Turn seawater into fresh water by solar energy

"This solar water filtration technology can solve the problem of lack of clean water for nearly 1 billion people on Earth ," said Qilin Li, a water treatment expert at Rice University (Texas, USA). said.

US scientists have just stated that they can produce fresh water from a solar-powered abundant salt water source . This can be a major breakthrough in desalination techniques .

The study was published in the Ongoing Section of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have successfully transformed seawater into fresh water by solar energy.(Photo: pixabay).

Currently, salt is removed from the water by using costly and energy-consuming desalination plants. The extraction method is mainly used to boil salt water to evaporate the water, which will be collected and eventually return to fresh water.

This form of boiling requires a very high amount of heat, so that half of the cost of the process can only be used for energy supply.

"In addition to being able to provide enough clean water for a household to use in daily activities, the system can also be expanded and provided with continuous water to a large community ," Li added.

This new technique is called membrane distillation . Hot salt water flows along one side of the net, and cold fresh water flows on the other side. As a result, the steam will move from the hot to cold and create clean water.

Although the cost of providing energy is lower than that of traditional methods, this technique still consumes a large amount of resources in the process of maintaining heat. However, scientists have found a way to minimize cost for the process of filtering water above.

The new system using technical nanoparticles can convert light into thermal energy. Called 'solar nanofiltration ' or NESMD , this technology allows the water purifier to supply itself with energy and salt water will be boiled continuously by solar energy.

Water purifier applies NESMD technology.(Photo: iflscience).

When applied to practice, every square meter of net of water purifier using NESMD technology can produce 6 liters of clean water every hour. The user will set the number of water filters according to their needs.

Mr. Li took the example: 'If you need 20 liters of water per hour, but the films can only produce 6 liters per hour per square meter, you will have to set up more than 3 square meters of water filter film.'