News on China's scientific and technological development.

PiSigma

"the engineer"
Chinese researchers from Tianjin university and Nankai university created a new kind of membranes for faster desalination.

In tests, the new membrane can reject 99.91% of NaCl with "an ultrafast water fux of 267 kg per sq meter per hour". This result outperforms the state-of-the-art designs and is 4 to 10 times higher than the conventional membranes.

The research team has developed an environment friendly process that can produce the membrane at the kilogram scale with a unit cost of 1 yuan per gram. This is close to the breakeven point for production at "industrial scale". The scientists are hard working at improving the process to realize mass production.

Preview of the research paper in English:
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News report in Chinese by Xinhua:
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The key for desalination is how much water is rejected? In normal reverse osmosis, 50% of the water is rejected with all the salt, essentially becoming a saline. If they can super concentrate is salts, then it would be more useful too.

Another problem with desalination is what to do with the salt. It's not pure enough for human consumption typically, and requires further processing and also there is just too much. Also hard to justify dumping in the ocean again, which just makes the local area extra salty and kills everything .
 

ZeEa5KPul

Colonel
Registered Member
The key for desalination is how much water is rejected? In normal reverse osmosis, 50% of the water is rejected with all the salt, essentially becoming a saline. If they can super concentrate is salts, then it would be more useful too.
I've often wondered how feasible extracting minerals like lithium, magnesium, and even uranium from the brine waste stream would be. A combined desalination/brine mining plant would do a lot do bring down the cost of desalinated water.
 

Strangelove

Colonel
Registered Member
Well done, expect even better numbers for 2021.

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More sci-tech findings commercialized than ever in 2020​


By ZHANG ZHIHAO | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-07-01 15:38

The commercial value of scientific and technological achievements made by Chinese universities and research institutions reached a record total of 125.6 billion yuan ($18.7 billion) in 2020, a 17 billion yuan increase on 2019, according to a report published on Wednesday.

The report noted that the commercialization of findings has progressed steadily in recent years, but that it was still important to optimize policies and mechanisms, train high-caliber professionals, and improve financial incentives and support.

The 2021 edition of the annual report was compiled by the National Center for Science and Technology Evaluation, the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China and a research council for the management of scientific and technological achievement under the guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

In 2020, 3,554 universities and research institutions reported 466,882 contracts for the commercialization of their research, about 261 of which were valued at over 100 million yuan.

Technology transfers, licensing and investment constituted 20,977 of the contracts, while 445,905 were for technological development, consultation and other services.

Some notable developments in the process include stronger intellectual protection, more efficient management systems, a greater focus on public health, and increased financial support.

However, the report also highlighted several shortfalls, including a lack of policies facilitating interdepartmental collaboration, a shortage of dedicated professionals, and insufficient risk management in terms of financing and the protection of intellectual property.
As a result, the report called for more effective mechanisms for communication and collaboration, training more high-caliber individuals, and increasing financial support for the commercialization of research findings.
 

latenlazy

Brigadier
The key for desalination is how much water is rejected? In normal reverse osmosis, 50% of the water is rejected with all the salt, essentially becoming a saline. If they can super concentrate is salts, then it would be more useful too.

Another problem with desalination is what to do with the salt. It's not pure enough for human consumption typically, and requires further processing and also there is just too much. Also hard to justify dumping in the ocean again, which just makes the local area extra salty and kills everything .
You might be able to do differential filtering for different types of salts and other precipitates in the water.
 

HereToSeePics

Junior Member
Staff member
Moderator - World Affairs
Registered Member
I still have some hope that Huawei will show off a HarmonyOS desktop shell with a Linux kernel this fall or somewhere next year.
This- I don’t understand why China(or any other entity) looking to create an commercially viable alternative to windows and MacOS don’t try to extend Android/AOSP to desktop use. There’s already a huge developer base and lots of apps/games/tools that can be easily ported over. Also, some android apps are already viable replacements for traditional program. Plus, it would create an ecosystem level of integration between desktop, mobile, tablet and web devices like how messages and data are seemlessly synced between iphones and macs.


Another problem with desalination is what to do with the salt. It's not pure enough for human consumption typically, and requires further processing and also there is just too much. Also hard to justify dumping in the ocean again, which just makes the local area extra salty and kills everything .

I think the brine issue is relatively easy to manage. Typically in existing commercial desal plants, they premix the brine with fresh sea water to dilute it to salinity tolerable to marine life. Also, they discharge the brine mixture far enough offshore into existing deadzones to minimize harm to sensitive marine zones.
 

PiSigma

"the engineer"
I've often wondered how feasible extracting minerals like lithium, magnesium, and even uranium from the brine waste stream would be. A combined desalination/brine mining plant would do a lot do bring down the cost of desalinated water.
It's pretty hard since the concentrations are so small. Here in Alberta, there is actually a ton of rare earth, precious metals and lithium in our tailings water from oilsands mines. Problem is the concentrations are literally parts per billion, so getting it out is very hard. There are a couple pilot projects trying to get it out, but don't know where they are at right now.
 

sunnymaxi

Captain
Registered Member
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Angel particle’ mimics may be first step to reliable quantum computers​

  • A team of researchers led by physicists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences reports subatomic breakthrough
  • The scientists say groups of particles can behave like the theoretical particle which also has its own antiparticle

 
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