Desalination Methods
Reverse Osmosis method which Triton plants use, removes up to 99% of dissolved solids and inorganic material.
DESALINATION METHODS.
Desalination has quite a few applications, including supplying water for drinking, agriculture, industry, development, and recreation. Over the years, a number of desalination technologies have been developed. Two main families predominate: thermal and membrane.
THERMAL DESALINATION
Thermal desalination technologies use heat to boil water. The salt is left behind as the heated water turns to vapor. Then the system condenses the vapor to produce pure water.
Thermal desalination is the older of the two technologies and is very energy-intensive. It uses 3 times as much energy as many reverse osmosis (RO) plants and 5 times as much energy as Triton’s plants. It has been the preferred method of desalination in the Gulf.
Reverse Osmosis is far more energy-efficient than thermal desalination—and is growing at a much faster pace.
MEMBRANE DESALINATION (REVERSE OSMOSIS)
The second approach uses a membrane to separate the salt from the water. The leading membrane technology is Reverse Osmosis (RO), which Triton plants use.
In Reverse Osmosis, water is pushed at very high pressure through a membrane, which blocks salts and undesirable chemicals but allows water molecules to flow through.
Reverse Osmosis is far more energy-efficient than thermal desalination. And the cost of producing water by Reverse Osmosis is typically less than half of what it costs by thermal desalination.
Reverse Osmosis is now a proven technology, and technological advances continue to improve the process. And it is growing at a much faster pace than thermal technology.
