Our study titled “Hypersaline Electrodialysis Desalination: Intrinsic Membrane and Module Performance Tradeoffs” has been published in ACS ES&T Engineering!
Electrodialysis (ED) is a widely used technique for desalination, traditionally applied to demineralize brackish waters. In this study, we explore the potential of ED for the emergent challenge of hypersaline desalination. The analysis reveals that the desalination performance of hypersaline ED is determined by two intrinsic membrane tradeoffs—ion conductivity-charge selectivity and ion conductivity-water resistivity—and a process tradeoff between energy consumption and concentrate volume reduction. Findings of the study can advance the formulation of theoretical frameworks to quantitatively describe the interdependencies between membrane properties and module-scale performance, thus informing the development of better membranes and more efficient process innovations for the sustainable management of high-salinity streams.
