{"title":"Sustainable water desalination using eductor and waste heat: A review and suggestion for future research","authors":"Ratan Kumar Das, Abhijit Date","doi":"10.1016/j.desal.2025.118687","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This review critically examines the dual utilization of waste heat and eductor systems, exploring the integration of eductor technology with low-grade waste heat in desalination processes, offering a transformative approach to enhancing energy efficiency, reducing operational costs, and minimizing environmental impact. The review explores the operational conditions, design modifications, current challenges, and potential applications of eductor-based desalination systems through case studies. The findings highlight the efficacy of eductors in reducing the footprint of thermal desalination units and their potential for large-scale freshwater production. Eductor-based systems create efficient vacuum conditions, significantly lowering the energy requirements of various desalination technologies, including Flash Evaporation Desalination (FED), Multi-Effect Distillation (MED), Adsorption Desalination (AD), Humidification-Dehumidification (HDH) Desalination, and Membrane Distillation (MD). Key findings demonstrate that eductor-based systems not only improve the performance and sustainability of these technologies but also offer a viable solution for utilizing industrial waste heat and renewable energy sources. The experimental study from the literature reveals that exergy destruction is directly proportional to the secondary mass flow rate. One challenge highlighted in the literature is minimizing exergy destruction while balancing the entrainment and pressure ratios inside the eductor. Another issue highlighted in the literature is the correlation between pressure oscillations' frequency and direct contact condensation's efficiency in the secondary flow. The review identifies gaps in current research and critical areas for future research, such as optimizing multi-nozzle ejector designs, developing dynamic auto-adjusting ejectors, and integrating advanced control strategies like artificial intelligence and machine learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":299,"journal":{"name":"Desalination","volume":"603 ","pages":"Article 118687"},"PeriodicalIF":8.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Desalination","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011916425001626","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This review critically examines the dual utilization of waste heat and eductor systems, exploring the integration of eductor technology with low-grade waste heat in desalination processes, offering a transformative approach to enhancing energy efficiency, reducing operational costs, and minimizing environmental impact. The review explores the operational conditions, design modifications, current challenges, and potential applications of eductor-based desalination systems through case studies. The findings highlight the efficacy of eductors in reducing the footprint of thermal desalination units and their potential for large-scale freshwater production. Eductor-based systems create efficient vacuum conditions, significantly lowering the energy requirements of various desalination technologies, including Flash Evaporation Desalination (FED), Multi-Effect Distillation (MED), Adsorption Desalination (AD), Humidification-Dehumidification (HDH) Desalination, and Membrane Distillation (MD). Key findings demonstrate that eductor-based systems not only improve the performance and sustainability of these technologies but also offer a viable solution for utilizing industrial waste heat and renewable energy sources. The experimental study from the literature reveals that exergy destruction is directly proportional to the secondary mass flow rate. One challenge highlighted in the literature is minimizing exergy destruction while balancing the entrainment and pressure ratios inside the eductor. Another issue highlighted in the literature is the correlation between pressure oscillations' frequency and direct contact condensation's efficiency in the secondary flow. The review identifies gaps in current research and critical areas for future research, such as optimizing multi-nozzle ejector designs, developing dynamic auto-adjusting ejectors, and integrating advanced control strategies like artificial intelligence and machine learning.
期刊介绍:
Desalination is a scholarly journal that focuses on the field of desalination materials, processes, and associated technologies. It encompasses a wide range of disciplines and aims to publish exceptional papers in this area.
The journal invites submissions that explicitly revolve around water desalting and its applications to various sources such as seawater, groundwater, and wastewater. It particularly encourages research on diverse desalination methods including thermal, membrane, sorption, and hybrid processes.
By providing a platform for innovative studies, Desalination aims to advance the understanding and development of desalination technologies, promoting sustainable solutions for water scarcity challenges.