大约71%的地球表面被水覆盖，但根据 National Geographic在美国，超过99%的水是人类和许多其他生物无法使用的.”
把世界上丰富的咸水变成新鲜的、可饮用的水的想法已经是老生常谈了. As in going back to the fourth century B.C. Today, 150个国家有成千上万的海水淡化厂，每天生产近300亿加仑的淡水.
But that’s just a drop in the proverbial bucket. What’s more, 海水淡化是能源密集型的，而且价格昂贵——每1个海水淡化大约需要3到4美元,000 gallons, 成本远远高于雨水回收和水循环利用等选择.
As with any tough challenge, 将咸水转化为淡水的更好的解决方案一定存在. Bahman Abbasi, an associate professor at OSU-Cascades, has found one. And in the process, he’s made two more important breakthroughs.
The College of Engineering chronicled Abbasi’s research and its evolution in Season 12 of its podcast series, Engineering Out Loud. He’s patented two technologies 它使用高速空气喷射来雾化和蒸发进入的盐水. 这种加湿-除湿过程可以使用太阳能，不需要复杂的基础设施. It’s economical, scalable and portable.
And as it turns out, versatile.
Unlike other desalination methods that produce brine, 阿巴西的技术只留下干净的水和固体盐——像氯化镁这样具有商业价值的盐, the base material for magnesium metals. 通过加湿-除湿过程运行浓缩盐水还可以提取高价值的锂盐——这种越来越稀缺的金属用于可充电电池，为从智能手机到电动汽车的所有产品提供动力. 与采矿相比，这是“一种可持续和负责任的提取锂的方式，”阿巴西说
Getting the water out of wastewater
Abbasi在海水淡化和提取有价值的盐方面的突破也带来了一种处理废水的新解决方案——一种彻底改变传统方法的解决方案.
Wastewater from oil and gas drilling, mining, 制药业和农业充斥着各种污染物, many of which are hard to separate, Abbasi says. So rather than trying to get all of the contaminants out of the water, his process extracts a single compound: the water.
Similar to the desalination process, Abbasi的系统使用薄膜蒸发来提取水分子和轻挥发性污染物, 留下了所有不易蒸发的盐和重污染物. 然后，通过小心地调节温度，只有水凝结回液体形式. 挥发物保持气相状态，并从系统中喷射出来. Abbasi设想这一过程可以在一个闭环系统中使用，该系统可以清洁和再利用相同的水, 不再需要从德克萨斯州二叠纪盆地等干旱地区的稀缺资源中不断提取.
Students advance research — and their futures
阿巴西指出，学生们为推动这些突破做出了至关重要的贡献. Since the start of the project, Abbasi’s lab has included four Ph.D. students, six master’s, 来自7个国家的3名博士后学者和19名本科生——带来了解决问题的不同方法.
“None of this would've happened without them,” Abbasi says. “And I hope that they realize how valuable their efforts have been.”
他还认为，学生的经历是他们接受教育和准备参加工作的支柱.
“They develop their own skill set, they get knowledge, they get confidence, and they start charting their own path,” he says. 该实验室的几名毕业生现在在工业界和学术界工作.
Scaling up from the lab to the real world
Abbasi’s research in desalination, 锂提取和废水处理技术已经从美国能源部获得了900多万美元的资助.S. Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the state of Oregon and private investors, and grant applications are pending with other federal agencies. His startup company — Espiku — is developing commercial applications for all three systems.
Following a sabbatical, 阿巴西今年秋天回到澳门威尼斯人娱乐场后将转到科瓦利斯. 他利用这段时间和拨款来测试原型和控制系统, 扩展技术以证明它们可以在实际应用程序中可靠地执行. 该大学计划开发一个脱盐系统的原型 Hatfield Marine Science Center on the Oregon Coast.
Abbasi也一直在努力获得额外的资金，以帮助他的创业公司度过所谓的“死亡之谷”，在原型和测试阶段，在商业产品准备好面向付费客户之前，资金就会耗尽. Espiku的目标是在五年内将其技术商业化.
Abbasi和Espiku最近获得了一笔50万美元的赠款，以支持这一目标 Breakthrough Energy. 该组织由比尔·盖茨创立，旨在加速可持续能源的创新，帮助应对气候变化. Abbasi因其锂提取技术被选为2024年突破能源研究员. In addition to funding, the program connects fellows with industry leaders, 科学家和政策专家，并在商业化道路上提供指导, including regulatory requirements, market access and scaling solutions.
Abbasi的海水淡化工艺的商业应用包括在现有的海水淡化厂上进行附加, 处理浓缩的盐水，否则处理起来会很昂贵. In military applications, 该技术既可以部署在永久基地，也可以部署在需要便携式设备提供清洁水的远征军. 这种便携性也使它成为人道主义用途的理想选择，比如在难民营或自然灾害后的社区.
“Load it up, deploy it, and it’s good to go,” Abbasi says.
埃斯皮库在鲁里语中的意思是“白色的山”，阿巴西在伊朗西部说鲁里语长大. 部分原因是他在干旱地区的经历促使他确保世界各地的人们都能获得清洁的水.
他最初的突破解决了额外的艰巨挑战，这是一个额外的奖励.
