A South Korean research team has developed an eco-friendly desalination technology utilizing solar thermal energy and will begin on-site demonstrations in Gangneung starting this October.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced on the 15th that they plan to conduct on-site demonstrations of a next-generation seawater desalination technology in Gangneung. The technology combines solar thermal energy with membrane distillation.
As climate change exacerbates droughts and regional water shortages, the need for desalination technology is gaining attention. In South Korea, the city of Gangneung has been experiencing a record-breaking drought since last month.
Membrane distillation, a next-generation distillation method, works on the principle that water vapor from heated seawater passes through a microporous membrane due to vapor pressure differences and condenses into a cool freshwater tank. Compared to conventional energy-intensive desalination technologies like reverse osmosis and evaporation, it produces fresh water at lower temperatures and pressures, resulting in higher energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and KIST have invested approximately 2.6 billion KRW from 2021 to this year to develop membrane distillation technology through a project focused on thin-film photothermal materials for solar-powered applications.
A team led by Dr. Song Kyung-geun, a principal researcher at KIST, successfully combined membrane distillation with solar thermal energy to reduce energy consumption by 30% and increase freshwater production efficiency by 9.6%. However, these results are from laboratory-scale tests, and further advancement is needed for on-site application.
The research team will transport and install the desalination plant at the Marine Science Education Center of Gangneung-Wonju National University in September, with demonstrations running from October to the end of November. The location's proximity to the sea allows for direct supply of seawater to the desalination plant, enabling long-term testing.
Through these on-site demonstrations, KIST plans to gather various foundational data and identify follow-up research tasks and improvement measures for technological advancement and commercialization.
"We are striving to ensure that science and technology can offer some hope and assistance to the public in overcoming this severe drought," said Koo Hyuk-chae, First Vice Minister of Science and ICT. "We will continue to pursue more effective and advanced research outcomes that can directly contribute to alleviating drought conditions."
"We expect that science and technology-based solutions will play a crucial role in overcoming national crises," said Oh Sang-rok, President of KIST. "We will accelerate our on-site, innovation-focused R&D to take a leading role in addressing not only droughts but also other climate and environment-related societal issues."
