Review of water desalination techniques towards an energy saving approach

Abstract

As a contribution to the care of "our common home", in line with the sustainable development objectives related to water and energy, which seek to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and the excessive requirement of energy, including both the conventional and green or alternative energy, we revised technological improvements occurring in water desalination process at international levels. Starting from the reverse osmosis technique, some aspects of future scenarios are presented regarding to the development of membranes and new technologies to obtain and use sustainable energy. We present the efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels and their relationship with temperature. We also revised the progress of some devices and materials for capture, concentration and transformation of solar radiation. Based on the information gathered regarding the capacity of fresh water production and the energy required in the whole process of some of the largest plants in the world we present the evolution as well as the short, medium and long term goals, expressed in terms of energy requirements by unit of desalinated water volume, which is related to an ongoing project in the Northwest of Mexico. This review aims to promote the development of these technologies and their application in the water desalination process in Mexico.