The new discovery sets aside the current use of filtration processes that need much power consumption to produce drinking water. The new water filtration technique will be of great help in energy conservation and has plenty of operational benefits to the operators.
Last month, a material was introduced to the public that could desalinate seawater. After passing through the material, seawater becomes safely drinkable. The new wonder material is called graphene. It is also a new filtration technique to acquire safe drinking water by the removal of salt and other impurities. The discovery of graphene is the brainchild of researchers from the University of Manchester.
This month, a new water filtration technique is made public as this discovery utilizes a unique approach to producing safe and clean water. The technique uses carbon dioxide to purify impurities from raw water. The good news about this discovery is it uses 1000 times less energy than what it takes to process potable water by microfiltration.
Microfiltration or ultrafiltration uses so much energy involving its conventional process. This system uses porous materials to strain unwanted particles and other solutes. Regular replacement of the porous membranes needs to be done as it clogs up the pipelines and emits foul odor contaminating the water. In effect, pumps need to work more to push water through the pressurized system. The new water filtration technique does not require much effort for the clean water flow to the taps, reports Siliconrepublic.
The discovery of the new water filtration technique gives its credit to Dr. Orest Shardt of the University of Limerick, Ireland and Dr. Sangwoo Shin of the University of Hawaii. Their technique uses Carbon Dioxide that is applicable to various industries like pharmaceuticals, mining, beverage manufacturing, and water treatment, reports Physics.Org
The demo device uses a standard silicon polymer that is used in microfluidics study and also present in household sealants. The scientists said that they need further research to study and analyze the reactions of salt and other chemicals with silicon polymer before they apply it on a larger scale of experimentation.
