This PhD thesis proposes a new and possibly cheaper method to desalinate saline water. The method involves utilisation of ion exchange (IX) and nanofiltration (NF) technologies as one hybrid system.

The distillation of sea water is of importance for the future demands for potable water and other uses in the world. A novel technique, based on electrohydrodynamic (EHD) principles, was used in this realm to desalinate artificial sea water of 3.3% (w/V) concentration. A single point corona electrode was operated at a potential of 5.3 kV (maximum output current 0.3 mA), and was installed one cm over the surface of sea water. The flux of air ions was about 3.0 $ times$ 10$ sp{12}$ cm$ sp{-2}$ s$ sp{-1}$ which produced an average electric wind of 1.72 m s$ sp{-1}$ at the sea water surface. Space charge from a corona electrode generated forces in the media to enhance the evaporation rate by about a factor of three compared with a control freely evaporating sea water. Water vapour was condensed and the condensate's purity was evaluated by chemical and physical analyses. Electrical conductivity and pH of the EHD distillate were found to be 14 $ mu$S cm$ sp{-1}$ and 5.5, respectively. In the absence of Joule heating, the energy required for EHD-distillation was comparable to the latent heat of vaporization of 2.3 $ times$ 10$ sp3$ kJ kg$ sp{-1}$ for water. The steady-state temperature of EHD solution was below that of the corresponding unventilated freely evaporating sea water. Electric wind caused by the ionic drag is considered to be the principal driving force for the enhancement.

No description available.

No description available.

A liquid-extraction procedure for the concentration of zinc in sea water was developed. The metal ion in sea water was chelated with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate and extracted into an organic solvent, methylisobutylketone, at the normal pH of sea water. A back-extraction into HCl followed, providing a concentration of 30X for the entire procedure. Filtration was introduced into the procedure to insure that only dissolved forms were extracted and that no influence from particulate matter would be detected. Problems of loss of zinc and/or contamination arose. These were overcome to a great extent by washing all glassware, including the sinterred-glass filter holder, in nitric acid and by following the filtration through the glass holder with an acid rinse. Purification of reagents was found necessary. With replicate analyses on a given sea water source, the recovery was 97 ± 2%. Upon making varying standard additions to subsamples of sea water, the calculated recovery was 97 ± 5.4%. The contamination figure for the extraction process ranged from zero to 0.8 ppb in the original sea water sample. With filtration, an overall median contamination of 1.4 ± 1 ppb was determined. / Graduation date: 1967

Thesis (M.S. - Hydrology and Water Resources)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.- Chemical Engineering)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-101).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--New Mexico State University, 2007. / Adviser: N. Nirmalakhandan. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 1985. / BLL : D80152. Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Glasgow, 1985. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Thesis (MTech (Mechanical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 2007 / An investigation was performed into a new desalination plant operating on the principles of distillation through the utilisation of solar energy only. The need for such a system is due to the high energy requirements of current large scale desalination systems and that, in the future, more and more desalinated water will be required to sustain life in certain areas. A conceptual design of such a plant was completed and it proved its feasibility by providing an in depth explanation of the principles that govern its operation. A computer model, in the form of a MathCAD program, was developed to simulating this process flow. The accuracy of the program was investigated with the help of a pilot plant. It is shown that such a full scale plant would produce, in the region of Saldanha Bay, a town on the Western Coast of South Africa, 5000m3 ofpotable water a day with a solar absorption/evaporation area of 1,87knlrequiring only 1,75kWh per cubic meter of water produced. Its electrical energy requirements can be provided using solar panels allowing the plant to remain independent of external electrical supplies. This electrical energy requirement is less than 33% of the least energy intensive alternative method, reverse osmosis. Since the production rate is dependent on the absorption/evaporation area the plant can be scaled to fit the specific production rate required.