Study of Membrane Capacitive Deionization Technology – A Review

Abstract

The scarcity of fresh water due to the rapid growth of population and industries saline water (brackish and
seawater) treatment through the desalination process has received increasing attention in recent years as an alternative
solution. More than 17,000 desalination plants have been operated worldwide with an average production rate of 66.5
million m3 /day. There are two categories of desalination technology, namely thermal and membrane-based desalination.
Specific energy consumption, water cost, operation and maintenance, and environmental impact are the set of
parameters that are used to determine the most desirable processes among distillation technologies. Membrane-based
technologies have increasingly been chosen in desalination processes, which are evidenced by the increase of large-scale
plants constructed in recent years. Indeed, several appropriate strategies should be considered to minimize problems
faced during the construction, such as membrane system designs, area requirement, energy requirement, operation and
maintenance, and environmental impact, which are related to the economic view and process efficiency. This paper aims
at understanding the membrane capacitive deionization technology for removal of pollutant ions from polluted water.