A Study on the Small Seawater Desalination System Based on Drum Evaporator Using Brine
Global population growth and industrial development are leading to water shortages, and water supplies from surface and groundwater sources are facing serious challenges. Many countries are projected to experience water shortages by 2025. More than 50% of these countries will face water resource depletion, and Korea is also expected to face water shortages, necessitating the development of water supply measures. This study explores the application of refrigeration technology to address this water shortage. It explores a small-scale seawater desalination system that utilizes the phenomenon of freshwater contained in seawater accumulating on the surface of a brine-cooled drum-type evaporator. This system exploits the phenomenon of freshwater contained in brine freezing on the low-temperature drum surface. Experiments were conducted to determine the amount of freshwater captured by varying the brine temperature entering a brine-cooled drum-type ice maker and the gap between the blades used to cut the frozen ice. When tested using seawater as the base, it was found that when the circulating brine temperature in the drum-type ice maker was -30℃ and the gap between the drum-type ice maker and the cutting blade was 1 mm, the salinity was removed by about 95%, and about 2.28 liters of fresh water could be produced per hour. It was also found that it was easy to install for small-scale seawater desalination and could be used with a low power capacity of about 2.3 kW.