Investigations of a possible novel desalination technology

Basic research on a new potential desalination technology was conducted. The research was based on the observation that introduction of CO2 to an aqueous solution of diamine and NaCl resulted in a rapid decrease in conductivity in the solution. Following upscaled experiments and analyses, the conclusion was, that the desalination technology process was in fact not a desalination process removing both cations and anions, rather it was an anion exchange process, where the CO2 activated diamine was able to exchange the formed bicarbonate with chloride anions in solution.

It was decided, to investigate the possibility of immobilizing the diamine on an available epoxide functionalized resin, to produce an anion exchange resin that could be commercialized in the drinking water treatment market and the industrial water market. Experimental work showed that the activated immobilized diamine was able to exchange bicarbonate with chloride, fluoride, and nitrate. Results confirmed the hypothesis regarding the ion exchange mechanism; that target anions were removed from the feed solution through exchange with bicarbonate ions. All three tested anions are problematic anions for which a considerable global market exist.

So far, a limited dataset exists, and future investigations are fundamental in elucidating and determining the potential commercial viability and environmental sustainability of a technology based on the CowaTech resin concept. Due to limited resources, further development of the technology is discontinued under the auspices of CowaTech ApS.

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