Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2024) | Viewed by 16462

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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Food Science, University of West Attica, Egaleo, Greece
Interests: quantum optics; desalination; water purification; fluid mechanics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The climate change that has been intensely observed in recent years has brought about a shortage of drinking water in many parts of the world. This phenomenon is very pronounced in the Mediterranean countries, which in the coming decades will be faced even with desertification according to experts. A solution for the water supply and irrigation of these areas is desalination, that is, the purification of seawater and brackish water from the ions of sodium and chlorine.

At the same time, due to industrial pollution, there is increasing pollution of groundwater, surface and wastewater from industries with heavy metal ions.

It is therefore vital for the continuation of life on Earth to develop methods of removing ions from aqueous solutions. In recent decades, methods have been developed that provide solutions but at a remarkable cost.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to present and summarize publications that propose alternative innovative low-cost methods of ion removal from seawater, industrial wastewaters, and surface water and groundwater, not necessarily large-scale, which may be useful to small groups or individuals in creating clean water.

Dr. Vasileios Bartzis
Prof. Dr. Ioannis Sarris
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • electric field
  • ion drift
  • desalination
  • water purification
  • heavy metals
  • low cost purification
  • ecosystem services
  • water quality

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 156 KiB  
Editorial
Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification
by Vasileios Bartzis and Ioannis E. Sarris
Water 2024, 16(8), 1094; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16081094 - 11 Apr 2024
Viewed by 436
Abstract
Water scarcity stands as a critical challenge of our era, affecting approximately four billion individuals who confront severe water shortages for at least one month annually [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification)

Research

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17 pages, 6443 KiB  
Article
Self-Regenerating Solar Evaporation System for Simultaneous Salt Collection and Freshwater from Seawater
by Muneerah Alomar, Badriah S. Almutairi, Seham S. Alterary, Manal A. Awad, Fida Hussain, Awatif A. Hendi, Maha F. El-Tohamy and N. Al-Hoshani
Water 2023, 15(20), 3697; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15203697 - 23 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1704
Abstract
Water scarcity is a serious issue which is increasing gradually due to rapid industrialization and population explosion. Biomass-inspired photothermal materials are of great importance due to their low-cost and enhanced photothermal conversion efficiencies. Herein, a pyrolyzed honokiol biochar (HB) is successfully synthesized to [...] Read more.
Water scarcity is a serious issue which is increasing gradually due to rapid industrialization and population explosion. Biomass-inspired photothermal materials are of great importance due to their low-cost and enhanced photothermal conversion efficiencies. Herein, a pyrolyzed honokiol biochar (HB) is successfully synthesized to fabricate a self-regenerating solar evaporating system for in situ freshwater, and salt collection from seawater. The pyrolyzed biochar was innovatively printed onto a non-woven fabric (HB@NF) that exhibits excellent solar absorption (96%), and efficient stability in seawater. The self-regenerating structure is constructed in two parts: (1) HB-printed fabric as a photothermal layer for efficient solar-to-vapor conversion efficiencies (93%) under 1 kW m−2. (2) Umbrella-like centralized seawater supply via cigarette filter to achieve the Marangoni effect for in situ water evaporation and salt collection. More importantly, effective thermal management achieved efficient heat accumulation (48.5 °C) under one sun intensity (1 kWm−2), and its validation is also demonstrated in a COMSOL heat transfer simulation. Furthermore, a series of experiments on salt collection over different periods, evaporation stability under different cycles, and rejection of primary metal ions via Inductively Coupled Plasma–Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP–OES) have been investigated. It is believed that this work will create new avenues regarding in situ freshwater and minerals recovery from seawater. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification)
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13 pages, 3126 KiB  
Article
Application of Electric Field Force for the Accumulation of Anthocyanins from Winery Wastewater
by Vasileios Bartzis, Irini F. Strati, Ioannis E. Sarris, Thalia Tsiaka, Anthimia Batrinou, Spyros J. Konteles and Vassilia J. Sinanoglou
Water 2023, 15(13), 2450; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15132450 - 03 Jul 2023
Viewed by 883
Abstract
The recovery of anthocyanins from winery wastewater constitutes an attractive option for both environmental and commercial valorization, as food colorants and nutraceutical ingredients. In this study, the electric field induced ion drift method is proposed as a promising technique for the purification of [...] Read more.
The recovery of anthocyanins from winery wastewater constitutes an attractive option for both environmental and commercial valorization, as food colorants and nutraceutical ingredients. In this study, the electric field induced ion drift method is proposed as a promising technique for the purification of wastewater solutions as well as for the accumulation of anthocyanins. The cation of the anthocyanidin malvidin (C17H15O7+) was selected as the most representative of winery waste, in order to develop a theoretical model. The main principle of the model is based on the displacement of charged anthocyanin ions, under the influence of an electric field vertical to the flow of the solution, and their accumulation on the side walls of a conductor. Apparatus inducing an electric field drift is described, and critical parameters (i.e., final spatial distribution of concentration, electric field intensity, surface charge density, and potential) were calculated. The proposed model succeeded in reducing anthocyanin concentration by more than 90%, for duct widths smaller than 1 mm in the bulk of the solution, for applied potentials φ(0) in the range of 0.2–0.4 V and target concentrations equal to 1.2 × 10−3 mol/m3. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification)
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24 pages, 9005 KiB  
Article
Evaporation-Assisted Humidification–Dehumidification Cycles for Desalination Application in Tropical and Subtropical Regions
by Maged Mohammed, Nashi K. Alqahtani, Hafiz M. Asfahan and Muhammad Sultan
Water 2023, 15(6), 1125; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15061125 - 15 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1519
Abstract
The present study aims to evaluate the performance of evaporation-assisted humidification–dehumidification (E-HDH) desalination, specifically direct evaporative (DE-HDH), indirect evaporative (IE-HDH), and Maisotsenko evaporative (ME-HDH) systems. To achieve this, a thermodynamic modeling approach is utilized, which incorporates the wet bulb effectiveness method, psychrometric relationships [...] Read more.
The present study aims to evaluate the performance of evaporation-assisted humidification–dehumidification (E-HDH) desalination, specifically direct evaporative (DE-HDH), indirect evaporative (IE-HDH), and Maisotsenko evaporative (ME-HDH) systems. To achieve this, a thermodynamic modeling approach is utilized, which incorporates the wet bulb effectiveness method, psychrometric relationships of humid air, and equations that govern heat and mass balance. The key performance indicators of the studied E-HDH desalination systems are estimated concerning operating parameters. The results show that the ME-HDH system is capable of producing a comparatively higher water production rate (WPR) ranging between 0.01 and 7.92 g/s as compared to the DE-HDH and IE-HDH systems. The sensible cooling flux was observed to be high at a dry-bulb temperature (Tdb) of 50 °C and relative humidity (RH) < 0.2, having a value of 5.26 kW for the DE-HDH system, followed by the ME-HDH system (3.23 kW) and the IE-HDH system (3.11 kW) due to relatively high mass flow rates. The latent heat flux was observed to be relatively high in the case of the ME-HDH system. Minimum specific energy consumption was observed from the ME-HDH system, and consequently, a maximum gain output ratio (3.32) was realized. In addition, the study realized that an increment in air velocity and wet bulb effectiveness significantly improves the WPR. In accordance with the climatic conditions of the studied Saudi Arabia cities, it has been realized that Al-Hofuf and Riyadh produce relatively high WPRs with minimum energy consumption. In the case of Al-Hofuf, the average WPR was recorded as 185.51 kg/day, followed by Riyadh (180.33 kg/day). The energy required was estimated to be 0.042 kWh/kg and 0.034 kWh/kg for both cities, accordingly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification)
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15 pages, 3359 KiB  
Article
Novel Design of Double Slope Solar Distiller with Prismatic Absorber Basin, Linen Wicks, and Dual Parallel Spraying Nozzles: Experimental Investigation and Energic–Exergic-Economic Analyses
by Mohamed E. Zayed, Abdallah Kamal, Mohamed Ragab Diab, Fadl A. Essa, Otto L. Muskens, Manabu Fujii and Ammar H. Elsheikh
Water 2023, 15(3), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15030610 - 03 Feb 2023
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 2705
Abstract
Increasing the evaporation zone inside the solar distiller (SD) is a pivotal method for augmenting its freshwater production. Hence, in this work, a newly designed prismatic absorber basin covered by linen wicks was utilized instead of the conventional flat absorber basin to increase [...] Read more.
Increasing the evaporation zone inside the solar distiller (SD) is a pivotal method for augmenting its freshwater production. Hence, in this work, a newly designed prismatic absorber basin covered by linen wicks was utilized instead of the conventional flat absorber basin to increase the surface area of the vaporization zone in a double-slope solar distiller (DSSD). Meanwhile, for further enhancement of modified DSSD performance, dual parallel spraying nozzles are incorporated underneath the glass cover as a saltwater feed supply to minimize the thickness of the saltwater film on the wick, which enhances the heating process of the wick surface and, consequently, the evaporation and condensation processes are improved. Two double slope distillers, namely a double slope solar distiller with wick prismatic basin and dual parallel spraying nozzles (DSSD-WPB&DPSN) and a traditional double slope solar distiller (TDSSD), are made and tested in the outdoor summer conditions of Tanta, Egypt (31° E and 30.5° N). A comparative energic–exergic-economic analysis of the two proposed solar stills is also conducted, in terms of the cumulative distillation yield, daily energy efficiency, daily exergy efficiency, and cost per liter of distilled yield. The present results show that the cumulative distillation yield of the DSSD-WPB&DPSN was 8.20 kg/m2·day, which is higher than that of the TDSSD by 49.64%. Furthermore, the energy and exergy efficiencies were increased by 48.51% and 118.10%, respectively, relative to TDSSD. Additionally, the life cost assessment reveals that the cost per liter of the distilled yield of the DSSD-WPB&DPSN is decreased by 11.13% compared to the TDSSD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification)
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Review

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22 pages, 549 KiB  
Review
Review of Slow Sand Filtration for Raw Water Treatment with Potential Application in Less-Developed Countries
by Kaldibek Abdiyev, Seitkhan Azat, Erzhan Kuldeyev, Darkhan Ybyraiymkul, Sana Kabdrakhmanova, Ronny Berndtsson, Bostandyk Khalkhabai, Ainur Kabdrakhmanova and Shynggyskhan Sultakhan
Water 2023, 15(11), 2007; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15112007 - 25 May 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 8474
Abstract
Providing safe drinking water to people in developing countries is an urgent worldwide water problem and a main issue in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. One of the most efficient and cheapest methods to attain these goals is to promote the use of [...] Read more.
Providing safe drinking water to people in developing countries is an urgent worldwide water problem and a main issue in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. One of the most efficient and cheapest methods to attain these goals is to promote the use of slow sand filters. This review shows that slow sand filters can efficiently provide safe drinking water to people living in rural communities not served by a central water supply. Probably, the most important aspect of SSF for developing and less-developed countries is its function as a biological filter. WASH problems mainly relate to the spread of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. The surface and shallow groundwater in developing countries around urban areas and settlements are often polluted by domestic wastewater containing these microbes and nutrients. Thus, SSF’s function is to treat raw water in the form of diluted wastewater where high temperature and access to nutrients probably mean a high growth rate of microbes and algae but probably also high predation and high efficiency of the SSF. However, factors that may adversely affect the removal of microbiological constituents are mainly low temperature, high and intermittent flow rates, reduced sand depth, filter immaturity, and various filter amendments. Further research is thus needed in these areas, specifically for developing countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technology for Desalination and Water Purification)
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