Performance analysis of salt reduction levels in indirect freeze desalination system with and without magnetic field exposure

Abstract

Abstract Freeze Desalination (FD) is considered an attractive desalination alternative due to its potentials to achieve reduced energy consumption compared to its counterparts. However, the physical parameters that affect the desalination process are not clearly understood. In this paper, novel experimental investigations are performed to identify statistically the dominant parameters to suspension freeze desalination systems without applying external magnetic field (MF), and parametrize the magnetic field effects on the desalting process and specify the influence of each parameter. Over 100 experiments were done to assess the performance of the imposed conditions on salt reduction levels. The methods include finding the marginal effects of FD parameters using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, formulating empirical Equation to describe the process, and inspecting the influence of MF density, configuration, and type (i.e., AC or DC). In the absence of MF exposure, the results reveal that the cooling rate below 12 °C (R12−) is the dominant parameter with a correlation coefficient of 0.93. Whereas with MF exposure, the results do not reveal apparent positive effects; MF achieved 44.3% salt reduction compared to originally 48.7%. However, robust evaluation of each MF parameter s influence was introduced. This study offers new insights towards salt reduction enhancement in indirect FD systems.