At the University of Birmingham our research leads to new inventions and fuels innovation and business growth.
Developed by researchers from the University of Birmingham, this technology is a novel desalination method and apparatus, significantly reducing the energy consumption during the desalination process, and minimising discharge of harmful brine into the environment. The desalination apparatus can be assembled from off-the-shelf components, thus capping the capital and maintenance costs. The novel method is a full-batch system that operates in two stages: 1) pressurisation stage and 2) purge-refill stage. At its pressurising stage, the saline water is supplied to the semi-permeable membrane by a system of pistons and the desalination occurs by reverse osmosis. At purge-refill stage, the salt concentrates are washed away by another portion of saline water while refilling the piston system.
