The site in Fukuoka is only the second power plant of its type in the world, harnessing the power of osmosis to run a desalination plant in the city

The site in Fukuoka is only the second power plant of its type in the world, harnessing the power of osmosis to run a desalination plant in the city

  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.orgOPM
    2·
    11 days ago

    doesn’t completely answer your question, but:

    Kentish said a lot of energy is lost through the action of pumping water into the power plant and when it travels through the membranes.

    “While energy is released when the salt water is mixed with fresh water, a lot of energy is lost in pumping the two streams into the power plant and from the frictional loss across the membranes. This means that the net energy that can be gained is small,” she said.

    But advances in membrane and pump technology are reducing these problems, Kentish said.

    so it would seem it happens to be a net positive due to the energy “stored” in the brine

    • mormund@feddit.orgEnglish
      3·
      11 days ago

      Hm from reading more on it, I think it has more to do with droughts in the area. That is why they build the desalination plant in the first place. I assume using the residual energy of the saline gradient (+ the boost from the brine) to generate new freshwater is better than further draining the naturally occuring freshwater. But still just a guess.