This study investigates freeze desalination achieved through partial freezing of drops of saline solutions. Firstly, a parametric study is performed to determine the ice recovery (%) and salinity reduction (%) for drops of NaCl solutions as a function of drop size, NaCl concentration and freezing temperature. It was shown that desalination can be achieved in millimetric drops at freezing temperatures pertinent to their partial freezing state. Overall, greater supercooling degrees were required for higher salt concentrations, leading to a higher ice recovery (%) in smaller drops for a given salt concentration. The salinity reduction (%), however, reduced linearly as the ice recovery (%) increased, with drops of greater salt concentrations showing the least salinity reduction. The higher ice growth rate experienced by such drops is believed to be responsible for the observed lower salinity reduction (%).

A map of freezing state is developed for drops of 1, 3.5 and 6 wt% NaCl solution. The map identifies the drop's state of freezing in terms of unfrozen, partially frozen, and fully frozen state. This map can be employed to identify the temperature range required for achieving partial freezing of saline drops, the pre-requisite for drop-based freeze desalination processes.

本研究调查了通过部分冷冻盐溶液滴实现的冷冻脱盐。首先，进行参数研究以确定 NaCl 溶液液滴的冰回收率 (%) 和盐度降低 (%) 作为液滴大小、NaCl 浓度和冷冻温度的函数。结果表明，在与其部分冻结状态相关的冻结温度下，可以以毫米降来实现脱盐。总体而言，更高的盐浓度需要更大的过冷度，从而在给定的盐浓度下以较小的液滴获得更高的冰回收率 (%)。然而，随着冰回收率 (%) 的增加，盐度降低 (%) 呈线性降低，随着盐浓度的下降，盐度降低最少。

为 1、3.5 和 6 wt% NaCl 溶液的液滴开发了冻结状态图。该地图根据未冻结、部分冻结和完全冻结状态识别液滴的冻结状态。该地图可用于确定实现盐滴部分冷冻所需的温度范围，这是基于液滴的冷冻脱盐过程的先决条件。