Study of a Melt Crystallization Process for Seawater Desalination

The work aims to develop a process for freezing desalination of seawater on cold walls. The experiments were performed with water/NaCl solutions of different concentrations and with samples of seawater. The pilot crystallizer consists of a cooled tube immersed in a cylindrical double jacketed tank containing water to be treated. The complete process of desalination is conducted in two steps： the freezing step, leading to the crystallization of the ice layer and the sweating step, which consists of purifying the ice layer in depth by melting the impure zones. The systematic study of the influence of operating parameters has highlighted the important role of the cooling ramp and salinity of the solution on the purity of the ice produced. In the absence of stirring, the temperature of the double jacket also has a noticeable effect on the purity of the ice due to temperature gradients, and consequently, convection currents that may result in the solution. The results of this work show the feasibility of the technique and give a good indication of operating conditions that can be used to produce drinking water.