What is CryoDesalination?
CryoDesalination uses a natural phenomenon…When salt water freezes, salt is expelled and pure ice is formed. You can see that in the video below. As the water freezes, the dye in this salt water is displaced and concentrates in the middle of the bottle which is the last place to freeze.
50% LOWER CAPEX, 25% LOWER OPEX
CryoDesalination is…
Less expensive than Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis requires extremely high amounts of energy to operate and has a large carbon footprint. It also scales costs linearly, so a plant that produces twice the water costs 100% more.
CryoDesalination has dramatically fewer parts than Reverse Osmosis, does not require high pressures to operate, and has no consumables. In addition, CryoDesalination costs scale better, so a plant that produces twice the water only costs 25% more.
CryoDesalination is…
Less expensive than Thermal Desalination
Thermal desalination is often the last resort of high TDS waters because it can evaporate anything, However, this flexibility comes at a massive price and carbon footprint.
The thermal energy required to boil water is 3 times larger than to freeze it. This means that CryoDesalination plants have a natural cost advantage over all thermal processes. In addition, CryoDesalination plants don’t have to use the exotic alloys required to control corrosion in boiling water.
LOW COST NO-EMISSION WATER FROM WASTE ENERGY
Waste Energy
CryoDesalination can…
Produce almost free water
Free Water
When LNG is regasified to the pipeline, a huge amount of energy is wasted to the environment.
CryoDesalination uses this free wasted energy to desalinate nearby seawater into clean potable water for use in industrial, agricultural, or municipal applications.
No other desalination technology can use this freezing cold energy the way we can. It’s a big deal and it’s something that can be implemented now.
SPEED MINERAL EXTRACTION & LOWER COSTS
CryoDesalination can…
Harvest minerals without wasting water
Evaporation ponds used for mining minerals, such as lithium, potassium, and rare-earth elements waste massive quantities of water and take years to extract.
CryoDesalination can harvest minerals faster, saving water, and increasing production of manufactured goods that rely on these minerals, like rechargeable batteries for electric cars and busses.
Long & Wasteful
AND MANY MORE APPLICATIONS
CryoDesalination is applicable when there is a need to handle high salinity feeds, reduce the cost of desalination, recover water, salts and minerals, or achieve zero liquid discharge. Applications include:
Desalinating seawater
Producing nearly free water from waste energy from hydrogen regasification or air separators
Industrial wastewater purification
Crystallization of chemicals & minerals
Fertilizer effluent and Gyps Stack clean-up
Mining effluents and lagoon waste clearing
Copper recovery from tailing ponds
Lithium concentration and recovery
Rare Earth Elements and Critical Materials concentration and recovery
WHY IS THIS FAMILIAR?
Freeze desalination is not new. In fact, ancient sailors traveling the arctic would collect frozen sea ice, melt it, and use it for drinking water.
In the 1950s & 60s there was a lot of research on freeze desalination. However, they were unable to separate the ice from the brine at commercial scale.
CryoDesalination has solved this problem with our patented process.
Cryosol is any immiscible food grade oil that has a density between ice (which floats) and brine (which sinks). This is the innovation that allows ice and brine to be separated in a continuous flowing process. We have proven the concept and built pilot scale units.
CYRODESALINATION IS READY
Major mining multinational
Pilot scale test at major mining site designed to increase mineral yield and remediate waste water
Oil and gas service
Test unit designed to reuse 100% of water for hydraulic fracture
Advantages over other desalination technologies include:
Low capital investment
Low operating cost
Economies of scale
Small environmental footprint
Ability to handle any salinity (TDS) water
Low corrosion due to low operating temperature (no need for expensive materials)
Low maintenance & labor
No feed pretreatment required
No chemicals required
Adaptable to Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)
ABOUT US
Billy Buchsbaum
CEO & Cofounder
Along with his father Norbert, Billy co-founded CryoDesalination to bring Norbert’s innovative desalination process to market. After starting his career in law firms, Billy moved to the startup world where he served as general counsel to a high-tech start-up. He later co-founded a long-short equity fund. Billy earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, a JD from the University of Texas, and an LLM from the London School of Economics.
Brian McWhorter
CSO
Brian has been an innovator in process technology development for over 20 years, primarily in advanced biofuels and life-science. His professional engagements have taken him to 4 continents and 10 countries. He teaches Process Controls Design and Development at his Alma Mater, University of Iowa where he earned a BS in Chemical Engineering.
