Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
systems.is.that.the.fundamental.processes.occur.at.the.nanoscale,.and.engineering.these.
systems.could.allow.for.rapid.development.of.bionanotechnology.as.a.core.area.for.water.
desalination. research.. Further,. with. most. biological. systems. operating. near. thermody-
namic. energy. minima,. such. systems. hold. the. promise. of. delivering. the. most. energy-
eficient. water. desalination. systems. ever. conceived.. However,. signiicant. questions. still.
remain.open.and.would.likely.need.extensive.investigations.
19.4 SummaryandConclusions
In. this. broad-brushed. review. of. the. current. state. of. knowledge. of. water. desalination.
methods,.a.succinct.comparison.between.commonly.used.methods.and.opportunities.for.
further.research.and.growth.have.been.discussed..Advantages.and.disadvantages.of.each.
approach.were.discussed.with.an.eye.on.the.need.for.further.understanding.in.either.basic.
science.or.engineering.systems.to.implement.these.technologies,.with.the.primary.focus.
being.on.energy.eficiency.for.water.desalination..While.biotechnology.and.nanotechnol-
ogy.provide.interesting.clues.on.developing.novel.systems.for.ion.transport.with.applica-
tions. in. water. desalination,. many. scientiic. and. technological. questions. remain. open.. It.
is.likely.that.further.investigation.is.needed.for.most.all.the.emerging.areas.listed.above,.
especially.the.ones.that.rely.on.engineering.a.nanoscale.system.based.on.inspiration.from.
biology.
References
. 1.. UNICEF.and.WHO..
Water for life: making it happen
..United.Nations,.Geneva,.2006.
. 2.. Shannon,. M.A.,. et. al.. Science. and. technology. for. water. puriication. in. the. coming. decades..
Nature
,.452:.301-310,.2008.
. 3.. Torcellini,.P.,.N..Long,.and.R..Judkoff..
Consumptive water use for U.S. power production
..National.
Renewable.Energy.Laboratory,.Golden,.CO,.2003.
. 4.. Yeston,.J.,.et.al..A.thirsty.world..
Science
,.313:.1067,.2006.
. 5.. Kim,. S.J.,. et. al.. Direct. seawater. desalination. by. ion. concentration. polarization..
Nature
Nanotechnology
,.5:.297-301,.2010.
. 6.. Service,.R.F..Desalination.freshens.up..
Science
,.313:.1088-1090,.2006.
. 7.. Spiegler,.K.S.,.
Salt water puriication
,.New.York:.John.Wiley.&.Sons,.1962.
. 8.. Veerapaneni,.S.,.et.al..Reducing.energy.consumption.for.seawater.desalinations..
Journal of the
American Water Works Association
,.99:.95-106,.2007.
. 9.. U.S.. Department. of. Energy..
Energy demands on water resources
.. Sandia. National. Laboratory,.
Livermore,.CA,.pp..1-80,.2006.
. 10.. Hasson,.D.,.and.R..Semiat..Scale.control.in.saline.and.wastewater.desalination..
Israel Journal of
Chemistry
,.46:.97-104,.2006.
. 11.. Zhou,.Y.,.and.R.S.J..Tol..Evaluating.the.costs.of.desalination.and.water.transport..
Water Resources
Research
,.41(W03003):.1-10,.2005.
. 12.. Trieb,.F..
Concentrating solar power for water desalination
,.G.A.C..(DLR).and.I.o.T..Thermodynamics,.
eds..Federal.Ministry.for.the.Environment,.Nature.Conservation.and.Nuclear.Energy,.Stuttgart,.
Germany,.2007.
