Salinity Gradient, An Introduction and Recent Developments

There are several sources of marine renewable energy harnessed by human for production of electricity. From which, Salinity-gradient energy or Blue Energy is a promising renewable energy source for the future. Estimates from literature predicted coverage of over 80% of the current global electricity demand when applied in all river mouths [1]. From thermodynamic calculations it can be derived that each m3 of river water can yield 1.4 MJ when mixed with the same amount of sea water. There are four techniques available to convert Blue Energy into electricity: pressure-retarded osmosis, vapor compression, hydrocratic generation, and reverse electrodialysis. Although there are Commercial barriers prevent necessary investment, there are some research in this field begun recently showing that this energy may play a more important role in the future. However, it should be noticed that the power available in salinity gradients will be exploited, but not without substantial investment.

کلیدواژه ها:

Salinity-gradient energy ، Blue Energy ، reverse electrodialysis ، pressure-retarded osmosis ، energy recovery