The Technology
Selective water treatment, which removes more problematic ions preferentially over others, is an important goal towards next generation, energy efficient water treatment systems. Current treatment techniques rely on chemical sedimentation or membrane separation, the latter of which is used in reverse osmosis (RO) treatment. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an emerging water desalination technology in which a feedwater stream is treated using the phenomenon of electrosorption in porous carbon electrodes. CDI does not require high pressure pumps or heat sources. Therefore, CDI systems can be highly scalable and energy efficient.
The invention provides a method to remove pollutants and other undesirable components from electrolyte solutions while retaining minerals and other desirable components in the solution based on their ionic hydrated sizes.
Advantages
- Enhanced selectivity for pollutant removal from water and other electrolytic streams
- Eliminates the mineral reintroduction stage of reverse osmosis (RO) systems
- Scalable technology
Applications and Opportunities
- Nutrient recovery for wastewater reuse in domestic and agricultural water systems
- Pollutant removal from contaminated sources: water desalination, water softening, wastewater remediation, agricultural applications, and organic stream remediation
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