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Selected Application Recommendations Desalination Applications Droughts, demographic changes, and ever-increasing need for fresh water are spurring needs to desalinate brackish water and sea water to meet demand. There is already one major project in progress in the City of Tampa, and others are being considered on the east coast as well as developing countries. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a mature process, yet has become more cost effective and energy efficient in recent years due primarily to advances in membrane technology. Although RO is regarded as the baseline technology, there are other desalination processes under development, many of which are a tribute to ingenuity. These include processes such as vapor recompression, electrodialysis, and gas hydrate processes which entail crystalline aggregation of hydrogen -bonded water around a central gas molecule (for example propane), such that the hydrate can be physically separated upon freezing, which takes less energy than evaporation. Very often, most of the expense in these processes is associated with water pretreatment, but nevertheless there is overall a great deal of equipment involved, such as storage tanks, piping, and reaction vessels. Upon desalination, some saline solutions must be disposed. Chlorides and other constituents can greatly limit the use of stainless steel, and often it is necessary to consider titanium or high nickel content alloys, all of which are expensive. Hence corrosion resistant composites can offer significant cost and technical advantages. I Electroplating and other Electrochemical Processes Electroplating is used to electrolytically deposit specific metals onto conductive substrates for anodizing or other functional or decorative purposes. Most plating solutions are acidic and thus reinforced composites as well as polymer concrete vessels that have been used extensively. Some plating solutions, such as those associated with chrome, are aggressive due to the oxidation potential as well as the presence of fluorides. Synthetic surfacing veils are commonly used. Good curing is also necessary, especially if there are concerns about solution contamination. Apart from plating there can be growing applications in electrolysis processes which might be practical for hydrogen fuel production. The same applies to accommodation of electrolytes (such as phosphoric acid or potassium carbonate) associated with fuel cells. Vinyl esters are already being used in fuel cell plate and electrode applications.