Timeline of water desalination
From Timelines
This is a timeline of FIXME.
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.3 |
| 1930s | Thermal distillation begins use in several large plants, primarily in the Middle East.1 |
| 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.3 |
Full timeline
| Year | Event type | Details | Geographical location |
|---|---|---|---|
| ? | 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".1 | ||
| 1959 | Desalination capability of cellulose acetate film is demonstrated by Breton and Reid.1.3 | ||
| 1962 | Asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane is developed.1 | ||
| 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.3 | ||
| 1963 | First practical spiral-wound module is developed by General Atomics.1 | ||
| 1967 | The first commercially successful hollow fiber module is released.1 | ||
| 1972 | The interfacial composite membrane is developed.1 | ||
| 1975 | The first commercial interfacial composite Riley at Fluid Systems is installed at Jiddah seawater plant.1 | ||
| 1978 | The first fully aromatic thin film composite (FT-30) is developed.1 | ||
| 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.3 | ||
| 1986 | Low pressure nanofiltration membrane becomes widely available.1 | ||
| 1998 | Grace-Davison and Mobil install the first large hyperfiltration solvent separation plant at Beaumont Texas refinery.1 |
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.
