Siemens is developing a new technology that consumes at least 50 percent less energy for desalinating seawater than previous systems. As reported in the latest issue of the research magazine Pictures of the Future, the new technology will use an electric field to remove salt from the water. Development of the system was made possible in part through a grant from the government of Singapore. Siemens Water Technologies established its worldwide headquarters for the research and development of water technologies in Singapore some time ago, and Siemens Corporate Technology has now also opened an office in the city-state.

Because water covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface, it may initially seem that it is abundantly available worldwide. This is not the case, however, since more than 97 percent of the earth’s water is undrinkable seawater. As a result, countries such as the United Arab Emirates or Singapore, use desalination plants to produce drinking water. The plants that have been employed to date either heat the water to cause it to evaporate in a process that consumes large amounts of energy of about ten kilowatt-hours (kWh) per cubic meter, or they use a reverse osmosis process that consumes around three KWh per cubic meter by pushing the water through a filter.

To reduce this high rate of energy consumption, the government of Singapore created a research network and established the so-called Water Hub, a center of expertise that provides manufacturers of water technologies with state-of-the-art laboratories, as well as access to well trained personnel and opportunities to conduct field tests. At this center, the Siemens research team also developed the concept for the energy-saving desalination technology that removes salt from seawater by means of an electric field.

The process involves using electrodialysis, exchange softening and a new kind of continuous electro-desalination process based on de-ionization to desalinate the water while consuming only 1.5 kWh per cubic meter. Energy consumption will therefore be at least 50 percent lower and the costs will be correspondingly less as well. And the new technology even achieves energy savings of 90 percent when compared to the evaporation system that’s commonly been used up to now.

The new system allowed Siemens Water Technologies to win a government competition in Singapore for which 35 entries were submitted. Singapore will provide the project with a US$3 million grant that will enable Siemens to set up a demonstration facility by 2011.