tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post5337840368699544221..comments2023-07-08T05:21:01.107-04:00Comments on Co2 Art: Desalination options multiply - is a green Sahara in the future?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post-85605905089026383092010-04-13T19:58:06.873-04:002010-04-13T19:58:06.873-04:00Thanks for the link. I understand how the process...Thanks for the link. I understand how the process can work and the potential energy savings suggested by the prototype but notice there's one thing missing from the explanation - what happens to the salt stripped via ions into the two "conditioning" streams. It's this residue or waste brine that's the underlying pitfall of all desalination systems. It was also interesting to note that the MIT Tech article avoided reference to the brine as a notional fuel.<br /><br />The energy issue is a problem to all desalination systems. Nuclear power is now being developed for desalination technology under development in the Middle East.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post-87899485238252628552010-04-13T19:32:35.069-04:002010-04-13T19:32:35.069-04:00Seems illogical to use cold water to heat a house,...Seems illogical to use cold water to heat a house, too, doesn't it? But that's how some geo-thermal systems work.<br /><br />Creating a website to store photos for free doesn't sound very profitable... but it worked out OK for the founders of flickr.<br /><br />If you want to check out Saltworks further maybe MIT's Technology Review http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/24237/page1/ would be of interest.<br /><br />As long as Saltworks is only producing 1000 liters of water a day, enough for like three people, I'll join you taking their claims with a grain of salt. But the concept is sound on a small scale according to all reports I've seen so far.Offroad Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17140085449827582909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post-80081391196125872812010-04-13T17:54:48.950-04:002010-04-13T17:54:48.950-04:00One other problem. Water, the base of brine, has ...One other problem. Water, the base of brine, has a finite salt capacity. The more salt it holds the lower its capacity to absorb more until it reaches a maximum saturation point. Yet these guys want to begin with heavily saturated water - brine - and use it to absorb yet more salt?<br /><br />Really? Ya Think? And then where does that super-saturated brine go? Maybe they'll use alternative energy to evaporate it out as crystalline salt and then truck it to distant abandoned mines? Oops there goes more of that precious water vapour.<br /><br />Sorry CO2 but I'm not buying this.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post-67662237417571792132010-04-13T17:48:08.424-04:002010-04-13T17:48:08.424-04:00Sorry CO2 but the Saltworks pitch sounds more than...Sorry CO2 but the Saltworks pitch sounds more than a little bogus. They suggest they'll use solar power to evaporate water vapour (uncaptured freshwater in effect) from saltwater and, having then created a condensed brine, use the chemical energy of that to extract salt from brine. Think about it. You exploit alternative energy to produce brine to fuel the desalination of brine. And somehow all that potentially destructive, extracted brine goes... where exactly? Oh yeah, to fuel the desalination of more brine.<br /><br />Sounds like the League of Junior Alchemists are working overtime.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post-27831676506360945472010-04-13T15:45:42.770-04:002010-04-13T15:45:42.770-04:00That is a problem for sure, especially when taken ...That is a problem for sure, especially when taken to a large scale. So that is for sure one of the advantages of the Saltworks model, which actually uses brine as a "fuel". Or, rather, as an ion exchanging medium which effectively desalinates the sea water. Having a ready supply of brine makes the Saltworks process even more attractive, as it eliminates the need to make concentrated brine by evaporation from sea water. The saltworks process by itself does not remove other impurities from the water, though.Offroad Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17140085449827582909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4194048667127641916.post-27834871112566624932010-04-13T11:44:52.832-04:002010-04-13T11:44:52.832-04:00Alternative energy desalination plants are plainly...Alternative energy desalination plants are plainly an improvement over the fossil-fuel powered variety but they're still a toxic timebomb. Read Maude Barlow's assessment of this technology in her book "Blue Covenant." A litre of freshwater generates a litre of toxic discharge made up of the extracted salt (it's gotta go somewhere) plus the byproducts and the chemicals used to keep the osmosis filters from plugging up.<br /><br />It's expensive, unsafe and potentially devastating to marine life.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.com