Water desalination by silica supported ionic liquid: Adsorption kinetics and system modeling

Significant efforts have been done in order to improve adsorption desalination systems by developing advanced adsorbents. Silica-supported ionic liquid (SIL) has been recently proposed as a promising adsorption material for water desalination due to its relatively high adsorption capacity around 1 kgwater.kg(SIL)(-1). Such achieved performance can be considered as an initial cornerstone that requires further important additional data before reaching a successful practical application. In this paper, experimental measurements of water adsorption kinetics in the SIL named EMIM-AC/Syloid 72FP are presented. The kinetics is interpreted using a linear driving force (LDF) model that shows good harmony with experimental data. Depending on a former study on adsorption isotherms and the current kinetics data, the performance of an adsorption water desalination system (ADS) is predicted using a dynamic lumped parameter model. The results show a bright future for this SIL material in water desalination application with high theoretical pure water production achieving 47 m(3) day(-1)ton(-1), 0.85 coefficient of performance with 600 W kg(SIL)(-1) specific cooling power. Furthermore, system working with the EMIM-AC/Syloid 72FP can theoretically be powered by as low as 40 degrees C heat source. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study presents a new method for experimental investigation of water adsorption kinetics using silica-supported ionic liquid, and predicts its performance in water desalination through modeling. The results suggest a promising future for this material in water desalination applications.