The Japanese power plant turns into salt water into electricity – a glimpse of the future

Scientists believe that salty water can become a reliable source of renewable energy through a process known as osmosis. Japan has now taken a big step in this direction.

Earlier this month, Japan has officially launched the first power station of poisoning in Fukuka, a large city to the west of Tokyo. This makes Japan the second country in the world to bet on the sacrifice power, after that Denmark. The Fukuoka factory is expected to generate about 880,000 kilowatts of electricity every year, which is enough to provide about 290 Japanese families.

Currently, the first task of the facility is to operate the water desalination factory in Fukuka, which provides fresh water to the surrounding areas. Its success may lead to the spread of the revival force, which is a natural and low risk alternative to fossil fuel that has not been completely launched due to practical challenges.

How to work

The osteoporosis is a simple process that reflects the tendency of nature even to things. At the divergence power plant, a special membrane separates layers of fresh water and sea water, with the latter exposed to more pressure. Over time, the osteoporosis leads to the flow of fresh water towards the sea layer to balance the concentration of salt on both sides of the semi -transportable membrane. This causes an increase in pressure that turns turbine in the plant, which in turn generates electricity.

This is also an energy source that is not affected by the whims of nature, such as weather or day. Unlike solar energy or wind energy, the osmosis is mainly “a stable source of electricity generation that can work 24 hours a day, for every day of the year,” said Kenji Hirokawa, director of the sea water desalination center at the Fukuka Provincial Agency, which occupies the factory, for the NHK (NHK (Translated).

Only two plants so far

In principle, it appears that the osmosis provides a simple alternative to the shortcomings in fossil fuel alternatives. Realistically, researchers will need to overcome many technical obstacles before it is an applicable option. For example, we have not yet resolved the tremendous energy losses from pumping water to the factory and again while traveling via the membranes, Sandra Kantic, a chemical engineer at Melbourne University in Australia, told the University, Guardian.

“While the energy is launched when salt water is mixed with fresh water, a lot of energy is lost in pumping tables at the power plant and from the friction loss through the membranes,” Kantic said. She added that researchers are working hard to improve membrane technology and a pump to reduce these problems to a minimum.

Fukuka officials seem optimistic about their goal of harnessing the osmosis as a reliable energy source for Japan, according to Hirokawa. “It is a meaningful plan – the beginning of the plan, perhaps – in our response against climate change,” he said.