Scientists have developed a solar-powered desalination system that turns seawater into fresh water while removing nearly all of the leftover salt as a solid instead of producing harmful brine. The self-cleaning technology could also recover valuable minerals such as lithium, potentially turning desalination waste into a useful resource.
Does anyone know what the drawback of a setup that distills the sea water and then air dries the brine. This always seemed like the easiest solution when I thought about it?
I imagine the issue is the sheer amount of brine produced would require ginormous salt pans to drive off the last of the water, compounded by it taking take longer to fully dry compared to the time taken to desalinate an equivalent amount of water as salt is very hygroscopic.
Does anyone know what the drawback of a setup that distills the sea water and then air dries the brine. This always seemed like the easiest solution when I thought about it?
I imagine the issue is the sheer amount of brine produced would require ginormous salt pans to drive off the last of the water, compounded by it taking take longer to fully dry compared to the time taken to desalinate an equivalent amount of water as salt is very hygroscopic.