Protocol and Testing Apparatus for Superabsorbent Hydrogel Desalination

• Main Author: Holt, Braelyn
• Other Authors: Achilli, Andrea, Hickenbottom, Kerri, Gervasio, Dominic
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Arizona. 2020
• Subjects: Arctic; Psi
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/641672

In recent years, a lot of research has gone into water desalination to solve the impending water crisis. Hydrogels, a water-absorbent polymer, offer a unique solution for decreasing salt content because of its chemical composition. In this work, a series of desalination experiments were performed on Arctic Gel 1010, a superabsorbent acrylic acid hydrogel developed by BASF. The equilibrium swelling behavior and salt retention of the gel was studied in feed salt concentrations ranging from 0-70g/L of sodium chloride. The equilibrium swelling and salt retention both decreased with increasing feed salt concentrations. A testing apparatus was designed and built to allow an external pressure to be exerted on the gel, while capturing the expelled purified water. The gel was swelled in both 1g/L and 10g/L of saline solution, and was subjected to pressures of 100 psi, 480 psi, and 800psi. The maximum salt rejection achieved was 37% and the maximum water recovery was 24%. The specific energy consumption of the experiments ranged between 0.19-1.53 kWh/m^3 .