Desalination Can Beat Out Batteries for Excess Energy

Re:Desalination Can Beat Out Batteries for Excess Energy by thsksbd on Monday December 18, 2023 @03:04PM (#38687453)

I worked on this a little bit. You still need to energetically pay the entropic cost of separating salt from water, and the kinetic over-potential (on the electrodes). Also these cells hate running in reverse. Ruins their lifespan. Overall it is still not viable.

Your idea to use it to iron out the economics, though, might have some merit if the price fluctuations are high enough (which is what motivated us to begin with)

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Re:Desalination Can Beat Out Batteries for Excess Energy by jimnotgym on Monday December 18, 2023 @07:01PM (#38690078)

Is the cost more or less than reverse osmosis, that is the real question.

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Re:Desalination Can Beat Out Batteries for Excess Energy by thsksbd on Monday December 18, 2023 @10:46PM (#38691573)

I dont know, but probably more.

The cells dont like running in the reverse direction so you either research bidirectional cells or double the capital costs making cells optimized for each direction. Also, over potentials are pretty high and the catalysts foul easily but for the cleanest of inputs.

Also, is RO the cheapest for DS? I thought modern distillation is back on top, especially if you have waste heat

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