According to the World Meteorological Organization, more than 5 billion people could be affected by water stress within the next 30 years, or more than two-thirds of the global population. Faced with this major challenge, the Marseille-based start-up Seanergy has succeeded, after three years of research, in developing a solution that would allow the production of pure, drinkable water by freezing seawater: cryoseparation.
The idea is to freeze pure water at the same time, at 0°C, and salt water, which freezes at a slightly lower temperature, around -2°C,” explains Hubert Montcoudiol, head of the French Tech start-up. A phenomenon of separation of matter then occurs: crystals of pure water are formed and rise to the surface, while the water loaded with salt, liquid, remains at the bottom.
The principle seems simple. But if “engineers have been working on this process for 30 to 40 years, until now, nobody has managed to put this method on an industrial level,” continues the entrepreneur. We have achieved this through a special technology that requires a very specific temperature and pressure“.