초록 ▼

A desalination apparatus is disclosed which uses a salt sponge unit to remove a majority of salt from water. A parallel plate capacitor can be connected after the salt sponge to remove remaining salt ions. The salt sponge is a nanoporous, high surface area carbon scaffold to which crown ethers are a

A desalination apparatus is disclosed which uses a salt sponge unit to remove a majority of salt from water. A parallel plate capacitor can be connected after the salt sponge to remove remaining salt ions. The salt sponge is a nanoporous, high surface area carbon scaffold to which crown ethers are attached. A power supply is connected to the salt sponges for applying a bias voltage to regenerate the salt sponges. A chlorine treatment unit can be connected after the parallel plate capacitor. A method of purifying sea water using the apparatus also is disclosed.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A desalination apparatus comprising: a salt sponge unit including an inlet for water that contains salt and an outlet for water having a majority of the salt removed therefrom;a salt sponge disposed in said salt sponge unit between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the salt sponge is formed by a

1. A desalination apparatus comprising: a salt sponge unit including an inlet for water that contains salt and an outlet for water having a majority of the salt removed therefrom;a salt sponge disposed in said salt sponge unit between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the salt sponge is formed by a carbon scaffold to which crown ethers are attached for removing a majority of salt from the water; anda power supply connected to the salt sponge for applying a bias voltage to the salt sponge for releasing salt from the crown ethers during a regeneration cycle. 2. A desalination apparatus according to claim 1, additionally comprising a parallel plate capacitor having an inlet connected to the outlet of the salt sponge unit remove remaining salt ions from the water. 3. A desalination apparatus according to claim 2, additionally comprising a chlorine treatment unit having an inlet connected to an outlet of the parallel plate capacitor. 4. A desalination apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the chlorine treatment unit includes outlet for potable water that is connected to a water distribution system. 5. A desalination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the salt sponge unit comprises two separate salt sponges. 6. A desalination apparatus according to claim 5, additionally comprising a valve connected to the inlet for directing water to one or the other of the two salt sponges. 7. A desalination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carbon scaffold is a nanoporous carbide-derived carbon. 8. A desalination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carbon scaffold is a carbon aerogel. 9. A desalination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carbon scaffold is a carbon foam. 10. A desalination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the crown ether is an aza-15-crown 5 ether.