Applications and prospects of titanium and its alloys in seawater desalination industry

Seawater desalination (SD) is an effective method to solve the shortage of human water resources. Because of the excellent corrosion resistance of metallic materials in natural waters, as well as the best corrosion resistant, low density, high strength and good heat resistance in seawater, titanium and its alloys are considered the desirable marine material, including in SD equipment. This review introduces material characteristics of titanium and its alloys, and three currently most widely used commercial SD technologies: multiple effect desalination (MED), multi-stage flash (MSF) and reverse osmosis (RO). The applications and prospect of titanium and its alloys in SD industry are overviewed and analysed. This paper can be a reference for the future material selection of SD equipment.