Japan has opened its first osmotic power plant – so what is it and how does it work?
Japan has opened its first osmotic power plant – so what is it and how does it work?
www.theguardian.com
Japan has opened its first osmotic power plant – so what is it and how does it work?
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
Seems like a good pair for desalination plants, great to see the technology develop.
I did not quite get how it's a good idea tbh. They need freshwater to dilute the saltwater/brine. And they use it to separate the brine from saltwater to make freshwater? That's definitely an energy negative cycle. So what's the benefit? Is this more energy efficient then cleaning waste water into freshwater?
It's easier to understand with a picture of the process:
It's not energy negative. Osmosis doesn't require any energy input. You only need to pump water to the plant,but the harvested power from the pressurized water exceeds the required pumping power. Freshwater and saltwater are freely available. Using the concentrated brine from a desalination plant only increases the efficiency.