Technology
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Saltworks' breakthrough Thermo-Ionic™ technology is a patented desalination and brine treatment process that desalinates seawater or brackish water to produce fresh water as well as treats brine to produce solid salt.
The Thermo-Ionic™ process works by first evaporating salt water to air to create a hyper-salty solution which holds energy relative to the original salt water. Evaporation is achieved in a modified cooling tower or spray pond by harnessing low grade heat from renewable sources such as the sun or waste heat rejected by an industrial process. The hypersaline and original salt water solutions are fed into Saltworks' proprietary desalting device where the potential energy from the difference in their concentrations is used to drive salt ions from a third desalination product stream.
The only input electricity required is to run circulation pumps and the control system. All of the energy to achieve desalination comes from the hypersaline water. This results in a low electrical consumption plant that simultaneously concentrates and reduces the volume of salt water waste.
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Desalting Device
Saltworks' desalting device is at the heart of the process. Building from electrodialysis, Saltworks' stack uses ion exchange membranes to separate solutions and transfer salt. Unlike electrodialysis, Saltworks' device does not require external power. Instead, it harnesses energy captured in concentrated salt solutions to initiate salt transfer.
The desalting device is modular and designed for rapid deployment. Its low pressure operation enables use of engineered plastics in place of expensive corrosion resistant steels. Cleaning and de-scaling is achieved by reversing the device polarity, with production maintained in both polarities.
The desalting device incorporates Saltworks' proprietary ion exchange membranes that are manufactured in-house and optimized for robust performance.
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Hybrid Operation
In addition to standalone operation, Thermo-Ionic™ can be hybridized with reverse osmosis to increase combined recovery and reduce discharge volume - particularly important for inland operation. Saltworks has also developed a solid salt maker in partnership with a premier cooling tower firm.
The Salt-Maker, also built largely from plastics, accepts Thermo-Ionic's highly concentrated reject, removes remaining water, and produces solid salt. Powered with low grade waste heat only 10 deg Celsius warmer than ambient, it operates a fraction of the electrical energy consumption of conventional crystallizers.
SPX Cooling Technologies is collaborating with Saltworks on the development of this innovation. SPX Cooling Technologies is a global manufacturer of cooling towers and air-cooled condensers. SPX Cooling Technologies is based in Overland Park, Kansas, has been in business for more than 100 years, and is a business unit of SPX, a Fortune 500 multi-industry company headquartered in Charlotte.
Saltworks operates a fully permitted and automated end-to-end hybrid demonstration plant in Vancouver. This seawater desalination plant incorporates reverse osmosis, a Thermo-Ionic stage, and final Salt Maker.
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