New innovative device uses solar power to separate salt from seawater

Removing salt from seawater is an extremely expensive and exhausting task. For this, researchers have developed a new device that uses solar power to separate almost 100% salt from seawater.

A team from Melbourne used a small disc created out of super-hydrophilic filter paper that is layered with carbon nanotubes for absorbing light. The method runs entirely on sunlight, and can remove almost 100% salt in the original liquid, as per Science Alert.

The approach is based on a traditional method where the water is heated until it’s turned to steam, which is then captures. It leaves the salt and other impurities behind. Turning water to steam uses solar energy that requires using solar thermal materials for efficiently converting the energy to heat.

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However, if these materials are covered by salt crystals from the evaporating water, the whole thing can stop. The new method solves this issue by maintaining a stable rate of water evaporation as the salts are harvested and removed from the process, in order to avoid them reducing efficiency.

Video Courtesy: Monash University/YouTube

Hence, this desalination method is cheap, practical, and effective. Also, since it’s powered by sunlight, devices using this technique could be beneficial in areas that to not have access to electricity.

Moreover, the system uses a 0.04-inch diameter cotton thread to transport salty water to the evaporation disc, where the pure water is trapped and the salts are pushed out towards the edges. Researcher Xiwang Zhang told New Atlas that the new device is able to produce 6-8 liters of clean water per 10.8sq ft. of surface area per day. For future, the team wants to increase that production rate.

“We hope this research can be the starting point for further research in energy-passive ways of providing clean and safe water to millions of people, illuminating environmental impact of waste and recovering resource from waste,” said Zhang.