Investigating the Potential Use of Ionic Liquids in Pre-Treatment Application for Water Desalination

¹ Abu Dhabi University, Chemical Engineering Department, UAE
² Khalifa University, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, UAE

Abstract

The world has been noticing a quickening advancement over the last decades in terms of irrigated agriculture, social, industrial, and economical perspectives; followed by a huge increment in the water demand. Therefore, desalination is used all over the world to reduce worldwide water shortage; however, the traditional techniques lead to fossil fuel depletion and global warming. Therefore, scientists are investigating new green and environment-friendly methods to be used by the desalination plants to reduce CO₂ emissions and save the natural resources. In this study, the feasibility of using ionic liquids (ILs) as potential means for pre-treatment of seawater desalination was examined. The main aim of this work was to examine the ability of ILs in extracting salts from saline water. As a first step, the solubility of NaCl, MgCl₂, and CaCl₂ in different ILs at different temperatures were analyzed. The solubility of the salts in ILs increased in most cases with temperature increments; however, the presence of emulsion was seen in a few cases. The highest measured concentration of NaCl was 6,639 ppm at 60 °C in 1,3-Dimethylimidazolium dimethyl phosphate.