstract membrane surface modification by coating and grafting

methods can delay the membrane fouling by altering the
Clean and safe water scarcity due to population growth
properties of membrane surface including hydrophilicity
and industries development is a very important challenge,
and roughness. In this chapter, after recognizing funda-
worldwide. As the demand for clean water increases,
mentals of membrane fouling and fouling types, recent
policies such as seawater desalination and wastewater
advances in preparation and evaluation of new desalina-
reuse have been implemented in some countries.
tion membranes with improved antifouling properties are
Membrane-based desalination is recognized as one of
being reviewed.
the promising ways to address the global challenge of
water scarcity. Today, membrane-based desalination
Keywords

using polymeric membranes with many advantages has
been considered as one of the most important methods to Desalination Membrane technology Fouling
produce clean water, worldwide. Fouling as the most Modification Nanomaterials
important challenge facing polymeric membranes limits
the performance of membrane in long-term operation.
Occurrence of fouling leads to decreasing membrane life,
permeation flux and rejection, and also increasing trans- 1 Introduction
membrane pressure and operating costs. There are several
ways to control fouling in the membrane desalination All living things on the earth need clean water as vital
processes including membrane surface modification, resource. Also, clean water should be used in most of the
novel membrane development, pretreatment, membrane industrial processes such as petrochemical, gas and oil, food
monitoring, and membrane cleaning. The advancement of and beverage, electronics, and most importantly in agricul-
nanotechnology has revolutionized the membrane desali- ture (Jiang et al., 2017; Teow & Mohammad, 2019; Tofighy
nation industry. Novel nanomaterials, especially graphene & Mohammadi, 2010, 2012a). Therefore, lack of clean water
oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), have been can negatively affect human health, economic growth, and
identified as promising candidates for the modification of industrial productions. On the other hand, continuing popu-
high-performance desalination membranes. Using these lation growth, urbanization, and industrialization increase
nanomaterials, higher water flux than that of the conven- global water demand, significantly (Hibbs et al., 2016; Jiang
tional RO membranes could be obtained, successfully. et al., 2017; Tofighy & Mohammadi, 2011a). Since the saline
Therefore, fabrication of novel membranes using new water resources (oceans and seas) make up about 98% of the
materials and via novel methods can be effective in total water resources of the Earth, desalination of the saline
delaying fouling phenomena and therefore increasing water can be considered as the best solution to overcome the
efficiency of the membrane desalination processes. Also, clean water scarcity. Research into the development of
desalination technology is now being seriously pursued
M. A. Tofighy T. Mohammadi (&) around the world. About 61% of water treatment processes
Department of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Center worldwide are desalination plants (Goh & Ismail, 2015a; Goh
of Excellence for Membrane Research and Technology, Iran et al., 2017; Qu et al., 2013; Tofighy & Mohammadi, 2011b).
University of Science and Technology (IUST), Narmak, Tehran, Membrane technology with desirable properties such as
Iran
e-mail: torajmohammadi@iust.ac.ir cost-effectiveness, energy-efficient, easy scale-up, no phase

40 M. A. Tofighy and T. Mohammadi
change, easy operation, low pollution, low environmental nanomaterials with unique properties in the membranes
footprints, low investment and operating costs, and high structure can improve desalination performance, signifi-
ability to combine with other separation processes has been cantly. As reported in the literature, using carbon nanoma-
considered as the essential technology to solve the problem terials, especially graphene oxide (GO) and carbon
of water shortage around the world (Goh & Ismail, 2015b; nanotubes (CNTs) can create high permeation flux and salt
Kiran et al., 2016; Tofighy & Mohammadi, 2015a; Tofighy rejection and also delay membrane fouling (Ismail et al.,
et al., 2011). Membrane technology can be widely used for 2009; Valamohammadi et al., 2020).
clean water production through brackish water and seawater Recently, many articles have been published in the field
desalination and industrial effluents treatment. The most of membrane fouling control, which shows the importance
important membrane processes are nanofiltration (NF), of this issue and the great interest of researchers in this field
ultrafiltration (UF), microfiltration (MF), reverse osmosis of research. As a result, writing a chapter in this research
(RO), pervaporation (PV), membrane distillation (MD), field is very important. In this chapter, after recognizing
forward osmosis (FO), electrodialysis (ED), and gas sepa- fouling phenomena, fouling types and fouling control
ration (GS) (Nasseri et al., 2018; Tofighy & Mohammadi, strategies, recent advances in preparation and evaluation of
2015b, 2020a; Tul Muntha et al., 2017). Among these pro- the new desalination membranes with improved antifouling
cesses, RO with high rejection and water flux and energy properties are being reviewed.
consumption of 1.8 kWh/m3, which is much less than that of
thermal desalination technologies, is widely used in desali-
nation (Jiang et al., 2017). About 60% of desalination plants
worldwide are RO (Drioli et al., 2011). However, one of the 2 Membrane
most important challenges in the RO process is undesirable
adsorption, accumulation, and precipitation of foulants Membrane is a semipermeable barrier through which the
inside the membrane pores or on the membrane surface as feed components pass selectively. In other words, membrane
membrane fouling (Mansouri et al., 2010; Matin et al., is a selective barrier which allows some components of feed
2011). There are several ways to control fouling in desali- to pass through but stops the others (Ho & Sirkar, 2012).
nation process including membrane surface modification, The most common examples of membranes are the inner
novel membrane development pretreatment, membrane membrane of egg and also phospholipid bilayer cell mem-
monitoring, and membrane cleaning (Henthorne & Boysen, brane that surrounds every cell in our bodies. The membrane
2015; Jiang et al., 2017; Robinson et al., 2016). thickness can be as small as 100 µ to several millimeters. In
Polymeric membranes with desirable properties such as the membrane processes, the part of the feed which passes
high processability, low cost, and excellent mechanical through the membrane is named permeate, and the other part
strength are used in water treatment and desalination com- is called residual or retentate. Permeate or retentate can be
monly and their commercial market is impressively huge. considered as the membrane product, separately (Scott,
One of the most important challenges in using polymeric 1995). The required driving force in the membrane processes
membranes in the desalination processes is the trade-off can be the difference in concentration (°C), pressure (°P),
relationship between salt rejection and water permeation flux temperature (°T), and electric potential (°E) as shown in
and also fouling tendency that limits their separation char- Fig. 1. According to the transport mechanism, membranes
acteristics (Goh et al., 2013; Shannon et al., 2008). Mem- are classified into solution–diffusion (non-porous) mem-
brane fouling significantly reduces membrane flux and branes and porous membranes. In solution–diffusion mem-
rejection and also increases operating costs by increasing branes, permeation of a component depends on its
energy consumption (increasing pressure drop), reducing permeability that is related to diffusivity and solubility of the
membrane life (due to the need for membrane washing component within the membrane material, directly. In por-
(cleaning)) as well as required pretreatment (due to the need ous membranes, based on the size-exclusion mechanism,
for additional pretreatment processes) (Chang et al., 2019; permeation flux depends on the applied pressure and mem-
Goh et al., 2018). Therefore, improving the polymeric brane pores diameter (Scott, 1995; Tofighy & Mohammadi,
membranes properties through various modification methods 2020a).
is very important. In this field, developing of thin-film Membranes can be fabricated using inorganic materials or
nanocomposites (TFN) membranes and mixed matrix organic materials (polymers) or a combination of both as
membranes (MMMs) and also surface modification of polymer nanocomposite membranes (PNMs) (Bassyouni
membranes via coating and grafting methods have been et al., 2019). This combination overcomes the drawbacks of
proposed to increase the desalination processes efficiency both polymeric and inorganic membranes and enhances
and solve the fouling problem (Azelee et al., 2017; Jalali separation performance and antifouling properties (Bastani
et al., 2019; Yin & Deng, 2015). It is expected that the use of et al., 2013; Goh et al., 2016; Wong et al., 2015).
Membrane Fouling in Desalination 41
Fouling may be irreversible or reversible, hydraulically.

In irreversible fouling, the foulants are bonded on the
membrane surface and pores tightly and therefore can be
eliminated only by chemical cleaning. In reversible fouling,
the foulants are loosely attached to the surface of membrane
and can be eliminated by backwashing, controlling flow
velocity or chemical cleaning (Anand et al., 2018;
McCloskey et al., 2012; Mustafa et al., 2014).
Fouling is classified into internal fouling and surface
fouling. Surface fouling is usually more reversible than
internal fouling and can be controlled more easily via using
chemical cleaning or enhancing feed water hydrodynamic
Fig. 1 Membrane separation processes with different driving forces conditions (Hoek et al., 2008; She et al., 2016). Neverthe-
less, depending on the foulants interactions with the mem-
branes and the feed compositions, both internal and surface
Generally, the membrane desalination efficiency is foulings can be irreversible (Jiang et al., 2017). It should be
assessed by two parameters including salt rejection and mentioned that the fouling mechanism of NF and RO (high
water permeation flux. The permeation flux passing through pressure-driven membranes) is different from that of UF and
the membrane is defined as the mass of permeate leaving the MF (low pressure-driven membranes). Due to the relatively
effective membrane surface per unit of time and obtained compact nature of RO and NF membranes compared to the
using the following equation: porous nature of UF and MF membranes, surface fouling is
more frequent for NF and RO membranes, while internal
m fouling is more common for MF and UF membranes (Gao
J¼ ð1Þ
A:t et al., 2015; Jiang et al., 2017).
where t is the permeation time (h), m is the permeate mass For porous membranes, pores are the membrane active
(kg), and A is the membrane effective surface area (m2). area. Therefore, fouling mechanism of the porous mem-
Rejection is calculated using the following equation: branes is related to their pores. Generally, for the porous
membranes, four fouling mechanisms can be considered

Cp including internal pore blocking, partial pore blocking,
Rð % Þ ¼ 1 100 ð2Þ complete pore blocking, and cake filtration as can be
Cf
observed in Fig. 2. If the pores of the porous membrane are
where Cp and Cf are the salt concentrations of permeate and partially blocked due to fouling, the effective surface of
feed, respectively. membrane and as a result permeation flux of the membrane
decreases. However, if a cake layer forms on the surface of
membrane, the cake layer acts as an additional resistance
3 Membrane Fouling which is in series with the membrane resistances (Belfort
et al., 1994; Gao et al., 2011; Goosen et al., 2005; Zambare
The unwanted accumulation, precipitation, and surface et al., 2017).
adsorption of foulants on the surface of membrane or inside Fouling is caused by complex physical and chemical
the membrane pores are called fouling (Mansouri et al., interactions between various foulants in the feed and the
2010; Matin et al., 2011). Fouling is very important chal- surface and pores of the membrane (Field, 2010). Fouling
lenge in membrane processes with pressure driving force may be as following forms:
including RO, MF, UF, and NF (Goosen et al., 2005). The
lifetime and performance of the membrane depend on its • Adsorption: Formation of a monolayer of foulants on the
fouling. Over time, fouling can worsen the membrane per- surface of membrane due to specific interactions between
formance (reduce flux and rejection) and increase pressure the surface of membrane and foulants that leads to an
drop, resulting in higher maintenance and operating costs. additional hydraulic resistance.
Fouling rate can be influenced by several parameters • Pore blockage: Partial closure or complete closure of the
including membrane type, concentration and nature of fou- membrane pores during filtration that results in a reduc-
lants, hydrodynamics of membrane module, and surface tion in permeation flux.
characteristics, pore size distribution and materials of • Cake formation: Growing foulants deposition layer by
membrane (Anand et al., 2018; Jiang et al., 2017; Malaeb & layer on the surface of membrane as an additional
Ayoub, 2011). hydraulic resistance (cake resistance).
Fig. 2 Fouling mechanisms of

porous membranes: a internal,
b complete and c partial pore
blocking, and d cake filtration
• Gel formation: Concentration polarization of a certain of bicarbonate and calcium ions in seawater, brackish water,
macromolecules solution (e.g., a concentrated protein and industrial water. Calcium sulfate is the most commonly
solution) that leads to gel formation on the surface of non-alkaline-based scalant as a limiting factor to desalinate
membrane. solutions with high concentration of phosphate ions. Mem-
brane cleaning of the non-alkaline-based fouling is very
Fouling is also classified into inorganic fouling, organic challenging compared to alkaline-based fouling. Therefore,
fouling, colloidal fouling, and biofouling, in terms of the to prevent the sulfate scaling, the feed concentration should
foulants types (Chang et al., 2019; Goh et al., 2018; Jiang be below the saturation level. In inorganic fouling, the
et al., 2017). membrane cleaning through back-washing as a physical
approach is not favorable due to the difficult removing of the
scalants from the membrane surface and pores. Therefore, to
3.1 Inorganic Fouling (Scaling) delay the formation of crystals and inhibit the scaling
occurrence, antiscalant addition is recommended. However,
Crystallization or precipitation of inorganic ions such as it should be mentioned that the chemicals addition is inef-
magnesium, calcium, sulfate, phosphate, and carbonate on fective for the silica scaling removing. Therefore, it is more
the membrane surface is called inorganic scaling (Chang desirable to prevent the formation of silica through separate
et al., 2019; Chun et al., 2016; Yang & Huang, 2010). pretreatment processes (Goh et al., 2018; Landaburu-Aguirre
During the desalination processes with pressure driving et al., 2016; Lyster et al., 2010).
force, concentration of the dissolved salts increases 4–10
times (causing supersaturated solutions near the surface of
membrane), which leads to the inorganic minerals crystal- 3.2 Organic Fouling
lization on the surface of membrane (Antony et al., 2011;
Karabelas et al., 2017). Stages of inorganic fouling in RO Organic materials including oil, grease, proteins, polysac-
membrane are shown in Fig. 3. Nucleation sites availability charides, lipids, amino acids, nucleic acids, cell components,
is the most important factor in the scale formation. After organic acids, and fulvic and humic acids can react and
nucleation and microcrystals formation that grows over time, deposit on the surface of membrane and block the membrane
the mineral scales deposit on the surface of membrane that surface pores as organic fouling (Chang et al., 2019;
damages the membrane selective layer and impairs the water Tanudjaja et al., 2017). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a
transport. Also, the process conditions and the membrane protein, alginate as a polysaccharide, and humic acid as
morphology play very critical roles in scaling. Concentration natural organic matter (NOM) have received research
polarization causes higher salt concentration at the surface of interests as RO organic foulants. It should be mentioned that
membrane, in high pressure membrane systems (Goh et al., four important factors affecting organic fouling are interac-
2018). tions between foulant–membrane surface and foulant–fou-
Inorganic fouling is classified into non-alkaline, alkaline, lant, feedwater chemistry as well as molecular weight of
and silica-based scaling. Calcium carbonate as the most organic materials. Removing of the organic fouling is usu-
common type of alkaline-based scalant can exist in the form ally hard. Because, the dissolved organic materials can form
Fig. 3 Various stages of inorganic fouling in RO membrane (Piyadasa et al., 2017)
complex structures by combination with other substances 3.4 Biofouling

(Ding et al., 2016; Naidu et al., 2014; Shen & Schäfer,
2015). Compared to organic matters with high molecular One of the most challenges in the membrane technologies is
weight, elimination of low molecular weight organic mate- biofouling that leads to lower membrane selectivity, less
rials through the conventional pretreatment methods is more permeation flux, shorter membrane lifetime, and higher
difficult (Fabris et al., 2008; Jiang et al., 2017). energy consumption. In biofouling, colonies of bacteria and
other microorganisms grow on the surface of membrane. In
other words, the microorganisms adhesion and proliferation
3.3 Colloidal Fouling on the surface membrane and the formation of biofilm are
named as biofouling. The complexity of the biofouling
Inorganic or organic colloids are fine suspensions with mechanism is greater than the other foulings. The microor-
particle size range from a few (nm) to a few (lm) which ganisms produce extracellular polymeric substances
physically block the membrane pores and/or blind the (EPS) during their metabolism processes that accumulate on
membrane surface and thus hinder water transport through the surface of membrane, results in a sticky gel-like biofilm
the membrane by developing a cake layer. Membranes can layer formation on the surface of membrane that decreases
reject most suspended colloidal particles in the feed solution permeation flux, significantly. EPS can have different sub-
in the form of a cake layer as colloidal fouling (Al-Amoudi stances including proteins, polysaccharides, lipoproteins,
& Lovitt, 2007; Chang et al., 2019; Hwang & Ku, 2014). glycoproteins or nucleic acids, and lipids, depending on
Aluminum silicate minerals, iron oxides/hydroxides, and bacteria community and different water environment (Anand
silica are the major inorganic colloidal foulants in water, et al., 2018; Hegab & Zou, 2015; Hoek et al., 2008; Mah-
while proteins, polysaccharides, as well as some NOMs are moud et al., 2015). Several main steps of the biofilm
the main organic colloidal foulants in water (Tang et al., development on the surface of membrane are as follows:
2011). The colloids shape, size and charge, interactions
between foulants and surface of membrane and also the feed • Attachment of the feed microorganisms on the surface of
water characteristics affect colloidal fouling, significantly. membrane
The colloidal fouling forms a cake layer on the surface of • Growing of the microorganisms colonies on the surface
membrane that leads to a serious concentration polarization of membrane
and makes an additional hydraulic resistance, which • Production of EPS by the microorganisms and their
increases the operating pressure and decreases the membrane accumulation on the surface of membrane
permeate flux (Ang & Elimelech, 2007; Jiang et al., 2017). • Formation of the sticky gel-like biofilm layer.
Fig. 4 Factors affecting

microorganism attachment to the
membrane surface
Fig. 5 Formation of biofilm on

an impermeable surface
(Bar-Zeev et al., 2015)
Many other factors can also affect biofouling including

the membrane surface characteristics, the microorganisms 4 Rectifying Approaches
properties, and the membrane surface–microorganisms
interactions, as well as the operational conditions as shown The influence of fouling can be rectified by several
in Fig. 4, briefly. Also, the time-dependent stages of the approaches that are divided into direct and indirect methods
biofilm formation on an impermeable membrane surface are as shown in Table 1. For RO and NF membranes with very
presented in Fig. 5. small or even no pores on their surfaces, back-washing
Biofouling mitigation is very important. So far, several cannot be used to control the membranes fouling, and
attempts have been performed to mitigate the membrane chemical cleaning and the membrane surface modification
biofouling as given as follows: can be more effective (Zhao & Yu, 2015).
• Removal of nutrients for microorganisms from feed water

in order to limit their growth. 4.1 Membrane Cleaning
• Continuous dosing of disinfectants such as chlorine,
chlorine dioxide, ozone, antiscalants, and acids. Regular washing of membranes during desalination pro-
• Fabrication of engineered polymeric membranes: cesses is very important. There are several ways to clean the
– Improving hydrophilic properties of membranes by membranes, including physical and chemical methods. The
incorporating hydrophilic modifiers. efficiency of these methods in the membrane cleaning is
– Incorporating biocidal materials into membranes. assessed by flux recovery. In the chemical method, the
Table 1 Direct and indirect Indirect methods Direct methods

methods to reduce and/or prevent
fouling (Field, 2010) More hydrophilic membranes fabrication Pulsed or reverse flow
Modification of membrane surface Turbulent promoters
Pretreatment by filtration Stirred cells with rotating blades close to membranes
Optimum operating conditions selection Vibrating or rotating membranes
Appropriate mode selection Ultrasonic enhancement
Applying external fields
Periodic backwash with gas or permeate
Periodic cleaning
• Mechanical cleaning
• Chemical cleaning
• Hydraulic cleaning
choice of chemical type is very important and based on the An efficient way to enhance the membranes antibiofoul-
types of fouling and foulants and the economic considera- ing properties is incorporation of biocidal nanoparticles into
tions are determined. The most important chemicals used in the membranes materials (Rahaman et al., 2014). Copper
chemical cleaning are acids, bases, and surfactants. Acids and silver nanoparticles have been widely used to microor-
such as hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) ganisms inactivation as well as prevention of biofilm for-
are used to remove inorganic fouling, while alkaline solu- mation on the surface of membrane. However, as the
tions such as solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) are used antimicrobial activity of these nanoparticles decreases over
to organic and biological foulings removal. Operating con- time, these nanoparticles are not suitable for long-term
ditions such as time, flow rate, and temperature can influence applications (Celik et al., 2011). Therefore, recent research
the efficiency of the process of membrane cleaning. Sur- has focused on the applications of carbon nanomaterials to
factants can also be used effectively to clean the membranes disable the biofoulants on the membrane surface (Anand
by having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups. et al., 2018).
A common surfactant used in chemical cleaning is sodi- Among carbon nanomaterials, CNTs have been shown
umdodecyl sulfate (SDS) that can be used effectively to great potential in enhancing hydrophilicity of the membrane
remove organic and colloidal foulings. In the physical surface and antifouling properties as shown in Fig. 7. The
method, the membranes are washed regularly with water. antifouling properties of CNTs are related to their hydro-
A combination of physical and chemical methods is used to philic functional groups and smooth and frictionless interior
clean the membranes, practically (Filloux et al., 2015; Jiang walls that can accelerate the water molecules transport
et al., 2017; Varin et al., 2013; Yang et al., 2013). through the membranes. CNTs with biocidal properties can
break the microorganisms cell membranes and thus
microorganisms inactivation and/or death can take place
4.2 Membrane Modification (Farahbakhsh et al., 2017; Tofighy & Mohammadi, 2012b).
In recent years, GO nanosheets with abundant
Polymeric membranes are usually prepared by hydrophobic oxygen-containing functional groups on their structure have
polymers including polysulfone (PSf), polyethersulfone received increasing attention to improving the membranes
(PES), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with good antifouling properties. Sharp edges of the GO nanosheets act
thermal, mechanical, and film-forming properties. However, as cutters which physically damage the cellular membranes
hydrophobic membranes have tendency to fouling. The of the microorganisms. The release of intracellular content of
membrane hydrophilicity can be enhanced by modification the cell membranes leads to the cell membranes death as
of the membrane material (e.g., inorganic nanomaterials shown in Fig. 8 (Perreault et al., 2014; Tofighy &
incorporation into membrane matrices) to improve the Mohammadi, 2020b).
antifouling properties of membrane (Zambare et al., 2017). Membrane surface chemistry has also a major role in
Increasing the membrane hydrophilicity causes strong reducing the membrane fouling. Increasing smoothness of
attraction between the surface of membrane and water the surface of membrane also decreases the foulants depo-
molecules leads to a protective water layer formation on the sition on the membrane surface and therefore improves the
surface of membrane which prevents adhesion of foulants on membrane antifouling properties. Therefore, modification of
the membrane surface and as a result decreases the mem- the membrane surface can decrease the fouling potential,
brane fouling as shown in Fig. 6 (Ahmad et al., 2013). significantly (Gao et al., 2011; Zambare et al., 2017).
Fig. 6 Hydration layer formation on the membrane surface (Ahmad et al., 2020)
Fig. 7 Schematic frame of the

CNTs embedded membranes
(Farahbakhsh et al., 2017)
Various methods including blending, coatings, grafting attention (Peng et al., 2007; Smaihi et al., 1996; Souza &
have been proposed to enhance the antifouling properties of Quadri, 2013). PNMs have been fabricated through incor-
the polymeric membranes (Ahmad et al., 2013; Belfort et al., poration of inorganic nanofillers including metal nanoparti-
1994; Bruggen, 2009; Kumar et al., 2015; Mohammadi cles (CaCO3, Ag, SiO2, TiO2, and ZrO), carbon
et al., 2003a, 2003b; Nabe et al., 1997; Pieracci et al., 2002; nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene
Shi et al., 2014; Zambare et al., 2017; Zhao et al., 2013). oxide (GO)), and hybrid nanoparticles (GO-SiO2 and
GO-TiO2) with superior separation performance into poly-
4.2.1 More Hydrophilic Membranes Fabrication meric matrices with well processability (Bastani et al., 2013;
(Blending) Goh et al., 2016; Mallakpour & Naghdi, 2018; Papageorgiou
In recent years, polymer nanocomposite membranes (PNMs) et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2015). PNMs can be fabricated in
with having a combination characteristics of both polymeric two configurations: mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) and
and inorganic membranes have attracted considerable thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes.
Fig. 8 Antifouling effect of GO (Perreault et al., 2014)
Mixed Matrix Membranes (MMMs) is important in fabricating membranes with desirable prop-
Tremendous improvements have been made in efficiency of erties and structure (Boom et al., 1992; Choi et al., 2006;
the membrane process in terms of flux, rejection, antifouling Smolders et al., 1992).
characteristics and mechanical, thermal, and chemical sta- Rahimpour et al. (2012) chemically treated CNTs using
bility by mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) fabrication as a 1,3-phenylenediamine (mPDA) and strong acids (H2SO4/
combination of polymeric and inorganic membranes HNO3) to synthesize amine-functionalized CNTs. They
(Ahmad et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2013). MMMs due to the reported preparation of amine f-CNTs/PES MMMs via the
use of processability of polymeric membranes and unique phase inversion method with the enhanced antifouling
properties of inorganic nanomaterials including properties and BSA rejection. Gul et al. (2017) reported
hydrophilicity, excellent mechanical stability, and antimi- fabrication of cellulose acetate (CA)/CuO/Ag2O/PES MMMs
crobial properties have become the focus of many with the enhanced antibacterial properties against Escher-
researchers (Esfahani et al., 2018; Shirazi et al., 2011; ichia coli. Chen et al. (2013) reported fabrication of hal-
Vinh-Thang & Kaliaguine, 2013). In MMMs, various inor- loysite loaded chitosan (CS)/Ag/PES MMMs with the
ganic nanomaterials as nanofillers are directly incorporated enhanced antibiofouling properties against E. coli and Sta-
into polymeric matrices which can improve membranes phylococcus aureus than the neat PES membrane. Vatanpour
physicochemical properties including hydrophilicity, ther- et al. (2011) reported fabrication of oxidized CNTs/PES
mal, chemical and mechanical stability, porosity, charge MMMs via the phase inversion method with the superior
density and antifouling properties and overcome the antifouling properties. Their results demonstrated that due to
trade-off relationship between permeability and selectivity migration of the f-CNTs with negatively charge acidic
during desalination (Badawi et al., 2014; Kim & Bruggen, functional groups to the surface of membrane during the
2010; Pendergast & Hoek, 2011; Robeson, 1991; Wong phase inversion process, the hydrophilicity of membrane
et al., 2015). enhances. In another work (Vatanpour et al., 2014), they
The MMMs fabrication is similar to regular polymeric reported preparation of amine f-CNTs (NH2-CNTs)/PES
membranes fabrication (Guillen et al., 2011). The selection MMMs via the phase inversion method. In another work
of proper technique for the polymeric membranes fabrication (Vatanpour et al., 2012), they coated oxidized CNTs by
is restricted by the choice of polymer and the desired anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and reported
membrane structure. The most commonly used process for preparation of CNTs-TiO2/PES MMMs with superior
polymeric membranes fabrication is phase inversion. Using antibiofouling properties. Peydayesh et al. (2018) reported
this technique, a variety of morphologies from very porous preparation of positively charged Triethylenetetramine
structure membranes that are suitable for MF applications to (TETA) f-CNTs/PES MMMs via the phase inversion method
denser RO membranes can be obtained. In MMMs fabrica- with enhanced antifouling properties. In another work (Pey-
tion, controlling nanofillers distribution within the polymer dayesh et al., 2019), they reported preparation of positively
matrices is essential (Lalia et al., 2013; Strathmann, 1985; charged hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (HPEI) function-
Wienk et al., 1996; Witte et al., 1996). Membrane materials alized CNTs/PES MMMs via the phase inversion method
(polymer, solvent, non-solvent, and nanomaterials) selection with the improved antifouling properties and durability. Yu
et al. (2012) reported fabrication of SiO2@N-Halamine/PES negatively charged surface have 50% higher initial water flux
MMMs via the phase inversion method with the improved and higher fouling resistance without sacrificing NaCl rejec-
antifouling and antibiofouling properties. Shaban et al. tion. Azelee et al. (2017) reported fabrication of PA TFN
(2018) incorporated titanium dioxide nanoribbons (TNRs)/ membrane incorporated with CNT-TNT hybrid via the IP
CNTs as nanofiller into PES matrix and prepared method over porous commercial PSf UF support for desali-
TNRs/CNTs/PES MMMs via the phase inversion method nation application. It was found that the properties of the
with improved antifouling properties. Zinadini et al. (2017) membrane surface in terms of surface charge, surface
incorporated ZnO/CNTs as nanofiller in PES matrix to pre- roughness, and contact angle are improved with addition of
pare ZnO/CNTs/PES MMMs with the well antibiofouling the acid-treated CNT-TNT as filler to the PA membrane layer.
characteristics. Koseoglu-Imer et al. (2013) reported fabri- Zarrabi et al. (2016) reported fabrication of a modified TFC
cation of Ag/PSf MMMs with the improved antifouling membrane by IP between trimesoyl chloride (TMC) and
properties than the neat PSf membrane. piperazine (PIP) monomers and NH2-CNTs as hydrophilic
modifier on asymmetric porous PSf support. Their results
Thin-Film Nanocomposite (TFN) Membranes showed that the fabricated modified membranes have higher
Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes as standard poly- hydrophilicity and smoother surface and improved fouling
meric membranes have received considerable attention resistance compared to the neat membrane. Lee et al. (2017)
worldwide. TFC membranes are usually composed of a thin used CNTs to tune the microporous PSf membranes surface
selective polyamide (PA) layer (with thickness of 0.1–1 lm) properties (surface porosity) that play an important role in
deposited on a microporous support membrane (with thick- RO TFC membranes performance. Compared to the neat
ness of about 50 µm) and widely applied to water treatment PA-TFC membrane, water permeability of the PA-TFC
applications (Dong et al., 2015; Samadi et al., 2014; Sharma membranes fabricated with CNTs/PSf nanocomposite sup-
& Chellam, 2005). Trade-off between permeability and ports increased up to 35% (without salt rejection reduction).
rejection is an important challenge facing TFC membranes. Shen et al. (2013) reported preparation of PA TFN mem-
A new generation of TFC membranes, where nanomaterials branes containing PMMA f-CNTs via the IP method. It was
have integrated as nanofillers within the surface thin layer found that the PMMA f-CNTs significantly improve selec-
and/or the support layer, is called thin-film nanocomposite tivity and permeability of the prepared membranes.
(TFN) membranes. TFN membranes are commonly prepared Farahbaksh et al. (2017) demonstrated that CNTs-
via the interfacial polymerization (IP) technique which is embedded TFC membranes exhibit better antifouling perfor-
based on polycondensation reaction between two-functional mance. He et al. (2015) reported fabrication of TFC membranes
amine and tri-functional acid chloride as monomers (Morgan with the excellent antibiofouling performance by incorporating
& Kwolek, 1959; Zargar et al., 2017). Recently, the nan- GO nanosheets into PA films through the IP method.
otechnology advancement has opened the doors to fabricate
TFN membranes with improved properties. During the TFN 4.2.2 Modification of the Membrane Surface
membranes fabrication, the nanoparticles are introduced into
the structure of the thin active layer and/or the support layer Coating
that enhances hydrophilicity, surface charge density, and Physical adsorption or hydrophilic–hydrophobic interactions
antifouling properties without decreasing the efficiency of can be used to membranes coating to improve their
membranes separation (Lau et al., 2015). Optimizing ability antifouling properties. Wang et al. (2010) coated chitosan on
of the TFN membranes skin and support layers discretely is polypropylene non-woven membrane using glutaraldehyde
the main advantage of TFN membranes than MMMs, and (GA) as cross-linking agent to improve the antifouling and
this allows for more diverse membranes to be designed (Lau antibacterial properties. Surface smoothness and
et al., 2012; Sorribas et al., 2013). hydrophilicity were improved, and therefore, foulants
Chan et al. (2016) incorporated zwitterion functionalized adhesion to the membrane surface was reduced. Ben-Sasson
CNTs into PA TFN membranes to improve surface biofouling et al. (2014) to endow the antimicrobial properties, coated
resistance and membrane selectivity. Their results showed copper nanoparticles on TFC PA RO membranes by the
that compared to the neat membrane, the antifouling proper- dip-coating method. The copper nanoparticles-coated PA
ties of the fabricated membranes were significantly improved. membrane with improved hydrophilicity and roughness
Son et al. (2015) reported preparation of a TFN membrane showed the superior antibacterial properties against various
with f-CNTs containing support layer via the phase inversion microorganisms. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were also
and IP methods and studied the effect of f-CNT on the per- used to coat on the membranes surface by various research
formance of membrane. Their results showed that compared groups to improve the membranes antibiofouling properties
to the neat TFC membrane, TFN membrane with more (Dong et al., 2017; Huang et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2015). Reis
et al. (2015) using low-pressure plasma technique, intro- challenge. Polymeric membranes with desirable properties
duced amine functional groups onto the commercial such as low cost, high processability, and excellent
PA-TFC membranes surface, and then bonded AgNPs to the mechanical strength are commonly used in desalination. One
amine-rich TFC membranes. The fabricated membranes of the most important challenges in using polymeric mem-
showed the enhanced antimicrobial properties. branes in the desalination processes is fouling that signifi-
cantly reduces membrane flux and salt rejection and also
Grafting increases operating costs. Fouling is classified into organic
Membrane surface chemistry plays a major role in reducing fouling, inorganic fouling, colloidal fouling, and biofouling,
fouling. The surface of membrane can be modified chemi- in terms of the foulants types. There are several ways to
cally by attaching (grafting) macromolecules and control fouling in desalination process including membrane
co-polymers by various treatment methods including the surface modification, novel membrane development, mem-
plasma and UV irradiation treatments (Chang et al., 2019). brane monitoring, pretreatment, and membrane cleaning.
Grafting of hydrophilic groups such as carboxylic acid group, Increasing the membrane hydrophilicity causes strong
hydroxyl group, zwitterionic betaine group, and ethylene attraction between the surface of membrane and water
glycol group to the membrane surface improves the molecules leads to a protective water layer formation on the
antifouling properties, significantly (Holmlin et al., 2001). surface of membrane which prevents foulants adhesion and
Chou et al. (2016) reported grafting of a zwitterionic therefore reduces the membrane fouling. Using carbon
sulfobetaine-based copolymer onto a substrate. Their results nanomaterials, especially CNTs and GO can create high
showed that adsorption propensity of fibroblast cells, bacte- permeation flux and salt rejection and also delay membrane
rial cells, and human blood cells to the surface of membrane fouling. An efficient way to enhance the membranes
decreases due to improving the membrane surface antibiofouling properties is biocidal nanoparticles incorpo-
hydrophilicity. Mauter et al. (2011) treated PSf membrane ration into the membranes materials. Membrane surface
surface with plasma to activate carboxylic acid, carbonyl, and chemistry also plays a major role in reducing the membrane
hydroxyl functional groups. Then, polyethyleneimine fouling. Therefore, modification of the surface of membrane
(PEI) encapsulated AgNPs were grafted on the via coatings and grafting methods can decrease the fouling
plasma-treated PSf membrane surface by electrostatic inter- potential, significantly. Researchers have devoted their
actions to improve the antimicrobial properties. Li et al. efforts to develop new desalination membranes with low
(2013) grafted PVDF membrane by poly(acrylic acid) fouling tendency. It is predicted that in the coming years,
(PAA) and then immobilized AgNPs in the grafted mem- many advances will be made in the field of fabricating
brane to improve hydrophilicity and the antifouling and membrane desalination and solving fouling challenge.
antibiofouling properties. Zhang et al. (2013) grafted
3-allyl-5,5-dimethylhydantion (ADMH) on commercial aro-
matic PA RO membranes and cross-linked them by N,Nʹ-
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Zeolite Membranes for Desalination
Catia Algieri, Enrico Drioli, and Francesca Macedonio
Abstract ZSM-5 Zeolite Socony Mobil–5

FAU Faujasite
Today, membrane technology is largely utilized in DDR Deca-dodecasil 3R
desalination process. Saline waters are generally treated OFF Offretite
with polymeric membranes. However, the Achilles heel ERI Erionite
of the membrane processes used in water treatment SAPO Silicoaluminophosphate
remains fouling. The latter causes flux decline in the time GO Graphene oxide
and so a lowering in productivity and an increase in CNT Carbon nanotube
energy consumption. Therefore, a significant interest was MD Membrane distillation
devoted to the recourse to inorganic membranes thanks to DCMD Direct contact membrane distillation
their excellent thermal and chemical resistance and high AGMD Air gap membrane distillation
mechanical stability. Recently, the scientific interest was VMD Vacuum membrane distillation
focused on zeolite membranes which offer the advantages SGMD Sweep gas membrane distillation
of the inorganic ones in addition to a well-defined pore PV Pervaporation
size at molecular level: these characteristics make them MF Microfiltration
appropriate for separation processes. In this chapter, UF Ultrafiltration
initially, the zeolite properties and their application at NF Nanofiltration
industrial level will be dealt with. Subsequently, the main FO Forward osmosis
methods for the zeolite membrane preparation will be
discussed. Finally, the use of these membranes in
desalination will be deeply presented.
Keywords
1 Introduction

Zeolite Zeolite membrane
distillation
Desalination Membrane Freshwater scarcity is a worldwide growing problem
aggravated by overpopulation and pollution. Only 2.5% of
the global water is freshwater, whereas the rest is saline
Abbreviations (Isaka, 2012). In this scenario, water desalination represents
RO Reverse osmosis an interesting route for obtaining drinking water or water for
NF Nanofiltration agricultural and industrial use for overcoming the water
MD Membrane distillation shortage (Xia et al., 2020). Traditional desalination pro-
LTA Linde type A cesses for obtaining freshwater present very high operation
MFI Mobil-Type Five and capital costs (Alkaisi et al., 2017; Youssef et al., 2014).
TPAOH Tetrapropylammonium hydroxide Today, membrane technology governs the industry of sea
and brackish water treatment owing to their high-energy
C. Algieri (&) E. Drioli F. Macedonio
efficiency (Cay-Durgun & Lind, 2018). Various membrane
Institute on Membrane Technology, National Research Council of processes were employed for saline waters desalination, such
Italy (ITM–CNR), Via Pietro BUCCI, Cubo 17C, 87036 Rende, as reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF) and membrane
Cosenza, Italy distillation (MD) (Cay-Durgun & Lind, 2018). These
e-mail: catia.algieri@cnr.it; c.algieri@itm.cnr.it

54 C. Algieri et al.
processes offer several advantages such as easy operation, 2 Zeolites: Properties and Applications
easiness of process automation and high productivity in
perfect agreement with the process intensification strategy Zeolites are aluminosilicate crystalline materials with canals
(Drioli & Curcio, 2007; Drioli et al., 2011). Polymeric and cavities. The presence of the tetracordinated aluminum
membranes are widely used in water desalination at indus- confers to the structure negative charges balanced with metal
trial level owing to their well-known interesting properties cations (Armbruster & Gunter, 2001; Paveliċ et al., 2018).
(Bassyouni et al., 2019). The main challenge in the poly- For this reason, zeolites with aluminum exhibit hydrophilic
meric membrane field is the fouling. In particular, it deter- properties. In fact, zeolite hydrophilicity increases by raising
mines the deposition of organic (colloids, proteins, the aluminum amount. It is possible to modulate their
polysaccharides, etc.), biologic (viruses, algae, bacteria and adsorption capacity by changing the Si/Al molar ratio of the
other microorganisms) and inorganic constituents (e.g., salts) reaction mixture. These minerals exhibit also elevated ther-
on the membrane and into its porous structure (Saqib & mal stability and chemical resistance. Today, about 40 nat-
Aljundi, 2016). This phenomenon significantly reduces the ural zeolites are known and the most common are
flux and the quality of the permeate. Consequently, there is a clinoptilolite, chabazite and mordenite, whereas over 200 are
poor plant operation with the necessity to pretreat the feed, synthetic (Borai et al., 2009). Natural zeolites showed very
to repeat membrane cleaning, and inevitably, there is a high adsorption properties, but this capacity can decrease
reduction of the membrane life (Goh et al., 2018). On the due to the presence of impurities (as quartz) (Borai et al.,
other hand, inorganic membranes for their high thermal, 2009); hence, the need to produce synthetic zeolites. They
mechanical and chemical stabilities are appropriate for water are synthesized by hydrothermal route in aqueous media at
treatment and desalination process (Fard et al., 2018) and temperature more than 100 °C and 1 bar (Sazali et al.,
can operate when polymeric membranes fail. Inorganic 2019). The main producers in the world are China, Japan,
membranes comprise different materials (e.g., ceramic, sil- South Korea, Jordan, Turkey Slovakia, United States and
ica, zeolite, carbon and palladium) and have dense and Cuba (Bernhardt & Reilly, 2019). These materials display
porous structures. Alumina, silica, zirconia, titania and car- high adsorption properties, excellent ion exchange capacity
bon membranes are mainly used in wastewater treatment and and molecular sieving ability. For these peculiar character-
desalination (Verweij, 2012). Lately, the attention was also istics, they are used as chemical sensors (Bento Ribeiro
focused on the zeolite membranes application in desalination et al., 2015), as medical monitoring (Byrappa & Yoshimura,
process (Drobek et al., 2012; Garofalo et al., 2014, 2016; 2001), for the separation of linear from nonlinear hydro-
Zhu et al., 2014a). These membranes present all the typical carbons (Boettinger & Ming, 2002), in industrial air-quality
characteristics of the inorganic ones, but in addition, also monitoring and in air separation (Kosinov et al., 2016). In
pore size at molecular scale and so they are appropriate for addition, they are exploited in veterinary and human medi-
separating species with very similar dimension. These cine (Wang et al., 2010). About the wastewater treatment,
membranes, for their peculiar properties, could be used in zeolites are utilized for removing heavy metals (Tran et al.,
gas separations, desalination, pervaporation as well as in 2018; Wingenfelder et al., 2005), for reducing the ammo-
membrane reactors and sensors. However, their wide nium excess (Zhang et al., 2016) and for adsorbing organic
industrial application is hindered by high cost and the pollutants (Braschi et al., 2010; Peng et al., 2015). In addi-
presence of defects in the zeolite layer. In fact, nowadays, tion, these materials are used as ion exchangers in laundry
only Linde Type A (LTA) zeolite membranes are commer- detergents and water softening (Ates & Akgül, 2016). The
cialized and used for the dewatering of different organic different industrial applications of the zeolites are reported in
solvents (Garofalo et al., 2014). Consequently, many other Fig. 1.
efforts must be made in order to have a wide commercial- In arid countries, the water presents elevated salinity and
ization of zeolite membranes to be used for separations of therefore is not useful for irrigation. Several international
gaseous and liquid species. environmental organizations and authorities gave guidelines
In this chapter, the application of zeolite membranes in for regulating the safety and quality of water for irrigation
desalination process is reported and deeply discussed. The (FAO, 1992; US EPA, 2012). The zeolites are used for
zeolite properties and application at industrial level are also decreasing the amount of Na+ by exploiting the cation
dealt with. In addition, the principal methods used for the exchange property of the zeolites. The use of zeolites in
membrane preparation are discussed. desalination process was investigated by various scientists
with complete reduction of the salt content (99.99%) by
Zeolite Membranes for Desalination 55
Fig. 1 Industrial application of zeolites
means of a series of columns filled with zeolites (Caputo & and in chemical aggressive environments, and so different
Pepe, 2007). However, the salt reduction depends on zeolite research and industrial groups have focused on their syn-
type and salinity of water (Ghaly Abdel & Verma, 2008). thesis since 1980 (Nair et al., 2003). However, the prepa-
Recently, it was demonstrated the possibility to desalinate ration of low-cost, reproducible and very thin (<100 nm)
seawater by using the clinopliolite (a natural zeolite) membranes without defects (grain boundary-free,
(Wajima, 2019). The experimental results evidenced the pinhole-free and crack-free) and with both high selectivity
possibility to reduce the NaCl concentration from seawater and permeance are the biggest challenges. Indeed, the
by using a Ca2+-clinoptiolite. Wibowo et al. (2017) utilized application of the zeolite membranes on large scale is limited
modified natural zeolite for reducing the seawater salinity; to some zeolite topologies in pervaporation process for
good results were obtained at 225 °C for 3 h. removing water from organic solvents (Morigami et al.,
2001). Different companies industrialized the Linde Type A
(LTA) zeolite membranes for solvent dehydration (Gascon
3 Zeolite Membrane Preparation et al., 2012) considering their interesting performance in
terms of separation values. The performance of NaA mem-
Zeolite membranes open up the possibility to operate in a branes produced by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co.
continuous way favoring the separations of liquid and gas for solvent dehydration is reported in Table 1. However,
mixtures on the basis of different adsorption properties and LTA zeolite membranes present two disadvantages: Dealu-
different molecular sizes (Tavolaro & Drioli, 1999). These mination under very strong acidic conditions (by limiting its
membranes show both elevated stability at high temperatures application at pH value lower than 6) and the membrane
Table 1 Performance of NaA Solvent T (°C) Feed (ethanol/water) Separation factor Permeate flux (kg m2 h−1)
membranes produced by Mitsui in
PV (Sommer & Melin, 2005) Methanol 60 90–10 10,000 0,46
Ethanol 70 90–10 18,000 1.12
Isopropylalcohol 75 90–10 30,000 1.58
n-Butanol 75 90–10 90,000 1.39
Ethylene glycol 100 91–9 162,000 0.03
1,4-Butandiol 99 87–13 11,000 2.23
THF 60 90–10 12,000 1.78
Reprinted with permission from Elsevier
contraction (Wenten et al., 2017). These limits are owing to seeded support is then put in autoclave in contact with a
the high aluminum amount in the LTA structure. Jamieson synthesis mixture and during the hydrothermal treatment
and coworkers (Jamieson et al., 2015) reported as under both the growth of the zeolite layer and a covalent bond
acidic conditions the degradation of the LTA zeolite is among crystals and support occurs, thus by determining the
attributable to the removal of the aluminum from the membrane stabilization (see Fig. 2).
structure. Among the several procedures used for depositing a thin
Zeolite membranes are synthesized on supports for layer of zeolite seeds on the support (Chen et al., 2013; Chun
improving mechanical resistance because self-supported et al., 2002; Huang et al., 2010; Pera-Titus et al., 2005;
zeolitic layers are very brittle. Typically, are used flat or Schillo et al., 2010), the most used are dip-coating and
tubular porous supports in different materials mainly in rubbing, but they present some drawbacks. For example,
alumina and stainless steel (Jiang et al., 2015; Ma et al., during the dip coating, when the support is extracted from
2014; Martınez Galeano et al., 2016; Sommer & Melin, the suspension, the crystal seeds come off very easily (for the
2005). gravitational force action), and therefore, it is difficult to
They are very expensive compared to polymeric ones obtain continuous layers (Wang et al., 2011). The rubbing
(about 5.000 €/m2), and this cost is due to by 50% of the cost does not allow uniform seed coverage since it is made with
of the support and by 50% of the chemicals. Consequently, small brushes immersed in a zeolite paste which is then
different research groups tried to prepare membranes by rubbed inside or outside the support surface (Liu et al.,
using cheaper supports (Achiou et al., 2018; Bouazizi et al., 2011). When the seeding is performed by means of the fil-
2016). tration (mainly cross-flow or dead-end) of a zeolite suspen-
Two main methods are used for their preparation: one sion through flat porous supports, a more uniform layer is
step (called too traditional) (Vroon et al., 1998) and sec- obtained (Pera-Titus et al., 2005). This is due to the possi-
ondary growth (Lovallo et al., 1998). In the first one, the bility of well controlling the operating conditions of these
porous support is in contact with a solution or gel (in an procedures being widely consolidated membrane processes.
autoclave), and during the hydrothermal treatment, nuclei When a tubular support is used, the cross-flow filtration is
formation and crystal growth occur on the support. As a coupled with a very slow rotation of the support along its
consequence, this method suffers from poor reproducibility longitudinal axis for obtaining the formation of a more
owing to the difficulty of controlling the nucleation and the uniform film (Algieri et al., 2009).
crystal formation. The secondary growth is more compli- The secondary growth method is more reproducible than
cated than the traditional one having some steps, but at the the traditional one by allowing to separately optimize the
same time, it allows better control of the zeolitic layer for- operating conditions of nucleation and formation of the
mation on the support, so it is more reproducible. In this crystals. Different research groups tried to prepare oriented
method, at first, pre-synthesized zeolite nuclei are deposited zeolite films with the aim to reduce the intercrystalline
on the support (having tubular or flat configuration). The defects (Pham et al., 2013). For example, the b-oriented
Fig. 2 Scheme about the steps of the secondary growth method

synthesis remains in the developmental phase. In the last

years, significant progress was also accomplished on
microwave synthesis of zeolite membranes providing an
elevated reduction of the synthesis time (Li & Yang, 2008).
A comparison between the actions of the microwave heating
on the membrane formation with respect to the conventional
one is reported in Fig. 3.
During the synthesis of the zeolite membranes, some
organic molecules (called templates) are used for orienting
the formation of the desired topology. For example, the
template used for the MFI topology is the tetrapropylam-
monium hydroxide (TPAOH) (Algieri et al., 2003). When
the synthesis is completed, the template removal is required
because it blocks the zeolite pores. This chemical species is
removed by thermal treatment (about 500–550 °C) (Algieri
et al., 2003). However, this process causes the formation of
Scheme 1 MFI structure defects in the zeolite layer for thermal stress owing to the
two different thermal expansion coefficients of zeolite and
support material. Different post-treatment methods are used
silicalite (Mobil-type five (MFI)) membranes (see Scheme 1) for reducing the defects present in the zeolite layer as coke
showed better separation performance by using substances deposition, surface coatings, chemical vapor and liquid
as xylene isomers (Lai et al., 2003; Shete et al., 2017; Tung depositions and hydrothermal treatments (Maghsoudi,
et al., 2011). 2016).
Different methods were developed for the preparation of Among the different zeolitic topologies used for the
MFI b-oriented membranes as Langmuir–Blodgett deposi- preparation of the membranes, the most studied are
tion (Rangnekar et al., 2015), Langmuir-Schaefer deposition (MFI) and Linde type A (LTA). The first one presents
(Rangnekar et al., 2015), dynamic interfacial assembly (Liu interconnected channels: the right and sinusoidal channels
et al., 2010) and polymer-mediated assembly (Zhang et al., having an opening of 0.54 0.56 and 0.51 0.55 nm2 (see
2008). Despite all these methods, the oriented membrane Scheme 1). In addition, it presents two structures: one
Fig. 3 Influence of traditional and microwave heating on the zeolite layer production
Table 2 Zeolite topologies used Zeolite Zeolite topology Pore size Si/Al References
for membrane preparation (nm)
NaX Faujasite (FAU) 0.74 1–1.5 Ikemoto et al.
(2000)
NaY Faujasite (FAU) 0.74 >1.5 Zhang et al.
(2008)
DD3R Deca-dodecasil 3R (DDR) 0.36 0.44 (All Bergh et al.
silica) (2010)
T offretite (OFF)-erionite (ERI) intergrowth 0.36 0.51 3–4 Shafiei et al.
(2014)
SAPO-34 Silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO) (Similar 0.38 – Sun et al.
CHA structure) (2018)
containing all-silica (called silicalite) with hydrophobic shows the distribution of desalination plants (in percentage)
properties and another containing aluminum and silicon in the World.
(called Zeolite Socony Mobil–5, (ZSM-5)) with hydrophilic Thermal and membrane processes are the most used for
properties. The LTA topology has a three-dimensional pore saline water desalination. However, this process is very
structure (Meier et al., 2007). The LTA pore size opening expensive considering both requests high energy for water
depends on the extra-framework cation presents in the zeo- heating and the high plant maintenance costs (Anis et al.,
lite channels. In particular, the pore size is near 4 Å with the 2019). Today, a membrane process widely used for pro-
cation Na+; it is about 3 Å with K+ and when the sodium ducing clean water (appropriate for agriculture, industries
cation is only in part exchanged with Ca2+ the pore size is and drinking) is the reverse osmosis (RO) (Macedonio,
about 5 Å (Montanari et al., 2008). Table 2 reports the other 2017). RO process exhibits different advantages with respect
zeolite topologies used for zeolite membrane preparation. to the traditional one: Lower energy use associated with the
utilization of inexpensive construction materials, the versa-
tility in feed-water with excellent quality of water and high
4 Zeolite Membranes in Desalination efficiency (Peñate & García-Rodríguez, 2012). In fact, the
Process installation of RO plants has grown a lot reaching more than
90% of the total desalination plants (Macedonio & Drioli,
The fresh water available in the world is limited and in 2025 2017). However, fouling remains the biggest unsolved
two-third of the earth’s population will be forced to live in problem in this process. This is explained because in sea-
high water stress areas (W. H. Organization, 2018). This big water are present salts, organic and inorganic substances that
problem can be overcome by means of desalination tech- can be adsorbed on the membrane by lowering the process
nology. The highest number of desalination plants is located efficiency (Badruzzaman et al., 2019). Consequently, for
in the Middle East (Clayton, 2011; Isaka, 2012). Figure 4 restoring the membrane performance, cleaning procedures
Fig. 4 World desalination plants

are required and also an increase of the feed pressure for brackish water desalination. In MD a hydrophobic mem-
maintaining high flux. The fouling could be reduced by brane is used and vapor passes through the membrane
using pretreatment technologies. Very common is the use of (permeate side) and all non-volatile species remain in the
the microfiltration/ultrafiltration process (Voutchkov, 2010). retentate side. Usually, MD is carried out at reduced tem-
Polymeric membranes are widely used in RO process peratures (lower than 100 °C) with respect to traditional
because they are easy to prepare and at the same time thermal processes, and lower pressure with respect to RO
inexpensive. Nevertheless, as reported before, in the poly- (Camacho et al., 2013). MD can be performed via, at least,
meric membrane field, the fouling is a very critical issue. In four configurations as described below:
addition, they also show high selectivity associated with low Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), in which
permeability and vice versa (Hailemariam et al., 2020). the membrane puts in contact feed and permeate and both
Inorganic membranes seem to be a good alternative to the are in liquid state (Lawson & Lloyd, 1996). This configu-
polymeric ones in desalination process because they possess ration is the most used being very simple and the flux value
interesting performance in chemical aggressive environment, is reasonable.
high-temperature resistance and long lifetime (Zakrzewska- Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD), in which among
Trznadel, 2013). In the inorganic field, there are many the membrane and the condenser surface is positioned an air
possible solutions to prepare membranes with ultra-fast gap for increasing the flux and reducing the loss of the heat
water transport and/or excellent rejection: from ceramic by conduction across the membrane (Meindersma et al.,
membranes based on metal oxides to carbon-based materi- 2006). In this configuration, the flux is very low due to the
als, from organic metal structures to zeolites (Goh & Ismail, air gap that determines an additional resistance to the mass
2018). Various are the benefits offered by inorganic transfer (Al-Zoubi et al., 2018).
membranes: Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD), in which the
vacuum permits the removal of the permeate that condenses
• less membrane maintenance and replacement cost by means of an external device (Sarti et al., 1993).
because the high chemical and thermal stability of the Sweep gas membrane distillation (SGMD), in which a
inorganic materials allow performing cleaning at high gas is utilized for the removal of the vapor (Basini et al.,
temperatures and with chemicals for high flux recovery. 1987).
• less biofouling problems owing to the lower susceptibility In membrane distillation, the membranes must have very
of inorganic membranes with respect to polymeric controlled properties (Khayet, 2011). First, the hydrophobic
membranes (Amin et al., 2016). layer and the pore size distribution must be very narrow and
with sizes ranging from nanometers to micrometers for
Depending on the nature of the inorganic material avoiding the passage of liquid feed. In addition, the tortu-
employed for the fabrication of the membranes, the resulting osity must be very small and the hydrophobic layer very
structures can be either self-supporting or may need support. thin. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity of the membrane
In both cases, the resulting membrane, be it a multilayer or a material must be very low for achieving high thermal effi-
single thin sheet, is sufficiently resistant and highly perme- ciency. Polyvinylidene fluoride, polytetrafluoroethylene and
able (Feng et al., 2015). Historically, due to their high pro- polypropylene are polymers often employed in MD because
duction costs, the use of inorganic membranes has not spread apart from their hydrophobicity, they have sufficiently low
on at industrial level for wastewater treatment (Lorente-Ayza thermal conductivity (from 0.14 Wm−1 K−1 of PP to 0.29
et al., 2017). On the contrary, inorganic membranes have Wm−1 K−1 of Polyvinylidene fluoride). In the case of inor-
found application in those fields where polymeric mem- ganic membranes (characterized by high thermal conduc-
branes are either inapplicable or inefficient (such as at high tivity), the thermal efficiency can be improved either by
temperature and/or with highly contaminated feed streams reducing the membrane thickness or by increasing the
due to material instability and/or fouling problems) (Hedfi transmembrane flux (Al-Obaidani et al., 2008). Finally, MD
et al., 2016; Kaur et al., 2016; Lorente-Ayza et al., 2015, membranes must possess good thermal resistance and
2016; Mustafa et al., 2016; Rana et al., 2013; chemical stability and with interesting permeability and
Zakrzewska-Trznadel, 2013; Zhu et al., 2014b). Different selectivity values for long time.
inorganic membranes used in desalination and water treat- As before described, polymeric membranes present dif-
ment are reported in Table 3. ferent disadvantages as reduced stability at elevated tem-
Furthermore, hydrophobized inorganic membranes can peratures and in the presence of aggressive substances (as
find an even wider range of applications, such as in mem- acids, alkals and organic solvents) and thus short lifetime
brane distillation (MD). The latter is a relatively new (Jamalludin et al., 2016). For that reason, the use of inor-
membrane operation that finds applications in the sea and ganic membranes (especially ceramic ones) in MD could be
Table 3 Examples of inorganic membranes used for desalination and wastewater treatment
Membrane material Membrane process Application (feed solution) Flux References
c-Al2O3/a-Al2O3 inorganic hollow NF (nanofiltration) Salt solution of 2000 ppm 17.4 L Wang et al.
fiber m−27 h−1 bar−1 (2016b)
SiO2 PV (pervaporation) 3.5 wt% NaCl 9.5 kg m−2 h−1, Elma et al.
6.6 kg m−2 h−1 (2013),
Elma et al.
(2015a)
CoO-SiO2 PV (pervaporation) 3.5 wt% NaCl 7.7 kg m−2 h−1 Elma et al.
(2015b)
TiO2 PV (pervaporation) 10 wt% NaCl 6.0 kg m−2 h−1 Yacou et al.
(2015)
CMS-Al2O3 PV (pervaporation) 3.5 wt% NaCl 25.0 kg m−2 h−1 Song et al.
(2016)
Zirconium (IV)-based metal–organic UF (at 10.0 bar) Saline water solutions (containing 0.14 L Liu et al.
framework (Zr-MOF—i.e., UiO-66) KCl, NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2, or AlCl3) m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2015)
membranes on alumina hollow fibers with concentration 0.20 wt%
c-Al2O3 UF (at Oil/water separation 112.7 kg m−2 h−1 Bayat et al.
transmembrane (2016)
pressure of 5 bar)
Al2O3 MF (at Oil/water separation (oil 450 kg m−2 h−1 Zhong et al.
transmembrane concentration in water about 5 g/L) (2013)
pressure of
0.15 MPa)
Mullite-titania composite ceramic MF 200 mgL−1 synthetic (Oil/Water) 150 L Zhu et al.
hollow fiber emulsion m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2016)
Commercial tubular Al2O3 membranes MF Oil/water emultion (with an average 320 L Chang et al.
with nano-TiO2 coating (trans-membrane droplet size of 6 lm with 90% of the m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2014)
pressure oil droplets being in the range of
0.16 MPa) 0.7–20 lm)
Graphene oxide (GO) modification on MF Oil/water emulsion (with an oil 667 L Hu et al.
Al2O3 membrane concentration of 1 g l−1, size range m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2015)
of oil-droplets within 0.5–15 lm
with a mean size of 1.8 lm)
Graphene Oxide (GO)-Palygorskite Dead-end UF Oil-in-water emulsions (100 mg or 1867 L m−2 h−1 Zhao et al.
Nanohybrid Membrane 1 g hexadecane, 100 mg pump oil, (2016)
or 100 mg soybean oil and a certain
amount of sodium dodecyl sulfate)
Carbon nanotube (CNT) network Emulsified oil Emulsified oil feed: 1.6 g of 26 L m−2 h−1 Chen et al.
implanted in the pores of a ZrO2 filtration (TMP surfactant–sodium dodecyl sulfate (2016a)
membrane from 1 to 2 atm) and oil (concentrations of 100, 300
and 600 ppm, soluble blue dye,) to 1
L of water
Poly(acrylic acid)(PAA)/poly(vinyl NF Congo red dye desalination 25 L m−2 h−1 Wang et al.
alcohol)(PVA)/glutaraldehyde(GA) (2013)
assembled on to the inner surfaces of
tubular Al2O3 microporous substrates
SiO2 Membrane Methylene blue aqueous solution 40 L m−2 d−1 Tolba et al.
adsorption (2015)
ZIF-8 membranes synthesized on NF 17.5 lM Rose Bengal solution in 90 L Li et al.
porous polyethersulfone (PES) supports water m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2017)
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO)– carbon NF Aqueous solutions with 20–30 L Chen et al.
nanotubes (CNT) hybrid membrane nanoparticles, dyes, BSA, sugars m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2016b)
and particularly humic acid
(continued)
Table 3 (continued)
Membrane material Membrane process Application (feed solution) Flux References
MCM-41, MCM-48 UF Aqueous solutions with 1000 ppm 6.05 10−8 m3/ Basumatary
HCrO4− at pH * 2.35 m2skPa, et al. (2016)
4.18 10−8 m3/
m2 skPa
MCM-41-ceramic composite Pressure driven Aqueous solutions with 1000 ppm 1.1007 105 m/s Basumatary
membrane membrane HCrO4− at pH * 2.35 et al. (2015)
operations (applied
pressure 69–
345 kPa)
Analcime-C ceramic UF Aqueous solutions with 1000 ppm 4.53 10−8 m3/ Kumar et al.
HCrO4− m2 skPa (2015)
TiO2 UF Solutions with NaH2PO4 from 0 to – Shang et al.
1.0 mg P L−1 (2014)
SiO2 FO Synthetic wastewater 69 L m−2 h−1 You et al.
(2017)
a-Al2O3 (with Fe3O4 nanoparticles for Hybrid UF/NF Stream with 70 ppb As(III) + As(V) 75 L m−2 min−1 Sklari et al.
NF) (2015)
TiO2-ZrO2 NF Synthetic radioactive effluent 40 L Lu et al.
containing cobalt chloride, strontium m−2 h−1 bar−1 (2016)
chloride and cesium chlorid
SiO2 PV Solution containing less than 1.7 L m−2 h−1 Yang et al.
1000 mg/L of ammonia (2014)
promising. However, ceramic membranes are hydrophilic containing different ion species. Li et al. (2004b) found that
and hence have to be modified in hydrophobic by using ion charge, size and diffusivity of the hydrated ions influence
different methods (Ramlow et al., 2019). The hydropho- the rejection and permeate flux in reverse osmosis process. In
bization of ceramic membranes is usually performed by addition, a different mechanism controls the ion and water
direct grafting and using silane agents. The main grafting transport through the zeolitic pores and intercrystalline
approaches are chemical vapor deposition, direct immersion defects. The ion rejection depends on the exclusion of the big
and sol–gel methods (Kujawski et al., 2016; Vlassiouk et al., ions by the zeolite pores. Moreover, ion repulsion into the
2013; Yang et al., 2016). Different studies reported that the defects is owing to the strong interactions between the ion
hydrophobic membranes, prepared with the first two meth- and the charged double layers that determine a limited dif-
ods, are stable up to 100 days in MD process, while those fusion of the ions into the defects. Other authors prepared
prepared with the sol–gel method are less stable especially at MFI supported membranes (using disk alumina support) with
high temperature (Khatib & Oyama, 2013; Yang et al., 2010, different Si/Al ratios and their performance was evaluated in
2017). Table 4 reports a list of inorganic membranes tested reverse osmosis by using sodium chloride solution as feed (Li
in the various possible MD configurations. et al., 2007). The experimental results showed flux and
In the field of inorganic membranes, there are the zeolitic rejection improved with the increase of the aluminum content
ones which not only exhibit high chemical and thermal sta- owing to the high surface charge and so higher affinity with
bility but also well-defined pore size at molecular level and water. Duke and coworkers (2009) prepared MFI membranes
very attractive for desalination process. In particular, ions are on alumina flat support by using the secondary growth
separated from aqueous solution with a mechanism of electric method. They synthesized silicalite (aluminum free) and
and steric exclusion (Kujawski et al., 2016). A first applica- ZMS-5 (different Si/Al) membranes and then characterized
tion occurred in 2004 by Li and coworkers (2004a) where them in water desalination by means of pervaporation
MFI zeolite (silicalite, aluminum-free) membranes were (PV) processes. Better results were found with ZSM-5
prepared on disc-shaped alumina by using the traditional membranes. In particular, silicalite and ZSM-5 exhibited a
method. The prepared membranes were characterized in RO rejection value of 97% and 99%, respectively.
desalination process. In particular, by using a NaCl solution MFI (silicalite and ZSM-5) membranes synthesized on
(0.1 M) a flux of 0.112 kg m−2 h−1 and a rejection of 76.7% tubular alumina support (length 5 cm) were characterized for
were obtained (Li et al., 2004a). In addition, a higher rejec- long time in water desalination (using different salt solution
tion was obtained with a divalent cation by using feed concentrations) by PV process (Drobek et al., 2012). Also, in
Table 4 Examples of inorganic Inorganic membrane Application References

membranes used in MD
FAS grafted Al2O3 DCMD Ren et al. (2015)
desalination
Organosilica VMD Chu et al. (2013)
desalination
MOF-functionalized VMD Zuo and Chung (2016)
Al2O3 tube desalination
FAS-CNT DCMD Ali et al. (2017)
desalination
Al2O3 SGMD, Ren et al. (2015), Gu et al. (2016), Hendren et al. (2009), Wang
DCMD, et al. (2016a), Fang et al. (2012), Huang et al. (2018)
VMD
ZrO2/Al2O3 AGMD Krajewski et al. (2006)
ZrO2 AGMD Khemakhem et al. (2013)
Titania AGMD, Kujawa et al. (2014)
DCMD
ZrO2/Ti VMD, Hendren et al. (2009)
AGMD
Si3N4 VMD, Zhang et al. (2014), Zhang et al. (2012), Wang et al. (2017a)
DCMD,
SGMD
Sialon DCMD Wang et al. (2016a)
ZrO2/Ti DCMD Cerneaux et al. (2009)
TiO2 DCMD Fan et al. (2017)
PMSQ aerogel, DCMD, Ko et al. (2018)
alumina VMD
this case, ZSM-5 membranes showed better water flux for stable for long‐term operation, and at the same time, the
their high hydrophilicity. In addition, for all the prepared different methods present reproducibility problem (Ramlow
membranes, a decrease in water flux and rejection was et al., 2019). Good results were also obtained with the sili-
detected by increasing salt solution concentration. However, calite membranes synthesized by Algieri and coworkers
silicalite one seemed to be more stable under the effect of (Wang et al., 2013) even in comparison with the other
temperature. In 2012, for the first time, thin membranes were zeolitic ones (Drobek et al., 2012; Duke et al., 2009; Li et al.,
prepared from natural zeolite (clinoptiolite) and used for 2004a, 2007; Swenson et al., 2012; Zhou et al., 2016; Zhu
water desalination via PV process (Swenson et al., 2012). et al., 2014a). A possible explanation is owing to the syn-
These membranes displayed high flux and a good ion thesis methods used for their preparation: some membranes
rejection values (see Table 5). are produced by using the traditional method and other the
Algieri and coworkers (Donato et al., 2020; Garofalo secondary one (preferring dip-coating for seeding). It is well
et al., 2014, 2016) prepared silicalite membranes on tubular known that membranes prepared with the traditional method
support (having a length of 30 cm) by secondary growth present high concentration of defects (Caro et al., 2000; Li
method and using the cross-flow coupled with the rotation of et al., 2004a; Zhou et al., 2016; Zhu et al., 2014a). On the
the support as seeding procedure. The prepared membranes contrary, the secondary one permits the defect reduction for
were characterized, using different NaCl solution concen- the optimization of both nucleation and growth of the
trations, in VMD process. For various salt concentrations crystals. However, the membranes prepared by using
(0.2–0.9 M), the ion rejection values were equal to 99.9%. dip-coating as seeding procedure do not exhibit interesting
The best performance was obtained by using a salt solution desalination performance because the coating of the support
of 0.2 M and working at 70 °C and 120 Lh−1 (see Table 5). is not uniform (Drobek et al., 2012; Duke et al., 2009). The
The literature data of the inorganic membranes perfor- zeolite membranes prepared by means of the cross-flow
mance in desalination are reported in Table 5. filtration coupled with the rotation of the tubular support
Hydrophobic alumina membranes exhibited very inter- present a very low concentration of defects (Garofalo et al.,
esting results. However, the ceramic membranes modified 2016). In addition, this seeding technique is reproducible
superficially for obtaining hydrophobic systems are not and scalable (Garofalo et al., 2014). These data are
Table 5 Comparison with literature data

Sample Configuration Length Process Feed T (° Flux (kg R (%) References
(cm) (g/l) C) m−2 h−1)
Hydrophobic Tubular 9.2 VMD 90 70 31 99.9 Pagliero et al.
Alumina (2020)
Hydrophobic Tubular 11 VMD 30 70 30 99.9 Chen et al. (2018b)
Alumina
Hydrophobic Hollow fiber – DCMD 58 – 14 99.9 Chen et al. (2018a)
Alumina
Hydrophobic Tubular – AGMD 14.6 – 2 98.5 Kujawa et al.
Titania (2017)
Hydrophobic Tubular – AGMD 14.6 – 3.9 98.3 Kujawa et al.
Alumina (2017)
Hydrophobic Tubular – AGMD 11.7 – 4.0 >98.5 Kujawa et al.
Titania (2016)
Hydrophobic Flat sheet – VMD 35 – 29.3 99.9 Huang et al. (2016)
Alumina
Hydrophobic Capillary 15 VMD 29 60 4.71 99.8 Da et al. (2016)
Alumina
Hydrophobic CMS Tubular 7 DCMD 35 60 32.3 99.9 Song et al. (2016)
FAU (zeolite) Tubular 7.5 PV 35 75 3.84 > 99.8 Zhu et al. (2014a)
MFI (ZSM5) Tubular 5 PV 35 75 5.10 98 Drobek et al.
(2012)
MFI (silicalite) Flat – RO 5.8 25 0.11 90.6 Li et al. (2007)
MFI (ZSM5) Flat – RO 38 70 0.55 99 Duke et al. (2009)
MFI (ZSM5) Flat – RO 5.8 25 0.12 77 Li et al. (2004a)
FAU zeolite Tubular – PV 35 90 5.64 99.8 Zhou et al. (2016)
Natural zeolite – – PV – 93 2.50 97.5 Swenson et al.
(2012)
MFI (silicalite) Tubular 30 VMD 35 70 19.0 99.9 Donato et al.
(2020)
encouraging for the possibility to use zeolite membranes in showing very interesting separation factors (see Table 1).
desalination process. However, extensive efforts need to be Nevertheless, in gas separation processes, the zeolite com-
required by researchers for improving their flux and selec- mercial membranes exhibit a Knudsen diffusion mechanism
tivity, the manufacturing methodology and to reduce their by indicating the presence of defects in the layer.
production costs. The achievement of these goals will make These membrane types are prepared via traditional and
it possible to practically apply the zeolite membranes in secondary growth methods. The second one is more
water desalination. promising by permitting the preparation of membranes very
thin, with a low defect concentration. In addition, this
method is more reproducible than the traditional one since it
5 Conclusions and Future Outlook is possible to optimize the operating conditions of each step
independently.
The extraordinary research activity on the preparation of the Initially, zeolite membranes were applied in separation of
zeolite membranes has brought a significant progress on the gas species and organic solvent pervaporation (Bedard &
understanding of the separation mechanism and of the Liu, 2018). In 2001 Lin and Murad (2001) via computational
preparation of thin zeolite layer with high flux and good study demonstrated the possibility to use zeolite membranes
separation factor. However, despite the progress reached in for saltwater treatment. In 2004, Li and coworkers prepared
the zeolite membrane preparation field, their application is zeolite membranes for water desalination (Li et al., 2004b).
limited to the dehydration of various organic solvents by Over the years, other papers were published with better
using hydrophilic zeolite membranes (LTA zeolite) and performance in desalination process. The results present in
the open literature demonstrate as desalination process could composite membrane for the separation of chromic acid from
represent an interesting market for the zeolite membranes aqueous solution. Journal of Membrane Science, 475, 521–532.
Basumatary, A. K., Kumar, R. V., Ghoshal, A. K., & Pugazhenthi, G.
though some problems have to be solved like the high (2016). Cross flow ultrafiltration of Cr (VI) using MCM-41,
membrane cost and the reduction of defects present in the MCM-48 and Faujasite (FAU) zeolite-ceramic composite mem-
zeolite layer. The achievement of these goals might place branes. Chemosphere, 153, 436–446.
zeolite membranes in the forefront of water desalination Bayat, A., Mahdavi, H. R., Kazemimoghaddam, M., & Mohammadi, T.
(2016). Preparation and characterization of c-alumina ceramic
process. ultrafiltration membranes for pretreatment of oily wastewater.
Desalination and Water Treatment, 57, 24322–24332.
Bedard, R., & Liu, C. (2018). Annual review of materials research
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Integrating Desalination Systems
Mashura Shammi
Abstract technologies have opted for sustainable water and energy

security.
Considering the challenge of global water–energy nexus,
an integration and systematic inspection of the integrated
Keywords

desalination is a growing research interest. This chapter
aims to discuss numerously integrated and hybrid desali- Reverse osmosis (RO) Forward osmosis Renewable

nation technologies found in the entire globe. The energy (RE) Solar still Solar collectors

tremendous research interest for integration and Nanocomposites Membranes Micro-desalination
hybridization of different renewable technologies with Electrodialysis Membrane distillation Hybrid
desalination is being developed to achieve water security
and improve seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalination.
Researchers are utilizing state-of-the-art membranes and
developing nanocomposite materials to enhance the RO 1 Introduction
process. Technical advancements of renewables such as
solar photovoltaics, wind, geothermal, and hybridization Growing water demand and over-exploitation of surface
of photovoltaics-wind-RO for a broader capacity are water and groundwater in many regions caused severe water
being researched and developed replacing greenhouse scarcity. The ever-increasing population growth and indus-
gas-emitting fossil fuels. Multiple solar irradiation tech- trialization of the society’s rising demand for freshwater led
nologies have been developed that focuses on the to faster growth of desalination system capability in many
enhancement of solar still or panel geometry, solar countries. Desalination technology disposes of dissolved
thermal collectors. Furthermore, research attention has solids and salts from saline water, seawater, industrial
also shifted on the development of portable and wastewater, or brine water (Demir & Dincer, 2017). Nearly
micro-desalination based on electrodialysis. Forward half of the world's total water removals are consumed by
osmosis, pressure-retarded osmosis, and other hybridized electricity generation, whereas seawater desalination devours
system such as membrane distillation and the uses of much of the electricity (Wang et al., 2019).
nanomaterials have also been explored for the improve- The conventional category of desalination methods is
ment of RO. Besides, the potential application of thermal and membrane processes. Based on phase variation,
integrated desalination that may be applicable in the near thermal desalination comprises multi-phase flash distillation,
future has also been investigated. The integration of multi-effect distillation, vapor compression distillation,
desalination technologies is required for identifying humidification–dehumidification. Thermal desalination pro-
cost-effective, commercially viable sustainable water, cesses use a lot of energy and electricity (Lee et al., 2019).
and energy production with less environmental impacts. On the other hand, membrane processes use and develop
It can also help the water and energy researchers, filtration membranes of different pore sizes with exclusive
policymakers, and legislators to identify which integrated characteristics such as electrodialysis and electrodialysis
reversal, RO, membrane distillation, and others (Abdelka-
reem et al., 2018; Gorjian & Ghobadian, 2015).
M. Shammi (&) Desalination technologies can provide water security for
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, the entire globe where fresh water is a scarcity. Nevertheless,
Savar, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh
e-mail: mashura926@juniv.edu the energy and carbon footprint of the current desalination

70 M. Shammi
technologies are incredibly high. For instance, the thermal 2 Various Types of the Integrated
desalination plants which work through multistage flash Desalination System
method or multi-effect distillation plants are typically posi-
tioned with power plants run by fossil fuels that have high Considering the challenge of global water–energy nexus, an
environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emission, and integration and systematic inspection of REs and different
higher carbon footprint (Abdelkareem et al., 2018; Ahmed water desalination methods should be investigated (Alhaj &
et al., 2019). Moreover, the limited fossil fuels in the future Al-Ghamdi, 2019). The desalination marketplace is gov-
may have a dramatic price hike if the resource is done for erned by the methods of seawater RO (SWRO) globally, and
(El-Said et al., 2016). Besides, uncompromising the demand is rising (Ganora et al., 2019). Nevertheless,
power-to-water output limits are another major drawbacks crucial technological problems linger to be unaddressed
that cannot satisfy the required demand pattern (Agashichev includes minimal water recovery (near about around 50%), a
& Kumar, 2017; González-Bravo et al., 2017). considerable amount of energy consumption (3–5 kWh/m3),
On the other hand, membrane desalination consumes less and discharge of brine (Bitaw et al., 2019; Lee et al., 2019;
power than thermal desalination processes. However, the Tufa et al., 2019). Among the seawater desalination pro-
amount of energy use is still sizeable (Lee et al., 2019). cesses, RO is the most effective and dependable source to
A hybrid power system is, therefore, an adequate substitute produce drinking water, which uses a pressure gradient to
for the supply of clean water and electricity at minimum cost separate dissolved solids from water. It uses a semiperme-
to the remote regions (Wu et al., 2018). able membrane (Monnot et al., 2018). But the highly con-
It is here that integrated desalination methods, which are centrated brine water from the seawater desalination plant
often called the hybrid system, pop up. By utilizing renew- can be damaging to the marine ecosystems (Bitaw et al.,
able energy (RE) resources and techniques of energy pro- 2019). However, RO desalination centered on hybrid RE
duction, broad sections of traditional desalination techniques devices has surfaced as a tidier and sustainable option of
can be powered (Esmaeilion, 2020). Furthermore, in off-grid desalinated water (Ganora et al., 2019; Khan et al., 2018).
coastal zones and island regions where a substantial amount Technical advancements of renewables such as photo-
of power is needed to deliver freshwater by extraction and voltaics, wind, and hybridization of photovoltaics-wind-RO
treatments, it may generate a complicated socioeconomical, for a more comprehensive capacity are being researched and
environmental, and geopolitical crisis (Gökçek, 2018; Omar developed. The substitution of fossil fuels with REs for
et al., 2020; Padrón et al., 2019). Water and energy poli- desalination will drastically reduce carbon footprints and
cymakers need to pay more emphasis on the regional greenhouse gas emissions (González-Bravo et al., 2017;
potential of using desalination processes and power gener- Khan et al., 2018). Moreover, several blending of desalina-
ation simultaneously. This also emphasizes using locally tion methods has been implemented, linking forward
available resources such as seawater, saline groundwater, osmosis, RO, assisted reverse osmosis (ARO), microfiltra-
polluted surface water, industrial wastewater, and available tion, mechanical vapor compression, and membrane distil-
RE sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal power. lation (Osipi et al., 2018). Hybrid integrated systems can
Therefore, the universal research activity is thriving outpace a RO stand-alone system. It can reduce water costs
connecting between water and electricity demand that drives and alleviate the environmental discarding of brines (Choi
the desalination plants powered by RE or by other methods et al., 2017). Figure 1 depicts the different system integration
such as membranes (Alhaj & Al-Ghamdi, 2019). The mul- of desalination technologies, which includes integration of
titude of desalination methods is typically run by various REs, integration of membrane process development, and
renewable and non-renewable energy sources to produce material development.
electricity and freshwater simultaneously (Esmaeilion,
2020). Grid-less hybrid RE systems, in particular wind and
solar power, have gained considerable attention (Maleki, 2.1 Renewable Desalination
2018). This chapter, therefore, discusses the various inte-
grated and hybrid desalination technologies presently at Elimelech & Phillip, et al. (2011) asked a critical question
practice around the globe and the growing research interest —“Is seawater (or brackish water, wastewater, etc.) desali-
in this field that will stimulate the mind of the researchers, nation justified to worldwide water scarcities?”. There are
water and energy policymakers, and legislators for a more various concerns with desalination methods as they possess
sustainable future for water and energy security. some harmful environmental impacts. The principal power
Integrating Desalination Systems 71
Fig. 1 State-of-the-art research on integrated or hybrid desalination technologies
supply for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) component is hybrid energy sources will include solar and wind. In the
the thermoelectric power. When thermoelectric power is following section, we will mainly focus on the integration of
used, the outcomes include particulate matter emission, solar desalination technologies.
greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change
(Bitaw et al., 2019). RO is linked with solar photovoltaic
systems is an economically viable option to brackish water 2.2 Solar Desalination Technologies
(and seawater) desalination. Moreover, it can overcome the
current water and energy crises for water desalination (Taha The rapid advancement of up-to-the-minute photothermal
& Al-Sa’ed, 2017). Furthermore, RE can reduce the envi- material fabrication has enhanced the possibilities to develop
ronmental and ecological impacts of seawater desalination in varied photothermal-assisted desalination and treatment
off-grid rural communities (Alhaj & Al-Ghamdi, 2019). know-hows (Zhang et al., 2019). Desalination plants can be
Wind energy and solar energy, coupled with a desalination operated by solar energy directly or indirectly to decrease the
plant, can enable ever-increasing water needs with less desalination impacts allied with energy costs (Zhang et al.,
carbon footprint than standard methods in a sustainable 2018). Solar desalination significantly reduces energy costs
manner (Aminfard et al., 2019; Jones & Olsson, 2017). and carbon footprints. It provides a sustainable solution to
Moreover, most of the desalination processes generate meet water needs (Ahmed et al., 2019). There are two types
much-wasted heat at low temperatures, retrieved (Gonzá- of desalination using solar power: (a) solar collector or direct
lez-Bravo et al., 2017). Considering the environmental and desalination and (b) solar thermal collector or thermal heat
operational efficiency perspectives, solar, geothermal, wind, transfer to membrane-based desalination (Fig. 2). In the
and tidal/waves are the primary sources of typical RE of following segments, the types are described with their
desalination concern (Ali et al., 2018a). advantage disadvantage along with blended applications.
The application of hybrid RO device could be an eco-
nomical way in remote areas with strong wind and solar 2.2.1 Solar Still
power (Gökçek, 2018). Off-grid renewable technology, from Solar power can directly prepare to distill water using a solar
the household level to the village or neighborhood level, collector, which is a straightforward solar desalination pro-
may form an essential part of the solution. Not only lighting cess. “Solar still” is the inducing example of the solar col-
but also electricity can be provided by small off-ride systems lector (Zhang et al., 2018). Solar stills supply potable water,
to pump power, clean water, and fuel. Strips can, but must be and its functionality and upkeep are easy to maintain and
augmented with decentralized energy supplies, be accessible user friendly. Integrated photovoltaic thermal solar still has
in increasingly increasing peri-urban areas. The new kind of excellent applications for the off-grid areas, villages, and
72 M. Shammi
Fig. 2 Two types of solar desalination technologies
communities facing an electricity crisis and water scarcity operate various types of membrane desalination technologies
(Muthu Manokar et al., 2018). However, solar stills usually (Zhang et al., 2018). An example includes the application of
produce a meager amount of freshwater distillate (Samuel compound parabolic collectors transferring solar energy to
Hansen & Kalidasa Murugavel, 2017). multi-effect distillation systems. The system is more energy-
Samuel Hansen and Kalidasa Murugavel (2017) devel- efficient than other evaporation techniques (Mortazavi &
oped an integrated desalination system by merging a tilting Maleki, 2019).
solar still with a sink and heated water loading tank. The For the efficient application of humidification–dehumid-
system performed and tested various geometrical positions ification solar desalination systems, solar collectors or tube
of absorber plates under real-time climatic conditions. The collectors with a parabolic trough are suggested. The high
absorbers developed had increased surface area for water temperature of the feed water considerably increases water
availability for the evaporation in the tilted solar still. Waste production (Shalaby et al., 2017). Essential considerations to
heat energy could be recovered from the un-evaporated enhance the device efficiency includes nano-heat transfer,
production drained from the inclined still. Tilted solar stills fluid flow rate, enforced convection process, multi-pass
could produce 25.75% more water productivity while uti- technology, recycling method, and phase shifting material
lizing fin-shaped absorbers increased 74.5% water produc- fabrications. Furthermore, there are studies of the impact on
tivity integrated with basin still (Samuel Hansen & Kalidasa the watershed efficiency of solar power, air temperature,
Murugavel, 2017). wind speed, heating, and cooling stages. The simplicity of
construction of flat plate collector and the high-efficiency
2.2.2 Solar Thermal Collectors indices in the evacuated tube range makes them the choice of
Solar collectors convert solar power to thermal power. There technologies in solar humidification–dehumidification
are multiple types of parabolic collectors used in the desalination system, which are used to heat water and air
desalination systems, which is a solar cooling device focused heat transfer fluids (Santosh et al., 2019). Moreover, a two-
on solar absorption and heat adsorption, the development of stage humidification–dehumidification desalination system
solar electricity, solar desalination, and solar disinfection configured with a single-stage flashing evaporation unit
(Mortazavi & Maleki, 2019). “Solar thermal collector” or works efficiently (El-Said et al., 2016). An Al2O3/H2O
photovoltaic panel captures solar energy for heat transport to nano-fluid solar water heater constructed it. The mass flow
rate of feed water and cooling water of both single-stage plants (Zhang et al., 2018). However, the evaluated small
flash unit and humidification–dehumidification units influ- price of water (US$0.9–2.2/m3) for large-scale solar-
ence the system productivity. Besides, inlet cooling water powered reverse osmosis plants imply alternative options
temperature and nanoparticle volume fraction also affects the will be available soon.
productivity of the system.
2.2.4 Portable and Micro-desalination Based
2.2.3 Membrane-Based Hybrid Solar on Electrodialysis
Photovoltaics Hybrid solar photovoltaics-electrolysis and
Revolutionary innovations in nano-membrane fabrication micro-desalination have been developed to enhance water
and error-free production procedures are crucial to efficient and energy security (Kim et al., 2018). A portable desali-
solar desalination technologies (Alvarez et al., 2018). In the nation unit based on direct contact membrane distillation
conceivable future, membrane-based separation and desali- powered by solar photovoltaics can be a good option for
nation techniques may stay critical instruments in water micro-desalination plants and off-grid houses (Kadi et al.,
treatment. Besides, nanotechnology will assist in overcom- 2019). Based on membrane distillation powered by solar
ing working interferences, namely foulant and poor selec- photovoltaics, the portable desalination devices are less
tivity in the separation of ions or molecules. In nanoscale energy-intense and low carbon-emitting and the considerable
grafting and doping, membrane efficiency and reliability will concern is rising to integrate it with RE (Ali et al., 2018a).
be improved, while selective membranes for the specific However, the determination of the most efficient-type RE
desalination tasks can be built using nanotubes. The form is yet to be configured to maximize desalinated water
next-in-line desalination membranes would be antifoulant yield while consuming a minimum volume of energy
and steady against oxidizing substances such as chlorine. (Abdelkareem et al., 2018). The main reason for this is the
Many of photovoltaics-RO systems function spasmodi- existence of diverse methods of desalination and renewable
cally to cut the expenditures of RE storage. Consequently, energies. The selection of RE as a source is affected by many
the influence of sporadic function influences the membrane parameters, for instance desalination plant size, place, feeder
life, develops fouling and scaling, and increases operational pressure, feed water features, and anticipated water price
maintenance costs (Freire-Gormaly & Bilton, 2018). Nev- (Ali et al., 2018a).
ertheless, a simple procedure of rinsing the membrane before A portable solar desalination unit consisting of 0.042 m2
shutdown can significantly uphold the membrane lifespan membrane at 40 °C and permeate temperature of 25 °C can
and preserve higher membrane permeability compared to the produce 2.31 L/day of freshwater without any external heat
membranes without rinsing. Freire-Gormaly and Bilton (Kadi et al., 2019). This technology seems highly promising
(2018) further designated that using antiscalant and rinsing to explore comprising both ideal assumptions and practical
can significantly lower scale deposits on the membrane, computational fluid dynamics validated by modeling.
which leads to membrane fouling. However, the sporadic traits of the mentioned sources
Currently, the majority of the solar-water treatment pro- encompass severe obstacles to the techno-economic feasi-
cesses are yet to be implemented for real-time applications. bility of the process. Renewable sources are typically uti-
For example, Jun et al. (2019) examined the uses of bio- lized for small-scale desalination plants but do not apply to
fouling resistance in photothermal-induced inactivation of power big plants because they are sporadic and unstable
microorganisms in RO and ultrafiltration procedures (Jun (Mito et al., 2019). Moreover, the RO plant's close link to
et al., 2019). Ultrafiltration as a pretreatment of RO is a renewables may require swiftness and flexible operation to
promising scheme of integrating RO-multistage flush complement the necessary power load. More solar intensity
desalination. Seawater at raised temperature can be applied does not, however, deduce decreased carbon dioxide emis-
as feedwater in this method (Agashichev & Kumar, 2017). sions from solar desalination plants (Alhaj & Al-Ghamdi,
The pretreatment device can be segmented into a sequence 2019). Environmental factors such as seawater temperature
of functions which are ultrafiltered, backwashed, chemically and salinity gradients also limit different factors of
strengthened backwashing, cleansing and dried, and desalination.
disposal. Independent photovoltaic-RO wastewater treatment
Again, up-to-the-minute technologies often need complex plants are also promising to secure freshwater in locations
systems with several parts that result in low efficiency yet at that require a functional electricity network (Abdelkareem
a too high price (Yang et al., 2018). Consequently, economic et al., 2018). The practical arrangement of photovoltaic
affordability is a significant reason for scaling and marketing clusters and the addition of solar tracking, adjustment of
(Zhang et al., 2018). For instance, the price of water from tilting angle, photovoltaic array, cleaning technologies can
tiny to moderate-scale PVRO plants is in the range of US effectively expand the effectiveness of independent
$0.2–22/m3, which was costlier than traditional fossil-fueled photovoltaic-RO desalination. With feedwater for cooling
74 M. Shammi
the photovoltaic system, increased efficiency and freshwater frugal if permeation flux and membrane recovery are
output in the RO unit raised cumulative productivity while achievable (Blandin et al., 2016; Choi et al., 2015).
decreased total costs of function. Progress in the forward osmosis membrane includes the
application of pressure-assisted osmosis. Membrane
2.2.5 Forward Osmosis, Pressure-Retarded improvement had established noteworthy upgrading in the
Osmosis, and Other Hybridized System permeation of water flux. However, this improvement is not
Forward osmosis and pressure-retarded osmosis generates without fouling and the low rebuff of trace organic com-
energy which depends on the use of a semipermeable pounds (Blandin et al., 2016). Likewise, the forward osmosis
membrane (Anissimov, 2016). The membrane is permeable membrane also needs to improve the mechanical resistance,
to water while impermeable to salt. It is a potential focusing on future research.
membrane-based technique of high-salinity seawater
desalination and water reuse where RO is incompetent or 2.2.6 Electrodialysis and Other Hybridized
uneconomic (Blandin et al., 2016; Hsu et al., 2019). In Method
forward-osmosis, water flows over semipermeable mem- Ion exchange membranes are unique in their combination of
branes that change the osmotic pressure gradient between the ion exchange resin, their electrochemical properties, and
membrane sides. This method does not cost transmembrane membrane permeability. Commonly used for the municipal
energy except for those required to diffuse the system wastewater treatment and desalination of fresh and brackish
solutions (Safder et al., 2018). Forward osmosis reduces water, capacitive membrane deionization is an energy-
fouling and scaling, energy recovery of the brine, minimizes efficient and emerging technology that selectively transfers
power consumption, and the use of chemicals. It is poten- counter ions toward carbon electrodes in ion exchange
tially applicable for wastewater treatment that has severe membranes (Hassanvand et al., 2017).
fouling propensity and when the draw solution is needed Integrating electrodialysis with RO has several technical
both in pretreatment and post-treatment. In addition, it advantages: no driving force limitations, when nanofiltration
requires minimal electricity. Mostly, it is usually integrated is used, and low energy requirement. Consequently, elec-
into other separation procedures to separate the draw solu- tricity intakes of 1.3 kWh/m3 accomplished < 30% recov-
tion from the output water or used in the pretreatment pro- ery. However, the process is expensive than the RO system
cess to conventional desalination technologies (Chekli et al., (Bitaw et al., 2019). Coupling membrane distillation with
2016). pressure-retarded osmosis or reverse electrodialysis boosts
The use of forward osmosis, high pressure-retarded the process performances. It offers a smooth and viable route
osmosis, and membrane recycling can significantly reduce to produce freshwater and sustainable electricity from a
the carbon footprint of desalination. Enhanced membranes range of wastewaters, together with brines, which would
could decrease energy claim by 15–20% (Fane, 2018). otherwise be considered for environmental obligations (Ali
Moreover, energy decrease is the primary driving force in et al., 2018a). The decarbonization of membrane desalina-
using RE for desalination purposes in countless remote tion is an outstanding trial to decrease carbon discharges to
communities (Freire-Gormaly & Bilton, 2018). The signifi- alleviate climate change (Fane, 2018). Owing to more sig-
cant drawbacks of forward osmosis are the draw solution, nificant membrane areas, the hybrid electrodialysis-RO
which are usually salts and challenging to recycle energy system could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from 63 to
and water recovery. Hsu et al. (2019) developed a hybrid 26%, while brine concentrations reduced from 42 to 34%,
ionic liquid or hydrogel to improve the overall forward respectively (Bitaw et al., 2019).
osmosis process. The hydrogels can recover the water
without heating the draw solution. It can be used in a con- 2.2.7 Hybrid Membrane Distillation and Related
tinuous recycling process to recover water. It also alleviates Desalination
the water flux drop of the ionic liquid as the draw agent (Hsu Steam production using solar power is the foundation for
et al., 2019). various sustainable desalination methods (Cooper et al.,
An integrated forward osmosis RO hybrid process 2018). The steam price for membrane distillation plays a
developed by Choi et al. (2017) showed that water carrying significant part in defining the profitability and feasibility of
factor and inner strength of polarization resistance are crucial RO membrane distillation/pressure-retarded osmosis
issues affecting the execution in the forward osmosis pro- integrated/hybrid systems (Choi et al., 2017). Membrane
cess, where the salt transportation factor was not most distillation has demonstrated the ability to produce electricity
influential. The permeation flux rate and the membrane cost and fresh water simultaneously by itself. Plenty of inex-
of the forward osmosis are similar to RO, but the electricity pensive renewables are an alternative way to contemporary
cost is expensive. This hybrid system can be economically power procedures of desalination. Furthermore, developing a
scalable and economic “photothermal membrane” for RO, significant surface area, flexibility, and have intrinsic
ultrafiltration and membrane distillation, and solar steam adsorption and sieving ability to eliminate waterborne con-
generation has prospective powering for an energy-efficient taminants and minerals. Because of their lightweight nature,
membrane distillation (Jun et al., 2019). Moradi et al. (2019) these materials are readily transportable for household and
informed about synchronized energy generation and thermal business-scale portable water purification appliances
waste retrieval scheme in a multi-effect desalination system. (Alvarez et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2018).
For steam generation using heat energy from the vent, a heat Ali et al. (2019) revealed that the bench-scale imple-
recovery steam generator is applied. The emitted steam mentation of nanocomposite membranes of carbon nan-
moves through a multistage desalination device to yield otubes could enhance water penetration, high selectivity, and
freshwater (Moradi et al., 2019). antifouling capacity (Ali et al., 2019). Moreover, membranes
The vacuum membrane distillation process and adsorp- containing multi-walled carbon nanotube-polyamide
tion desalination units are coupled to designate a “VMD-AD nanocomposite segments above 12.5 wt% improve the
cycle.” It maintains the low vacuum atmosphere in the degradation of RO membrane’s resistance against chlorine
high-pressure gradient across the microporous hydrophobic exposure. It increases water flux and maintains salt rejection
membrane. Furthermore, this system supported with solar performance (Ortiz-Medina et al., 2018).
power and temperature modulating unit showed a higher Nano-enabled treatment methods indicate that energy and
total water production (21%) and water recoveries (23%) chemical needs, and solid waste and wastewater residuals
compared to the conventional system (Kim et al., 2016). generation, the associated cost and likely ecological effects
Additionally, an amalgamation of membrane distillations may be considerably reduced. For instance, nanophotonic-
with pressure-retarded osmosis or reverse electrodialysis can based technology can be combined with RE sources to
improve efficiency and deliver a sustainable path for fresh- harvest freshwater in the distillation process. Besides, to
water and energy production. High-pressure RO has func- reduce interference and improve effectiveness and interrup-
tioned at a hydraulic pressure greater than 100 bar has tions, nanotechnology can strengthen membranes and pho-
also been applied to desalinate hypersaline brines compe- tocatalysts (Alvarez et al., 2018). However, the evolving
tently (Stevens et al., 2017). It has a potential application for upsurge of the invention can ultimately enable next-
high-salinity industrial wastewaters, and this can decrease generation modular water treatment technologies to consid-
energy needs for desalination. Membrane distillations with erably enhance water security and resilience in water supply
pressure-retarded osmosis or reverse electrodialysis have a (Alvarez et al., 2018). Besides, functional carbon nanotubes
potential industrial application of wastewater management (f-CNT) membranes further revealed superior antifoulant
by zero liquid discharge. An economical replacement for repellant because of the characteristics of elevated conduc-
more excellent salts concentration could be microfiltration tivity of electrical charge and the presence of negative sur-
blended with assisted RO as well as coupling with face charge. By creating reactive oxygen species, f-CNTs
mechanically based vapor compression or forward impair microbes and repulse biofilm growth responsible for
osmosis-based vapor compression (Osipi et al., 2018). fouling (Ali et al., 2019). Graphene is another illustration of
a carbon-based substance that functions as a solar–thermal
2.2.8 Nano-enabled Desalination converter. 3D cross-linked honeycomb graphene foam
Nanotechnology provides a novel, innovative products for material captures and converts solar energy into heat. Sub-
water treatment systems by regulating the material, size, sequently, the heat distills water into steam and generates
morphology, and chemical composition. Nano-enabled freshwater effectively, even under low sun intensity (Yang
water treatments possess excellent catalysts that increase et al., 2018). Besides, the hydrophilic quartz glass fibrous,
the cost-effectiveness of water treatment with adsorption, often known as QGF membrane composite, dramatically
optical, quantum, electrical, and antimicrobial properties lowers the cost of investment by minimizing land size and
(Alvarez et al., 2018). As an alternative to polyamides, many increasing freshwater production (Wang et al., 2019).
innovative nanoporous materials are developed (Stevens
et al., 2017), which are exclusively used for RO and 2.2.9 Other Interesting Methods for Future
nanofiltration membrane production. The development of Potentiality
distinct kinds of nanomaterials such as graphenes, graphene
oxide, block copolymers, liquid crystals, aquaporins, and
other biologically inspired molecular channels and thin-film 1. Pervaporative desalination is a membrane-based proce-
composites, carbon nanotubes (Stevens et al., 2017; Yang dure which is not commercially explored yet but has
et al., 2019) is increasing field of research aimed at meeting tremendous potentiality. The pervaporative membrane
the cumulative requirement of freshwater around the globe. material is produced from polyvinyl alcohol, maleic acid,
These carbon-based nanomaterials often have a more and tetraethyl orthosilicate. The considerable amount of
76 M. Shammi
heat energy (2609 MJ/m3) is needed to recirculate the performance ratio only when brine was reused around the
fluid flux at 65 °C. It required electricity as low as <0.2 RO unit (Ali et al., 2018b).
kWh/m3, and the vacuum pump mainly supplied the 6. A combination of geothermal and solar energy was used
electricity. Pervaporation might be an alluring desalina- in the humidification–dehumidification system. Geother-
tion method when it is combined to recover waste heat mal energy provided constant heat supply (24-h), and the
and salt (Xie et al., 2018). Pervaporative desalination is operating system is efficient in areas with geothermal
one of the most influential and encouraging membrane water temperature above 60 °C and a flow rate below
technologies where the nanocomposite membranes play 0.15 kg/s. The average percentage of humidity at the
the most crucial role. Nanocomposite membranes also humidification unit outlet increased by 46% for an
regulates procedural efficacy (Roy & Singha, 2017). increase in geothermal water flow rate from 0.05 to
In pervaporation desalination, the efficiency of photo- 0.1 kg/S. Simultaneously, the solar energy increased the
voltaics depends on strength, and mechanical features of temperature of induced air by 3–4 °C, which heightened
the membrane, along with operational parameters. the evaporation level within the humidification unit. Daily
Therefore, advancement on the high-performance and potable water output was near about 192 L/m2 and cost
cost-effective nanocomposite membranes having the 0.003 USD/L (Elminshawy et al., 2016).
benefits of both organic- and inorganic-membranes have 7. In many studies on integrated/hybrid methods of desali-
given emphasis (Singha et al., 2019). nation algorithms and mathematical models and model-
2. The latent heat of the water vapor can be condensed and ing software such as HOMER have been utilized to
retrieved in each distillation using photovoltaics with a improve different RO coupled with other desalination
multifaceted membrane distillation unit at the flip side of systems (Agashichev & Kumar, 2017; Ahmed et al.,
solar cells (Wang et al., 2019). 2019; Ali et al., 2017; Anissimov, 2016; Bitaw et al.,
3. Nuclear energy proposes a viable choice for simultane- 2019; Esmaeilion, 2020; Khan et al., 2018; Maleki, 2018;
ous thermal energy generation and freshwater copro- Monnot et al., 2018; Rabiee et al., 2019; Roy & Singha,
duction by desalination. A significant quantity of heat is 2017; Santosh et al., 2019; Shalaby et al., 2017). By the
recovered during the process, which can be utilized for optimization of mathematical models and algorithms,
freshwater reclamation. The recovered heat is employed hybrid desalination systems can perform better.
to harvest vapor and make thermal electricity onsite to
provide thermal power and facilitate membrane desali-
nation. Different sizes of nuclear power reactors can be
coupled with a variety of desalination methods. The 3 Concluding Remarks
charge was calculated in the range of $0.4–1.8/m3 using
nuclear power based on the reactor category and the The rising water demand has resulted in a dramatic increase
procedures for desalination (Al-Othman et al., 2019). in the research of global desalination efficiency. Through an
Small modular reactors appear to be the safest selection attempt to reduce the carbon footprint due to
in nuclear desalination and suitable for the newcomer energy-intensive fossil fuel-based desalination, the focus has
nations adopting nuclear energy. been given to integrate REs and improve the efficiency of
4. For a coastal region, RE-pumped storage structures can membranes using different types of nanocomposite materi-
be merged with desalination plants to form a RE - als. A combination of renewable energies and desalination
pumped storage-seawater desalination system (Liu et al., techniques is being tried to achieve economically viable
2019). RE-operated units have gained substantial water and energy output as well as reduce environmental
importance. impacts. Multiple solar irradiation technologies have been
5. Membrane distillation produces high-purity water indif- developed to integrate solar energy. It has also focused on
ferent to a salinity gradient. Membrane distillation was the development of portable and micro-desalination based on
employed to condense geothermal brackish water using electrodialysis for the remote off-grid islands and commu-
RO units after the cooling of the treated feedstock. nities. Forward osmosis, pressure-retarded osmosis, and
Integrating membrane distillation-RO for treating other hybridized systems are being improvised to for
geothermal water resulted in a substantial advantage. The leveraging RO processes, overcome its limitations such as
integrated system recovered 30% to 40% water. The increasing water flux, decrease membrane fouling, enhance
price of energy per m3 varied from 0.4 to 0.9 $ depending lifetime of the membrane, waste heat, and water recovery
on the differences in RO operating pressures (which with potential future applications. The integration of
varied between 6 and 40 bar). It was found that brine desalination technologies is required for identifying
recycling also improved the recovery rate and cost-effective, commercially viable sustainable water and
energy production with fewer environmental impacts. It can Choi, Y., Cho, H., Shin, Y., Jang, Y., & Lee, S. (2015). Economic
also help the water and energy researchers, policymakers, evaluation of a hybrid desalination system combining forward and
reverse osmosis. Membranes (Basel), 6(1).
and legislators to identify which integrated technologies to Choi, Y., Kim, S.-H., & Lee, S. (2017). Comparison of performance
have opted for sustainable water and energy security. and economics of reverse osmosis, membrane distillation, and
pressure retarded osmosis hybrid systems. Desalination and Water
Treatment, 77, 19–29.
Cooper, T. A., Zandavi, S. H., Ni, G. W., Tsurimaki, Y., Huang, Y.,
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Reverse Osmosis Desalination
Ashish Kapoor, Muthamilselvi Ponnuchamy,

and Sivaraman Prabhakar
Abstract around or less than about 3 kWh/m3 and further improve-

ment in this direction will be only marginal. Major
In the last few decades, desalination processes have
improvements are expected in the development of
played a crucial role in meeting the growing demand for
membranes that resist fouling.
water. Desalination process consists of raw water,
desalination device, product water and energy. Among
Keywords

the desalination processes, membrane-based reverse

osmosis desalination has become popular because of its Desalination Reverse osmosis Pretreatment
characteristics such as ambient temperature operation, Membrane arrangement Post treatment Energy
low specific energy consumption, modularity, and toler- recovery
ance to intermittent operation. The chapter discusses the
mechanism of desalination using preferential sorption-
capillary flow model. A brief description of membrane
preparation techniques is followed by a discussion on the 1 Introduction
merits and demerits of the membrane element configura-
tion based on tubular and flat sheet geometries. The Though two thirds of the earth’s surface are covered with
various steps involved in the design of RO desalination water, only less than one percent is available as fresh water
plants are indicated with the reason for each operation suitable for direct use. Even this quantum of water has a
including pretreatment involving fouling and scaling skewed distribution across the world resulting in many water
control, design considerations for fixing the recovery, stress or water-scarce regions. Seawater accounts for more
the arrangement of modules including the concept of than 96% of the available water resources but is not suitable
stages and passes. The monitoring methods including silt for many human activities because of high salinity levels
density index are indicated. The need for post treatment coupled with the challenges in tapping the resources in a
and the methods used are discussed including control of cost-effective manner. Several inland ground water sources
boron concentration in the permeate. The developments are also saline which are not fit for direct human use. To
of various types of pumps and the corresponding energy meet the growing demand for water it is necessary to convert
recovery devices over the years resulting in the reduction saline water to sweet water. Desalination refers to the pro-
of specific energy consumption to less than 3 kWh/m3 are cesses which enable the separation of water from saline
highlighted. While discussing inland brackish water sources mostly using physico-chemical methods. In the
desalination, it is indicated that the design strategy should absence of any sustainable source of water, it is imperative
focus on resource conservation and sustainability rather to look for desalination of seawater and brackish water to
than minimisation of cost. The specific energy consump- augment the fresh water sources. In the early twentieth
tion of reverse osmosis desalination plants nowadays is century, pure water was obtained from saline water by dis-
tillation process. Even though the phenomenon of osmosis
A. Kapoor M. Ponnuchamy S. Prabhakar (&) was known in the eighteenth century, its practical applica-
Department of Chemical Engineering, SRM Institute of Science tion for the separation of water from solution gathered
and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu 603203, India
e-mail: ashishko@srmist.edu.in momentum after, ambient temperature casting of cellulose
acetate membrane in the early sixties by Loeb and Sourirajan
M. Ponnuchamy
e-mail: muthamip@srmist.edu.in (1963). Thermal processes require thermal energy and are

80 A. Kapoor et al.
limited by thermodynamic efficiency. Further inverse solu- thermo vapour compression (TVC)) in commercial scale.
bility of calcium carbonate and sulphate solutes limits the A few more devices such as forward osmosis (FO), mem-
operational temperature and recovery (Roy et al., 2017). On brane distillation (MD), capacitative deionisation (CDI)
the other hand, reverse osmosis desalination processes use (Zhang et al., 2020), electro-deionisation (EDI) and freeze
mechanical energy at ambient temperature. Sustainability of desalination (FD) are evolving.
the membrane surface with reference to physical, chemical, Energy is a major requirement of a desalination plant,
and biological deterioration is a challenge. In the last four whose actual consumption depends on energy type used,
decades, both the thermal and reverse osmosis desalination process design, feed characteristics and product purity.
processes have undergone many modifications towards Thermal, mechanical, and electrical energy have been
reliability, reduction in specific energy consumption and cost commercially used for desalination of sea water and
of water. About 16,000 desalination, plants are in operation brackish water. Solar energy has been used directly as well
across the world accounting for about 95 billion litres per as in derived forms: thermal, electrical, mechanical and
day of desalinated water (Jones et al., 2019). However, as ocean thermal energy. Thermodynamically (irrespective of
seen in Fig. 1, the reverse osmosis (RO) desalination has the desalination process), the minimum energy required is
grown more significantly compared to thermal processes about 0.7 kWh for extracting 1000 L of pure water from
with respect to capacity and number of plants in the last two an infinite source of seawater at 25 °C. Complete recovery
decades in view of specific features with reference to flexi- of pure water is not possible in any of the devices,
bility in operation and less energy consumption. because of the physical and chemical properties of the
The basic components of a desalination plant include solutes present resulting in irreversible loss of a fraction of
input resources such as water source, energy, desalination energy used in the process. Constant improvement in all
device and outputs such as purified water and reject stream the processes have resulted in the reduction of energy
as shown in Fig. 2. Desalination systems can remove either consumption from about 10–20 kWh range to about 2.5–
water or dissolved salts preferentially, depending on the 11 kWh per 1000 L, depending on the type of energy used
characteristics of the system. Many desalination devices and process design. Local logistics and operational sus-
have been developed including reverse osmosis (RO), tainability considerations have in specific instances resulted
electro-dialysis (ED) and a number of variants of thermal in adopting novel energy-intensive processes such as ocean
desalination (multi-stage flash (MSF), multi-effect distilla- thermal energy conversion (OTEC) (Davis & Schubert,
tion (MED), mechanical vapour compression (MVC) and 1974).
Fig. 1 Growth of desalination over years 1960–2020, a desalination capacity and number of desalination plants and b capacity of various types of
desalination plants (reproduced from (Jones et al., 2019) with permission from Elsevier)
Reverse Osmosis Desalination 81
Fig. 2 Components of
desalination
The characteristics of the feed both with respect to the solutions. The driving force is the osmotic pressure gradient
dissolved solids and suspended matter influence the design arising out of the chemical potential difference of water
of a desalination system, as the heat and mass transfer effi- across the membrane and is dependent on the concentration
ciencies are seriously affected by fouling and scaling. Hence, of the dissolved solutes. Osmotic pressure can be visualised
the feed requires pretreatment and the rigour depends on the as the water—solute binding energy which must be over-
process. come to remove water from a solution and the binding
Product quality and the fraction of water obtained with energy increases with an increase in dissolved solutes per
respect to the original feed (recovery) varies depending on unit volume of water. In the reverse osmosis process, water
the process and to some extent on process design. Thermal is forced through the semipermeable membrane by the
desalination processes normally yield high purity water with application of hydrostatic pressure above the osmotic pres-
less solute content as the separation involves phase change. sure of the solution (Nagy, 2019). The applied pressure can
In all the other processes, the product water has some dis- be considered as the sum of the binding energy (osmotic
solved solutes. In any case, post treatment is necessary either pressure) and the driving force for the Poiseuille flow of
for supplying safe drinking water or for transmission through water.
pipelines (to minimise corrosion) for other uses.
Reverse osmosis desalination is a pressure-driven process
requiring mechanical energy, working at ambient tempera- 1.2 Basic Mechanisms of Reverse Osmosis
ture with a membrane capable of preferential permeation of Process
water. Thermal processes are energy-intensive involving
phase change. Electro-dialysis process has drawbacks Amongst the approaches suggested in the literature to explain
including high energy consumption and poor product qual- the transport processes through membranes, preferential
ity. In view of these factors, most of the newly constructed sorption-capillary flow (PSCF) and solution diffusion mech-
desalination plants are based on reverse osmosis technology. anisms are two extremes. The former (Kimura & Sourirajan,
In the succeeding sections, different aspects of reverse 1967) considers the transport of water as capillary flow
osmosis desalination technology are discussed. through the pores of the membranes. Further, it recognises
interfacial adsorption of water on the membrane surface. The
second approach (Riley et al., 1967) considers that the water
1.1 Fundamentals of Reverse Osmosis and solutes dissolve in the membrane matrix and diffuse
through the membrane and does not recognise the preferential
Osmosis, a natural phenomenon, describes the preferential sorption at all. The separation is attributed to the combination
flow of water from dilute solution to concentrated solution of two factors solubility in the matrix and diffusivity through
through a semipermeable membrane separating both the matrix. Third approach is based on the principles of
82 A. Kapoor et al.
irreversible thermodynamics (Spiegler & Kedem, 1966) structural pores to allow water transport with minimal
considering the membrane as a black box. The passage of resistance.
water and the solutes are governed by the respective con-
centration gradients. Further, the mechanism assumes that
water flow is coupled with solute flow and vice-versa. 2 Preparation of Membranes and Membrane
For the description of reverse osmosis process, preferen- Modules
tial sorption capillary flow mechanism is considered suitable.
Accordingly, as shown in Fig. 3, water from the solution gets 2.1 Preparation of Membranes
preferentially adsorbed onto the membrane surface. The
thickness of the sorbed layer depends on the physico- Membrane is the heart of the process and has the charac-
chemical nature of the membrane. Under the application of teristics to control the preferential separation of water. At the
pressure, greater than the osmotic pressure, water flows same time, the membrane should offer less resistance for the
through the capillaries. As the pores in the membrane are not flow of water to achieve reasonable quantity of pure water at
uniform, a salt passage occurs through the larger pores by moderate operating pressures. Hence, the reverse osmosis
diffusion. Since the boundary layer formation is inherent due membrane should be highly semipermeable and strong
to the preferential removal of water, osmotic pressure of the enough to withstand the operating pressure and offer less
boundary layer and concentration of solutes at the boundary resistance for the flow of separated water.
layers are considered for the water flux and salt flux. Since To achieve the requisite semi-permeability, the membrane
boundary layer concentration is not directly measurable, a surface should have the ability to preferentially attract water,
third equation is derived to relate the bulk concentration with leaving out the solutes which are present in the hydrated
boundary layer concentration and permeate concentration state in the solution. This is achieved by balancing the
based on film theory. The basic equations are presence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties of the
membrane surface as well as keeping the pore size distri-
Nw ¼ Am ½P Dp ¼ As ½C2 C3 bution in a narrow range with the average pore size around a
ðC2 C3 Þ few Angstrom units. Cellulose acetate membrane was the
¼ kð1 C3 Þ ln ð1Þ
ðC1 C3 Þ first membrane used for the demonstration of the RO
desalination process albeit at high operating pressures
(Merten et al., 1967). Later, synthetic polymeric membranes
Nw : water flux in L/m2 s. were developed, to achieve a high degree of separation. The
Am : membrane constant, L/s m2 atm defined as water per- average molecular weight of the polymers used for the
meating through the membrane per unit area and unit pres- membrane preparation was high enough to provide, inherent
sure for pure water (zero osmotic pressure) as feed. strength to withstand the operating pressures at least up to 80
P: Applied pressure atm. bars. Since separation occurs only on the surface of the
Dp: difference between osmotic pressure of feed solution and membrane, porous matrix support coated with an active
product solution in atm. polymeric membrane layer has been developed resulting in
As : membrane surface area in m2. high water flux and better salt removal efficiencies at lower
k: mass transfer coefficient m/s. operating pressures.
c: solution concentration and suffices 1, 2, 3 represent bulk Membranes can be of different types made of different
feed, boundary layer and permeate respectively. materials: porous or non-porous, organic, or inorganic,
synthetic, or natural. The membranes can be made from a
The above discussions lead to the inference that the mem- single polymer or from two different polymers one coated
branes for RO desalination should have the property con- over the other. Depending on the structure and morphology
ducive for interfacial adsorption of water molecules and they are classified as asymmetric or symmetric, homogenous
Fig. 3 Working mechanism of reverse osmosis membrane process

(isotropic) or heterogeneous (anisotropic). Asymmetric average pore sizes of the reverse osmosis membranes are in
membranes can be of the same material or made of two the order of a few Angstrom units. The pores are not uniform
different materials. Symmetric membranes are uniform and there exists a pore size distribution on the membrane
throughout, while asymmetric membranes exhibit changes in surface.
density in its structure (porosity will be changing suddenly
or gradually). Homogeneous membranes are highly dense
membranes. For reverse osmosis, only asymmetric mem- 2.2 Membrane Configuration
branes are used to ensure minimum resistance for water flow
without sacrificing the selectivity of separation. Accord- Water separation from saline water through reverse osmosis
ingly, the active layer requires to be very thin with small membranes is essentially a surface phenomenon. The water
surface pores (with average pore sizes around a few ang- that is adsorbed on the membrane surface permeates through
stroms). Commercial asymmetric membranes were earlier the pores under the applied pressure. The permeation rate at
prepared from the same polymer viz. cellulose 2.5 acetate, constantly applied pressure depends on the resistance, the
cellulose triacetate and aromatic polyamides. Later, Cadotte pores offer. Thus, separation of water from the solution is
et al. (1980) developed a technique for in situ polymerisation governed by the top surface of the membrane while the
over a porous matrix, normally an ultrafiltration membrane, water flux depends on the support layer resistance and
popularly known as thin film composites (TFC). hence the thickness. Compactness, defined as ‘surface area
Normally reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration membranes of the membrane per unit volume’ is an important consid-
are prepared by phase inversion technique. In phase inver- eration. Total production of the membrane desalination
sion method, a dope solution consisting of a mixture of process is proportional to membrane area. The footprint
membrane polymer, solvent and a pore-forming additive, is required for the plant is therefore depends on the compact-
prepared and its homogeneity is ensured by thorough mixing ness of the membrane unit. As the separation takes place
and degasification. The solution is cast in ‘sheet’ or ‘tubular’ progressively with the passage of feed, the concentration of
form and immersed into a gelling medium, which is nor- dissolved species increases, particularly near the membrane
mally water. Between the casting and gelation, the film gets surface affecting the performance. The fluid flow character-
exposed to the environment during which evaporation of istics play an important role in reducing the impact of the
solvent takes place leading to the formation of smaller pores ‘concentrating feed’ on the membrane performance.
on the surface. During the gelation, all additives and solvents Membrane configuration refers to the packing of the
present in the film are exchanged with water molecules thus prepared membrane into different geometries catering to
allowing the formation of the pores. The pores formed different requirements of compactness and hydrodynamics.
during exposure to air are smaller compared to those formed There are basically four commercial membrane configura-
during gelation. Since the surface structure is different from tions, each one with unique hydrodynamic characteristics,
the rest the membrane, these types of membrane are known and varying compactness meeting different requirements
as ‘asymmetric membrane’. with reference to feeding quality and design constraints.
The membranes formed by in situ polymerisation of Membranes are generally prepared as long sheets with
active monomers over a porous support material (0.01 maximum width of one metre. Alternately, they are prepared
micron average pore size and asymmetric in nature) results in tubular forms with inner diameters varying from about
in a thin active layer and the membrane thus formed is a thin 6 mm to about 25 mm or as capillaries of about 0.5 mm to
film composite. As shown in Fig. 4, the support is immersed about 2 mm inner diameters. Hollow fibre membranes used
into a solution of water soluble monomer (mostly aqueous for reverse osmosis have less than 100 micron inner diameter
m-phenylene diamine), drip dried, and immersed into an and up to about 150 micron outer diameter.
organic reactive monomer solution (tri-mesoyl chloride) and Two configurations are prepared from sheet membranes
cured at temperatures between 80 and 150 °C (Ali et al., viz. plate and frame and spiral wound and the remaining two
2020). The membrane formed has a thin ‘active’ layer are based on cylindrical membranes viz. tubular and hollow
resulting in high solute removal. As the thickness of the fibre or capillary. Each of these configurations has distinct
active layer is less compared to asymmetric membranes, characteristics and are useful under certain specific envi-
permeate water flux is also higher. ronment (Belfort, 1988).
There are other methods available for the preparation of
membranes including track etching (Apel, 2001) and melt 2.2.1 Plate and Frame Configuration
casting (Erukhimovich & de la Cruz, 2004) but these Plate and frame configuration akin to filter press consists of
membranes are not used for reverse osmosis or nanofiltra- small membranes in circular or hexagonal shapes with
tion. Thin film composite membranes are used commercially appropriate arrangement for the passage of feed both in
for reverse osmosis desalination. It is to be noted that the series and parallel mode (Balster et al., 2015). As shown in
84 A. Kapoor et al.
Fig. 4 Thin film composite

membrane preparation
Fig. 5, the membranes are placed on either side of a pressure membrane envelopes thus prepared are spirally wound over
plate. A separator plate placed in between the pressure plates a central porous tube such that the permeate drains into the
separates the membranes on each surface. The plate surface central tube. Feed spacers are introduced between the
is designed with a slope and random projections on the envelopes to facilitate the feed flow through the annular
surface to induce turbulence to the feed. The feed flows space. The whole assembly is sealed with an outer cover
along the surface of pressure plates contacting the active mostly of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP). The permeate water
surface of the membranes while the permeate is transported flows out through the central tube, while the feed enters
by capillary action through the non-woven cloth placed through the annular space available between the envelopes
between the membrane and the separator plate. The maxi- and exits through the other end as shown in Fig. 6. Com-
mum surface area of each membrane is less than 900 cm2. mercial elements are available in different standard sizes
The advantages include facile construction of unit modules from several manufacturers (Hoek et al., 2013).
with different membrane areas, easy replacement of dam-
aged membrane and less waste generation after use. Earlier, 2.2.3 Tubular Configuration
plate and frame RO modules were used for ship borne RO Hollow cylindrical membranes of inner diameter varying
desalination plants but discontinued due to high unit cost from 0.25″ to 1″ are inserted into a porous support tube and
because of the requirement of pressure plates for every pair assembled akin to a shell-tube heat exchanger (Fig. 7).
of membranes used. At present, plate and frame configura- Porous tubes should be of sufficient strength to withstand the
tion is mostly used for nano-filtration applications in dairy operating pressure. Feed passes through the tube side and the
industries (Kumar et al., 2013). permeate is collected in the shell side.
2.2.2 Spiral-Wound Configuration 2.2.4 Hollow Fibre Configuration

Spiral-wound configuration consists of long sheets of Hollow fibre capillary element is a micro-version of the
membrane spirally wound over a porous tube. Each pair of tubular configuration (Fig. 8). The basic difference is that the
membrane sheets is made into an envelope sealing three membranes can operate without any support for withstand-
sides of the membrane leaving one width side open, ing the operating pressure. Hollow fibre membranes are
exposing the active surface of the membrane. Non-woven asymmetric membranes prepared by phase inversion tech-
cloth pieces longer than the membrane envelope and with a nique and has a very high surface to volume ratio, resulting
slightly smaller width is inserted into the envelope. The open in higher specific production and less footprint requirement
end of the envelope is then sealed and fixed to the porous compared to all the other configurations. Several RO
central tube to enable the outflow of the permeate water into desalination plants were installed using Dupont’s aromatic
the central tube. Number and length of the envelopes vary polyamide based Permasep hollow fibre membrane elements
depending on the unit capacity. The maximum width of the up to mid-nineties. The basic disadvantage of hollow fibre
membranes manufactured is around one metre. The modules arises from its vulnerability for heavy scaling and
Fig. 5 Plate and frame membrane module
2.2.5 Comparison of Membrane Configurations

Comparisons of these module configurations based on com-
pactness, hydrodynamics, ease of maintenance and eco-
nomics have been reported in the literature (Belfort, 1988).
For large scale applications as in desalination, where the
installed capacities are in the order of few hundreds of million
litres per day (MLD), footprint requirement becomes an
important consideration. Desalination process, being a sur-
face phenomenon, the sustainability depends on providing a
conducive hydrodynamic environment, whereby the fouling
and scaling become minimum. Tubular membrane elements
are amenable for maintaining turbulent flow conditions for
minimising the fouling and scaling concerns. In the plate and
Fig. 6 Spiral-wound membrane module frame module turbulence is created by plate surface geometry
and frequent changes in the direction of flow. In the case of
fouling due to constrained hydrodynamics, requiring fre- spiral elements turbulence is induced by the network geom-
quent maintenance and replacement of membrane elements. etry of the feed spacers, while in hollow fibre membrane
Consequently, the use of these elements was discontinued. elements only laminar flow is possible as the diameters of the
After nearly a decade, Toyobo's cellulose triacetate based fibres are extremely small (<100 µm internal diameter) and
Hollosep membrane elements were installed in Middle-East no scope exists for introducing turbulence promoters.
(Khawaji et al., 2007) around 2007 for seawater desalina- With reference to fouling and scaling resistance, the
tion. Later ‘Hollosep’ membrane manufacturing unit has also ranking of membrane elements is (bad to good): hollow fibre,
been set up in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia. The challenge appears spiral, plate and frame and tubular. Hollow fibre membrane
to have been lessened by chlorination as CTA membranes elements were found to be most challenging with frequent
can tolerate chlorine, unlike polyamide membranes. failures while tubular membranes were more suitable.
Fig. 7 Tubular membrane

module
86 A. Kapoor et al.
Fig. 8 Hollow fibre membrane

module
Desalination plant capacities are normally huge in the is used for desalination. Industries use their wastewater
range of a few hundreds of million litres per day (MLD). The streams as a feed to recover water for reuse.
production of water depends on the surface area of the Seawater contains all elements present in nature. In
membrane. Compactness is defined as the area per unit vol- general, seawater salinity in terms of total dissolved solids is
ume that should be high to reduce the footprint required for considered as 35,000 ppm (total dissolved solids). However,
the desired capacity. Hollow fibre, spiral, plate and frame, the salinity has been found to vary depending on the geo-
and tubular have decreasing compactness, respectively. Since graphical location as shown in Table 2 and depth of the
hollow fibre membranes are prone to scaling and fouling, ocean. Besides, the seawater contains small amounts of
spiral element is the most preferred and exploited configu- dissolved organic matter, particulates and dissolved atmo-
ration for desalination. Hollow fibre membrane based on spheric gases (Talley, 1978). The relative ratios of major
polyamide membranes have not stood the test of time with components such as sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium,
reference to sustainability and was discontinued for reverse and sulphate are nearly constant even though the salinity
osmosis applications. Recently CTA based hollow fibre units values vary widely. The pH of the surface seawater is in the
are installed in RO plants in Saudi Arabia. The performance range of 7.8–8.2 thanks to the buffering action of
is under assessment and not much information is available in carbon-dioxide and weak base (calcium hydroxide) interac-
the public domain. Tubular and plate and frame modules are tion. However, with depth, the pH changes towards the
not suitable for large scale desalination because of the eco- acidic side.
nomic considerations but they find use in a number of Brackish water is mostly found in hinterland as ground
industrial applications more for dewatering rather than for water, depending on the geo-hydrological environment. The
pure water production and for experimental studies (Le & salinity may vary both with the depth of the well and the
Nunes, 2016). withdrawal rate. Composition of water in terms of dissolved
solutes vary widely. Other than salinity, most of the inland
sources have other contaminants either geo-genic (emerging
3 Role of Feed Water Chemistry in Reverse from geological environment like fluoride, arsenic, iron,
Osmosis Desalination nitrate, etc.) or anthropogenic (emerging from human
activities related to industrial, agricultural and domestic like
Reverse osmosis desalination process is a surface phe- pesticides, heavy metal ions, etc.) in nature.
nomenon. For sustained performance, it is necessary to keep
the membrane surface in a clean condition. Feed water
depending on its compositional chemistry may lead to many 3.2 Scaling and Fouling
challenges in the operation and performance of the reverse
osmosis desalination plants with reference to corrosion, Raw seawater has suspended matter, microorganisms, and
scaling and fouling, and degradation of construction mate- dissolved solutes. Microorganisms and suspended matter
rials of equipment and membranes. may settle on the membrane, masking its surface, leading to
a loss in productivity and damage to the membrane in the
long run. As the desalination process involves continuous
3.1 Feed Characteristics withdrawal of pure water, the feed solution gets progres-
sively concentrated and at some level of concentration,
Water has different salinities depending on the location and sparingly soluble mineral salts get deposited on the mem-
has been classified by international water association into brane, reducing its performance. The scale forming com-
different categories as given in Table 1. Many large capacity ponents include calcium salts such as carbonates, sulphates,
reverse osmosis plants use seawater as the source. Where an fluorides, phosphates, strontium & barium (sulphates), and
acute shortage of fresh water is encountered, brackish water compounds of iron, aluminium, manganese, and silica.
Table 1 Salinity characteristics Classification of water Salinity (TDS)

of feed water for desalination
Water (Potable) <1000 ppm
Brackish 1000–5000 ppm
Highly Brackish 5000–15,000 ppm
Saline water 15,000–30,000 ppm
Sea Water 30,000–45,000 ppm
Brine 45,000–300,000 ppm
Table 2 Seawater composition Constituents Normal Mediterranean Gulf (Arabia) Red Sea
at different locations (all values −
are in mg/L) Chloride (Cl ) 19,000 21,000 23,000 22,200
Sodium (Na+) 10,600 11,800 16,000 14,300
Sulfate (SO42−) 2650 2950 3200 3100
Magnesium (Mg2+) 1260 1400 1800 750
2+
Calcium (Ca ) 400 420 500 230
Potassium (K+) 380 460 460 210
Bi carbonate (HCO3−) 140 – 140 150
Strontium (Sr2+) 15 – – –
Bromide (Br−) 70 160 80 70
Borate (BO33−) 25 70 – –
Total dissolved solids (TDS) 34,540 38,260 45,100 41,010
https://www.lenntech.com/composition-seawater.htm#ixzz52UEOVZwd; accessed 04 June 2020
Microorganisms whose physical sizes being higher than the bio-corrosion may also occur when the operation is sus-
pore size of the membrane would also settle as foulants pended for a longer duration. Careful choice of material of
along with suspended solids (Marian et al., 2015). construction is called for trouble-free operation. SS316 was
considered earlier as suitable but experience has shown that
it is vulnerable for pitting corrosion (Abu-safiah, 1991).
3.3 Chemical Deterioration Better varieties of stainless steel such as duplex and super
duplex steel containing more percent of chromium and
The presence of oxygen and oxidising agents lead to molybdenum are used for improved corrosion resistance.
oxidative degradation of polyamide polymers resulting in the
loss of structural integrity and properties. Chlorine is more
dangerous as it can also directly attack the nitrogen of the 4 Seawater Intake System
amide group by ‘N-chlorination’. Cellulose acetate mem-
branes are vulnerable to hydrolysis and loss of its Several options are available for seawater intake. However,
semi-permeability over time. The rate of deterioration can be the final choice is based on economics which in turn depends
controlled by operating the system at mildly acidic condi- on the quantum of seawater required, environmental aspects
tions (pH around 4.5) where the hydrolysis constant is and locational constraints. The possible intake systems are
minimum (Vos et al., 1966). ‘beach wells’, ‘open seawater’ and ‘deep seawater’. Beach
well is the most economical source and the quality of sea-
water is excellent with very few suspended solids and
3.4 Corrosion microorganisms. However, the available water is limited by
the geological characteristics of the location. This type is
The corrosive nature of seawater is attributable to salinity, suitable mostly for small volume requirements, say about
microbiological activity, dissolved oxygen concentration, 1000 m3/day or less. The open seawater intake requires less
and temperature. Presence of high chloride concentration investment compared to deep seawater intake, but the quality
may promote localised corrosion like pitting, crevice and of water would be poor in terms of microbial load and
stress corrosion. At high seawater velocities, erosion may suspended matter. Further sufficient safeguards must be
also occur (Larché & Dézerville, 2011). In certain instances, provided to protect the intake pump from damage from sand
88 A. Kapoor et al.
and particulate matter. Deep seawater intake has the benefits Hence, it is necessary to ensure the absence of
of better quality in terms of surface pollutants and suspended bio-organisms in feed. This can be achieved to some
matter but requires high investment. The intake mouth is extent by chlorination of the feed. At the same time, one
normally located at least 500 m away from the shore to take must ensure the complete removal of chlorine from the
care of low tides as well as to draw water from a depth of feed before entry to the membrane device. Ultrafiltration
about 5 m or more from the surface to ensure the quality. which can efficiently and physically remove microor-
Deep seawater intake is viable in most instances for capac- ganisms has become a popular pretreatment step for RO
ities equal to or higher than 500,000 m3/day (Gille, 2003). desalination (Wolf et al., 2005).
The source for most of the brackish water desalination plants
is underground water and secondary treated industrial The pretreatment for reverse osmosis desalination of
effluents. In both cases, the volumes available are much less. seawater or brackish water is similar and has three segments
namely removal of particulate matter including suspended
matter and colloids (foulants), scale control measures and
5 Pretreatment of Seawater for RO chemical control measures to prevent deterioration of
Desalination membrane both chemically and biologically.
For sustainable performance of reverse osmosis desalination

plants, pretreatment of the feed is critical to make the feed 5.1 Particulate and Foulant Removal
water compatible for membrane processing in terms of
physical, biological and chemical characteristics. This is Screening, coagulation and flocculation, clarification, sand
necessary for the following reasons: filtration, activated carbon filtration and micron cartridge
filtration are some of the unit operations conventionally used
• Membrane separation is a surface phenomenon and hence for removing the foulant materials (Sohn et al., 2011).
the membrane surface requires to be preserved with Depending on the original quality of seawater some of the
respect to its physico-chemical characteristics to ensure operations may be skipped. For example, if seawater is
sustained performance. drawn from a depth of more than 5 m or from the beach
• Suspended matter and foulants can deposit on the mem- wells, suspended load will be less (normally less than 10
brane surface under applied pressure and mask the surface NTU) and hence one may skip, coagulation and clarification
thus reducing its performance. Hence, physical pretreat- step and use only sand filtration, activated carbon filtration
ment is carried out at least to minimise if not eliminate the and cartridge micro-filtration. Activated carbon filters have
foulants including particulates, suspended matter and been found to remove high molecular weight organics, most
colloids. of the microorganisms and the residual chlorine present in
• Desalination process involves continuous removal of the water. The advent of ultrafiltration has afforded the
water resulting in a progressive increase in the concen- replacement of micron cartridge filters which require fre-
tration of the feed as it flows over the membrane surface. quent replacement due to plugging. Ultrafiltration effectively
The presence of sparingly soluble salts such as calcium removes microbes, both living and dead cells ensuring high
carbonate, calcium sulphate would precipitate on the quality of treated water and is amenable for in service
membrane surface when their solubility limits exceed, cleaning by programmed backwash cycle (Monnot et al.,
thus affecting the performance. This can be achieved by a 2016). Particulate removal for underground brackish water is
combination of design strategy and the addition of much simpler as the source water may not have much load of
anti-scalants. suspended solids or microorganisms. It may suffice to use
• All the commercial membranes used in reverse osmosis only sand and dual media filters for particulate removal.
desalination are made of aromatic polyamides except
cellulose triacetate and are vulnerable to oxidative and
chemical degradation due to chlorine. The damage can be 5.2 Scale Control
minimised by maintaining a reducing environment in the
feed as it enters into the reverse osmosis module. Scaling is a major problem in desalination plants where
• Reverse osmosis membranes with pore sizes in the range water is preferentially removed from the saline feed (Kapoor
of a few angstrom units are smaller compared to the et al., 2020). With the continuous removal of water, the ions
dimensions of microorganisms. Hence, during the process present in the solution gets concentrated resulting in
of desalination, these microorganisms deposit on the increased ionic strength and concentration of sparingly sol-
surface of the membrane and grow, damaging the whole uble salts. The major scale forming species include car-
surface warranting the replacement of the membrane. bonates and sulphates of calcium, strontium, barium,
chemical compounds of having iron, aluminium and silica. particle size and the number of particles and is not very
Inverse solubility of calcium carbonate and sulphates with much dependent on microbial load. Assessment of NTU is
temperature may not be much of a concern, as reverse done to ascertain the performance of particulate filters such
osmosis desalination plants work at ambient conditions and as sand filters.
the temperature changes are only marginal even when part of Silt Density Index (SDI) relates to the simulated perfor-
the reject stream is recycled along with the fresh feed. Two mance of the membrane with reference to the treated feed
approaches are together followed as a part of scale control water quality and hence to the overall pretreatment effi-
strategy: careful process design and addition of proprietary ciency. SDI considers the microbial load by using standard
polymeric anti-scalants. Despite the adopted strategies, for- 0.45 µm filter paper (normally used to filter microorganisms
mation of scales cannot be altogether avoided due to the in bio-chemical laboratories). The empirical testing method
process limited inherent formation of the boundary layer. (ASTM, 2002) is carried out in situ to assess the fouling
Thus, apart from preventive measures, cleaning of the potential of the pretreated feed being introduced into the
membranes periodically may also have to be adopted as a membrane element and is widely accepted (Fig. 9). The SDI
curative strategy. values indicate the extent of particulate fouling that may
occur on the membrane and serve as a warning signal for
initiating necessary action (Rachman et al., 2013).
5.3 Chemical Control The basic principle involved is to measure the change in
water flow rate through a standard 0.45 µm filter during a
Chemical control is necessary to minimise the chemical fixed interval of time (5 or 15 min) physically under stan-
deterioration of the membrane as the commercial membranes dard conditions of 30 psig pressure. The water under testing
are susceptible to chlorine attack and deterioration under is allowed to flow through the filter for the specified dura-
oxidising conditions. Chlorine is necessarily dosed at the tion, 5 or 15 min. The test involves measurement of time
intake mouth to minimise biofouling of the feed flow required for collecting 100 mL of filtered water at the zeroth
through the entire pretreatment system. The dosing of time ‘t0’ (at the start) and later after 5 min (t5) or 15 min
chlorine is decided by trial and error method with a goal of (t15). SDI5 or SDI15 is calculated using the formula
having a little amount of residual chlorine at the exit of all
filtration units. The chlorine required would depend on the 1 tt0
SDIT ¼ 100 ð2Þ
biological load present in the feed water. T
Commercial polyamide based membranes which are the
work horses of the desalination industry are susceptible to
chlorine attack and suffers oxidative degradation in the
presence of oxygen or oxidising agents. In view of this
sodium meta-bisulphite (SMBS) is dosed and the water
quality checked before entry to the suction of the
high-pressure pump.
5.4 Monitoring of Pretreatment System

Performance
The pretreatment performance is checked, with respect to

fouling potential and oxidation potential of the treated water.
With reference to scaling only the dosing rates of
anti-scalants are maintained as per design specifications.
Earlier years pH values of the feed were maintained around 6
by controlled acid dosing to minimise carbonate scaling but
with the availability of efficient anti-scalants, the addition of
acid is no more in practice for seawater desalination.
5.4.1 Fouling Potential

Silt constitutes all types of suspended particulates that
accumulate on the membrane surface and are quantified by
nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). NTU is dependent on Fig. 9 Slit density index test skid
90 A. Kapoor et al.
where t0 is the time taken for collecting 100 mL at the 6 High-Pressure Pump and Energy Recovery
beginning, while t refers to the time required for collecting Devices
100 mL after the time interval ‘T’.
For example. 6.1 High-Pressure Pumps
t0 ¼ 10 min and t ¼ 30 min and T ¼ 15 min
Treated water with requisite specifications is sent to the
By using the above equation SDI15, works out to be 2.2. suction of the high-pressure pump. Pumps can be either
For a test duration of 15 min, the maximum SDI value is positive displacement type or centrifugal type. The choice of
6.67, as ‘t’ tends to infinity (t0/t = 0), SDI becomes 100/ the pump requires consideration of energy recovery system
T. For other intervals, the maximum values of SDIT would to be adopted. In reverse osmosis desalination, the pretreated
correspond to 100/T. SDI15 is popular and is specified by feed is pressurised significantly above the osmotic pressure
many membrane manufacturers and SDI5 is occasionally of the feed to produce relatively pure water. The extent of
used. pressure required depends on the fraction of feed recovered
Spiral-wound modules used in reverse osmosis and as product water and its purity. As the concentration of feed
nanofiltration generally require an SDI < 5 while hollow water increases with progressive removal of relatively pure
fine fibre elements require an SDI15 < 3. Based on experi- water, the osmotic pressure also increases leading to less
ence, for spiral elements, SDI15 values less than 3 would productivity and scaling threat, making it impossible to
give a long service without significant fouling. SDI15 of less recover 100% water. Under the current scenario, seawater
than 3 would ensure smooth operation with occasional desalination plants operate, recovering anywhere between 35
cleaning. SDI15 values between 3 and 5 would require more and about 50% water, discharging a significant amount of
frequent cleaning and anything above 5 is not conducive for concentrated feed at high pressure representing a major
reverse osmosis desalination. With ultrafiltration in the portion of unutilised energy. With a view to reducing the
pretreatment system, one can achieve much lower values, specific energy consumption (power required to produce one
close to 2 allowing the freedom to operate at higher specific unit of water), it has become imperative to recover energy
recoveries and long intervals between the cleaning cycles. subject to economic feasibility. Hence, the choice of a
The SDI values vary with temperature as the flow rate high-pressure pump must be in tune with the energy
changes in the range of 25–35 °C due to changes in viscosity recovery system to be deployed. In the initial years, large
of water and hence are not comparable. The measurements capacity RO desalination plants were utilising multi-stage
must be made at a constant temperature within a variation of centrifugal pumps and the corresponding energy recovery
about a degree Celsius. devices, whose efficiencies were less. At present positive
SDI values can also be converted to plugging factor displacement pumps with aligned energy recovery systems
(PF) by dividing by the value obtained by the maximum are deployed leading to low specific energy consumption for
value possible. For SDI15 = 2 the plugging factor would be the reverse osmosis desalination process.
2/6.7 100 = 29.8%. Both types of pumps have their own merits and chal-
For SDI5 = 6 the plugging factor would be lenges (Schunke et al., 2020). Centrifugal pump delivers the
6/20 100 = 30%. feed at designed pressure and flowrate continuously. These
Thus, plugging factor values enable us to compare the pumps run at a very narrow range of pressure head and flow
SDI measurements made for different durations. Largest SDI rate, without much flexibility to change the flow rate or
values in each of the methods would correspond to 100% pressure head in a significant manner when contingencies
plugging factor. arise. Variable frequency drives can be used to alter the
characteristics to some extent (Nagaraj et al., 2010) to save
5.4.2 Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) energy instead of using throttle valves. Multi-stage pumps
It refers to the environment under which the membrane have been used for large capacity reverse osmosis desali-
process is in operation. As the membranes used in desalination plants along with energy recovery devices that absorb
nation are organic membranes based on polyamides they the energy available in the reject stream either mechanically
degrade in the presence of chlorine (attributable to N chlo- or hydraulically to discount the energy required for the feed
rination) (Al-Abri et al., 2019) and are also susceptible to pump. No doubt, they are compact and require less footprint.
oxidation. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a reducing However, for small capacity seawater desalination plants,
environment by ensuring a positive reduction potential. centrifugal pumps are not economically viable as the number
Monitoring the same using ORP metre online before the feed of stages for raising the pressure becomes high. The effi-
enters RO section. ciencies of these pumps are normally around 0.7. However,
in brackish water reverse osmosis desalination plants, where The chamber is again filled with low-pressure feed emptying
the operational pressures are much lower centrifugal pumps the depressurized concentrated stream and again the
are used. high-pressure concentrate is introduced thus allowing the
Positive displacement type of pumps can deliver desired cycle to repeat. This device, commercially known as ‘PX
flow at any pressure nearly at constant efficiency. Minor (Pressure Exchange)’ is highly efficient. The other charac-
variations in volume with time have been overcome with teristics include compactness, modularity and sturdiness
buffers. The maintenance requirements are relatively high making it a preferred option for seawater reverse osmosis
compared to the centrifugal pumps and require a relatively desalination plants (Arenas Urrea et al., 2019; Farooque
large footprint area. However, the efficiency is high (0.95 or et al., 2004; Kadaj & Bosleman, 2018).‘Piston-driven’
more) compared to centrifugal pumps. In fact, efficiency device follows the same mechanism of
increases marginally at higher pressures. Positive displace- pressurisation-depressurization cycle inside cylindrical
ment pumps can handle variations in pressure and flow with chambers and is controlled by ‘switcher valves’. However,
almost constant efficiency. In practice, a greater number of piston- driven isobaric energy recovery devices are less
positive displacement pumps are installed for easy handling compact requiring more capital investment and frequent
and maintenance along with energy recovery devices oper- maintenance compared to PX devices (Guirguis, 2011).
ating on the same positive displacement principle. The efficiency of the energy recovery device, defined as a
ratio of ‘increase in feed pressure’ to the ‘decrease in con-
centrate pressure’ is about 0.95–0.97 for isobaric devices
6.2 Energy Recovery Devices where for the centrifugal devices the efficiencies are in the
range of about 0.75–0.85 (Arenas Urrea et al., 2019). For
Energy recovery devices play an important role in reducing small capacity seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants,
the specific energy consumption of seawater RO desalination energy recovery devices are not economically viable and
plant, as it recovers the unutilised hydraulic energy available hence is not part of the desalination scheme. Energy recovery
with the reject stream, directly or indirectly and transferring devices are not useful as brackish water plants normally
to the incoming feed. Consequently, the power rating for the operate at high recoveries, low pressures and small capacities.
high-pressure pump becomes less, saving energy and space
(Guirguis, 2011). Without energy recovery, the specific
energy consumption was around 9–10 kWh/m3 in the initial 7 Membrane Module Dispensation
phase of technology. The specific energy consumption for
large capacity seawater RO plants has been progressively Spiral membrane element is used in a majority of the reverse
brought down over three decades from about 7 to about osmosis desalination plants whether small or big. The dis-
3 kWh/m3 with various developments in membranes, energy cussion henceforth considers spiral configuration alone. The
recovery devices and high-pressure pumps. following terminologies shall be used while dealing with the
Energy recovery devices used in the initial stages was of design of the reverse osmosis membrane section. Figure 10
centrifugal type like ‘Francis turbine’, Pelton wheel or represents the schematic view of reverse osmosis desalination.
hydraulic turbo chargers (Arenas Urrea et al., 2019).In the
last decade, ‘isobaric chamber energy recovery’ devices have
become popular and most of the newly installed reverse 7.1 Terminologies Normally Used in Reverse
osmosis desalination plants use them where the hydraulic Osmosis Desalination Plants
energy of concentrated stream is directly transferred to the
incoming feed stream. Compared to centrifugal energy Raw feed water: water drawn directly from the source.
recovery devices, isobaric energy recovery devices are highly Salinity: expressed as parts per million (ppm) equivalent
efficient as it involves single energy conversion step, i.e. mg/L.
direct transfer of energy from concentrated stream to feed Feed water: pretreated and quality monitored water entering
steam. Centrifugal devices have two step energy conversion the suction of high-pressure pump.
from hydraulic energy of the concentrated stream to
mechanical energy (of the drive) and thence to the hydraulic
energy of the feed stream thus resulting in reduced efficiency.
Isobaric energy recovery devices can be classified as
rotary or piston driven. In rotary type, low-pressure feed is
filled in a central rotor sealed and then the high-pressure feed
is introduced, which in turn pressurises the low-pressure
feed pushing it to the reverse osmosis membrane modules. Fig. 10 Schematic of single-stage RO desalination
92 A. Kapoor et al.
Permeate: purified water emerging out of the membrane layer. Since the solute permeability is normally less than 1%,
module. the osmotic pressure of the permeate is neglected. If it is
Product water: post treated permeate water suitable for significant, the net driving force would be more to that
supply to the user. extent. Permeate flux is directly proportional to net differ-
Feed water salinity: total dissolved salts content in parts per ential pressure normally referred to as transmembrane
million in feed water. pressure (TMP). Solute flux is directly proportional to the
Product water salinity: total dissolved salts content in parts concentration gradient across the membrane and is inde-
per million in product water. pendent of pressure. Increasing operating pressure increases
Permeate water salinity: total dissolved salts content in parts water flux but at the same time increases the boundary layer
per million in permeate water. concentration as well. Therefore, there is a limiting pressure
Reject / Concentrate water: feed water remaining after beyond which water flux cannot increase and solute rejection
recovery of permeate. also would pass through a maximum. Similar would be the
Solute rejection (%): (feed water salinity – permeate water behaviour with temperature. Increase in temperature results
salinity) /feed water salinity 100. in a reduction in viscosity and an increase in osmotic pres-
Recovery: permeate water/feed water 100 (can be ratio of sure. For the same productivity, the plant can be operated at
rates or quantity in fixed time). reduced pressures which in turn results in savings of energy
Pretreated water: raw feed water after pretreatment for use (Al-mutaz & Al-ghunaimi, 2001).
in reverse osmosis membranes.
Membrane: membrane polymer coated on a support 7.2.2 Membrane Element, Module, and Bank
exhibiting the properties of preferential separation of water. For use in desalination, the prepared polymeric membrane is
Membrane element: the membrane made into a spiral con- configured into spiral configurations called membrane ele-
figuration through which feed water can be sent and per- ments. Spiral membrane elements in cylindrical shapes are
meate is drawn. available from the membrane manufacturers with diameters
Membrane module: Membrane element or elements ranging from 2″ up to 16″. All the membrane manufacturers
accommodated into a pressure vessel and ready for use in the use FPS units for specifying the membrane element
field. dimensions. First two digits correspond to the diameter of
Module bank: consists of a set of modules with parallel feed the element and the next two digits as the length of the
flow. membrane element. For example, 8040 refers to 8″ diameter
Staging: Reject water of the first bank used as a feed for the 40″ length. For large capacity plants normally 8″ or 16″
subsequent bank. modules are used, while 4″ elements are used for small to
Multi-stage: When two are more stages are involved in the medium capacities. When the diameter is increased by a
plant. factor (say 2), the membrane surface area roughly increases
Pass: Permeate of first module bank used as feed for the by the square of the factor (i.e. 4 times) of 4. Normally an 8″
succeeding module bank. element has about 35 m2 of membrane area compared to
Array: Arrangement of module banks either in series or about 140 m2 for 16″ element. These figures may vary for
parallel configuration. different manufacturers depending on the dimensions of the
Specific Energy consumption: energy required for producing accessories such as spacer. The performance of each model
one unit of water (kWh/m3). of the membrane element with respect to specific water flux,
Specific production rate: amount of permeate produced per specific recovery and solute rejection under a standard
module. condition of seawater or brackish water is provided by the
Specific recovery: fraction of permeate to feed per membrane manufacturers. Based on the information, it is possible to
element. estimate the approximate performance of the membrane
element such as permeate rate and solute rejection, knowing
the feed salinity and operating pressure.
7.2 Performance Characteristics of Reverse A module consists of a single membrane element or
Osmosis Membrane Element multiple elements connected in series, assembled in a single
pressure vessel, ready for use. Depending on the process
7.2.1 Effect of Pressure and Temperature design, each module may contain anywhere up to 8 elements
Separation through the membrane as encountered in reverse connected in series. The high-pressure pump delivers the
osmosis is a surface phenomenon. Operating pressure should pressurised feed into membrane modules. In such an
be greater than the boundary layer osmotic pressure. The arrangement the feed flows from the first element in series to
driving force is equal to the pressure difference between the the last element successively. The following can be envis-
operating pressure and the osmotic pressure of the boundary aged in this context.
1. The concentrate of the first element becomes the feed to series, while the capacity determines the number of modules
the second, and so on. The product water tubes (central in parallel.
pipe) of all elements are coupled and connected to the
module permeate-port. Consequently, the initial pressure 7.2.3 Stages and Passes
at which the feed enters gets reduced by a few psi (about Sustainable performance of the modules is reasonably
0.1 bar) per element at the initial period of operation and ensured by following the restrictions on feed flow rate and
may increase with time or mal-operation (excess pres- specific productivity of membrane elements but limits the
sure drop would indicate accumulation of foulants or recovery and permeate quality. In a single-stage system, two
scale formation on the membrane surface). This is nor- or more modules are arranged in parallel. Feed, concentrate
mally termed as ‘system pressure drop’ and permeate lines are connected to manifolds. Single-stage
2. As the permeate water flows out of the membrane ele- system is typically used in seawater desalination plants
ment, the volumetric flow of feed will reduce in each where the recovery rate does not exceed 50%. For achieving
successive membrane element. high permeate recoveries, more membrane elements cannot
3. The feed concentration will keep increasing in every be added in series due to scaling threats. In such an event,
successive element. the concentrate from all the modules are collected in a
4. The permeate rate will keep reducing for every suc- common header and redistributed to a smaller number of
ceeding element in series due to reducing driving force modules complying with the flowrate constraints. Some-
consequent to the gradual increase in the osmotic pres- times a booster pump is also used for increasing the pres-
sure of the feed. sure. Depending on the design recovery number of elements
5. With increasing recovery, the permeate quality also in each of these second stage modules can be limited to a
marginally decreases, as more solutes diffuse towards the lesser number. This arrangement by which the recovery is
permeate due to progressively increasing concentration increased is known as ‘staging’. Two stages are used to
gradient. achieve recovery rates up to 75%. The number of modules
6. Higher operating pressures lead to higher permeate per stage decreases in the flow direction.
output but in the long run probability of scale formation To achieve better permeate quality, the permeate from
increases due to higher boundary layer concentration. the modules can be processed through another reverse
osmosis module (Fig. 11). The additional cost would be
Accordingly, the design of the membrane section marginal as the process would require neither pretreatment
requires optimization amongst the operating parameters, nor high pressures (due to low osmotic pressure of the
flow rate, operating pressure, and recovery in accordance permeate stream). Since the feed (permeate of the first stage)
with the post pretreatment feed water parameters, particu- is free from scaling and fouling species, high recovery
larly SDI values. Since the membranes and the feed spacers (>90%) and high productivity of the membrane modules can
used by different manufacturers have minor variations, the be achieved. This concept by which the permeate is treated
final products have characteristics particularly different from by one more reverse osmosis unit is known as ‘Pass’.
each other albeit marginally. Based on the internal experi- However, an additional pump is necessary to pressurise the
ments, each manufacturer has set their own specifications permeate before introducing it to the modules.
with reference to the feed rate, concentrate to permeate ratio In general, staging leads to an increase in recovery but
related to SDI values or source of water. Hence, it is nec- deterioration in permeate quality and passing improves the
essary that the design aspects of the membrane section shall purity of permeate but decreases recovery. Multiple stages can
be in accordance with the membrane element chosen for use be used for achieving high recoveries while passing is not
in RO modules. Each of the manufacturers has their design done more than once. Recycling of a fraction of concentrate
software and is available such as ‘Winflows’ of Suez Water can be done to maintain constant permeate quality in brackish
Technologies, ROSA of Filmtec and IMS Design of water desalination plants where the raw water salinity changes
Hydranautics of Nitto Group to name a few. The range of with seasons. To improve recovery in the event of passing, the
feed flowrates, the maximum recovery per single element concentrate of the second pass is mixed with the original feed.
and the permeate to reject ratio of the membrane elements This has twin advantages: dilution of original feed resulting in
are specified by manufacturers. The number of elements in a higher permeate rate and lower permeate salinity.
module is accordingly decided. In most of the designs using
8″ elements around six to eight elements are assembled in a
module for achieving around 40–50% recovery. Since the 7.3 Post Treatment
flow rate is limited for each module, the desired capacity of
the plant can be achieved by having a greater number of Water permeating out of membrane modules in seawater
modules in parallel. In the membrane section, the recovery reverse osmosis desalination is slightly acidic, as dissolved
dictates the number of elements in a module connected in carbon-dioxide is not efficiently removed and contain some
94 A. Kapoor et al.
Fig. 11 Concept of stage and pass in RO desalination
dissolved solutes, mostly sodium and chloride with small The basic steps involved in the design of reverse osmosis
amounts of calcium, magnesium, and traces of boron. The desalination plants are listed below.
concentration depends on the membrane used and its age,
apart from the design parameters including operating pres- 1. Fix the capacity of the plant and the quality of product
sure and recovery. Boron concentration in seawater is in the water to be delivered.
range of 0.5–9.6 mg/L (Tang et al., 2017). The permeate is 2. Assess raw water quality in terms of foulants, suspended
corrosive as it consists mostly of sodium and chloride ions matter, bio-load, total dissolved solids.
with insignificant levels of multivalent species such as cal- 3. Identify the pretreatment system requirements and
cium, carbonate, and magnesium. The permeate contains expected quality of pretreated water.
between 70 and 450 ppm of dissolved solutes and is cor- 4. Use the software program of the selected membrane
rosive with a negative Langelier Saturation Index (LSI). As element manufacturer with inputs of water quality and
per WHO drinking water standards, drinking water shall capacity and estimate the operating pressure, number of
contain about 100 ppm CaCO3 hardness (at least 10 mg/L of elements required and configuration of modules that
magnesium ions and 30 mg/L calcium ions as a precaution yield the required quality and the percent recovery.
against heart diseases) with overall salinity less than 5. Choose the energy recovery device and work out the net
500 ppm and boron concentration limited to 0.5 mg/L. power consumption.
Boron content of seawater varies with the geographical 6. Identify the dosing chemicals suggested and the requisite
location and higher concentrations of boron were found in approximate dose rates.
Arabian Gulf seawater. Several methods were tried for boron 7. Design the post treatment system and the cleaning
removal in the pretreatment using mineral clusters (Cho system.
et al., 2015), post treatment stage using specific ion 8. Design the distribution system.
exchangers (Jacob, 2007), and use of two pass RO with new 9. Prepare the specifications for all the equipment including
generation reverse osmosis (RO) membranes without pH pumps, energy recovery system, pre and post treatment,
adjustment (Farhat et al., 2013). instrumentation, and control systems.
The permeate can be passed through a lime column to
adjust the pH and hardness content or blended with pre-
treated ground water (Nada et al., 1987). For industrial use,
the requirements may vary from ultra-pure water to soft 9 Brackish Water Desalination
water and post treatment methods would vary involving
mixed bed exchangers, electro-deionisation (EDI) or The steps are similar for brackish water or industrial
capacitative deionization (Čuda et al., 2006). wastewater. Since the operating pressure is less and recovery
high, the energy recovery device may not be viable. The
challenge in designing brackish water desalination plants is
8 Design Methodology for Seawater Reverse the change in salinity with seasons and the continuous
Osmosis Desalination Plants withdrawal of ground water. Unlike seawater desalination,
brackish water design objectives must balance economics
A typical flowsheet of seawater reverse osmosis desalination and conservation of groundwater to ensure sustainability.
plant is shown Fig. 12. Reject recirculation is suggested to maintain constant
Fig. 12 A typical flowsheet for

reverse osmosis desalination plant
permeate quality and conserve water when the salinity is less are indicative in nature and based on the values seen the
(Sarkar et al., 2008). Sensitivity analysis for at least a 10% operator may have to control the operations. Control may be
change in water quality is desirable and the pumps and needed if variable frequency drive is used for the
pretreatment system are designed carefully to accommodate high-pressure pump (Alatiqi et al., 1999).
the fluctuations.
10.1 Membrane Cleaning

10 Operation and Maintenance
Despite best operating practices, scaling does occur on the
Operator efficiency plays a critical role in the sustainable membrane surface and cleaning becomes mandatory. Fre-
performance of reverse osmosis desalination plants. Main- quent cleaning may lead to deterioration of the membrane.
tenance of pretreatment parameters particularly ensuring the Normally cleaning becomes necessary when the fouling and
absence of chlorine and maintaining a reducing environment scaling build on the membrane surface to such an extent that
is important for the chemical integrity of the membranes. the membrane flux (normalised with respect to operating
Dosing of anti-scalants and operating the plant within the pressure) reduces by about 10–15% or the solute passage
design range of pressure and flow rates are necessary to increases by more than 10% or the feed flow pressure drop
minimise fouling and scaling on the membrane surface. increases more than the expected values. The accumulated
Whenever the plant is stopped for any reason temporarily, it species on the membrane surface may be a mixture of loose
is essential to ensure that the product channel is full so that particulates, bio-organisms, compounds of calcium, stron-
the boundary layer of the membrane gets diluted by osmosis. tium, aluminium, silica, iron, etc. The cleaning processes
Suck-back tanks are normally provided for this purpose. The include flushing, soaking and rinsing using a variety of
total dissolved contents of seawater may be less particularly chemical solutions including acids both mild and strong,
when it is drawn from shallow depth during the rainy season bases, complexing agents, detergents, surfactants, etc. (Ang
and care must be taken to operate the plant at reduced et al., 2011). Several proprietary chemicals are available in
pressure lest specific recovery may increase leading to heavy the market for cleaning. The best practice, however, is to
scaling and fouling and consequent deterioration of mem- follow the procedures and chemicals prescribed by the
brane performance. concerned membrane manufacturers.
Process control and instrumentation are relatively simple The membrane elements used in reverse osmosis deteri-
in reverse osmosis-based desalination plants. Most of the orates slowly with time reflected by falling solute rejection
instruments like flow metres, pressure gauges, oxidation and reduced water flux. When the permeate concentration is
reduction potential (ORP) and salinity (conductivity) metres beyond the acceptable limits the membrane elements are
96 A. Kapoor et al.
considered defunct and replaced. Earlier an increase in the 12 Economics of Reverse Osmosis
solute passage of more than 15% was considered as the Desalination Plants
indicator for replacement. With a second pass reverse
osmosis in place, the limit is relaxed. Compared to all other desalination processes reverse
In practice, all the membrane elements in the series do not osmosis desalination is found to be economical because of
deteriorate to the same extent. It is observed that the first its low specific energy consumption, modularity, and ease of
element which has the maximum net pressure differential as operation (Baron, 1966; Seawater Desalination Costs, 2012).
driving force and high specific recovery, deteriorates faster The capital expenditure (CAPEX) has two cost components;
due to deposition and compaction of foulants including one related to the technology components of the reverse
bio-materials. On the other hand, the last element in the osmosis including pretreatment equipment, high-pressure
series encounters maximum feed concentration and least pump and energy recovery device, support structure for
fluid velocity and hence is prone to more scaling. In view of membrane elements (excluding membrane elements) as per
these considerations, the present practice is to discard the design configuration, post treatment, cleaning equipment and
first element after few months or a year of operation and other comprising of seawater intake system, distribution
introduce a new element at the end of the module and push logistics, financial and project management and the other
all the elements one step ahead. This procedure not only corresponds to the distribution of the product water. For
allows the membrane replacement to spread over a long plants with 50 MLD and above capacities, 50% of the costs
period but also has a possibility of having a nearly uniform relate to technology components while intake accounts for
permeate quality. about 20–25%. For smaller capacities, the proportion of
intake cost would be high if direct intake from the sea is to
be considered. The operational expenditure also has two
11 Environmental Aspects components: one technology related variable costs including
energy, consumables such as membrane elements, chemicals
Reverse osmosis desalination process is an ambient tem- used for dosing, cleaning and post treatment chemicals and
perature process and does not have any thermal discharges. maintenance (preventive and curative) requirements and the
Seawater intake and discharge of the concentrated brine other relates to fixed operating costs comprising of labour,
discharges from the pretreatment system, periodic discharge amortisation, administration, insurance, and other statutory
of wastewater during chemical cleaning and ultimate dis- levies. Nearly 75% of the operating costs are accounted by
posal of used membrane elements are of concern to the energy, consumables (chemicals, cartridges and membrane
environment. Besides, there are minor concerns on noise elements) and labour. Based on the study conducted by
pollution due to the running of high-pressure pumps ‘Water Reuse Association’ in 2012, the cost of water by
(Tularam & Ilahee, 2007). During intake particularly from reverse osmosis desalination process has stabilised in the
open sea aquatic organisms may be trapped by screens and range of $0.79 to $2.38 per m3 depending on the location
may cause either resistance to flow or get carried into the since 2005. The reasons for variation are attributed to the
plant and affect the fishing activity. The discharges are the country dependent variation of costs with respect to intake
major concerns as they contain up to double the initial systems, energy, construction, finance, labour and environ-
concentration of solutes and small amounts of chemicals mental regulations. For small capacity plants, the cost of
dosed during the operation. Normally, the discharges are water would be higher particularly with intakes.
dispersed along the coast into the sea through long pipelines,
so that the salinity of seawater is not significantly changed,
and marine organisms are not unduly affected. The dosing 13 Future Direction and Expectations
chemicals are present in trace levels and apparently, no effect
is observed of these chemicals. There is a possibility that Any developmental efforts should satisfy the criteria of sus-
some of these chemicals may get accumulated at seabed or tainability, affordability, and acceptability. The strategic
aquatic organisms. However, the information in this regard is components of RO desalination technology are energy,
yet to emerge. Technically, there is not much of an envi- membrane, and environmental considerations. The thermo-
ronmental hazard as such for RO desalination plants. Dis- dynamic minimum energy at 25 °C is about 0.7 kWh/m3, i.e.
posal of the used membranes could be a real challenge as for drawing one cubic metre of water from the infinite source
they cannot be bio-degraded, nor can be easily shredded. As of seawater (at almost zero recovery). However, in practice the
more reverse osmosis desalination plants are installed, this recoveries are significant and hence the minimum energy is
aspect requires attention. Because of the inherent strength of somewhere between 1 and 1.5 kWh per cubic metre. Con-
the module element probably they can find use as a considering the irreversible energy losses in pumps, fittings, etc.
struction material. the minimum energy attainable maybe around 2–2.5 kWh.
On this front, the developments have almost reached the A few studies have been reported in this regard (Li et al.,
ultimate stage as the efficiencies of energy recovery systems 2020; Volpin et al., 2018) have indicated the potential of this
and high-pressure pumps are more than 95% based on the concept for cost reduction. With the development of aqua-
positive displacement concept. Deploying a greater number porin membrane (Li et al., 2017) it appears to be a good
of pumps and energy recovery systems rather than one large possibility. Further possible developments include simulta-
unit ensures flexibility in operation and ensuring sustained neous recovery of energy in FO dilution of seawater fol-
productivity considering the maintenance requirements of lowing the principle of pressure retarded osmosis (Cheng
positive displacement pumps and the demand variations. et al., 2018). A hybrid nano-filtration- reverse osmosis (NF–
Suppliers of RO plants are guaranteeing 3 kWh/m3. There- RO) system for seawater desalination is reported in literature
fore, any further effort in bringing down the energy con- operating at low pressures (Wafi et al., 2019) to be cost
sumption may not lead to any significant improvement or effective. The scheme involves the use of nanofiltration as
benefit. the first stage and reverse osmosis as a second pass by
Brackish water reverse osmosis plants do not use energy pressurising the permeate of nanofiltration. Since the
recovery systems because of low capacities and high nano-filtration permeate is free from foulants and relatively
recoveries. They are mostly used for providing safe drinking free from sparingly soluble salts of calcium and other mul-
water in remote villages and isolated areas using saline tivalent species, high recoveries can be achieved without
groundwater whose quality and availability change with scaling a threat to reverse osmosis membranes. As of now,
time. To conserve the water resources, the reject water energy recovery may not be viable because of the
should also have moderate salinity which can be used for low-pressure operation coupled with high recoveries in
non-potable uses. Reducing recovery would increase the reverse osmosis section. Since pressurisation is involved in
specific energy cost. In this context development of both the steps, specific energy consumption increases even if
cost-effective energy recovery systems would help in both steps run with recoveries of 60 and 70% respectively.
reducing the energy cost. NF-RO hybrid system does not offer any advantage with
The heart of the reverse osmosis desalination process is reference to energy consumption but enables value recovery.
the membrane. It is considered a consumable requiring The concentrate of the RO step is rich in sodium chloride
replacement periodically during the mechanical life of the compared to normal seawater without much multivalent
plant. Improvements in membrane productivity is a chal- species and is a more suitable feed stock for caustic pro-
lenging concern. Membrane development with less propen- duction using membrane electrolysers. Alternately the
sity for fouling and sustainable performance is one step in stream can be used in crystallisers for producing pure
this direction. Efforts to incorporate benign nanoparticles on sodium chloride crystals. Similarly, the concentrate of
the surface has yielded membranes with high flux and sus- nanofiltration being relatively rich in magnesium compared
tained high salt rejection and has been commercialised to seawater can be used for magnesium production. Of late
recently. The other development corresponds to the use of there is a renewed interest in the recovery of trace heavy
CTA based hollow fine fibre membrane elements, which are metals such as uranium (Abu-safiah, 1991; Pal et al., 2006)
compact and are resistant to chlorine, an Achilles’ heel for caesium, rubidium, etc. (Nur et al., 2016). Complexation/
commercially popular TFC based membrane elements. The precipitation ultrafiltration has already been demonstrated to
continuing operation and establishment of the CTA—hollow remove trace heavy metals (Kavitha et al., 2018) and its
fibre membrane elements production unit at Saudi Arabia is application can be extended for the removal of trace metals
a pointer to the successful run of these membrane elements from concentrated seawater.
even though not much operational experience is in the public With the proliferation of RO desalination plants across
domain yet. These developments contribute to sustainability the world, disposal of the membranes after their service life
as well as cost reduction towards affordability if we consider is still a challenge. Presently the spent membranes are dis-
the life cycle costing. posed of as landfills. Some studies indicate reuse of mem-
Increasing recovery for seawater RO desalination plants brane after the destruction of the TFC layer by oxidising
beyond 50% without booster pumps and without the scaling agents (Paula et al., 2017). The elements are strong as they
threat would probably be the next step. A forward osmosis— are designed to withstand about 80 bar pressure. Hence, the
reverse osmosis system looks like a possibility. Effluent opening of the sealed membranes or shredding them is an
water can be used as feed for forward osmosis with raw energy and labour-intensive process. Based on the strength,
seawater as draw solute. In this process, the seawater gets the use of these membrane elements as construction mate-
diluted requiring less operating pressure and one can get rials requires serious consideration.
high recoveries without scaling threat. The strategy required In addition to the technological aspects, the cost to the
is to dilute the incoming seawater so that reverse osmosis consumer is highly site specific as it includes pre and
plant can operate at lower pressures and higher recoveries. post technology logistics including intake and distribution.
98 A. Kapoor et al.
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org/10.1016/j.memsci.2017.07.015 C9EW00835G
Desalination by Membrane Distillation
Sadaf Ahmad, Bakar bin Khatab Abbasi, Bushra Anees Palvasha,

Muhammad Shahid Nazir, and Mohd. Azmuddin Abdullah
Despite covering approximately 70% of the earth’s
surface, the limited supply of clean water remains one “Water is the nature’s driving force”, without which there
of the major issues affecting the survival of humanity and will be no life. Although water makes up much of the sur-
the entire living beings and ecosystem. High salt content, face of the earth, there is still a severe scarcity of drinkable
high turbidity and salinity make water unsuitable for water in many countries around the globe (Thimmaraju
drinking and general use. Many technologies have been et al., 2018). Many concerted efforts have been made to
developed to attain clean and pure water appropriate for explore sustainable water resources and to develop
consumption. Desalination, a technique to remove salt membrane-based technologies for water desalination and
and mineral components present in water, is an effective purification especially from brackish, ground and seawater
method in water treatment. Recently, membrane distilla- (AlhathalAlanezi & Abdallah, 2016; AlhathalAlanezi &
tion that involves the utilization of hydrophobic mem- Sharif, 2012; Ismail et al., 2019; Pal, 2017; Yasukawa et al.,
brane to accomplish filtration and purification across the 2018; Zheng, 2017). The key objective is to produce
membrane has gained huge attention. Divided into four freshwater for drinking, cultivation or industrial use. The
major categories—direct contact, sweep gas, air gap and source of reusable water can be from the processing of brine
vacuum, membrane distillations are now commonly or condensed feed (such as from mineral power plants) and
employed and effective for water desalination. Many freshwater from evaporation systems. The productivity and
innovative membrane hybrid systems have been devel- processes must be analyzed and optimized for direct utility
oped to further improve the efficiencies and resolve the and cost competitiveness (Aguirre et al., 2014; Al-Obaidani
challenges especially to meet the needs of clean & Curcio, 2008; Rastogi & Nayak, 2011; Xu et al., 2006),
water-scarce region. and new materials and strategies need to be developed to
improve the efficiency (Elmarghany et al., 2020; Kebria &
Keywords Rahimpour, 2020; Kim & Kwon, 2017; Morciano & Fasano,

2020; Pangarkar et al., 2011a). More important is to address

Desalination Membrane distillation Configurations the supply of clean water issues urgently as more than 2
Modules Brackish groundwater desalination Seawater billion people around the world reside in areas facing
desalination Produced water desalination Membrane extreme water distress, and almost 4 billion people endure
hybrid systems water shortages for at minimum one month per year (Mor-
ciano & Fasano, 2020). In such circumstances and dire
needs, the availability of concentrates may be more useful
than freshwater, if the desalination technologies are available
and can be implemented (Rahimi & Chua, 2017).
S. Ahmad B. bin Khatab Abbasi B. A. Palvasha
M. S. Nazir (&) Desalination based on membrane system like reverse
Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad osmosis, or minimal-temperature thermal desalination uti-
(CUI), Lahore campus, Islamabad, 54000, Pakistan lizing ocean temperature gradients, is an effective strategy
e-mail: shahid.nazir@cuilahore.edu.pk owing to minimal effort of deployment and reduced energy
Mohd. A. Abdullah (&) costs. The two key desalination techniques are thermal
Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia
Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, 21030, Malaysia
102 S. Ahmad et al.
Fig. 1 Techniques involved in

desalination of water. (Modified
from Thimmaraju et al. (2018))
desalination and membrane desalination technology, as

shown in Fig. 1. Both require different specific methods,
some of which are complementary such as freezing as well
as ion transfer, but conventional or green energy is com-
monly used (Thimmaraju et al., 2018). As energy is an
essential part of the desalination system, the utilization of
green resources should be adopted as the way forward
(Jalihal et al., 2019). (MD) Membrane distillation is an
isolation mechanism, wherein vapors can move across
pores-containing hydrophobic membrane. The distinction is
in the variations in the vapor pressure between the mem-
brane layers. Since the membranes are highly porous, the
pores could not be flushed with a feed solution. During the
process, half part of the membrane interacts with the hot salt
water to create the hot end, and another end is in contact
directly or indirectly with the cool, clear water to create the Fig. 2 General illustration of membrane distillation employed in water
cool layer. The vapor going across the membrane is con- desalination. (Modified from Zheng et al. (2017))
centrated at the cold part to create the distillate. The standard
distillation module of the membrane is shown in Fig. 2. membranes which are generally hydrophobic as shown in
There are primarily four categories of membrane distillation Table 1.
techniques: direct contact membrane distillation, sweep gas The aims of this chapter are to highlight the different
distillation, air gap membrane distillation and vacuum membrane distillation configurations and modules. The
membrane distillation. In these methods, the hot inlet mix- applications in water desalination and the recent advances
ture is in close interaction with the membrane surface. The are discussed and elaborated.
membranes employed in the membrane distillation system
should be strongly hydrophobic, with high porosity, but poor
thermal conductivity. Operating parameters, for instance, 2 Membrane Distillation Configurations
water temperature, air gap width, flow rate, membrane
width, membrane thermal conductivity, tortuosity, porosity 2.1 Direct Contact Membrane Distillation
and deep-term activity, have impacts on the distillate output
(Pangarkar et al., 2011a; Siyal et al., 2019; Zheng, 2017). Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is a system,
Different membrane distillation configurations are being wherein the permeate and feed solutions have direct inter-
utilized to draw aqueous feed by employing microporous action with a hydrophobic porous membrane as shown in
Desalination by Membrane Distillation 103
Table 1 Major configurations of membrane distillation employed in water desalination

MD Configuration Benefits Drawbacks Uses
Direct Contact Membrane ✓ Superior permeate flux □ Conductive heat loss ∙ Desalination
Distillation ✓ Reliable at commercial level ∙ Crystallization
(DCMD) ∙ Arsenic removal
∙ Dye removal
Sweeping Gas Membrane ✓ Lowering mass transport barrier via □ Complex procedure ∙ Desalination
Distillation forced flow □ More threat of temperature ∙ VOC removal
(SGMD) polarization ∙ Azeotropic mixture
separation
∙ Wastewater treatment
Air Gap Membrane ✓ Simple procedure □ Lower flux ∙ Desalination
Distillation ✓ Minimum conductive heat loss ∙ VOC removal
(AGMD) ✓ Low risk of temperature polarization ∙ Azeotropic mixture
separation
∙ Concentration of fruit
juices
Vacuum Membrane ✓ Superior permeate flux □ Complex procedure ∙ Desalination
Distillation ✓ Reliable at commercial level □ More threat of membrane pore ∙ Wastewater treatment
(VMD) wetting ∙ Aromic compounds
retention
Data from Kebria and Rahimpour (2020)
Fig. 3. The water vapor passes via the membrane and is 2.3 Air Gap Membrane Distillation
concentrated directly in cold permeate within the membrane
container. The design is more widely studied because of its Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) is a system wherein
basic mode of operation relative to other MD configurations. an air surface is weaved amongst the porous hydrophobic
The DCMD is known to be the safest option for systems membrane and the condensation layer, as shown in Fig. 3.
where water is the key factor of the supply solution and The volatile compounds and water, which exist in the hot
applicable in chemical, food, medical and environmental feed, evaporate on the vapor/liquid layer on the surface of the
sectors (Tomaszewska, 2015a). When the main feed is salt, membrane. The vapor passes through the pores, as well as the
DCMD is ideal for desalination and extraction of aqueous gas gap, and eventually collected on the cool surface within
solutions and is effective for treatment at low temperatures to the membrane container. The mass movement of the feed in
preserve product quality (Laganà & Barbieri, 2000). the AGMD is driven by the vapor density difference on each
side of the membrane (Tomaszewska, 2016). In comparison
with other MD designs, the AGMD has no permeate inter-
2.2 Sweeping Gas Membrane Distillation action with the membrane and has reasonably high flux,
reduced heat loss and low tendency to fouling. The mem-
Sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) is a system brane system maintains a static air distance along the mem-
wherein the sweeping gas is employed to make the hot brane surface and the condensation layer. The vaporization of
aqueous feed stream flows toward the porous hydrophobic the volatile components at the liquid–vapor interface within
membrane, as represented in Fig. 3. The membrane present the pores is due to the difference in temperature between the
inhibits the liquid from saturating the pores, but allowing feed fluid and the cool surface (Ajdar & Azdarpour, 2019).
instead the vapor/liquid contacts to be established at each AGMD has also shown its potential application in the
pore. Evaporation of the volatile compounds occurs at the desalination method (Elhenawy & Elminshawy, 2020).
pores, and the cool sterile gas running in the other part drives
the permeate to separate from the reservoir. Vapor conden-
sation takes place in the active condenser. The driving force 2.4 Vacuum Membrane Distillation
in the SGMD is the partial pressure difference of the volatile
compounds on each side of the membrane that causes the Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) is a recent
flow across the membrane. The heat in the MD is transferred membrane-based isolation technique developed especially
from the feed inlet via the membrane readily, and the tem- for the processing of “ultrapure” water from the salt solu-
perature of the sweeping gas rises substantially throughout tions, the isolation of dissolved gases and the volatile solvent
the tube (Tomaszewska, 2015b). SGMD has shown great removal from the aqueous system (Bandini et al., 1997). It
potential for desalination (Perfilov & Fila, 2018). involves the use of vacuum in its operation, created by the
104 S. Ahmad et al.
Fig. 3 Four major configurations of membrane distillation. a direct contact membrane distillation; b air gap membrane distillation; c sweep gas
membrane distillation; and d vacuum membrane distillation. (Modified from AlhathalAlanezi and Abdallah (2016))
vacuum pump as shown in Fig. 3. The VMD method has surface area and can process higher volumetric flow rate than
attracted considerable interest in many engineering applica- the flat sheet systems and therefore are more preferable
tions (Hassan & Darwish, 2015). (Kebria & Rahimpour, 2020).
3 Membrane Distillation Modules 3.2 Plate and Frame
3.1 Tubular Figure 5 shows the representation of the plate-and-frame

membrane assembly. The membranes and the spacers are
Tubular membranes as shown in Fig. 4, employed in the alternatively packed like a sandwich and placed in a
VMD, AGMD and DCMD modes, have been utilized to framework. It is the easiest way of packaging the flat sheet
desalinate seawater, brackish water and wastewater. The membranes and can be built in a range of ways and sizes,
membrane components are primarily ceramic, polypropylene from pilot plant-scale carrying a single, narrow membrane to
(PP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyte- the structures capable of accommodating higher number of
trafluoroethylene (PTFE). The membrane assembly is com- membranes. The major drawback is inadequate membrane
posed of a hydrophobic membrane and a core. In the AGMD reinforcement and smaller packing capacity or effective
tubular design, the feed stream is added externally, and the membrane area per module. The lack of support limits the
cold stream is circulated upstream via the hollow copper operation to a minimum hydraulic pressure or at an almost
tubing. The condenser is in the middle of the hollow copper equal pressure on each end of the membrane sufficient for a
pipe and the insulation shell. The diameter of the tubular fairly good process control. Small packing density also leads
membrane assembly is ranging between 10 and 25 mm, with to a greater footprint, higher capital and running costs such
a variation of packaging capacity. The tubular module can as for membrane auxiliary work. There are also issues
have a large flow rate, to reduce the membrane fouling and related to direct and indirect sealing, challenges in control-
polarization anomalies, allowing simple cleaning procedure. ling the stability of the membrane and more limited oper-
Unlike hollow fiber membrane, the tubular modules have ating conditions such as the fluid velocity and pressure
higher strength and tubular cover, and no support sheet is (Rastogi & Nayak, 2011). The plate and frame systems are
required. The tubular membrane modules also have higher applied in water management especially in cases of waste
Fig. 4 Illustration of tubular

module of membrane for
desalination by membrane
distillation. (Modified from
AlhathalAlanezi and Sharif
(2012))
Fig. 5 Illustration of plate-frame

distillation. (Modified from
Yasukawa et al. (2018))
sources producing large amount of fouling or high viscosi- the driving force can be small. Epoxy resins can be sealed at
ties (Yasukawa et al., 2018). both edges of the pipe. The fibers are bundled together to
create a hollow fiber bundle, placed in a wider tube container
to create a container and tube heat exchanger system (Zhang,
3.3 Hollow Fiber
2013). The hollow fiber membrane exhibits higher surface to
volume ratio than the spiral-wound design, to permit higher
The hollow fiber membrane consists of 0.1–1 mm diameter
output and higher desalinated water quality, with minimum
fiber, as shown in Fig. 6. The feed is introduced which
footprints (Ismail, et al., 2019).
moves through the asymmetric membrane placed in the
container, and the open exteriors of the U-shaped fibers are
positioned on the top plate. Hollow fiber membrane systems 3.4 Spiral-Wound
have been utilized for gas extraction, waste heat recycling,
water treatment, material purification, liquid distillation and The spiral-wound modules contain flat sheet membranes,
pervaporization. The module has small packaging capacity spacers and channels mounted and placed along the drain, as
but with vast area of friction between the shell side and the shown in Fig. 7, to attain a wide range of packing capacity
tube side. The tube side can handle heavy pressure although while minimizing the volume of storage occupied (Aguirre et al,
106 S. Ahmad et al.
Fig. 6 Illustration of hollow fiber

distillation. (Modified after
reference (Ismail et al., 2019; Pal,
2017))
Fig. 7 Illustration of
spiral-wound module of
membrane for desalination by
membrane distillation. (Modified
from Aguirre et al. (2014))
2014). The membrane, a mesh spacer, a permeate protector and waters could utilize smaller-grid or energy generated from
a protective sheet for the membrane create a shield that is wastes, to maximize the renewable supply of electricity, a
twisted and curved about a pierced collection channel. The feed core component of the water-energy nexus (Deshmukh &
flow passes through the exterior of the membrane in an axial Boo, 2018). MD is more economical by using reduced
course. Following the initial condensation process, the perme- ambient temperatures, relative to those used in the con-
ate flow is carried across the central tube and deposited in a ventional processes, and the product which is primarily
perforated seep collecting tube. The spiral-wound membrane water, does not require heating to a boiling point. Fur-
materials include PP, PTFE, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), poly- thermore, the hydrostatic pressure in the MD is smaller
ethylene (PE) and synthetic resins that are used to desalinate than the membrane technology which is pressure-driven for
brackish and seawater (Kebria & Rahimpour, 2020). instance the reverse osmosis (RO). Hence, the less costly
polymeric materials can be used. A complete product
separation is also possible based upon the vapor–liquid
4 Applications in Water Desalination
equilibrium of the MD. However, the number of pores for
the MD is comparatively more than the other membrane
Power-efficient desalination and water management tech-
separation including the RO (Alkhudhiri & Darwish,
niques are pertinent to produce clean water with less
2011).
energy burden. MD for the desalination of high-salinity
4.1 Brackish Groundwater greenhouse as a field trial, over the period of twenty two
days. The findings suggest the applicability and robustness
The deteriorating groundwater conditions from overex- of the DCMD module operated under varied conditions in
ploitation and contamination have become a major concern. the plant (Huang & Arning, 2019). The DCMD at a low feed
Treatment of groundwater is necessary to meet the require- temperature (55 °C) makes it possible to concentrate a
ments of standards for human consumption. Desalination synthetic solution of fluorine polluted groundwater. The
technique provides avenue for freshwater production from average initial flow of 13.3 L/m2/h results in 75% recovery
brackish water. MD, with its lesser energy demands and of water, with a mere 15–17% reduction in flow, yielding a
lower operating temperature and pressure, is a cost-effective permeate with 96–99% of F removal. The presence of S,
alternative method, to RO and distillation (Pangarkar et al., Mg, Pa and Ca has been detected on the membrane surface.
2011b). Brackish waters containing sodium chloride (at In comparison, the DCMD vacuum operation on the per-
10 g/L) and arsenic (III) (at 300–2000 µg/L) have been meate side has been successful in enhancing the permeate
processed by the VMD to reach the acceptable permeate flow by 42%. The continuous operation of the
standard, with more than 99.5% of salt, and 98.5% of As(III) vacuum-enhanced DCMD with membrane cleaning in
removal. For VMD, a priori oxidation stage is not required between produces 67% permeate, which is promising in the
to transform As(III) into As(V), as normally used in other treatment of F-contained groundwater (Plattner & Naidu,
methods, and no effects of fouling from humic acid and 2017).
calcium, and any scaling of membranes, are observed (Dao A system comprising a fluidized bed crystallizer
& Laborie, 2016). The brackish groundwater desalination (FBC) and an AGMD cell has provided new insights into the
has also been carried out using the direct contact membrane characterization of the fluidized surface, the development of
distillation (DCMD) with PVDF membranes. The PVDF the CaCO3 seed particle size and the AGMD operational
membrane displays a strong rejection of non-volatile inor- parameters. The technological viability has been demon-
ganic dissolved salts, with a gross permeate flux of strated on the experimental scale (Bouguecha & Dhahbi,
24.5 kg m−2 h−1, with the feed at 70 °C. The feed content 2003). The effectiveness of two separate scale management
does not have a major influence on the permeate flux and the strategies has been evaluated: a higher pH preconditioning
solute rejection. As the normal groundwater is fed into the system; and with an anti-scalant (AS) application, for RO
DCMD, the CaCO3 accumulation could clog the membrane concentration reduction in the laboratory-level AGMD. As
to reduce the clean water output. Acidification of the feed compared to the earlier studies utilizing a DCMD model, the
could reduce the negative effect of scaling and prevent any efficiency of the AGMD batch setup has been evaluated with
deposits on the membrane surface. The DCMD is effective higher salinity, alkalinity, SiO2 and magnesium hardness in
in producing clean drinking water from brackish ground- the RO concentrates, both in the presence or absence of the
water, with a water retention of up to 75% (Hou & Wang, method to lessen the scale-forming components. The
2010a). The PVDF membrane has demonstrated a strong high-pH pre-treatment utilizing cool lime-soda ash cycle is
degree of inorganic salt and solute rejection, achieving shown to be more efficient than AS, leading to greater salt
permeate flux of 35.6 kg m−2 h−1 with a feed at 80 °C and a precipitation where the concentration factor (CF) in the
cooling water at 20 °C. The feed composition, however, AGMD configuration increases beyond 1.3. The greater
does not affect the permeate flux and the removal of the precipitation under increased pH has resulted in substantial
fluoride. With time, the output starts to decrease primarily reduction of magnesium (96%), SiO2 (96%) and calcium
due to the CaF2 particle depositions on the membrane sur- (86%). As shown in Fig. 8, based on this chemical dem-
face (Hou & Wang, 2010b). ineralization technique, the AGMD system could withstand
Microporous, hydrophobic hollow fiber membranes high temperature, with enhanced permeate flow (Rioyo &
(HFMs), the PVDF and PTFE, have been tested in the Aravinthan, 2019).
DCMD. Water flow and salt discharge are calculated as a Modified pure PVDF nanofibre membranes with silica
feature of unit packaging density and duration in the nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) and with organically functional-
laboratory-scale setup. The PVDF HFMs typically display ized (salinized) silica nanoparticles (f-SiO2 NPs) have been
increased water movement as compared to the PTFE HFMs, tested for brackish water desalination. Highly hydrophobic
due to the thin membrane walls and reduced porosity. When f-SiO2 NPs-functionalized PVDF membranes (with contact
the density or duration of the unit is enhanced, the water angle of 156 ± 6°) have demonstrated an improved water
flow decreases. Nevertheless, the amount of water output per flow and smaller flux degradation than that of the pristine
module is improved owing to the greater membrane surface and SiO2 NPs-functionalized PVDF membranes, under the
area. In the United States, a pilot DCMD project has been conditions of lessened salinity (LS) and elevated salinity
carried out at the second largest geothermal-heated (HS) in the feed fluid. However, the larger organic
108 S. Ahmad et al.
Fig. 8 Illustration of air gap

membrane distillation for
brackish groundwater
desalination. (Modified from
Rastogi and Nayak (2011))
component of the LS in the feed increases the wetting and groundwater with humic content, at 70 °C (Zhong & Ji,
fouling in both pure and improved membranes (with flux 2018).
deterioration of close to 73.6% in the neat membrane sam- Different design configurations of a hybrid system have
ples). A hydrophilic coating, composed of silver nanoparti- been incorporated including saline recycling and cascading
cles (Ag-NPs) and functionalized multi-walled carbon by simulations. The improvement in the efficiency is attri-
nanotubes (f-MWCNTs), has been deposited on the pure and butable to the system integration, which extends the
improved membranes to confer anti-fouling properties. The shelf-life and reduces the energy usage. A multi-stage hybrid
layer reduces considerably the flux loss and improves the device connected in series could have the shelf-life extended
tolerance to losses in the salt refusal of pure, SiO2 by 90% and reduce the actual energy usage to 0.9 MJ/kg.
NPs-functionalized and f-SiO2 NPs-functionalized PVDF The actual energy costs may escalate significantly from the
membranes, in LS and HS feed mixture. The hydrophilic use of external inter-stage heating, and the use of a free
coating layer promotes fouling resistance characteristics, energy supply (including a geothermal or waste energy
strong brine-refusal and lower flow degradation in the system) could offset the extra cost and offers an optimal
hydrophobic PVDF nanofibre membranes, suggesting the setup (Ali & Orfi, 2018a). An exergy analysis on the stan-
ability to obtain drinking water from brackish water using dard MD module has been carried out to find the sources of
the MD systems (Nthunya & Gutierrez, 2019). The multiple inefficiency in the operation of an MD for brackish water
fouling prevention methods during the processing of desalination. The use of concentrated brine causes the
brackish groundwater demonstrate the effectiveness of con- depletion of resources where the geothermal feed capacity is
centrating by four-fold the concentration level to signifi- not efficiently utilized. The output volume and energy con-
cantly minimize the amount of wastewater. Careful use of sumption can be optimized by placing the output line to
fouling management strategies has been proven successful to consecutive MD units attached in sequence. With this, the
minimize the subsequent fouling. Intense agitation, like exergy risks show the reduction from 70 to 30%. To address
stirring, may cause premature membrane degradation espe- the hot permeate which results in further heat loss to the
cially when dealing with brackish groundwater which is atmosphere, the repeating outlet could recycle the permeates
susceptible to inorganic fouling. The thermal crystallization in consecutive MD reservoirs, connected in parallel, to
system has been successful in enhancing the membrane enhance process efficiency. The desalination cycle in cas-
output and facilitating the processing of calcium carbonates. cade configuration utilizes more of the usable exergy from
By means of transverse vibration, the concentration is the geothermal supply to generate sufficient freshwater and
increased by 8.7-fold in the processing of the brackish also removes the saline brine and hot permeate, at
reasonably low levels of exergy (Ali, 2017). A conceptual organic matter and the biofouling throughout the processing
model of the MD system has evaluated the weight and of seawater by the DCMD. The humic compounds and the
energy ratios which are balanced against the collected dis- low molecular weight (LMW) organic matter are the primary
tillate output rate as well as the temperature of the discharge biological matter of the seawater. The humic compounds are
permeate. The established model assesses the efficiency of thermally disintegrated into the LMW-humic organics in the
the cycle utilizing the energy and exergy analysis to assist in DCMD. The disintegration is much improved with the
the selection of process design and operating conditions that presence of NaCl, whereas the inorganic scalant (CaSO4)
conserve resources and increase efficiency. The exiting lowers the dissociation of the humic compounds due to the
warm permeate is found to be responsible for a significant strong binding. The assimilable organic carbon (AOC) trial
volume of energy losses when released to the atmosphere is employed in this analysis to quantify the biological foul-
(Ali & Orfi, 2018b). There is a tremendous potential for the ing potential throughout the MD operation. The AOC
use of MD for groundwater or brackish water desalination. It accumulation is clearly associated with the biofouling
offers a practical technical solutions for accessibility to clean development in water and membrane. The production of
water in rural and urban areas, with optimal energy AOC decreases as the production of LMW-humic organics
consumptions. improves, suggesting the potential of reducing biofouling in
the membrane and feed (Naidu & Jeong, 2015). Eco-friendly
silica-templated ceramic hollow fiber membranes obtained
4.2 Seawater from the rice husk ash waste have been developed utilizing
sintering and phase inversion techniques. The DCMD graft
Despite the growing regional water shortage and the reality membrane output is operated for 200 h utilizing synthetic
that about 50% of the global population resides within the seawater at different amounts of NaCl at the specific feed
100 km perimeter from the coast, seawater has not been an temperatures. Furthermore, the permeate flux is reduced with
unlimited water resource (Amy & Ghaffour, 2017). Seawater the increased feed quantity, feed temperature, producing a
makes up 97% of the total earth’s surface that its desalina- higher water flow rate of 38.2 kg/m2 h, and a salt discharge
tion utilizing the MD technology is seen as one of the of almost 99.9% (Hubadillah & Othman, 2018).
options to produce freshwater (González & Amigo, 2017; A computer system has been established to predict the
Hubadillah & Othman, 2018). A detailed study of DCMD output of the DCMD integrated solar thermal device for
output based on mass flow and heat capacity has been per- seawater desalination utilizing historical weather conditions.
formed, taking into account the transport anomalies, struc- The findings suggest the significance of simulating the
tural membrane characteristics as well as the process DCMD cycle in combination with the power basis. The
variables, to provide the baseline for the optimization of water flow velocity in the feed and distillation networks have
methods and materials. The exergy and sensitivity analysis improved the water stream and thermal capacity of the
with economic evaluation determine the viability of the DCMD unit. If the DCMD section is joined to the solar
DCMD approach. An improvement in the temperature gra- thermal reservoir, increase in the water flow rate could
dient is found to result in a rise in the transmembrane flux as reduce both the system water flow and thermal performance.
well as thermal efficiency. The improved DCMD output is The output of distillates relies on the supply of solar energy
achieved by utilizing polymeric membranes with high throughout the day. A smaller scheme of a 7.2 m2 of DCMD
porosity, having the flux and thermal efficiency reduced by spiral-wound panel and a 22.6 m2 flat sun thermal accu-
26 and 50%, respectively, and the thermal conductivity mulator generate more than 140 kg/day of distillate in real
increases between 0.1 and 0.5 W/m K. The optimum width weather conditions. This leads to an average distillate output
level of around 0.7 mm could operate at a lower temperature rate of or 6.3 kg/m2 of the sun thermal capacitor or
level (less than 5 °C) (Al-Obaidani & Curcio, 2008). The 19.7 kg/m2 of the membrane (Duong & Xia, 2017). A the-
experimental DCMD setup, as shown in Fig. 9, utilizes oretical model for DCMD has been built to forecast the
commercially available hydrophobic microporous mem- transmembrane flux of hydrophobic flat hybrid membrane,
branes. The effects of the operating parameters on the per- having PTFE dynamic layer and PP scrim-back supportive
meation flux are investigated in a plate and frame assembly layer. The model involves momentum, energy, species and
for the seawater desalination. The PTFE membrane exhibits mass balances for permeate and retentate flows, in combi-
99.9% salt refusal at flow rate of 800 ml/min and the feed at nation with the mass transfer of the water vapor via hybrid
80 °C (Shirazi & Kargari, 2012). A robust hypothetical membrane and the heat transfer across the membrane and the
framework has been developed to estimate the flux of a boundary layers, to the surface of the membrane. The surface
hydrophobic (flat sheet) hybrid membrane, encompassing porosity is the key parameter affecting the permeate flux
the active PTFE film and the scrim-backed PP support film, more than the performance ratio (Lee et al., 2015). The
in the DCMD. The humic compounds interact with the design of real industrial-scale application for seawater
110 S. Ahmad et al.
Fig. 9 Illustration of direct

contact membrane distillation for
seawater desalination. (Modified
from Al-Obaidani and Curcio
(2008))
desalination by DCMD could be greatly assisted by the allows more uniform concentration and temperature. The use
application of simulation. The open-source simulators (hol- of co-current and counter-current flow for feed-coolant
low fiber membranes and flat sheet membranes) built on the streams is evaluated, and the comparison is made with the
MATLAB GUI framework could complement the DCMD conventional DCMD. In the SMD cycle, the 10.2 kg/m2/h
scale-up module. A combined “tanks-in-series” and “black water flux is accomplished by keeping the temperature of the
box” statistical method established is to generate reliable inlet feed at 80 °C and the coolant at 20 °C. At the same
simulation and to develop profiling of all the main variables conditions, a feed of 10.1 and 11.6 kg/m2/h of water vapor
in relation to the membrane length. Based on the pilot-scale flux, during the co-current and counter-current streams, are
test findings in one system as model inputs, the simulation observed with the conventional DCMD. The water genera-
built could predict the DCMD system output in the tion in the SMD cycle is similar to the DCMD cycle,
co-current and counter-current operations, at the larger scale. although the feed-cooling streams are in co-current mode
Such predictions have been demonstrated to have a high (Francis & Ghaffour, 2015). An experimental vacuum
predictability in both the laboratory- and the large-scale membrane distillation (VMD) system, utilizing PP hollow
setup. The simulators could identify the development fiber, was modeled and mounted on a reservoir as illustrated
requirements to guide the correct scaling up framework for in Fig. 10. The seawater inlet is warmed by the excess heat
the DCMD phase. The main technical requirements for the produced by the vessel generator, achieving the desalination
construction of the industrial modules are defined and rate of 99.99% and 5.4 kg m−2 h−1 flux at 55 °C (Xu et al.,
evaluated to provide general and realistic guidelines for 2006). A VMD has been utilized to process brines from
appropriate scale-up systems to ensure maximum freshwater reverse osmosis, the simulations are carried out for opti-
efficiency using the DCMD technique. The built simulators mization of the conditions, and validation is performed in the
are open-source, accessible to build optimal DCMD system small-scale unit, utilizing real RO saline to produce 300 g/L
scale-up techniques with the selected membranes (Dong & of salt content. The influencing factors are a fully permeable
Kim, 2017). membrane, higher feed temperature, a turbulent fluid system
A system of submerged membrane distillation (SMD) for and low permeate pressure, to allow large permeate fluxes
processing “Red Sea” water utilizing hollow fiber mem- even at a highly concentrated salt content. Calcium sulfate
branes is developed similar to the conventional DCMD and calcium carbonate immediately precipitate out owing to
system. In the SMD method, the hollow fiber membranes are their poor solubility, and crystals are deposited on the sur-
incorporated at each side to ensure that the simple open faces of the membrane, but not covering all the pores. The
membrane package assembly is immersed in a coolant crystals can be efficiently removed by cleaning the mem-
reservoir, fitted with a stirrer. The heated feed stream is brane. A universal retention rate of 89% could be accom-
transported through the lumen portion of the membrane at plished by combining the VMD and RO (Mericq & Laborie,
the feed inlet. Complete mixing and contact with the coolant 2010). Thermoplastic effects have been demonstrated
Fig. 10 Illustration of vacuum

membrane distillation for
seawater desalination. (Modified
from Xu et al (2006))
through photothermal excitations of silver nanoparticles of 8 kg m−2 of the reservoir and may reach for the drinking
(AgNPs) integrated into the microporous PVDF membranes. for residential area over a 12-h period. The GOR of above
The hot feed on the membrane surface is subjected to the UV 0.7 is similar to the single-stage MD systems powered by
irradiation to achieve high desalination efficiency using the indirect heat supply (Ma & Ahmadi, 2018). The viability of
VMD. The flat sheet microporous membranes embedding an efficient hybrid device comprising freezing desalination
the AgNPs are fabricated by utilizing a non-solvent-induced and VMD, powered by surplus energy and sunlight energy
phase inversion technique. The nanoscale thermal hotspots for seawater desalination, has been reported. Freezing stage
of the AgNPs-embedded PVDF membrane, under the UV is the primary phase in the cycle where fresh ice is collected
irradiation, enhance the surface temperature. The via freezing the seawater. To guarantee the ice purity, the
laboratory-scale validation suggests an 11-fold increase in fresh ice is melted by portion of the VMD distillate.
the transmembrane flux at the highest NP composition The PVDF, tri-bore, hollow fiber films are used in the VMD.
(Politano & Argurio, 2017). A groundbreaking method The resulting membrane possessed an average 51.7 kg/m2
based on “vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation mod- (permeation flux) at 70 °C (feeding temperature). With every
ules” (V-MEMD) has been developed for pilot-scale one kilogram of the seawater supplied to the system every
desalination of seawater. The integrated system uses the hour, the gross water retention is 0.74 kg/h. The boiler
seawater feed current in the condenser, where the heated function may be run either by 13.8 m2 solar panels or by
feed increases the thermal performance achieving the pro- 3.10 kg (regasification) of LNG, if the device is completely
duction ratio for seawater of 3.2. The total distillate shows integrated (Chang & Zuo, 2019). The solar powered VMD
8.5 L h−1 m−2 flux at 75 °C for hot feed temperature and 150 energy efficiency has been examined on four standard days
L h−1 for the feed flow rate. However, the scaling lessens the during four different seasons in a year, including equinoxes
distillate supply by 50%. The scaling can be effectively and solstices, using commonly used energy metrics like
eliminated by acid washing, and the output is restored, specific energy usage, production ratio and heat retention
without having to resort to an anti-scalant as a pre-treatment factor. The energy efficiency is closely related to the solar
(Andrés-Mañas & Ruiz-Aguirre, 2018). radiation, and provided that the VMD is run on solar, it is
The VMD template has been designed both on the able to compete with the industrial techniques based on RO,
membrane scale (membrane pore system) and on the module MSF and MED (Miladi & Frikha, 2019). A new solar sea-
scale (feed bulk longitudinal system) and then connected to a water distillation module has been designed to improve its
comprehensive solar energy system. Impacts of different thermal efficiency by utilizing seawater to condense the
solar and VMD variables on the regular water generation, steam and preheat the feed. Trials are performed under
energy usage and “gained output ratio (GOR)” are evaluated various environmental parameters to determine the function
via a sequence of simulations. The findings suggest that the of thermal storage module in reducing the impact of dis-
reduced condensation heat recovery with smaller running ruptions under sun irradiation. The thermal energy can be
temperatures is optimal to attain the regular water generation supplied to the distillation system at a constant temperature,
112 S. Ahmad et al.
even with varied sun irradiation. A simulation using a sizes (0.45 and 0.22 µm) are tested and evaluated for various
quasi-dynamic system is carried out to determine the profile operating parameters in a single-stage AGMD. The trial
of the distillate output where the running period is findings suggest that the wider pore membrane exhibits
throughout the typical year, taking into account the various improved mass transfer efficiency which contributes toward
heat settings at the membrane unit inlet (60, 70 and 80 °C). a small decrease in water generation quality. Nevertheless,
The quantity of the distilled water produced yearly, from the the AGMD method would yield water with a high salt dis-
simulated data, is in the range of 41.7–70.5 m3, based on the charge of greater than 99% and a gross permeate flux of
set-point. The membrane distilling system provides water 9.06 kg m−2 h−1 at 77 °C (feed temperature) (El-Mokhtar &
almost evenly throughout the year, with a typical flux of Boubakri, 2019).
5.5 ± 1 L h−1 m−2 at the highest set-point (Andrés-Mañas & Although the Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) cur-
Roca, 2020). rently dominates the demand in desalination, significant
The AGMD method aimed at seawater desalination has technical problems persist and have not been satisfactorily
been optimized to achieve high distillate output with lower addressed. In particular, the comparatively small water
electrical and thermal power input. The pilot study shows the retention factor (of around 50%) achieved, which has
major effect of water flow stages and inlet temperature of the resulted in massive volumes of brine released. Furthermore,
evaporator on the system efficiency. Improvement in the the energy usage of 3–5 kWh/m3 is far higher than the
distillate output and the energy performance can be required thermodynamic level of around 1 kWh/m3. The
accomplished by increasing the evaporator air intake tem- efficiency of novel devices incorporating SWRO, reverse
perature. There exists a trade-off between the power usage electro-dialysis (RED) and MD for combined processing of
and the distillate output rate, as the amount of water input energy and water has been examined. The recovery of the
differs. The increase in the rate of water input has con- hypersaline waste brine via salinity gradient power genera-
tributed to a change in the rate of distillate output and also in tion through RED and the attainment of higher retention
the electrical energy usage. For low energy consumption in factors suggest the possibility of zero liquid release and less
the experimental AGMD, the feed salinity can affect the energy desalination, in real applications. The investigation is
plant output, while the influence of temperature and satura- accompanied by the laboratory-scale experiments performed
tion variation are minimal. The seawater desalination based on the RED and MD under different operating conditions.
on the AGMD could be accomplished at different thermal The exergetic performance reaches 49% for the best situa-
and electric power usage, respectively, at 90 and 0.13 kW tion at MD 60 °C feed temperature, MD saline amount of
h m−3. This suggests the economic feasibility of the AGMD 5 M NaCl and RED power density of 2.2 W/m2 per pair of
for smaller units, as well as for off-grid seawater desalina- the membrane. A decline of up to 23% in electricity usage
tion, where solar thermal or minimum-grade power sources and a 16.6% in real energy usage is accomplished by using
are freely accessible (Duong & Cooper, 2016). The two the RED model. The efficiency of thermal power supply for
“multi-channel spiral-wound air-gap membrane distillation” the MD is important, while small-grade surplus energy or
systems have been evaluated for seawater desalination on a solar thermal sustainable sources may theoretically be
commercial scale. The key difference between the systems is accomplished. The proposed interconnected framework is
the membrane surface area of 24 and 7.2 m2, with the compatible with the new circular economy model and the
channel lengths of 5 and 1.5 m. The effects of inlet evapo- process intensification principle (Tufa & Noviello, 2019).
rator temperature, inlet condenser heat and feed velocity are The nanofiber membranes comprising poly(vinylidene
determined. The profitability and energy efficiency are found fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) have been fabricated via
to be mainly linked to the heat retention within the system electrospinning, followed by coating with TiO2 nanoparti-
(Ruiz-Aguirre & Andrés-Mañas, 2018). A techno-economic cles for membrane renewal during actual seawater desali-
evaluation of the water gap MD (WGMD) and AGMD for nation with MD. Compared to industrial PVDF membrane,
seawater desalination has also been explored. The simplified the electrospinned-TiO2 membrane has improved
cost of water (SCOW) approach is used to measure the anti-fouling and anti-wetting features that can be easily
expenditure expenses, fixed and variable expenses, amorti- restored by plain physical water cleaning. Fouled mem-
zation effects and the market impact over the duration of branes display renewed hydrophobicity after 30 min of plain
implementation. The trial results based on a small-scale MD water cleaning, with the contact angle restored from
desalination system are also employed. The most realistic 131.4 ± 2.2° to 151.3 ± 1.2° (Guo & Deka, 2019). An easy
scenario for the WGMD is with the capability of 1000 m3 and practical approach to enhance the desalination efficiency
per day utilizing waste and solar radiation, where the prices has been devised by integrating the 2D boron nitride
of the MD are close to the traditional desalination technol- nanosheets (BNNSs) into polyvinylidene fluoride-co-
ogy at the same rate (Amaya-Vías & López-Ramírez, 2019). hexafluoropropene (PVDF-co-HFP) to form the BNs-PH
Two separate industrial PVDF membranes with specific pore electrospun nanofiber membrane. The BNs-PH membrane
displays robust water vapor influx (18 LMH) and excellent 4.3 Produced Water
salt discharge (99.99%) after 28 h (the commercial PVDF:
flat PH with wetting in 4 h and fast deterioration in 28 h). Produced water, which is the wastewater produced by the oil
The method implemented is able to be extended to other and gas industry, is a mixture of a variety of organic and
desalination schemes to improve the different water treat- inorganic components. The physicochemical characteristics
ment programs (Lee & Woo, 2020). A novel superhy- of the extracted water differ considerably based on the geo-
drophobic electrospun PVDF membrane has also been graphical position of the region, the geological composition
fabricated and added to the MD-operated desalination and the types of hydrocarbons produced. The characteristics
technique. The casting solution configurations is designed to and quantity of the extracted water differ depending on the
create an irregular surface of transparent microspheres. The reservoir, and the content of the water derived from various
membranes display a reasonable permeability at 152.4° sources differs by the orders of magnitude. The key compo-
contact angle, which is suitable for the MD-operated nents of the produced water include soluble mineral forma-
desalination. Following the real seawater desalination for tions, dispersed and dissolved oily components, produced
120 h, the developed membrane has exhibited more robust chemical compounds, dissolved gases and produced solids
permeate flux as compared to the normal PVDF film. The (which involve scale and corrosion products, waxes, formed
desalinated water freshly produced from the membrane solids, asphaltenes and bacteria) (Ali & Quist-Jensen, 2018).
exhibits low conductivity attributable to the membrane Proper handling and storage of the produced water is a big
fouling resistance, induced by the air gap between the film problem in the gas and oil sector. Membrane techniques are
and the feed. The fabricated membrane offers a potential attractive due to the large separation capacities, high perfor-
technique to enhance the short-term performance of the mance and low operating costs. The key factors in the
marine water-type MD desalination (Su & Zhang, 2020). selection of membrane operations are the lower energy
Photovoltaic (PV)-MD system has been reported capable demands, a broad range of workable separations, compact
of reliable production of clean water (greater than 1.64 kg size, lightweight, lesser degradation concerns and lower
m−2 h−1) from seawater while co-generating the power scaling (Ali & Quist-Jensen, 2018). The membrane crystal-
production (greater than 11%) under the sun. Its high output lization (MCr) and membrane distillation (MD) attract con-
rate of clean water is accomplished by a mega-stage mem- siderable attention for water processing owing to the wide
brane distillation (MSMD) system with the solar cell power range of concentrations and reduced fouling capacity (Ali &
backing to recover the latent energy of the water vapor Quist-Jensen, 2018; Siyal et al, 2019). The DCMD has been
condensation at each distillation point. This hybrid design investigated for hot brines and aqueous treatments below
could substantially minimize the cost of capital expenditure 100 °C. The DCMD provides additional benefit for feed
by using the same land and the same mounting structure, solutions that need extra energy to chill the solution, as
thereby offering a possible opportunity to convert an elec- compared to the RO which could not exploit the heat present
trical power station to a source of freshwater generation in the supply solution. The produced water collected from the
(Wang & Shi, 2019). Being the second generation separation steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is one of the models
technique, MD is described as a critical industrial method in which DCMD is a valuable method for desalination.
with exceptional performance for seawater desalination. The The DCMD with porous flat layer PTFE film has been
advent of nanotechnology technologies could further investigated in the region 80–130 °C for brines comprising
improve the MD performance especially by the modification 10,000 ppm NaCl. The efficiency of prepared membrane is
of nanomaterials and the fabrication of advanced polymers also examined with saline feed with NaCl (3000 ppm),
(Alsebaeai & Ahmad, 2020). Membrane fouling and scaling phenol (45 ppm), cresol (45 ppm) and naphthenic acid
are the key problems restricting the implementation of MD (10 ppm). There is no loss of salt in any conditions investi-
on a larger scale. Various MD designs, driven by geother- gated. The maximum water vapor flow of 195 kg/m2 h
mal, solar and waste energy, have been developed and tested obtained is higher than that obtained from the seawater based
to achieve efficient desalination of seawater, especially for on the RO cycle. The water produced by DCMD method can
hybrid projects requiring zero liquid drainage. Novel mem- be employed for steam production in the SAGD cycle (Singh
branes, membrane assemblies and MD designs have been & Sirkar, 2012). The DCMD method utilizing polymeric
introduced in recent years to achieve better desalination of membrane has been evaluated for the treatment of oil derived
seawater. To ensure resilience and prolonged utilization of water. The permeates analyzed show that the MD mechanism
the MD, there is a need for life-cycle analyses of MD pro- is effective for the desalination of the processed water, with a
jects to measure their environmental impacts. total salt removal efficiency of above 99% and a total carbon
114 S. Ahmad et al.
removal of above 90% (Macedonio & Ali, 2014). The effi- evaluated at various operating conditions. The flow is
ciency of hydrophobic microfiltration membranes in a enhanced with the increase in the feeding temperature and
DCMD unit is investigated for the treatment of heavy salinity the flow rate and reduced as the coolant temperature
produced water (total dissolved solids of approximately increases. The energy usage calculated at various pore sizes
300,000 mg/L). PTFE and PP membranes produce the lar- suggests that it is independent of the membrane pore sizes
gest permeate flux at 5.6 Ll/m2/h/kPa (distillation coeffi- (Alkhudhiri & Darwish, 2013). Microporous membranes
cient). Examination of the membranes after prolonged constructed from hydrophobic polymers like PVDF are
experimentation with real processed water exhibits unevenly commonly employed for MD. Nevertheless, the hydropho-
dispersed inorganic concentrations of substantial iron con- bic MD membranes are susceptible to the moistening small
tent. The findings suggest the prospect of membrane distil- surface tension liquids, thus restricting their use in the
lation to handle heavy salinity wastewater from natural gas treatment industrial wastewater including the shale gas
production (Lokare & Tavakkoli, 2017). produced water, with more complex composition. A simple
The MD has been studied for the treatment of hydraulic fabrication method of omniphobic PVDF films that remove
fracking produced water (HFPW) having high salinity. The both oil and water has been developed. A surface positive
raw and electrocoagulation (EC) pretested HFPW models charge is provided to the alkaline-preserved PVDF mem-
are evaluated with the DCMD under a range of operating brane through the functionalization of aminosilane that
conditions. Higher pollutant elimination throughout EC permits the permanent attachment of the negative charged
process leads to lower surface fouling and a greater flow silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) to the film via electrostatic
reduction with the DCMD. The extended period of interactions. The layer with attached SiNPs is later layered
EC-DCMD tests has been performed desalinating the feed with fluoroalkylsilane to minimize the film surface variation.
water equal to 265 g L−1, producing 135 g L−1 total dis- The covering of the SiNPs with ultralow external energy
solved solids (TDS). Sustainable water flow with reduced greatly improves the membrane's wetting resistance toward
fouling is recorded over an extended period of 434 h (Sar- the lower surface tension fluids. The desalination efficiency
dari & Fyfe, 2018). Four monomers, namely acrylic acid, of the changed membrane is tested in the DCMD with
hydroxyethylmethacrylate, 1-vinyl-3-hexylimidazole bro- industrial wastewater comprising sodium dodecyl sulfate
mide and 1-vinyl-3-allimidazole bromide, are grafted on the surfactant including the mineral fuel and the shale gas
interface of the PVDF membrane. The base and modified generated water. The prepared omniphobic membrane
membranes are investigated in a DCMD system to treat exhibits consistent MD efficiency, suggesting its capacity for
actual produced water. The neat membranes and the mem- the desalination of industrialized wastewater comprising
brane with 1-vinyl-3-allimidazole bromide are previously numerous low-surface pollutants (Boo & Lee, 2016). The
treated with electrocoagulation. These membranes are eval- membrane distillation combined with crystallization
uated to desalinate artificial wastewater made by introducing (MDC) is suitable to process the “shale gas produced water”
large inorganic compounds found in the processed water into (SGPW) due to its resilience against high salinity and the
the deionized water. For membrane fused with intrinsic geothermal power. In combination with crystal-
1-vinyl-3-allylimidazolium bromide, the maximum fluxes lization, the scalant loading is minimized adequately, and
are produced. The stability and efficiency of the membrane hence, the membrane wetting is successfully prevented, as
can be enhanced by modifying the characteristics of the shown in Fig. 11. The implementation of such MDC
monomeric components in the polymer chains (Anari & mechanism improves cumulative retention to 62.5% (Kim &
Sengupta, 2019). A new Janus hybrid hollow fiber mem- Kwon, 2017). So as to determine the effectiveness of the
brane in DCMD mode is employed for the desalination of MDC, the efficiency metrics including the rate of water
real processed water containing 154,220 mg/L of TDS. The recovery, solid production rate (SPR) and basic energy usage
prepared hybrid (Janus-HFM) is characterized by a slim and are evaluated utilizing the actual SGPW. The findings indi-
hydrophobic PVDF and superhydrophobic silica nanoparti- cate that the water and minerals are efficiently recovered
cle (Si-NP) on the outer surface with high porosity, and the with an 84% retention rate and an average of 2.72 kg/m2
hydrophilic PVDF contains a polyethylene glycol (PEG) in- each day at the optimum operational conditions. The scale
ternal coating. In comparison with the clean PVDF hollow function is established as a limitation factor for the reduction
fiber membrane, the hybrid Janus-HFM demonstrates both of the MDC ideal operating conditions. The MDC can sus-
enhanced water permeate and better energy performance, tainably and efficiently recover minerals and water using
with 99.99% salt refusal (Zou & Gusnawan, 2020). lower power usage from the SGPW by improving the
The AGMD has been used to handle produced water operating conditions (Kim & Kim, 2018).
where the permeate fluxes, denial parameter and energy The viability of an optimized forward osmosis membrane
usage for three separate membranes, TF1000, TF450 and distillation (FO-MD) method has been determined for the
TF200 with pore dimensions of 1, 0.45 and 0.2 µm, are production of water generated from the shale gas extraction
Fig. 11 Illustration of membrane

distillation accompanied by
crystallizer for shale gas produced
water desalination. (Modified
from Kim and Kwon (2017))
plants, with high salinity. In the developed hybrid method, efficiency of the MD remains a stumbling-block to its wider
the FO draws water from high-salinity stream, whereas the application. The hybrid MD, by integrating MD with addi-
MD restores the diluted FO draw solution. The EC tional systems, could provide a realistic solution to improve
pre-treatment of the FO-MD system demonstrates good efficiency and to accomplish a significant resource recovery.
efficiency with limited fouling. The EC reduces gross The performance and associated issues of the different MD
organic content and gross suspended solids by up to 78% configurations on resource recovery must be addressed. The
and 96%, respectively (Sardari & Fyfe, 2019). Analysis recovery of useful salt/component from the polluted water
shows that the thermal energy of the MD activity adds much bodies can be achieved, but the hybrid MD-crystallizer is
to the overall expenditure for the production of the processed restricted to the removal of large salts. The MD-adsorbent
water in the MD facility. The sensitivity analysis indicates also shows capacity for selective recovery of useful elements
that the amount of TDS for feed and radiant energy rates that can reduce treatment costs. The combined membrane
have substantial effects on the overall cost of production of distillation forward osmosis (MDFO) and membrane distil-
processed water. The techno-economic assessment (TEA) is lation bioreactor (MDBR) are attractive for water recovery
important to determine the fiscal viability of MD for water from the wastewater and for the recovery of resources and
management generated relative to additional methods for biogas that minimize the environmental pollution. The
water resources provided by the shale gas (Tavakkoli & regeneration of water and power can be accomplished
Lokare, 2017). Despite extensive efforts to customize the through dual membrane distillation pressure retarded
membrane surface wettability to lessen the wetting and osmosis (MD-PRO) and membrane distillation reverse
fouling in MD, the developed membranes are highly affected electro-dialysis (MD-RED). The benefits of hybrid MD for
by the complexity of the actual industrialized wastewater. product recovery in specialized fields have been well
A thorough consideration should be given to the issues of reported (Naidu & Tijing, 2020). A novel technique has been
wetting/fouling resistance, water quality, and recyclability, devised to build a stable and superhydrophobic membrane
in the design and manufacturing of suitable films for MD through electrospinning, accompanied by electrospraying, to
application. Effective monitoring system should be put in improve the membrane anti-wetting effects induced by
place to determine the MD efficiency for continuous use and fouling and scaling. The durable PDMS-3 superhydrophobic
repeated application over prolonged period (Du & Zhang, membrane consists of a superhydrophobic surface formed by
2018). electrospraying a PVDF/PDMS/silica smoke blend mixture
and electrospun nanofibrous PVDF reinforcement. A better
MD flow of 28 kg m−2 h−1 and a salt discharge of more than
5 Recent Advances 99.99% could be obtained during the DCMD process in
160 h continuous mode, at the feed and permeation con-
MD is a viable alternative to the thermal-based membrane centrations of 3.5% (w/v) NaCl solution at 333 K and the
technology to provide pure freshwater from multiple water purified water at 293 K. These findings emphasize the sig-
resources. Nevertheless, as a stand-alone system, the nificance of the production of nonabrasive,
116 S. Ahmad et al.
Fig. 12 Illustration of
triple-layer nanocomposite
membrane model for desalination
of water. (Modified from
Elmarghany et al. (2020))
superhydrophobic membranes to treat wastewater composed and salt removal. The flux is improved by a factor of 2.7
of varied organic and inorganic material, in the MD (Liao & relative to the sterile membrane, suggesting that the addition
Zheng, 2020). of hydrophilic properties to some amount of hydrophobic
A two-tier superhydrophobic intertwined hybrid film built membrane could greatly increase the efficiency of MD,
on a spatially ordered polypropylene (iPP) layer and elec- without reducing the capacity for salt removal (Floros &
trospun PVDF nanofibrous coating has been prepared. The Kouvelos, 2020). A new triple-layer nanohybrid membrane
top layer has a disfigured nano/microstructured microsphere has been fabricated utilizing polyethersulfone (PES) and
exterior with a strong super-hydrophobicity and additional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the main base content and poly
anti-fouling properties owing to the synergistic impact of (vinylidene fluoride-cohexafluoropropylene) as the top and
small surface free energy content and surface roughness. In bottom surfaces of the layer, as shown in Fig. 12. The
assessment, for the simulated, the engineered superhy- customized PES with CNTs is used as the main base con-
drophobic hybrid membrane demonstrates a reasonable tent of the triple-layer membrane to achieve a highly porous
permeate flux (53.9 kg/m2 h) of high-salinity sunset yellow membrane in a DCMD configuration, and the efficiency is
freshwater and a full discharge over 50 h of treatment at 40 ° evaluated by varying the concentrations of salt water, feed
C, owing to its porous nanofibrous support and strong liquid velocity and feed water temperatures. The triple-layer
repulsion (Deng & Liu, 2020). Hybridization of MD and FO nanocomposite membrane is cost competitive and a viable
has the ability to meet the increasing demand for clean alternative to other MD membranes (Elmarghany et al.,
drinking water. However, effective evaluation of systems 2020). A hydrophobic nanofibrous materials for VMD have
operating parameters, improving the water transfer rates, been developed, composed of a hydrophobic PVDF
with an acceptable drawing solution, is needed to achieve nanofibrous surface and a hydrophobic PP nonwoven
high permeate output. A study on the FO-MD method has framework (NWF). The nanofibrous PVDF coating is pro-
been carried out to determine the drawn solutes, based on cessed straight on the exterior of the PP NWF substrate
poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride, tetraethylammo- utilizing an electrospinning method. 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-
nium bromide and sodium chloride to represent the different (FTES) perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane modified grapheme
FO and MD permeate fluxes. The fouling is found to be oxide (GO) nanosheets are inserted into the PVDF nanofi-
more prevalent in the FO, but the differences in the transfer ber film throughout the electrospinning phase to improve
rates of water are found in both systems. The analytical the VMD hydrophobic and permeation water flow. The
findings and the template are utilized to forecast the MD permeation water distribution achieves an average of
stream temperature and cross-flow velocity changes to attain 36.4 kg m−2 h−1, and the water velocity increases twofold
the water equilibrium for each drawn solution. The opti- with the salt discharge of over 99.9% at 50 °C, 3.5%
mization of the parameters has resulted in the output of the sodium chloride aqueous medium and 31.3 kPa permeation
permeates enhanced, suggesting that the FO-MD method is pressure (Li & Shi, 2020). MD is an innovative membrane
excellent for water distillation when the efficiency is opti- system that provides the opportunity to handle extremely
mized (Zohrabian & Hankins, 2020). salty water such as seawater, brine water and chemical
Effective coating of industrial porous polyte- wastewater and petroleum-gas field derived water. The
trafluoroethylene membranes with poly(vinyl alcohol) normal hydrophobic membranes are facing rapid wetting
(PVA) is accomplished by solvent dipping, accompanied by and extreme fouling, particularly when the compounds
cross-linking. The fabricated membranes are tested for their having small surface tension are present in the salty water,
success in DCMD configuration in improving water flow which would affect the efficiency of the MD. The
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Nuclear Desalination
Ahmad Mukhtar, Sidra Saqib, Sami Ullah, Muhammad Sagir,

M. Bilal Tahir, Abid Mahmood, Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi,
Muhammad Ali Assiri, Muhammad Ibrahim, and Anam Ali
Abstract significant desalination processes associated with nuclear

SMRs. It was calculated that the rate of water construc-
Thermal purification is an energy-intensive method that
tion through purification was between $0.4/m3 and 1.8 $/
meets the demand from traditional sources with fossil
m3, dependent on the container form and method of
fuels. Existing work seeks to identify solutions to thermal
purification. Chapter findings suggest that proper prepa-
desalination for fossil fuels. Nuclear technology is a
ration and control are required for the potential for marine
feasible choice for electricity cogeneration and freshwater
impacts. In contrast with other co-locations, they often
development owing to a large amount of usable power
show detrimental maritime, atmospheric, and
that has been retrieved. Heat is used for steam production
socio-economic consequences. Public safety problems
and on-spot power storage in thermal and membrane
are addressed, and perspectives are described. Higher
waste treatment plants. It is necessary to use massive or
environmental efficiency than other co-location alterna-
SMR. This chapter discusses the numerous facets of
tives is anticipated in nuclear desalination facilities.
nuclear purification, nuclear containers related to pro-
Environmental preparation and tracking operations are
cesses of desalination, and integrated desalination
also much easier and less comprehensive and the key
schemes coupled with nuclear containers. We address
surveillance criteria are mentioned. Ultimately, it is
the health of nuclear desalination activities and general
proposed that nuclear desalination be introduced as a
awareness, as well as the new economic analyses and
less polluting method.
evaluations of nuclear desalination projects on-site. Ten
large facilities worldwide are run mainly as nuclear
Keywords

desalination plants. MSF, MED, and RO are the most
Water Treatment Desalination Nuclear Distillation
A. Mukhtar Energy
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS, Bandar, Seri Iskandar, Perak 32610, Malaysia
S. Saqib
Department of Chemical Engineering, COMSATS University
Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan 1 Introduction
S. Ullah A. G. Al-Sehemi M. A. Assiri
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid The introduction of desalination technology in several areas
University, P. O. Box 9004 Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia of the world is becoming a realistic option for fulfilling the
M. Sagir (&) rising need for freshwater. Since the 1950s there has been a
Department of Chemical Engineering, KFUEIT, RYK, Punjab, significant growth of the desalination industry. Capacity
Pakistan expansion in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and southern Califor-
M. B. Tahir nia has been reported (Jouhara & Khamis, 2013; Khamis &
Department of Physics, KFUEIT, RYK, Punjab, Pakistan Kavvadias, 2013). Conventional waste management tech-
A. Mahmood M. Ibrahim nology depends heavily on fossil-fuel electricity that even-
School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government tually contributes to deforestation and global warming.
College University, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
Purification processes are in theory classified into big cate-
A. Ali gories: thermal and non-thermal (membrane procedures)
Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of
Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan (Alsaman et al., 2016). Multi-stage flash, multi-effect
122 A. Mukhtar et al.
distillation, vapor compression, reverse osmosis, forward substantial expenditure over clean and alternative energy
osmosis, and electrodialysis are amongst the membrane sources. The safety of energy sources has been the primary
purification treatments are the major thermal procedures. interest for many countries, especially oil importers (Khe-
Which include MSF and RO are the two commonly tarpal et al., 2016). It has contributed to many work projects
employed systems. RO accounts for 63% of global power, to identify renewable energy sources that are inexpensive,
while MSF accounts for 23% (Abdelkareem et al., 2018; reliable, and safe (Mushtaq et al., 2014). A significant focus
Qasim et al., 2015; Walker et al., 2014). has been given to nuclear power. In nuclear plant con-
Over recent decades there has been a substantial decline struction in the 70s and 1980s, the prospect of lower-cost
in the expense of desalinated water. However, several vari- nuclear fuel was the key motive, especially after the oil crisis
ables remain essential to the expense of desalinated water. in the 1970s. Nuclear power stations operate in several
Therefore, the equipment type, plant scale, position, plant counties worldwide. E.g. in Japan, the United Kingdom, and
ability, pretreatment specifications, feed water quality, and Middle Eastern countries (Im et al., 2012). By 2016, there
power cost are considered. Such considerations are consid- were 441 reactor types powered by [(gigawatt (electric))] in
ered. Studying the subsequent components: (1) energy more than 30 provinces, a total of 382.9 GW(e). 68 reactors,
expense (2) efficiency of traditional energy source (3) the 45 of which are under development in Asia only and have a
environmental effects of fossil fuel and (4) volatility in fossil total ability of 67.4 GW(e), are still under development. The
fuel price, the discovery in alternate sources of oil to latest estimates have shown that the global potential of
desalination processes may seem to be a benefit. In a certain nuclear electricity is going to be 511 GW(e) by 2030. This
purification process, thermal energy is required as for Mass comes about by the need for expanded supplies of electricity,
StageFlash and Mean Effect Distillation, whereas for the extension of resources, the minimization of sustainability
example Reverse Osmosis and Forward Osmosisfilm tech- on non-renewables and oil import dependency (Sagir et al.,
nology require electricity. As a result, a big initiative is being 2014a, 2014b, 2016). Such considerations correlate with
made to investigate renewable energy options, such as wind, numerous environmental issues resulting from the overuse of
nuclear plants, and geothermal, in the form of desalination fossil fuels as prime sources of resources, like warming, the
(Abdelkareem et al., 2018). greenhouse effects, and environmental damage (Adamanti-
Nuclear desalination seems a feasible and promising ades & Kessides, 2009). The IAEA’s 2012 study suggested
alternative for low-cost desalination plants (Khamis, 2009). that global energy demand will rise by around a third by
It is the product in a nuclear power plant of fresh/drinking 2035 (Kavvadias & Khamis, 2014).
water from coastal water. The technology produced can be
used to produce electricity by thermal desalination processes
and through a cogeneration system (Faibish et al., 2002; 3 Nuclear Reactors
Khamis, 2013; Megahed, 2001). Since the 1960s, the IAEA
has extensively researched the usage of nuclear electricity in The nuclear fission cycle was used in 2016 for producing
desalination (Hammond, 1964; Starmer & Lowes, 1973). In electricity from both of the running nuclear power plants.
the past, studies of the viability of using nuclear technology The break of the strong atomic nuclei that are broken apart to
in desalination have been carried out by the IAEA effec- create light atomist nuclei releases immense energy through
tively. The IAEA has released several studies (Ashoor et al., nuclear fusion. Such Atomic Nuclei are considered by mass
2016; Megahed, 2001). Tests revealed some desirable fea- quantities, atomic statistics, the sum of the released neutron,
tures for nuclear desalination, including environmental and the l-rays related to prime nuclei excitation. The task of
security by reducing the production of greenhouse gases, the nuclear reactor is to turn thermal energy resulting from it
potential replacement of existing sources of energy (fossil into fuel. Various variations of the nuclear plant are widely
fuel), and economic viability in rural places where fossil fuel used worldwide. They are divided into generations based on
does not occur. The findings also presented this system as a their historical growth. The main types are the following:
common awareness and generated more technological trust Pressurized Water Reactor, Boiling Water Reactor, Pres-
in its application. surized Heavy Water Reactor, Gas-Cooled Reactor,
Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor, Light Water (cooled) Gra-
phite (moderated) reactor, Fast Breeder Reactor,
2 Nuclear Energy High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactorand Liquid Metal
Cooled Fast Reactor) (Alemberti et al., 2014). There are
In both developing and emerging countries, fossil fuel has approximately 441 nuclear reactors around the world today.
been the main form of energy over the last 100 years, with a PWR reactors are approximately 68%, BWR reactors are
share of 81% (Edenhofer et al., 2014). Over the last approximately 20%, PHWR reactors are approximately 6%
15 years, though, the electricity use trend has improved with and the rest are GCR, LWGR, and FBR (Khamis, 2009).
Nuclear Desalination 123
4 Technologies for Nuclear Desalination 4.1.2 Reverse Osmosis (RO)

RO is an osmotic pressure-influencing mechanism that
The desalination of seawater may be defined by environ- operates the semi-permeable membrane to isolate pollutants
mental, hydraulic, chemical, and electrical energy sources from feedwater. The osmotic pressure is normally strong
(Alkaisi et al., 2017). This segment provides a summary of (50–80 bar), and the water can be transited through a
emerging desalination technology in operation, with an membrane unit. With much more than 45% of the overall
emphasis on energy sources. The following sections are desalination power, RO is classed as the most
illustrated according to the new literature accessible. energy-effective method used in freshwater construction().
Recent experiments have shown that RO systems are
appropriate for salty purification purposes as they can pro-
4.1 Membrane Technologies vide a range of water types; both drinking and irrigation
water are fairly inexpensive (Kim et al., 2017; Malek et al.,
Desalination dependent on a membrane is one of the most 1996). Depending on energy source the price of water
critical processes of freshwater processing. It is because of a derived from the membrane process is typically approxi-
variety of factors: performance, working easiness, and strong mately 1 USD/m3. The recorded cost is, for example, from 1
productivity (Amy et al., 2017; Kochkodan& Hilal, 2015). to 5 USD/m3 if the membrane method is solar aided
This is installed on a semi-permeable membrane that helps (Al-Othman et al., 2018). Research exertions are underway
desalinated water to disperse (permeate) while leaving to test the cycle combination of various renewable energy
behind (retentate), under a guiding force (Wang et al., sources with RO (Eltawil et al., 2009). Photovoltaic panels
2017a), a concentrated salt solution. Presently in usage, the analyze solar energy as a feasible way to power pumps
major desalination technologies based on membranes are and/or produce electricity (Sagir et al., 2018; Ei-Ghonemy,
RO, FO, NF, ED, and ultrasound filtration. The primary 2012). Wind energy may also be used as a supply of energy
source of energy is power, which is the cause of membrane in conjunction with the RO-systems with PVT collectors.
desalination (Shahzad et al., 2018; Azam et al., 2014; RO systems powered by PV and thermal solar are currently
Mushtaq et al., 2014; Talebian et al., 2015). The membrane sold for several hundred cubic meters a day in several
is characterized as a thin, permeable film that enables water locations with a range of capacities. For a Solar Rankin
molecules to move through and prevents the transmission of Cycle (RC) driven RO device, Shalaby sent a general design
certain large molecules, such as salt, bacteria, metal, and recommendation. The RO desalination membranes with a
virus, which lead to biofouling. The membranes are typically thermal water pump have been tested in the thermodynamic
made with polymeric materials. For example, acetate, cel- process. Photovoltaics/diesel/battery/reverse osmosis hybrid
lulose, and nylon are part of the polymeric materials. Within energy system output was improved. hybrid energy system.
this segment, the major membrane processes are discussed, Wind as a potential source of renewable energy for RO
comprising (reverse osmosis), ED (electrodialysis), and MD desalination systems was examined. The tests revealed that
(membrane distillation) (Mushtaq, 2014; Sagir et al., 2014c). the quality of the hybrid renews can be popular with
increased efficiency (Ullah et al., 2019a, 2019b).
4.1.1 Electrodialysis
The movement of ions by a semipermeable membrane, 4.1.3 Membrane Distillation
below the guiding power of potential differences, requires MD is a thermal mechanism in which a molecule of water
electrodialysis. ED was used in various areas around the migrates under a vapor pressure gap across the microporous
world for brackish desalination (California Energy Com- hydrophobic membrane (Liu et al., 2011). Recent experi-
mission, 2005; Mushtaq et al., 2015; Sagir et al., 2014d, ments have shown that MD has a range of benefits such as
2014e; Ullah et al., 2015). Within the ED cell, alternative waste heat extraction and water quality efficiency (). Several
patterns are set up for cation and anion exchange mem- literature experiments were performed on improving MD
branes. Cation exchange membranes permit only cation thermal performance (Sagir et al., 2020; Duong et al., 2017;
movement, whereas anion exchange membranes require Guillén-Burrieza et al., 2012; Mahmoudi et al., 2017; Sagir
anions to move through. With a direct electric current (DC), & Talebian, 2020; Wang & Chung, 2015). The usage of
the sodium ion is absorbed by heading through electrodes thermal sustainable sources including solar energy and
that are coated in the electrolyte. This mechanism is done to geothermal resources was discussed in recent studies (Banat
isolate the saltwater comprising salts. Several scientific et al., 2002; Mericq et al., 2011). Banat et al. (2002)
studies on solar-powered ED were performed (Ayotamuno described solar now incorporated solar technological feasi-
et al., 2006; Gonzalez et al., 2017; Herrero-Gonzalez et al., bility program for the generation of drinking water. In a
2018; Luo et al., 2017; Mekhilef et al., 2012). There were simulation analysis for various conformations of a VMD
positive outcomes in these trials. The risks were minimized. device lunar panel and solar collector systems Mericq et al.
(2011) introduced. The findings revealed that the usage of 4.2.2 Multiple-Effect Desalination (MED)
the solar collector may be successful as long as the move- MED is one of the oldest purification techniques. The MED
ment of water stays 142 L/m2 h. Many types of research system comprises of preheaters, condensers and distillation
centered on geothermal energy extraction of drinking water. units. The evaporation of seawater usually takes place on the
This suggested that the use of geothermal vapor compression top of a steam-heated tube bundle. The vapor is diluted
would result in substantial water costs (around 59%). within the tube and then vapor produced in increasing
consequence is used. The vessel’s pressure and temperature
are substantially decreased (Al-Shammiri & Safar, 1999).
4.2 Thermal Technologies MED plants typically act as an unparalleled method without
recirculating significant amounts of savory brine throughout
Freshwater is created by a phase shift cycle during the the farm, thus minimizing plumbing needs and the creation
thermal desalination, i.e. by evaporations and condensations of scales. The bulk of the MED plants are commercially
to remove the salt from the water. These processes are thus related thermal steam compressors identified as desalination
categorized by an enormous amount of heat energy. In this from MED-TVC. The evaporation of the first effect is carried
sense, the traditional thermal purification technologies out in this method through the compression of a vapor
addressed are MED and MSF desalination (Koschikowski component from a solar collector or standard boiler at the
et al., 2009; Youssef et al., 2014). required temperature at the last effect. Many MED devices
are combined with devices classified as (MED/MVC)
4.2.1 Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) mechanical vapor compression which are not commonly
In the early 1950s, the multi-stage desalination of Flash available in the industry (Wang et al., 2017b). Throughout
(MSF) was introduced (Donkelaar et al., 2016). It is founded the past couple of decades, the existence of the MED was
on the purification theory in the multi-stage chamber, which minimal relative to the MSF because of numerous man-
unexpectedly decreases the pressure at every succeeding agement challenges, such as balancing up and extraordinary
stage. MSF is a cycle of energy intensity (Failed, 2004; investments/operating costs, but several studies have shown
Younos, 2005). Over recent decades, the company’s usage that the MED cycle may soon overtake the MSF cycle,
has grown dramatically, with about 60 and 80% of world- owing to lower energy requirements. In the last 10 years,
wide purification and Middle East purification respectively MED development has experienced a range of changes.
(Failed, 2005). Throughout the Middle East, it has risen Such changes involve a major rise in tube scaling efficiency
considerably. The high efficiency, well-proven equipment, to 22,700 m3/day through proper design and increased alu-
ease of use, and low output loss of MSF are characteristic minum surface heat transfer (Aniceto et al., 2013; Fath et al.,
across the years of usage. MSF plant has historically been 2013; Mezher et al., 2011; Zhou et al., 2015).
used primarily in the Middle East where fuel is available and
RO encountered difficulties (Compain, 2012). Most of the
profitable MSF facilities available are built with stages of 5 Nuclear Desalination
10–30, with a drop in temperature of 2 °C per stage (Buhre
et al., 2005; Ei-Ghonemy, 2012). The traditional MSF sys- The method of constructing freshwater using a nuclear con-
tem contains a saltwater heater that lets and reheats feed tainer onsite is nuclear desalination (Schwarzenegger, 2005).
water, flickering stages that minimize strain, thus fast Plant capability and water quality are amongst the many
evaporation or flushing, vacuum ejector (vacuum), chemical variables that may expressively influence the claim for
attachment pump (for scaling and corrosion control) and energy in the cycle of purification. As already mentioned in
feed displays (Ettouney et al., 2002). The latest research on this context, the energy needed for desalination power may
MSF systems based on 2 factors: (1) the elimination of MSF be thermal or electrical. To order to power MSF, RO and
system costs and (2) the introduction of renewables. It MED electricity, natural options such as geothermal and solar
appears that the expense of water desalinated using MSF energy may be utilized, although they are installed in with
technologies has been greatly decreased. Statistics indicate smaller plants (Im et al., 2012). Compared to other traditional
that since 1960 the cost of purified water by MSF has and alternative technologies, nuclear technology offers
dropped by a factor of 10 (Reddy & Ghaffour, 2007). greater energy densities. As fossil fuel continues to deplete,
In MSF schemes, sustainable forms of energy including the population continues to rise and freshwater demand
solar collectors and geothermal resources were incorporated increase, the construction of nuclear reactors is currently a
(Gude, 2018). critical need for developed developing countries. Because of
the wide-area covered by the facility, the construction of 2009). Current nuclear reactor technology for electricity
large power plants in developed countries will present greater production is focused on 1100–1700 MWe reactors.
health and economic danger. Yet the construction of smaller Large-scale desalination reactors are technically feasible, but
plantations, development of hydrogen, energy generation, different considerations, such as health and reliability, must
and development of freshwater through local desalination be assessed before service (Alonso et al., 2012).
will address some of the problems of emerging technologies
(Sovacool & Ramana, 2015). Over the past two decades, the
IAEA has regarded nuclear desalination as one of the most 5.2 Nuclear Reactors Coupled Desalination
effective and viable solutions for the manufacturing and Processes
production of freshwater. Since the 1990s, IAEA has begun a
variety of study activities with nine leaders of state (Gowin & The goal is to generate power and use waste heat to manu-
Konishi, 1999). They aim to study, support, and improve facture steam, which is supplied through the MED equip-
nuclear desalination (Grechko et al., 1998). They are referred ment. The following procedures will be taken for the
to as organized research projects (CRP). Further goals shall construction of nuclear desalination: (1) careful simulation
be to examine nuclear desalination effectiveness, perfor- of reactor desalination systems; (2) detailed safety assess-
mance, cost analysis, and health. The studies presented suf- ments, and (3) scientific findings of the desalination cycle
ficient evidence for potential nuclear purification system and itself.
outlined the significant benefits for nuclear purification:
(1) the capacity to harness usable heat in thermal procedures 5.2.1 Nuclear Reactor Coupling with MSF
like MED and MSF,; (2) build a multi generation network and MED
that is environmentally friendly; and (3) minimizing the In this case, the MSF theory is already clarified. Cogenera-
overall costs for pre-massive thermal processes Globally, tion network and energy storage will be developed for the
nuclear purification system fell into two primary groups: on-site nuclear power plant. However, the excess heat is
nuclear purification with production of electricity or auton- used to heat water in the bay. This design will boost the
omous nuclear purification. economics of the network and thereby rising costs. In this
case, the concept of the method of desalination is clarified
beforehand. The MED structure is a collection of adjoining
5.1 Nuclear Reactors Types for Desalination rooms, surrounded on one side by heat sources, and on the
opposite side by a heat sink. As steam flows from one impact
The first worldwide nuclear purification plants were built in to another, heat and sweater are exchanged. By the conclu-
the 1970s in Kazakhstan and Japan (W. H. Organization, sion of the show, more sodium is gradually evaporated, and
2009). Before the 1970s, nuclear desalination was tested by the salt may become more condensed. The nuclear power
study, and its feasibility and reliability in comparison to other plant provides an energy cogeneration network. However,
traditional energy sources were demonstrated (Faibish & both MSF and MED are costlier than membrane technolo-
Konishi, 2003; Methnani & Faibish, 2002). Two kinds of gies as RO and more energy-intensive. They are used as a
nuclear containers are commonly used in purification, consequence of their development with the best water con-
according to the coolant type: LWR and HWR. BWR and tent (Wu & Zhang, 2003).
water pressurized reactors (PWR) are both listed in the LWR
grouping. By comparison, the HWR type is composed of 5.2.2 Nuclear Reactor Coupling with RO
HPWRs. Certain types of reactors such as the LMFR and Today the Reverse Osmosis deemed as the most
high-temperature HTGR reactors are usable (Stacey, 2018). cost-effective desalination process. The strain is placed on
Well-established technology makes the water-cooled reactors one side of the membrane to relieve the osmotic resistance of
preferred. Throughout the paper, the most collective nuclear sweaters and to allow them to bring fresh water into the
reactor joined with desalinating processes is the PWR, the membrane. RO may be used if adequately handled to handle
PHWR, and the LMFR (Nisan & Dardour, 2007). The IAEA wastewater, sea, brackish water, and oily water. Cou-
rated nuclear reactor in the three groups based on power pling RO to every power plant and producing the electricity
production: small reactors with an electric production less needed to run RO units is feasible. Energy is used for the
than 300 MWe; newspapers, with a power output of between process of pumps and power plants. The nuclear reactor is
three and seven hundred MWe and broad reactors with a used for steam production in which the power used to run
capacity greater than seventy hundred MWe (Ingersoll, the pumps is transferred via the expander (turbine). From the
review and the previous paper, it is apparent that the key alternative utilizing statistical methods (Darwish &
processes of desalination combined with nuclear reactor for Al-Najem, 2008). Such countries could be perfect options to
the processing of freshwater consist of (1) MSF, (2) MED proceed with nuclear desalination, according to the reports.
and (3) RO. A definite nuclear container design dependent A further range of nuclear power stations is being installed
on the form of energy needed is necessary for the desali- worldwide (Wolff et al., 2015).
nation phase.
5.2.3 Nuclear Desalination via Small Modular 7 Trends in Hybrid Nuclear Desalination
Reactors (SMRs)
According to the IAEA study, SMR expenditure in desali- All Multi-Stage Flash and Multi-Effect Distillation are more
nation is increasing significantly. The IAEA plans 96 pro- energy-efficient than reverse osmosis (RO) which provide a
jects across the world to take shape by 2030. SMR has many higher volume of water. As such, a range of combination
benefits including simpler, faster, and healthier projects, patterns for investigating a nuclear container with one or
fewer building time, and thereby decreased costs. They are more such purification processes was published in the lit-
still in service globally at various places. The most signifi- erature. To order for the production and reliability of the
cant forms are: (1) SMRs (integral or iPWRs) that are harder desalination cycle to increase, Wu et al. researched a mixture
to water-cool. For example, the KLT-40s in Russia, network linking the nuclear heating reactors NHR-200 PWR
Korea SMART, USA IRIS, and Argentina CAREMs, (2) the reactor to the MED and RO. Two methods have been
heavy-duty SMRs such as India’s PHWR 220s, and evaluated: (1) pressurized water reactors PWR NHR-200,
(3) gas-cooled reactor high temperatures such as China’s MED + RO low temperature, and (2) NHR-200, PWR with
HTR-10, Japan’s GTHTR 300s. MED + MED + Vapor compression low temperature. The
study decided that much of the power supplied by the NHR
reactor will come from freshwater processing with an addi-
6 Commercialization of Nuclear Desalination tional few megawatts at a lower cost than MED at MSF
separate methods.
To order to test and refine nuclear reactors together with Many reports also discussed facets and analysis of the
desalination, ten primary programs around the world have thermos-economics of nuclear purification hybrid systems
been launched. These ventures include INVAP, Argentina, such as nuclear-RO-MED and nuclear RO-MSF. The studies
CANDESAL, Canada, China, Egypt’s NPPA, India’s suggested that hybrid nuclear desalination is a practical
BARC, KAERI, Moroccan CNESTEN, Morocco’s OPPE, possibility as a feasible option to reduce the expense and to
OKBM, Malaysia’s JSC, Russia’s Strong, and achieve better water quality. The NDDP facility in Kal-
Tunisian CNSTN. In comparison, the EURODESAL initia- pakkam, India that uses MSF-RO PHWR, 6300 m3/day, the
tive in Southern Europe tests the technological, protection, Shevchenko facility in Aktau, Kazakhstan, up to 145,000
and economic viability of MED-RO nuclear power with a m3/day and the LMFR, MED-MSF and Karachi Nuclear
reactor of 600 MWe of PWR (AP600) (Alessandroni et al., Power Project (KANUPP) RO-MED project are recognized
2002; Nisan et al., 2003). Other countries include Vietnam, examples of hybrid wastewater treatment facilities around
Albania, Chile, Croatia, DR Congo, Thailand, Peru, Thai- the world. Near to nuclear reactors, MSF-RO hybrid, and
land, Uganda, Uruguay, and Zambia (Budnitz et al., 2018). MED-RO electric power stations. A scheme for traditional
At present, the Commission also involves nuclear facilities MED-RO hybrid operation.
in the area. For starters, for economic reasons, Vietnam The synthesis of RO-MSF was explored and tested in a
currently had to cancel its plans. Such programs should nuclear power station. The findings revealed that the
usually be used in tandem with potential efforts to pair such RO-MSF hybrid device gave the following benefits: (1) op-
processes of desalination with nuclear reactors. Several timal production in the two processes; (2) decreased energy
factors, including environmental health, must be taken into demand; (3) decreased hybrid process costs; (4) increased
consideration to deter pollution from freshwater with haz- water quality, and (5) increased operational capacity. MED
ardous contaminants and plant economics. Blockades was researched and a theoretical model built in tandem with
between container and purification must be included in the a thermal vapor compression method and the RO. The
process design. Throughout the Middle East, many nations, findings revealed that the MED-RO method is the right
in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in particular are worried about workout tool. The literature indicates that integrating two
nuclear desalination for their water needs. Desalination has purification technologies with a nuclear power plant has the
become a major concern in these countries, and many studies greatest benefits over two methods, resulting in improved
have been undertaken to determine the viability of this water quality and capacity and cost reductions.
8 Environmental Impacts of Nuclear atomic purification plant is less than coal plants in WEC
Desalination compared with the area needed for wind and desalination
plant supplies (Khamis, 2009; Newmark et al., 2010; Trieb
It does not exclude its ability to inflict significant adverse & Elnokraschy, 2007).
impacts, as a nuclear purification plant is a co-situated Noise: The referenced facility is supposed to be moderate
facility. Biological, technological, political, and economic because the noise level of the distilling plants is smaller than
influences can influence the nature and extent of these that of the RO, and OTC systems are higher than that of the
impacts. The following parts describe the possible effects of cooling towers. Thermal power stations, like nuclear power
the reference plant. plants, will also provide a source of the steam ejector and
turbine noise. As reported, the OTC system has a benefit
over low noise chilling towers. Besides, in contrast to
8.1 Coastal Impacts cooling once carried out, the California Energy Commission
has identified noise as a “significant drawback” for Air
Nuclear desalination projects have environmental effects by Cooled Condenser systems. This is worth remembering that
building, land usage, and vibration as well as visual disabilities, windmills have had a disruptive noise impact relative to
much like any other coastal manufacturing scheme. However, alternative forms of electricity. Nevertheless, if the activity
all such effects are smaller or fewer than other similar of the nuclear desalination plant results in noise that disturbs
co-located plants concerning electricity and desalination. the environment and the residential areas, appropriate
Construction: The design or extension to the current acoustic controls will adequately reduce the noise level
nuclear plant of a desalination plant involves a construction (Ausubel, 2007; Plan, 2019; Schwarzenegger, 2005).
project characteristic of most coastal industrial production. Visual Effect: In the event of a renovation of a nuclear
This will include the use of large grading equipment, crop plant with a purification system, visual effects would not be
digging, drilling, de-watering, material distribution, sand and anticipated. Newer nuclear purification plants will, however,
gravel filling, pipeline building, electricity, and road network is placed in coastal areas which are also deemed a strong
development. In contrast to other desalination methods, the landmark. Mitigation steps refer, as affects every other
scale of the building site, and the decreased particular usage coastal growth, to primarily use of the topography of sites.
of materials for the power plant, the resultant results are of Of note, although the environmental effect is limited owing
benefit to nuclear desalination. For example, wind facilities to the minimal land use criteria for nuclear purification, the
require 5–10 times as much steel and concrete per MWe as a development in a populated environment means a lower
nuclear power. Nuclear desalination, though, has the visual impact. In this situation, refrigeration systems are
potential to have a significant effect due to its extended perhaps the better choice. In contrast, energy effective RO
development period, and a management strategy is thus desalination will be the most appropriate option in
required to offer this problem particular consideration command/purification facility with non-disposable resources
(Ausubel, 2007; Damitz et al., 2006). This program involves and does not generate a by-product of waste oil. The sce-
site-specific operating controls, seasonal limits on other nario, though having a main part in the manufacture and
operations, stringent replenishment protocols, planting veg- performance of renovated plants and hence their scale, will
etation, systems on water management, usage of entail covering an equally wide area with 80 m2 with a wind
biodegradable materials, etc. turbine or 1.2 Km2 with solar panel, according to conven-
Land Utilization: The usage of land for nuclear desali- tional WEC numerical data for land use only by power
nation is also one of its advantages, particularly, water and sources for water generation, without the need for additional
energy needs are to be tackled at the same time or when power required for other purposes (Newmark et al., 2010).
geographical restrictions demand the construction of the
plant in an already established environment. The co-location
of nuclear power with desalination, owing to resource 8.2 Marine Impacts
sharing, has a marginal dimension of land usage. The land
used for piping and pumping plants must also be considered. In addition to being a radioactive waste site and waste drain,
The position of the desalination plant concerning the cus- seas are also abundant in biodiversity. The particular eco-
tomers is highly affected by this. Usually, 200,000 m3/d logical influences that on the aquatic system, particularly
desalination marine plants, the total area needed is approx- with focus dumping, have been devoted to coastal waters,
imately 0.4 km2. In our comparison case, for the auxiliary host-sensitive marine environments, and not unexpectedly to
desalination systems, the average 40 TJ heat is an extra 10%, substantial sections of science work on marine desalination.
which is 44 TJ. The 3 Km2 of total region for the comparison Nonetheless, recent experiments have shifted the emphasis
by proposing a greater effect on the aquatic climate, even technologies, etc., using a total withdrawal rate of 5,300,000
when it comes to autonomous desalination, by preparation m3/d. But, compared with other (fossil fuels) choices for
and impinging of animals, rather than salt discharges. Many co-location, they still have a proportionate capacity (Sch-
of the detrimental impacts of the co-locations of fish warzenegger, 2005).
embryos, larvae, and plankton are triggered by large trap- Concerning aquatic impacts from the disposal, the nuclear
pings. The impingement of larger (adult) species, believed to purification plant connection has a smaller influence than
lead to these adversative effects, may also trigger container stand-alone installations. That can be told. The profit, based
shut-down by hindering consumptions for nuclear desalina- upon the average intake estimates, is not evident relative to
tion (California Coastal Commission, 2004). the other colocation alternatives, while higher intake of
It is necessary to remember that several variables related cooling water mitigates the harmful effects of the brine. Our
to the diversity of aquatic animals, and their associations comparison desalination marine of approximately 300,000
with existing information on the subject are challenging to m3/day will be roughly 58,000 ppm TDS, considering the
determine. Many fish species with a population loss in average value of maritime water for TDS (Total Dissolved
southern California have already been identified as the most Solids). Water with 36.000 ppm TDS will be mixed with the
entangled larvae, 6, and are often known to have a major residual 4.800.000 m3/d of chilling water before being dis-
environmental effect intake system. We may take the charged (N. R. Council, 2008).
example of Diablo Canyon NPP from the period when the The impacts of insufficient oxygen and other chemical
detrimental environmental consequences of any power elements, e.g. chlorine or acids, in saltwater are generally
generating project were generally unknown and ignored to mitigated as well. In the case of the example, the concen-
place the marine impacts in context (McLean, 2003). The 2.2 tration of chemicals should be lowered approximately 15
GWe plant is in seashore with a 9.5 million m3/d coastal times before publication, although additional procedures
irrigation network from OTC. Studies have calculated that would possibly be required to decrease concentration again
the aforementioned training/impingement intensity is, over to No Effect Concentration (NEC). Dilution might not be the
nearly two decades, 10–30% for five chosen nearshore fish remedy for corrosion goods provided by the MED plant
embryos, with the subsequent drastic effects on the local because the load is more critical than the concentration.
coastal climate. The study of the effects of intakes of the Corrosion materials including copper and iron will
Diablo Canyon by the energy commission in California bio-accumulate and inflict serious adverse effects on higher
reveals that the depletion of larvae through instruction is trophic rates. Specific steps can of course be implemented in
1.2–2.4 km2 of the coral environment (Davis et al., 2020). this situation, although they are not unique to nuclear
Some of the factors for this tremendous impact are the purification. However, the elevated temperature of the OTC
enhanced exact need for refrigerating water in nuclear power discharge is typically also a problem for power plants.
plants, apart from the place of intake selected in the field of Nevertheless, in the particular case of the co-located facility,
strong biological activity. Such criteria are primarily attrib- the desalination system is used as a heat sink which greatly
uted to the decreased usable waste oil, which is smaller than decreases the effect of OTC discharge. The regular inter-
that of fossil fuels (5–10%), because of the thermal capacity mediary loop, dividing the nuclear loop and the purification
of the nuclear plants. Understanding that water withdrawal loop, is a particular function in the comparison case. This is
volume and pace are two main marine effects for the nonstop a protection prerequisite, but still an unwelcome thermal
consumption used in once finished chilling, advanced shield. The figures suggest that about 23% of excess heat for
training, and intrusion levels are required. Nuclear OTCs desalination should be used rather than distributed in the
will have specialized monitoring equipment and intake sites atmosphere for lower power reactors. If we should conclude
in the most bioactive aquatic areas to prevent significant that in the comparison case there will be at least as much
negative effects on the coastal ecosystem (Commission, surplus heat available, the MED plant should have more than
2005). enough resources for this phase(W. H. Organization, 2009).
We may measure the potential of 4,800,000 m3/d for the The output of 200.000 m3/d would result in 40 TJ/d being
reference facility, an average conservative 200 m3 per MWh. extracted from the heat spread in the aquatic climate, pre-
The further intake of 500,000 m3/d of seawater will consider suming that the energy concentration is 200 MJ/m3 for the
the specifications of the desalination plant based on the real MED cycle, which confers to the U.S. National Academy of
average cycle regeneration proportion of 40% for thermal Science, is a low-cost element. The requisite temperature
purification, instead of the current “apparent” ratio of 20% range can be provided in the nuclear system by the tem-
that reflects cooling water, too. As the reactor has the perature of the steam. Besides, an NPP of 1 GWe mounted,
function of the heater it is not necessary to refill the which is equivalent to 175 TJ per day, can spread 2 GWt per
desalination water. The intake impacts of OTC systems hour. Not all of the heat stops in coastal waters but in this
would rely on their position, water intake pace, screening situation, we should assume that authorizing the temperature
rise in OTC discharge to be measured at a modest 10 °C. production per day is equal to 225.000 new traveler cars
Compared to 100% of the waste heat generated by the OTC, (150 g/km) driving an average of 30 km/d per day. Because
the discharge of the nuclear desalination plant would raise of the 4 TJ/d desired for RO purification, the windmills,
the temperature by 8 € C before disposal, thus growing the which are free from usable waste heat and RO, may generate
impact region. Based on a basic fluid mixing method, it is CO2eq emissions of 0.08 kg per m3/d, with a 16 tons of total
feasible to predict that in impacted areas with temperatures CO2eq per day. This may also be a natural option. In this
over 1 °C there is a decrease of around 20%, without an particular situation, it should be remembered that throughout
ecological value. the activity of the facility, the wind is substantially varied
Similar standardized findings may be obtained in other and needs backup power for continuous water source (O.
desalination solutions. There are, however, a substantial A. Plan, 2019).
benefit of a standalone nuclear power plant when attached to As this backup power typically comes from a source of
a desalination system: the following steps to lower the fossil fuels, the carbon footprint of purified water with
OTC’s discharge temperature from 8 to C would be cheaper renewable energy may be higher than the conventional
and easier compared with the standalone nuclear plant in estimates seen above. Considering the 0.7 wind energy
case of a nuclear desalination facility. There must be no supply factor, a quick estimate reveals 1 m3 of purified water
disregard for the rise of the temperature difference among the to have a CO2-equivalent carbon footprint of from 0.8–
real discharge and the discharge temperature boundary: a 1.6 kg, dependent on whether the back-up electricity comes
colder seawater intake may result in a colder discharge, with from a nuclear or gas power plant. This is the case for the
a decrease in power and water production due to thermal desalination project Perth RO, which utilizes wind power to
discharge limits. In the cycle of evaluating radioactive waste cover for pollution from other electricity sources the facility
with water, scaling up the expenses by out-put, or deter- has used. In comparison, emissions of approx. 0.035 kg or 7
mining cooling needs, this 40 TJ of heat used in purification tons of CO2, which may be due to the desalination ability,
often improve the capacity of the NPP by 33–50% could be approx. for the comparative nuclear purification
approximately. plant per m3 per day. That is below 5% of the second finest
alternative: the wind-driven, gas-based RO purification. In
comparison, nuclear air emissions from NPPs are 100 times
8.3 Atmospheric Impacts smaller than in a similar-size (1000 MW) coal power plant.
A nuclear purification plant may thus be deemed environ-
Compared to every other co-location method, nuclear mentally sustainable from the perspective of air quality and
purification has a lower effect on the atmosphere in that it an acceptable cause of electricity for desalination, thus
has indirect negative effects of purification on the atmo- allowing ambient emissions to be mitigated. The American
sphere, which is induced by the process power supply. As a National Academy of Science also advocates the usage for
direct consequence of the desalination operations, air pol- desalination of nuclear and alternative forms of electricity
lution comprises mainly of deaeration oxygen and nitrogen (Failed, 1993).
releases with minimal environmental effects. While the
energy intensity of desalination has decreased considerably
in the last decades, the thermodynamic minimum value of 8.4 Socio-Economic Impacts
energy is reaching which does nothing to further the effect
on the environment. Many energy solutions are required. The socio-economic effects have a significant impact on
Compared with other energy sources, the ambient conse- certain environmental consequences. The assessment and
quences of nuclear power are well known and are deemed tracking efforts will consider them. The value of nuclear
lower, providing a mitigation option for one of the most desalination as an economic and social aid is determined by
important impediments to desalinization-its air influence. many factors. The growth opportunity attributable to the
If we consider electricity waste heat as an energy supply supply of resources and water will be the most significant.
that does not have any external effects on the atmosphere, This will not only alter the habits of customer behavior but
the releases of 200.000 m3/d of MED co-situated desalinated can allow individuals, wealth, and money dramatically
water per m3 are only attributed to the auxiliary network that redistribute. Water and energy supply may have significant,
uses 4 TJ every day. We should then measure that, per m3 of restricted, or enhanced impacts on local growth. At the
CO2 for carbon, or in general, 480 tons of CO2eq each day emergence and growth of Aktau (Kazakhstan), where
would add 2.5 kg of CO2 to the atmosphere. One m3/d of nuclear purification was used to maintain the increasing
purified water adds around 5 kg of CO2 to the environment town and industry of the region rich with mineral, the
for coal in the co-location of MED desalination, which ability of nuclear desalination for production is better
corresponds to 1000 tons of CO2eQ each day. This CO2 illustrated.
Yet the spatial delivery of water is constrained relative to would most likely have a broad and mostly beneficial social
electricity and therefore the effects that not be as common as impact. Relative to certain electricity costs, the economic
coal. Therefore, the consequences of water-led growth may value of nuclear power is well established. As for the
be more serious, and construction above and beyond local or expense of desalinated water, a variety of factors depend on
national planning. In particular, it has been proposed by the it. The IAEA DEEP algorithm analysis shows price levels
California Coastal Commission that growth-inducing from 0.5 to 0.96 US$/m3, a favorable premium for desali-
desalination impacts would possibly be “the most impor- nation. The strong power supply efficiency of the NPP with
tant indirect possible adverse effects’”. Growth because of an average of 83% in 2006 makes the unbroken electricity
water supply will fuel new residential and commercial source for the comparison MED facility is an important
construction, creating extra (unsustainably large) strains on factor in economic productivity. Half of the world’s reactors
local infrastructure. The supply of resources will, of course, are 86% available and above, 91% or more of the world’s
boost this impact. We should continue with agriculture as a reactors are operational. Data are currently being modified
water-intensive operation by analyzing the socio-economic on the fossil-fuel plant to provide a more detailed image of
effect of the comparison facilities. FAO assumes 1000 m3/y the current supply.
of which 15% are normally irrigated for a total dietary intake
of 2800 kcal/d per capita. This ensures that the comparison
power will be used to deliver suitable irrigation for up to half 9 Public Health Implications for Nuclear
a million citizens depending on the region. To sustain a town Desalination
of 400.000 to 500.000 people and the normal water
requirement, the Sidney-style nuclear desalination project At first, it is well-known both in Aktau and Kalpakkam cases
also suffices (Rivera & Qamar, 2003). involving radioactivity were never identified as
This technology has tremendous consequences and must cross-contaminated in the liquid water. This is critical as the
be complied with before the desalinated waters are rendered most significant public safety considerations and related
available; not just water conservation strategies but all the threats in a nuclear desalination plant project are likely to
required facilities will be prepared for a growing population. affect the public’s view. The key source of the issue is the
Uncontrolled growth will influence the social equilibrium, toxic hydrogen isotope tritium, because it may pass through
local organization, and structure. Population increases out- the liquid water through various physical barriers. This is no
side municipal or national planning programs may contribute need to give public attention to the potential radiation pol-
to environmental deterioration, when public resources and lution of the liquid water and the methods for avoiding it.
the facilities required for help (e.g. utilities) outgrow, add to This is critical for the execution of the project. A variety of
social and economic disturbances. No matter what, it is not a health devices and working procedures are included in
propensity to reach natural limits with water-based growth nuclear desalination. The most critical aspect is the
that causes coastal habitat harm, irrespective of the desali- above-described isolation loop, which is greater than the
nation alternative. Desalination, though, has beneficial ben- nuclear circuit and preferably smaller than the desalination
efits, such as source flexibility, and decreases the impact of loop. This further decreases the risk of tritium leakage
excessive water tension. This will boost drinking water through the heat exchanger shielding, as well as eliminating
safety, mitigate water scarcity, and do reduce environmental any potential outages of polluted coolant from the nuclear to
harm, as suggested in the purification study by the US the purification system. Tritium is constantly extracted from
National Academy of Sciences (Anastasov & Khamis, the nuclear coolant and even coolant tritium amounts per
2010). liter are held below WHO requirements (Muralev, 2003).
Water accessible will reduce, reduce, and build wealth Finally, the product water is stored in retention chambers,
through tourism, manufacturing, and farming development in which it is necessary to calculate the degree of tritium
and provide jobs. Water access will reduce tension over content before discharge into the water stream, guaranteeing
limited waters. For example, the case of Malta demonstrates that the product water is healthy to use. The practice so far
that desalination and water-prevention initiatives may be indicates that tritium in desalinated water is not induced by
helpful for the lucrative tourism industry. Bezdek and pollution or safety issues. In the desalination source of
Wendling’s nuclear power plant work has, however, con- MAEC’s 6 Bq/l Muralev records the highest tritium con-
cluded that the results have been overwhelmingly positive centration. The Kalpakkam Reverse Osmosis plant has
on local land, economy growth, revenue from taxation, received desalination water with tritium content below the
public utilities, the creation of the city, jobs, and welfare, and measurable level outside the factory. Likewise, there has
schooling. This suggests that, if properly articulated within been no evidence that the usage of desalination water for
the context of a state, regional or local development strategy, on-site use is a safety concern in the United States or Japan.
nuclear desalination facilities of the reference potential Nuclear purification interactions with tritium indicate that
the liquid water is secure for consumption by the community Conservational strategies shall focus on heat and contami-
from the viewpoint of the legal guidelines for tritium in nation of waste effluents in particular related to desalination
drinking water. We will use a central region heating loop in operations and on their thermal effects on the aquatic
the Bohunice NPP, Slovakia to display waste heat being ecosystem. The control approach will possibly be focused on
used from the nuclear system in non-electrical purposes. The heat remediation devices (e.g. heat pipe and heat exchanger),
loop is smaller than 1 Bq/l of tritium; the separation loop chilling facilities (tower or pond), or a mixture of the dif-
also has tritium rates far below the limits of the WHO fusers from the shore.
(Muralev, 1998). The location of the discharge in regions with heavy
Besides, the radiological study carried out by the Aktau mixing streams will greatly decrease the discharge effect.
facility based on close-by soil and chilling pond sediment The IAEA Health Guide No needs a control system for
found that the plant has an insignificant relation to the waste effluents. The implementation of NS-G-3.2 is sug-
radiological condition in the territories examined. The salt, gested. In the case of a nuclear desalination plant compar-
therefore, does not present a possible danger to public safety ison, primarily the temperature and copper amount of the
as a hazard to radioactivity. The experience thus far has discharge should be considered. The above-mentioned
proven that the community will consider nuclear purification coastal impacts are projected to be lower than for alternate
as an alternative for water supply. The factory in Kal- co-location solutions. The visual effects and the dimension
pakkam, for example, has a growing appetite for desalinated of land usage, in particular, offer an incentive for even
water, in an area where water is scarce. The other related simpler mitigation steps in the event of nuclear desalination.
knowledge in nuclear purification is much more consider- Nevertheless, the design strategy for such a project would be
able: established in the desert, Aktau is the owner of the somewhat different than how the other collocated solutions
water generated by the nuclear desalination project and its were designed. Since noise rates can be managed effectively
population development. Nonetheless, the public’s tolerance by the correct acoustic preparations, the surveillance system,
for nuclear desalination is not consistent with satisfactory which reduces the risk for seawater pollution, will be
assurance. Therefore, as the project is created, effective focused mostly on a problem of pipeline leakage (Ns-G,
contact centered on data with the public must be provided 2002).
(Paley, 1998). Besides, a monitoring program will be needed in the
construction process to ensure that operation will induce
increased sedimentation of the settling content that would,
10 Environmental Monitoring and Planning: therefore, impact turbidity and, thus, photosynthetic in the
coastal environment or increase the toxicity of this envi-
We will define the environmental mitigation targets based ronment if major runoffs are occurring. The air consequences
on the predictable environmental effects of nuclear desali- of a nuclear desalination plant are supposed to be negligible
nation. Steps to minimize unmeasured effects ought to be and this form of monitoring is also intended to only be
part of the environmental strategy. Following the monitor- focused on accordance with local regulations. Environmental
ing exercise, the function of an atomic water treatment plant planning will consider many aspects as far as
should be verified inside the expected impact limits and the socio-economic effects are concerned, including demo-
scheduled mitigate action. Environmental preparation will graphic growth, efficiency transition, or improvements, as
commence with the selection of an acceptable facility well as infrastructure construction that would be required to
venue. Of course, it would be better to provide an envi- endure these shifts and their environmental stress. The
ronment that needs water and electricity. This will require monitoring system, for example, is focused on population
seawater sources of consistent consistency (in terms of solid development, dynamism and liquid volume, surplus and
contented and temperature), low rates of contamination, and emissions production, ecological impartiality, etc. The
solid in the seawater and low potential for biofouling. For potential significant impacts of a nuclear purification plant
the reason of nuclear purification, it looks like the intake such as a comparison capability could, without any negative
would be put further inland from the coast and lower than effects on its equilibrium, be used to improve the
in the center. socio-economic regional situation.
Moreover, various filter styles and screens will be The related environmental effects would, therefore, be
required to deter high intrusion and impingement levels in avoided. However, to achieve public acceptance, public
some nuclear power plants. As seen in some nuclear plants. health is perhaps the supreme-significant phase of nuclear
A reporting scheme, with input on the effect of the intake purification. Chemical water health preparation must focus
and future changes, would have to be developed. It is not on the components, procedures, and tritium separation
expected that spill impacts related to nuclear desalination activities as well as food storage containers to confirm that
would vary as of additional multiple network installations. the water supplies are not generated from polluted water.
Consequently, the control scheme, of these three, the most • Environmental studies of nuclear desalination plants have
important are: isolation loop, salinity loop and containers of found that they are equal to the wind and hydroelectric
water will be organized around multiple stages. Dependent capacity, having the least effects on the environment
on the detection apparatus and permissible assurance criteria, relative to other desalination plants.
the water tanks needed to be checked for tritium activities • Tests revealed some desirable features for nuclear
numerous hours earlier discharge into the water supply desalination, including environmental security by reduc-
network (Anastasov & Khamis, 2010). ing the production of greenhouse gases, potential
replacement of existing sources of energy (fossil fuel),
and economic viability in rural places where fossil fuel
11 Conclusion does not occur. The findings also providing this system
an overall considerate and generated more practical trust
A detailed analysis was done in this chapter on the different in its application. Future research activities, therefore,
facets of nuclear desalination systems, including the concentrate on comprehensive design studies that answer
numerous nuclear plants, the hybrid patterns, the protection, key engineering questions including multiple intermedi-
and environmental analyzes and on-site economic evalua- ate circuits for the safety of treated water.
tions. It became evident that there was a substantial rise in
the production of various nuclear reactors though compact
reactors of limited scale (MSR) were granted considerable Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the Depart-
publicity. It is attributed to the many advantages they pro- ments at their respective universities for providing state of the art
research facilities.
vide compared with big reactors, including modest assembly
area, shorter construction period, cost-effective construction,
and healthy service. Therefore, particularly for newcomer
countries, it seems to be more appealing. The analysis also
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Desalination Battery
Zahra Pezeshki and Ahmed Kettab
Abstract DC Direct Current

ED Electrodialysis
The existence of the human race and all creatures are EV Electric Vehicle
dependent on water and today the water contamination HEV Hybrid Electric Vehicle
and scarcity are important problems that treat human life. ICP-MS Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
There are many reasons for them such as industrial Spectrometry
activities, waste discharge, oil spill, climate change, IEM Ion Exchange Membrane
pollution, global warming, and high utilization. As the IQMDC Individually connected Quadruple Microbial
population, trade, and economy are increasing day by Desalination Cell
day, we must track the ways to overcome these problems LED Light-Emitting Diode
and desalination is an efficient process that can help to MA Metal-Air
eliminate them. This process can be defined as a system MDC Microbial Desalination Cell
or batteries. Desalination batteries are utilized more to MEDC Microbial Electrolysis Desalination Cell
provide drinking water from seawater, but these batteries MF Microfiltration
can be used for producing freshwater from recycled water NF Nanofiltration
or wastewater too. This chapter has focused on the OER Oxygen Evolution Reaction
desalination field from 1960 to 2020. It introduces the ORR Oxygen Reduction Reaction
desalination batteries and their properties to fill the future PQMDC Parallel Connected Quadruple Microbial
water needs because all organisms on our planet need Desalination
water for survival and this technology can do that. PV Photovoltaic
QMDC Quadruple Microbial Desalination Cell
Keywords RES Renewable Energy Source

Desalination Salination Battery Energy Efficiency
Coulombic efficiency Drinking Water Fresh Water
RO
SD-CC
Reverse Osmosis
Seawater Desalination–Carbon Capture
SQMDC Serially Connected Quadruple Microbial
Desalination Cell
Abbreviations
UF Ultrafiltration
AC Alternative Current
AEM Anion Exchange Membrane
BDI Battery Electrode Deionization
CDI Capacitive Deionization 1 Introduction
CEM Cation Exchange Membrane
DB Desalination Battery Today, traditional underground resources or rainwater col-
lectors, as shown in Fig. 1 (Fang et al., 2019), are no longer
Z. Pezeshki sufficient to meet the demand for drinking water as a short
Faculty of Electrical and Robotics Engineering, Shahrood and long-term needs for household demands and human use,
University of Technology, Shahrood, Semnan, Iran
such as irrigation and washing, etc., due to unbalanced
A. Kettab (&) division of drought and rainwater, extreme misuse of
Faculty of Science, Université de Bouira, Bouïra, Algeria
138 Z. Pezeshki and A. Kettab
Fig. 1 Schema of traditional

underground resources or
rainwater collectors (Fang et al.,
2019)
groundwater resources as well as its insufficient recharge, and Meanwhile, the surface water contains impurities which
degradation of water quality (Pezeshki & Bielefeldt, 2002; have origins as follows (Kettab, 2020; Mandi & Kettab,
Shaltami et al., 2020) related to the clearance of industrial and 2014):
domestic wastes without adequate treatment (Thimmaraju
et al., 2018). So, it is proved necessarily, if not essentially, to (a) The dissolution of the surrounding bodies (rocks,
use the surface water such as seawater which is naturally transverse soils, etc.) They are responsible for pH and
provided by evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and conductivity.
collection in our environment (Hani et al., 2012; Kettab, (b) Mineral colloids (clays, silica gels, etc.) Which are
2020; Kettab & Bessenasse, 2005; Kettab & Janah, 2020; Tu responsible for turbidity.
et al., 2020). Figure 2 shows the water cycle in nature. (c) Original materials which can have two origins:
Fig. 2 The schema of the water

circulating (Howard Perlman,
USGS. Public domain)
Desalination Battery 139
– Natural origin: degradation products of plants, nanomaterials such as MXenes (Fig. 4) (Ihsanullah, 2020),
metabolites of algae, and micro-organisms. (c) Reverse Osmosis (RO) (Fig. 5) which is known as the
– Artificial origin: due to urban, industrial, and agri- best method due to long-lasting membranes, such as gra-
cultural pollution (pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, phene (Mehrdad & Moosavi, 2019) or calcite ooids (Bakr,
etc.). 2020) due to having better performance (Bdour et al., 2020;
Dasgupta et al., 2020; Hani et al., 2012; Kettab & Besse-
Thus, surface water should undergo physical, chemical, nasse, 2005; Khiari et al., 2019; Mandi & Kettab, 2014;
and biological changes (Gafsi & Kettab, 2016) that make it Metaiche & Kettab, 2003, 2004, 2005a, 2005b; Metaiche
drinkable. For this, it is, therefore, necessary to treat surface et al., 2003; Oliveira et al., 2019; Saji et al., 2020), and
water from organic/mineral materials, soluble/insoluble (d) distillation, for example, with cool steam or solar distiller
materials, toxic/non-toxic materials, and inert/living materi- (Arnau et al., 2019; Benyahia, 2019; Kettab, 2020; Kress,
als by appropriate means, which are very knife-edge and 2019; Wazwaz & Khan, 2020) (see Fig. 6; Kress, 2019;
require skilled work. To treat the surface water, we have two Amin Abdel-Fatah & Al Bazedi, 2020)). These methods
types of treatment processes, including (1) biological treat- have many applications for the various fields of industry
ment which is called biodegradation (Pezeshki & Bielefeldt, such as the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, elec-
2002), and (2) physicochemical treatment. In modern treat- tronics industry, electro-technical industry, etc. (Metaiche &
ment chains, we use the physical–chemical process which Kettab, 2005a).
consists of three phases (Kettab, 2017, 2020; Oliveira et al., In Fig. 5, the components of a reverse osmosis system are
2019; Pezeshki & Bielefeldt, 2002) (Fig. 3): divided into production series by a set of stages. The pro-
duction of each stage supplies the next stage and so on so
(a) Pretreatment that the supply of each stage has characteristics identical to
(b) Clarification processing those of the production of the previous stage. The decline of
(c) Bactericidal and virucidal treatment. all the stages is collected to give the total rejection of the
system at the end. In the case of energy recovery, and for
Also, water heavily loaded with dissolved mineral salts achieving the maximum rejection, this system is connected
can have drawbacks in certain uses. Consequently the certain to a turbine (Al Zubaidi, 1989; Malek et al., 1996; Maurel,
annoying ions, e.g. Ca2+ and Mg2+ (Hardness); CO2 3 and
1996; Metaiche & Kettab, 2005a; Metaiche et al., 2002).
2
HCO3 (Alkalinity) or CO4 (Aggressiveness) must be totally In particular, desalination can be a straightforward,
or partially eliminated by a method which is called “de- effective, and economical solution for using fresh/drinking
salination” (Saji et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2019). Desalination water instead of the pipe network connection which creates
is divided into two processes including membrane (Dasgupta transportation cost, labour cost, and extra fuel (Abozaid
et al., 2020) and thermal processes (Kress, 2019; Yusufov et al., 2020). It can be integrated with Renewable Energy
et al., 2019). In this context, the elimination of the mineral Sources (RESs) (Caldera & Breyer, 2020; Goosen et al.,
salts could be done using several methods (Amin 2011; Gude & Fthenakis, 2020), such as solar energy and
Abdel-Fatah & Al Bazedi, 2020). The most used are: (a) ion wind (Al Jibouri & Buckley, 2020; Alsehli, 2019; Bdour
exchange, (b) Electrodialysis (ED) (Dasgupta et al., 2020; et al., 2020; Charrouf et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2019a, 2019b;
Qasem et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2019; Xu et al., 2020), which Ebrahimpour et al., 2020; Fang et al., 2019; Kandathil et al.,
(a) and (b) commonly are used together with Microfiltration 2019; Khiari et al., 2019; Pezeshki & Zekry, 2020; Rezk
(MF), Ultrafiltration (UF), Nanofiltration (NF) (Das et al., et al., 2020; Roslan et al., 2020; Tayeb et al., 2020) or
2018, 2019; Dasgupta et al., 2020; Oliveira et al., 2019), and biomass (Amiri & Brewer, 2020), driven by the grid and
Fig. 3 Example of the

physicochemical process (Fang
et al., 2019)
Fig. 4 Applications of MXenes

(Ihsanullah, 2020)
Fig. 5 Schema of a reverse

osmosis system (Metaiche &
Kettab, 2005a)
micro-grid networks, Electric Vehicles (EVs), and Hybrid demand, DSt is the consumption of the desalination plant,
Electric Vehicles (HEVs) called desalination system (Hani qlt is the electricity losses from AC–DC conversion and
et al., 2012; Kettab, 2008; Pasta et al., 2012; Tu et al., 2020) battery operations, and EVg2v:t is the electricity consumed in
(Fig. 7). The aggregated demand for this integration in kWh charging the electric vehicles (Tu et al., 2020).
can be computed as follows (Eq. 1): Desalination systems can be defined as a battery in
which desalination batteries utilize an electrical energy
8t GEt þ dgt þ PVt þ WTt þ EVv2gt þ DSoCt Dt input for extraction of e.g. Chloride, Cl, and sodium, Na,
ð1Þ
þ DSt þ qlt þ EVg2v:t ions from seawater instead of generating electricity from
salinity differences to produce drinking water. This battery
where GEt is the grid electricity import, dgt is the diesel
can also be utilized to produce fresh water from the used
generator electricity, PVt is the electricity generated from the
water, such as wastewater or recycled water (Etale et al.
photovoltaic (PV) panels, WTt is the electricity generated
2020; Hani et al., 2012). It can be utilized as a low-cost
from wind turbines, EVv2gt is the discharge of the
rechargeable battery too (Pezeshki, 2020; Senthilkumar
vehicle-to-grid electricity, DSoCt is the stationary battery et al., 2019).
change in charge condition, Dt is the base electricity
Fig. 6 Desalination methods

(Kress, 2019)
Fig. 7 Schema of desalination

integration (Tu et al., 2020)
2 Definition and Classification 2.1 NMO Desalination Battery

of Desalination Batteries
2.1.1 Ag/AgCl as an Anionic Electrode
The desalination batteries have a simple structure and pro- An NMO desalination battery can be composed of a
vide favourable energy efficiency. While they work at room Ag=AgCl negative/anionic electrode and Na2x Mn5 O10
temperature, they have lesser corrosion problems than the nanorod positive/cationic electrode. Silver, Ag, has some
current desalination technologies. So, as shown in Fig. 8, the benefits such as potential, stability, corrosion resistance, and
path integral of the energy consumption, DE, versus q curve bactericidal features, but it is expensive and has a weak
is used to offer the energy consumption and desalination electronic conductivity. This desalination battery creates
cycle in real seawater for NaCl elimination in these batteries. 0.29 Whl1 energy consumption for the 25% salt removal
The DE is computed by dividing the electrical energy to (Pasta et al., 2012).
the whole of the ion removal during the desalination process In this battery, the charge constructed on the electrode
as Eq. (2) (Lee et al., 2019a): surface and stored in the electrical double layer is retained in
R the chemical bonds, i.e. the electrode material bulk. So the
V I dt
DE ¼ R ð2Þ battery electrodes of this battery create higher capacity as
ðCi Ce Þ U dtðCi Ce Þ U dt well as less self-discharge than the capacitive electrodes
(Conway, 1991; Pasta et al., 2012). Then, in the 4-stage
where ce and ci are the ion concentration of the treated and
charge/discharge process, the battery electrodes split sea-
initial water, respectively. The V and I are the applied
water up freshwater. First, the fully charged electrodes are
voltage and respective current during the desalination step,
sunk in the seawater with a fixed current, − 500 lA cm2 .
respectively. Also, t and U are the periods of the experiment,
A fixed current is utilized to remove the ions, i.e. chloride or
and flow rate, respectively. So the charge efficiency, g, is
sodium ions, from the seawater (Fig. 9, Step 1). Second
computed as Eq. (3) (Lee et al., 2019a):
(Fig. 9, Step 2), after extracting the drinking water, it is
R
ðCi Ce Þ U dt replaced with another seawater. So, the electrodes are
g¼ R ð3Þ recharged again, release the ions, and produce the brine
I dt=F
(Fig. 9, Step 3). Finally, (Fig. 9, Step 4), the brine is
where F is the Faraday constant equal to 96,485 Cmol1 . In replaced with new seawater (Pasta et al., 2012).
this section, the types of desalination batteries are defined The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as
and described (Pasta et al., 2012). follows (Pasta et al., 2012):
5MnO2 þ 2Ag þ 2NaCl $ Na2 Mn5 O10 þ 2AgCl

For evaluating the Coulombic efficiency, gC:i , of the
desalinated solution, this solution is usually analyzed by
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
as Table 1 where gC:i is computed as Eq. (4) (Pasta et al.,
2012). This formula is employed for all desalination
batteries.
z i F ð nI nF Þ
gC:i ¼ ð4Þ
Q
Where zi is the ion valence state,Q is the total charge flown,

nF and nI are the final and the initial number of moles in the
solution, respectively.
Figure 10 depicts the desalination cycle in the actual
seawater for 25% NaCl elimination. Here, the energy con-
sumption is 0.261 J (Pasta et al., 2012).
Fig. 8 The desalination cycle of real seawater offered for NaCl Currently using Na4 Mn9 O18 as a nanorod
elimination (Pasta et al., 2012) positive/cationic electrode in an NMO desalination battery
Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of the NMO desalination battery work (Ag/AgCl as an anionic electrode) (Pasta et al., 2012)
Table 1 Coulombic efficiencies Ion Na þ Kþ Mg2 þ Ca2 þ Cl SO2

4
and cations/anions selectivity
(Pasta et al., 2012) Sea water (mg/L) 11,250 450 1400 450 18,500 2750
25% removal (mg/L) 9840 430 1130 280 14,470 2750
gC:25 47% < 1% 9% 3% 87% Control
50% removal (mg/L) 7860 390 860 180 11,430 2750
gC:50 57% < 1% 9% 3% 76% Control
has shown a good performance at a relatively small C-rate

(C/19) with temperatures differing between 30 and 70 C,
and 0.92 J maximal energy (Shapira et al., 2018).
2.1.2 PPy/PPyCl as an Anionic Electrode

An NMO desalination battery can be composed of a poly-
pyrrole (PPy)/PPyCl negative/anionic electrode and
Na2x Mn5 O10 nanorod positive/cationic electrode. Poly-
pyrrole can store chloride ions in seawater. During the
charge in this battery, (Fig. 11a), the Na þ and Cl ions are
drawn from NMO and PPyCl electrodes to the mixture,
respectively. Then, after discharge as depicted in Fig. 11b,
the Na þ and Cl ions in the electrolyte are embedded into
the NMO and PPyCl electrodes, respectively (Kong et al.,
Fig. 10 The desalination cycle in the actual seawater for 25% NaCl 2019).
elimination (Pasta et al., 2012)
Fig. 11 Configuration of the

NMO desalination battery
(PPy/PPyCl as an anionic
electrode), a charge, and
b discharge (Kong et al., 2019)
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as mAh=g at a current density of 1000 mA=g (Chen et al.,
follows (Kong et al., 2019): 2018).
The elemental composition of Na, P, and Ti, charge and
xPPyCl þ Na0:44 MnO2 ! xPPyCl þ Na0:44x MnO2 þ xNa þ discharge states, and the calculated atomic ratio of Na : P
have been depicted in Table 2. Table 3 shows the elemental
Without any reduction in both capacity of 40 mAh=g and composition of Ag and Cl in the electrode, charge and dis-
discharge voltage, the charge and discharge of this battery charge states, and the calculated atomic ratio of Cl : Ag.
can continue for 200 cycles (Kong et al., 2019).
2.2.2 Bi/BiOCl as a Cationic Electrode
Another NTP desalination battery is composed of a
2.2 NTP Desalination Battery NaTi2 ðPO4 Þ3 negative/anionic electrode and Bi=BiOCl
positive/cationic electrode with an NaCl aqueous electrolyte
2.2.1 Ag/AgCl as a Cationic Electrode for electrical energy supply and desalination. Same as before
An NTP desalination battery can be composed of a battery, in this battery, after extracting the Na þ and Cl
NaTi2 ðPO4 Þ3 negative/anionic electrode and Ag=AgCl from the electrolyte in the charging process, they are
positive/cationic electrode with an NaCl aqueous electrolyte embedded into the electrodes and then desalination happens,
for electrical energy supply and desalination. Therefore, in and in the reverse process, the salination happens by
charge operation in this kind of battery, after extracting the releasing the ions and storing electricity in the electrolyte
Na þ and Cl from the electrolyte, they are embedded into (Fig. 13) (Nam & Choi, 2017).
the electrodes and desalination happens. In the reverse pro- The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as
cess, the salination happens by releasing the ions and storing follows (Nam & Choi, 2017):
electricity in the electrolyte. With the help of a solar cell or
any other power source, this battery can be consecutively 3=2NaTi2 ðPO4 Þ3 þ Bi þ 3Na þ þ Cl þ H2 O
charged and discharged for 50 cycles without any reduction ! 3=2Na3 Ti2 ðPO4 Þ3 þ BiOCl þ 2H þ
of both the discharge voltage and capacity, which provides a
new awareness into both efficient renewable energy and This battery is a newer type of an NTP desalination
seawater desalination utilization. The energy density of this battery with Bismuth (Bi) and enables to do the
battery is 49.9 Wh kg1 at a 55.1 Wh kg1 power density, desalination/salination process at 1 mA cm2 with the
which is high. The battery configuration has been depicted in average potential input of 0.2
Fig. 12 (Wang et al., 2018). V; means that the average potential input (Nam & Choi,
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as 2017).
follows (Wang et al., 2018): Table 4 shows the atomic ratios of the Bi electrode during
the charge/discharge cycles.
NaTi2 ðPO4 Þ3 þ 2Ag þ 2Cl þ 2Na þ
$ Na3 Ti2 ðPO4 Þ3 þ 2AgCl
2.3 KFCN Desalination Battery
This kind of desalination battery has been developed by
reaching an energy efficiency of 71.9% and Coulombic KFCN desalination battery is composed of a K4 FeðCNÞ6
efficiency of 99% in 200 cycles with a capacity of 37.4 negative/anionic electrode and ZnCl2 positive/cationic
Fig. 12 The configuration of the

NTP desalination battery
(Ag/AgCl as a cathodic electrode)
(Wang et al., 2018)
Table 2 The elemental Atomic (%) Na P Ti Na : P

composition of Na, P, and Ti,
charge and discharge states, and Initial NTP 13.9 50 36.0 0.280
the calculated the atomic ratio of Charge 21.9 46.3 31.8 0.473
Na : P (Chen et al., 2018)
Discharge 16.4 49.5 34.1 0.332
Table 3 The elemental Atomic (%) Ag Cl Cl : Ag

composition of Ag and Cl in the
electrode, charge and discharge Initial state 100 0 0
states, and the calculated the Charge 61.7 38.3 0.621
atomic ratio of Cl : Ag (Chen
Discharge 73.0 27.0 0.370
et al., 2018)
electrode with an NaCl aqueous electrolyte for electrical efficient renewable energy and seawater desalination uti-
energy supply and desalination. In the charging process of lization (Fig. 15) (Desai et al., 2017).
this battery, after extracting the Na þ and Cl from the This battery is very suitable for hypersaline brines
electrolyte, they are embedded into the electrodes and then desalination too. The cell potential of this battery is + 1.25
desalination occurs. In the reverse process, the salination V, i.e. it is 0.5 V greater than the other desalination batteries.
occurs by releasing the ions and storing electricity in the It has a 81 mAh=g specific capacity for cathode and 828
electrolyte. This process can be done with a solar cell or any mAh=g capacity for the anode. Using these capacities causes
power source (see Fig. 14) (Desai et al., 2017). energy consumption to reduce. So, it is very cost-efficient
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as (Desai et al., 2017).
follows (Desai et al., 2017):
Zn þ 2K3 ½FeðCN6 Þ þ 2NaCl $ ZnCl2 þ 2K3 NaFe½ðCN6 Þ 2.4 NASICON Desalination Battery
With the help of a solar cell or any other power source, 2.4.1 C and Pt/C as Anionic and Cationic
this battery can be consecutively charged and discharged for Electrodes
100 cycles without any reduction of both the discharge A NASICON desalination battery, as shown in Fig. 16, is
voltage and capacity which gives new knowledge into both composed of a Na3 Zr2 Si2 PO12 as a separator electrolyte,
Fig. 13 The configuration of the

NTP desalination battery
(Bi/BiOCl as a cathodic
electrode) (Nam & Choi, 2017)
Table 4 The atomic ratios of the Atomic (%) Bi : Cl

Bi electrode during the charge
and discharge states (Nam & Initial state 0.005
Choi, 2017) First charge 0.011
First discharge 0.005
Second charge 0.013
Second discharge 0.005
Fig. 14 Schematic diagram of

KFCN desalination battery (Desai
et al., 2017)
Fig. 15 The charge/discharge

cycling of KFCN desalination
battery (Desai et al., 2017)

NASICON desalination battery
(C and Pt/C as Anionic and
Cationic Electrodes) (Zhang
et al., 2018)
hard Carbon, C, as an anode, and Pt=C electrocatalyst as a Discharge : O2 þ 2H2 O þ 4e ! 4OH to form NaOH
cathode. In this battery, during the charge, the Na þ ions are
taken out and transferred to the anode via the NASICON This battery can be consecutively charged and discharged
separator. Afterward, they are reserved in the hard carbon. for 10 cycles without any reduction of both the discharge
So, during the charge, Cl ions are taken out and transferred voltage and capacity, but after the 10th cycle, the pH value
to the cathode via the Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM), decreases because of H þ produced by the OER (Zhang
after coupling with H þ ions, yielded in the electrochemical et al., 2018).
Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) operation (Zhang et al., The comparison of ion concentration in the first seawater
2018): and after 10th charging is shown in Table 5.
Charge : 2H2 O ! O2 þ 4H þ þ 4e to form HCl 2.4.2 C as a Cationic Electrode

Then, during the discharge, Na þ ions reserved in the A NASICON desalination battery can also be composed of a
hard carbon are transferred to the cathode via the NASICON Na3 Zr2 Si2 PO12 as a separator and Carbon, C as a
separator, after coupling with OH ions yielded in the positive/cationic electrode with an NaCl aqueous electrolyte
electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) pro- for desalination and electrical energy storage. In the desali-
ceeding (Zhang et al., 2018): nation process of this kind of battery, there are two various
cells: one which is utilized as a carbon-paper electrode, and
Table 5 Comparing the ion Ion concentration (mg=L)

concentration in the first seawater
and after 10th charging (Zhang Atomic (%) First seawater After 10th charging
þ
et al., 2018) Na 10,166 9072
2þ
Mg 1229 1171
þ
K 395 369
2þ
Ca 450 429
Cl 19,916 18,176
SO2
4
2754 2681
Total 34,910 31,898
another utilized as an Ag-foil electrode to obtain the chloride Na þ þ e $ Na

ions. Then, these two cells are charged at a constant current
of 0.1 mA cm2 . The charging is led to the Cl ions oxi- O2 þ 2H2 O þ 4e $ 4OH
dation in the seawater to form AgCl on Ag foil. Then, the
Na þ ions are transferred into the seawater via the NASI- 2Cl ! Cl2 þ 2e
CON separator, followed by Na deposit. Afterwards, Na þ Ag þ Cl $ AgCl þ e
and Cl are removed from seawater and desalination hap-
pens. During the discharging, Na is oxidized into Na þ and 4Na þ O2 þ 2H2 O $ 4NaOH
transferred to the carbon-capture via a NASICON separator.
Then, the ORR happens in the carbon electrode and provides Ag þ Na þ þ Cl $ AgCl þ Na
electrical power. The created OH ions produce the
This kind of battery is called Seawater Desalination–
air-capture process of CO2 gases from the ambient atmo-
Carbon Capture (SD-CC) battery too, because
sphere by carbonation process because of the Ca2 þ ions
carbon-capture and Na-collection, are separated by NASI-
reaction in seawater (Fig. 17) (Bae et al., 2019).
CON membrane. At a current of 0.1 mA cm2 , the
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as
sequential charge and discharge of this battery result in the
follows (Bae et al., 2019):

NASICON desalination battery
with carbon capture (C as a
Cationic Electrode) (Bae et al.,
2019)
Table 6 The ion concentrations Ions (ppm) Na Mg K Ca Cl SO4

after and before the SD-CC
battery charge with Ag-foil First seawater 11,000 1300 500 400 18,000 2400
electrode (Bae et al., 2019) After charging 300 1200 300 400 2400 2400
97.3% Na þ and 86.7% Cl removal from the drinking water this battery. They can do the desalination without the use of
and CO2 capture during 50 h. Figure 17 depicts this process a membrane and this characteristic makes this battery unique
(Bae et al., 2019). and simple (Nam et al., 2019).
Table 6 depicts the ion concentrations after and before the
SD-CC battery charge with an Ag-foil electrode (Bae et al.,
2019). 2.6 Redox-PSQ Desalination Battery
A redox-PSQ desalination battery is composed of 3 elec-

2.5 CUFCN Desalination Battery trodes. During the oxidation process in this battery, the ion
of Cl is transferred from seawater into the ferrocyanide
A CUFCN desalination battery is composed of a
molecule immobilized polysilsesquioxane (redox-PSQ)
Cu3 ½FeðCNÞ6 2 negative/anionic electrode and Bi
cathode electrode, means that PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 4 is con-
positive/cationic electrode with an NaCl aqueous electrolyte
for electrical energy storage and desalination. During the verted to PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 3 . Then, after the desalination
charge in this battery, after extracting the Na þ and Cl from process is done, the redox polymer electrode is taken out,
the electrolyte, they are embedded into the separate cathode cleaned with water, and then coupled with Mg anode in the
and anode electrodes and desalination happens, and in the electrolyte containing 100 mM KNO3 mixture. The red
reverse process, the salination happens by releasing the ions Light-Emitting Diode (LED) can be used for this process
and storing the electricity in the electrolyte. Figure 18 which is turned on because of the produced high intensity
depicts this process (Nam et al., 2019). and after some time it is turned off. This reaction is as fol-
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as lows (Silambarasan & Joseph, 2018):
follows (Nam et al., 2019):
Mg þ 2PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 3 Cl
Cu3 ½Fe ðCNÞ6 2 nH2 O þ 2xNa þ 2xe
III þ ! Mg2 þ þ 2PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 4 þ 2Cl
$ Na2x Cu3 ½FeIIx FeIII
1x ðCNÞ6 2 nH2 O
Overall, in this battery, in the charging process, after
In this battery, both CUFCN and Bi are stable in acidic extracting the Na þ and Cl from the electrolyte, they are
and neutral solutions. So, membranes are not essential for embedded into the electrodes and then desalination happens,

CUFCN desalination battery
(Nam et al., 2019)
and in the reverse process, the salination happens by

releasing the ions and storing the electricity in the elec-
trolyte. Figure 19 depicts this process (Silambarasan &
Joseph, 2018).
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery during
the desalination and salination is as follows (Silambarasan &
Joseph, 2018):
Desalination : C1 Ni2 þ ½FeðCNÞ6 3 þ PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 4 þ seawater

! C2 Ni2 þ ½FeðCNÞ6 4 þ PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 3 Cl
Salination : C1 Ni2 þ ½FeðCNÞ6 4 þ PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 3 Cl þ 0:1 MKNO3
! C2 Ni2 þ ½FeðCNÞ6 3 þ PSQ ½FeðCNÞ6 4 þ C þ þ Cl
In this process, the net input voltage of this battery is 68

mV for LED (Silambarasan & Joseph, 2018).
Fig. 20 Schema of effluent concentration versus energy consumption
(Kim et al., 2017)
2.7 BDI Desalination Battery
2.7.1 CuHCFs as Electrodes mg NaCl=g electrode, 50 mM NaCl effect, and less

The Battery Electrode Deionization (BDI) is a new electro- energy than Capacitive Deionization (CDI) (Singh et al.,
chemical cell that utilizes capacitive electrodes, such as 2018). Figure 21 depicts the schematic diagram of this BDI
copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF) (Tang et al., 2019), i.e. desalination battery with the direction of Na þ and Cl in

Cu FeIII ðCN Þ6 , to reduce the energy requirements (Fig. 20) every cycle (Kim et al., 2017).
for desalinating water. When this battery is charged, anions The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as
are absorbed into the anode and cations are absorbed into the follows (Kim et al., 2017):
cathode, but the voltage must not be higher than 1.2 V,
NaCu FeIII ðCN6 Þ þ xNa þ þ xe ¼ Na1 þ x CuFeII ðCNÞ6 x ½FeIII ðCN6 Þ1x
because the irreversible oxidation and parasitic reactions
happen. When it is discharged, the cations are released via
the Cation Exchange Membrane (CEM) and anions are In this battery, the decrease of the density causes energy
separated via the AEM. This battery with an applied voltage consumption to reduce, but energy recovery has less impact.
of 0.6 V reaches to desalination up to 100 For example, for the current density of 20 Am2 , 10% of

redox-PSQ desalination battery
(Silambarasan & Joseph, 2018)
Fig. 21 BDI desalination battery

(CuHCFs as electrodes): a real
schema, b schematic diagram
(Kim et al., 2017)
energy is recovered, but for 5 Am2 , 51% of energy is In this battery, evaluating the Coulombic efficiency of the
recovered (Son et al., 2020). desalinated solution is analyzed by ICP-MS as Table 7 (Lee
et al., 2017).
2.7.2 NaNiHCF and NaFeHCF as Electrodes
Another BDI utilizes battery electrodes, such as sodium iron 2.7.3 FMN-Na and TEMPO as Electrodes
hexacyanoferrate (NaFeHCF) as the cathode, as well as A newer BDI desalination battery utilizes TEMPO, i.e.
sodium nickel hexacyanoferrate (NaNiHCF) as the anode to 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine-1-oxyl, as cath-
reduce the energy requirements (Fig. 22) for desalinating olyte and FMN-Na, i.e. Riboflavin-5’-phosphate sodium salt
water. When this battery is charged, anions are absorbed into dihydrate, as anolyte electrodes, to reduce the energy
the anode, and cations are absorbed into the cathode. When requirements (Fig. 23) for desalinating water. When this
it is discharged, the cations are released via the CEM, and battery is charged, anions are absorbed into the anode, and
anions are separated via the AEM. This battery has a 59.9 cations are absorbed into the cathode. When it is discharged,
mg=g desalination capacity with productive energy con- the cations are released via the CEM, and anions are sepa-
sumption, e.g. 0.34 Wh=L for 40% Na ion removal. The ion rated via the AEM. This battery has stability up to 50 cycles
removal is computed based on Eq. (5). Figure 22 shows the as well as the better energy efficiency of 25% and
schematic diagram of this BDI desalination battery (Lee Coulombic efficiency of 80% with maintaining the
et al., 2017). capacity of 0.2 mAh. Also, it is a cost-effective renewable
energy storage battery (Liang et al., 2019).
ci ce
ion removalð%Þ ¼ 100 ð5Þ The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as
ci
follows (Liang et al., 2019):
The overall electrochemical reaction of this battery is as Charging:
follows (Lee et al., 2017):
Charging: Cathode : TEMPO þ Cl ! TEMPO Cl þ e
positive electrode : Nax1 Ni½FeðCN6 Þ Anode : FMN NA þ e þ Na þ ! FMN Na2

! Nax1x Ni½FeðCN6 Þ þ xNa þ
Discharging:
Discharging:
Cathode : TEMPO Cl þ e ! TEMPO þ Cl
positive electrode : Nax3 Ni FeðCNÞ6 þ xsolð þÞ Na þ
! Nax3xsolð þ Þ Ni FeðCNÞ6 Anode : FMN Na2 ! FMN Na þ e þ Na þ
Figure 24 shows the charge/discharge capacity, the
negative electrode : Nax4 Fe ðCN
Þ6 Coulombic, and energy efficiency for four various densities
! Nax4y Fe ðCNÞ6 þ yNa þ
(Liang et al., 2019).

the BDI desalination battery
(NaNiHCF and NaFeHCF as
electrodes) (Lee et al., 2017)
Table 7 Coulombic efficiencies Ion Na þ Kþ Mg2 þ Ca2 þ Cl SO2

4
and cations/anions selectivity
(Lee et al., 2017) Sea water (mM) 477.5 10.8 58.9 11.1 512.1 31.5
Ion removal (average, 190.2 9.7 2.7 1.2 199.7 3.5
mM)
Ion removal (average, %) 39.9 90.1 4.5 10.5 39.0 11.0
Dilute solution (charging, 291.5 0.9 56.7 9.8 314.8 27.8
mM) 8.6 0.4 1.2 0.3 13.9 0.9
Dilute solution 283.1 1.3 56.5 10.2 310.1 28.2
(discharging, mM) 15.5 0.6 1.8 0.3 15.6 1.2

(FMN-Na and TEMPO as
electrodes) (Liang et al., 2019)
2.7.5 Ag and NiHCF as Electrodes

The other BDI can utilize battery electrodes such as Ag and
nickel hexacyanoferrate, NiHCF (Singh et al., 2018) as
negative and positive electrodes to reduce the energy
requirements for desalinating water. When this battery is
charged, anions are absorbed into the anode, and cations are
absorbed into the cathode. When it is discharged, the cations
are released via the CEM, and anions are separated via the
AEM. This battery has stability up to 100 cycles at a 30
Am2 current density, but the capacity has a loss of 81.3%
(Fig. 26) (Lee et al., 2019a).
follows (Lee et al., 2019a):

Fig. 24 The charge/discharge capacity, the Coulombic, and energy NaNi Fe3 þ ðCN Þ6 þ xNa þ þ xe
efficiency for various densities (Liang et al., 2019)
! Na1 þ x Ni Fe3 þ ðCNÞ6 1x Fe3 þ ðCNÞ6 x
2.7.4 NVP and CNT as Electrodes xAg þ xCl ! xAgCl þ xe

Another BDI can utilize battery electrodes such as sodium
This battery can be a viable system due to offering an
vanadyl phosphate dehydrate, Na0:5 VOPO4 2ðH2 OÞ
optimal environment for the electrodes (Lee et al., 2019a).
(NVP), and vanadyl hydrogen phosphate hemihydrate,
VOHPO4 0:5ðH2 OÞ (CNT), to reduce the energy require-
2.7.6 Ag and AgCl as Electrodes
ments for desalinating water. When this battery is charged,
A BDI can utilize battery electrodes such as Ag and AgCl
anions are absorbed into the anode, and cations are absorbed
(Ahn et al., 2020) as negative and positive electrodes to
into the cathode. When it is discharged, the cations are
reduce the energy consumption for desalinating water too.
released via the CEM, and anions are separated via the
As the same as before, when this battery is charged, anions
AEM. This battery has the stability of up to 280 cycles as
are absorbed into the anode, and cations are absorbed into
well as a capacity of 24.3 mg=g and a good charge efficiency
the cathode. When it is discharged, the cations are released
of 85%. During the 100 cycles, battery energy storage
and separated via the CEM (Fig. 27). These electrodes have
increases by 47% (Fig. 25) (Lee et al., 2019b).
a great capacity of 250 mAh=g, less solubility, and fast
Table 8 shows the atomic ratios of the BDI battery with
kinetics in saltwater (Ahn et al., 2018, 2019; Bakker et al.,
NVP and CNT as electrodes (Lee et al., 2019b).
2012; Blair & Murphy, 1960; Fighera et al., 2017; Pasta
et al., 2012; Srimuk et al., 2019).
This battery can have a great salt adsorption capacity and
fast desalination under low voltage operation (Ahn et al.,
2020).
2.7.7 C and Pt as Electrodes

A BDI can utilize battery electrodes such as carbon C, and Pt
coated with carbon as negative and positive electrodes to
reduce the energy requirements for desalinating water too.
When this battery is charged, anions are absorbed into the
anode, and cations are absorbed into the cathode. When it is
discharged, the cations are released via the CEM, and anions
are separated via the AEM. This kind of BDI called
Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) is shown in Fig. 28. The
removal efficiency of this battery has been shown in Table 9
(Alhimali et al., 2019).
Today, newer MDCs can solve the imbalance pH prob-
lem, due to having a desalination rate of 24.3 mg=h with a
47 mA sequential electrical current recovery during up to 3
Fig. 25 Schematic diagram of the BDI desalination battery (NVP and cycles of anolyte refreshment (Jafary et al., 2020a). For
CNT as electrodes) (Lee et al., 2019b)
Table 8 The atomic ratios of the Atomic (%) Na V P O

BDI battery with NVP and CNT
electrodes (Lee et al., 2019b) BDI battery with NVP and CNT 2.39 7.99 8.2 26.8
electrodes 1.21 2.03 2.08 12.01

the BDI desalination battery (Ag
and NiHCF as electrodes),
a desalination or discharging step,
and b salination/regeneration or
charging step (Lee et al., 2019a)
Fig. 27 The BDI desalination

battery schematic diagram (Ag
and AgCl as electrodes). Step 1 is
the desalination or discharging
step, and step 2 is the salination or
charging step (Ahn et al., 2020)
enhancing the desalination rate up to 48.12 2.16 mg=h, and cations are absorbed into the cathode. When it is dis-
i.e. up to 98.82 0.34%, and power recovery up to 17.18 charged, the cations are released via the CEM, and anions
mW, another technology which is called Quadruple Micro- are separated via the AEM. This battery, called Microbial
bial Desalination Cell (QMDC) is employed. Figure 29 Electrolysis Desalination Cell (MEDC), has been depicted in
depicts the components of the QMDC battery (Jafary et al., Fig. 30 (Li et al., 2020).
2020b). This battery shows a Coulombic efficiency of 8.5 1.1%
There are three QMDC batteries including an Individu- as well as the removal of 75.5 1.4%. Also, the recovery
ally connected Quadruple Microbial Desalination Cell efficiency of the phosphate and nitrogen reaches 66.7
(IQMDC) battery, Parallel Connected Quadruple Microbial 4.7% and 66 5.3%, respectively (Li et al., 2020).
Desalination Cell (PQMDC) battery, and Serially Connected Table 11 depicts the MEDC performance under various
Quadruple Microbial Desalination Cell (SQMDC) battery. voltages and Ion Exchange Membrane (IEM) pairs (Li et al.,
Table 10 compares these three desalination batteries (Jafary 2020).
et al., 2020b).
2.7.8 C and Stainless Steel as Electrodes 2.8 MA Desalination Battery

The BDI can also utilize battery electrodes such as carbon,
C, and stainless steel as negative and positive electrodes to Metal-Air (MA) desalination battery (Fig. 31) is composed
reduce the energy consumption for desalinating water. When of Al as a negative/anionic electrode and air as a
this battery is charged, anions are absorbed into the anode, positive/cationic electrode with an NaCl aqueous electrolyte

a the BDI desalination battery
called MDC battery, and
b experimental MDC for removal
(C and Pt as electrodes) (Alhimali
et al., 2019)
Table 9 The removal efficiency Battery no Liquid being desalinated Removal efficiency
(%) of another BDI battery called
MDC battery (C and Pt as Na þ SO2
4 Mg2 þ Ca2 þ Cl
electrodes) (Alhimali et al., 2019) 1 Pure NaCl solution 91 – – – 84
2 Synthetic seawater 89 – 87 96 81
3 Real seawater 85 72 79 86 84
for electrical energy storage and desalination. When this This battery reaches 2.83 Wm2 , i.e. the maximum power
battery is charged, anions are absorbed into the anode, and density, at a current density of 6.58 Am2 and output volt-
cations are absorbed into the cathode. When it is discharged, age of 0.43 V which results in the 37.8% salt removal from
the cations are released via the CEM, and anions are sepa- the drinking water with 10 mWh energy generation during
rated via the AEM. According to the theory, desalination can 14 h. In this battery, the desalination rate and energy gen-
be calculated by the current, I, and F as Eq. (6) (Chen et al., eration are restricted due to the dissolved oxygen concen-
2019b). tration in the cathode (Ghahari et al., 2019).
It
molNaCl ¼ ð6Þ follows (Ghahari et al., 2019):
nF
where n is the number of charges. Al þ 3H2 O ! AlðOHÞ3 þ 3H þ þ 3e
Fig. 29 The components of the

QMDC battery (Jafary et al.,
2020b)
Table 10 Comparing QMDC Battery name g(%) NaCl(g/L) Power (mW) < Power density (mW=m2 )
batteries (Jafary et al., 2020b)
IQMDC battery 97.22 35 8.75 2734
PQMDC battery 98.82 35 17.18 2684
SQMDC battery 97.67 35 8.1 1265

called MEDC battery (C and
Stainless Steel as electrodes) (Li
et al., 2020)
3H þ þ 3Cl ! 3HCl Al þ 4OH ! AlðOHÞ

4 þ 3e

AlðOHÞ3 þ 3HCl ! AlCl3 þ 3H2 O Table 12 depicts the MA desalination battery perfor-
mance with 0.2 mol NaCl (Ghahari et al., 2019).
Table 11 The MEDC IEM pair Voltage (V) Influent Removal efficiency (%) Recovery efficiency (%)
performance under various
voltages and IEM pairs (Li et al., N P N P N P
2020) 1 0.8 27.5 9.7 25.8 15.9 19.5 6.5 3.4 2 21.5 3.5
1 28.6 10.5 35.9 2.6 35 12.9 10 0.1 20.2 5.3
1.5 26.7 9.4 36.1 4 30.1 11.3 11.3 5.1 36.6 3.9
2 1.5 29.4 9.6 43.4 13.7 34.8 2.1 21.4 2.5 29.6 0.1
2 28.8 9.2 41.6 5.1 49.7 4 29 4.2 37.5 3.3
3 2 29.4 8.8 79.2 5.8 79.2 5.8 66 5.3 66.7 4.7
Fig. 31 The MA desalination

battery: a schematic diagram,
b real image (Ghahari et al.,
2019)
have shown in Table 13 for all the desalination batteries in

3 Properties of Desalination Batteries this chapter.
and Future Approaches Further developments must be accomplished for future
desalination batteries as follows:
The most important properties of the desalination batteries
include removal efficiency, energy consumption, specific 1. The NMO desalination battery technology must be
capacity, and charge/discharge cycle. Here, these properties developed via integration with other desalination
Table 12 The MA desalination battery performance with 0.2 mol NaCl (Ghahari et al., 2019)
Electrolyte Desalination (g/L) Desalination (%) Average current density (mA=cm2 )
0.2 M NaCl 2.54 21 0.55
Table 13 The properties of the desalination batteries

Desalination Batteries (DBs) Removal Energy Specific Charge/Discharge Reerencesfs
Efficiency (%) Consumption (J or Capacity Cycle
Wh/L) (mAh/g)
NMO DB
Ag/AgCl as an Anionic 25 0.261 J 35 1 Pasta et al. (2012)
Electrode – 0.92 J 23 1 Shapira et al. (2018)
PPy/PPyCl as an Anionic – – 40–45 200 Kong et al. (2019)
Electrode
NTP DB
Ag/AgCl as a Cationic – – 70 50 Wang et al. (2018)
Electrode 71.9 * 50 Wh/L 37.4 200 Chen et al. (2018)
Bi/BiOCl as a Cationic 80 0.285 J 133 30 Nam and Cho (2017)
Electrode
KFCN DB 85 22.8–137.2 J 81 (Cathode), 100 Desai et al. (2017)
828 (Anode)
NASICON DB
C and Pt/C as Anionic and 8.63 4.69 Wh/L 200 10 Zhang et al. (2018)
Cationic Electrodes
C as a Cationic Electrode 86.7–97.3 – – – Bae et al. (2019)
CUFCN DB 75.6 – * 60 20 Nam et al. (2019)
Redox-PSQ DB – – – 30 Silambarasan and
Joseph (2018)
BDI DB
CuHCF as Electrodes 50 – – 50 Kim et al. (2017)
71–3 – 29–35 51 Son et al. (2020)
NaNiHCF and NaFeHCF as 40 0.756 J (0.34 Wh/L) 56.2 100 Lee et al. (2017)
Electrodes
FMN-Na and TEMPO as 25 – 0.2–0.4 50 Liang et al. (2019)
Electrodes
NVP and CNT as Electrodes 87 – 50 280 Lee et al. (2019b)
Ag and NiHCF as Electrodes – – * 60 100 Lee et al. (2019a),
Singh et al. (2018)
Ag and AgCl as Electrodes 80 0.19 Wh/L 250 100 Ahn et al. (2020)
C and Pt as Electrodes 85–91 – – 4 (during 10 days) Alhimali et al. (2019)
98.82 ± 0.34 – – 3 Jafary et al. (2020b)
C and Stainless Steel as 75.5 ± 1.4 – – 30 Jafary et al. (2020a)
Electrodes
MA DB 37.8 – – – Chen et al. (2019b)
methods and RESs (Chen et al., 2018; Pasta et al., rate, as well as cyclability and open up novel possibil-
2012). ities for desalination processes (Nam & Choi, 2017).
2. With further optimization of the electrode structure in 3. Cost minimization must be considered as a paradigm
NTP desalination batteries, the electrochemical opti- for energy storage of a KFCN desalination battery
mization will be feasible by improving the capacity, (Desai et al., 2017).
4. Further development must be done for the cathode of Likewise, their sustainable development is not feasible
the SE-CC desalination battery to improve energy effi- without the correct management of the water resource, par-
ciency (Bae et al., 2019). ticularly for arid and semi-arid countries. This issue is very
5. The CUFCN desalination battery can be used as a important from an economic, social, cultural, and strategic
proper desalination battery with further development in point of view. So, desalination of water is the future of
cyclability (Nam et al., 2019). humanity, especially for countries that are already under
6. Other polymers such as PPy, poly-aniline, and so on water stress, or for countries that will reach it by 2050. Water
can be utilized for developing the redox-PSQ desali- for everyone is everyone’s business (Kettab, 2014).
nation battery for desalination, recycling water as well
as wastewater treatment (Silambarasan & Joseph, Acknowledgements This chapter is related to the book: Sustainable
2018). Materials and System for Water Desalination.
7. As the performance of other electrochemical systems is
weaker than the BDI desalination batteries, so addi-
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Carbon Nanotubes Composite Membrane
for Water Desalination
Shabnam Taghipour, Ali Khadir, and Mohammadhossein Taghipour
Abstract mechanical characteristics of CNTs (which make them

pioneer in desalination goals) are mentioned. In follow-
The demand for freshwater has enormously risen the
ing, the results of several studies and their key findings
water stress in various parts of the globe. Accessibility of
are noted. Finally, the challenges, perspectives, and future
clean water is crucial for sustainable development
directions of this technology to enter desalination markets
involving socioeconomic and environmental promotion.
are explained.
Considering the fact that 96.5% of all Earth’s water is
related to seawater, desalination (producing clean potable
Keywords

water from sea or saline water) can be considered as a
leading solution to fulfill water scarcity problem. Among Remediation Carbon nanotube Membrane
various advanced and conventional techniques, carbon Desalination Water treatment Wastewater
nanotube (CNT) membrane has become an attractive
alternate for most of water treatment methods owing
supreme features such as easy operationality, low energy
and expense requirement, high water permeability, 1 Introduction
permselectivity, and stability. CNTs can be grown in
vertically aligned CNTs (VACNTs), transverse or hori- Limited freshwater resources, rapid population growth,
zontally aligned CNTs (HACNTs), and mixed matrix industrialization, and consequently water pollution have
membranes (MMMs) shapes. CNT membranes are mostly generated significant challenges for providing clean water
synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), laser for human life and ecosystem (Ma et al., 2017; Taghipour &
ablation (LA), and arc discharge (AD) methods. Ayati, 2017; Taghipour et al., 2017, 2019). On the other
Researchers have investigated the effect of various factors hand, global warming which is one of the fundamental
on salt rejection and water flux such as dispersion quality, agents of climate change leads to ices and glaciers melting,
oscillating pressure, number of deposition cycle (while increasing in water level, land submergence, and finally
synthesizing the membrane), type of filler, fabrication amplification of salinity content of both freshwater and salty
method, temperature, and contact time. In this chapter, water (Anis et al., 2019). World Health Organization
initially a general description of membrane filtration, their (WHO) has warned all communities about imminent peril of
features in desalination, and synthesization methods are approximately two-thirds of world’s population all over the
presented. Afterward, various intrinsic, thermal, and globe to live in water-stressed condition by the year 2025
(World Health Organization (WHO), 2020). According to
S. Taghipour (&) the reports, Middle East followed by North America and
Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of South America has the highest desalination capacity. The
Technology, P.O. Box 11155-9313 Tehran, Iran worldwide production capacity of desalinated water is totally
e-mail: sh.taghipour70@student.sharif.edu 95 million m3/day (Jones et al., 2019).
A. Khadir (&) Different processes for water treatment can be divided to
Young Researcher and Elite Club, Yadegar-e-Imam Khomeini primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment. Primary treatment
(RAH) Shahre Rey Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
refers to preliminary treatment processes including physically
M. Taghipour separating of large particles from water (e.g., screening, fil-
Department of Materials Engineering, University of Tabriz,
P.O. Box 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran tration, centrifugation, separation, sedimentation, coagulation,
164 S. Taghipour et al.
and flocculation) (Das et al., 2014; Gerba & Pepper, 2019), components into the membrane, and second step is
secondary treatment refers to biological treatment of water selective diffusion and eventually desorption into the fil-
including aerobic and anaerobic treatment methods (Gupta trate under low pressure or vacuum condition (Scott,
et al., 2012), and tertiary treatment benefits from advanced 1995).
treatment options for further reduction in residual turbidity, Permselectivity is one of the main characteristics of
metals, and pathogens (Gerba & Pepper, 2019) (such as dis- membranes that can be specified by discrepancy between the
tillation, precipitation, crystallization, membrane technolo- transport rates of the existence compounds in the solution
gies, ion exchange, solvent extraction, and so many other (Nath, 2017). The membrane’s structure, type of the driving
advanced oxidations) (Das et al., 2014). force, and the size, chemical nature, and the electrical charge
Each technology has its own advantages and disadvan- of the particles are the leading factors that can ascertain the
tages, but when it comes to choose a technology for water transport rate of species across the membrane (Kolmetz
treatment in large scale, economic aspects besides efficiency et al., 2014). The flux across the membrane is calculated by
play crucial roles. With respect to many inherent features Eq. 1 (Nath, 2017):
such as no need to additives, low thermal energy con-
Membrane permeability
sumption, and spent media regeneration, high separation Flux ¼ ðDriving forceÞ ð1Þ
efficiency, easy and continuous operation, membrane tech- Membrane thickness
nology has attracted direct attention of scientists and Permeability is a criterion that represents how tight the
researchers (Baskar et al., 2019; Mathew et al., 2014). membrane is. In porous membranes, water permeability
(A) is calculated by the Hagen–Poiseuille equation (Eq. 2)
(Werber et al., 2016):
2 Membrane Technology
erp2
A¼ ð2Þ
Application of membrane technology in various industries 8ldm
was started in 1960s, but the first study of membrane
phenomena is reported within the mid-eighteenth century where e is the surface porosity, rp is pore radius, l is vis-
(Fane et al., 2011). A membrane process (Fig. 1) is kind cosity of the aqueous solution, and dm is the thickness of the
of particular separation in which specific compounds are active layer of the membrane.
permitted to pass the membrane at ambient temperature In dense and non-porous membranes, water permeability
without using further chemical additives (Bazargan et al., can be evaluated by solution–diffusion model as is presented
2015; Sadeghi, 2016; Strathmann, 2000). In this process, in Eq. 3 (Werber et al., 2016):
the filtrate or permeate is the liquid that will be allowed to Pw Vw
cross the membrane, and the residual fluid will be called A¼ ð3Þ
d m Rg T
concentrate or retentate. Moreover, the generated dry
sludge during filtration is named the coating (Kumar where Pw stands for diffusive water permeability, Vw is
et al., 2013). The first step at successful mass transport molar volume of water, Rg stands for the gas constant, and
through a membrane is the selective absorption of the feed T is the absolute temperature.
Fig. 1 Typical membrane

process
Carbon Nanotubes Composite Membrane for Water Desalination 165
Based on the type of the applied driving force, membranes categorized in four groups including: microfiltration,
can be divided to electrical–potential-driven processes, ultra-filtration, nano-filtration, and reverse osmosis as shown
concentration-gradient-driven processes, temperature-driven in Fig. 2 (Graff, 2012; Tan & Rodrigue, 2019).
processes, and pressure-driven processes (Tofighy & Characteristics of different types of membranes are pre-
Mohammadi, 2020). sented in Table 1 (Belleville & Vaillant, 2016; Nath, 2017).
Electrical–potential-driven processes such as electrodial- Beside all the mentioned advantages of the membranes,
ysis, electrophoresis, and membrane electrolysis are used for they still suffer from drawbacks in water treatment applica-
the removal of charged compounds from a solution or sus- tions. In real scales, both high water permeability and
pension (Kathiresan & Doss, 2020; Mandal & Kulkarni, selectivity are required for an ideal membrane while the
2011). The electrical voltage difference drives the ions flux combination of these two features in one membrane is hard
through the electrical field which is generated via cathode to obtain (Park et al., 2017). It is noteworthy that based on
and anode electrodes. The uncharged molecules will not be the target compounds in some cases (such as desalination),
affected by the electrical field, but instead cations will be selectivity is more important than permeability (Werber
attracted to the cathode and the anions will be attracted to the et al., 2016). When using membranes in large scales,
anode (Beier, 2014). membrane fouling is another important problem. For
In concentration-gradient-driven processes such as dial- instance, natural organic matters (NOMs) are one of the
ysis, the fluid fluxes across a membrane due to the existing main agents causing serious fouling and performance
concentration difference (Youravong & Marthosa, 2017). aggravation in membranes (Cui & Choo, 2014).
In temperature-driven processes such as membrane dis- For these reasons, more effective materials are required to
tillation (MD), the fluid is driven across the permeate and be used in the membranes. Previously, polyamide (PA) and
feed side of the membrane due to partial pressure difference cellulose acetate (CA) membranes have been developed for
which is in turn generated due to temperature gradient desalination. Results revealed that this system design gen-
(Camacho et al., 2013). erates further amount of salts besides process chemicals. In
In pressure-driven membranes, filtration occurs through addition, constant contact of the membrane’s materials with
small pores for capturing the pollutants due to the pressure chlorine causes irreparable damages in membrane over time
gradient. Depending on the membrane’s pore size, the target (Yang et al., 2019). Polymeric membranes exhibit low
species, and their polarity, these kinds of membranes can be chemical stability and fouling tolerance (Pendergast & Hoek,
Fig. 2 Efficiency of different types of pressure-driven membranes for materials with wide size range. Reproduced from Graff (2012) with
permission from Woodhead Publishing, Elsevier
Table 1 Different characteristics of membranes with different driving forces (Belleville & Vaillant, 2016; Nath, 2017)
Driving force Membrane process Mass transfer Permeate Retentate Applications
and pore radius mechanism
Electrical Electrodialysis Ion exchange Ionized solutes, Non-ionic solutes, Separation of ions from
Potential (Donnan exclusion) water water water and non-ionic
gradient solutes
Concentration Dialysis membrane – Small molecules, Large molecules, –
gradient extraction water gases, water components
solutes, vapors of feed insoluble
soluble in the in extractant
extractant
Temperature Membrane Evaporation/diffusion/ – Molecules, <1 nm Desalination,
gradient distillation condensation concentration
Pressure Microfiltration Convection Dissolved solutes, Suspended Clarification and cold
gradient 0.1–1.0 l (10– water gases particles, water sterilization
30 psi) (* 1 nm), and gases
polar vapors
Ultrafiltration Convection Small molecules, Polymers, Concentration,
microns) 30– water proteins, micelles, fractionation of
100 psi colloids, macromolecular solutions
particulates
Nanofiltration 50– Diffusion/convection Monovalent ions, Small molecules, Concentration, purification
150 psi water divalent salts of small organic
compounds, separation of
selected salts
Reverse osmosis Solubilization/diffusion Water, small polar All solutes, water Concentration/desalination
(5–10°A) 200– solvents, salts
1000 psi
2011). Considering high operational costs, ceramic mem-

branes are suggested for small-scale experiments (Nandi 3 CNT Materials
et al., 2008). Moreover, numerous hybrid membranes have
been developed and utilized which in turn can cause for high CNTs are quasi-one-dimensional allotropes of carbon in a
operational costs (Hosseini et al., 2020; Sadeghi et al., rolled-up graphene sheets with hexagonal structure (Tiwari
2016). et al., 2016). These materials contain strong sp2 hybrid
Producing sufficient clean water that meets the drinking carbon–carbon bonds which is the strongest chemical bond
water or irrigation standards is one of the challenging issues (Paula et al., 2016). CNTs are classified to multi-walled
worldwide, and thus extensive researches to address this issue carbon nanotubes (MWCNs) and single-walled carbon
lead to benefit from remarkable potentials of nanomaterials nanotubes (SWCNs) (Sielicki et al., 2020). MWCN con-
(NMs) in membrane’s material. The term “nanomaterials” sisted of multilayers of graphene sheets and was first dis-
refers to materials with size lower than 100 nm ( 100 nm) covered in 1991 by Prof. Iijima during arcing of graphite.
in at least one dimension (Salisbury et al., 2018). Later he characterized SWCNs in the arc process in 1993
Hereunto, numerous NMs have been successfully utilized (Hassan et al., 2020). SWCNs consist of a flattish array of
for water remediation goals (Beheshti et al., 2019; benzene molecules with honeycomb-shaped rings of car-
Ghenaatgar et al., 2019; Khadir et al., 2020a, 2020b; bon–carbon bonds (Nayfeh, 2018). A schematic presentation
Khorsandi et al., 2019; Mirjavadi et al., 2019; Mohammadi of SWCN and MWCN can be seen in Fig. 3.
et al., 2019; Mollahosseini et al., 2019; Piri et al., 2019, Different comparable properties of SWCNs and MWCNs
2020). Among countless number of NMs (e.g., zeolites, such as purity, density, and thermal and electrical-related
metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, oxyacids, carbonaceous coefficients are presented in Table 2 (Awad, 2016; Chaud-
nanostructures, etc.), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have hary et al., 2013; Sattar et al., 2015).
exhibited outstanding features which have made them to be CNT by itself is a hydrophobic material which turned it to
of leading materials in desalination and water purification an attractive media for water treatment. Hydrophobicity
(Ihsanullah, 2019). besides capillarity nature causes efficient adsorption and also
and separation performance such as pore size and intercon-

nections, porosity, surface charge and rugosity, roughness,
and hydrophobicity (Awad, 2016). The concept of using
CNT membranes was first raised by Sun and Crooks (2000).
Based on the type of morphology, CNTs can be directly
grown in three shapes including (Gao & Kono, 2019):
(I) vertically aligned CNTs (VACNTs)

(II) transverse or horizontally aligned CNTs (HACNTs)
(III) mixed matrix membranes (MMMs).
The most applied synthesization methods of CNT are

chemical vapor deposition (CVD), laser ablation (LA), arc
discharge (AD), and other methods include electrolysis,
hydrothermal/sonochemical, and template/bottom-up (Du
Fig. 3 Perspective views of carbon nanotubes: a single-walled carbon et al., 2017).
nanotubes (SWCNs) and b multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNs) In CVD approach (Fig. 4), cheap catalysts and carbon
sources are utilized for fabrication of high yield CNT. At the
navigation of sorbates in microporous carbons (Narang & applied temperature and in the presence of catalyst, the
Pundir, 2018). carbon sources decompose to carbon atoms on the surface of
Owing outstanding features such as large surface area and a transition metal (He et al., 2015). As a result of the gen-
consequently high adsorption capacity, admissible erated interactions, CNTs will grow in the solution. This
electro-conductivity, convenient functionalization, feasibil- method in turn consisted of plasma enhanced, injection
ity of flowing through the nanotubes without friction, and assisted, thermal CVD, radio frequency, microwave, laser
high chemical, optical, and mechanical resistance, CNTs assisted, hot filament, aerogel assisted, water assisted, alco-
have become a favorable nomination for the production of holic CVD, oxygen assisted, liquid pyrolysis, and solid
innovative membranes in the order of water desalination pyrolysis (Das & Tuhi, 2018).
(without needing to pretreatment or post-treatment) (Suzuki, In LA approach (Fig. 5), there are several determinative
2013). parameters including target component, catalyst, light
source, pressure, and temperature. In this method in the
presence of inert gas and at high temperature, the laser is
3.1 Fabrication of CNT Membranes utilized to vaporize the graphite target and form the CNTs.
Besides the main carbon resource (i.e., graphite, fullerene),
Fabrication method has deep effects on performance of CNT the suspended carbon atoms in the atmosphere can also play
membranes. Various fabrication techniques may lead to the role in the CNT’s growth (Das & Tuhi, 2018; Du et al.,
production of CNT membranes with different morphologies 2017). Here, the catalyst acts as a cage structure opener of
Table 2 Comparison between Property SWCNs MWCNs

different parameters of SWCNs
and MWCNs (Chaudhary et al., Graphene layer Single Multiple
2013; Sattar et al., 2015) Bulk synthesis Multiple Easy
Purity Poor High
3
Specific gravity (g/cm ) 0.8 1.8
Electrical conductivity (S/cm) 102–106 103–105
Thermal conductivity (W/(m K)) 6000 2000
Thermal stability in air (°C) >600 >600
−3
Temperature coefficient of resistance (10 /K) <1.1 −1.37
Electron mobility (cm2/(V s)) *105 104–105
Maximum current density (A/(cm2)) 109 109
Fig. 4 CVD method for

fabrication of CNTs
Fig. 5 Schematic of laser

ablation for CNT production
the carbon resource followed by cluster formation. After- adjustable factors such as contact time, the partial pressures,
ward, the clusters will be used as a stand for CNT's growth. temperature, the type of the carbon feedstock and catalyst,
The reaction will continue unless the carbon layer could not the amount of pressure, the type of the atmosphere gas, and
be able to accept further evaporated carbon for nanotube injection rate (He et al., 2015). In addition, carbon deposi-
growth (Srivastava, 2006). tion occurs in high rate and in large synthesis area, and the
In AD approach, high DC voltage is exerted to produced CNTs in this method have high purity, crys-
catalyst-containing graphite electrodes. During the test, tallinity, and aspect ratio (Yousefi et al., 2016).
atmosphere includes helium gas. A micrometer can be uti-
lized for movement of the anode electrode which is con- 3.1.1 Vertically Aligned CNTs (VACNTs)
nected to the positive pole (Du et al., 2017). A schematic Membranes
presentation of the AD approach for synthesization of CNTs In this method, CNTs are placed perpendicular to the support
can be seen in Fig. 6. layer and are reinforced by cumulative van der Waals forces
Compared with other methods, CVD has several superi- to generate stronger bonds (Li et al., 2017). Application of
orities. The AD and LA methods require high-energy input. VACNTs was first reported by Kalra et al. (2003) by using
Moreover, in CVD approach the size and dimension of the molecular dynamics. The osmotic force-driven flow passes
synthesized CNT for fabrication of a high-performance through the membrane due to the salt concentration gradient
membrane are controllable. So that, dispersion and interface (Suzuki, 2013). Hinds et al. were the first researchers that
of the nanocarbons in the medium can be enhanced by reported about mass transport of CNTs in 2004. Their results
Fig. 6 Simple illustration of AD approach for fabrication of CNTs
proved rapid transportation of N2 gas and ionic ruthenium

Fig. 7 Schematic mechanism of water transport and desalination by
(III) hexamine (Ru(NH3)63+) solution in VACNTs with inner vertically aligned CNT membranes (VACNTs)
diameter of 6 nm (Ang et al., 2019).
For proper membrane structure and considering very
versatile and tunable options, it is suggested to synthesize Studies about VACNT membranes have mostly focused on
the VACNTs via CVD method (Fig. 7). Dense materials desalination. Trivedi and Alameh developed VACNTs with
such as polystyrene (Lee, 2019), parylene, silicon nitride outer diameter of 8 nm and 300 lm length, by CVD
(Liu et al., 2019), and epoxy (Lee et al., 2015) are the method for desalination. A cross section of the synthesized
foremost materials in using between CNTs to fill the slots VACNTs obtained by focused ion beam scanning electron
and abate the water leakage. Since CVD is conducted in high microscope (FIB-SEM) is presented in Fig. 8 (Trivedi &
temperatures, membrane substrates should be selected Alameh, 2016).
among high-temperature-resistant materials (Monea et al., In this study, silicon wafer was stuck on a glass surface
2019). and used as mechanical supporting material for VACNTs
Steps for fabrication of VACNT membranes are as fol- without any chemical reaction during whole experiments.
lows (Das, 2017): (1) deposition of non-conducting sub- Then by locating the wafer in a spin coater and adding 50%
strates (i.e., SiO2/Si) on the substrate, (2) deposition of (w/w) poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and xylene,
catalyst on the support by electron beam evaporation, VACNT–PDMS membrane was obtained. To remove vola-
(3) oxidization of the catalytic surface in high temperature, tile part of the PDMS, the membrane is placed in a 100 °C
(4) CNT’s growth from catalyst in CVD system including vacuum oven for 6 h. Finally, the silicon support was sep-
Ar, H2, or other inert gases, (5) operation of catalyst as a arated by mechanical peeling (Trivedi & Alameh, 2016).
nucleation site for nanotube growth, (6) filling the gaps of
CNT by impermeable materials, (7) using reactive ion 3.1.2 Transverse or Horizontally Aligned CNTs
etching (RIE) at a suitable power for opening the backside Transverse or horizontally aligned CNTs (HACNTs) are
substrate, (8) uncovering the nanotube film, (9) reusing RIE synthesized parallel to their flat substrate and have approx-
or wet chemical etching, etc., to remove excess impermeable imately long intertube distances (Bai et al., 2018). The
material and opening the tips (Golshadi, 2016; Krishnaku- results of primary studies about HACNTs were published in
mar et al., 2012). 1998 when researchers succeeded to synthesize individual
Owing high thermal, chemical, and mechanical dura- parallel SWCNTs on a Si substrate (Kong et al., 1998).
bility, porous ceramic membranes have been extensively The length, aspect ratio, and diameter of HACNTs can be
used as support for CNTs (Kayvani Fard et al., 2018). up to centimeters, 106–108, and 1–5 nm, respectively (Zhang
Fig. 8 Cross section of VACNT

developed by CVD method. The
image is captured by using
focused ion beam scanning
electron microscope (FIB-SEM)
device (Trivedi & Alameh, 2016).
Adopted from Graff (2012).
Copyright © 2016, Springer
Nature
et al., 2017). The number of shells (N) in a CNT can be C). Results proved that increase in solution concentration
evaluated by Eq. 4 (Todri-Sanial, 2016): has dramatically decreased the density and the length of the
CNT arrays (Fig. 9). The results also illustrated that higher
dout din
N¼ ð4Þ pretreatment time and higher growth temperature (at lower
Sa catalyst concentration) leading to the production of denser
where dout stands for diameter of the outer shell, din is the and longer CNTs (An et al., 2014).
diameter of the inner shell, and Sa refers to the space Besides several advantages, HACNTs suffer from draw-
between shells. The typical number of shell in a HACNT is backs such as poor ability to control chirality, bounded
1–5. lengths, small areal density, and low structural ability to
Owing longish lengths, infirm intertube interactions and retain homogeneous, which limited their extensive applica-
consequently low defect density, HACNTs have exhibited tions in real fields (Shi & Plata, 2018). Thus, the main
excellent mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties (Li challenges in this field are to synthesize HACNTs in
et al., 2016). After successful fabrication of HACNTs, microscale size with excellent properties and appropriate
studies focused on their growth mechanism. Numerous structures.
processes such as ultralow feeding gas flow guiding (Li & Over the past few years, CVD method has been consid-
Zhang, 2019), external electrical fields (Morais et al., 2019), ered as one of the main approaches in HACNT’s growth
and fast-heating CVD (Huang et al., 2004) were developed (Fig. 10).
for fabrication of guiding longish HACNTs. A well-defined To study growth steps of HACNTs, three classes have
HACNT with proper structure can lead to fabrication of been developed including nucleation (on the atomic scale),
multifunctional devices for different applications on a large growth modes (on the molecular scale), and CNT’s distri-
scales (Neupane & Li, 2011). bution mechanism for CNT arrays (Page et al., 2010; Sen-
Zheng et al., successfully synthesized 4-cm-long hori- gupta, 2018; Zhang et al., 2013). A brief description of these
zontally aligned SWCNs (growth rate = 11 lm/s) on a Si classes are presented in the following:
substrate by catalytic CVD method. They concluded that
parameters such as flow rate, type of the atmosphere gas, 1. Nucleation: When metallic nanoparticles are used as
temperature, the initial concentration of the catalyst solution, catalyst for CNT’s growth, nucleation will be the prime
and catalyst’s size play crucial role when optimizing the step. This step in turn can be cleaved into the following
experimental conditions (Zheng, 2004). steps: dissolution of carbon atoms, supersaturation of the
An et al., reported fabrication of 1-cm-long HACNTs on carbon atom following by their precipitation, and finally
Si/SiO2 substrate with 1.7 nm in diameter by CVD growth CNT formation. Unceasing addition of carbon in this
methodology. They reported notable decrease in length and stage plays a vital role in CNT’s growth
density of the CNT by decrease in the growth temperature. (Gomez-Ballesteros et al., 2015).
To achieve a controllable synthesis of CNTs, researchers 2. Tip-growth mode: Longish CNTs begin from the cata-
optimized the growth condition. They studied different cat- lyst region, and during CVD method, catalysts are still on
alyst concentration (0.005–0.1 M), pretreatment time (10, the growing tips of the CNTs. In this stage, getting raised
20, and 30 min), and growth temperature (925, 925, 975 ° from the substrate surface is the cardinal issue which can
Fig. 9 Change in the number of

distributed CNTs toward their
axial orientation versus the length
of the CNTs by change in the
concentrations of the catalyst.
Inside the diagram, the related
SEM images for the fabricated
CNTs are placed. The length
scale of the images is 100 µm.
Adapted from An et al. (2014)
with permission from Elsevier
Fig. 10 Illustration of water

injection and rejection mechanism
in horizontally aligned CNT
membranes (HACNTs)
occur due to the temperature gradient (thermal buoyancy precipitates from the top surface of the catalyst, and the
perpendicular to the substrate) among gas flow and the nanotubes keep growing from the catalyst region (Sen-
substrate (Fig. 11) (Zhang et al., 2014). Poor interaction gupta, 2018).
of the nanocatalyst and substrate surface can be another 4. Schulz–Flory distribution mechanism for CNT
reason for this phenomenon (Gohier et al., 2008). In the arrays: Schulz–Flory is a probability distribution theory
following, the CNTs will be buoyed in the gas flow, and which can be defined as the linear polymer’s ratio with
nanocatalysts will stay at the tip ends of these CNTs to different molecular weight and length in a polymerization
catalyze the CNT’s growth uninterruptedly (Zhang et al., process (Helfferich, 2004). Preconditions of this theory
2014). are as follows: equivalent reactivity of the carbon
3. Base-growth mode: Unlike the tip-growth mode, at the resource molecules, controllability of the process by
end of CNT's growth, the nanocatalyst will stay at the kinetic, and existence of a steady growth media (Zhang
bottom of the CNT (Fig. 12). The probable reason for et al., 2013). Forasmuch as the screw-like dislocation
occurrence of this mode is due to the powerful interaction theory, HACNTs can be considered as linear carbon
of the particles and substrate’s surface. Thus, carbon polymer. Based on this theory, shorter polymers have
Fig. 11 Tip-growth mechanism

in synthesization of long
HACNTs
Fig. 12 Presentation of
tip-growth mode in synthesization
of longish CNTs
higher proportions than the lengthy ones (Zhang et al., Besides all the advantages, it is noteworthy that utilizing
2011). Observations of the constant growth rate of hor- nanoparticles are limited due to the agglomeration feature of
izontally aligned CNTs proved that the growth progress these materials, weak adhesion to the polymeric matrix
of these materials is being controlled by kinetic (Zhu support, and consequently weak mechanical stability (Fu
et al., 2019). et al., 2019). Therefore, several fabrication methods have
been developed for efficient application of nanoparticles on
3.1.3 Mixed Matrix Membranes the surface of the membranes such as self-assembly depo-
Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are mix of solid and/or sition (Abdelrasoul et al., 2017), layer-by-layer deposition
liquid NMs that the top layer is blended with polymers, (LbL) (Chimisso et al., 2020), chemical grafting (Ursino
porous materials (activated carbon, CNTs, etc.), or non- et al., 2018), and physical and chemical deposition of NPs
porous material (SiO2, TiO2, and fullerene) (Roy & Singha, (e.g., dip coating, spin coating, hot pressing, etc.) (Xiao
2017). MMMs benefit outstanding features of both ceramic et al., 2016).
and polymeric materials (including physicochemical stability There is no specific phenomenon for categorization of
and easiness in fabrication, respectively) to enhance effi- MMMs. In some of the recent studies, structure and the
ciency of water pollution abatement by improving selectiv- position of NMs (filler) were of the notable factors in clas-
ity, penetrance, tortuosity, fouling diminution, and sufficient sification of MMMs (Fig. 14) as follows: (1) conventional
removal of the target compounds (Qadir et al., 2017). In nanocomposites, (2) thin-film nanocomposites (TFN),
addition, this technology provides higher hydrophilicity, (3) thin-film composite (TFC) along with nanocomposite
permselectivity, and resistance against pH and temperature substrate, and (4) nanocomposites on the surface of the
changes (Maghami & Abdelrasoul, 2018). Application of membranes (Yin & Deng, 2015).
NMs in this technology introduces antibacterial and photo- The main steps for fabrication of MMMs are providing a
catalytic characteristics to the membrane as well. homogenous solution of NMs and polymer. This goal can be
A schematic illustration of this technology can be seen in achieved by three different approaches as follows (Esfahani
Fig. 13. et al., 2019):
Fig. 13 Schematic presentation of water injection and desalination mechanism by mixed matrix CNT membrane (MMMs)
Fig. 14 Categorization of different types of mixed matrix membranes
1. Dissolution of polymers in the solvent and stirring for a the solvent in a separate container, and finally mixing
given time to form a homogeneous polymeric solution NMs solution and polymer solution.
and then adding predestined amount of NMs to the sol-
vent and stirring for a given time. To enhance the dispersion of nanofillers (especially for
2. Adding predestined amount of NMs to solvent and stir- hydrophobic NMs such as CNTs) and application of these
ring for a given duration to form a homogeneous sus- materials in MMMs membranes, two cardinal factors should
pension and finally adding polymer. be considered. The first one is the ability to scatter the CNTs
3. Adding predestined amount of NMs in the solvent and homogeneously in the entire matrix, and the second one is the
stirring for a certain duration, then adding polymer into adaptability of CNTs and the matrix (Sianipar et al., 2017).
4 Application of CNT Membranes Concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) can be used
in Desalination as an agenda for classification of feed water (Table 3)
(Hanasaki et al., 2016). The worldwide installed desalination
Fabrication of CNT nanocomposite membranes for desali- capacity for different feed water types and their contribution
nation of sodium hydroxide was first reported by Shawky percentage compared with each other is presented in Fig. 16.
et al. (2011). Nowadays, CNT membranes are widely uti- The pure water is mainly utilized by industries which require
lized as vital materials for water treatment, especially in high-quality water (i.e., food and drug industries) (Khan &
desalination because of their rapid transportation ability (Ma Ali, 2018).
et al., 2017). The water permeability of a CNT membrane Both SWCNT and MWCNT have been used extensively
can reach up to 30 thousands liters per square meter per hour in membranes for different feed water’s desalination.
(LMH/bar) (Lee et al., 2015). CNTs could decrease the size Kim et al. fabricated polyamide-RO membrane with 0.2 g
and construction expenses of membrane desalination plants CNTs (PA-CNT) by varying values of required acid solution
up to 50% (Humplik & Lee, 2011) and lead to production of (AS) (20–100 mL), temperature (25–105 °C), and contact
desalinated water with equal expenses to conventional water time (3–5 h) and compared their efficiency with
treatment methods (World Bank, 2019). non-CNT-containing membrane (PA). Six different mem-
The International Desalination Association (IDA) is the branes fabricated in different conditions include PA-CNT1
precedent society in the world which has concentrated par- (a bought pristine membrane), PA-CNT2 (T = 25 °C,
ticularly on the development of desalination industries and t = 3 h, AS = 20 mL), PA-CNT3 (T = 45 °C, t = 3.5 h,
water recycle technologies. In the annual reports of IDA in AS = 40 mL), PA-CNT4 (T = 65 °C, t = 4 h, AS = 60
2019, it is listed that desalination is being practiced in 174 mL), PA-CNT5 (T = 85 °C, t = 4.5 h, AS = 80 mL), and
countries all over the globe and over 17,000 plants have PA-CNT6 (T = 105 °C, t = 5 h, AS = 100 mL). Applied
been contracted. Over 300 million people are dependent pressure is kept at 15.5 bar, the feed solution contained
upon desalinated water for whole or part of their daily 2000 mg/L NaCl, and the cross-flow velocity was
consumption. The cumulative installed desalination capacity 700 mL/min. The water flux and salt rejection efficiency of
and reuse capacity was 107 and 146 million m3/day, the fabricated membranes are presented in Fig. 17. As can be
respectively (The International Desalination Association seen, all the PA-CNT membranes exhibited higher water
(IDA), 2020). Desalination capacity refers to the volume of flux than PA membrane (36.4 LMH). Furthermore,
high-quality produced water for utilization of human. PA-CNT4 was the only membrane that showed higher salt
Although CNT membranes are not yet commercially rejection and similar water flux compared to PA membrane.
available for desalination, it is estimated that they will be The reason can be attributed to the well dispersion of CNTs
available for large-scale utilization within in the near future in the solution (Kim et al., 2014).
(likely next decade) (World Bank, 2019). Scientists have Scrutinies of transmission electron microscopy
monitored and forecasted annual desalination capacity (in- (TEM) images (Fig. 18) proved that PA-CNT1, PA-CNT2,
cluding brackish water and seawater) versus municipal and PA-CNT3 have had a non-dispersed or entangled mor-
wastewater reuse capacity between 1990 and 2030 (Fig. 15) phology. PA-CNT4 and PA-CNT5 had a well-dispersed
(Sanz, 2019). The results revealed that the annual desalina- CNT structures with smaller tubes. PA-CNT6 has had a
tion capacity is growing and evolving at the same rate as non-tube structure with small spots consisting of debris of
wastewater reuse capacity. carbon materials. Existence of aggregated morphology could
Fig. 15 Annual report about the

capacity of desalinated water
versus municipal wastewater
reuse during 1990–2030.
Reproduced from Sanz (2019)
(accessed date: 13 May 2020)
Table 3 Classification of Feed water type Total dissolved solids (ppm)

different feed water types
(Hanasaki et al., 2016) Pure water <500
River water 500–3000
Brackish water 3000–20,000
Seawater 20,000–50,000
Brine >50,000
Wastewater Unknown
Fig. 16 Total globally installed

capacity by feed water source.
Reproduced from Sanz (2019)
(accessed date: 13 May 2020)
Fig. 17 Water flux and salt

rejection of fabricated membranes
under various conditions
(CNaCl = 2000 mg/L,
P = 15.5 bar). Adapted from Kim
et al. (2014). Copyright © 2014,
American Chemical Soci-ety
(ACS)
Fig. 18 TEM images of fabricated CNTs (scale bar: 200 nm): a, b PA-CNT1, c PA-CNT2, d PA-CNT3, e PA-CNT4, f PA-CNT5, and h,
g PA-CNT6. Adapted from Kim et al. (2014). Copyright © 2014, American Chemical Society (ACS)
lead to the reduction in salt rejection values (Kim et al., utilized for the production of a porous fiber substrate. In this
2014). study, CVD method was carried out for the production of
Ragunath et al. (2018) fabricated CNT-immobilized membranes with different orientations (vertical/horizontal)
membranes (CNIM) via phase inversion technology in the and adjustable lengths. By increasing catalyst dosage
presence of different amount of polyvinylidene fluoride (FeCl3) from 0.1 to 1.0 mol/L, the height of vertically
(PVDF) to utilize for desalination. In this study, concentra- aligned CNTF was increased up to hundreds of nanometers,
tion of CNT was 0.01 wt%, the filtrate temperature was kept which can be ascribed to the formation of a squatty catalyst
in 15–20 °C range, and feed and permeate flow rates were layer. Water flux of the ultrahigh VCNTF@SFM membrane
equal to 150 mL/min. Results indicated that water flux in was approximately 17.31 ± 2.3 L/m2h at a temperature
CNIM (which contained 0.01 wt% PVDF) enhanced from difference of 40 °C. By adding 1000 mg/L
31.4 L/m2h to 51.4 L/m2h when temperature is raised from polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to the stock solution, horizon-
60 to 80 °C, respectively. The reason can be ascribed to tally aligned CNTF was generated which could be due to a
adsorption enhancement and quick desorption arising from powerful fiber-surface adherence force. In various tempera-
outstanding properties of CNTs. At the same condition by ture differences (10, 20, 30, and 40 °C), horizontally aligned
increasing PVDF content to 0.03 wt%, the permeate flux CNTF represented recognizable water fluxes equal to
reduced to 27.9 and 45.01 L/m2h. This can be attributed to 1.52 ± 0.5, 2.73 ± 1.0, 4.08 ± 0.9, and 8.42 ± 1.5 L/m2h,
change in membrane’s morphology and decrement of active respectively. In all membranes, approximately complete
sites for permeate flux. Moreover, water vapor flux was (>99.9%) salt rejection was achieved at various temperature
extremely affected by feed concentration in such a way that differences (Sun et al., 2019).
when feed concentration increased from 0 to 35,000 ppm, Anga et al. (2018) investigated the effect of different CNT
the flux decreased from 33.8 to 30.8 L/m2h, respectively sizes on the desalination of 1.2 M salt through slit confine-
(Ragunath et al., 2018). ments formed by HACNTs. Figure 19a depicts that
Sun et al. (2019) constructed a CNT forest (CNTF) on a increasing in membrane thickness can increase water flow.
porous electrospun silica fiber layer with high durability This deduction is seemingly a controversy as it is claimed in
against wetting for desalination of 1 M NaCl. An electro- several studies (Li et al., 2017; Suk & Aluru, 2010) that the
spun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)–silica fiber mat (SFM) was shape of nanochannels (instead of membrane thickness)
plays a crucial role in distinguishing water flow. Salt rejec- Dong et al. (2018) represented fabrication of a novel
tion efficiency (Fig. 19b) has always remained 90%. This superporous, superhydrophobic, and thermally resistant
parameter measured when 80% of feed water was dis- ceramic CNT by MD process. This membrane exhibited
charged. In additional, by considering membrane area, tubes significant desalination potential (99.9% of Na+), water flux
with small diameter exhibited higher permeability than (37.1 L/m2h), and distillate conductivity (0.09 lS/cm)
greater ones. The result can be attributed to efficient transi- which could be due to high surface porosity (79.1–81.1%)
tion effect of CNT’s curvatures (Ang et al., 2018). and superhydrophobicity by providing excellent liquid–gas
In another study conducted by Li et al. (2019), outer wall interface. The wall thickness and diameter of the MWCNTs
VACNTs were utilized as membranes in RO technology for were approximately 10 and 40–50 nm, respectively (Dong
desalination of 2000 mg/L NaCl. Water flux and salt rejec- et al., 2018).
tion of the membrane at 15.5 bar were equal to 128.6 LMH Ang et al. (2019) investigated desalination efficiency of
and 98.3%, respectively. Ultrahigh porosity of VACNT and 1 M NaCl rejection by modeling transverse flow CNT
also establishment of a thin PA layer on the support layer membrane (TFCNT) under oscillating pressure condition.
caused outstanding functionality of VACNT-RO membrane. For this purpose, molecular dynamics and large-scale
Researchers also investigated the effect of repetitious depo- atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS)
sition of PA layers on the functionality of PA/outer wall were used. In this study, mean applied pressure (DP0),
VACNTs membrane and concluded that increasing in amplitude (A), and period (T) were kept at about
deposition cycle (from 1 to 17) could decrease water flux 136 MPa, 0.025–1.25 kcal/mol-Å, and 0.02–0.08 ns,
(from 875.8 ± 150.3 to 58.9 ± 6.2 LMH) and increase salt respectively. Moreover, three different slit sizes (4.28,
rejection (from 94.9 to 98.8%) (Fig. 20) (Li et al., 2019). 5.28, and 6.28 Å) were considered. Results of water
Fig. 19 Efficiency of CNT

membranes with different sizes in
desalination: a water flow and
b salt rejection. Adapted from
Ang et al. (2018) with permission
from The Royal Society of
Chemistry
Fig. 20 Functionality of outer

wall VACNT-RO membrane in
terms of water flux and salt
rejection based on repetitious
deposition of PA (input
NaCl = 2000 mg/L, operating
pressure = 15.5 bar). Adapted
from Li et al. (2019) with
permission from Elsevier
Fig. 21 Efficiency of TFCNT

membrane in terms of water
permeability and desalination
(DP0 = 136 MPa). Adapted from
Ang et al. (2019b), with
permission from Elsevier
permeability and desalination efficiency are illustrated in ions to return into the feed water and consequently
Fig. 21. As it is obvious, 3.28 Å was the critical slit size decreasing the concentration polarization effects at the feed
(largest size) that led to complete desalination efficiency side of the membrane wall (Ang et al., 2019).
(Ang et al., 2019). Countless studies have been reported about the applica-
Results demonstrated that in the period of 60,000 fs and tion of CNT membranes for rejection of common types of
0.075 kcal/mol-Å amplitude, sinusoidal pressure can salt ions. A brief summary of some of these studies is given
enhance water permeability of the membrane (CNT diame- in Table 4.
ter = 6.8 Å) by 16% and bring complete salt rejection within All these studies proved reliability and excellent perfor-
0.02 to 0.1 ns. This can be ascribed to the fact that at higher mance of CNT nanotubes in desalination. Different proper-
terms of fluctuation, resistance against reverse flow could ties of CNT-based and conventional membranes are
improve. Furthermore, additional mixing of the salt caused compared in Table 5 (Ali et al., 2019).
Table 4 Operation of CNT membranes in separation of various salt ions

Rejected ion type Pore size (nm) Efficiency (%) References
Na+ 0.32 100 Corry (2008)
0.4 100 Song and Corry (2009)
0.8 100 Jia et al. (2010)
1.5 98 Chan et al. (2013)
Cl− 0.49 100 Corry (2008)
0.69 84 Goldsmith and Martens (2010)
0.8 90 Ratto et al. (2011)
1.1 86 Corry (2011)
K+ 0.5 99 Song and Corry (2009)
0.4 100 Song and Corry (2009)
1.6 40–60 Fornasiero et al. (2008)
Table 5 Characterization of different membranes and superiority of CNT membranes (Ali et al., 2019)
Items Membrane
CNT-based Reverse osmosis Nanofiltration Ultrafiltration Ultrafiltration
Application Water and Water purification and Softening, removal of Virus rejection and Protozoa and
in water wastewater reuse, desalination, hydrated ions, and colloidal particles bacteria rejection of,
treatment treatment, production of NOMs separation suspended solids
desalination, deionized water separation
contaminant
separation
Required CNTs, polymers, Organic polymers Organic polymers Polysulfone, acrylic, Polypropylene,
materials ceramics (e.g., polyamide, (e.g., polyamide, cellulose, and etc. polysulfone,
polysulfone, and polyester, and other polyurethane, etc.
polyether sulfone) porous polymers)
Pore sizes Ca. 0.8–100 nm Non-porous <2 nm 2–50 nm 50–500 nm
−7 −12 −11 −11
Water *7 10 L/MPa s *3 10 L/MPa s *4 10 L/MPa s *5 10 L/MPa s –
permeability
Applied Varied with type of 30–60 bar 20–40 bar 1–10 bar <1.0 bar
pressure application
Features • Less energy • High-energy • High-energy • Moderate energy • Moderate energy
consumption consumption consumption consumption consumption
• Good performance • Good performance • Good performance • Moderate • Moderate
• Tolerant against • Less tolerance in • Less tolerance in performance performance
harsh harsh environmental harsh environmental • Less tolerance in • Less tolerance in
environmental condition condition harsh environmental harsh
condition • High durability, • Less durability, condition environmental
• High durability, fouling resistance, prone to fouling, and • Less durability, condition
fouling resistance, and cost-effective less cost-effective prone to fouling, and • Less durability,
and cost-effective less cost-effective prone to fouling
resistance, and less
cost-effective
5 Challenges, Perspective, and Future membranes as a new emerging field in desalination have
Direction gained attention of researchers due to their outstanding
features.
Numerous studies have emphasized that nanotechnology 2. An in-depth review of the development procedure of
specifically CNTs have presented privileged potential in CNT membranes proved that physicochemical modifi-
filtration applications (e.g., desalination) (Tlili & Alkanhal, cations of CNTs and application of various fillers,
2019). The NMs propound principal profits by providing ceramics, polymers, and nanoparticles via several tech-
adjustable pore size, high permeability and thermal dura- niques have successfully enhanced the maximum
bility, targeted functionalization, and being core of sub- desalination efficiency of the CNT membranes.
sidiary physicochemical interactions, e.g., improving 3. Despite extensive studies, there are still problems with
hydrophobicity and consequently providing boosted selec- CNT membranes which demand prompt solution before
tivity besides water flux (Bhadra & Mitra, 2014). Never- entering desalination markets. Challenges with cases
theless, commercialization of these compounds has limited such as functionalization and fabrication of these mem-
by factors such as cost and toxicity. In order to transform this branes, homogenous dispersion of NMs inside the
technology to a cost-effective and safe method, amending matrix, type of filler, and health issues when producing
retention and recoverability of the NMs should be focused membranes should be addressed when investigating
(Roy et al., 2020). Moreover, several other challenges application of these materials in large scales.
should be considered in balancing parameters including 4. High water permeability, hydrophilicity, permselectivity,
NMs functionalization and fabrication, mechanical resis- and durability of CNT membrane against harsh envi-
tance, generation of homogenous dispersion of inorganic ronmental conditions could reduce the size and con-
NMs in the polymeric matrix, and preventing agglomeration. struction expenses of membrane desalination plants.
Above all, health issues (such as exposure of workers while 5. Studies have anticipated that the annual desalination
producing NMs and membranes) and finally leaching of capacity will evolve at the same rate as wastewater reuse
NMs out of membranes (due to the lack of filler’s stability capacity in the very near future.
inside the membrane) should be perceived before scaling up
the membranes (Bhadra & Mitra, 2014; Esfahani et al.,
2019). One of the most important issues in opting for fillers Conflicts of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
is that one’s ability should not be immolated for boosting interest.
another sufficiency.
NM-based membranes especially CNT membranes offer
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Integrated Desalination Systems Coupled
with Nuclear Reactors
K. V. Narayana Saibaba
Water is the primary requirement for the survival of life on
earth and is a critical parameter in sustainable development. Water is essential for the existence of human beings and
Continuous supply of water and energy to the domestic and other habitats on earth. Rapid industrialisation and urbani-
industrial needs determines the nations’ economic devel- sation and the population driving the fast depletion of clean
opment; however, freshwater supply is minimal. Freshwa- water resources, thereby potable water demand is growing
ter resources have been exhausting rapidly due to the rapidly. Many countries throughout the globe are facing
increase of population, together with urbanisation and water scarcity, and it is believed that countries will fight for
unplanned industrial growth. The exhaust of freshwater water resources in the future. It is estimated that safe
resources led to the water crisis in many regions of the drinking water is accessible to only 20% of the world's
world, which may be extended to other regions in the population. The freshwater shortfall in the world is
coming future. This crisis necessitates the exploration of 230 billion m3 per annum in 2002 and is estimated to go
unconventional water production methods. Desalination is beyond 2000 billion m3 per year by the end of 2025
a promising method that can be used for sustainable water (WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Pro-
production; however, desalination is an energy-intensive gramme), 2015). To minimise stress being put on natural
process. The combustion of fossil fuels for energy gener- freshwater resources, freshwater must be produced by
ation releases large quantities of greenhouse gases into the alternative methods. Due to the fast depletion of water
environment and disturbs the natural ecosystem. Nuclear resources, it is required to find alternative renewable
reactors can be used for clean and eco-friendly energy resources for water production. Most parts of the earth are
production. For sustainable water and energy supply, surrounded by seawater, and researchers are working
nuclear power plants can be coupled with both reverse towards developing novel technologies for converting sea-
osmosis desalination plants and thermal desalination plants. water into potable water. Desalination is the best option for
Hybrid nuclear desalination systems provide the reduction converting seawater into usable water. Desalination tech-
of water cost and produce high-quality water and offer a nology is being used in many countries for more than
safe, economic and sustainable supply of energy and water 5 decades. However, its applicability on a large scale is
and meet global water demand. much lower than the anticipated values due to its high
energy requirements and high production cost.
Keywords

Desalination Nuclear energy Desalination coupled
with nuclear reactors Multistage desalination
1.1 Desalination
Multi-effect desalination Reverse osmosis Seawater desalination by distillation has been in practice
since the early 1800s; however, its use has been increased
from 1960 onwards with the application of the multistage
K. V. Narayana Saibaba (&) flash distillation process. The total desalination capacity
Department of Biotechnology, GITAM Institute of Technology, touched almost 99.8 106 metre cube per day (m3/d) in
GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 530045, 2017. The total number of desalination plants worldwide has
India reached 19.372 in 2017 (TOPSFIELD, 2017). The major
e-mail: skvn@gitam.edu
186 K. V. Narayana Saibaba
problems associated with desalination plants are the disposal desalination processes. Integrated desalination units, coupled
of highly concentrated brine left as waste into the ocean and with nuclear reactors, are gaining importance. It is expected
high energy requirements for electricity and heating pur- that the growth of hybrid technology is very high in the near
poses. Fossil fuels are generally used for this purpose and future. Numbers of suppliers are coming up with novel
impacts the environment very badly by releasing hydrocar- hybrid technologies (Megahed, 2003).
bons. For this reason, the use of nuclear energy in desali-
nation plants is gaining importance. Nuclear reactors,
coupled with desalination plants, offer significant improve- 1.3 Common Types of Reactors Used
ments in reducing pollution to the environment and saving for Electricity and Desalination
non-renewable energy for future generations. The techno-
logical advancements in this sector resulting in less envi- Nuclear energy is an extremely reliable and stable form of
ronmental pollution (such as noise, air pollution, etc.) and energy. Nuclear power has been used for electrical power
safe potable water with safe plant operation. Research in the generation for the past seven decades. Russia is the first
development and use of novel desalination methods has been country to design a nuclear reactor for electricity generation.
accelerated the growth in constructing desalination plants It constructed a 5 MW(e) power reactor in the year 1954 at
throughout the world for the past 30 years (Esmaeilion, Obninsk town. However, the United States of America was
2020; Sanza et al., 2007; Sauvet-Goichon, 2007). Important the first to design a commercial nuclear power plant, which
developments and research works carried out in the nuclear was operational since 1957. This nuclear reactor was a
desalination processes are represented in Table 1. pressurised water reactor (PWR) type, Westinghouse
Nuclear Power Division designs capacity of 90 MW(e).
United States of America was also the first to construct the
1.2 Nuclear Energy boing water reactor (BWR) with 200 MW(e) capacity. In the
year 1957, United Kingdom constructed the gas-cooled
Nuclear reactors have been in use for the production of reactor (GCR) for the first time in the history with 50 MW(e)
nuclear energy generation for the past five decades. Nuclear capacity. Pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) of
energy production was directed to meet industrial heating 22 MW(e) was constructed in Canada in 1962. The largest
processes’ energy requirements, domestic electrical supply nuclear power plant is situated in France; it produces as
and heating purposes from the early 1960s. Nuclear energy much as 70% of total electricity generation. France-based
production is developing very rapidly throughout the globe company Areva, Russia-based company Rosatom and Gen-
due to the fast exhaust of natural resources. Since it is eral Electric-Hitachi alliance are in the top three list of
possible to produce energy from nuclear reactors in large nuclear energy makers. There are 440 operable power
quantities, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reactors of various types (mostly pressurised reactors) in the
initiated a program in 1989 and directed all the member world till April 2020. These reactors are producing
countries to evaluate the applicability of energy generated 390,000 MW(e) power. In addition to this, nearly 55 reac-
from nuclear plants for the desalination of seawater. This tors with 63,000 MW capacity are in the erection stage, and
program’s results revealed that the use of nuclear energy for some are in the planning stage with a combined electrical
the desalination process is technically viable and economi- capacity of 118,000 MW. It is reported that 17% of the total
cally competitive. Based on these studies, IAEA framed world’s electric energy is produced from nuclear technology
guidelines, technical documents and safety manuals and (Al-Mutaz, 2003).
provided the required support to member countries for the All types of nuclear reactors currently in use produce heat
desalination process for producing water using nuclear energy. This can be used directly for heating purposes
energy. specific to that plant or converted first into heat, then into
Nuclear energy can be used for the supply of electricity as electricity through a steam turbine generator. Some of these
well as water. The assessments performed by the IAEA nuclear reactors were designed to produce both heat and
along with different nations on the applicability of electric electricity to meet in-house and nearby domestic needs.
energy produced from the nuclear plants for desalination of Different types of reactors are in use; they are water reactors,
seawater proved to be technically feasible and economically liquid metal cooled reactors and gas-cooled reactors. How-
competitive with non-renewable energy resources. Both ever, the most widely used reactor for the desalination pro-
nuclear energy and desalination technologies are being used cess is the water reactor. In a water reactor, ordinary water
over the past five decades; these technologies are proven, can be used, whereas heavy water is used in pressurised
and hence, combing these two can be useful to society in water reactors. These reactors may be of heat-only reactors,
different ways. Nuclear reactors and desalination plants are specifically designed for producing heat for thermal desali-
combined to meet the high energy requirements in nation processes, or these may be of co-generation reactors
Integrated Desalination Systems Coupled with Nuclear Reactors 187
Table 1 Important S. no. Nature of work References

developments and research works
in nuclear desalination 1 Energy cost for physical desalination processes Rognoni et al. (2011)
2 Environmental effects of concentrated brine discharge Clark et al. (2018)
to the sea from coastal desalination plants
3 Environmental impact assessment Liu et al. (2018)
4 New technologies for nuclear desalination process IAEA Tecdoc 1753 (IAEA
(International Atomic Energy
Agency), 2015)
5 Economic analysis on nuclear desalination Tian et al. (2003)
6 Safety assessment in nuclear desalination plant Masriera and Doval (2006)
7 Green energy from seawater desalination Misra and Khamis (2009)
8 Technical and economic characteristics of shore-based Dragunov et al. (2005)
nuclear desalination plant
8 Environmental issues related to nuclear desalination Anastasov and Khamis (2010)
9 Water supply from nuclear desalination Aleksandrov et al. (2018)
10 Comparison of MED and RO nuclear desalination Golkar et al. (2017)
plants
11 Current status and future developments in nuclear Pioro et al. (2019)
power industry
12 Current status and future perspectives of nuclear Ghazaie et al. (2019)
desalination in Iraq
13 Study of various nuclear power-desalination coupling Dewita et al. (2019)
options
14 Water and power costs of various nuclear desalination Elaskary (2013a)
coupling units
15 Economic and safety aspects in nuclear desalination Bouaichaoui et al. (2012)
plants
16 Assessment of impact of nuclear desalination water Avrin et al. (2015)
shortage problems in china
17 Economic feasibility of Integration of high Park and Kim (2013)
temperature reactor with osmosis process
18 Studies on various options of coupling of reactors Jung et al. (2014)
with desalination plants
19 Economic aspects of different nuclear desalination Nisan and Dardour (2007)
units
20 Economic assessment of the possible desalination Sadeghi et al. (2020)
processes for the first unit of Bushehr nuclear power
plant
21 Comparative economic assessment was performed on Gadallah and El-Fawal (2009)
different nuclear desalination processes
designed to produce both heat and electricity. Liquid metal desalination is not recommended and is not compatible with
cooled and gas-cooled reactors are used for applications sustainable development over the long term. Moreover, the
where high temperatures are required. burning of fossil fuels generates large quantities of green-
house gases and other toxic carbon emissions and dictates
the use of alternative methods for desalination. In the
2 Nuclear Reactors Coupling Mediterranean region itself, it is required to produce
with Desalination Plants 10 million m3/d of additional water by the end of 2020 to
overcome the freshwater shortfall. If fossil fuels were used
Fossil fuels were used for the generation of heat energy in for this purpose, then additionally 20 million tons of carbon
the desalination process. Since these fuels are limited and dioxide, 200 kilotons of sulphur dioxide, 60 kilotons of
must be used for other essential uses, using fossil fuels for nitrogen oxides and 16 kilotons of other hydrocarbons
would be entered into the environment per year (Nisan & are maintained at lower values than the previous stage. A
Dardour, 2007). Considering these issues, the International Typical multistage flash distillation plant contains 15–28
Atomic Energy Association is promoting the use of nuclear stages (Voutchkov, 2012; Esmaeilion, 2020). The thermal
energy as an alternative to fossil fuels for the desalination energy generated from a nuclear reactor coupled with ther-
process. It is also providing technical assistance to associated mal desalination (MSF or MSD) processes is mainly used for
countries in the form of publishing updated guidelines, the desalination process's heating purposes. However, very
design books and manuals on construction, operation and little electrical energy is required for operating pumps and
maintenance (IAEA, 1996, 1997a, 1997b, 1997c, 2005, other process equipment in the plant. The generated thermal
2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2002a, 2002b). Using guidelines from energy is primarily used for steam production and other heat
the IAEA, countries like Russia, the United States, India and transfer processes. However, energy generated from nuclear
Japan are producing electrical energy and drinking water reactors coupled with mechanical desalination (RO or VC)
through these coupling technologies. processes is mainly used for the desalination process’s
A sustainable supply of energy and water to humankind electrical heating purposes.
has become a big challenge due to the rapid population
growth and a drastic decrease in fossil fuels throughout the Nuclear Reactor—RO Desalination Plant: Desalination
globe. It was realised globally that sustainable electricity using reverse osmosis is a very important method for the
supply and water supply could be achieved with the help of production of water. The growth in usage of the RO method
nuclear power generation. For the last two decades, many has been increasing due to the developments in membrane
countries are showing interest in using nuclear power as an technology (Widiasa et al., 2009). The reverse osmosis
alternative to fossil fuels in desalination plants. It is reported process works exactly opposite to the osmosis, process
that the cost of water production has been reduced to a range where water diffuses from a dilute solution to the concen-
of 0.4–1.8 USD/m3 for various types of reactor–desalination trated solution under a natural driving force. In the reverse
combinations. It will further reduce due to the advancement osmosis method, water is diffused through the membrane
of coupling technologies (Al-Othman et al., 2019). Imple- from a high concentration region to a low concentration
menting nuclear energy for the desalination process depends region under the influence of high pressure. RO process
on two important factors, such as reactor and fuel used. requires large amounts of electrical energy for maintaining a
Many countries have started R&D studies and started pilot high-pressure gradient with the high capacity pressure
plants for desalination using nuclear energy. Many technical, pumps. The electric power generated from the nuclear
economic and safety considerations studies were conducted reactor can be used to supply energy to operate
on the viability of using these coupling technologies high-pressure pumps in RO desalination plants. Integration
(Elaskary, 2013b; IAEA, 1992, 2000a, 2001, 2008; Khalid of these two plants, i.e. nuclear energy with reverse osmosis,
et al., 2016; Sadeghi et al., 2020; World Nuclear Associa- is not complex and, moreover, easy to operate. It can be used
tion, 2017). for small as well as middle range plants. Nuclear energy
produced in power plants is utilised to raise the operating
temperatures of the RO desalination plant, which in turn
2.1 Nuclear Reactors—Desalination Plants facilitates the mass transfer flux and increases the desalting
Coupling Technologies rate. Due to this, the overall efficiency of the plant improves.
The integration of nuclear energy with a reverse osmosis
Coupling of a nuclear reactor with desalination plant tech- plant requires no special arrangements except the connection
nologies mainly classified into two types. They are the to the electric grid, and hence, it involves no additional costs.
integration of a nuclear reactor with thermal desalination Therefore, these plants can be located in different places.
processes and integration with mechanical desalination
processes (Elaskary, 2013a). Multistage flash distillation Nuclear Reactor—Thermal Desalination Plant: Thermal
(MSF) or multi-effect distillation (MSD) comes under ther- desalination plants require temperatures up to 130 °C or
mal desalination processes, whereas reverse osmosis lower. These temperatures can be easily generated through
(RO) and vapour compression (VC) processes come under nuclear energy, and hence, this type of integration of nuclear
mechanical desalination processes. Multistage flash distilla- energy plant and thermal desalination plant offers the opti-
tion method is the most widely used for freshwater pro- mum results. Coupling of nuclear heat reactors with thermal
duction through the thermal desalination process. In desalination process requires that both plants be located in
multistage flash distillation methods, feedwater passes the same place to reduce cost and heat losses during trans-
through a series of stages where temperature and pressures portation to long distances.
Table 2 Comparison between Name of the MSF MED RO

MSF, MED and RO desalination item
plants (Kutbi et al., 1986)
Pretreatment Treated water is Treated water is Pretreatment of feedwater is
required for better required for better compulsory. The efficiency of
efficiency efficiency the plant depends on the
pretreatment
Type of water Dirty or unclean water Dirty or unclean water Less efficient with dirty or
handling can be handled can be handled unclear water
capacity efficiently efficiently
Chemical Low Low High
requirement
Production of No sludge produced No sludge produced High salinity brine is
sludge produced
Operation Easy to operate Easy to operate Complex to operate
Capital Very high amount of High amount of capital Lower capital investment is
investment capital investment is investment is required required compared to MSD or
required MSF methods
Type of energy Both steam and Both steam and Electricity is required to
required electricity can be used electricity can be used operate the RO plant. A little
amount of thermal energy is
required to operate other
equipment in the plant
Energy High energy is required Medium energy is High energy is required
consumption required
Safety Possibility of radiation Possibility of radiation RO plant can be installed
consideration contamination as both contamination as both remotely so that nuclear
the plants are present in the plants are present in contamination can be limited
the same site the same site nuclear plant only
Pollution Thermal pollution is Thermal pollution is Thermal pollution is medium
high high
Location Both nuclear and MSF Both nuclear and MED Nuclear and desalination
plants must be located plants must be located plants can be located at
at the same site at the same site different sites
Product Water transportation Water transportation Water transportation cost is
transportation cost is required cost is required not required
cost
Total dissolved Low TDS values are Low TDS values are High TDS values are
solids (TDS) obtained in the product obtained in the product obtained in the product water
water water
Purity of water Good purity of water is Good purity of water is Low purity of water is
obtained obtained obtained
Size of plant Large size units can be Small size units are Very large size units can be
used required used
The integration of nuclear energy plants with thermal 2.1.1 Coupling of Dual-Purpose Reactor
desalination units facilitates the energy requirements for with Thermal Distillation Units (MED
heating and electricity in the desalination plants. Besides, or MSF)
these units supply surplus power to the local electricity grids A dual-purpose nuclear desalination coupling plant produces
in a reliable and economical way. Coupling of either thermal both heat and electrical power; heat energy produced is used
or mechanical desalination units (MSF or RO) with nuclear to increase temperatures required for the thermal desalina-
reactors produces good quality potable water and minimises tion unit, and electricity generated is connected to the elec-
production costs (Al-Mutaz, 1997a, 1997b). Table 2 illus- tric grid to cater to the needs of the surrounding people. The
trates the advantages and disadvantages of the nuclear plant's coupling mechanism of a dual-purpose nuclear reactor
coupling with the RO plant and nuclear plant with the MSF integrated with a thermal desalination plant by MED and
plant (Kutbi et al., 1986). MSF is schematically illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2,
respectively. The basic principle involved in the two meth- The heat produced in the nuclear plant may be directly
ods is the same except for the cooling circuit. In transferred to the MED or MSF system based on the tem-
dual-purpose plants, thermal energy released is utilised for perature and pressure used in the desalination process.
stream production in a boiler. This steam is utilised for
rotating a turbine for the production of electricity. The heat 2.1.3 Dual Purpose Nuclear Plant Coupling to RO
energy present in the turbine's outlet water is transferred to Preheat System
the desalination units with the help of the cooling In a dual-purpose nuclear plant, thermal energy produced is
condenser/heat exchanger. In this configuration, both the used for electricity production as well as the heat supply for
plants are sharing common facilities and are hence prone to various processes used in the plant. It is estimated that only
radioactive contamination. Coolant loop pressures are one-third of this is utilised for electricity generation, and the
maintained in such a way that contamination will not transfer remaining is used for thermal processes. The working prin-
to the product. The heat removed from the condenser is ciple involved in the coupling of a nuclear plant with the RO
transferred to the flash tank, which provides the feed tem- unit is schematically illustrated in Fig. 4. The heat released
perature suitable for thermal desalination processes. Scaling at the integrated plant is transported to the steam generation
inhibitors are added in MSF and MED plants to avoid unit/boiler to produce high-pressure steam. This steam is
scaling in the pretreatment of seawater. More stages are passed through the turbine and generates electrical energy.
beneficial in the MSF system as the number of stages Used water available from the turbine is sent to a cooling
improves the MSF system’s efficiency. system where feed water is preheated to achieve the suitable
temperature used in the RO plant. RO system takes energy
2.1.2 Coupling of Heat-Only Reactor primarily from electrical energy, and a small amount of
with Thermal Distillation Units thermal energy is needed for preheating purposes.
The coupling mechanism of the heat-only reactor coupled
with the thermal desalination plant by either MED or MSF is 2.1.4 Nuclear Power Plant Coupling
schematically illustrated in Fig. 3. Heat-only reactors are with a Hybrid Thermal–Mechanical
designed solely to produce thermal energy. The heat pro- Desalination Plant
duced in the nuclear reactor is transfer to the boiler, where Nuclear power plants designed to generate both heat and
steam is produced. The steam generated from the boiler is electric power can be coupled simultaneously with both
pumped to a MED or MSF desalination system for supplying thermal and mechanical desalination plants. This coupling
the required temperature for the desalination process. mechanism provides a reduction of water cost and produces
Fig. 1 Multi-effect distillation

(MED) to dual-purpose nuclear
reactor coupling (IAEA, 2001)
Fig. 2 Multi-effect distillation

(MFD) to dual-purpose nuclear
Fig.3 Multi-effect distillation

(MED) to heat-only nuclear
high-quality water (Al Bazedi et al., 2019; Shaorong & water to the RO desalination plant; thereby a significant
Zheng, 2002). Generally, this hybrid coupling system con- reduction in the cost of production is achieved. This hybrid
sists of the multistage flash (MSF)/MED distillation plant, coupling system offers economic and technical advantages.
followed by the RO desalination plant. This arrangement This hybrid desalination coupling method is also used for
facilitates the use of outlet water from the MSF unit as feed achieving the benefits of each individual method. However,
Fig. 4 Reverse osmosis

(RO) desalination unit to
dual-purpose nuclear reactor
coupling (IAEA, 2001)
this coupling mechanism is very complex and is schematically a coolant in this reactor. Coupling of this CANDU PHWR
illustrated in Fig. 5. In this coupling system, the nuclear with MSF and RO plant showed better results in electricity
power plant is connected to the MED/MSF distillation plant, and water generation. This hybrid system provided improved
followed by a RO plant. In hybrid plants, thermal energy water quality at a low running cost.
released in the nuclear reactor plant is utilised to stream
production in a boiler. This steam is utilised for rotating a
turbine for the production of electricity. The heat energy 3 Safety and Licensing Issues
present in the turbine's outlet water is transferred to the
desalination units with the help of a cooling condenser/heat Coupling of nuclear reactors with desalination plants shares
exchanger. The heat removed from the condenser is trans- many common facilities and systems, whatever the manner
ferred to the flash tank, which provides the feed temperature they are coupled. The common use of facilities may create
suitable for thermal desalination units. The used outlet water many safety considerations, such as the possibility of
from the MDF or MED unit is supplied as feed water to the radioactive diffusion in distillation plants through heat
reverse osmosis unit, as shown in Fig. 5. transfer circuits, the possibility of radioactive threat due to
In India, the RO-MSF nuclear desalination plant is con- the sharing of preheated water in the RO plant. Special
structed in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. The desalination plants provisions must be made to produce water continuously
are coupled with a 2 170 MW(e) capacity nuclear power during unforeseen reactor outage situations. National
plant. This plant has a production capacity of 1800 m3/d of authorities must regulate and see that radioactive compo-
water through the MSF plant and 4500 m3/d of water nents concentration must be within the international pre-
through the RO plant. In 2003, 284 k m3/d of MSF and scribed levels.
170 k m3/d of RO desalination plants were coupled in the International Atomic Energy Agency looks after the
Fujairah seawater desalination project in the United Arab development and publication of standards related to plant
Emirates. This coupling technology allowed the use the design, installation and nuclear desalination plants’ mainte-
water, power and heat in the most economical way and nance. IAEA publishes safety guidelines in a series of
produced good quality water at a lower cost. published books such as Nuclear Safety Standards (NUSS).
It was found that the nuclear reactor (CANDU) developed Due to the changes and advancements in technology, IAEA
by the atomic energy of Canada is very effective for publishes revised new guidelines separately as new safety
electricity generation and water production in the Middle standards series. These publications include information to
East Countries (Al-Mutaz, 1997a, 1997b, 2001, 2002; relate to objectives, technology, concepts and methods that
Al-Suliman et al., 1995). Pressurised heavy water is used as will promote nuclear energy use. These standards should be
Fig. 5 Hybrid MED-RO desalination system to nuclear reactor coupling (IAEA, 2001)
followed by all regulatory bodies or member countries problems associated with siting, design, operation, govern-
installing and producing nuclear energy or willing to start mental organisation and quality assurance. This category
new projects in the near future. mainly focuses on equipment and other components used for
IAEA safety guidelines are mainly organised into three design, operation and other plant activities. Separate guideli-
categories: safety fundamentals, safety requirements and nes are published regularly for already existing hybrid reac-
safety guides. The primary category is the safe fundamentals tors and research reactors. The safety guides category
that publish the basic objectives, concepts and principles publishes guides based on member countries’ recommenda-
required to ensure safety during the development and tions through their experience of working with nuclear reac-
application of nuclear energy. This category mainly focuses tors. Through the above three categories, IAEA continuously
on the general safety of individuals, society and the envi- monitors the plant’s operations, guides the member countries
ronment from nuclear exposure and other hazards. It to minimise the hazards during installation and operation, and
broadcasts guidelines for the protection against radiation directs the member countries to promote sustainable renew-
caused by the radioactive materials used in nuclear reactors. able resources for desalination methods.
It publishes guidelines regarding prescribed exposure limits, Even though the latest hybrid technologies used to couple
precautionary measures to prevent accidents during instal- nuclear reactors with desalination plants offer many benefits
lation and running, guidelines on minimising the hazards still some of the issues such as safety, social and economic
during accidents, future health hazards due to radioactive issues need to be addressed. The major safety problems
exposure, etc. associated with a nuclear reactor–desalination coupled
Safety considerations and best practices that must be fol- plants could be due to nuclear plants themseves. These may
lowed during the installation and operation of nuclear include potential health hazards due to the diffusion of
desalination plants are documented and published in the radioactive materials into potable water, radioactive expo-
safety requirements category. This category deals with sure to persons working in the plant or in surrounding areas
of the plant. Other environmental issues associated with 5 Summary

effluents’ disposal into the nearby water resources and
environment must be considered. All these safety issues Water and energy are two important critical parameters for
must be addressed for starting these plants in populated sustained development. Rapid growth in population, along
areas. with unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation, resulted
The impact of waste brine from the nuclear desalination in water scarcity throughout the globe. The release of toxic
plant on marine animals and the application of suitable pollutants into the environment through the burning of fossil
alleviation measures need to be evaluated. In spite of the fuels for energy generation caused global warming, and it
large advantages associated with these hybrid technologies, further deteriorated the availability of renewable energy
the growth of the installation of such plants is very slow due resources. Desalination, coupled with nuclear reactors, offers
to public perception of the negative impact on human health. sustainable water and energy resources to the current and
The governments still need to create awareness among the future generations. Despite the fact that nuclear plant cou-
people residing in surrounding areas for getting approval to pled with desalination plants offers many economic,
install such plants. Since technology and problems associ- energy-related benefits, it is very dangerous to work with
ated with them are dynamic, all the above-mentioned safety nuclear plants because of possibilities of nuclear contami-
standards must be reviewed continuously and revised to nation of water. Even though stringent safety and precau-
ensure the safety of the working personnel and people tionary measures are in practice in these plants, there is a
residing around the plant. possibility of unforeseen accidents. Hence, its use must be
regulated by governmental and international agencies.
4 Economic Assessment
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Carbon-Based Materials for Desalination
Marzie Fatehi and Ali Mohebbi
Nowadays, the scarcity of sanitary water has become the
biggest concern in the world. There are many proposed The growing population and developing industrial activity
solutions to solve this problem. Water reuse and increasing increase the demand for clean, fresh and sanitary water. The
water supply by desalination of salty water are promising scarcity of fresh water is a serious global challenge and
choices. Generally, polymeric membranes are used to becomes a national security issue in the coming years
remove salts, minerals and contaminants from polluted (Shannon et al., 2008). Water is one of the most abundant
and brackish water during desalination processes. The liquids on earth, and it is estimated that approximately 3% of
membrane-based methods are popular due to lower cost water on the earth is fresh water. A large amount of fresh
and higher energy efficiency than other methods. Recently, water is inaccessible in polar ice form. Natural conditions
carbon-based nanomaterials (CBNMs) have attracted great and human activity are the reason for freshwater shortage. It
attention with respect to the conventional membrane in the is obvious that the quality of water potently influences the
desalination process. The porous structure, chemical/ farming production, environment and outputs of industries.
physical stability, excellent surface area, environment- These global concerns make us purify water using low-cost
friendly, low density and antibacterial feature are excep- and high-efficient methods. Water desalination is one of the
tional properties of CBNMs, which make them supreme promising strategies to response for growing freshwater
candidates. We reviewed the application and performance needs (Shenvi et al., 2015). Desalination is a natural or
of CBNMs in the desalination processes. The survey of the human-driven process for the removal of salts, minerals and
current researches and available literature indicated that contaminants from polluted and brackish water. Membrane-
CBNMs can improve the water permeation flux, ion and thermal-based techniques are two classes of water
rejection, hydrophilicity, durability, desalination efficiency, desalination by humans. The membrane-based methods are
specific surface area, antifouling and selectivity of the more environment-friendly, energy efficient and low cost
pristine membrane. Carbon nanotube, graphene and its than thermal-based methods. Due to these advantages, pure
derivatives, activated carbon, carbon nonfilter, MXene and water production is increased extremely over the years by
fullerene are familiar CBNMs, which are discussed in this membrane-based methods (Fig. 1).
chapter. A membrane is a narrow permeable barrier, which water
molecules or ions pass through its pores by higher pressure
Keywords than osmotic pressure or electrical potential, respectively.

According to the membrane performance, they are divided

Desalination Membrane Carbon-based nanomaterials into reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, nanofiltration,
Water permeation flux Ion rejection microfiltration, electrodialysis, pervapouration, capacitive
deionisation, ultrafiltration and membrane distillation. The
porosity and pore size of membranes have an essential effect
on the rejection of salt, mineral or contaminants. On the
M. Fatehi A. Mohebbi (&) other hand, the thickness and surface of membranes change
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, the hydraulic permeation flux. Driving force, structure and
Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, P.O. Box 76169133 type of membrane materials are other important parameters
Kerman, 7616913439, Iran (Chandrashekara & Yadav, 2017; Giwa et al., 2016; Qadir
e-mail: amohebbi@uk.ac.ir
198 M. Fatehi and A. Mohebbi
Fig. 1 Pure water production

versus years with water
desalination by membrane-based
technology according to the
estimation of Desaldata.com.
Modified after Hebbar et al.
(2017)
et al., 2017; Sharon & Reddy, 2015). Therefore, much The cavity structure of CNTs enables them to pass
attention has been paid to membrane modification. Con- quickly water molecules through their channels in the
ventional polymeric membranes have some disadvantages desalination process, as shown in Fig. 3.
like fouling, chemical and physical changes. Nanocompos- Capillary phenomena, internal surface of CNTs, radius of
ites are the emerging materials to improve membranes and pores and pore distribution have an essential role in water
are divided into inorganic and organic that organic nano- permeation flux and ion rejection (Goh et al., 2013). It would
materials are the most capable to improve membrane be interesting to know that the viscosity of liquid affects the
process. water permeation flux and the rejection of ions so that at
Nowadays, the carbon-based nanomaterials (CBNMs) high salt concentration, ion rejection and water permeation
have attracted the consideration of researchers due to their rate decrease (Zaib & Fath, 2013). On the other hand, some
high surface area, excellent mechanical properties, large pore theoretical studies show that the number of walls can
volumes, antibacterial feature, low density and good influence water permeation flux and ion selection of CNTs
chemical/physical stability. They have high adsorption membranes (Rizzuto et al., 2018).
ability because of their hollow and porous structures and According to the presented experimental and simulation
also decrease energy consumption during the desalination results, water molecules can pass through narrow vacant
process. According to the position of CBNMs and structure space of CNTs (Talati et al., 2019). The exceptional char-
of membrane, advanced membranes are divided into three acteristics of CNTs have made them an appropriate choice to
types: freestanding CBNM membranes, membranes with improve the performance of conventional membranes
modified surface and CBNMs embedded membranes.
Carbon nanotube, graphene and its derivatives, carbon
nonfilter, MXene, fullerene and activated carbon are the
most popular CBNMs, which reviewed in this chapter. The
structure and characteristics of CBNMs are discussed in
detail. The objective of this chapter is to reveal the CBNMs
potential for improvement of pristine membranes, desalina-
tion performance and also for increasing desalination effi-
ciency of other CBNMs.
2 Carbon Nanotube
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the most famous member of

carbon nanomaterials, which introduced in 1991 by Iijima
et al. At high temperatures, hydrocarbons disintegrate to
fabricate carbon filaments. Then, fibres of carbon are rolled
to produce single and multiwalled CNTs (Fig. 2) (Goh et al., Fig. 2 Multiwalled (a) and single-walled (b) carbon nanotubes.
2013; Hebbar et al., 2017). Reprinted with permission of Hebbar et al. (2017)
Carbon-Based Materials for Desalination 199
Fig. 3 Performance of carbon

nanotubes in water desalination
process. Reprinted with
permission of Hebbar et al.
(2017)
(Hebbar et al., 2017). Interaction between internal surface of Moreover, Table 2 lists obtained results of some current
CNTs and salt water causes to pass water molecules and studies on the performance of various CNTs in water
reject ions. Das et al. (2014) investigated the molecular desalination process. According to the presented results,
performance of carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane in salty carbon nanotubes are promising choices, which can improve
water desalination. They emphasised that the fabrication and modify the performance of pristine membranes.
method of CNTs can influence its performance. Vertically
aligned and mixed matrix (Fig. 4) are two kinds of CNT
membranes. 3 Graphene
Vertical type by complex fabrication process possesses
compact structure with high water permeation flux, while Graphene is a two-dimensional structure of graphite with
mixed matrix CNT membranes by simpler fabrication pro- impressive specific surface area, low weight, electron
cess have loosely structure and lower water flux. The mobility and thermal conductivity. Impermeability of gra-
chemical vapour deposition is introduced as the best method phene for small molecules has made it appropriate for fab-
for vertically aligned CNTs fabrication as shown in Fig. 5. rication super narrow membrane to sieve molecules (Zaib &
Majumder et al. (2005) indicated experimentally that Fath, 2013). Therefore, graphene as a building block is used
liquid flow rate through CNT membranes is faster than that to produce graphene oxide, CNTs and fullerene.
of hydrodynamics prediction (four to five orders of magni- An et al. (2017) reviewed the ability of this green material
tude). Frictionless wall of CNTs is the reason for this high for water desalination and in purification technologies. They
flow rate of water. There are various experimental studies, investigated wetting characteristics and porous structure of
which verify the increase of water permeation flux by use of graphene to contribute the explicit insight of water behaviour
CNTs with respect to the conventional membrane. Con- on the surface of this carbon-based material. Water contact
ventional membranes have some disadvantages like the need angle (WCA) was used for classifying graphene as
for pressure force for the mandatory passage of water hydrophobic, hydrophilic, superhydrophobic or superhy-
molecules and the accumulation of suspended particles. drophilic material. In total, the WCAs of hydrophobic,
Table 1 provides the differences between CNT membrane hydrophilic, superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic sur-
and conventional one. faces are between 90 and 180°, between 0 and 90°, above
interesting for researchers. Therefore, they have been

encouraged to improve the surface of carbon-based materials
to achieve superhydrophobicity.
There are many methods to produce superhydrophobic
graphene, those change the wettability of graphene and
modify its surface by structural and chemical techniques.
One of the most common structural modification methods is
to combine graphene with other materials to form nanoscale
pores on its structure. On the other hand, chemical methods
enhance graphene hydrophobicity. Table 3 presents the
WCAs of modified graphene by chemical and structural
methods.
Graphene with nanoporous structure is a good option for
water desalination due to its excellent properties like high
mechanical strength (especially in high pressure), high ion
selectivity and low pollutant fouling. Figure 7 depicts the
performance of graphene-based membranes in water
desalination process.
Some simulation researches indicated that pore size dis-
tribution of graphene membranes influences the ion rejec-
tion, selectivity, water permeation flow and consequently
water desalination efficiency. Thus, production of nanosized
pores on the graphene surface modifies the performance of
nanoporous graphene membranes compared to conventional
one.
In an experimental study, nanoporous graphene mono-
layer was examined as a membrane for water desalination
(Surwade et al., 2015). Nanopores were generated with
plasma etching to study ion transport and water permeation.
They introduced oxygen plasma as a suitable method to
generate an appropriate pore size distribution on the gra-
phene surface. The results exhibit high salt removal
approximately 100% and fast water transfer. Three water
molecules passed through the porous single layer graphene
during one picosecond (ps), which is extremely a high flow
Fig. 4 Vertically aligned (a) and mixed matrix (b) types of carbon rate compared to conventional surface (200 water molecules
nanotubes (CNTs) membrane. Modified after Das et al. (2014) per microsecond (ls)).
Electron and ion beam irradiation are successful approa-
ches to fabricate nanoporous graphene. These methods
150° and *0°, respectively. Graphene is ordinarily con- change atomic structure by atomic motion and reassemble
sidered as hydrophobic material, while its WCA is 45°. the atoms (Dyck et al., 2020). Russo and Golovchenko
The WCA of graphene surface is related to the presence of (2012) presented an appropriate method for generating very
hydrocarbons on its surface, which increases with exposure small pores (3 Å) in graphene structure with beam irradia-
to air. The graphene surface adsorbs airborne particles after tion. Furthermore, there are modelling and simulation
exposure, and consequently, the surface energy is decreased researches on beam irradiation phenomena to figure out the
(Fig. 6). Therefore, the most graphene surfaces, which are formation of nanopores. Bai et al. (2016) simulated the
used in industries, show hydrophobic properties due to fabrication of nanopores by oblique beam irradiation of ions
hydrocarbon contamination. and investigated the effect of the incident angle and energy
Recently, superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted more of ions on the efficiency and quality of generated nanopores.
consideration because of their valuable properties like In a low incident angle, pores were elliptic in shape. On the
self-cleaning (lotus effect). There are many studies to other hand, the size of nanopores increased by reducing ion
introduce novel superhydrophobic materials. Among the energy due to enhancement in the amount of ions adsorbed.
recommended materials, carbon-based materials are In another study, the generation of nanopores on the
Fig. 5 Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method for production of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) membrane. Modified after Das
et al. (2014)
graphene surface was investigated through electron and ion nanoporous graphene was produced by dispersing of gra-
beam irradiation method by molecular dynamics simulation phite. Water permeation flux of this modified graphene was
(Wu et al., 2015). They focused on the effects of beam six times that of conventional graphene membrane.
parameters on the quality of pores and mechanical properties The performance of CNTs and graphene membranes was
of graphene. The obtained results showed that generation of compared in water desalination by Suk and Aluru (2010).
nanopores can be happened in supported and suspended They investigated the effect of pore radius on water flux and
graphene. used CNTs with 2–10 nm length and 0.375–1.375 nm radius
In addition to beam irradiation, chemical oxidation and and graphene with the same radius of pores. The simulation
block copolymer template are used to produce porous gra- results showed that CNT membranes have higher permeation
phene. Kim et al. (2016) believed that these methods cannot flux than graphene membranes for smaller radius of pores,
be able to produce low cost membrane with high efficiency. while for larger radius of pores, graphene membranes have
Therefore, a new method was presented to fabricate better performance (approximately two times).
high-dense graphene with uniform pore structure. After In another simulation study, in order to survey water and
peroxidation of graphite, they produced nanopores (3 nm) ions molecule behaviour in the graphene structure, Kona-
by potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation. Finally, tham et al. (2013) performed molecular dynamics
Table 1 Detailed comparison between carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-based membrane and regular membranes
CNT RO NF UF MF
Definition Porous structure Purification process to Removal process Removal process for solute Rejection
with vertically remove ions from salty for molecules particles (>1–100 nm in process for
aligned and water by applying pressure larger than 2 nm diameter) using macromolecules
mixed matrix to overcome osmotic concentration or pressure larger than
forms pressure gradients 100 nm
Particular Desalination and Desalination, reuse and Removal of Removal of virus and Removal of
application selective ultrapure production of water hardness, colloid bacteria
pollutant water dissolved suspended solids
removal organic and and protozoa
pollutant heavy metals
Materials CNTs and Organic polymers Organic Polysulphone, acrylic and Polypropylene,
polymers polymers cellulose polysulphone
and
polyurethane
Size of pores 0.1–2 0.3–0.6 <2 2–50 >50–500
(nm)
Thickness 2–6 *0.1–0.2 *0.05 150–300 50–100
(lm)
Permeation *7 10−7 *3 10−12 *40 10−12 *0.5 10−10 –
flux
(mPa−1 s−1)
Capability of Good Good Good Moderate Poor
ion rejection
Self-cleaning Capable with or Only with functionalisation Only with Only with functionalisation Only with
ability without functionalisation functionalisation
functionalisation
Tunable Mixed matrix Mixed matrix only Mixed matrix Mixed matrix with ceramic Mixed matrix
selectivity only only reactivity with ceramic
reactivity
Fouling of No Yes Yes Yes Yes
membrane
Required Negligible 30–60 20–40 1–10 <1.0
pressure (bar)
MF microfiltration, NF nanofiltration, RO reverse osmosis and UF ultrafiltration
Modified after Das et al. (2014)
simulations for a graphene sheet. They evaluated the is more remarkable than polymeric membrane in water
potential of mean force to monitor transposition of water and purification.
ions molecules through pores with various radii (from 3.75
to 7.25 Å), which are generated by using of some functional
groups like carboxyl groups. The results indicated that ions 4 Graphene Oxide
cannot pass through pristine pores with radius 3.75 Å,
while they pass through larger pores (*5.25 and 7.25 Å). In total, graphene oxide (GO) is fabricated through graphene
On the other hand, carboxyl groups can improve ion rejec- oxidation process and adding some functional groups like
tion for all pore radii, but by increasing pore radius and ion hydroxyl to the graphene structure (Manawi et al., 2016).
concentrations, the effect of carboxyl functional groups on Because of its hollow structure, the chemical and physical
ion rejection decreased. Nevertheless, ion rejection of this stability and high sorption capacity, GO has tremendous
type of graphene was higher than that of CNT with similar contribution in solar desalination and sometimes it is con-
pore distribution. Therefore, they concluded that the pores sidered as filtration film in other desalination processes (Li
functionalised with hydroxyl groups improve the graphene et al., 2019). The mechanism of water transport through GO
desalination performance. These researches indicated that layers was investigated by Chen et al. (2017) using molec-
the desalination performance of graphene-based membrane ular dynamics simulation. The results showed that
Table 2 Summaries of some Type of Main results References

recent studies about the study
application and performance of
carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in Theoretical Hydration of CNTs pores was affected by attraction between wall Hummer et al.
water desalination processes of tubes and water molecules. On the other hand, the change of (2001)
channel polarity and solvent conditions mutated occupancy of
CNTs channel
Experimental Modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes by Fe2O3 particles were Mishra and
fabricated during chemical process and investigated adsorption of Ramaprabhu
salt using them. High efficiency for desalination of seawater and (2010)
excellent repeatability was observed for these advanced
membranes
Experimental Interactions of solute and membrane are altered by Gethard et al.
immobilisation, and consequently membrane permeation and (2011)
selection. Salt rejection and permeation flux enhanced to 15 and
1.85 times, respectively, after incorporation of CNTs
Experimental The performance of thin-film composite membrane modified by Tang et al. (2020)
single-walled CNTs, and that of conventional membrane was
compared in reverse and forward osmosis processes. High ion
selectivity and water flux were observed for modified membrane
compared to conventional membrane during reverse and forward
osmosis, respectively
Theoretical Using the density functional theory, natural bond orbital and Tavakol et al.
quantum theory, the interaction between ions and simple CNTs (2020)
and doped one was investigated. Ions like Fe2+, Na+, Cl− had
covalent interaction with two types of CNTs
Theoretical Water permeation and salt rejection of charged and uncharged Ghoufi and
multiwalled CNTs were assessed. The performance of these two Szymczyk (2020)
kinds of CNTs was better than that of graphene or boron nitride in
water desalination process. Poor infarction between water
molecules and CNTs surface molecules increased water pass
through CNTs channel. In addition, charged multiwalled CNTs
enhanced anchoring of water and ions molecules and
consequently increased water pass flux in central region of
channels compared to the near of walls
water. They also concluded that water permeation flux of

GO improves after reduction.
Despite the inherent advantages of this carbon-based
material, some researches have been done to improve its
specifications. Parsamehr et al. (2019) introduced a new
GO-based membrane, which is fabricated during carboxyl
groups activation of GO and then cross-linking to
polyethylenimine. Stability and salt rejection of this
improved membrane increased in comparison with those of
simple polyethylenimine membranes. In addition, the mod-
ified membrane showed excellent ability in MgCl2 and
Na2SO4 rejection.
In another study, Romaniak et al. (2020) used
Fig. 6 Water contact angle changes during air exposure. CA: contact
hydrazine-treated GO to improve the efficiency of
angle, Cu: copper, G: graphene and Ni: nickel. Modified after An et al.
(2017) graphene-based membranes in water treatment. Actually,
hydrazine affects functional groups of GO and changes fil-
tering properties. Water permeation flux and the ion rejection
significant water permeation flux for GO-based membrane is rate of modified membrane were enhanced compared to
related to hydrogen interactions between water molecules graphene-based membrane. These results confirmed that
and functional groups of GO. The GO concentration influ- CBNMs can improve desalination the efficiency of advanced
ences these interactions and consequently slip velocity of membrane by combining with other CBNMs. Table 4
Table 3 Water contact angles Type WCA (°)

(WCA) of modified graphene by
chemical and structural methods Structural modification Polyvinylidene fluoride and graphene *153
Three-dimensional graphene foam coated by Teflon 143–163
Two-dimensional grating like structure *155
Chemical modification Octadecylamine-functionalised graphene oxide film *163
Perfluorodecyl-trichlorosilane-treated graphene aerogel *160
Modified after An et al. (2017)
Fig. 7 Performance of
nanoporous graphene (a) and
stacked graphene oxide-based
(b) membranes in water
desalination process. Reprinted
with permission of An et al.
(2017)
presents the summaries of recent studies on the performance this inexpensive activated carbon during electrode capacitive
of GO and modified GO in water desalination process. deionisation. The obtained results showed remarkable sta-
Based on the results, GO and reduced GO are promising bility, excellent storage capacity of electrochemical charge,
choices to improve the ability of thin-film composite and high salt rejection and appropriate energy density for this
thin-film nanocomposite types of membranes in forward inexpensive activated carbon electrode. Electrosorption
osmosis and nanofiltration processes. efficiency of electrodes can be enhanced by surface modi-
fication of the activated carbon using chemicals and metal
oxide nanoparticles. Zou et al. (2008) investigated the
5 Activated Carbon potential of activated carbon and surface-modified activated
carbon for desalination of brackish water. They modified the
The activated carbons are fabricated from natural sources surface of activated carbon by alkaline treatment and loading
like wood, coconut shell and charcoal. Extreme surface area, TiO2 nanoparticles. The treated activated carbon had higher
hollow form and acceptable surface reactivity have made electrosorption capacity than untreated sample (about 5%).
them an appropriate choice to improve capacitive deionisa- Actually, alkaline treatment increases hydrophilic com-
tion method for water desalination. Ahirrao et al. (2019) pounds, which this change increases salt ions adsorption.
synthesised activated carbon with significant porous struc- After loading TiO2 nanoparticles on the activated carbon
ture and surface area from sweet lime peels through facile surface, electrosorption capacity was enhanced by about
method at low temperature. They prepared the supercapac- 10% due to reduction of physical adsorption. These results
itor and porous electrodes to characterise the applicability of demonstrated that surface treatment improved the
Table 4 Summaries of recent studies on the performance and application of graphene oxide in water desalination process technology
Fabrication procedure Main result References
Graphite flakes were used to produce graphene oxide using Water permeation flux increased with increasing graphene Bano
Hummer’s method. To improve polyamide thin-film oxide concentration in improved polyamide membranes. It is et al.,
nanocomposite membranes due to enhancing of membrane hydrophilicity and attraction (2015)
changing of water molecules with membrane wall. On the
other hand, with increasing concentration of graphene oxide,
salt rejection enhanced especially for MgSO4 solution
Graphene oxide was produced using graphite by Hummer’s Incorporation of graphene enhanced smoothness of thin-film Shen et al.,
method and then incorporated into the polyacrylonitrile composite membranes and its hydrophilicity. They reported (2016)
thin-film composite membranes high permeation flux (23.6 L/m2 h) and low salt flux
(4.4 g/m2 h) compared with control samples
During phase inversion process, graphene oxide–cellulose The skin layer thickness and prepared membrane contact angle Shi et al.,
acetate was produced by dispersion of graphene oxide in decreased by increasing graphene oxide content from 0 to (2017)
formamide and mixing with acetone including cellulose 0.01 wt%. Permeation flux of membrane containing 0.01 wt%
acetate. Finally, graphene oxide–cellulose acetate graphene oxide was higher than that of 0 wt.% (2.3 times), in
nanocomposite membranes were prepared with different addition salt retention decreased (15%)
graphene oxide contents
Graphene oxide was produced by natural graphite powder and In this study, the key roles of functional group of reduced Huang
reduced during a novel hydrothermal process and then graphene oxide on the membrane performance were studied. et al.,
attached on a polyethylene film The results exhibited the significant effects of hydroxyl and (2019)
carboxyl groups of reduced graphene oxide on the uniform
structure of membrane. This type of advanced membrane had
high water permeation and salt rejection
Sulphonated graphene oxide was prepared with graphene Modified nanofiltration membrane had higher antifouling and Kang
oxide nanosheets and sulphonic acid to improve polyamide water permeation flux (87.3%) than control sample, but salt et al.,
thin-film nanocomposite membrane rejection of thin-film nanocomposite membranes and that of (2019)
modified sulphonated graphene oxide membrane was the same
Graphene oxide nanosheets were synthesised by graphite The water flux of polyethylenimine with positive charge and Halakoo
flakes and used to modification of polyamide thin-film graphene oxide membrane with negative charge was two times and Feng
composite membrane by layer-by-layer deposition procedure that of compared sample membrane. NaCl, Na2SO4, MgSO4 (2020)
and MgCl2 solutions were used to investigate the modified
membrane’s ability in salt rejection. At different temperatures
and salt concentrations, 99.9% salt rejection with 8 kg/m2 h
water permeation flux was observed
Uniform graphene oxide (GO-0) with different flake sizes was This study investigated the effects of flake size of graphene Akther
prepared by sonicating dispersion and then embedded in the oxide on the structure and modified membrane performance in et al.,
polyamide thin-film composite membrane forward osmosis process. For graphene oxide flake size of (2020)
0.01 lm2, water permeation flux and salt removal increased
1.5 and 1.6 times, respectively, compared to the size of
1.06 lm2
desalination efficiency of activated carbon, especially load- is used for low salinity water and has not economic efficiency
ing of metal dioxide nanoparticles. for high concentration of ions.
However, hydrophobicity of activated carbon is an
essential problem to use it in desalination process. In
capacitive deionisation method, ions are accumulated onto 6 Carbon Nanofibres
electrodes by activated carbon by applying a voltage and
then pure water is removed (Fig. 8). Carbon nanofibres (CNFs) are the porous structure, which
During capacitive deionisation process, the electrodes synthesised by stacking one or more graphite layer (Fig. 9)
wettability must be enhanced (Luciano et al., 2020). There- (Palmeri et al., 2011).
fore, hydrophobicity of electrodes is reduced using various Electrospinning is a conventional method for fabrication
methods like adding the ion-exchange resin (Lee et al., 2009). of nanofibres, and this method is widely used due to the
Unlike activated carbon problems, CNTs and carbon aerogels tunable precursor solution. Carbon nanofibres are considered
are better alternatives for this purpose (Fellman et al., 2010; as energy storage and an effective choice for capacitive
Zaib & Fath, 2013). Actually, capacitive deionisation method deionisation process for water desalination. In many cases,
Fig. 8 Capacitive deionisation

method by carbon aerogel.
Modified after Zaib and Fath
(2013)
and structural characteristics. They also studied the pore size

distribution effect on the performance of modified CNFs in
capacitive deionisation desalination. Two modified CNFs
had significantly higher capacitance than the control sample,
and also their specific surface area was higher. Therefore,
they had excellent performance and high stability in capac-
itive deionisation desalination.
In another study, Zhang et al. (2018) developed an
effective method to produce hierarchical porous CNFs dur-
ing electrospinning process. Polyacrylonitrile nanofibres
were used to fabricate CNFs. The modified CNFs had high
electrical conductivity, high specific surface area (223.9 m2/
g) and excellent salt capacity (36 mg/g), which their sorption
capacity is retained after more cycles. They also reported
that the efficient deionisation time of prepared CNFs was
more than that of conventional CNFs.
In another work, Jashni et al. (2019) embedded CNFs into
the polyvinyl chloride membrane matrix and fabricated an
exchange membrane based on a novel electrodialysis mixed
matrix cation method. The application of CNFs enhanced
Fig. 9 Transmission electron microscopy image of stacked graphite obviously the hydrophilicity of membrane surface, mem-
layers to produce carbon nanofibre. Reprinted with permission of brane selectivity, water permeation flux, salt rejection and
Palmeri et al. (2011) conductivity of ions compared to the conventional polyvinyl
chloride membrane. The surface of pristine membrane was
polyacrylonitrile is precursor solution in the production of rougher than that of CNF-based membrane. In addition, the
electrospun fibres due to its high carbon percentage. CNFs’ concentration effect was investigated on the prepared
Polyacrylonitrile-based CNFs are generally modified by membranes performance. The results indicated that increas-
some activation additives like polymethyl methacrylate, ing CNF content influenced the ability of modified mem-
polystyrene, polyacrylic acid and poly (L-lactide) to improve brane by a concentration dependent manner.
their specific surface area and pore size. Liu et al. (2016) Therefore, carbon nanofibres could enhance the efficiency
prepared two types of CNFs during electrospinning method of electrodes in capacitive deionisation desalination and
and modified with polymethyl methacrylate and polystyrene improved the desalination ability of ordinary polymeric
as additives. These prepared CNFs had different pore sizes membranes.
7 MXene different effects on the ion rejection, and this rejection can be
improved by modifying the charges of membrane surface
MXenes are two-dimensional metal carbides with formula of (Ihsanullah, 2020). On the other hand, MXene materials can
Mn+1XnTX, where T represents a surface functional group be used to improve the desalination efficiency of pristine and
and n is 1–3 (Fig. 10). MXenes are produced by extraction modified membranes. A GO-MXene-TiO2 membrane has
of “A” layers from layered carbonitrides or carbides using higher water permeation flux than pristine GO membrane
HF treatment, which distinguished as MAX. M, A and X and GO-TiO2 membrane, about 7.5 and 2.5 times, respec-
refer to early transition metals like Ti, an A-group element tively (Al-Hamadani et al., 2020).
like Al, and carbon or nitrogen, respectively (Tian et al., Table 5 summarises the performance of various MXenes
2019; Wang et al., 2015; Xie et al., 2016). for ion rejection and water permeation in some
Because of exceptional features of MXenes like high MXenes-based membranes. Therefore, MXene-based mem-
surface area, environment-friendly, antibacterial nature and branes can remarkably develop various water desalination
hydrophilicity, MXenes have attracted the researcher’s processes based on their promising features.
attention to use them in water desalination. Ihsanullah
(2020) summarised new production methods for MXenes
and MXene-based materials, their application in desalination 8 Fullerene
and their mechanisms for ion rejection in a comprehensive
review article. Among 30 reported MXenes compositions, Structural, chemical and physical properties of fullerene and
titanium (Ti)-based MXenes are familiar for applications in its derivatives have attracted the researcher’s attention since
desalination. Titanium-based MXenes exhibit low contact 1990. Fullerene is third allotrope of carbon and possesses
angle (<21.5°) and high stability during desalination pro- various types, which C60 is the most valuable of them. This
cesses. They can also improve conventional membranes to distinctive fullerene has spherical shape and hollow form,
enhance ion rejection. According to the reported results, which includes 12 pentagons, 20 hexagons and 30 C=C
Ti3C2Tx-based membranes exhibited high water permeation bonds (Pan et al., 2020; Sherigara et al., 2003). Figure 11
flux and salt ion removal (various ion sizes with different illustrates the chemical structure and transmission electron
charges). Vacuum-assisted filtration method is appropriate to microscopy (TEM) image of fullerene.
fabricate Ti3C2Tx-based membranes, while the thickness of High selectivity, ion rejection and water permeation flux
the membrane is an essential parameter in water permeation. are fetching properties of fullerene to use them for modifying
Furthermore, the distance between Ti3C2Tx-based mem- conventional membranes (Ma et al., 2016). The rejection and
brane’s layers influences the water flux rate. Sometimes, permeation percentages or flux of some fullerene-based
modification of Ti3C2Tx-based membranes enhances the membranes are provided in Table 6.
water permeation flux, so that this flux for Ag@Ti3C2Tx- In new theoretical research, Ji and Zhang (2019) explored
based membranes is higher than that of pristine membrane the application and desalination mechanisms of fullerene-
(about 3.5 times). In addition, ion size and charge have based membrane by molecular dynamics simulation.
Fig. 10 Scanning electron

microscope images of the
Nb2CTx, top view (a) and
cross-sectional view (b).
Reprinted with permission of
Byeon et al. (2016)
Table 5 Summary of ion Type of membrane Ion rejection percentage Water permeation
rejection and water permeation (L/m2 h bar)
flux for some MXene-based
membrane Ti3C2Tx-based membranes Na2SO4: 75.9 22.4 L
supported on a-Al2O3 MgSO4: 67.3
NaCl: 55.3
MgCl2: 46.1
Ti3C2Tx-based membrane – 38
Ag@ Ti3C2Tx-based membrane Methyl green: 92.32 420
Rhodamine B: 79.93
Bovine serum albumin: 100
NaCl: 25.8
MgCl2: 41.3
AlCl3: 49.5
Ti3C2Tx-based membrane Bovine serum albumin: 100 1084
supported on anodic aluminium Rhodamine B: 85
oxide Evans Blue: 90
Cytochrome: 97
Self-cross-linked Ti3C2Tx-based NaCl: 98.6 0.0515
membranes
Ti3C2Tx Methylene blue: 98.0 ± 0.9 10.6
Ti3C2Tx/poly(vinyl alcohol) Methylene blue: 97.2 ± 0.8 7.4
MXene slit membranes Monovalent salt ions: 100 400
(molecular dynamics simulation)
Modified after Ihsanullah (2020)
Fig. 11 Chemical structure

(a) and transmission electron
microscopy image (b) of
fullerene. Reprinted with
permission of Manawi et al.
(2016)
Transportation of water molecules was investigated through orientation and collective water motion and consequently
nanopores of modified membrane. C80 fullerene was used to water permeation from membrane. In another study, For-
fabricate polymerised fullerite membrane, also NaCl con- outan et al. (2019) encapsulated fullerene by CNTs and
sidered as salt with concentration of 37.125 g/L. The sim- studied its performance for water permeation and ion
ulation results revealed a superior water permeation flux and rejection by molecular dynamics simulation. They empha-
ion removal for the modified membrane, and these values sised that ion rejection was approximately 100% in this
were higher than those for previously reported membranes. modified nanochannel. In addition, the obtained water per-
The temperature of desalination influenced the dipole meation flux (16.22 ± 0.85 10–19 m3/s) was higher than
Table 6 Rejection and Type of membrane Rejection Permeation percentage or flux References
permeation percentages or flux of percentage
some fullerene-based membranes
Fullerene-based sulphonated Cu2+: 73.2% – Keçili et al.
polyvinyl alcohol (2020)
nanocomposite membrane
Fullerene (10 wt%)-based Estrone: 95% – Keçili et al.
poly (2020)
(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene
oxide) membrane
Fullerene-based sulphonated – Methanol: 50% lower than Keçili et al.
polystyrene polystyrene membrane and 30% (2020)
lower than Nafion@117
membrane
Fullerene-based – Water: 99.9% Pulyalina
polyphenylene et al.
isophthalamide membranes (2020)
Fullerene (5 wt%)-based - Methanol: 84–241 g/m2 h Dmitrenko
polyphenylene et al.
isophthalamide (2019)
Polyhydroxylated Na2SO4: 95.6% Water: 6.7 L/m2 h bar Shen et al.
fullerene-based thin-film MgSO4: 93.6% (2019)
nanocomposite membrane MgCl2: 89.9%
NaCl: 22.6%
LiCl: 16.3%
that of natural channels. Different hydrostatic pressures were urgent. Desalination of saline water is an attractive solution
applied, and the optimal results are obtained under 5 MPa. for this problem, especially by membranes. Membrane-
The applied forces on the fullerene by water molecules and based desalination methods are environment-friendly with
interaction between fullerene and the wall of CNTs influ- low cost and high efficiency. In total, these porous mate-
enced the fullerene motion through CNTs channels. Liu rials pass water and sieve ions. The pore size and thickness
et al. (2018) used C60 molecules to improve the desalination of membranes can influence their performance in water
performance of GO membrane. They grafted fullerene on the permeation or ion rejection; moreover, the membranes have
GO surface by lithiation reaction, and consequently, the some disadvantages like fouling. Therefore, the membranes
water permeation flux of prepared membrane increased were developed by researchers. In this regard, nanomate-
compared to GO membrane. NaCl rejection rate is also rials especially carbon-based nanomaterials have attracted a
reported by about 89.66% for this modified membrane. lot of consideration. The excellent chemical/physical sta-
According to the aforementioned results, it can be con- bility, porous structure, low density, antifouling feature,
cluded that fullerene is an excellent candidate to improve the high surface area, antibacterial property and low surface
performance of conventional membranes and other energy are the distinguished properties of carbon-based
carbon-based nanomaterials in water desalination processes. nanomaterials (CBNMs). The valuable studies have inves-
In conclusion, carbon-based nanomaterials enhance water tigated the performance and application of CBNMs to
permeation flux and ion rejection of pristine membranes, improve the performance of conventional polymeric
which are the main goals of water purification and desali- membrane.
nation processes due to their porous structure, high surface This chapter reviewed several current published studies to
area, low surface energy, excellent chemical/physical sta- reveal the important roles of CBNMs on the desalination
bility and low cost. performance of membrane and other CBNMs. Graphene and
its derivatives, carbon nanotube, carbon nonfilter, fullerene,
MXene and activated carbon are familiar CBNMs, which can
9 Conclusions enhance water permeation and ion rejection of membranes.
Nanoporous structure of graphene and its derivatives has
The lack of fresh water has become a major problem in the made them one of the best choices to modify pristine mem-
present and future, while water covers about 71% of earth’s brane and improve desalination performance of other
surface. Therefore, the use of seawater or polluted water CBNMs like carbon nanotubes. Surface modification of
and determining useful materials for water purification are graphene, reduction of graphene oxide or adding some
functional groups to it can increase desalination efficiency. membrane. Desalination, 484, 114421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
However, some researchers have believed that water per- desal.2020.114421.
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Microbial Desalination
Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji , Abel Inobeme,

Olugbemi Tope Olaniyan, Frances. N. Olisaka,
Ruth Ebunoluwa Bodunrinde, and Mohd Imran Ahamed
Abstract to provide comprehensive information on the application

of microorganisms for the water desalination. Several
Several investigations have established that due to
types of microorganisms that could be applied for water
population expansion and land use, fresh water scarcity
desalination were also highlighted. The modes of action
has increased tremendously placing immense burden on
through which they exhibited their action were also
desalination process as the major alternative remedy to
discussed. The principles involved in the process of
freshwater supply. The increase in problems related to
desalination were also elucidated.
energy across the globe due to exhaustibility of fossil
fuels. Hence, there is a need to search for other sources of
Keywords

energy to meet up with the growing demand. Globally,
the existing methods of desalination are not cost effective; Microbial desalination Modes of action Techniques
hence, scientists are searching for alternative ways to Water scarcity Desalination techniques
reduce the financial burden in the setup of water
desalination techniques. One of the suggested areas is in
the utilization of microorganisms. One of the suggested
methods is in the area of energy conservation, when using 1 Introduction
water to produce energy via utilization or engaging the
use microbial desalination. Therefore, this chapter intends Several people have witnessed acute shortage of portable
water in many parts of the world mostly due to salt contents
C. O. Adetunji (&) and contamination of oceans, lakes, and rivers (Shatat &
Applied Microbiology, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology
Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Edo State University, Riffat, 2014). Thus to tackle this situation, water desalination
Uzairue, Nigeria techniques are deployed to satisfy human and animal water
e-mail: adetunji.charles@edouniversity.edu.ng requirements. Studies have revealed that desalination is
A. Inobeme commonly utilized as an alternative means of providing
Department of Chemistry, Edo State University, Uzairue, drinking or portable water in areas that are experiencing
Edo State, Nigeria scare supply of clean water. Water scarcity is estimated to
O. T. Olaniyan affect one-fifth of the world’s population, and this condition
Laboratory for Reproductive Biology and Developmental is predicted to be worsening due to many factors such as
Programming, Department of Physiology, Edo State University,
Uzairue, Edo State, Nigeria population explosion, climate change, industrial and house-
hold usage, and urbanization. The method of desalination
Frances.N. Olisaka
Faculty of Science, Department of Biological can be deployed for wider range of primary source of water
SciencesEnvironmental and Public Health Microbiology like seawater, groundwater and estuarine water containing
Laboratory, Benson Idahosa University, Edo State, inorganic ions, borate, bromide, sodium, potassium, and
P.M.B. 1100 Benin City, Nigeria iodide of potential concern to humans (Cao et al., 2009).
R. E. Bodunrinde Over the years, different technological advancements have
Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, been witnessed in the methods of water desalination such as
Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
the conventional methods like thermal, reverse osmosis,
M. I. Ahamed electrodialysis reversal systems, to the advanced method such
Department of Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh, 202002, India as microbial-based desalination bioelectrochemical systems
214 C. O. Adetunji et al.
(BES) that uses bacteria to generate renewable energy as through which they exhibited their action were also
electricity, methane, and hydrogen. The conventional meth- discussed.
ods are more energy-dependent and expensive compared to
the advanced method. Microbes in the anaerobic salty soil
wetlands transform exudates in the roots of plants or dead 2 Principles Involved in the Process
plant material into CO2, electrons plus protons. These prod- of Desalination
ucts can be harvested via cathode and anode connections and
converted to energy source. The energy can be harnessed as a The principles of desalination centres on the doctrines
potential desalination technique plus power generation uti- establishing a technology for large-scale desalting of water.
lizing bacteria and biodegradable organic matter. The Some of the already established procedures include reverse
microbial fuel cell is known to produce current by degrading osmosis, vapour reheat distillation plus hyperfiltration
microorganisms forming organic compounds and equally extremely important for water treatment during water
utilized in the treatment of waste waters (Xincao et al., 2009). shortage and contamination. Rozendal et al. (2008) revealed
Studies have shown that due to population expansion and a new approach in water desalination using microbial-based
land use, fresh water scarcity has increased tremendously techniques and also generated electrical current from the
placing immense burden on desalination process as the organic matter plus bacteria in another solution representing
major alternative remedy to freshwater supply. It has been (anode). The authors showed that reduction in the salinity
shown that 18,000 desalination plants are been used globally may require greater amount of anode solution; hence, the use
producing average rate of 86.8 million m3/day. The large of membranes will further increase ion exchange capacities.
development seen in desalination technology is mainly due Thus, it was concluded that desalination of water is con-
to the rapid expansion and improvement in desalination ceivable using equivalent amount of anode solution plus salt
technology with energy requirement and lower cost of pro- water.
duction (Gede Wentena, 2016). Surya et al. (2015) have The basic principle of desalination involves the removal
revealed that there is increasing rate of energy problem saline water source plus devotes energy to two distinct
across the globe due to exhaustibility of fossil fuels; hence, streams, one with salt-free fresh water and salty brine.
researchers are beginning to harness other sources of energy A reliable and proper desalination technology utilizes lower
to meet up with the growing demand. One of the suggested quantity of energy to generate a huge volume of fresh water
methods is in the area of energy conservation, when using plus small amount extremely concentrated brine. In a study,
water to produce energy via utilization or engaging the use the performance of single- and double-membrane microbial
microbial desalination. The authors have revealed that desalination cell was used to investigate the operation mode
wastewater-based three-chambered microbial desalination flow in water desalination. The authors revealed that there
cell could solve both energy and water crisis offering greater was increased generation of energy after the cycle; hence,
efficiency than the other such as thermal distillation, reverse the technology is eco-friendly, safe, and cost effective for
osmosis, freezing, and electrodialysis. desalination (Cheng et al., 2006). Another study by Zhang
Globally, the existing method of desalination is not cost et al. (2010) revealed that analyte solution in the microbial
effective; hence, scientists are searching for alternative ways desalination cell acts as buffer, catalyst, and substrate for the
to reduce the financial burden in the setup of water desali- microbes. Studies have revealed that two kinds of microbes
nation techniques. One of the suggested areas is in the uti- are utilized in this process, those using synthetic facilitated
lization of microorganisms such as Saccharomyces electron transfer and those that do not (exoelectrogens).
cerevisiae yeast to provide a sustainable energy supply, APHA (1998) have revealed that traditional wastewater
reduced toxic generation, and water desalination process purification methods are energy consuming and lot of
with reduced cost. Though commercialization of this tech- resources wasted in the cleaning process. Scientists hence
nology has suffered tremendous setbacks due to several have developed microbial nutrient recovery cell technology
factors like pH instability, low current output, and membrane as a desalination technique and also regenerate lost nutrients
biofouling plus polarization, scientists still believe that if all in waste water management. This technique has proven to be
these challenges are resolved, microbial desalination holds a efficient, self-stimulated approach and sustainable wastewa-
promising potential in the near future (Yahiaoui et al., 2020). ter purification strategy using bioelectrochemical system.
Therefore, this chapter intends to provide a broad fact on Zhang and He (2012) described the microbial fuel cell-based
the use of microorganisms for the water desalination. Several technologies as emerging innovations for the applications in
types of microorganisms that could be applied for water bioremediation, seawater desalination, biosensors plus
desalination were also highlighted. The modes of action hydrogen production.
Microbial Desalination 215
2.1 Air Cathode Microbial Desalination Cell 2.5 Microbial Electrolysis Desalination
and Chemical-Production Cell
In air cathode microbial desalination cell, the most usually
used oxidizing agent in cathode chambers is oxygen pro- In this setup, acids and alkaline solution are generated during
vided by bubbling air via water in the cathode chamber. The desalination. Application of large quantity of current will
process involved in the different microbial techniques for induce a potential difference and create water splitting into
desalination and principles involved were elaborated in hydrogen and hydroxyl ions.
Table 1
2.6 Microbial Capacitive Desalination Cell

2.2 Biocathode Microbial Desalination Cell
In microbial capacitive desalination cell, stimulated carbon
Cheng et al. (2006) demonstrated the utilization of bio- membrane associations are used to absorb deionized ions
cathode in cathode chamber, by engaging microbes as oxi- and stored in electrical double layer capacitors. Electrical
dizing agents. neutrality is the hallmark of this setup via the free movement
of cations during desalination.
2.3 Stack-Structure Microbial Desalination Cell

2.7 Upflow Microbial Desalination Cell
In this arrangement similar to stacked electrodialysis cells,
series connections are made in the cathode and anode This arrangement is made up of fitted cylindrical sectors
sections. In the operation, ions move out from desalina- containing analyte solution and anode electrode. Oxygen is
tion chamber to freshwater chambers, forming one dilu- been utilized as electron acceptor due to exposure to air
tion section plus two concentrated sections (Chen et al., (Zhang et al., 2010).
2011).
2.8 Osmotic Microbial Desalination Cell

2.4 Microbial Electrodialysis Cell
In osmotic microbial desalination cells, desalination plus
In this classification, microbial desalination cells are reor- dilution concept is into practice utilizing osmosis combined
ganized to generate H+ from the cathode compartment while with electric potential gradients which assist in lowering
desalination process is going on (Mehanna et al., 2010). salinity in the desalination chamber.
Table 1 Different microbial Microbial technique Principle Authors

techniques for desalination and
principles involved Bioelectrochemical APHA (1998)
system
Microbial fuel cell Activity of microbe Zhang and He (2012)
Biocathode Engaging microbes as oxidizing Cheng et al. (2006), Croese et al. (2011),
microbial cell agents Al-Mamun et al. (2018), Wen et al. (2012)
Stack-structure Electrodialysis Chen et al. (2011)
microbial cell
Microbial Electrodialysis Mehanna et al. (2010)
electrodialysis cell
Upflow desalination Utilization of oxygen as electron Zhang et al. (2010)
cell acceptor
Microalgal Utilization of high carbon by Zamanpour et al. (2017), Powell et al.
biocathode Chlorella vulgaris (2009), Wang et al. (2020)
Bacterial Transformation of CO2 into carbon Saeed et al. (2015), Zaybak et al. (2013)
biocathode derivatives using acetogenic
bacteria
2.9 Submerged Microbial Desalination– leading to reduced corrosion of cylinder and the establish-
Denitrification Cell ment of scale on the cylinder surface.
Vapour compression evaporation: This process does
In this arrangement, combined direct nitrate elimination and not use steam heat. The heat used in evaporating the feed-
desalination exist in groundwater desalination using two water is gotten from the density of the vapour and not
chambers of cathode and anode. Nitrate ions move as a result through uninterrupted heat exchange from stream released
of electrical potential generation into the anode chamber and during a boiling process.
later reduced by denitrifying bacteria. Cogeneration system: This is a process in which energy
source can function differently doing various things, for exam-
ple, production of electrical power and removal of salt from
2.10 Principles Entailed in the Process water sample. This process entails the production of
of Desalination high-pressure steam to function in the turbines and the steam is
formed when boiled at 5408 °C. There is reduction in the tem-
The principle behind the procedure involved in desalination perature and energy level when the vapour expands the turbines.
entails the organic migration of waste water to the anode Renewable energy distillation/solar water desalina-
compartment where there is increased microbial population tion: This process is used for small-scale setups. Energy
and creation of biofilm, and in the course of the degradation gotten from the sun is utilized in evaporating renewed water
of biological matters, there is production of electricity from salty water. Steam gotten during this process condenses
(Elimelech & Phillip, 2011; Lovley, 2012; Yuan et al., on a transparent glass or covering and is latter obtained as
2017). Electrons that migrated to the cathode produced fresh water from the condensate. This process is usually
electrostatic energy when present in water that is salty propel adopted in parched areas where there is lack of fresh
the anions near the positively charged and negatively drinkable water (Bodzek, 2000; Worldwide Desalination
charged electrode (Kim & Logan, 2013). This process pro- Research and Technology Survey, 1994).
vides double advantage of treatment of waste and production Membrane process: Membrane process utilizes pene-
of bioelectricity (Fritzmann et al., 2007; Sophia et al., 2016). trable film to mobilize either water or salt to form two zones
There are two primary processes that are mostly used in of varying concentration to form fresh water. This is usually
desalination, that are; employed in community waste water treatment. This could
be categorized into the following.
i Thermal desalination process Reversed osmosis: This method utilizes pressure as pro-
ii Membrane desalination process. pelling force that pushes the water via a temporarily pene-
trable sheath into a concentrated saltwater. Practically, the
Thermal desalination process: This desalination process feedwater is being pumped into a confined vessel, in contra-
is also known as distillation. It is a primitive way of con- diction to the membrane, to pressure it (Logan et al., 2006).
verting sea water into drinkable water. This method is As the water product passes via this membrane, the feedwater
widely used because it is usually cost effective. This appli- and brine solution become extra and extra concentrated.
cation mode is centred on the boiling of salty water and A reverse osmosis consists of four major process which are;
allowing it to evaporate then the condensed water would be
collected to obtain pure and drinkable water (World Health (i) Pretreatment system.
Organization, 1993). These entail the following: (ii) Pressurization.
Multi-stage Flash Distillation: This entail boiling of (iii) Membrane separation.
water speedily when force of vapour exists quickly lowers (iv) Post-treatment stabilization.
beyond the vapour pressure of the fluid at a specific tem-
perature. Subjecting the water to heat remains foremost to it Pretreatment: Feedwater entering was being pretreated
being introduced into the flash compartment, the steam to be well matched by the members by eliminating sus-
produced is compressed to the surfaces that are in interaction pended solids, regulating pH, and addition of a threshold
with the fresh water. Multi-stage flash is usually simple to eradicators to regulate scaling initiated by some elements
build and easy in functioning; the plant is also referred to as like calcium sulphate.
the energy intensive process, owing to the fact that it entails Pressurization: The pump elevates the force of the pre-
both heat and mechanical energy. treated feedwater to a functional pressure that is suitable for
Multi-effect distillation: This process occurs in succes- the film and the saline nature of the feedwater.
sion of vessels and utilizers. It operates on the principles of Membrane separation: The penetrable membrane hinders
evaporating and condensation at lowered standard pressure. the path of liquefied salts while allowing the removal of salt
This process operates at reduced temperature of 70 °C, from produced water to go through.
Post-treatment stabilization: The product water gotten charged electrode compartment and middle compartment by
from the film assembly normally needs pH adjustment and AEM through a forward osmosis membrane (FOM). The
the removal of gas previously and then transferred to the forward membrane permits the passage of liquid and
circulation system as drinking water. The product goes decreases transmission of ions from the central compartment
through a ventilation column where the pH is raised from a of anode then the cathode compartment (Kim & Logan,
value of about 5 to a value near 7, which make the water 2013; Zhao et al., 2006). They found out that the salt was
drinkable and useable (Logan et al., 2006; Kutty, 1995). really not eliminated but became concentrated. They also
Electrodialysis discovered from their study that high-energy method of
This electrodialysis process contains film with positively osmotic MDC had an outcome of greater water desalination
charged ions and anions exchange groups. In the pressure of effective in the generation of power via salty water and
straight current electric field, positively charged ions and reduced conductivity (Saeed et al., 2015).
anions move to their corresponding electrodes so that there Osmotic MDC is widely known in performing these key
will be formation of ion-rich and ion-exhausted streams in objectives, which are; anode exchange membrane is replaced
other places within the membranes (Logan et al., 2006; with forward osmotic membrane thereby improving the
Furukawa, 1999). dilution of salty water (desalination), dilute salt water by
Membrane Distillation increasing water flux thereby enhancing the remover of
The principle here is the use of thermal and membrane biological matter from waste water, potassium ferricyanide
technologies. Here, the variation in the temperature is is utilized to speed up reaction allowing this forward osmotic
formed amongst the supplied solution that is to contact the membrane to be cost effective compared to the anode elec-
surface on the side of the micropermeable sheath and there trode membrane (Zhang et al., 2012). Although forward
remains left over space on the other side. Variation in the osmotic membrane was found to be more susceptible to
temperature leads to the variation on the vapour pressure and fouling that ion exchange membrane, with a consequence of
causing migration of vapour formed via the membrane on escalation in the internal osmotic resistance thereby reducing
the concentration surface (Alabdula’aly & Khan, 1997). water flux (Kim & Logan, 2013).
Secondary/Alternative process Biocathode MDC
This method can be tackled in two different ways which Biocthode MDC is an advanced system of electrodes
are freezing and ion exchange. In the course of freezing, which encourages the reduction in electrochemical reactions
liquefied inherent salt in the feedwater are divided in the and prime catalysis is done by microorganisms (bacteria and
period of production into crystals below measured condi- algae). Microorganisms perform reduction presses in the
tions. Before the entire water is freezed, the mixture is cathode or present on electrode (Croese et al., 2011). This
washed and rinsed, eliminated the salt in the remaining water type of MDC does not need high catalyst of its lower
while, for ion exchange, organic and inorganic solids are maintenance, self-regenerating properties and production
found to interchange one-type cation or anion restrained on cost (Al-Mamun et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2012). The bac-
the surface of another kind of cation found in the solution teria performed as catalyst in the compartment because they
(Logan et al., 2006). were active to electrode and causing oxidation reduction
(A) Types of microbial desalination reaction resulting in the increase in the removal of salt from
Osmosis MDC: Osmosis microbial desalination cell was water (Wen et al., 2012).
developed during research by replacing anode exchange There was advancement in biocathode microbial desali-
membrane with osmotic membrane. In this system, water is nation cell which comprises of the use of cathode, middle,
pressured out of salty water due to the increased osmotic and anode compartment. This reaction was related to
pressure of the fundamental compartment and ions are cir- microbial fuel cell only that middle compartment remains
culated round the membrane. In respective of the diluted salt filed with salty sea water which initiates the desalination
water in the middle compartment, lack of membrane selec- reaction by potential gradient amid the anode and cathode,
tive paths brought about the ability of unwanted ions to deter and then fresh water is produced from the sea water owing to
the effectiveness of the microbial desalination cells migration of ions to the negatively charged and positively
(Zamanpour et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2012). charged electrode (Brastad & He, 2013). The biocathode is
Zhang and He (2015) stated that this system is a distinct subjected to optimal conditions; start-up time of the micro-
type of membrane because it exploits the osmotic liquid bial desalination cell could be remarkably reduced, conse-
movement from the positively charged electrode to the salty quently increasing the general performance of the cell (Luo
water, thereby allowing dilution process to take place and et al., 2017; Tchobanoglous et al., 2003).
desalination of the water sample (Zhang & He, 2015; Zhang Nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria and algae could be
et al., 2011; Zhao et al., 2006). This kind of microbial used as biocatalyst in biocathodes because they can produce
desalination, where there is separation of the positively electron acceptors at negatively charged electrode which is
needed in reducing reaction (Clauwaert et al., 2007). Some charged electrode compartment may result in great loss of
microalgae biocathodes could remain used in appropriating potency and reducing the general course productivity
nutrients that were missing and melted biological substance (Cheng et al., 2010).
in order to produce bioenergy by the microalgae biomass Upflow MDC
(Arana & Gude, 2018; Gude, 2016). Literature has shown Upflow cell is exceptional kinds of cell where mixtures of
that specialized microorganisms which are known as elec- solution inside the compartment can be accomplished
trotrophs possess the capacity in gaining electrons directly of deprived of shaking and recover 100% water (He, 2011; Qu
via the negatively charged electrode, thereby exploiting et al., 2012). This technique enables microbes present in the
various routes for electron acceptors for example iron, car- positively charged compartment to stay in the supernatant
bon dioxide, O2, or nitrate (Saeed et al., 2015; Zaybak et al., method and effectively perform extreme oxidation of bio-
2013). logical material (He et al., 2006; Saeed et al., 2015). Pro-
Microalgal biocathode MDC: Chlorella vulgaris is high moter (catalyst) utilized in the upflow microbial desalination
and accessible (microalgae) was found to utilize high carbon cell is combination of carbon and platinum; this mixture
content such as bicarbonate and carbon dioxide to produce deposits on the exterior layer (Jacobson et al., 2011). The
oxygen under favourable condition leading to the production upflow system is made up of cylindrical unit which is
of solar power (Powell et al., 2009; Zamanpour et al., 2017). comprised of twofold sections where internal section full of
Bacterial biocathode MDC: The use of bacterial bio- pellets from graphite then delivered an advanced superficial
cathode microbial desalination as electron in biocathode is a part for oxidation reaction to be done. Two bars of graphite
complicated and strenuous method. However, anaerobic were absorbed as current collectors in the graphite granules
facultative autotrophic biocathodes have proven to be more which are known to tolerate conduction of electrons. The
effective and virtually achievable method established via external unit which contains salty water symbolizes desali-
pre-improvement of heterotrophs (Zaybak et al., 2013). This nation compartment which was extra secured by cation
deviceallows CO2 to be transformed into carbon-based exchange sheath cylinder, thereby allowing superficial part
derivatives via replacing hydrogen by negatively charged of the amplified to take part in the desalination process from
electrode that serves as source of energy and source of stage to stage (Jacobson et al., 2011). The benefits of upflow
electron source with the aid of acetogenic bacteria (Saeed are that there is usually effective fluid mixing within the
et al., 2015). compartment, very easy to scale up, and this system
Staked MDC improves desalination.
Staked microbial desalination is exceedingly convenient Photo-MDC
owing to their level of productivity in recovering more This system improves energy yield of microbial desali-
energy when equated to other microbial desalination system nation cell by employing sunlight potential as an initiator
and is inexpensive. In these setup, bacteria oxidizes the without increasing the cost of functioning. Heamatite nano-
biological matter in the anode compartment thus leading to wire photo-anodes are some of the examples of this type of
extraordinary retrieval of energy (Shehab et al., 2013). microbial desalination cell and are known to be useful in
Researchers sated that this system could be upgraded by proficient setup (Qian et al., 2014) nanowire-bacteria
multiple sets of ion exchange membrane inserted amongst hybrids for unassisted fixing of solar energy CO2 (Liu
the cathode and anode compartment, so as to improve the et al., 2015; Zang et al., 2014). Researchers have presented
effectiveness of charge transmission and then permit the high-performance photo-microbial desalination cell where
highly saline water to run across sequence of microbial the anode is improved with nanostructure. Then, they per-
desalination cells that supports the removal of more salt ceived that there was maximum density of the current of the
(Al-Mamun et al., 2018; Gude et al., 2013). photo-MDC in the course of this method remained at 8.8
Subsequently, stacked arrangement operates based on Am2 double the unmodified microbial desalination cell by
bioelectrochemical response, whereby fluctuating of systems means of 20 g/L original concentration of briny. Despite the
plus functioning strictures like assembly of electrodes, concentration of salt discovered in the central compartment
whichever sequence or parallel and hydraulic movement remained beneath 1.4 mg/L of waste, remover of salt was
methodologies may disturb the procedure of salt removal 96%. There could be greater attraction in the combination of
(desalination). Disruption of pH amongst the cathode and MDC with biophoto-electrochemical cell.
anode compartments could affect the desalination process Capacitive MDC
when more than one compartment is used. When there is This type of microbial desalination cell is engrossed on
great decrease in the pH level at the anode level, this could the usage of carbon materials with greater exterior area at
lead to reduced performance of the microbial population in two electrodes. There is usually likelihood of variation
the compartment of the positively charged electrode, but an between the permeable anode and cathode. Capacitive
increase pH level in the compartment of the negatively deionization as technologically advanced into two
subsequent techniques which are desorption and adsorption. water is 0.83 V but, practically, the essential voltage sur-
Here, the ions were primarily separated from saline and passes 1.2 V; then, it could be concluded that the possible
desalination of water concurrently takes place. Moreover, variation produced by MDC only is insufficient to measure
the adsorption techniques show two electrical layers made up to the condition of bipolar membrane functioning and
together on charged cathode and anode owing to migration exterior voltage of approximately 1 V is required to function
of ions separated from water sample. Then, there is substi- properly. Bipolar membrane is more prone to biological
tution between the electrodes present in the solution, and pollution due to their contact to saline in the anode com-
there is total discharge of zero voltage by the electrode, there partment (Kim & Logan, 2013; Mehanna et al., 2010).
is supply of energy, and ions were released into solution Splitting of water at the bipolar membrane is intricate in
producing unwanted water steam (Wen et al., 2012). removing salt from water. The degree of saltwater is also
Researchers stated that there was formation of doubled great due to the cost of preservation of anolyte pH (Chen
layer capacity on the high surface area of electrodes, and et al., 2012). This system has high ion selectivity,
there was adsorption of ions when salt solution was placed long-lifespan membrane of biofilm, increased level of salt
amongst the anode and cathode. The ions found in the saline remover, and maintenance of preferred pH in the anode
were adsorbed on exterior areas of the electrodes by dual- compartment.
coating capacitors, as soon as the potential gradient was Recirculation MDC
disconnected, ions were allowed to return into the solution. Recirculation microbial desalination cell is a system
There was immediate deionization of the salty water irre- where solution of anolyte and catholyte is usually uninter-
spective of the pollution of the cathode and anode compactly ruptedly recirculated via the MDC in order to counterbalance
through the salt (Saeed et al., 2015; Santoro et al., 2017; pH value (Luo et al., 2011). Numerous investigations have
Zhang & He, 2012); this type of membrane was developed been performed with the objective of eliminating the
by the introduction of membrane capacitive deionization inequity of pH in the microbial desalination cell compart-
which is cationic selective membrane incorporated on the ments. These include adding of buffers and the initiation of
negatively charged electrodes and anions exchange mem- increased volume of anolyte (Al-Mamun et al., 2018).
brane was incorporated on the positively charged electrons Researchers have shown that the recirculation of catholyte
(Zaybak et al., 2013). and anolyte has encouraging energy production and salt
One main stated flaw in the performance of this system is water removal. Recirculation system functions having
increased concentration of salt anolyte and catholyte. The 50 mM of phosphate buffer generated 335 extra power;
result in this buildup of ions alters pH of the catholyte and hence, at ambient temperature and favourable situations, cell
the anolyte resulting in reduced metabolism of the worked with at 25 mM produced 53% additional power
microorganisms. Therefore, there would be need for (Luo et al., 2011). Therefore, increased buffer concentration
replacement of catholyte and anolyte and reapplication of is not very important for the improvement of the density
water (Al-Mamun et al., 2018; Forrestal et al., 2012; Saeed power, so then, an optimum concentration should be
et al., 2015). acknowledged.
Bipolar membrane MDC One main difficulty in this system is the hindrance of the
In bipolar membrane system, desalinate water also gen- membrane in cooperation with hydroxyl and proteins man-
erate hydrochloric acid as well as sodium hydroxide con- ufactured during redox reaction, in cathode and anode
currently. This system consists of a cathode exchange compartments (Kim & Logan, 2013). Oxidation of the bio-
membrane and an anode exchange membrane layered toge- logical matter discharges protons that are not capable to
ther to produce a single membrane. When subjected to migrate to the cathode compartment, while hydroxyl ions are
appropriately high electricity potential variation, water splits formed by means of the reduction reaction (Luo et al., 2011;
to protons and hydroxyl ions by the border of the layered ion Qu et al., 2012). This may result in frequent pH imbalance
exchange membranes, thereby resulting in the discharge of within the cell, where there is increase in pH in the cathode
hydroxl ions in the direction of the anode compartment and and reduction in the anode.
the protons close to the side where there is combination Modes of action of microbial desalination
through chloride ions entering from the middle section to The mechanism of action of desalination is established on
form the HCl (Forrestal et al., 2012; Buck, 2014). the relationship amongst living microscopic entities and
This reaction is crucial in evading reduction of pH in the electrodes via the reduction of biological matter (Logan
anode compartment, thereby undertaking a cogent role in the et al., 2017; Schröder et al., 2015). Microbial desalination
microbial desalination cells (Forrestal et al., 2012). The cell exploits the possibility variance generation from oxi-
limitation posed on the MDC could be dealt with by the use dation made by anode producing bacteria to initiate the
of exterior voltage to manoeuvre the bipolar membrane. movement and removal of salt ions. Overtime the bacteria
Studies have shown that the least voltage needed to separate utilize the biological matters in the waste water thus, making
the clean. Electricity is produced and water desalination is materials present in the waste water, thereby transmitting
done concurrently (Xiaoxin et al., 2009; Schröder et al., electrons from the biological material (substrate) to the
2015; Sevda et al., 2015). electrode. Thereafter, the electrons utilize an exterior circuit
The rate at which desalinated cells work is being quan- locate the area where the cathode resides; this is where
tified by its efficiency in salt removing ability Jacobson et al. reduction reaction is done. There is usually movement of
(2011), overall salt removing rate (Chen et al., 2012) specific ions imposed by electric potential. Consequently, desalina-
desalination rate (SDR) current density (Jacobson et al., tion initiated when positive ions migrate via the cation
2011; Qu et al., 2012); removal nitrogen (Zhang & He, exchange membrane (CEM) from salty area to the cathode
2015; Zuo et al., 2017), removal of biological materials (Luo and the negatively charged ions then migrate within the
et al., 2017) Faradaic potential, pH discharge and the anode anion exchange membrane from the salty area to the anodic
in the microbial environment (Qu et al., 2012). area (Wen et al., 2012). Cao et al. in their study used 9 cm2
Forrestal et al. also explained the mode of action of cross section of a cell with the aid of salty volume com-
microbial desalination by stating that the setup is comparable partment of 11 mL; there was 90% elimination of salt (Cao
to that of a MFC which comprises of dual compartments et al., 2009).
with cathode, two electrodes, and anode. Then with the third Several researches have shown that cubic along with
compartment which is divided by an anion exchange tubular devices, amassed cells in the course of using batch
membrane, cation exchange membrane, a marginal, periph- recirculation, and biologically produced cathodes increases
eral circuit, that is accountable for the anaerobic and aerobic the release of water due to the application of exterior voltage
and procedures at both corresponding electrodes. There is (Chen et al., 2011; Mehanna et al., 2010a, Kim & Logan,
increase on the carbon-based matter in the anode compart- 2013a; Jacobson et al., 2011a). This could also be achieved
ment thereby leading into the creation of biofilm that pro- by forward osmosis, interchange of ion resin in the parti-
duces an electric current. The pollutants in the slush are then tions, or through microfiltration procedures (Lovley, 2012;
oxidized by the aid of the biofilm via stringent adherence to Zhang & He, 2012; Zhang et al., 2010, 2012; Zuo et al.,
anode, releasing together the electrons and the protons from 2017).
the bio-slush and the production of current of atoms by The reaction that happens in the cathode is one of the
circuit conveyance that are composed of electrodes. Elec- most crucial reaction phases in this setup. Studies have
trical current is then created by the probable variance pro- shown that applying oxygen reduction method in the cath-
duced amongst the anode and cathode owing to the presence ode section has been of greater benefit by utilizing the
of O2 in the cathode compartment (Forrestal et al., 2012). oxygen as electron acceptor (Lu & Li, 2012). Zhao et al.
Sevda et al. (2015) also explained the mode of action of (2006) in their studies stated that there are three primary
microbial desalination by stating that the anode cavity and things that disrupt the proper activity of cathode which are
the cathode cavity are usually parted by ion exchange pH, concentration of the catholyte, and the lead (Pb) of the
membrane. Desalination cavity is made when the ion catalyst. The reduction of oxygen in diverse pH environment
exchange membrane makes a border on the salt solution. is usually made possible by the present Pt, gold, and silver
Organic materials in the waste water go into the anode part metals which is often as promoter in electrochemical devices
where formation of biofilm takes place owing to the (Ge et al., 2015). Liu et al. (2015) revealed decreased in the
increased microbial load that oxidizes organic material, operational oxygen in the system having used MnOx as a
causing in the fabrication of electrons at the electrode and substitute catalyst instead of using the former costly metals
liberating protons into the solution (Chen et al., 2011). The (Lu & Li, 2012; Zhao et al., 2006). Additional transitional
electrons formed migrates via an exterior resistance to the metals were also worked on by researchers (Wang et al.,
electron acceptor at the cathode, water is produced. 2015; Zhang et al., 2016) amongst other metals (Vij et al.,
Microbial desalination is a unique technology that utilizes 2017), added that iron was used also as the other properties
energy gotten from the metabolism of electroactive where altered (Vij et al., 2017; Yuan et al., 2015b).
microorganisms usually bacteria and algae at the process of Cao et al. (2009) used ferricyanide catholyte as electron
degraded biological material in order to provide ecological acceptor in the growth of microbial desalination cells. There
safe water (drinkable). This process allows various tech- were about ninety-four 94% elimination of salty water and
niques to take place concurrently. This process includes 2 Wm−2 production of energy was attained, thereby
desalination of water, waste water treatment, and also the meaningfully increasing the activity of the system when
creation of electricity. Microbial desalination Cells (MDCs) compared to when osmosis reverse is used in the cathode
comprise of an electrochemical material that has three reaction. However, owing to how expensive the reagents are,
compartments (Cao et al., 2009). the application of ferro-ferriccyanide catholyte would be
The anode part consists of an electrode which is usually possible in the technical approach if the redox mediator is
enclosed with a biofilm which oxidizes the biological less expensive and easy approach was implemented for the
rejuvenation of the catholyte solution as soon as it is different conditions. From the results obtained, they sug-
exhausted. There could be the implementation of two dif- gested that algae biocathodes boosted the sustainable effi-
ferent approaches to establishment of microbial desalination ciency microbial desalination cells and equally generated
cell (MDC) innovation in producing drinkable and bioenergy. Ummy et al. (2016) revealed that yeasts such as
eco-friendly water using only low energy. These methods Saccharomyces cerevisiae are potential biocatalysts due to
are: their physiochemical properties as non-pathogenic organ-
Operation of MDC by the use of reduced oxygen in isms in microbial fuel cells utilization. The authors sug-
cathode reaction: Operating the microbial desalination by gested that further development is needed to make yeast a
the use of reduced oxygen in cathode reaction is usually set robust material for energy production and desalination agent.
up as air dispersion cathode prepared of carbon nanofibres Also, modifications of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to
and Fe nanoparticles as catalyst is usually appropriate and microbial desalination cells (MDCs), research has helped in
less expensive electricity for eco-friendly uses. the extensive study and design of these MDC devices
Operating the MDC by the use of Ferro-ferricyanide leading to a considerable upgrade over the years (Kim &
redox pair in cathode reaction: This method employs one Logan, 2013; Sevda et al., 2015). Brastad and He (Brastad &
ferro-ferricyanide redox catholte as a substitute to oxygen He, 2013) investigated the efficacy of the use of MDCs in
reduction. This was done in order to improve the obtainable purification of water. MDCs were reported to remove a
potential in the microbial desalination cell thereby allowing significant of arsenic, copper, mercury, and nickel, and it
enhanced functioning. was concluded that MDCs can be used to reduce water
Specific examples of authors that have utilized hardness. Xincao et al. (2009) studied the use of a microbial
microbial desalination for the management of water fuel cell having acetate as its substrates in desalination of
Alhimali et al. (2019) highlighted the importance of water having various original salt concentrations which
microbial desalination cell which is a microbial electro- varies from 5 to 35 g/L. The bacteria cells were recorded to
chemical system as a proficient means of utilization in have eliminated salt present in water to about 90%, by
desalination with lower energy consumption. Recently, more utmost production of 2 W/m2 of the microbial desalination
attention has been focused on microbial desalination cell; cells. During the desalination process, there was a decrease
hence, the authors investigated bioelectricity generation plus in voltage as the cycle proceeded while after the desalina-
behaviour of ions transportation in microbial desalination tion, the microbial cells had an improved resistance of 970 X
cell. From the results obtained, they suggested that opti- from the initial 25 X. A new, energy producing and
mization of the salt transfer with ion diffusion coefficients is cost-effective desalination procedure was recorded by the
needed to boost microbial desalination cell performance. authors. The use of stacked microbial desalination cells
Carmalin and Bhalambaal (2016) revealed that microbial (SMDCs) in attaining potable water by evaluating the
desalination cells are a modified version of microbial fuel desalination rate was also investigated by Chen et al. (2011).
cells that utilize organic compounds from exoelectrogenic At to 0.0252 g/h, it was reported that the frequency of
bacteria in wastewater to generate energy. The authors desalination was increased when a two-desalination chamber
showed that enhancement in water desalination plus energy of stacked microbial desalination cell was used. The SMDCs
generation can be stimulated by activated carbon. were recorded to have a greater external resistance which
Chojnacka et al. (2012) suggested that algal biomass was 1.4 times greater than a single desalination chamber.
could be a very good source of renewable and valuable Jacobson et al. (2011) performed a four-month study set to
active substances with diverse range of industrial applica- investigate an uninterruptedly active upflow MDC to elim-
tions to meet up with the growing demand on energy and inate salt and create electricity. They observed that in four
water. The authors revealed that the commercial and pro- days, there was a > 99% salt elimination achieved and the
ductivity value of microalgal biomass and seaweeds is huge; production of 62 mA of energy and a total dissolved solid
thus, microalgae can be harnessed foe proficient supply of (TDS) removal rate of 7.50 and 5.25 g for TDS salt solution
energy and water desalination. It should be noted that not all volume and wastewater volume, respectively. It was also
techniques are capable of removing natural ionic contami- observed that a 30.8 W/m3 power density at its highest was
nants, though most techniques remove significant amount, also produced in this process. They concluded that the
but some remnant of pathogenic waste may still be found or UMDC technique produced a significant increase in energy
transfer. and further reduced the TDS.
Wang et al. (2020) showed that algae biocathodes have Over a period of eight months, Luo et al. (2012) reported
received tremendous attention as an alternative substitute to the several changes entailed in the properties of membrane
abiotic cathodes known to cause release of toxic chemicals and the different microbes found at the anode of an MDC.
and very costly to use. The authors deployed the use of They recorded a decline by 27% of the desalination profi-
Chlorella vulgaris microalgae to treat landfill leachate under ciency, and a reduction of MDC function was also recorded
after a while evident by 47% deterioration in density of the enhancement of MDC technology, Yuan et al. (2015b) in a
current produced. It was also observed that scaling and synergistic approach to eliminate chemical oxygen demand
fouling occurred at the cathode and anode of the membrane, (COD) for water treatment and efficiency in energy, MDCs,
respectively, with the phylum Proteobacteria being dominant and forward osmosis (FO) were employed in desalination of
at the AEM which improved system resistance thereby waste water. This was carried out by a pretreatment at the
lowering ion transfer, and thus, the translation to energy MDC anode, and furthermore, the effluent was sent to the
efficiency is reduced. In order to reduce the problems of the forward osmosis for conclusive retrieval. The authors dis-
migraton of ions which is caused by the MDC systems, covered that in the saline water, the conductivity reduction
Forrestal et al. (2012) investigated a novel microbial was improved to 99.4% by the MDC-FO technology, and it
desalination cells; capacitive adsorption capability (C-MDC) also reduced COD, and the waste water volume was also
having the ability to transfer ions to an adsorptive activated reduced by 93% and 65%, respectively, when compared to a
carbon cloth which are in turn used as electrodes, and they single MDC. It was also recorded that the reduction in NaCl
are further used for electrochemical ion adsorption purposes. had an effect on the reduction of the COD. This is a hopeful
It was discovered that in a single batch desalination cycle, method used for predesalination and waste water treatment
69.4% salt was eliminated without addition of salt to the of saline water. The synergistic utilization of forward
anodes and cathode, and the total dissolved solids osmosis and MDC (FO-MDC) in pretreatment of wastewater
(TDS) (61–82.2 mg) were reduced by the adsorption of 1 g was studied by the use of mathematical predictive models.
activated carbon cloth, which served as the electrode. This was done by incorporating FO with MDC to the model.
Mehanna et al. (2010) demonstrated the effectiveness and They reported that key parameters were detected, and this
salt elimination capability of MDC. It was recorded that was further attained by amending definite waste water of
MDC reduces the conductivity of salt water prior to reverse domestic origin with 500 mg glucose and a buffer of 50 mM
osmosis treatment procedure in achieving potable water. NaHCO3. They concluded that with appropriate proficiency,
They studied a three-sized chamber air cathode MDC and desalination could be effective and achieved (Yuan et al.,
discovered that with the reduction of the conductivity of the 2015b).
salt water, there was a production of a 480mW−2power In an in situ removal of nitrate from wastewater, it
density when 1 gL acetate solution was used. established a submerged microbial desalination cell serving
Morel et al. (2012) compared the desalination abilities of in the removal of nitrate, water treatment, and energy pro-
the classic MDC (C-MDC), and the MDC compacted with duction (Zhang, 2012). A total of 90.5% nitrate was
ion exchange resin (R-MDC). The R-MDC showed a 1.5–8 removed and a current density of 3.4 A/m2. It was reported
times better desalination potential rate with a low concen- that the external resistance was 10 X at a 12 h retention time.
tration of NaCl (10–2 g/L) than the classic MDC(C-MDC). It was concluded that SMDC is promising for the elimina-
It was recorded that due to the ion exchange resin which tion of nitrate in ground water.
served as a conductor, there was an upsurge in ohmic
resistance of R-MDC which was 55–272% lowered than that
of the C-MDC; therefore, R-MDC stopped the increase in 3 Conclusion and Future Recommendation
the resistance of the solution. It was concluded that R-MDC to Knowledge
is best appropriate for water/waste water with decreased
salinity. This chapter has provide a comprehensive information on the
Stoll et al. (2015) investigated that after one hour on the application of microorganism for the water desalination.
carbon electrode, there was a removal of 36 mg per gram of Several types of microorganisms that could be applied for
salt removal from the water produced. In an improved water desalination were also highlighted. The modes of action
development by Wen et al. (2012), aerobic bacterial cells through which they exhibited their action were also high-
were used as a catalyst on the cathode of MDC and were lighted. The principles involved in the process of desalination
compared with an air cathode MDC to ascertain its efficiency were also elucidated. During this study, it was discovered that
in waste water treatment and desalination. Under the same commercialization of this technology has suffered tremen-
conditions, the voltage (136 mV greater than air cathode dous setbacks due to several factors like pH instability, low
MDC) and the columbic efficiency at 96.2 ± 3.8% were current output, membrane biofouling plus polarization, sci-
reported to be significantly increased in the bacterial cat- entist still believe that if all these challenges are resolved,
alyzed cathode MDC than when compared to the air cathode microbial desalination holds a promising potential in the near
MDC. With anode solution of 0.441 L, the salinity of 39 ml future. Also, during this study, detailed information on prin-
of salty solution was decreased by 92% in the biocathode ciples involved in the process of microbial desalination such
catalyzed MCD, and this method was concluded to be more as air cathode microbial desalination cell, biocathode micro-
efficient method in water desalination. In a further bial desalination cell, stack-structure microbial desalination
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09.018
Graphene Composite Membrane for Water
Desalination
Deepak Senapati, Jagannath Panda, Rashmirekha Tripathy,

Tejaswini Sahoo, J. R. Sahu, Madhuri Hembram, Saraswati Soren,
C. K. Rath, T. K. Bastia, and Rojalin Sahu
Abstract membrane, and their fabrication methods for the applica-

tion of water desalination draw special attention for
Water is the basic necessity in the everyday life of human
effective challenges and future prospectus.
beings. There is a problem of freshwater scarcity due to
pollution caused by human interruption, urbanization,
Abbreviations
population growth, change of lifestyle, changing in
climate with frequently occurring natural calamities such aGO Amino-graphene oxide
as floods and droughts and also feckless use of water. The aPES Amino-polyether sulfone
research community is focused on water filtration as well APTS 3-Amino-propyl triethoxysilane
as desalination in order to produce huge amount of BSA Bovine serum albumin
purified water within very short period of time and low CNT Carbon nanotubes
cost. Currently, researchers are giving interested in CVD Chemical vapour deposition
graphene and its derivative-based composite membrane DMAc Dimethylacetamide
for water filtration as well as desalination due to some DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid
specific properties of this membrane. These composite f-GO Functionalized graphene oxide
membranes are generally prepared by incorporating some GO Graphene oxide
polymer matrices into the graphene derivatives. Previ- GOF Graphene oxide framework
ously, graphene has become a formal candidate for water Gt Graphite
purification and desalination process due to its hardness, GtO Graphite oxide
high thermal activity and good conductor of electricity. HPEI Hyper-branched polyethylenimine
Like other materials, it has also some disadvantages such LbL-SA Layer-by-layer self-assembly
as proper distribution of pores on the graphene sheets. MB Methylene blue
The ability of salt rejection by graphene decreases with MBR Membrane bioreactor
the increase in pore size and pressure. Recently, graphene MDS Molecular dynamics simulations
oxide (GO)-based composite membrane has become a MF Microfiltration
novel material for water purification and desalination MO Methyl orange
because of its large-scale production in industry, easy NF Nanofiltration
fabrication method and high mechanical strength. GO is NG Nanographene
the derivative of graphene containing oxygenated func- NMP N-methyl pyrolidone
tional groups such as epoxy, carbonyl, hydroxyl and OMWCNT One-dimensional oxidized carbon nanotubes
carboxyl group which increases the hydrophilic properties PA Polyamide
and acts as functional reactive sides. This lesson summa- PAN Polyacrylonitrile
rizes the recent progress of graphene-based composite PDA Polydopamine
PAH Polyallyaminehydrochloride
D. Senapati J. Panda R. Tripathy T. Sahoo J. R. Sahu PEC Polyelectrolytecomplex
M. Hembram S. Soren C. K. Rath T. K. Bastia R. Sahu (&) PECVD Plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition
School of Applied Sciences, Kalinga Institute of Industrial PEG Polyethylene glycol
Technology, Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, PEI Polyethylenimine
751024India
e-mail: rsahufch@kiit.ac.in PES Polyethersulfone
228 D. Senapati et al.
PSF Polysulfone nanotube (CNT)-based membrane used for water purifica-

PVDF Polyvinylidene fluoride tion are inefficient due to its low water permeability (Hu
RB Rhodamine B et al., 2011) and low salt rejection (Fornasiero et al., 2008,
rGO Reduced graphene oxide 2010), respectively, as compared to graphene. As a conse-
RO Reverse osmosis quence because of some unique characteristics, graphene
TFC Thin-film composite and graphene-based composite membranes have become a
UF Ultrafiltration challenging material for water purification and desalination
UV Ultraviolet (Cohen-Tanugi et al., 2013). This chapter describes about
the recent development of various types of graphene-based
composite membrane, its fabrication process and mechanism
for water desalination and pointed out their future
1 Introduction prospectus.
Water scarcity is a critical environmental problem across the

globe. According to a report by WHO, a billion people lack 2 Water Desalination Membranes:
safe drinking water at home and it is severe in poorer A Challenging Effect
countries.
There is scarcity of consumable water in the globe due to The better performance of the membrane for desalination
rapid population growth. The underground and seawater generally depends on its fouling resistance, water flux and
contain a large amount of contaminated particles, salts and salt rejection. The high-operating costs of reverse osmosis
various unwanted particles. The cost of separating these process are because of the low water flux and high energy
particles is rather high, and therefore, this water cannot be consumption. Further, it was noticed that by decreasing the
used as consumable water in large scale (Lapworth, 2012; pressure does not affect the membrane performance.
Wang et al., 2012a). In order to disinfect these infected water Cohen-Tanugi et al. (2014) developed an ultra-permeable
as well as desalination of seawater, researchers are applying membrane in order to increase the water permeability per-
various techniques which will be economically favourable formance of RO. They observed that the water permeability
and environmental friendly. They developed several meth- increases three times more by reducing the pressure vessel
ods such as reverse osmosis, ion exchange and distillation through 63 and 44% in favour of seawater and brackish
which have been used for water purification (Wang et al., water RO plants severally without affecting energy con-
2012a). These methods have certain limitations: sumption and permeate recovery. The consumption of
self-pollution, financially not feasible, more power con- energy was also reduced by 15% and 63% for seawater and
sumption and adoption of acute resources (Wang et al., brackish water, respectively, at the same permeate produc-
2012a). Some economically developed countries, like Saudi tion per vessel. Due to the overpriced value of energy, the
Arabia and Israel, have implemented plants for reverse decrease in energy consumption plays a crucial effect for this
osmosis process (Harrington, 2014). In 1990s, this process process. The key problem generates during desalination
was implemented in place of distillation method due to huge process is membrane fouling which causes the diminution of
power requirement in distillation process (Spiegler & the RO membranes, activity (Greenlee et al., 2009; Matin
El-Sayed, 2001). A polymer membrane is used in reverse et al., 2011). Generally, membrane fouling occurs due to
osmosis process with particular structural gaps. In this pro- precipitation of some insoluble salt on the membrane sur-
cess, seawater is applied forcefully from one side of the face, blocking of the feed steam spacer, filling of pores
membrane which permeates about 250 million gallons of present on the membrane surface by the minute particles,
freshwater per day and impermeable to hydrated ion like interaction of solute with the membrane surface. (Amiri &
sodium and chloride ion (Aghigh et al., 2015). Since this Samiei, 2007). A biofilm is also developed by the aggre-
process utilizes more current, this method was not appro- gation of the biopolymers or some microorganisms such as
priate for large-scale production of pure water (Dickie, bacteria, fungi and algae on the coating area throughout
2007). Various membrane-based desalination processes reverse osmosis process which is a most challenging effect
which are categorized according to their membrane pore size for seawater desalination technology (Misdan et al., 2012;
and permeability are shown in Fig. 1 (Schilling, 2013). In Yang et al., 2011). The formation of biofilm causes the
order to eliminate the problems created by various mem- lower water productivity, shortening of membrane lifetime,
brane filter processes, researchers have developed a new requirement of high pressure for water output and utilization
technology called nanotechnology which has created a new of high energy (Matin et al., 2011). In order to increase the
platform for water filtration and desalination (Xu et al., membrane performance, various oxidative solutions like
2012a). Some of the nanomaterial such as zeolite and carbon chlorine which is used for discharging the increased coating
Graphene Composite Membrane for Water Desalination 229
Fig. 1 Various types of membrane filter processes according to their pore size
biological film. When this membrane is treated with chlorine they have also p orbital through which the free electron can
solution, it reacts over polyamide (PA) on the coating area delocalize; as a result, graphite is the good conductor of
and stops the formation of biofilm (Alayemieka & Lee, electricity. The three-dimensional arrangement of graphene
2012; Avlonitis et al., 1992; Cadotte, 1980; Gabelich et al., layer one above the other having interplanar gaps 0.335 nm
2005; Misdan et al., 2012). Due to the repetition of this is called graphite (Surwade et al., 2015). Kim et al. (Bae
process, it chemically deteriorates the polyamide layer and et al., 2010) developed roll-to-roll production of monolayer
decreases the TFC-RO performance for salt rejection (Maruf 30-inch graphene films having 97.4% optical transmittance.
et al., 2012), even after addition of small amount of chlorine It is strongest, lightest, most conductive and transparent and
to the supply water (Robert, 2006). has good mechanical stability which allows high water flux,
more water transport, high salt rejection, need low pressure
and broad serviceable conditions than previously possible.
3 Physicochemical Synthesis of Graphene The fabrication of graphene is based on bottom-up and
and Its Properties top-down methods. In bottom-up method, graphenes are
prepared by the chemical reaction of small organic mole-
In 1962, graphene was first detected in electron microscopes cules or atoms. Silicon carbide, thermal CVD and PECVD
supported on metal surfaces. Later on the two physicists are generally used for the epitaxial growth of graphene on
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the Nobel Prize various metal surfaces (Wang et al., 2013). The methods
in 2010 for their innovative experiment with respect to the such as chemically derived graphene, chemical reduction
2D material (Boehm et al., 1962; Hancock, 2010; Novoselov and electrochemical synthesis are used in top-down method
et al., 2004). The researchers gave significant focus on for better yield and good quality of graphene (To Rid Water
graphene for its various applications including water of Salt, MIT Group Taps Thin Carbon & Computing, Office
desalination. In 2013, Lockheed Martin patented under the of Science, U.S., 2014). Large-scale graphenes are also
trademark “perforene” for this application of graphene prepared by the reduction of graphene oxide which is formed
(Boretti et al., 2018). Graphene is a single two-dimensional from the exfoliated graphite oxide (To Rid Water of Salt,
sheet of graphite. In graphene, each carbon atoms are sp2— MIT Group Taps Thin Carbon & Computing, Office of
hybridized and are bonded together forms a hexagonal Science, U.S., 2014). Nanoporous graphene used for water
honeycomb-like lattice structure which gives it many desalination process is generally prepared by creating
amazing characteristics. The carbon–carbon bond length of nanopores within the unsaturated carbon atoms passivated
graphene is 0.142 nm (Solutions, 1958). The carbon atoms by the chemical functional groups. The initial methods, i.e.
of graphene are joined by each other through r—bonds, and electron beam exposure, were mainly used for creating
Fig. 2 Graphene oxide structure
nanopores. Recently, some other experimental procedures reduced graphene oxide (rGO), graphite (Gt) and graphene
were developed by the researchers, for example diblock oxide (GO) against the bacterial model ῾Escherichia Coli᾽.
copolymer modelling, helium ion drilling, and chemical They observed that graphene oxide has the largest antibac-
inscribing to carry out the distribution of pore size precisely terial activity succeeded by GtO, rGO and Gt consecutively
as well as higher porosity (Bell et al., 2009; Bieri et al., under equal focusing and incubation conditions. Further-
2009; Garaj et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2010). The fabricated more, graphene is an inactive matter and it melts very
nanoporous graphene has capability for DNA sequencing slightly in organic solvents (Stankovich et al., 2007). Hence,
and gas separation (Blankenburg et al., 2010; Hauser & it was suggested that for practical utilization of graphene in
Schwerdtfeger, 2012; Postma, 2010; Schrier & McClain, several applications, the fresh graphene should be chemi-
2012; Xu et al., 2012b), as well as it has a potential role for cally modified (Stankovich et al., 2007; Sun et al., 2011).
water desalination. Using classical molecular dynamics Graphene oxide is an oxidized form of graphene that con-
simulation Grossman and his co-workers (Bae et al., 2010) tains oxygen-containing functional groups such as carboxyl,
reported that the rate of rejection of salt from water by using carbonyl, hydroxyl and epoxy groups on its edges and basal
single-layer nanoporous graphene, increases twofold to planes (Lerf et al., 1998) (Fig. 2). The presence of such
threefold higher in magnitude, i.e. range 10–100 L/cm2/ types of functional groups empowers the hydrophilic prop-
day/MPa, when it was compared with diffusive RO mem- erties of GO and increases its solubility in water, which also
branes. With all of the above-mentioned advantages of NG makes an expedient and profitable process for the prepara-
sheet in RO application, there are still some unknowns with tion as well as molecular separation of GO membrane
all of the above-mentioned advantages of NG sheet in RO (Huang et al., 2013; Szabó et al., 2005). These oxygenated
application. The results obtained for NG membrane are functional groups also take part for further surface modifi-
stimulation-based yet there has not been obtained any cation of GO nanosheet for which corresponding functional
practical result for this novel membrane. Another problem is GO-based composite membrane can be prepared with more
that the flow of water through NG membrane increases with suitable separation performance. Due to these advantages as
increasing the number of pores on the graphene sheet as a well as high surface area of GO nanosheets, researchers
result the mechanical stability of the membrane decreases. developed different types of GO-based composite membrane
So the primary concerns for the NG sheet membrane are and considered as a potential graphene-based material for
properly managed and distribution of pores on the graphene water purification (Hu & Mi, 2013), desalination (Feng
sheets in addition to scaling up the manufacture of the gra- et al., 2016a), gas separation (Kim et al., 2013a; Shen et al.,
phene sheets. In order to sort out the problems created for 2016a) and evaporation(Hung et al., 2014).
this method, comprehensive examination and further inves-
tigation have to be carried out. Nanocarbon-based materials,
i.e. graphene and CNTs, act as antimicrobial surfaces which 4 Preparation of GO
inhibits the bacterial growth when come in direct contact
with cells (Akhavan & ElhamGhaderi, 2010; Kang et al., The synthesis of GO involves through two consecutive
2007; Liu et al., 2011; Tu et al., 2013; Vecitis et al., 2010). steps, i.e. oxidation of graphite followed by exfoliation of
Liu et al. (2011) studied the antibacterial activity of four graphite oxide, as shown in Fig. 3. From the various liter-
types of graphene derivatives, i.e. graphite oxide (GtO), ature review, we found that there are various methods of
Fig. 3 Schematic illustration of GO preparation processFig. 3 Schematic illustration of GO preparation process
preparation of GO have been reported. In 1859, Brodie washed and dried completely. After that, this pre-oxidized
(Brodie, 1859) first synthesized GO by using graphite as graphite further oxidized by using Hummers᾽ method which
starting material which was oxidized by using fuming HNO3 than exfoliated to produce GO flakes. Although this process
and potassium chlorate (KClO3) as the oxidant. Later on, this produces toxic gases, still this method was more efficient and
method was revised by Staudenmaier which was more effi- gives better yield within very short period. Recently, some
cient and suitable method for the production of GO. In this other techniques have also been developed for producing
method, he added KClO3 fractionally in graphite solution GO (Luo et al., 2009; Marcano et al., 2010; Peng et al.,
and then acidified this mixture with concentrated H2SO4 2015).
(Staudenmaier, 1898). Both these methods produce toxic
gases which were insecure and environmentally unfriendly.
In 1937, Hofmann improved the production process of GO 5 Preparation of GO Membrane
by substituting non-fuming HNO3 in place of fuming HNO3
during the oxidation process (Hofmann & König, 1937). There are various methods of preparation of GO membranes
After Hofmann, in 1958 Hummers and Offeman focused on which are based on high aspect ratio and also degree of
further development of this procedure, who served graphite dispersion of GO. These methods include layer-by-layer
with anhydrous mixture of KMnO4, NaNO3 and concen- (LBL) self-assembly method, filtration-assisted method and
trated H2SO4 (Hummers Jr et al., 1958). This process was casting/coating–assembly method. Filtration-assisted method
safe, productive and complete within 2 h. Later on, it was is the simple way for the preparation of GO in which GO is
modified by Kovtyukhova et al. (1999) for complete oxi- homogeneously suspended in a solution, after that it is fil-
dation of graphite. First, they treated graphite powder into a tered by using a porous support to obtain a uniform coating.
mixture solution consisting of concentrated H2SO4, P2O5 The filtration process can be vacuum- or pressure-assisted.
and K2S2O8 at 80 °C. Then this solution was filtered, By using this method, mainly free-standing GO membranes
are prepared (Dikin et al., 2007; Hung et al., 2014; Joshi 6 Characterization of GO membrane
et al., 2014). This method provides a prospective way to
enlarge the production of GO membrane and also controls It is very important to characterize the physical and
over the microstructure as well as wideness of the membrane. chemical properties of graphene oxide membrane for fur-
Some other simple methods belonging to ther application. Various characterization techniques have
casting/coating–-assisted method have also been developed been utilized for the structural determination of GO mem-
for the production of GO membranes. These methods consist brane and its performance for separation. These character-
drop-casting (Shen et al., 2016b), spin-coating (Robinson ization techniques are mainly thermogravimetric analysis
et al., 2008), spaying-coating/casting (Nair, 2012) and (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron
dip-coating (Wang et al., 2016). By using spin-coating spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM),
method, Kim et al. (2013a) prepared few-layered GO sheets transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force
on a polyether sulfone (PES) substrate for the purpose of gas microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform
separation. Large area and ultrathin GO sheets were also infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), contact angle measurement
prepared by Robinson and his co-workers (Robinson et al., and measurement of zeta potential. Surface morphology,
2008) via modified spin-coating technique. They reported especially uniformity and roughness on the surface of the
that these membranes have outstanding mechanical proper- membrane, is studied by TEM, SEM and AFM. Thickness
ties. By varying the concentration of GO in solution its and cross-sectional morphology of the membrane are also
membrane thickness could be controlled on nanometer scale. studied by applying these methods (Hu & Mi, 2013; Li
In this method, individual GO nanosheet within the GO et al., 2008). Studies of the contact angle and TGA are very
membranes holds strongly by hydrogen bonding and Van der useful to get the information regarding the hydrophobic or
Waals force. Recently, researchers gave their interest on hydrophilic nature of the surface and thermal stability of
fabrication of GO laminate via layer-by-layer deposition of the membrane, respectively (An et al., 2011; Feng et al.,
GO nanosheets. These GO nanosheets within the GO lami- 2016a). Chemical composition and microstructure of the
nate are held together by either covalent bonding or elec- membrane are studied by FT-IR, Raman, XPS and XRD.
trostatic interaction (An et al., 2011; Hu & Mi, 2013). Hu These techniques are the most commonly used techniques
et al. (Hu & Mi, 2014) prepared bilayer GO-PAH composite for this purpose (Guan et al., 2017; Huang et al., 2014).
membrane by layer-by-layer deposition of GO and poly(al- The charge on the surface of the membrane is determined
lylamine hydrochloride) on the porous PAN substrate which by using surface zeta potential measurement. Mechanical
act as a membrane supporter. Since the surface of GO stability of graphene oxide membrane is determined by
nanosheet is positively charged and PAH is positively stress–strain curve. Furthermore, tensile strength and
charged, so both are held together through electrostatic force Young’s modulus are also characterized by this curve
of attraction. They reported that the fabricated GO membrane (Huang et al., 2013). An experimental method for the
show high water permeability, high salt rejection (*99% for precise determination of d-spacing of graphene–oxide
sucrose) and possessed a close-packed structure in solution membrane in the aqueous environment is reported by Mi
having low ionic strength. Since this process is renewable, et al (Zheng et al., 2017). Various characterization methods
cost-effective and environmentally friendly, so it is conven- used to characterize GO membrane are outlined in Table 1.
tionally used for the preparation of GO membranes. Apart
from these methods, some additional methods have also been
implemented for the preparation of GO membrane such as 7 Recent Development of GO-Assisted
evaporation-assisted method (Chen et al., 2009; Guan et al., Desalination Membranes
2017), templating-assisted method (Wei et al., 2008),
shear-induced alignment method (Akbari et al., 2016), GO membranes are classified into three categories for the
Langmuir–Blodgett assembly method (Cote et al., 2009; Li purpose of water desalination such as free-standing GO
et al., 2008) and hybrid method (Shen et al., 2016c). From the membranes, supported-GO membranes and
description of the aforementioned methods of preparation of incorporated-GO membrane. If the GO membrane is directly
GO-based membrane, it concluded that the shape of the GO used as a separating layer without attaching any other
membrane and its membrane performance towards separation material, it is categorized as free-standing GO membrane. In
generally depends on the conditions and methods used during the second category, either an inorganic or a polymeric
the fabrication process. Therefore by using reformed fabri- substance assists GO membranes for operating the mem-
cation condition and suitable fabrication technique, a brane performance. The third employs that the GO
preferable GO membrane can be achieved for a specific nanosheets are directly fused with polymer casting solution
practical application. in the time of production. Recent development and
Table 1 Various methods used Methods used for Characterization Information obtained by characterization References
to characterizeGO membrane of GO membrane
SEM Identification of detail structure of its Hu and Mi (2013)
AFM surface as well as its cross-sectional area Hu and Mi (2013)
TEM Information obtained about the Cote et al. (2009)
TGA roughness of membrane surface and its Sun et al. (2011)
CA uniformity Feng et al. (2016a)
FT-IR Explained the detail structure of its Chen et al. (2009)
Raman Spectroscopy surface and its cross-sectional area Chen et al. (2009)
XPS Thermo resistance of the membrane Chen et al. (2009)
XRD Hydrophobic and hydrophilic Zheng et al. (2017)
Surface characteristics of the membrane surface Huang et al. (2013)
Zeta potential Functional groups present on the Huang et al. (2013)
Stress–strain curve membrane surface and its chemical DDikin et al. (2007)
Integrated quartz crystal structure
microbalance Pointed out GO’s existing capacity in
with dissipation and ellipsometry composite membrane
Quantitative analysis about the
composition of element present in the
membrane
Determine the structure of the crystal
along with its d-spacing
Recognized about the charges on the
membrane surface
Young’s modulus, mechanical strength
and hardness
Precisely calculate the d-spacing of
membranes in a water medium
performance of the above three categorized GO-based orange (MO) and Rhodamine B (RB) from water.
desalination membranes are summarized in Table 2. A Cu-assisted GO NF membrane was prepared by Nair et al.
(2012) via spin- or spray-coating method with their inter-
layer slits reduced to 1 nm. They reported that the acquired
7.1 Free-Standing GO Membrane membrane penetrates water molecule approximately 1010
times faster relative to helium and in penetrable to liquids,
Free-standing GO membrane is mostly used in water vapours and gases, along with helium. Sun et al. (2013a)
desalination application because of some specificity in prepared free-standing GO NF membrane minimized to
structure. Generally, GO membranes are formed in the form intersect space 0.85 nm and applied for the partition of
of laminate in which the GO nanosheets are packed and copper salt and sodium salt from organic contaminants.
stacked one above the other and there forms an interlayer From classical molecular dynamics simulation (MDS),
gap called d-spacing (Fig. 4a). GO membranes have high Nicolai’s group (Nicolaï et al., 2014) reported that
tensile strength and pliability due to their tiny thick- free-standing GO membrane acts as an ideal candidate for
ness (Dikin et al., 2007; Eda & Chhowalla, 2010; Geim, water desalination with 100% salt rejection and its perme-
2009; Robinson et al., 2008). From the various researches, it ation ability increases twice as compared to the current RO
was also concluded that due to the existence of the techniques.
oxygen-containing functional groups these membranes
selectively permeate water molecule without any obstacle,
but do not allow liquids, vapours, gases and also helium. The 7.2 Supported-GO Membrane
formation of interlayer gaps between the GO sheets is also
possible due to the presence of these functional groups in Although free-standing GO membrane has performed well in
GO (Cerveny et al., 2010; Jeong et al., 2009; Lerf, 2006; water purification and desalination application, a
McAllister et al., 2007). Xu et al. (2013) prepared graphene supported-GO membrane has also a great role in membrane
oxide with TiO2 composite NF coat which contains pore size separation application as well as it improves the antibacterial
of 3.5 nm by using vacuum filtration process. They reported activity (Liu et al., 2011; Perreault et al., 2014; Tu et al.,
that this membrane successfully rejects (*100%) methyl 2013), antifouling properties and more reluctant to chlorine
Table 2 Outline regarding the current analysis of various GO-based water desalination membrane and its impact on the membrane performance
Types of GO Name of the GO Membrane Fabrication Method Membrane performance References
Membrane Membrane Classification
Free-standing GO/TiO2 NF Vacuum filtration Remove MO and RB McAllister et al.
Cu-assisted GO NF Spray/spin coating 100%, flux: 7 L/m2.h (2007)
GO membrane NF Drop-casting water permeation 1010 Xu et al. (2013)
times more selective Sun et al. (2013a)
permeation sodium salt
than copper salt and
organic content
Supported aGO/GO/aPES RO Self-assembly LBL NaCl rejection: 98% Kim et al. (2013b)
aGO/GO/PA RO (TFC) deposition Water flux: 28 L/m2.h Choi et al. (2013)
GO-TiO2/PSF Photocatalytic Self-assembly LBL NaCl rejection: 96.4% Gao et al. (2014)
GO/PAN NF deposition Water flux: 14 L/m2.h Xu et al. (2013)
GO/PA pervaporation UV Self-assembly LBL Reject MB: 90% Perreault et al.
RO (TFC) deposition Flux: 45 L/m2.h (2014)
Pressure-assisted IPA/water : 70 wt%,
self-assembly drop-casting 99.5%, Flux: 4137 g/m2.h
GO covalent bonded Reject NaCl: 97.8%
membrane surface Flux: 1.5 L/m2.h.bar
GO-modified GO/NMP/PSF UF Phase inversion Rejection BSA: 99% Xu et al. (2014)
GO-modified GO/DMAc/PVDF UF Phase inversion Flux: 450 L/m2.h Zhao et al. (2014)
GO/NMP/PSF NF Phase inversion Rejection BSA: 79% Zinadini et al.
i-f-GO/PSE UF Phase inversion Flux: 26.49 L/m2.h (2014)
HPEI-GO/PGE UF Phase inversion Rejection Na2SO4: 72% Ganesh et al.
GO/PECs NF Dynamic self-assembly LbL Flux: 50 L/m2.h (2013)
GO/OMWCNTs/PVDF UF blending Rejection BSA: 95% Lee et al. (2013)
GO/DMAc/PES NF Phase inversion Flux: 135 kg/m2.h Sun et al. (2013b)
APTSf-GO/PVDF UF Phase inversion RejectPEG 20000: 85% & Yu et al. (2013)
GO/DMAc /PVDF MF Phase inversion PVA 30000-70000: 90%, Zhao et al. (2013b)
Phase inversion Flux: 153.5 L/m2.h Zhao et al. (2013a)
Reject Mg2+ 92.6% and Yeh et al. (2015)
Na+ 43.2%, flux: 7.1
kg/m2.h MPa, &
8.1 kg/m2 .h MPa
Flux: 410 L/m2.h
Antifouling BSA: 98.3%
Dye rejection: 96%
Flux: 53 kg /m2.h
Rejection BSA 57%
Flux: 401.39 L/m2.h
Yeast suspension 80%
Flux: 324.5 l /m2.h
(Choi et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2013b). Since small quantity membrane without disturbing the flow of water as well as
of GO nanomaterials is needed to customize the surface of disallowance of salt. It was also studied that, although there
GO membrane, so it is inexpensive and eco-friendly. The is an increase in hydrophilic character of the modified
surface modification of GO membranes occurs by applying membrane, there is not any improve of water flow rate. This
layer-by-layer self-deposition technique either covalently or is because the rate of flow of water is independent of the
non-covalently, as shown in Fig. 4b. For non-covalently surface improvement, but depends on the solution diffusion
modify the membrane, GO could be used directly or through model of PA (TFC) polymer (Elimelech & Phillip, 2011).
bridging material (i.e. aGO or TiO2) depending on the net Kim et al. (2013b) fabricated a non-covalently bonded
charge on the membrane surface. Elimelech et al. (Perreault aGO/GO/aPES RO membrane by successive deposition of
et al., 2014) prepared GO/PA (TFC) membrane which has negative part GO NPs layer and positive part amino-GO
sturdy and good impact for absorbing water as well as (aGO) on an amino-polyether sulfone (aPES) membrane
destroying microorganisms that carry diseases. They also surface. They reported that this fabricated membrane rejects
observed that the bacterial cell undergoes deactivation up to salt 98%, and permeates water 28 L/m2 h, as well as it has
65% after one hour on direct contact with the modified more resistance to chlorine relative to primary PA RO
membrane. When GO and a GO multilayers were coated on et al., 2013). The GOs used to incorporate into the polymer
the polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) membrane matrix are either functionalized or used directly, as shown in
surface via layer-by-layer self-assembly process, it acts as Fig. 4c. Several researchers used various modifiers to
chlorine resistant as well as antifouling property (Choi et al., functionalize GO such as hyper-branched polyethyleneimine
2013). In addition, when this membrane was matched with (HPEI) (Yu et al., 2013), 3-amino-propyl triethoxysilane
unmodified membrane, it was found that the rate of flow of (APTS) (Xu et al., 2014) and isocyanate (i) (Zhao et al.,
water was enhanced by 10% and there is a slight decrease of 2013a). Xu et al. (2014) prepared APTS f-GO/PVDF by
salt rejection by 0.7%. By applying the same technology, a adjoining different ratios of GO and f-GO to the hybrid
photocatalytic membrane GO-TiO2/PSF was prepared by polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) via phase inversion induced
Gao et al. (Gao et al., 2014). They fabricated the membrane by immersion precipitation technique. When this membrane
by depositing GO layer on the exterior part of a polysulfide was correlated with the GO/PVDF, it was observed that the
membrane followed by TiO2 in the presence of UV and obtained membrane exhibits high water flow rate, more
sunlight radiation. It was also observed that GO undergoes tensile strength and also elongation-at-break increases by
partial reduction after treating with ethanol/UV. They 69.01 and 48.38% due to the sturdy covalent bonding
reported that the modified membrane exhibits decomposition interaction between the faces of functionalized GO and
of organic contaminates in the presence of UV and sunlight PVDV. They also observed that this fabricated membrane
and effectively rejects 90% methylene blue (MB), along with has the capability for the rejection of bovine serum albumin
this modified membrane increases the flow of water to 45 (BSA) about 55%. The identical phenomenon was launched
L/m2/h under UV, due to more membrane hydrophilicity by Yu et al. (2013) and revealed the fabricated membrane
caused by photoactivity of GO-TiO2. Preparation of HPEI f-GO/PES exhibited high tensile strength and Young’s
GO-modified PAN composite membrane through modulus. The hybrid membrane also showed an effective
pressure-assisted self-assembly method was guided by Hung antibacterial performance and slightly decreases pure water
et al. (2014) and studied their pervaporation separation for flux as compared with pure membranes. The potentiality of
isopropyl alcohol (IPA)/H2O solution. They observed that this prepared membrane to reject polyvinyl alcohol
during the pervaporation separation of 70 wt% IPA/water (PVA) 30,000–70,000 and PEG 20,000 by about 90% and
solution, the fabricated membrane shows an excellent work: 85%, respectively, was also enumerated by them. By
nearly 99.5 wt% water recovery and the water permeation applying the same methodology, Zhang et al. (2013a) pre-
flux reaches 4137 g/m2/h. The high selectivity of this compared an i-GO/PSF ultrafiltration membrane and studied its
posite membrane towards permeation of water molecule and membrane performance as well as antifouling properties.
avoiding of IPA molecule is because of the highly ordered They reported that the fabricated membrane has more neg-
and packed arrangements of the GO laminates. By applying ative zeta potential and also increases its hydrophilic char-
vacuum filtration method, Huang and co-workers (Feng acter along with smoothness of the membrane, which result
et al., 2016b; Xu et al., 2016) developed GO/Al2O3 and for enhancing its antifouling properties. They also observed
(GOF)/Al2O3 composite membrane and covalently joined by that this membrane has the ability to reject bovine serum
polydopamine (PDA) and 1, 4-phenylene diisocyanate albumin (BSA) and ovalbumin by about 95% and 6%,
(PDI), respectively. These modified membranes are very respectively. Some researchers also focused on to incorpo-
robust, reproducible, and as well as they selectively per- rate unfunctionalized GO into polymer matrix. By applying
meate some molecules and ions. Due to the great adhesive phase inversion technology, they incorporated the GO into
ability of PDA and PDI, the GO nanosheets were strongly different polymeric coatings. These are graphene oxide /
bound onto the support surface. Both the composite mem- N-methyl pyrolidone (NMP)/PSF (Ganesh et al., 2013), and
branes show appreciative performance for seawater desali- graphene oxide /di-methyl acetamide (DMAc)/PES (Zina-
nation with high ion rejection over 99.7% and water outflow dini et al., 2014) NF membrane, graphene oxide/one-
for 3.5 wt% seawater. dimensional oxidized carbon nanotubes (OMWCNTs)/
PVDF (Zhang et al., 2013), and graphene oxide/DMAc/
PVDF UF membrane (Zhao et al., 2013b), GO/DMAc/
7.3 GO-Incorporated Composite Membrane PVDF (Zhao et al., 2014) MF membrane and GO/NMP/PSF
(Lee et al., 2013) membrane bioreactors (MBRS) and stud-
Apart from the two aforementioned methods, researchers ied their extraordinary impact. Ganesh et al. (2013) prepared
concentrated on altering polymeric membrane with GO the graphene oxide /N-methyl pyrolidone (NMP)/PSF and
nanosheets by applying several techniques in order to enrich studied its water flux and rejection flux. They investigated
the outlet of water through this membrane and also to that the permeability of water increases due to increase in
increase its antibacterial activity as well as its tensile strength hydrophilic character of the membrane as well as the for-
(Lee et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2012b; Yu et al., 2013; Zhang mation of more number of microvoid on the membrane
Fig. 4 Overview of a Free-standing GO membrane, b Supported-GO membrane, c Incorporated-GO membrane
surface by doping GO during phase inversion method. They fabricated membrane increases flow of water about 79%,
also observed that this fabricated membrane rejects NaSO4 equivalent to 26.49 L/m2 h, as well as it rejects BSA about
by 72% with loading of GO about 2000 ppm, at 4 bar 44.3%. The better antifouling properties of this UF mem-
pressure and the trend of salt rejection increases with rise in brane are because of the change of surface hydrophilicity
the PH of feed solution. A novel GO/di-methylacetamide and smoother surface with a higher efficient filtration area.
(DMAc)/PES membrane was developed by Zinadini et al.
(2014), and they stated that the membrane has high dye
removal capacity by 99% and significant improve of water 8 Advanced Mechanical Sturdiness of GO
flow rate by 65.2 kg/m2 h due to large hydrophilic character membrane and Its Stability in Aqueous
of the prepared membrane. Li et al. (Zhang et al., 2013) Environment
investigated the synergistic effect between the
two-dimensional GO and one-dimensional oxidized carbon In recent times, GO membrane has drawn considerable
nanotubes (OMWCNTs) on permeation and antifouling attention due to their remarkable performance in separation.
performance of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). They The separation ability of GO membrane is much higher than
studied that long and tortuous OMWCNTs bridge the adja- the existing traditional membranes. Despite the promising
cent GO and inhibit their aggregation which improves its application of GO membrane for its performance in sepa-
antifouling performance and hydrophilicity of the fabricated ration, still some critical challenges exist for practical
membrane. The modified membrane has bigger pore density applications. The most significant challenge is to determine
which plays a positive role in permeation flux and the pure the stability of intermediate spacings between adjoining GO
water flux recovery achieved 98.28% for membrane with the nanosheets during application in aqueous medium. This
ratio of 5:5 (GO/OMWCNTs). Zhao et al. (2013b) prepared problem arises because of the hydrophilic properties of GO
the modified GO/DMAc/PVDF UF and reported that this sheets and the electrostatic repulsion of negatively charges
GO sheets on hydration. By this way, the GO membrane possible due to the compressed nanochannels as well as
gradually damaged after working over a particular time increased hydrophilic properties on the surface of reduced
period. Basically, the interlayer nanochannels are deterio- GO laminates.
rated and disassembled (Sun et al., 2013b; Yeh et al., 2015).
It is essential to increase the structural toughness of GO
membrane by creating strong bonding between the GO 9 Conclusion
nanosheets for its real-world approach for water purification.
Stability of GO membrane in aqueous environment has Graphene and its derivatives have higher properties and
gained considerable attention, and many productive contri- show excellent potential to be operated in membrane sepa-
butions are made to solve this issue. Recently, scientific ration. Graphene-based composite membrane has excellent
communities have developed stable GO membrane which is performance in water purification and desalination. Various
applicable in aqueous environment by insertion of various types of graphene oxide membranes such as free-standing
cross-linking agents in between the adjoining GO nanosh- GO membranes, supported-GO membranes and
eets. These are bonded either by covalent bonds or electro- incorporated-GO membranes have been utilized in several
static force of attraction. The first chemically cross-linking procedures for better membrane performance towards
agents that inserted between GO nanosheets utilizing desalination application. After the incorporation of GO,
di-valent ions and polyallylamine (PAA) were fabricated by there is an increase in several membrane properties such as
Park et al. (Park et al., 2008, 2009) which significantly tensile strength, antibacterial activity, thermal properties,
improved the mechanical stability of GO membrane as selectivity, water flow rate and antifouling properties, as
compared to the pristine GO membrane. Some other compared to the pristine membrane. GO-assisted composite
cross-linked GO membranes were developed by Mi et al. membrane shows a positive performance for split of
(Hu & Mi, 2013, 2014) that showed outstanding stability mono-valent and di-valent ions and dehydration of solvent–
towards the treatment of water. This cross-linked membrane water mixture and dyes discharge. It was observed that the
was prepared by layer-by-layer deposition of 1, 3, 5-benzene coupling of graphene oxide and polymers is advantageous
tricarbonyl trichloride (TMC) and positively charged PAH for the development of membrane properties which helps the
as cross-linkers. Zhao et al. (2015) prepared a gelatin development of effective GO-based desalination membrane
(GE) cross-linked GO membrane for the separation of through various techniques. Though graphene oxide
water/ethanol which interlink the GO nanosheets through nanosheet is an auspicious development barrier for the fab-
hydrogen bonding or by electrostatic and hydrophobic rication of graphene oxide-assisted desalination membrane,
interaction. In recent past, Lim et al. (2017) fabricated a there is also have some disadvantages. These are surface
stable PEI cross-linked TA-GO membrane by covalent defects, unideal alignment, mechanical instability and
bonding between tannic acid (TA)—functionalized GO assembly. The most effective challenge that was faced by the
membrane and polyethylenimine (PEI) which act as researchers is large-scale wholesale production of an ultra-
cross-linker that showed outstanding performance in an thin high permeability GO membrane. More research should
aqueous environment. By applying vacuum-assisted filtra- be carried out to further understand the structural stability,
tion method, Zhang et al. (2017) prepared an innovative membrane interaction and fabrication process for better
graphene oxide framework (GOF) membrane by covalent membrane separation performance. Although there are
cross-linking of GO nanosheets with chemically challenges and problems, graphene-based composite mem-
cross-linking agent isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI). The brane provides one of the most promising tools for water
obtained IPDI-GOF membranes improve the membrane purification and desalination and solves the expected global
stability as well as it increases the permeability of water (80 water crisis.
L/m2/h) under appreciably low pressure (1.0 bar) and readily
removes organic dye molecule up to 96%. From various
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Renewable Energy-Assisted Desalination
V. C. Akubude, A. P. Adeagbo, C. C. Asuzu, J. A. Oyedokun,

and K. N. Nwaigwe
The present water and energy crisis facing the world at
large with the ever-growing population is one that Water is very important in sustenance of living creatures;
demands careful attention by the research community. nevertheless, most of the water sources around are unfit for
The treatment of seawater and brackish water by consumption due to high salt content. Freshwater is
integrating renewable energy technologies into desalina- approximately 3% of the total water on earth while the
tion processes holds a promising future for availing remaining percentage accounts for the saline water. Figure 1
freshwater in areas of water scarcity across the globe. shows the total freshwater available from total water avail-
This chapter captures the different desalination technolo- able on earth (World Bank Group, n.d.). This share of
gies (such as thermal and membrane technologies) and freshwater accounts for the lake, groundwater, glacier and
different renewable energy technologies (like solar, wind ice cap. Also, due to the climatic changes resulting from
and geothermal energies) that can be integrated into the greenhouse gases, the freshwater source will only get bad
process of water treatment for salt removal. Utilizing coupled with worldwide freshwater shortage. The predic-
renewable energy technologies in desalination systems tions by World Health Organization (WHO) show that by
will serve as alternative where grid electricity is not 2025 half of the world’s population will be faced with
available, reduce environmental pollution and cost. limited freshwater supply because of the climatic changes.
The reasons behind this water shortage are high drought,
Keywords increase in population, more contamination of available

clean water sources, and high penetration of saltwater into
Desalination Solar energy Wind energy Geothermal fresh groundwater sources.
energy Hybrid system Future prospects Desalination is a process in which saline or brackish
water is separated into two parts: freshwater and brine
concentrate (Buros, 2000). According to Krishna (Krishna,
2004), it is the process of removing dissolved salt from
seawater or brackish water to produce freshwater, thereby
V. C. Akubude (&) enhancing the water quality and making it fit for human use.
Department of Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering, Federal
University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria Its major aim is to make freshwater available for domestic
(such as drinking and food preparation), agricultural use
A. P. Adeagbo
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Adeleke (such as irrigation) and industrial uses (such as mineral
University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria refineries). Desalination proffers solution where there is
C. C. Asuzu limited supply of freshwater to satisfy the need for portable
Department of Agricultural and Bioenvironmental Engineering, water. However, it is energy-intensive and costly when
Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Imo State, Nigeria compared to other freshwater sources (wastewater, surface
J. A. Oyedokun water and groundwater treatment) even though the seawater
Engineering and Scientific Services Department, National Centre and brackish water sources are largely available and inex-
for Agricultural Mechanization, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria haustible. Most of the desalination plants around the world
K. N. Nwaigwe are usually powered by non-renewable energy sources to
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Botswana, purify saltwater for various applications (Emrah, 2015).
Gaborone, Botswana
242 V. C. Akubude et al.
Fig. 1 Percentage of total

freshwater available from total
water available on earth
However, currently installed and operational desalination

plants worldwide emit around 76 million tonnes of carbon 2 Desalination Technologies
dioxide annually, and it has been predicted to rise to around
218 million tons by 2040. This estimation shows a negative Presently, there are two main classes of desalination tech-
impact of fossil-powered desalination plant presently and in nologies: thermal and membrane technologies. Both classi-
future terms which is not good enough and needs to be fications require energy to effectively carry out water
tackled. Also, increased costs, increased energy demands, purification which could either be conventional energy
environmental challenge and increased maintenance condi- source or renewable energy supply. Each of these tech-
tions have made desalination non-attractive option. Never- nologies has its subdivisions which operate based on dif-
theless, various countries faced with water crisis have shown ferent techniques. These main desalination techniques are
that it is a good alternative of solving the problem and can be shown in Table 1. There are other emerging technologies
worked on to reduce or eradicate if possible its drawback. which are not popularly used such as freezing, dew vapor-
Hence, this work discusses the treatment of water using ization and ion exchange techniques. Globally, thermal and
renewable resources to generate power for desalination membrane technologies have a capacity of approximately 7
process and this strategy will eliminate the bottleneck billion gallons per day early two decades ago, with equal
resulting from conventional desalination systems that are percentage in thermal and membrane technologies. This
powered by fossil fuel. capacity has risen to approximately 12% in a year between
Renewable Energy-Assisted Desalination 243
Table 1 Desalination technologies and processes

Thermal technology Membrane technology
Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSF) Electrodialysis (ED)
Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) Electrodialysis Reversal
(EDR)
Vapour Compression Distillation Reverse Osmosis (RO)
(VCD)
1972–1 999(U.S. Department of the Interior & Bureau of

Reclamation, 2003).
Thermal technologies employ the principle of evapora-
tion and condensation to heat up the saline water, whereby
the water released in form of vapour is condensed to obtain
the freshwater leaving behind the salt. It is also called dis-
tillation. This has been utilized in treating seawater but
Fig. 2 Contribution of desalination technology across the whole world
because of the expensive cost it has not been employed in
treating brackish water. Several sub-categories of this tech-
nology include multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), (Ahmadi et al., 2020) shows the combinations of renewable
multi-effect distillation (MED) and vapour compression energy sources to desalination technologies and the per-
distillation (VCD) (U. S. Department of the Interior & centage of their usage worldwide in 2017, respectively.
Bureau of Reclamation, 2003). Desalination process can be driven by thermal or electrical
Membrane technologies employ the principle of dialysis means as the primary energy type which can be from
and osmosis in separating salt from water via a membrane or geothermal, tidal, solar energy or wind energy source where
filters. Membrane and filters work by selectively allowing or solar energy accounts for over half, wind energy accounts
prohibiting the passage of certain substances. There are for three-tenth while geothermal and tidal energy accounts
various forms of membrane with different particle sizes. for the 19% remaining share tagged as others. The status of
Membranes that permit large particles to go through are desalination system powered by renewable energy tech-
employed during pre-treatment. Membrane technologies are nologies is shown in Fig. 4 (Ahmadi et al., 2020).
further divided into electrodialysis/electrodialysis reversal Wind and photovoltaic (PV)-powered RO systems have
(ED/EDR) and reverse osmosis (RO) (U.S. Department of been well-researched and have commercial application while
the Interior & Bureau of Reclamation, 2003). These tech- geothermal-powered membrane distillation (MD), wind-
nologies have been used for treating brackish water, sea- powered ED and ocean-based RO are still at basic
water is not left out as several forms of them are been research level. The major drawback of solar and wind energy
employed in its treatment. Figure 2 shows the contribution sources is their unpredictability and dependency on weather
of desalination technology across the whole world and climate (Esmaeilion, 2020). Application of renewable
(Esmaeilion, 2020) where ED and RO desalination tech- energy as energy source for desalination process offers lots
niques account for over 50% of all desalination capacity. of advantages (Mohammed & Zhengming, 2014) as it will
A good number of them now utilize filtration system before be of help to regions with limited water supply and less grid
the membrane to eliminate impurities that affect lasting fil- power supply. This is common in developing countries and
tration process. islands. The benefits of this technology include less cost, less
pollution, non-depleting source, abundant in nature (Fdasm,
2014). Also, most of these developing countries have access
3 Renewable Energy-Assisted Desalination to some of these renewable energy resources such as high
sunlight energy and wind among others.
Energy can be generated from inexhaustible resources such The gradual rise in desalination capacity across the globe
as wind and sun known as renewable energy sources. presently is over.
Renewable energy technologies and desalination plants are 70 million m3/day, use of renewable energy option can
different systems that can be coupled together in several lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gases. Fur-
ways where the energy generated from the renewable energy thermore, the inexpensive attribute of renewable energy
system in form of thermal energy, electricity or shaft power solutions makes it a better option, particularly in rural areas
is used to power the desalination plant. Figure 3a and b with low population density and poor facilities for portable
Fig. 3 a and b: Combinations of renewable energy sources to desalination technologies and the percentage of their usage worldwide in 2017,
respectively
Fig. 4 Status of desalination system powered by renewable energy technologies

water and electricity transmission and distribution. The and these areas have ample supply of solar energy. Water
effective combination of renewable energy technology with shortage with high sun intensity makes solar energy the right
large-scale desalination plants at affordable cost has the option to solve the water shortage problem.
potential of solving the present-day environmental problems
and in near future (Jenny, 2003). i. Solar Still
Implementation of combined effort from solar and wind
energy in desalination systems has been utilized and seems This is a very simple desalination techniques that are
to be promising more than other renewable desalination economical and well-preferred to conventional methods that
combinations (Ahmad & Rached, 2018). Also, several require more energy input. It uses the principles of evapo-
works have been captured in the literature in this regard ration and condensation in purifying water. The unclean
(Al-Hussaini & Smith, 1995; Al-Shammiri & Safar, 1999; water is heated up using direct sunlight energy causing a
Baltas et al., 1996; BenJemaa et al., 1998; Caruso & Nav- temperature rise, thereby converting the water into steam.
iglio, 1999; Delyannis & Belessiotis, 1996; El-Nashar, 1992; The steam water evaporates leaving behind impurities and in
Garcia-Rodriguez, 2002, 2003; Garcia-Rodriguez & turn slowly condenses forming clean water droplets that can
Gomez-Camacho, 2002; Goosen et al., 2000; Hanafi, 1994; be utilized. They are employed in communities with limited
Kamal et al., 1999; Leitner, 1998; Mathioulakis et al., 2007; water supply where clean water needs to be produced from
Mohsen & Al-Jayyousi, 1999; Rheinlander et al., 1998; dirty water. The solar still system comprises of sloping
Rodriguez-Girones et al., 1996; Rognoni & Trezzi, 1999; transparent glass and black trough. The salty/impure water is
Singh et al., 1995; Tiwari et al., 1997; Voivontas et al., introduced into the trough where it is heated up using energy
2001; Zaki et al., 1993). Desalination driven by biomass, from the sun to evaporate water which condensates and is
hydropower and geothermal energy is still at the develop- collected from the sloppy glass. It can be employed to
mental stage through using biomass and hydropower holds produce clean drinkable water at a small-scale level
no future as this will require more freshwater than it could (Mohammed & Zhengming, 2014).
produce during desalination. Figure 5a and b shows a schematic diagram of a modified
solar still and conventional solar still (Gupta et al., 2017).
The modified solar still has incorporated in it cuprous oxide
3.1 Solar-Assisted Desalination Process nanoparticle to increase thermal conductivity of water, white
paint coating on the walls to increase solar reflectivity of
This method applies solar energy in producing water with solar radiation inside the basin and use of thin water film on
low concentration from seawater or brine. The benefit of the glass cover to reduce temperature.
using solar radiation over other renewable energy option is Different configurations of solar still have been reported
that its thermal energy can be directly used to power in the literature, and they include pyramid single basin,
desalination plants without the unavoidable energy loss tabular, single effect, double effect, hemispherical, spherical,
related to energy conversion process (Kalogirou, 1998). The inverted absorber, double basin, pyramid multi-basin, triple
solar energy desalination method can be in two ways: indi- basin, evacuated multi-stage and multi-basin solar still
rect solar (i.e. solar PV) desalination process in which (Ravishankar et al., 2013). Advantages of solar still include
electricity is generated from solar cells to drive the desali- the cost-effectiveness; the source of energy which is the sun
nation process and direct solar desalination process which is freely available and low maintenance. However, the dis-
utilizes direct heat from the sun to perform desalination advantages include the low production efficiency, boiling
process. does not occur in solar still making it unable to break down
toxic substances and destroy microorganisms, the wide-area
a. Direct Solar Desalination Process sloppy glass cover may attract insects and the desalination
process can only be achieved at some hours of the day
This process employs direct sun rays to produce portable resulting from unpredictable nature of solar energy.
water via the use of solar stills or solar pond. It involves the
use of boiler in heating up saltwater, thereby converting the ii. Solar Ponds
water to gaseous form, which is captured and then chan-
nelled into sets of condensing coil. This is also referred to as These are water body with small depth that receives and
solar thermal distillation. The quantity of water produced is a stores solar energy (Yogi et al., 2014). It is a large-scale
function of the solar surface area and the angle of incidence. energy collector with integral heat reservoir for distributing
Thermal desalination requires lots of energy especially in heat energy. It applies the principle of heating up water by
locality where the salt concentration in the water is much, the sun rays causing it to expand and rise as it becomes
Fig. 5 a and b: Schematic diagram of a modified solar still and conventional solar still, respectively
lighter or less dense. As it rises upward to the surface it loses they can be constructed anywhere, less expensive and con-
its heat to the air via convection. The colder water at the struction process is less complex (Saifullaha et al., 2012).
surface moves downwards to replace the warm water at the They are the best heat storage option that is convenient and
bottom creating a convective circulation that ensures water inexpensive and has the capacity that spans through the
mixing to release heat. Hence, solar ponds are designed to season. It can effectively store more heat when compared
reduce convective effect in other to store the solar energy with a water body of the same size because the salinity
received by the pond by dissolving salt in bottom zone gradient prevents convection current. Some of the draw-
making it too heavy to rise. Examples of solar ponds include backs of solar ponds include the need for large expanse of
lakes and artificial basins. They are advantageous because land, high level of solar energy input, large supply of
saltwater and constant maintenance. The three basic layers of The Bottom Layer
a solar pond are outlined below: This layer or region is hot with high amount of salt. It
receives and stores energy in form of heat. The surface of
i Top layer; this layer is dark, thereby increasing the absorption of sun
ii Middle layer; and energy. Therefore, it serves as heat storage zone (Saifullah &
iii Bottom layer. Arif, 2012). The thickness of this layer determines the
amount of heat that can be stored and used later. The heat at
These layers are structurally shown in Fig. 6 which this level is transferred to pipes circulating through the pond
shows the schematic view of a solar pond (Sajjadnejad et al., to extract heat energy.
2020).
The Top Layer b. Indirect Solar Desalination
This layer is also known as the upper convective zone.
This is the surface region that is at atmospheric temperature This system is vital in improving the freshwater produc-
with small amount of salt. It serves as the solar receiver and tivity. The resulting productivity from direct solar desalina-
is relatively shallow in depth. It requires constant flushing tion system is poor to be applied in non-residential operation.
with freshwater to prevent the piling up of salt since the Indirect solar desalination uses two separate systems;
lower layer usually diffuses through the saline gradient over
time (Fisher et al., n.d.). i a solar collection array and
The Middle Layer ii a separate conventional desalination plant.
This is also referred to as gradient layer which is known
as a non-convective region where the salinity grows from Solar Photovoltaic Desalination System
top part to the lower part of the region. It is also called the Photovoltaic systems convert energy from the sun into
insulation region with high salinity than that of the top layer. direct current electricity using semiconductor materials that
In this part, the saltiness increases with depth as well as the show photovoltaic effect (Ridha, 2015). A solar cell is the
temperature. It is much thicker and occupies more than half basic unit of PV that performs this operation. Solar cell relies
the depth of the pond (Farshad & Mohammadnab, 2018). on a quantum–mechanical process called photovoltaic effect
The water in this region cannot rise or sink thereby to generate electric current. A typical solar cell comprises of
restricting convection current, hence acting as transparent a p–n junction formed in a semiconductor material. Figure 7
insulator (Osamah et al., 2020; Saifullah & Arif, 2012). This shows schematic diagram of PV basics (Sajjadnejad et al.,
transparent insulator allows sunlight to reach the bottom 2020). In order to have a higher output, solar cells are joined
layer entrapping it there.
Fig. 6 Schematic view of a solar

pond
Fig. 7 Schematic diagram of PV

basics
together to form a module, modules are joined together to The battery bank can also serve as backup to the system
form a panel, and panels are joined together to form an array. in the absence of solar radiation due to the unpredictable
Solar photovoltaic system is used in connection with nature of the sun.
established desalination techniques like RO, MSD,
multiple-effect evaporation, or ED. The application of PV
cells with ED is more attractive than RO for rural commu- 3.2 Wind-Powered Desalination
nities where solar energy and salty water are obtainable
round the season (Nwaigwe et al., 2019). Battery energy Wind is a moving air that results from uneven heating of the
storage units can be incorporated into the PV system to earth’s surface by the sun. This gives rise to air flowing from
stabilize the power fed into the input desalination system. high-pressure regions to low-pressure regions. The larger the
The schematic illustration of photovoltaic–reverse osmosis atmospheric pressure gradients, the stronger the wind, the
(PV-RO) system with battery storage is shown in Fig. 8 higher the wind speed, and thus, the greater the power that
(NREL, 2016). can be captured from the wind.

photovoltaic–reverse osmosis
(PV-RO) system with battery
storage
The wind turbine traps the wind’s kinetic energy in a of low wind energy availability mostly night-time. Regard-
rotor comprising of two or more blades joined to an elec- less of the difficulties associated with intermittent power
trical generator via a mechanical means. The turbine, which production, it seems that wind power desalination represents
is usually placed on top of a tower to improve the energy a promising coupling of innovative technologies (Andy
capture, generates electrical and mechanical energies that et al., 2008).
are utilized in driving desalination system. The amount of
energy that can be generated by a turbine from the wind
depends on wind speed, air density and swept area/blade 3.3 Geothermal-Powered Desalination Process
radius. Dense air exerts more pressure on the rotors
resulting in high power output and high wind speed trans- This is another mature technology even though not common
lates to more power. It is important to locate wind turbines as the solar or wind energy type that holds a promising
in area of with regular wind supply than areas with seasonal future for desalination process. Investigation with respect to
high speed (Donev et al., 2020). Desalination techniques geothermal-powered desalination has been carried out the-
suitable to be driven by wind turbines are RO, MVC and oretical using preheated water from thermal springs or hot
ED. Electricity generated from the wind can be employed in groundwater for either indirect desalination with electric
driving both the compressor and the heating element in the generation first or direct desalination by heating the feed
vapour compression process and to run the pump in the RO water (Moshen, 2010). Geothermal heat can be employed in
process (Ghaffour et al., 2015). Wind-powered RO process powering MSF, MED, MD and adsorption desalination
is the most developed system even though we have very (AD) technologies. Figure 10 is an illustration of
few pilot plants of wind-driven MVC and ED (Mehdi & geothermal-powered MED and AD desalination systems
Gleb, 2009). Rent-a-port green energy designed a (Missimer et al., 2016).
wind-powered desalination plant that couples wind energy Its utilization in MD and AD is still at their develop-
to RO unit that purifies seawater for irrigation use mental stage (Nwaigwe et al., 2019). This system utilizes
(Rent-A-Port Green Energy, n.d.). A layout for geothermal energy to power desalination process at a com-
wind-powered RO is shown in (Fig. 9, Clayton et al., petitive cost. It is more advantageous in terms of thermal
2014). Wind-powered desalination is one of the most storage which is not needed because of its continuous and
promising application of renewable energies for desalination predictable nature (Barbier, 2002; Missimer et al., 2016;
that offers reduction in desalination carbon and energy Report, 2001), and it also has constant stable energy (Eltawil
footprint (Water world (016), n.d.). et al., 2008). Heat storage is costly and from technical
While the intermittency of wind as an energy resource is standpoint is not much in size (Al-Karaghouli & Kazmerski,
inherently unavoidable and stands in direct conflict with a 2011). A high-pressure geothermal type permits the direct
preference for steady-state operations, the problems of utilization of shaft power on mechanically powered desali-
intermittency in wind-powered desalination can be techni- nation, while high-temperature geothermal type can be uti-
cally solved by incorporating battery energy storage units lized to produce electrical power to power RO or ED system.
into the system. The battery bank can also serve as backup It has been used in combination with solar still in hybrid
power supply to the whole desalination system in the period system (Ghaffour et al., 2011).
Fig. 9 Layout for wind-powered

RO
Fig. 10 Geothermal-powered MED and AD desalination systems
system coupled to RO desalination unit offers great benefits

4 Hybrid Renewable Energy-Powered in terms of cost reduction and zero pollution with high
Desalination reliability for remote areas (kiehbadroudinezhad et al.,
2020). In addition, hybrid solar–geothermal energy source
Renewable energy sources can be combined to obtain a for seawater desalination has been proposed and it offers
hybrid energy system that is capable of powering desalina- potential benefits such as it allows geothermal heat regen-
tion process. They offer a viable and cleaner option to eration and eliminates the need to build a thermal storage for
conventional systems. There are lots of studies on hybrid night-time operation (Yousefi et al., 2017). Investigation by
system comprising of wind turbines and solar PV. A pro- Voropoulos et al. (2004) and friends’ shows that a hybrid
posed hybrid system for powering house load has been system consisting of solar still coupled with solar collector
studied by Mohammed and his colleagues and this idea field and hot water storage tank gave a higher freshwater
could also work for desalination technology. Figure 11 output with the advantage of supplying hot water from its
shows a modified proposed hybrid (wind and PV) renewable storage tank.
energy system which can power desalination unit (Moham-
med et al., 2019). Figure 12 shows modified hybrid (wind,
geothermal and PV) renewable energy system that can 5 Limitations and Future Prospects
power desalination unit (Mohammed et al., 2019). Also,
hybrid system PV/wind/diesel/battery power system for RO The intermittency nature of wind and solar energy resources
desalination unit has been studied by Xu and his colleagues is a challenge to the utilization of their full potential in
where determination of the lowest levelized cost of energy desalination units. This is caused by the unpredictable
was their major interest (Xu et al., 2019). Economic analysis weather and climate changes. For instance, the amount of
of hybrid PV–wind–RO shows a meaningful reduction in the solar radiation that reaches any part of the earth is influenced
cost of water production (Khan et al., 2018). Combination of by geographical location, time of the day, season, local
solar still with wind–water heater in a hybrid system is landscape and local weather (US Department of Energy,
advantageous in terms of ensuring system operation during 2013). Also, during summer we have abundance of sunshine
day and night even in cloudy days with good wind and and less in winter. The shorter days in the winter and fall
enhanced distillation output (Moh’d et al., 2016). In the City reduce solar energy generation. Cloud, snow and foliage
of Kerkennah Island, freshwater was supplied from a affect the amount of solar energy generated to power a
desalination unit powered by a hybrid renewable energy desalination unit. High initial or upfront cost is another
system comprising of wind turbine, photovoltaic generator major challenge of solar energy, geothermal energy and
and fuel cell (Smaoui & Krichen, 2014). A more recent wind energy utilization in water treatment even though in the
research shows that the use of hybrid renewable energy long run they offer to save cost.
Fig. 11 Modified proposed hybrid (wind and PV) renewable energy system which can power desalination unit
Fig. 12 Modified hybrid (wind, geothermal and PV) renewable energy system that can power desalination unit
The future prospects should focus on the application of exploring some fragmentary research areas with respect to
different combinations of hybrid renewable energy powered desalination technologies like forward osmosis, dew vapor-
desalination system as it offers the benefit of better efficient ization, freeze desalination can provide opportunity for
system. This should be properly designed and located to enhancing efficiency of desalination process (Esmaeilion,
tackle the drawback of individual energy system. Also, 2020).
6 Conclusion Buros, O. K. (2000). The ABCs of desalting. International Desalination

Association.
Caruso, G., & Naviglio, A. (1999). A desalination plant using solar heat
Water scarcity can be devastating as most of the domestic as a heat supply, not affecting the environment with chemicals.
and industrial activities rely on it. Availing freshwater from Desalination, 122, 225–234.
seawater and brackish water to solve water scarcity issue is Clayton, M. E., Stillwell, A. S., & Webber, M. E. (2014). Implemen-
tation of brackish groundwater desalination using wind generated
needful but proper treatment is also a necessity. Utilizing
electricity: A case study of the energy water nexus in texas.
desalination technologies with integration of renewable Sustainability, 6(2), 758–778.
energy technologies in proper water treatment has gained Emrah, D. (2015). Solar powered desalination. Available at: http://dx.
lots of research interest in recent times, and several works doi.org/10.5772/60436
Delyannis, E. E., & Belessiotis, V. (1996). A historical overview of
have been done in this regard. The implementation of
renewable energies. In: Mediterranean conference on renewable
research results in locality facing water challenges which energy sources for water production (pp. 13–17). European
require in-depth study and investigation on cost analysis and Commission, EURORED Network, CRES, EDS.
process optimization of all processes involved such as water Donev, J. M. K. C, et al. (2020). Energy education—wind power
(online). Available at: https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/
collection, treatment, storage and distribution and energy
wind_power.
requirement. This is very important as it will help the gov- El-Nashar, A. M. (1992). Optimizing the operating parameters of solar
ernment and policymakers to have better knowledge of what desalination plants. Solar Energy, 48, 207–213.
it takes to implement such technologies to avail portable Eltawil, M. A., Zhengming, Z., & Yuan, L. (2008). Renewable energy
water for affected regions. powered desalination systems: Technologies and economics-state of
the art. In Twelfth international water technology conference,
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Renewable Energy-Assisted Desalination

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Vivian Akubude Ayooluwa Adeagbo

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ISSN 2522-8714 ISSN 2522-8722 (electronic)

Natural Zeolites for Seawater Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Graphene Composite Membrane for Water Desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Joshua Gorimbo , Charles Rashama , and Clayton Bhondayi

Abstract combination with silica gel as adsorbents. In the mem-

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

Fig. 2 World zeolite production

2.3 Desalination the excess pressure. According to Shahzad et al. (2017)

Fig. 3 Typical desalination

Fig. 4 Classiﬁcation of different

Fig. 5 Schematic of a reverse

Table 3 Research and technologies for seawater desalination using zeolites

Synthetic Zeolites-Ion Exchange Instead, An et al. (2014) suggested manufacturing

Fig. 7 Variation of Na+

Table 4 Cation exchange Exchangeable cation/mmol g−1

Mayur R. Ladole, Sujata S. Patil, Pavan M. Paraskar, Pravin B. Pokale,

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 15

Table 1 Summary of wastewater treatment processes using desalination

industrial wastewater, and drinking water. The operating History

Table 2 Strength and challenges involved in electrodialysis technologies for desalination

methods include removal of impurities using flocculation

2.2 Ion-Exchange Membranes

The IEMs are one of the main parts of ED cells. These

Fig. 4 Schematics and structure

Fig. 6 XPS spectra of Ti/RuO2–

plant in the world. However, recently Israel and Cyprus

Fig. 10 The displacement and

Fig. 13 The shock

Maryam Ahmadzadeh Tofighy and Toraj Mohammadi

Abstract membrane surface modiﬁcation by coating and grafting

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 39

Fouling may be irreversible or reversible, hydraulically.

Fig. 2 Fouling mechanisms of

Fig. 3 Various stages of inorganic fouling in RO membrane (Piyadasa et al., 2017)

complex structures by combination with other substances 3.4 Biofouling

Fig. 4 Factors affecting

Fig. 5 Formation of bioﬁlm on

Many other factors can also affect biofouling including

• Removal of nutrients for microorganisms from feed water

Table 1 Direct and indirect Indirect methods Direct methods

Fig. 7 Schematic frame of the

Fig. 8 Antifouling effect of GO (Perreault et al., 2014)

Catia Algieri, Enrico Drioli, and Francesca Macedonio

Abstract ZSM-5 Zeolite Socony Mobil–5

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 53

Fig. 1 Industrial application of zeolites

Fig. 2 Scheme about the steps of the secondary growth method