Freeze desalination: Current research development and future prospects.

Area of Science:

• Water treatment technologies
• Materials science and engineering
• Chemical engineering

Background:

• Water scarcity necessitates innovative desalination solutions.
• High energy costs and corrosion limit conventional desalination.
• Freeze desalination (FD) presents a promising low-energy, low-corrosion alternative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in freeze desalination (FD) technologies.
• To analyze FD configurations, experimental findings, and numerical modeling.
• To identify challenges and future research directions for FD deployment.

Main Methods:

• Overview of various FD configurations and their pros/cons.
• Review of experimental investigations into FD physics.
• Analysis of high-fidelity numerical modeling of ice crystal growth and salt diffusion.

Main Results:

• Indirect FD is emerging as the mainstream approach.
• Gas hydrate and LNG regasification show potential for cost reduction in direct FD.
• Simulation and modeling enhance understanding of ice growth and salt rejection mechanisms.

Conclusions:

• Indirect FD is favored for risk mitigation, while vacuum and eutectic freezing face application hurdles.
• Hybridization of FD with conventional methods and utilization of LNG cold energy are promising for commercialization.
• Further experimental and numerical studies are crucial for optimizing FD performance.