Microbial Desalination Cells
Desalination is the removal of salt from seawater to provide freshwater especially in developing countries. Currently, MFCs (Microbial Fuel Cells) have generated electricity from biomass using bacteria. These microbes cause an electric current where electrons flow from the anode to the cathode where the reduction of oxygen occurs. A revolutionary new method called MDCs (Microbial Desalination Cells) could potentially desalinate water and produce energy depending on the design or set up of the cell. This process is similar to water electrodialysis but uses bacteria as the source of energy rather than an external source. If the set up of the MDC is altered to desalinate water, then the highest amount
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Consequently, sodium chloride salt (NaCI) in the middle chamber will be removed desalinating the water.
Set Up
First, I will use sandpaper to roughen the end caps of PVC pipes. I will then use the sandpaper to roughen the two opposing sides of three plastic containers by roughening two 1-inch by 1-inch patches across each other. Using permanent markers, a mark will be made in the center of the roughened side of one of the plastic containers. I will use a ruler to measure the location of the mark and then make a mark at exactly the same location on one of the roughened sides of each of the other two plastic containers. The ruler will be used to measure the outer diameter of the aquarium pump tubing. I will then drill a hole 2 millimeters (mm) in diameter on top of three of the plastic container lids. In one of the lids, I will dill another hole the same diameter as the plastic tubing of the aquarium air pump next to the first hole. A hole will be drilled on the permanent marker marks on the sides of the plastic containers using a 3/4 –inch spade drill bits.
I will then squeeze acrylic cement around two of the 3/4 –inch spade drill bit holes. Then, acrylic cement will be squeezed around the flat part of one compression fitting end cap. The end cap will be centered over the hole on one of the plastic containers that the cement will just have been squeezed around. The two pieces will be
fit together and repeated for the other PVC pipe. I will let the
However, due to the long lasting drought in California we should heavily consider this method of producing clean water. In other parts of the world such as China, India, Australia, Spain and more they have been able to produce nearly fourteen billion gallons of drinking water through this process. The largest desalination plant in the world is located in Saudi Arabia and produces two hundred and seventy three million gallons of drinking water per day. If the United States is able to perfect this, it could fix the situation. Amanda Little does an excellent job of sharing a wide array of perspectives of desalination in her article “Can Desalination Counter The Drought”. For instance she describes the discusses the standpoint of the executive director of the California Coast keeper Alliance, Sara Aminzadeh, as she argues, “It’s just not a good option from a cost and energy standpoint.” She goes on to say, “Desalination may seem like a panacea, but it’s the worst deal out there.” Although this method may not be cost or energy efficient, this may be the only plausible method of producing clean water. As seen in Saudi Arabia this is an efficient form of creating clean water and due to the lack of resources, this may be California’s last
This cell uses bacteria like Shewanella oneidensis and Rhodoferax ferrireducens and many labs are attempting to find better strains of bacteria more suited to the process (3). This fuel cells work in two parts. Basically, the microbial fuel cell has two halves, aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic means with presence of oxygen, anaerobic means a lack of oxygen. When bacteria consume their “food” in aerobic conditions they produce carbon dioxide and water, however when it’s in an anaerobic condition they produce carbon dioxide, electrons and protons. The MFC has the bacteria put in the anaerobic chamber of the cell and decompose water material that contain glucose and/or acetate. The bacteria also free hydrogen ions and electrons. The electrons flow from an anode into the cathode. The hydrogen ions however just pass through the barrier; soon the electrons and hydrogen ions are in the aerobic chamber and combine with the oxygen forming h2o. The H2O is released and electrical energy is produced from the transfer off the energy between the Anode and Cathode (or Anaerobic and Aerobic chambers).
-Article 1- Ghaffour, N., M. Missimer, T., & L. Amy, G. (2013). Desalination (Technical review and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: Current and future challenges for better water supply sustainability) (Vol. 309, pp. 197-207). Thuwal.
Ocean water desalination is the process of making ocean water drinkable. Seventy-one percent of the world is covered in ocean water, and a significant number of people in the world live within thirty miles of an ocean. Despite the abundance of resources, a large portion of the energy and materials found in the ocean remains largely untouched. Desalination of ocean water is the only solution for countries with a limited availability of existing sources of drinking. Areas such as parts of the Middle East and Africa, where water is scarce, may use outside shipments of fresh water and techniques to purify the abundant ocean water in order to survive. Some areas in South America where water may be abundant, could be unsafe to drink due to the biological
I. Determining Density and Specific Gravity Robert Dessoye Mohaymenul Islam 115 Started: 9/26/14 Due: 10/2/14 II. Introduction a.
“Obviously we’ve done tons in conservation, but we have to have enough water,” said Sandy Kerl, deputy general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, which will buy water from the Carlsbad desal plant. “You have to have some base level of water. You can’t conserve what you don’t
1. There are two main sources of fresh drinking water, ground water and surface water. Ground water originates from precipitations that usually fall in the form of snow or rain. While, the surface water is also originates from precipitate that reaches the land surface and is then recharged into rivers, wetlands and lakes. Although these systems are usually reliable, in desperate time of need, a more reliable source of water is needed. The desalination plant is extremely valuable and flexible because it does not depend on rainfall. Instead, the desalination plant is the only source that relies on seawater. Using seawater in the desalination plant helps meet the community’s water needs and secures the water needs in the future. While other sources of water, such as rainwater or water from dames are not reliable enough to strictly rely
Leave the cap on because this method will not work well without the cap. This method only works when there is sufficient sunlight if you are relying on the evaporative method. We will discuss salt water distillation next. Once you have the trough made you can place the container over cloth that is soaked with contaminated water, over a mud puddle, or over any saturated soil or other material.
Feed water is then pumped into a closed container. As the water passes through the membrane, the remaining feed water and salt solution become more concentrated. To reduce the concentration
It begins sea water to enter the sea water intakes through the refineries so as to prevent impurities from entering the sea water pumps, which in turn pumped seawater evaporators. After that, sea water mix with sodium hypochlorite when sea water intakes before entering the evaporator in order to process biological material sticking out. This solution (sol) is treated in tanks and then is injected through the pumps in specific amount on demand. There are electric power plates next to the sea water intakes for distribute electricity power that feed pumps and other electrically equipment’s, as there is also a measurement required for this equipment and control devices. The seawater moves
Fill the pipette 5ml of 0.02 molL-1 NaCl using the pipette filler and repeat step 3, so that 0.02 molL-1 NaCl touches all the sides. Discard the NaCl.
Distilled water was used in this step to maintain purity and to avoid any contamination. 9. Using a separate funnel collect the organic layer in a small conical flask containing 2 spatula measures of anhydrous calcium chloride. Stopper, swirl and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Calcium chloride is a dehydrating agent which was therefore used to remove water.
Once water has been allowed to flow through this membrane, purer water can be collected from the output of the filter. Once enough of this water is collected, the hobbyist can fill the aquarium and begin to plan on his or her next step, the salt content.
Water is the most common fluid on earth, it is crucial to all life forms. It is the most essential mechanism for all biochemical reactions of any living human, animals, and plants, and proceeds in many of these responses. In spite of the chemical uncomplicatedness of the water molecule, its physical and chemical properties are pretty extraordinary and have been a major research topic for many years. Many trials and experiments provide great vision into the structure and dynamics of water, but these often need the resources of a main research laboratory. Furthermore, some must come about under exciting conditions, such as those leading to superheated or super cooled water. One of the major water treatment processes is Desalination. Desalinations is the process of eliminating excess salt and other minerals from water in order to reach fresh water suitable, and safe for animal consumption and irrigation feeding. However, some desalination plants reach a level where their water is suitable and safe for human consumption. Desalinization can be accomplished by means of evaporation, freezing, reverse osmosis, and vapor compressor. Since any city is near the coast, a desalination plant is the best selection to afford fresh drinking water for the community.
Drilling in the United States of America dates as far back as 1859, when the Drake well was first drilled in Pennsylvania. At the time one of the most common problems well operators encountered, was their inability to produce oil independently of water. Since there was no casing/casing design, this problem became more prevalent. The water usually came from the same formation bearing the oil, but more commonly it came from an upper sand formation. The implementation of cementing and proper casing design did not start until 1903, when the first cement slurry was used to “shut off downhole water just above an oil sand in the Lompoc fields in California”(Doherty 1,1960) by mixing and dumping 50 sacks of fine Portland cement by means of the bailer method. After a 28-day waiting period, the cement was then drilled out. It was introduced by Frank .F Hill of Union Company. In 1910, the dump bailer and tubing method was replaced by the two-plug cementing method also known as the Perkins method, which was introduced in California by Almond .A Perkins, and it quickly became the foundation for modern oil well cementing. The cement plugs, were made out of