Our new study on the behavior of organic contaminants in temperature swing solvent extraction (TSSE) desalination has been published in Environmental Science & Technology.
In this work, titled “Elucidating the Fate of Organic Contaminants in Highly Basic Environments for Temperature Swing Solvent Extraction Desalination,” we investigated the distribution of organic compounds between the solvent and aqueous phases of TSSE. By systematically evaluating organic analytes spanning five orders of magnitude in hydrophobicity across five amine solvents with distinct thermomorphic hydrophilicity, at extraction and disengagement temperatures, and in hypersaline environments, we revealed that both hydrophobicity and acid-base interactions govern contaminant partitioning. Despite the broad parameter space, we successfully modeled phase distribution behavior using a principles-based framework to predict the fate of organics in TSSE.
This study offers key mechanistic insights and provides design tools for more effective and sustainable TSSE desalination of real brines with complex water chemistries.
