1. Vorsana Desalinator Investigation
University of Idaho Desalter Team
Sponsor: Vorsana Inc.

2. Introduction Water Crisis is everywhere in the world!
California
Water Crisis is everywhere in the world!
Global food crisis
Desalination of seawater is the future!
China

3. Existing Desalination Methods
Major desalination methods for recovery of fresh water include both membrane technologies and thermal methods such as multi-flash distillation, multi-effect distillation and vapor compression.
Reverse osmosis (RO)
High energy use
Limited in the salinity it can
handle (reject brine disposal
unsolved)
~50% recovery

4. Project Goals and Approach
Goal: Advance the scientific study of this patent and prove the concept by treating brackish and contaminated water supplies, including extremely salty brine samples.
Approach
Computational fluid dynamics using supercomputers and experimental measurements
Two faculty: Dr. Tao Xing from ME and Dr. Herbert Hess from EcE
ME & EcE Shop Technicians
One ME graduate student (Austin Doutre)
One senior design team with 2 ME and 3 EcE students.
Budget: $100,000 ($97,065 for a research project + $2,935 or more for a senior design team)

5. The Innovation (Vorsana Inc.)
Alternate approach to removal of salts and chemicals from water by using the differences in electrical potential, weight, and induced viscosity between the fractions
Radio frequency (RF) energy from an inductor is added into the workspace to affect the viscosity and flow pattern of the conductive components, change the enthalpy of hydration, and cause nucleation seed crystals to form, increasing the crystallization of the salts and scale
An induction coil which changes the flow characteristics of the ions in brine, while leaving the pure water unaffected, together with a radial counterflow forcing regime

6. Challenges!
Small salinity reduction observed for our existing technology
How to scale this up?

7. Tasks
Deeper understanding of ion motions in electrical and magnetic fields
Design high aspect-ratio rectangular channels and electrical and magnetic fields for theoretical and experimental studies
Measurements of the performance of a prototype machine shipped by Vorsana Inc.
Propose new designs
Test new designs if applicable

8. Milestones Achieved
University of Idaho Team has been sponsored by Vorsana Inc. for a pilot study in 2012 and an initial study of the desalter model in
Model Vorsana Desalter
Experimental layout in Vorsana Desalter Lab

9. Milestones Achieved (Cont’d)

10. Milestones Achieved (Cont’d)

11. Milestones Achieved (Cont’d)
CFD with MHD model, magnetic field simulation, and understanding of the role of vortices have been validated and successfully applied.
~2% and 10% salinity reduction were shown by experiments for a small model and prototype machines, respectively.
Strength of the magnetic field and residence/exposure time are the two most important factors for an effective desalination

12. Questions?