The same technology that adds fizz to soda can now be used to remove particles from dirty water. Researchers at Princeton University have found a technique for using carbon dioxide in a low-cost water treatment system that eliminates the need for costly and complex filters.
The system injects CO2 gas into a stream of water as a method of filtering out particles. The gas, which mixes with the water in a system of channels, temporarily changes the water's chemistry. The chemical changes cause the contaminating particles to move to one side of the channel depending on their electrical charge. By taking advantage of this migration, the researchers are able to split the water stream and filter out suspended particles.
The same technology that adds fizz to soda can now be used to remove particles from dirty water. Researchers at Princeton University have found a technique for using carbon dioxide in a low-cost water treatment system that eliminates the need for costly and complex filters.
The system injects CO2 gas into a stream of water as a method of filtering out particles. The gas, which mixes with the water in a system of channels, temporarily changes the water's chemistry. The chemical changes cause the contaminating particles to move to one side of the channel depending on their electrical charge. By taking advantage of this migration, the researchers are able to split the water stream and filter out suspended particles.
"You could potentially use this to clean water from a pond or river that has bacteria and dirt particles," said Sangwoo Shin, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Shin, the lead author of a paper describing the process, performed the research as a post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of Howard Stone, the Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton.
Continue reading at Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Image: Researchers at Princeton University have found a way to clean particles from water by injecting carbon dioxide into a water channel. The gas changes the water's chemistry, which causes particles to move to one side of the water depending on their chemical charge. By taking advantage of the motion, the researchers can split the stream of water and filter out suspended particles. (Graphics courtesy of the researchers, Princeton University)
