Sea water is the most abundant water source available.70 % of the earth surface is covered by sea water. Sea water needs to be tapped for use in bioprocess industries. Additionally bacteria, fungi and microalgae present in sea water ,needs to be used in bioprocess industries to produce fuels, chemicals and polymeric substances.

Good idea sir.. I agree with you

Algae, halophytes, cyanobacteria and weeds are successfully grown in sea water. Biofuel produced from algae, halophytes etc can replace petroleum fuels.It is expected petroleum fuels demand will increase in near future.There will be increase in fuel prices .The feedstocks (non traditional) grown in sea water have immense capacity potential

To achieve desalination of sea water, the researchers apply a small voltage (3.0 volts) to a plastic chip filled with seawater. The chip contains a microchannel with two branches. At the junction of the channel an embedded electrode neutralizes some of the chloride ions in seawater to create an "ion depletion zone" that increases the local electric field compared with the rest of the channel. This change in the electric field is sufficient to redirect salts into one branch, allowing desalinated water to pass through the other branch.(June 28, 2013--Chemists introduce new energy efficient seawater desalination method (Environmental News Network)

The world’s oceans contain nearly a thousand times as much uranium as conventional reserves, and researchers have spent decades trying to develop an efficient way to extract it. Experts say it is important to develop such technology because it could serve as insurance in case supplies of uranium for nuclear reactors ever become scarce. Now, researchers led by Wenbin Lin, a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have designed a metal-organic framework (MOF) to collect common uranium-containing ions dissolved in seawater. In lab tests, the material was at least four times better than the conventional plastic adsorbent at drawing the potential nuclear fuel from artificial seawater.http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514751/novel-material-shows-promise-for-extracting-uranium-from-seawater/

http://www.technologyreview.com/.../novel-material-shows-promise-

Sea water used in the formulation of culture medium for the development of marine yeast provides minerals and nutrients, promotes growth selectively, and reduces costs and risks from contamination.

The selection of construction materials for sea water conveyance is very important.Due to its high chloride content, seawater is a very corrosive medium, requiring a specific corrosion mitigation strategy. One of the options is to select special construction materials for the water supply system which are able to resist the corrosive conditions. If seawater is considered as the water source for mining operations, there are basically two options: use of direct seawater (maintaining the concentrations of dissolved salts in the water), or as an alternative, applying a desalination process, removing the vast majority of salts from the water, before it is used as process water.

Using sea water in bioprocess industries is an excellent alternative and is a profitable means to conserve the depleting ground water. Use of sea water can prove to be low-cost and economic method as an alternative salt source for the microbe growth for the large scale production of various microbial metabolites, enzymes, etc..

Membranes are used in bio-processes and are conveniently categorized based on pore sizes. Reverse osmosis was designed to be used in desalination of sea water and is now gaining importance for reclamation or concentrating salts, amino acids and sugar solutions.

Mass DNA sequencing has led to a better knowledge of marine micro-organisms in their environment and helps to discover new genes of interests.One litre of sea water contains about one billion bacteria.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-genes-sequencing-seas-samples.html#jCp

It's an excellent idea. But beside the salinity, where salts have to be removed bacteria is an issue as well.

Gold, copper, zinc, and other valuable minerals deposits a're in seams spread along the seafloor, where natural hydrothermal vents eject rich concentrations of metals and minerals.These underwater geysers spit out fluids with temperatures exceeding 600ºC. And when those fluids hit the icy seawater, minerals precipitate out, falling to the ocean floor.While different vent systems contain varying concentrations of precious minerals, the deep sea contains enough mineable gold that there's nine pounds (four kilograms) of it for every person on Earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Ocean Service.At today's gold prices, that's a volume worth more than $150 trillion.Meghan Miner for National Geographic News Published February 1, 2013

Monitoring the levels of nitrogen and sulphur oxides, as sell as airborne heavy metals like cadmium, lead and nickel, is hard to achieve with existing technologies as they are either imprecise or very expensive.Mosses are especially well suited as bio-indicators for airborne contaminants as they have no roots and a very high surface-to-mass ratio.“The moss plants are transferred to air-permeable bags, then moved to monitoring stations at a variety of different European locations where they absorb pollutants from the air.These contaminants can affect rivers, which then flow into the sea, and pollute the marine environment. It will be possible to develop these tools and to discover all the pollutants that are affecting the whole ecosystem.”Plants that track air pollution | euronews, futuris,Jun 3, 2013

http://www.euronews.com › Sci-tech

A new technique is presented for bioremediation by adding nutrient amendments to the oil spill using thin filmed minerals comprised largely of Fullers Earth clay. Together with adsorbed N and P fertilizers, filming additives, and organoclay, clay flakes can be engineered to float on seawater, attach to the oil, and slowly release contained nutrients.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/704806

Drinking deep seawater (DSW) with high levels of magnesium (Mg) decreased serum lipids in animal studies. Therefore the effects of drinking DSW on blood lipids and its antioxidant capacity in hypercholesterolemic subjects were investigated.

http://DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2011.2007

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany have created a new synthetic hybrid material with a mineral content of almost 90 percent, yet extremely flexible.

http://phys.org/news/2013-03-scientists-flexible-mineral-deep-sea-sponges.html#jCp

University of Wollongong scientists have developed a novel way to turn sea water into hydrogen, for a sustainable and clean fuel source.

http://phys.org/news/2013-06-sea-ocean-hydrogen-fuel.html#jCp

I read all the discussions available with this question and was fascinated to know some of the interesting facts presented by sukla sir. They are informative.

Edith Cowan University (ECU) researchers have developed a new water quality sensor utilising fibre optic nano technology.Salinity sensors play an important role in assuring control of the desalination process.

http://www.ecu.edu.au/news/latest-news/2013/05/optic-fibre-sense-salt

The production of emulsifiers by Y. lipolytica in saline conditions in the presence of diesel oil enables the application of this yeast in sea bioremediation of petroleum and oil spills, due to its ability to produce a bioemulsifier in the presence of sea water.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-66322012000100007

Sea water can be used for algae production.

Traditional algae farming is highly water intensive meaning that water scarcity quickly becomes a problem. Using seawater clearly avoids this problem as it can be found in any coastal region in abundance.Because of its salt content, salt water is more economical than fresh water for growing algae. The main nutrients needed for algae growth is already present in seawater.

Comparatively lagoon water is more useful

Marine 'treasure trove' could bring revolution in medicine and industry.The potential for marine biotechnology is almost infinite," said Curtis Suttle, professor of earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences at the University of British Columbia. "It has become clear that most of the biological and genetic diversity on Earth is – by far – tied up in marine ecosystems, and in particular in their microbial components. By weight, more than 95% of all living organisms found in the oceans are microbial. This is an incredible resource.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/10/marine-treasure-trove-medicine

Marine actinomycetes are potential source for the discovery of novel compounds and enzymes.

http://10.3844/ajbbsp.2013.282.290

Despite little light and extreme temperatures, new microorganisms were found at "Crab Spa", a hydrothermal vent site on the ocean floor, along with eight other unusual places.

http://www.pbs.org/.../2013/.../new-organisms-shine-light-on-microbial-dark-...

Microbes have been found living at a record depth of a mile beneath the Atlantic seabed in a hint that life might also evolve underground on other planets.

http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/microbes

A number of ocean labs, scientists and businesses are exploring fertilization as a means to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide in the deep ocean, and to increase marine biological productivity which is likely in decline as a result of climate change.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-01/haog-lai011309.php

More than five trillion pieces of plastic — collectively weighing nearly 270,000 tonnes — are floating in the world's oceans, including the Indian Ocean, a new study has found. Microplastic pollution is found in varying concentrations throughout the oceans, but estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plastics, both micro and macroplastic, lack sufficient data to support them, researchers said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Science/Over-5-trillion-plastic-pieces-floating-in-worlds-oceans/articleshow/45486823.cms

“Marine debris like plastic, glass, metal, rubber abandoned fishing nets and other gear often get entangle and kill reef organisms and break or damage them,” said Dr. Mahua Saha, senior Scientist from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) addressing representatives of SAARC nations during a workshop held at Port Blair, Andaman.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/marine-debris-damaging-coral-reefs-nio-scientist/article6715426.ece

the actual challenges in the use of sea water in bioprocess industries

are the dissemination of antibiotic resistance and their impact of ecological footprint

the transportation and delivery of produced water " permeate " in economy problem not epidemic catastrophe

the massive use of biocides and assortment of chemical used during pre treatment for optimal operation condition and high membrane performance

this is the actual problem : The Negative impact of sea water desalination and the potential exposure to the risk of antibiotic resistome.

• attachment file as reference From chemical mixtures to antibiotic resistance Jun Ye1, ⁎, Christopher Rensing1,2 , Jianqiang Su1 , Yong-Guan Zhu JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 62 (2017) 138 – 144

challenges in the use of sea water in bioprocess industries is the ecotoxicological effects of brine discharge from the desalination plant