Purification of Saline Water Using Desalination Pellets

Abstract

This study establishes that processed zero valent iron can be pelletised and used to desalinate water. The pellets desalinate water using a zero-order reaction, where: product water salinity = −[a][Reaction Time] + Feed Water Salinity. Desalination using the pellets requires no onsite energy, no onsite infrastructure, and produces no reject brine. Potential applications for the pellets, include desalination of saline impoundments, desalination of agricultural water, desalination of irrigation water, desalination of irrigated salinized soils, and aquifer desalination. The examples demonstrate 30% to 60% desalination for saline feed water within the salinity range of 4 to 10 g L−1. The product water has a low outcome variability for a specific pellet charge. The achievable desalination increases as the pellet weight: water volume ratio increases. The pellets can also be used for water purification, wastewater desalination, treatment of domestic wastewater, treatment of industrial wastewater, treatment of livestock feed water, treatment of oil field and mining wastewater, water purification to allow reuse, and the treatment of polluted soils. This study addresses the manufacture of the pellets, their effectiveness in desalinating water, and the outcome variability associated with desalination.