Scientists win prize for creating effective method to desalinate water with solar energy

20/05/2015

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), supported by the Jain Irrigations Systems company, won the Desal 2015 prize with a project in which they propose a low-cost water desalination method powered by solar energy.

The name electrodialysis method is a project that has been in development for several years at MIT. This one gained by fulfilling correctly with the three requirements for the Desal prize: it is efficient, sustainable and low cost.

Amos Winter, a scientist involved in this project, points out the most important elements of this method:

«Electrodialysis works by passing a stream of water between two electrodes with opposite charges. Because the salt dissolved in water consists of positive and negative ions, the electrodes pull the ions out of the water, leaving the cooler water in the center of the stream. A series of membranes separates the drinking water stream from the increasingly salty streams«.

The use of membranes in other methods of desalination with solar energy is not new, but with the MIT method, up to 90% of drinking water can be extracted from the original salty liquid. With other techniques, up to an 60% of fresh water could be extracted.

The team of scientists obtained USD $ 140,000 for winning the first place of Desal 2015.

According to the creators of the desalination technique with electrodialysis, it is planned to use this method in poor areas of California and Chile in the short term.

Source: Fayerwayer.com