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Recovery of Freshwater from Seawater Using Microwave Heating
Han Chai Sean
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Su Shiung
Bachelor of Technology (Environment)
School of Ocean Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
Water scarcity is happening around the world due to the lack of clean potable water
and inland freshwater resources. In this research, microwave vacuum heating (MVH)
was investigated as a potential desalination technology to recover freshwater from
seawater. The desalination experiment was performed over a range of microwave
power and the ratio of activated carbon. The freshwater obtained was analyzed for
their turbidity, total dissolved solid and salinity. Up to 32 vol% of freshwater was
obtained at a microwave power of 700 W and 15 g of activated carbon. The recovered
freshwater was detected to have low turbidity (0.2 NTU), total dissolved solid (0.4
g/L) and salinity (0.3 ppt) that fall into Class I of National Water Quality Standards,
indicating that it is safe to be used in agriculture and industry. The results demonstrate
that MVH shows exceptional promise to be used as a technique for recovery of
freshwater from seawater.
31 | U M T U N D E R G R A D U A T E R E S E A R C H D A Y 2019