Timeline of water desalination
From Timelines
This is a timeline of water desalination.
Contents
Big picture
| Time period | Development summary |
|---|---|
| 16th century | Desalination contraptions based on evaporation are incorporated into boats, allowing them to be self-sufficient in the event of an emergency.[1] |
| 19th century | Distillation is commercialized by companies such as Caird & Rayner (a brand which still exists today), with firms located in various countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States.[2] |
| 1930s | Thermal distillation begins use in several large plants, primarily in the Middle East.[3] |
| 1960s | Membrane technologies arise as a result of a breakthrough in the use of polymer films for separating salt from water in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[1] Anisotropic cellulose acetate membranes are the industry standard through the decade.[4] |
| 1970s | Fuel oil cost increases very sharply, affecting strongly the desalination cost, especially in processes with high specific energy consumption. A great effort is made in many countries to shift from desalination by distillation to desalination by other means.5 Low-pressure multi-effect distillation (MED) and improved reverse osmosis (RO) evolve as two new technologies capable to desalt seawater.5 By the second half of the decade, the RO process is considered in many regional developing programs as an option for small and large seawater desalination plants.[5] |
| 1980s | Synthetic membranes begin to play an increasingly crucial role in water desalination. Membrane distillation develops commercially on a small scale during the decade.[6] In the mid-1980s, low-pressure nanofiltration membranes is introduced by all of the major reverse osmosis companies.[4] |
| 1990s | The continuous improvement and cost reduction in RO technology increases, in most cases, the economic benefits of SWRO over the distillation process.[5] |
| Recent years | Today, desalination can be achieved by using thermal or membrane processes, or a hybrid combination.[2] |
Full timeline
| Year | Event type | Details | Geographical location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 BC–300 BC | In his Meteorologica, Aristotle writes that "Salt water when it turns into vapour becomes sweet and the vapour does not form salt water again when it condenses".[3][2] | ||
| 1850s | Pfeffer, Traube and others study osmotic phenomena with ceramic membranes.[4] | ||
| 1931 | The term reverse osmosis is coined, and the process is patented as a method of desalting water.[4] | ||
| 1954 | Facility | The first desalination plant opens in Qatar.[7] | Qatar |
| 1955 | Multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) appears as the first large-scale modern desalination process.[8] | United States | |
| 1959 | Desalination capability of cellulose acetate film is demonstrated by Breton and Reid.[3][1][4] | ||
| 1959 | The first multi-effect distillation (MED) plant is constructed.[8] | Aruba | |
| 1960 | The first synthetic and functional reverse osmosis membrane is produced at the University of California, made from cellulose acetate. This membrane is capable of blocking the salts while allowing water to pass through it at a reasonable rate of flow under high pressure.[1] | ||
| 1960-1965 | Electrodialysis is commercially introduced, providing a cost-effective way to desalt brackish water and spurring considerable interest in the whole field if using desalting technologies to produce potable water for municipal use.[6] | ||
| 1962 | Asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane is developed.[3][4] | ||
| 1963 | Loeb and Sourirajan show that an asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane can be used for desalination. The permeabilities of these early membranes are low and RO membranes are considered a novelty separation technique rather than a soution to desalination.[1] | ||
| 1963 | First practical spiral-wound module is developed by General Atomics.[3][4] | ||
| 1964 | In Spain, the first desalination plant is constructed in Lanzarote.[8] | Spain | |
| 1965 | The first commercial desalination plant using reverse osmosis is inaugurated in California at the Coalinga desalination plant, used for brackish water.[1] | United States | |
| 1965 | An 1 MGD (3,785 m3/year) MSF dual-purpose plant starts operating in Eilat, Israel, with an atual water cost amounted to about $0.3m3. The relatively low cost is due to the very low fuel-oil prices if $10-15/ton prevailing at the time.[5] | ||
| 1966 | Israel publishes a joint feasibility study of a 200 MW - 100 MGD (378,500 m3/year) nuclear dual-purpose plant.[5] | ||
| 1967 | The first commercially successful hollow fiber module is released.[3][4] | ||
| 1972 | The interfacial composite membrane is developed.[3] | ||
| 1974 | The first sea water reverse osmosis desalination plant comes into operation.[8] | Bermuda | |
| 1975 | A large seawater desalination plant is built in Jiddah, using interfacial composite membranes, introduced by Fluid Systems. The construction of the plant is considered a milestone in reverse osmosis development.[3][4] | Saudi Arabia | |
| 1978 | The first fully aromatic thin film composite (FT-30) is developed.[3][4] | ||
| 1981 | Cadotte patents the design for the three-layer TFC membrane that would later become industry standard. The layer provides high permeability while maintaining selectivity for water.[1] | ||
| 1986 | Low pressure nanofiltration membrane becomes widely available.[3][4] | ||
| 1998 | Grace-Davison and Mobil install the first large hyperfiltration solvent separation plant at Beaumont Texas refinery.[3][4] | ||
| 2014 | As of 2014, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest desalinated water producer in the world, and it currently produces about one-fifth of the world productions.[9] | Saudi Arabia |
Meta information on the timeline
How the timeline was built
The initial version of the timeline was written by User:Sebastian.
Funding information for this timeline is available.
What the timeline is still missing
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Timeline update strategy
See also
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 KUMAR, MANISH; CULP, TYLER; SHEN, YUEXIAO. "Water Desalination History, Advances, and Challenges". nae.edu. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Current challenges in energy recovery for desalination". filtsep.com. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 KUMAR, MANISH; CULP, TYLER; SHEN, YUEXIAO. "Water Desalination: History, Advances, and Challenges". nap.edu. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 Baker, Richard W. Membrane Technology and Applications. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Glueckstern, Pinhas. "History of Desalination Cost Estimations" (PDF). gwri-ic.technion.ac.il. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Shatat, Mahmoud; Riffat, Saffa B. "Water desalination technologies utilizing conventional and renewable energy sources". doi:10.1093/ijlct/cts025. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ↑ "Historical Background". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "A short history of desalination". theenergyofchange.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ↑ Ouda, Omar K.M. "Domestic water demand in Saudi Arabia: assessment of desalinated water as strategic supply source". tandfonline.com. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
