WorldWideScience

Sample records for osmosis desalination plants

  1. Improvement of water desalination technologies in reverse osmosis plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vysotskii, S. P.; Konoval'chik, M. V.; Gul'ko, S. E.

    2017-07-01

    The strengthening of requirements for the protection of surface-water sources and increases in the cost of reagents lead to the necessity of using membrane (especially, reverse osmosis) technologies of water desalination as an alternative to ion-exchange technologies. The peculiarities of using reverse osmosis technologies in the desalination of waters with an increased salinity have been discussed. An analogy has been made between the dependence of the adsorptive capacity of ion-exchange resins on the reagent consumption during ion exchange and the dependence of the specific ion flux on the voltage in the electrodialysis and productivity of membrane elements on the excess of the pressure of source water over the osmotic pressure in reverse osmosis. It has been proposed to regulate the number of water desalination steps in reverse osmosis plants, which makes it possible to flexibly change the productivity of equipment and the level of desalinization, depending on the requirements for the technological process. It is shown that the selectivity of reverse osmotic membranes with respect to bivalent ions (calcium, magnesium, and sulfates) is approximately four times higher than the selectivity with respect to monovalent ions (sodium and chlorine). The process of desalination in reverse osmosis plants depends on operation factors, such as the salt content and ion composition of source water, the salt content of the concentrate, and the temperatures of solution and operating pressure, and the design features of devices, such as the length of the motion of the desalination water flux, the distance between membranes, and types of membranes and turbulators (spacers). To assess the influence of separate parameters on the process of reverse osmosis desalination of water solutions, we derived criteria equations by compiling problem solution matrices on the basis of the dimensional method, taking into account the Huntley complement. The operation of membrane elements was

  2. Second law analysis of reverse osmosis desalination plants: An alternative design using pressure retarded osmosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharqawy, Mostafa H.; Zubair, Syed M.; Lienhard, John H.

    2011-01-01

    A second law analysis of a reverse osmosis desalination plant is carried out using reliable seawater exergy formulation instead of a common model in literature that represents seawater as an ideal mixture of liquid water and solid sodium chloride. The analysis is performed using reverse osmosis desalination plant data and compared with results previously published using the ideal mixture model. It is demonstrated that the previous model has serious shortcomings, particularly with regard to calculation of the seawater flow exergy, the minimum work of separation, and the second law efficiency. The most up-to-date thermodynamic properties of seawater, as needed to conduct an exergy analysis, are given as correlations in this paper. From this new analysis, it is found that the studied reverse osmosis desalination plant has very low second law efficiency (<2%) even when using the available energy recovery systems. Therefore, an energy recovery system is proposed using the (PRO) pressure retarded osmotic method. The proposed alternative design has a second law efficiency of 20%, and the input power is reduced by 38% relative to original reverse osmosis system. -- Highlights: ► A previously proposed model for the calculation of seawater flow exergy gives incorrect values. ► Reverse osmosis desalination plants have very low second law efficiency (<2%) even when using the available energy recovery systems. ► A PRO energy recovery device increases the RO plant’s second law efficiency to 20% and reduces the input power.

  3. Forward Osmosis in India: Status and Comparison with Other Desalination Technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Dhruv; Gupta, Lovleen; Dhingra, Rijul

    2014-01-01

    With an increase in demand of freshwater and depleting water sources, it is imperative to switch to seawater as a regular source of water supply. However, due to the high total dissolved solid content, it has to be desalinated to make it drinkable. While desalination technologies have been used for many years, mass deployment of such technologies poses a number of challenges like high energy requirements as well as high negative environmental impact through side products and CO2 emissions. The purpose of this paper is to present a sustainable technology for desalination. Forward osmosis, an emerging technology, is compared with the other commonly used technologies worldwide, namely, multieffect distillation, multistage flash distillation, and reverse osmosis as well as other emerging technologies like vapour compression, solar humidification dehumidification, nanofiltration, and freezing desalination. As energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions are one of the major concerns of desalination, this paper concludes that forward osmosis is an emerging sustainable technology for seawater desalination. This paper then presents the challenges involved in the application of forward osmosis in India and presents a plant setup. In the end, the cost comparison of a forward osmosis and reverse osmosis plant has been done and it was concluded that forward osmosis is economically better as well.

  4. Forward Osmosis in India: Status and Comparison with Other Desalination Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    With an increase in demand of freshwater and depleting water sources, it is imperative to switch to seawater as a regular source of water supply. However, due to the high total dissolved solid content, it has to be desalinated to make it drinkable. While desalination technologies have been used for many years, mass deployment of such technologies poses a number of challenges like high energy requirements as well as high negative environmental impact through side products and CO2 emissions. The purpose of this paper is to present a sustainable technology for desalination. Forward osmosis, an emerging technology, is compared with the other commonly used technologies worldwide, namely, multieffect distillation, multistage flash distillation, and reverse osmosis as well as other emerging technologies like vapour compression, solar humidification dehumidification, nanofiltration, and freezing desalination. As energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions are one of the major concerns of desalination, this paper concludes that forward osmosis is an emerging sustainable technology for seawater desalination. This paper then presents the challenges involved in the application of forward osmosis in India and presents a plant setup. In the end, the cost comparison of a forward osmosis and reverse osmosis plant has been done and it was concluded that forward osmosis is economically better as well. PMID:27350984

  5. Thermodynamic advantages of nuclear desalination through reverse osmosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharyya, K.P.; Prabhakar, S.; Tewari, P.K.

    2009-01-01

    Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) integrated with nuclear power station has significant thermodynamic advantages since it can utilize the waste heat available in the condenser cooling circuit and electrical power from the nuclear power plant with provision for using grid power in case of exigencies and shared infrastructure. Coupling of RO plants to the reactor is simple and straightforward and power loss due to RO unit, resulting in the loss of load, does not impact reactor turbine. Product water contamination probability is also very less since it has in-built mechanical barrier. Preheat reverse osmosis desalination has many thermodynamic advantages and studies have indicated improved performance characteristics thereby leading to savings in operational cost. The significant advantages include the operational flexibility of the desalination systems even while power plant is non-operational and non-requirement of safety systems for resource utilization. This paper brings out a comprehensive assessment of reverse osmosis process as a stand-alone nuclear desalination system. (author)

  6. Implication of dual-purpose nuclear desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kutbi, I.I.

    1983-01-01

    Available dual purpose nuclear desalination schemes are reviewed. Three specific issues namely, impact of availability and reliability of the desalination stage of the plant, integration of the desalination and power production stages and new safety concerns of dual system, relating to desalination schemes are discussed. Results of operational and reliability studies of nuclear power stations, reverse osmosis and multistage flash distillation desalination plants are considered. Operational aspects of nuclear-multistage flash distillation, nuclear-reverse osmosis and nuclear-multistage flash distillation-reverse osmosis are compared. Concludes that the combined nuclear-multistage flash distillation-reverse osmosis plant arrangement permits very large production capacity, high availability, improvement of plant reliability and proovision of savings on the cost of water and power produced. 23 Ref

  7. Fouling and cleaning of seawater reverse osmosis membranes in Kalpakkam Nuclear Desalination Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murugan, V.; Rajanbabu, K.; Tiwari, S.A.; Balasubramanian, C.; Yadav, Manoj Kumar; Dangore, A.Y.; Prabhakar, S.; Tewari, P.K.

    2005-01-01

    Seawater reverse osmosis plant of 1800 m 3 /day capacity is a part of 6300 m 3 /day capacity Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project, at Kalpakkam. The plant was commissioned in October 2002 and is in continuous operation. This paper deals with types of foulants, membrane cleaning procedures and the improvement in the reverse osmosis system after cleaning. This paper also describes analysis of foulants which may consist of adsorbed organic compounds, particulate matter, microorganisms, metallic oxides and chemical cleaning procedure to be adopted, which is characteristics of sea water used as the membrane foulant is very much specific with respect to the sea water constituents. The cleaning of the membranes in Kalpakkam Nuclear Desalination plant were taken up as the quality of permeate deteriorated and differential pressure across membrane had gone-up. This paper essentially deals with selection of cleaning chemicals, the experience gained in cleaning procedure adopted and effects of cleaning for the membrane system. (author)

  8. Installations for water desalination by reverse osmosis. P. 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauermann, H.D.; Ermert, U.

    1974-01-01

    Starting with the explanation of an installation scheme of a reverse osmosis (RO) plant for water desalination, the various parts of such a plant are firstly discussed briefly. After a chapter dealing with the feed pre-treatment required, the operation of RO-plants is dealt with. The usual variations of arrangement are shown, as well as some information given on maintenance and costs of such methods of desalination. The last part contains some examples of plants installed so far. (orig.) [de

  9. Multi criteria sizing approach for Photovoltaic Thermal collectors supplying desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ammous, Mahmoud; Chaabene, Maher

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Concept of reverse osmosis desalination plant supplied by hybrid collectors. • Energy consumption optimization. • Plant modeling. • Sizing approach for a desalination plant supplied by hybrid collectors. - Abstract: Reverse osmosis desalination plants require both thermal and electrical energies in order to produce water. As Photovoltaic Thermal panels are able to provide the two energies, they become suitable to supply reverse osmosis plants mainly while installed in remote areas. Autonomous based desalination plants must be optimally sized to meet the criteria related to the reverse osmosis operating temperature, the plant autonomy, the needed water, etc. This paper presents a sizing approach for Photovoltaic Thermal collectors supplying reverse osmosis desalination plant to compute the optimal surface of Photovoltaic Thermal collectors and the tank volume with respect to the operating criteria. The approach is composed of three optimization consideration steps: the monthly average data, the fulfillment of the water need and a three day of autonomy for the water tank volume. The algorithm is tested for a case of study of 10 ha of tomato irrigation. The results converged to 700 m 2 of Photovoltaic Thermal collector’s surface and 3000 m 3 of water tank volume

  10. Designing a reverse osmosis desalination plant, main parameters and compounds; Diseno de una planta desilinizadora de osmosis inversa, parametros y componentes principales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arango Mesa, H. [Universidad del Valle. Cali. Colombia (Colombia); Gomez Gotor, A. [Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)

    1998-12-31

    This paper comments on some of the design features which should be taken into account in planning a reverse osmosis sea water desalination plant. It also examine the components of some of the plant`s main units, such as the high pressure pumping unit and energy recovering system and the types of membrane modules and their use. Finally, it compares that most common commercially available products. (Author) 6 refs.

  11. Integrated Wireless Monitoring and Control System in Reverse Osmosis Membrane Desalination Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Al Haji Ahmad

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The operational processes of the Reverse Osmosis (RO membrane desalination plants require continuous monitoring through the constant attendance of operators to ensure proper productivity and minimize downtime and prevent membrane failure. Therefore, the plant must be equipped with a control system that monitors and controls the operational variables. Monitoring and controlling the affecting parameters are critical to the evaluation of the performance of the desalination plant, which will help the operator find and resolve problems immediately. Therefore, this paper was aimed at developing an RO unit by utilizing a wireless sensor network (WSN system. Hence, an RO pilot plant with a feed capacity of 1.2 m3/h was utilized, commissioned, and tested in Kuwait to assess and verify the performance of the integrated WSN in RO membrane desalination system. The investigated system allowed the operators to remotely monitor the operational process of the RO system. The operational data were smoothly recorded and monitored. Furthermore, the technical problems were immediately determined, which reduced the time and effort in rectifying the technical problems relevant to the RO performance. The manpower requirements of such treatment system were dramatically reduced by about 50%. Based on a comparison between manual and wireless monitoring operational processes, the availability of the integrated RO unit with a wireless monitoring was increased by 10%

  12. Advanced Control Synthesis for Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination Processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phuc, Bui Duc Hong; You, Sam-Sang; Choi, Hyeung-Six; Jeong, Seok-Kwon

    2017-11-01

      In this study, robust control synthesis has been applied to a reverse osmosis desalination plant whose product water flow and salinity are chosen as two controlled variables. The reverse osmosis process has been selected to study since it typically uses less energy than thermal distillation. The aim of the robust design is to overcome the limitation of classical controllers in dealing with large parametric uncertainties, external disturbances, sensor noises, and unmodeled process dynamics. The analyzed desalination process is modeled as a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system with varying parameters. The control system is decoupled using a feed forward decoupling method to reduce the interactions between control channels. Both nominal and perturbed reverse osmosis systems have been analyzed using structured singular values for their stabilities and performances. Simulation results show that the system responses meet all the control requirements against various uncertainties. Finally the reduced order controller provides excellent robust performance, with achieving decoupling, disturbance attenuation, and noise rejection. It can help to reduce the membrane cleanings, increase the robustness against uncertainties, and lower the energy consumption for process monitoring.

  13. Algal blooms: an emerging threat to seawater reverse osmosis desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Villacorte, Loreen O.

    2014-08-04

    Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination technology has been rapidly growing in terms of installed capacity and global application over the last decade. An emerging threat to SWRO application is the seasonal proliferation of microscopic algae in seawater known as algal blooms. Such blooms have caused operational problems in SWRO plants due to clogging and poor effluent quality of the pre-treatment system which eventually forced the shutdown of various desalination plants to avoid irreversible fouling of downstream SWRO membranes. This article summarizes the current state of SWRO technology and the emerging threat of algal blooms to its application. It also highlights the importance of studying the algal bloom phenomena in the perspective of seawater desalination, so proper mitigation and preventive strategies can be developed in the near future. © 2014 © 2014 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  14. Algal blooms: an emerging threat to seawater reverse osmosis desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Villacorte, Loreen O.; Tabatabai, S. Assiyeh Alizadeh; Dhakal, N.; Amy, Gary L.; Schippers, Jan Cornelis; Kennedy, Maria Dolores

    2014-01-01

    Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination technology has been rapidly growing in terms of installed capacity and global application over the last decade. An emerging threat to SWRO application is the seasonal proliferation of microscopic algae in seawater known as algal blooms. Such blooms have caused operational problems in SWRO plants due to clogging and poor effluent quality of the pre-treatment system which eventually forced the shutdown of various desalination plants to avoid irreversible fouling of downstream SWRO membranes. This article summarizes the current state of SWRO technology and the emerging threat of algal blooms to its application. It also highlights the importance of studying the algal bloom phenomena in the perspective of seawater desalination, so proper mitigation and preventive strategies can be developed in the near future. © 2014 © 2014 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  15. R. O. Kinetic, energy saver for desalination plants by reverse osmosis; R. O: Kinetic, sistema de ahorro de energia en las plantas de osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Plasencia Rodriguez, J. P.

    2003-07-01

    The R. O. Kinetic is a novel system of energy saving, for desalination plants by reverse osmosis, based on the isobaric chambers. With this system it is able to obtain values of specific consumption of energy during the process, around 2, 1-2,2 kWh/m''3, reducing the operation cost of these facilities. (Author)

  16. Coupling of RO-MSF hybrid desalination plants with nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Sulaiman, Khalil; Al-Mutaz, Ibrahim S.

    1999-01-01

    Full text.Reverse osmosis (RO) and multistage flash (MSF) desalination are the most widely commercial available processes. MSF utilizes stream in the brine heater as a primary source of energy. RO is derived mainly by electricity that pumps the feed water against the mambranes. Steam and electricity and be produced easily by nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactors may be coupled with deslination plants (MSF, RO or combined (hybrid) RO/MSF configuration). This integrated plant will be capable of producing power and water at reasonable cost. The capital and operating cost will be reduced and the excess power can be efficiently utilized. Maintenance and operating cost will drop significantly. In this paper, a techno-economic study of hybrid reverses osmosis /multistage flash desalination will be carried. The proposed configuration (hybrid RO/MSF) coupled with nuclear reactor is considered the most appropriate candidate system for the application of dual-purpose nuclear desalination plants. the design parameters for such a desalination hybrid system will be the applied pressure and recovery for reverse osmosis plant and the number of stages and the heat transfer areas for multistage flash plant

  17. Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis-Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blandin, Gaetan; Verliefde, Arne R D; Comas, Joaquim; Rodriguez-Roda, Ignasi; Le-Clech, Pierre

    2016-07-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection. Typically, FO-RO hybrid can be a credible alternative to new desalination facilities or to implementation of stand-alone water reuse schemes. However, apart from the societal (public perception of water reuse for potable application) and water management challenges (proximity of wastewater and desalination plants), FO-RO hybrid has to overcome technical limitation such as low FO permeation flux to become economically attractive. Recent developments (i.e., improved FO membranes, use of pressure assisted osmosis, PAO) demonstrated significant improvement in water flux. However, flux improvement is associated with drawbacks, such as increased fouling behaviour, lower rejection of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in PAO operation, and limitation in FO membrane mechanical resistance, which need to be better considered. To support successful implementation of FO-RO hybrid in the industry, further work is required regarding up-scaling to apprehend full-scale challenges in term of mass transfer limitation, pressure drop, fouling and cleaning strategies on a module scale. In addition, refined economics assessment is expected to integrate fouling and other maintenance costs/savings of the FO/PAO-RO hybrid systems, as well as cost savings from any treatment step avoided in the water recycling.

  18. Bioluminescence-Based Method for Measuring Assimilable Organic Carbon in Pretreatment Water for Reverse Osmosis Membrane Desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinrich, Lauren A.; Schneider, Orren D.; LeChevallier, Mark W.

    2011-01-01

    A bioluminescence-based assimilable organic carbon (AOC) test was developed for determining the biological growth potential of seawater within the reverse osmosis desalination pretreatment process. The test uses Vibrio harveyi, a marine organism that exhibits constitutive luminescence and is nutritionally robust. AOC was measured in both a pilot plant and a full-scale desalination plant pretreatment. PMID:21148685

  19. Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic analyses of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant with energy recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Emam, Rami Salah; Dincer, Ibrahim

    2014-01-01

    This paper investigates the performance of a RO (reverse osmosis) desalination plant at different seawater salinity values. An energy recovery Pelton turbine is integrated with the desalination plant. Thermodynamic analysis, based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics, as well as a thermo-based economic analysis is performed for the proposed system. The effects of the system components irreversibilities on the economics and cost of product water are parametrically studied through the thermoeconomic analysis. The exergy analysis shows that large irreversibilities occur in the high pressure pump and in the RO module. Both thermodynamic and thermoeconomic performances of the overall system are investigated under different operating parameters. For the base case; the system achieves an exergy efficiency of 5.82%. The product cost is estimated to be 2.451 $/m 3 and 54.2 $/MJ when source water with salinity of 35,000 ppm is fed to the system. - Highlights: • Thermodynamic and exergoeconomic analyses are performed for SWRO with energy recovery. • Parametric studies are done to study effects of operating conditions on performance. • Different seawater sources with different salinity values are tested. • At base case, plant exergy efficiency is 5.82% and product cost is 2.451 $/m 3

  20. Water Desalination Studies Using Forward Osmosis Technology, A Review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abou El-Nour, F.H.

    2016-01-01

    Fresh water and energy shortage represent a great challenge facing the whole world now. To cover the global water demand, an energy-efficient approach is required to be applied in the suitable technology to achieve the shortage in the fresh water demand. Different techniques are used to solve this problem. A mong the different methods applied to desalinate seawater is the osmosis technologies . Although reversible osmosis (RO) is the most familiar method used for this purpose, forward osmosis (FO) represents a more suitable technique due to several arguments including low energy cost. The present study represents the use of FO technique for water desalination with adsorption regeneration. In this respect, a self-prepared granular active carbon produced from dates is to be used as an adsorbent agent. The physical characteristics of the active carbon are studied such as BET specific surface area, pore size, particle size and the structure using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Different advanced apparatus are used for such measurements. In addition, the adsorption is otherms (Langmuier and Freundlich) are established to explain the adsorption mechanism of the process. Accordingly, the review includes essential information and sufficient backgrounds in the field of desalination using FO or simply direct osmosis, which overcome the different difficulties present in reversible RO

  1. Batteryless photovoltaic reverse-osmosis desalination system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomson, M.; Miranda, M.; Gwillim, J.; Rowbottom, A.; Draisey, I.

    2001-07-01

    The aim of this project was to design an efficient cost-effective batteryless photovoltaic-powered seawater reverse-osmosis desalination system, to deliver in the order of 3 m{sup 3} of fresh drinking water per day. The desalination of seawater to produce fresh drinking water is extremely valuable on islands and in coastal regions wherever natural freshwater is scarce. Existing small-scale desalination equipment, suitable for areas of medium and low population density, often requires a copious and constant supply of energy, either electricity or diesel. If supply of these fuels is expensive or insecure, but the area has a good solar resource, the use of photovoltaic power is an attractive option. Existing demonstrations of photovoltaic-powered desalination generally employ lead-acid batteries, which allow the equipment to operate at a constant flow, but are notoriously problematic in practice. The system developed in this project runs at variable flow, enabling it to make efficient use of the naturally varying solar resource, without need of batteries. In a sense, the freshwater tank is providing the energy storage. In this project, we have reviewed the merits of a wide variety of reverse-osmosis system configurations and component options. We have completed extensive in-house testing and characterisation of major hardware components and used the results to construct detailed software models. Using these, we have designed a system that meets the above project aim, and we have predicted its performance in detail. Our designs show that a system costing 23,055 pounds stirling will produce 1424 m{sup 3} of fresh drinking water annually - an average of just over 3.9 m{sup 3}/day. The system has no fuel costs and no batteries. The overall cost of water, including full maintenance, is 2.00 pounds stirling per m{sup 3}. The energy consumption (photovoltaic-electricity) is typically between 3.2 and 3.7 kWh/m{sup 3} depending on the solar irradiance and feed water

  2. Summary of experience and practice in Japanese nuclear desalination plants at the interface between nuclear and desalination systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiota, Y.; Minato, A.

    1998-01-01

    The widely prevalent large scale desalination of seawater is accomplished by two primary methods: Distillation and reverse osmosis (RO). In any case, an external energy supply source is mandatory for the operation of the desalination plants. Reverse Osmosis is more energy efficient than distillation. The energy input for RO is usually supplied by electric power, whereas thermal energy is extracted from an electric power plant for the distillation processes (dual purpose plant). There are no impediments in using nuclear power plants to supply energy to desalination plants in an integral site. However, it is essential to eliminate the possibility of penetration of radioactive contamination into produced water. Besides, the investigation of possible back-up facilities is detrimental to meet the demand of electric power and water. In accordance with the Japanese regulations, a nuclear power plant cannot be operated if any amount of radioactive contamination resulted from the failure of fuel is detected in the cooling water. In our experience, we have found that no special provisions and no additional selection criteria are needed to install the desalination plants within the nuclear power plants, except for the carbon steel shell utilized for the RO module. (author)

  3. Tracing disinfection byproducts in full-scale desalination plants

    KAUST Repository

    Le Roux, Julien; Nada, Nabil A.; Khan, Muhammad; Croue, Jean-Philippe

    2015-01-01

    -scale desalination plants. One thermal multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) plant and two reverse osmosis (RO) plants located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. DBPs formed during the prechlorination step were efficiently removed along the treatment processes (MSF

  4. Life cycle cost of a hybrid forward osmosis - low pressure reverse osmosis system for seawater desalination and wastewater recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valladares Linares, R; Li, Z; Yangali-Quintanilla, V; Ghaffour, N; Amy, G; Leiknes, T; Vrouwenvelder, J S

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, forward osmosis (FO) hybrid membrane systems have been investigated as an alternative to conventional high-pressure membrane processes (i.e. reverse osmosis (RO)) for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment and recovery. Nevertheless, their economic advantage in comparison to conventional processes for seawater desalination and municipal wastewater treatment has not been clearly addressed. This work presents a detailed economic analysis on capital and operational expenses (CAPEX and OPEX) for: i) a hybrid forward osmosis - low-pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) process, ii) a conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process, and iii) a membrane bioreactor - reverse osmosis - advanced oxidation process (MBR-RO-AOP) for wastewater treatment and reuse. The most important variables affecting economic feasibility are obtained through a sensitivity analysis of a hybrid FO-LPRO system. The main parameters taken into account for the life cycle costs are the water quality characteristics (similar feed water and similar water produced), production capacity of 100,000 m(3) d(-1) of potable water, energy consumption, materials, maintenance, operation, RO and FO module costs, and chemicals. Compared to SWRO, the FO-LPRO systems have a 21% higher CAPEX and a 56% lower OPEX due to savings in energy consumption and fouling control. In terms of the total water cost per cubic meter of water produced, the hybrid FO-LPRO desalination system has a 16% cost reduction compared to the benchmark for desalination, mainly SWRO. Compared to the MBR-RO-AOP, the FO-LPRO systems have a 7% lower CAPEX and 9% higher OPEX, resulting in no significant cost reduction per m(3) produced by FO-LPRO. Hybrid FO-LPRO membrane systems are shown to have an economic advantage compared to current available technology for desalination, and comparable costs with a wastewater treatment and recovery system. Based on development on FO membrane modules, packing density, and

  5. Solar Desalination System Model for Sizing of Photovoltaic Reverse Osmosis (PVRO)

    KAUST Repository

    Habib, Abdulelah; Zamani, Vahraz; Kleissl, Jan

    2015-01-01

    loads, are considered as an ON/OFF units to track these solar energy variations. Reverse osmosis units are different in sizes and numbers. Various combinations of reverse osmosis units in size and capacity provide different water desalination system

  6. Hybrid membrane system for desalination and wastewater treatment : Integrating forward osmosis and low pressure reverse osmosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Valladares Linares, R.

    2014-01-01

    Since more than 97% of the water in the world is seawater, desalination technologies have the potential to solve the fresh water crisis. The most used desalination technology nowadays is seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), where a membrane is used as a physical barrier to separate the salts from the

  7. Solar Desalination System Model for Sizing of Photovoltaic Reverse Osmosis (PVRO)

    KAUST Repository

    Habib, Abdulelah

    2015-06-28

    The focus of this paper is to optimize the solar energy utilization in the water desalination process. Due to variable nature of solar energy, new system design is needed to address this challenge. Here, reverse osmosis units, as the electrical loads, are considered as an ON/OFF units to track these solar energy variations. Reverse osmosis units are different in sizes and numbers. Various combinations of reverse osmosis units in size and capacity provide different water desalination system performances. To assess each scenario of reverse osmosis units, the total capital cost and operation and maintenance (O&M) cost are considered. The implemented optimization algorithm search all of the possible scenarios to find the best solution. This paper deploys the solar irradiance data which is provided from west coast (Red Sea) of Saudi Arabia for model construction and optimization algorithm implementation.

  8. Life cycle cost of a hybrid forward osmosis – low pressure reverse osmosis system for seawater desalination and wastewater recovery

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

    2015-10-19

    In recent years, forward osmosis (FO) hybrid membrane systems have been investigated as an alternative to conventional high-pressure membrane processes (i.e. reverse osmosis (RO)) for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment and recovery. Nevertheless, their economic advantage in comparison to conventional processes for seawater desalination and municipal wastewater treatment has not been clearly addressed. This work presents a detailed economic analysis on capital and operational expenses (CAPEX and OPEX) for: i) a hybrid forward osmosis – low-pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) process, ii) a conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process, and iii) a membrane bioreactor – reverse osmosis – advanced oxidation process (MBR-RO-AOP) for wastewater treatment and reuse. The most important variables affecting economic feasibility are obtained through a sensitivity analysis of a hybrid FO-LPRO system. The main parameters taken into account for the life cycle costs are the water quality characteristics (similar feed water and similar water produced), production capacity of 100,000 m3 d−1 of potable water, energy consumption, materials, maintenance, operation, RO and FO module costs, and chemicals. Compared to SWRO, the FO-LPRO systems have a 21% higher CAPEX and a 56% lower OPEX due to savings in energy consumption and fouling control. In terms of the total water cost per cubic meter of water produced, the hybrid FO-LPRO desalination system has a 16% cost reduction compared to the benchmark for desalination, mainly SWRO. Compared to the MBR-RO-AOP, the FO-LPRO systems have a 7% lower CAPEX and 9% higher OPEX, resulting in no significant cost reduction per m3 produced by FO-LPRO. Hybrid FO-LPRO membrane systems are shown to have an economic advantage compared to current available technology for desalination, and comparable costs with a wastewater treatment and recovery system. Based on development on FO membrane modules, packing density, and

  9. The water desalination complex based on ABV-type reactor plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panov, Yu.K.; Fadeev, Yu.P.; Vorobiev, V.M.; Baranaev, Yu.D.

    1997-01-01

    A floating nuclear desalination complex with two barges, one for ABV type reactor plant, with twin reactor 2 x 6 MW(e), and one for reverse osmosis desalination plant, was described. The principal specifications of the ABV type reactor plant and desalination barge were given. The ABV type reactor has a traditional two-circuit layout using an integral type reactor vessel with all mode natural convection of primary coolant. The desalted water cost was estimated to be around US $0.86 per cubic meter. R and D work has been performed and preparations for commercial production are under way. (author)

  10. Reserve osmosis and its application in water desalination; Osmosis inversa y su aplicacion en la desalacion de las aguas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lazaro, I. [Departamento de Ingenieria Aplicada, EPS Universidad Murcia, Cartagena (Spain); Almela, L. [Departamento de Quimica Agricola, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia (Spain); Huete, J.

    1996-08-01

    The limited availability of water resources raises two fundamental issues: those of restructuring traditional irrigated land and scarching for new resources to alleviate water shortage. Among the diverse methods that can be utilized for the desalination of water, reverse osmosis is now of great importance. One the advantages of this techniques is that it can be applied equally to big installations as to smaller rural holdings. This paper briefly describes the different methods of desalination, placing emphasis on reverse osmosis. (Author) 8 refs.

  11. Use of reactor plants of enhanced safety for sea water desalination, industrial and district heating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panov, Yu.; Polunichev, V.; Zverev, K.

    1997-01-01

    Russian designers have developed and can deliver nuclear complexes to provide sea water desalination, industrial and district heating. This paper provides an overview of these designs utilizing the ABV, KLT-40 and ATETS-80 reactor plants of enhanced safety. The most advanced nuclear powered water desalination project is the APVS-80. This design consists of a special ship equipped with the distillation desalination plant powered at a level of 160 MW(th) utilizing the type KLT-40 reactor plant. More than 20 years of experience with water desalination and reactor plants has been achieved in Aktau and Russian nuclear ships without radioactive contamination of desalinated water. Design is also proceeding on a two structure complex consisting of a floating nuclear power station and a reverse osmosis desalination plant. This new technology for sea water desalination provides the opportunity to considerably reduce the specific consumption of power for the desalination of sea water. The ABV reactor is utilized in the ''Volnolom'' type floating nuclear power stations. This design also features a desalinator ship which provides sea water desalination by the reverse osmosis process. The ATETS-80 is a nuclear two-reactor cogeneration complex which incorporates the integral vessel-type PWR which can be used in the production of electricity, steam, hot and desalinated water. (author). 9 figs

  12. Forward-Osmosis Desalination with Poly(Ionic Liquid) Hydrogels as Smart Draw Agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Xuelin; Liu, Huili; Gao, Yating; Zou, Zhu; Craig, Vincent S J; Zhang, Guangzhao; Liu, Guangming

    2016-06-01

    The combination of high desalination efficiency, negligible draw-solute leakage, nontoxicity, ease of regeneration, and effective separation to produce liquid water makes the smart draw agents developed here highly suited for forward-osmosis desalination. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. Forward osmosis niches in seawater desalination and wastewater reuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valladares Linares, R; Li, Z; Sarp, S; Bucs, Sz S; Amy, G; Vrouwenvelder, J S

    2014-12-01

    This review focuses on the present status of forward osmosis (FO) niches in two main areas: seawater desalination and wastewater reuse. Specific applications for desalination and impaired-quality water treatment and reuse are described, as well as the benefits, advantages, challenges, costs and knowledge gaps on FO hybrid systems are discussed. FO can play a role as a bridge to integrate upstream and downstream water treatment processes, to reduce the energy consumption of the entire desalination or water recovery and reuse processes, thus achieving a sustainable solution for the water-energy nexus. FO hybrid membrane systems showed to have advantages over traditional membrane process like high pressure reverse osmosis and nanofiltration for desalination and wastewater treatment: (i) chemical storage and feed water systems may be reduced for capital, operational and maintenance cost, (ii) water quality is improved, (iii) reduced process piping costs, (iv) more flexible treatment units, and (v) higher overall sustainability of the desalination and wastewater treatment process. Nevertheless, major challenges make FO systems not yet a commercially viable technology, the most critical being the development of a high flux membrane, capable of maintaining an elevated salt rejection and a reduced internal concentration polarization effect, and the availability of appropriate draw solutions (cost effective and non-toxic), which can be recirculated via an efficient recovery process. This review article highlights the features of hybrid FO systems and specifically provides the state-of-the-art applications in the water industry in a novel classification and based on the latest developments toward scaling up these systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Forward osmosis niches in seawater desalination and wastewater reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

    2014-12-01

    This review focuses on the present status of forward osmosis (FO) niches in two main areas: seawater desalination and wastewater reuse. Specific applications for desalination and impaired-quality water treatment and reuse are described, as well as the benefits, advantages, challenges, costs and knowledge gaps on FO hybrid systems are discussed. FO can play a role as a bridge to integrate upstream and downstream water treatment processes, to reduce the energy consumption of the entire desalination or water recovery and reuse processes, thus achieving a sustainable solution for the water-energy nexus. FO hybrid membrane systems showed to have advantages over traditional membrane process like high pressure reverse osmosis and nanofiltration for desalination and wastewater treatment: (i) chemical storage and feed water systems may be reduced for capital, operational and maintenance cost, (ii) water quality is improved, (iii) reduced process piping costs, (iv) more flexible treatment units, and (v) higher overall sustainability of the desalination and wastewater treatment process. Nevertheless, major challenges make FO systems not yet a commercially viable technology, the most critical being the development of a high flux membrane, capable of maintaining an elevated salt rejection and a reduced internal concentration polarization effect, and the availability of appropriate draw solutions (cost effective and non-toxic), which can be recirculated via an efficient recovery process. This review article highlights the features of hybrid FO systems and specifically provides the state-of-the-art applications in the water industry in a novel classification and based on the latest developments toward scaling up these systems.

  15. In-depth analyses of organic matters in a full-scale seawater desalination plant and an autopsy of reverse osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Jeong, Sanghyun; Naidu, Gayathri; Vollprecht, Robert; Leiknes, TorOve; Vigneswaran, Saravanamuthu

    2016-01-01

    In order to facilitate the global performance of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems, it is important to improve the feed water quality before it enters the RO. Currently, many desalination plants experience production losses due to incidents of organic and biofouling. Consequently, monitoring or characterizing the pretreatment step using more advanced organic and biological parameters are required for better operation to lessen fouling issues. In this study, the performance of pretreatment processes (including coagulation, dual media filtration (DMF), polishing with cartridge filter (CF) coupled with anti-scalant) used at Perth Seawater Desalination Plant (PSDP) located in Western Australia were characterized in terms of organic and biological fouling parameters. These analyses were carried out using liquid chromatography with organic carbon detector (LC-OCD), three dimensional-fluorescence excitation emission matrix (3D-FEEM) and assimilable organic carbon (AOC). Furthermore, the used (exhausted) RO membrane and CF were autopsied so that the fates and behaviors of organic foulants in these treatment systems could be better understood.

  16. In-depth analyses of organic matters in a full-scale seawater desalination plant and an autopsy of reverse osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Jeong, Sanghyun

    2016-02-17

    In order to facilitate the global performance of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems, it is important to improve the feed water quality before it enters the RO. Currently, many desalination plants experience production losses due to incidents of organic and biofouling. Consequently, monitoring or characterizing the pretreatment step using more advanced organic and biological parameters are required for better operation to lessen fouling issues. In this study, the performance of pretreatment processes (including coagulation, dual media filtration (DMF), polishing with cartridge filter (CF) coupled with anti-scalant) used at Perth Seawater Desalination Plant (PSDP) located in Western Australia were characterized in terms of organic and biological fouling parameters. These analyses were carried out using liquid chromatography with organic carbon detector (LC-OCD), three dimensional-fluorescence excitation emission matrix (3D-FEEM) and assimilable organic carbon (AOC). Furthermore, the used (exhausted) RO membrane and CF were autopsied so that the fates and behaviors of organic foulants in these treatment systems could be better understood.

  17. Performance Evaluation of Absorbent Solution for Draw Solute Recovery in Forward Osmosis Desalination Process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Young; Lee, Jong Hoon; Lee, Kong Hoon; Kim, Yu-Chang; Oh, Dong Wook; Lee, Jungho

    2013-01-01

    Although forward osmosis desalination technology has drawn substantial attention as a next-generation desalination method, the energy efficiency of its draw solution treatment process should be improved for its commercialization. When ammonium bicarbonate is used as the draw solute, the system consists of forward-osmosis membrane modules, draw solution separation and recovery processes. Mixed gases of ammonia and carbon dioxide generated during the draws solution separation, need to be recovered to re-concentrate ammonium bicarbonate solution, for continuous operation as well as for the economic feasibility. The diluted ammonium bicarbonate solution has been proposed as the absorbent for the draw solution regeneration. In this study, experiments are conducted to investigate performance and features of the absorption corresponding to absorbent concentration. It is concluded that ammonium bicarbonate solution can be used to recover the generated ammonia and carbon dioxide. The results will be applied to design and operation of pilot-scale forward-osmosis desalination system

  18. Performance Evaluation of Absorbent Solution for Draw Solute Recovery in Forward Osmosis Desalination Process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Young; Lee, Jong Hoon; Lee, Kong Hoon; Kim, Yu-Chang; Oh, Dong Wook; Lee, Jungho [Korea Institute of Machinery Materials, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-04-15

    Although forward osmosis desalination technology has drawn substantial attention as a next-generation desalination method, the energy efficiency of its draw solution treatment process should be improved for its commercialization. When ammonium bicarbonate is used as the draw solute, the system consists of forward-osmosis membrane modules, draw solution separation and recovery processes. Mixed gases of ammonia and carbon dioxide generated during the draws solution separation, need to be recovered to re-concentrate ammonium bicarbonate solution, for continuous operation as well as for the economic feasibility. The diluted ammonium bicarbonate solution has been proposed as the absorbent for the draw solution regeneration. In this study, experiments are conducted to investigate performance and features of the absorption corresponding to absorbent concentration. It is concluded that ammonium bicarbonate solution can be used to recover the generated ammonia and carbon dioxide. The results will be applied to design and operation of pilot-scale forward-osmosis desalination system.

  19. Dynamics of microbial communities in an integrated ultrafiltration–reverse osmosis desalination pilot plant located at the Arabian Gulf

    KAUST Repository

    Hong, Pei-Ying

    2015-08-27

    This study demonstrated the use of high-throughput sequencing to assess the efficacy of an integrated ultrafiltration (UF)–reverse osmosis (RO) desalination pilot plant located at the Arabian Gulf, and to identify potential microbial-associated problems that may arise in this plant. When integrated into the desalination treatment system, the UF membranes were able to serve as a good pretreatment strategy to delay RO fouling by achieving up to 1.96-log removal of cells from the seawater. Consequently, the differential pressure of the RO membrane remained around 1 bar for the entire six-month study, suggesting no significant biofouling performance issue identified for this RO system. Examples of microbial populations effectively removed by the UF membranes from the feed waters included Nitrosoarchaeum limnia and phototrophic eukaryotes. Microbial-associated problems observed in this pilot plant included the presence of Pseudomonas spp. in coexistence with Desulfovibrio spp. These two bacterial populations can reduce sulfate and produce hydrogen sulfide, which would in turn cause corrosion problems or compromise membrane integrities. Chemical-enhanced backwashing (CEB) can be used as an effective strategy to minimize the associated microbial problems by removing bacterial populations including sulfate reducers from the UF membranes.

  20. Dynamics of microbial communities in an integrated ultrafiltration–reverse osmosis desalination pilot plant located at the Arabian Gulf

    KAUST Repository

    Hong, Pei-Ying; Moosa, Nasir; Mink, Justine

    2015-01-01

    This study demonstrated the use of high-throughput sequencing to assess the efficacy of an integrated ultrafiltration (UF)–reverse osmosis (RO) desalination pilot plant located at the Arabian Gulf, and to identify potential microbial-associated problems that may arise in this plant. When integrated into the desalination treatment system, the UF membranes were able to serve as a good pretreatment strategy to delay RO fouling by achieving up to 1.96-log removal of cells from the seawater. Consequently, the differential pressure of the RO membrane remained around 1 bar for the entire six-month study, suggesting no significant biofouling performance issue identified for this RO system. Examples of microbial populations effectively removed by the UF membranes from the feed waters included Nitrosoarchaeum limnia and phototrophic eukaryotes. Microbial-associated problems observed in this pilot plant included the presence of Pseudomonas spp. in coexistence with Desulfovibrio spp. These two bacterial populations can reduce sulfate and produce hydrogen sulfide, which would in turn cause corrosion problems or compromise membrane integrities. Chemical-enhanced backwashing (CEB) can be used as an effective strategy to minimize the associated microbial problems by removing bacterial populations including sulfate reducers from the UF membranes.

  1. Hybrid membrane system for desalination and wastewater treatment: Integrating forward osmosis and low pressure reverse osmosis

    OpenAIRE

    Valladares Linares, R.

    2014-01-01

    Since more than 97% of the water in the world is seawater, desalination technologies have the potential to solve the fresh water crisis. The most used desalination technology nowadays is seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), where a membrane is used as a physical barrier to separate the salts from the water, using high hydraulic pressure as the driving force. However, the use of high hydraulic pressure imposes a high cost on operation of these systems, in addition to the known persistent fouling p...

  2. A technical and economic evaluation of reverse osmosis nuclear desalination as applied at the Muria site in Indonesia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humphries, J.R.; Davies, K.; Vu, T.D.; Aryono, N.A.; Peryoga, Y.

    1998-01-01

    In many regions of the world, the supply of renewable water resources is inadequate to meet current needs, and that from non-renewable sources is being rapidly depleted. Since the worldwide demand for potable water is steadily growing, the result is water shortages that are already reaching serious proportions in many regions. This is particularly true in Indonesia where there is an increasing reliance on bottled water due to shortage of safe, fresh drinking water. To mitigate the stress being placed on water resources, additional fresh water production capability must be developed. Because of Indonesia's long coastline, seawater desalination is a good alternative. The main drawback of desalination, however, is that it is an energy intensive process. Therefore, the increasing global demand for desalted water creates a tremendous collateral demand for new sources of electrical power. In addition to providing a means of meeting regional electricity demand, the CANDU nuclear reactor can also serve as an energy source for a reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination plant. In conjunction with the use of electrical energy, waste heat from the reactor is used in the desalination plant to improve the efficiency of the RO process. This is done by using condenser cooling water being discharged from the CANDU reactor as a source of preheated feedwater for the RO system. The system design also makes use of advanced feedwater pretreatment and sophisticated design optimization analyses. The net result is improved efficiency of energy utilization, increased potable water production capability, reduced product water cost and reduced environmental burden. This approach to the integration of a seawater desalination plant with a CANDU nuclear reactor has the advantage of maximizing the benefits of system integration while at the same time minimizing the impacts of physical interaction between the two systems. Consequently, transients in one plant do not necessarily have adverse

  3. Desalination demonstration plant using nuclear heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanra, M.S.; Misra, B.M.

    1998-01-01

    Most of the desalination plants which are operating throughout the world utilize the energy from thermal power station which has the main disadvantage of polluting the environment due to combustion of fossil fuel and with the inevitable rise in prices of fossil fuel, nuclear driven desalination plants will become more economical. So it is proposed to set up nuclear desalination demonstration plant at the location of Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Kalpakkam. The desalination plant will be of a capacity 6300 m 3 /day and based on both Multi Stage Flash (MSF) and Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) processes. The MSF plant with performance ratio of 9 will produce water total dissolved solids (TDS-25 ppm) at a rate of 4500 m 3 /day from seawater of 35000 ppm. A part of this water namely 1000 m 3 /day will be used as Demineralised (DM) water after passing it through a mixed bed polishing unit. The remaining 3500 m 3 /day water will be mixed with 1800 m 3 /day water produced from the SWRO plant of TDS of 400 ppm and the same be supplied to industrial/municipal use. The sea water required for MSF and SWRO plants will be drawn from the intake/outfall system of MAPS which will also supply the required electric power pumping. There will be net 4 MW loss of power of MAPS namely 3 MW for MSF and 1 MW for SWRO desalination plants. The salient features of the project as well as the technical details of the both MSF and SWRO processes and its present status are given in this paper. It also contains comparative cost parameters of water produced by both processes. (author)

  4. An investigation of desalination by nanofiltration, reverse osmosis and integrated (hybrid NF/RO) membranes employed in brackish water treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talaeipour, M; Nouri, J; Hassani, A H; Mahvi, A H

    2017-01-01

    As an appropriate tool, membrane process is used for desalination of brackish water, in the production of drinking water. The present study aims to investigate desalination processes of brackish water of Qom Province in Iran. This study was carried out at the central laboratory of Water and Wastewater Company of the studied area. To this aim, membrane processes, including nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), separately and also their hybrid process were applied. Moreover, water physical and chemical parameters, including salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), electric conductivity (EC), Na +1 and Cl -1 were also measured. Afterward, the rejection percent of each parameter was investigated and compared using nanofiltration and reverse osmosis separately and also by their hybrid process. The treatment process was performed by Luna domestic desalination device, which its membrane was replaced by two NF90 and TW30 membranes for nanofiltration and reverse osmosis processes, respectively. All collected brackish water samples were fed through membranes NF90-2540, TW30-1821-100(RO) and Hybrid (NF/RO) which were installed on desalination household scale pilot (Luna water 100GPD). Then, to study the effects of pressure on permeable quality of membranes, the simulation software model ROSA was applied. Results showed that percent of the salinity rejection was recorded as 50.21%; 72.82 and 78.56% in NF, RO and hybrid processes, respectively. During the study, in order to simulate the performance of nanofiltartion, reverse osmosis and hybrid by pressure drive, reverse osmosis system analysis (ROSA) model was applied. The experiments were conducted at performance three methods of desalination to remove physic-chemical parameters as percentage of rejections in the pilot plant are: in the NF system the salinity 50.21, TDS 43.41, EC 43.62, Cl 21.1, Na 36.15, and in the RO membrane the salinity 72.02, TDS 60.26, EC 60.33, Cl 43.08, Na 54.41. Also in case of the rejection in

  5. Indirect desalination of Red Sea water with forward osmosis and low pressure reverse osmosis for water reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Li, Zhenyu; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Li, Qingyu; Amy, Gary L.

    2011-01-01

    The use of energy still remains the main component of the costs of desalting water. Forward osmosis (FO) can help to reduce the costs of desalination, and extracting water from impaired sources can be beneficial in this regard. Experiments with FO membranes using a secondary wastewater effluent as a feed water and Red Sea water as a draw solution demonstrated that the technology is promising. FO coupled with low pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) was implemented for indirect desalination. The system consumes only 50% (~1.5 kWh/m3) of the energy used for high pressure seawater RO (SWRO) desalination (2.5-4 kWh/m3), and produces a good quality water extracted from the impaired feed water. Fouling of the FO membranes was not a major issue during long-term experiments over 14 days. After 10 days of continuous FO operation, the initial flux declined by 28%. Cleaning the FO membranes with air scouring and clean water recovered the initial flux by 98.8%. A cost analysis revealed FO per se as viable technology. However, a minimum average FO flux of 10.5 L/m2-h is needed to compete with water reuse using UF-LPRO, and 5.5 L/m2-h is needed to recover and desalinate water at less cost than SWRO. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

  6. Indirect desalination of Red Sea water with forward osmosis and low pressure reverse osmosis for water reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor

    2011-10-01

    The use of energy still remains the main component of the costs of desalting water. Forward osmosis (FO) can help to reduce the costs of desalination, and extracting water from impaired sources can be beneficial in this regard. Experiments with FO membranes using a secondary wastewater effluent as a feed water and Red Sea water as a draw solution demonstrated that the technology is promising. FO coupled with low pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) was implemented for indirect desalination. The system consumes only 50% (~1.5 kWh/m3) of the energy used for high pressure seawater RO (SWRO) desalination (2.5-4 kWh/m3), and produces a good quality water extracted from the impaired feed water. Fouling of the FO membranes was not a major issue during long-term experiments over 14 days. After 10 days of continuous FO operation, the initial flux declined by 28%. Cleaning the FO membranes with air scouring and clean water recovered the initial flux by 98.8%. A cost analysis revealed FO per se as viable technology. However, a minimum average FO flux of 10.5 L/m2-h is needed to compete with water reuse using UF-LPRO, and 5.5 L/m2-h is needed to recover and desalinate water at less cost than SWRO. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

  7. Evaluation of multivariate statistical analyses for monitoring and prediction of processes in an seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kolluri, Srinivas Sahan; Esfahani, Iman Janghorban; Garikiparthy, Prithvi Sai Nadh; Yoo, Chang Kyoo [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-08-15

    Our aim was to analyze, monitor, and predict the outcomes of processes in a full-scale seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant using multivariate statistical techniques. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to investigate the performance and efficiencies of two SWRO processes, namely, pore controllable fiber filterreverse osmosis (PCF-SWRO) and sand filtration-ultra filtration-reverse osmosis (SF-UF-SWRO). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to monitor the two SWRO processes. PCA monitoring revealed that the SF-UF-SWRO process could be analyzed reliably with a low number of outliers and disturbances. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis was then conducted to predict which of the seven input parameters of feed flow rate, PCF/SF-UF filtrate flow rate, temperature of feed water, turbidity feed, pH, reverse osmosis (RO)flow rate, and pressure had a significant effect on the outcome variables of permeate flow rate and concentration. Root mean squared errors (RMSEs) of the PLS models for permeate flow rates were 31.5 and 28.6 for the PCF-SWRO process and SF-UF-SWRO process, respectively, while RMSEs of permeate concentrations were 350.44 and 289.4, respectively. These results indicate that the SF-UF-SWRO process can be modeled more accurately than the PCF-SWRO process, because the RMSE values of permeate flowrate and concentration obtained using a PLS regression model of the SF-UF-SWRO process were lower than those obtained for the PCF-SWRO process.

  8. Evaluation of multivariate statistical analyses for monitoring and prediction of processes in an seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolluri, Srinivas Sahan; Esfahani, Iman Janghorban; Garikiparthy, Prithvi Sai Nadh; Yoo, Chang Kyoo

    2015-01-01

    Our aim was to analyze, monitor, and predict the outcomes of processes in a full-scale seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant using multivariate statistical techniques. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to investigate the performance and efficiencies of two SWRO processes, namely, pore controllable fiber filterreverse osmosis (PCF-SWRO) and sand filtration-ultra filtration-reverse osmosis (SF-UF-SWRO). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to monitor the two SWRO processes. PCA monitoring revealed that the SF-UF-SWRO process could be analyzed reliably with a low number of outliers and disturbances. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis was then conducted to predict which of the seven input parameters of feed flow rate, PCF/SF-UF filtrate flow rate, temperature of feed water, turbidity feed, pH, reverse osmosis (RO)flow rate, and pressure had a significant effect on the outcome variables of permeate flow rate and concentration. Root mean squared errors (RMSEs) of the PLS models for permeate flow rates were 31.5 and 28.6 for the PCF-SWRO process and SF-UF-SWRO process, respectively, while RMSEs of permeate concentrations were 350.44 and 289.4, respectively. These results indicate that the SF-UF-SWRO process can be modeled more accurately than the PCF-SWRO process, because the RMSE values of permeate flowrate and concentration obtained using a PLS regression model of the SF-UF-SWRO process were lower than those obtained for the PCF-SWRO process.

  9. Tracing disinfection byproducts in full-scale desalination plants

    KAUST Repository

    Le Roux, Julien

    2015-03-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the formation and the behavior of halogenated byproducts (regulated THMs and HAAs, as well as nitrogenous, brominated and iodinated DBPs including the emerging iodo-THMs) along the treatment train of full-scale desalination plants. One thermal multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) plant and two reverse osmosis (RO) plants located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. DBPs formed during the prechlorination step were efficiently removed along the treatment processes (MSF or RO). Desalination plants fed with good seawater quality and using intermittent chlorine injection did not show high DBP formation and discharge. One RO plant with a lower raw water quality and using continuous chlorination at the intake formed more DBPs. In this plant, some non-regulated DBPs (e.g., dibromoacetonitrile and iodo-THMs) reached the product water in low concentrations (< 1.5 μg/L). Regulated THMs and HAAs were far below their maximum contamination levels set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Substantial amounts of DBPs are disposed to the sea; low concentrations of DBPs were indeed detected in the water on shore of the desalination plants.

  10. Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis—Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO Hybrids: A Critical Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaetan Blandin

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Forward osmosis (FO is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection. Typically, FO-RO hybrid can be a credible alternative to new desalination facilities or to implementation of stand-alone water reuse schemes. However, apart from the societal (public perception of water reuse for potable application and water management challenges (proximity of wastewater and desalination plants, FO-RO hybrid has to overcome technical limitation such as low FO permeation flux to become economically attractive. Recent developments (i.e., improved FO membranes, use of pressure assisted osmosis, PAO demonstrated significant improvement in water flux. However, flux improvement is associated with drawbacks, such as increased fouling behaviour, lower rejection of trace organic compounds (TrOCs in PAO operation, and limitation in FO membrane mechanical resistance, which need to be better considered. To support successful implementation of FO-RO hybrid in the industry, further work is required regarding up-scaling to apprehend full-scale challenges in term of mass transfer limitation, pressure drop, fouling and cleaning strategies on a module scale. In addition, refined economics assessment is expected to integrate fouling and other maintenance costs/savings of the FO/PAO-RO hybrid systems, as well as cost savings from any treatment step avoided in the water recycling.

  11. Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis—Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blandin, Gaetan; Verliefde, Arne R.D.; Comas, Joaquim; Rodriguez-Roda, Ignasi; Le-Clech, Pierre

    2016-01-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection. Typically, FO-RO hybrid can be a credible alternative to new desalination facilities or to implementation of stand-alone water reuse schemes. However, apart from the societal (public perception of water reuse for potable application) and water management challenges (proximity of wastewater and desalination plants), FO-RO hybrid has to overcome technical limitation such as low FO permeation flux to become economically attractive. Recent developments (i.e., improved FO membranes, use of pressure assisted osmosis, PAO) demonstrated significant improvement in water flux. However, flux improvement is associated with drawbacks, such as increased fouling behaviour, lower rejection of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in PAO operation, and limitation in FO membrane mechanical resistance, which need to be better considered. To support successful implementation of FO-RO hybrid in the industry, further work is required regarding up-scaling to apprehend full-scale challenges in term of mass transfer limitation, pressure drop, fouling and cleaning strategies on a module scale. In addition, refined economics assessment is expected to integrate fouling and other maintenance costs/savings of the FO/PAO-RO hybrid systems, as well as cost savings from any treatment step avoided in the water recycling. PMID:27376337

  12. International Conference on water reuse and desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-01-01

    The International conference on water reuse and desalination was held on the 13 November 1984 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Papers delivered on this conference covered the following aspects: desalination technology, industrial effluent control, economics of desalination of wastewaters, consumable supplies in desalination, the world market for seawater desalination equipment, reverse osmosis, evaporation and ultrafiltration, treatment of hazardous wastes, role of reverse osmosis in waste water treatment, as well as the desalination, recovery and recycle of water with high efficiency. A paper was also delivered on the mechanical vapour compression process applied to seawater desalination - as an example the paper presents the largest unit so far constructed by SIDEM using this process: a 1,500 mz/day unit installed in the Nuclear power plant of Flamanville in France

  13. Strategic Co-Location in a Hybrid Process Involving Desalination and Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William B. Krantz

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on a Hybrid Process that uses feed salinity dilution and osmotic power recovery from Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO to achieve higher overall water recovery. This reduces the energy consumption and capital costs of conventional seawater desalination and water reuse processes. The Hybrid Process increases the amount of water recovered from the current 66.7% for conventional seawater desalination and water reuse processes to a potential 80% through the use of reclaimed water brine as an impaired water source. A reduction of up to 23% in energy consumption is projected via the Hybrid Process. The attractiveness is amplified by potential capital cost savings ranging from 8.7%–20% compared to conventional designs of seawater desalination plants. A decision matrix in the form of a customizable scorecard is introduced for evaluating a Hybrid Process based on the importance of land space, capital costs, energy consumption and membrane fouling. This study provides a new perspective, looking at processes not as individual systems but as a whole utilizing strategic co-location to unlock the synergies available in the water-energy nexus for more sustainable desalination.

  14. Strategic Co-Location in a Hybrid Process Involving Desalination and Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Victor S.T.; She, Qianhong; Chong, Tzyy Haur; Tang, Chuyang Y.; Fane, Anthony G.; Krantz, William B.

    2013-01-01

    This paper focuses on a Hybrid Process that uses feed salinity dilution and osmotic power recovery from Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) to achieve higher overall water recovery. This reduces the energy consumption and capital costs of conventional seawater desalination and water reuse processes. The Hybrid Process increases the amount of water recovered from the current 66.7% for conventional seawater desalination and water reuse processes to a potential 80% through the use of reclaimed water brine as an impaired water source. A reduction of up to 23% in energy consumption is projected via the Hybrid Process. The attractiveness is amplified by potential capital cost savings ranging from 8.7%–20% compared to conventional designs of seawater desalination plants. A decision matrix in the form of a customizable scorecard is introduced for evaluating a Hybrid Process based on the importance of land space, capital costs, energy consumption and membrane fouling. This study provides a new perspective, looking at processes not as individual systems but as a whole utilizing strategic co-location to unlock the synergies available in the water-energy nexus for more sustainable desalination. PMID:24956940

  15. Boron in reverse osmosis water desalination: current situational and applying technologies for its removal; El boro en las aguas desaladas por osmosis inversa: situacion actual y tecnologias aplicables para su eliminacion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodrigo Sanz, M.; Penate Suarez, B.

    2007-07-01

    In most of the seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants operating in one stage, the water produced presents values bordering or exceeding the limit established by the Spanish legislation for boron content of 1mg/l. As well as on the intrinsic features of the membrane elements, the boron removal in the desalination process depends on various factors. In this article the most relevant ones are described and a synopsis of the applied technologies and designs is introduced in order to fulfil current regulations. (Author)

  16. Economic advantages to optimising chemical products in pre-treatment in reverse osmosis desalination plants; Ventajas economicas al optimizar los productos quimicos en el pretratamiento de plantas desaladoras por osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Munoz Elguera, A.; Alday Ansola, J.; Perez Baez, S. O.

    2001-07-01

    This article reports the results of a process of optimising the dosage of Sodium hypochlorite and Metabisulphite, performed on sea water in the pre-treatment division of the Las Palmas III reverse osmosis desalination plant, currently operated by Empresa Mixta de Aguas de las Palmas (EMALSA), responsible for providing drinking water to more than 400.000 people in the city of Las Palmas, capital of Grand Canary Island. The results of this optimisation process, contrary to the opinion of the operators of the plant, after reducing the amount of Metabisulphite normally used in the plant by 70%, and Sodium hypochlorite by 30%, there were no adverse effects on the microbiological quality of the sea water. Moreover, the performance of the membranes was improved (bad odors disappeared, along with organic material sediments, etc.). (Author) 9 refs.

  17. The national project on nuclear desalination in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misra, B.M.

    1996-01-01

    BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) has successfully developed both thermal and membrane desalination technologies for seawater and brackish water desalination. 425 m 3 /d Multi-Stage-Flash (MSF) desalination plant producing good quality water from seawater suitable for drinking and industrial water requirements operated. Knowhow developed for Low Temperature Vacuum Evaporation (LTVE) desalination plants utilizing waste heat. Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology developed at the centre has been successfully demonstrated. The experience obtained from the above plants has been utilized for designing a large scale hybrid desalination plant based on MSF and RO for augmenting the drinking water supply in water scarcity coastal areas

  18. Seawater reverse osmosis desalination and (harmful) algal blooms

    KAUST Repository

    Villacorte, Loreen O.; Tabatabai, S. Assiyeh Alizadeh; Anderson, Donald M.; Amy, Gary L.; Schippers, Jan Cornelis; Kennedy, Maria Dolores

    2015-01-01

    This article reviews the occurrence of HABs in seawater, their effects on the operation of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants, the indicators for quantifying/predicting these effects, and the pretreatment strategies for mitigating operational issues during algal blooms. The potential issues in SWRO plants during HABs are particulate/organic fouling of pretreatment systems and biological fouling of RO membranes, mainly due to accumulation of algal organic matter (AOM). The presence of HAB toxins in desalinated water is also a potential concern but only at very low concentrations. Monitoring algal cell density, AOM concentrations and membrane fouling indices is a promising approach to assess the quality of SWRO feedwater and performance of the pretreatment system. When geological condition is favourable, subsurface intake can be a robust pretreatment for SWRO during HABs. Existing SWRO plants with open intake and are fitted with granular media filtration can improve performance in terms of capacity and product water quality, if preceded by dissolved air flotation or sedimentation. However, the application of advanced pretreatment using ultrafiltration membrane with in-line coagulation is often a better option as it is capable of maintaining stable operation and better RO feed water quality during algal bloom periods with significantly lower chemical consumption.

  19. Seawater reverse osmosis desalination and (harmful) algal blooms

    KAUST Repository

    Villacorte, Loreen O.

    2015-03-01

    This article reviews the occurrence of HABs in seawater, their effects on the operation of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants, the indicators for quantifying/predicting these effects, and the pretreatment strategies for mitigating operational issues during algal blooms. The potential issues in SWRO plants during HABs are particulate/organic fouling of pretreatment systems and biological fouling of RO membranes, mainly due to accumulation of algal organic matter (AOM). The presence of HAB toxins in desalinated water is also a potential concern but only at very low concentrations. Monitoring algal cell density, AOM concentrations and membrane fouling indices is a promising approach to assess the quality of SWRO feedwater and performance of the pretreatment system. When geological condition is favourable, subsurface intake can be a robust pretreatment for SWRO during HABs. Existing SWRO plants with open intake and are fitted with granular media filtration can improve performance in terms of capacity and product water quality, if preceded by dissolved air flotation or sedimentation. However, the application of advanced pretreatment using ultrafiltration membrane with in-line coagulation is often a better option as it is capable of maintaining stable operation and better RO feed water quality during algal bloom periods with significantly lower chemical consumption.

  20. Learning Curve for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants: Capital Cost Trend of the Past, Present, and Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldera, Upeksha; Breyer, Christian

    2017-12-01

    Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination is expected to play a pivotal role in helping to secure future global water supply. While the global reliance on SWRO plants for water security increases, there is no consensus on how the capital costs of SWRO plants will vary in the future. The aim of this paper is to analyze the past trends of the SWRO capital expenditures (capex) as the historic global cumulative online SWRO capacity increases, based on the learning curve concept. The SWRO capex learning curve is found based on 4,237 plants that came online from 1977 to 2015. A learning rate of 15% is determined, implying that the SWRO capex reduced by 15% when the cumulative capacity was doubled. Based on SWRO capacity annual growth rates of 10% and 20%, by 2030, the global average capex of SWRO plants is found to fall to 1,580 USD/(m3/d) and 1,340 USD/(m3/d), respectively. A learning curve for SWRO capital costs has not been presented previously. This research highlights the potential for decrease in SWRO capex with the increase in installation of SWRO plants and the value of the learning curve approach to estimate future SWRO capex.

  1. Unlocking High-Salinity Desalination with Cascading Osmotically Mediated Reverse Osmosis: Energy and Operating Pressure Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xi; Yip, Ngai Yin

    2018-02-20

    Current practice of using thermally driven methods to treat hypersaline brines is highly energy-intensive and costly. While conventional reverse osmosis (RO) is the most efficient desalination technique, it is confined to purifying seawater and lower salinity sources. Hydraulic pressure restrictions and elevated energy demand render RO unsuitable for high-salinity streams. Here, we propose an innovative cascading osmotically mediated reverse osmosis (COMRO) technology to overcome the limitations of conventional RO. The innovation utilizes the novel design of bilateral countercurrent reverse osmosis stages to depress the hydraulic pressure needed by lessening the osmotic pressure difference across the membrane, and simultaneously achieve energy savings. Instead of the 137 bar required by conventional RO to desalinate 70 000 ppm TDS hypersaline feed, the highest operating pressure in COMRO is only 68.3 bar (-50%). Furthermore, up to ≈17% energy saving is attained by COMRO (3.16 kWh/m 3 , compared to 3.79 kWh/m 3 with conventional RO). When COMRO is employed to boost the recovery of seawater desalination to 70% from the typical 35-50%, energy savings of up to ≈33% is achieved (2.11 kWh/m 3 , compared to 3.16 kWh/m 3 with conventional RO). Again, COMRO can operate at a moderate hydraulic pressure of 80 bar (25% lower than 113 bar of conventional RO). This study highlights the encouraging potential of energy-efficient COMRO to access unprecedented high recovery rates and treat hypersaline brines at moderate hydraulic pressures, thus extending the capabilities of membrane-based technologies for high-salinity desalination.

  2. Status of CEA studies on desalination on July 1, 1967

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huyghe, J.; Vignet, P.; Courvoisier, P.; Frejacques, M.; Coriou, M.; Agostini, M.; Lackme, C.; CORPEL, M.; Thiriet, L.

    1967-01-01

    This publication contains a set of articles reporting studies on desalination performed within the CEA: preliminary draft of a desalination plant coupled with a nuclear reactor; the reverse osmosis; corrosion problems in seawater desalination plants; optimisation program of a distillation-based seawater desalination plant; activities of the department of analysis and applied chemistry in the field of desalination; abstract of a lecture on studies on price functions; studies of the department of steady isotopes on the formation of tartar depositions and their prevention; studies performed within the thermal transfer department

  3. Forward osmosis :a new approach to water purification and desalination.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, James Edward; Evans, Lindsey R.

    2006-07-01

    Fresh, potable water is an essential human need and thus looming water shortages threaten the world's peace and prosperity. Waste water, brackish water, and seawater have great potential to fill the coming requirements. Unfortunately, the ability to exploit these resources is currently limited in many parts of the world by both the cost of the energy and the investment in equipment required for purification/desalination. Forward (or direct) osmosis is an emerging process for dewatering aqueous streams that might one day help resolve this problem. In FO, water from one solution selectively passes through a membrane to a second solution based solely on the difference in the chemical potential (concentration) of the two solutions. The process is spontaneous, and can be accomplished with very little energy expenditure. Thus, FO can be used, in effect, to exchange one solute for a different solute, specifically chosen for its chemical or physical properties. For desalination applications, the salts in the feed stream could be exchanged for an osmotic agent specifically chosen for its ease of removal, e.g. by precipitation. This report summarizes work performed at Sandia National Laboratories in the area of FO and reviews the status of the technology for desalination applications. At its current state of development, FO will not replace reverse osmosis (RO) as the most favored desalination technology, particularly for routine waters. However, a future role for FO is not out of the question. The ability to treat waters with high solids content or fouling potential is particularly attractive. Although our analysis indicates that FO is not cost effective as a pretreatment for conventional BWRO, water scarcity will likely drive societies to recover potable water from increasingly marginal resources, for example gray water and then sewage. In this context, FO may be an attractive pretreatment alternative. To move the technology forward, continued improvement and

  4. Seawater desalination by reveised osmosis - state of the art, experiences, outlook

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boeddeker, K.W.

    1979-01-01

    Although membrane processing is rapidly gaining acceptance in general water treatment, and in spite of distinct advantages as compared to distillation, water desalination by reserve osmosis is still a relatively minor proposition. With reference to the practical implications of the process the situation of brackish water and seawater desalting is discussed using available resp. projected cost figures, arriving at an orientational shceme for cost estimates. (orig.) [de

  5. Techno-economic evaluation of a solar powered water desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fiorenza, G.; Sharma, V.K.; Braccio, G.

    2003-01-01

    Water desalination technologies and their possible coupling with solar energy have been evaluated. The topic is of particular interest, especially for countries located within the Southern Mediterranean belt, generally characterized with vast arid and isolated areas having practically no access to electric power from the national grid. Economic factors being one of the main barriers to diffusion of solar devices so far, an attempt has been made to estimate the water production cost for two different seawater desalination systems: reverse osmosis and multiple effect, powered by a solar thermal and a photovoltaic field, respectively. The results obtained for plants of capacity varying between 500 and 5000 m 3 /d have been compared to results concerning a conventional desalination system. In addition, the influences of various parameters, such as depreciation factor, economic incentives, PV modules cost and oil price, have also been considered

  6. A review of reverse osmosis membrane materials for desalination-Development to date and future potential

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Kali Peng; Arnot, Tom C.; Mattia, Davide

    2011-01-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the most important desalination technology and it is experiencing significant growth. The objective of this paper is to review the historical and current development of RO membrane materials which are the key determinants of separation performance and water productivity, and hence to define performance targets for those who are developing new RO membrane materials. The chemistry, synthesis mechanism(s) and desalination performance of various RO membranes are ...

  7. Effect of the scale inhibitor on ion content in reverse osmosis system for seawater desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yuhua; Liu, Zhenfa; Zhang, Lihui; Li, Haihua

    2017-09-01

    A scale inhibitor was synthesized from polysuccinimide with 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid and aspartic acid. The effect of scale inhibitor on ion content in reverse osmosis system for seawater desalination was studied. The results showed that the ion content of permeate water is lower with the scale inhibitor added in RO system for seawater desalination than without scale inhibitor. On the contrary, the ion content of concentrate water is higher when with scale inhibitor in RO system.

  8. Solar fired combined RO/MED desalination plant integrated with electrical power grid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alrobaei, H.

    2006-01-01

    Currently, there is a strong demand for efficient seawater desalination plants, which can meet the tougher environment regulation and energy saving requirements. From this standpoint the present work was undertaken to include proposed scheme (solar Fired Combined Reverse Osmosis (ROY Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) Seawater desalination Plant (SCDP) integrated with electrical power grid (EPG)) for repowering and modification of the conventional grid connected RO desalination plants. The model of SCDP during sunny periods may be applied to the following modes operation: *Full solar desalination (i.e. solar thermal and electrical power generation in solar plant is elivered to the desalination process and the surplus electricity is fed into EPG). *Hybrid solar desalination (I.e. a small share of the electrical power consumption for desalination process compensated by EPG). During cloudly periods and at night the SCDP operates as a conventional RO desalination plant. To establish the range, in which solar energy for seawater desalination would be competitive to fossil energy and investigates the potential effect of the proposed scheme on the repowering effectiveness, mathematical model has been developed. The repowered effectiveness, mathematical model has been developed.The repowered effectiveness in optaimizing model was characterized by the condition of attaining maximum fuel saving in the EPG. The study result shows the effectiveness of proposed scheme for modification and repowering the RO plant. For the case study. (SCDP with maual share of solar electrical power generation 67.4%) the economical effect amount 138.9 ton fuel/year for each MW design thermal energy of parabolic solar collectors array and the corresponding decrease in exhaust gases emission (Nitrogen oxides (NO x ) 0.55 ton/year.MW, carbon dioxides (CO2) 434.9 ton/year.MW). Moreover, implementation of combined RO/MED design for repowering and modification of conventional grid connected RO plant will

  9. Membrane scaling and flux decline during fertiliser-drawn forward osmosis desalination of brackish groundwater.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phuntsho, Sherub; Lotfi, Fezeh; Hong, Seungkwan; Shaffer, Devin L; Elimelech, Menachem; Shon, Ho Kyong

    2014-06-15

    Fertiliser-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) desalination has been recently studied as one feasible application of forward osmosis (FO) for irrigation. In this study, the potential of membrane scaling in the FDFO process has been investigated during the desalination of brackish groundwater (BGW). While most fertilisers containing monovalent ions did not result in any scaling when used as an FO draw solution (DS), diammonium phosphate (DAP or (NH4)2HPO4) resulted in significant scaling, which contributed to severe flux decline. Membrane autopsy using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that the reverse diffusion of DAP from the DS to the feed solution was primarily responsible for scale formation during the FDFO process. Physical cleaning of the membrane with deionised water at varying crossflow velocities was employed to evaluate the reversibility of membrane scaling and the extent of flux recovery. For the membrane scaled using DAP as DS, 80-90% of the original flux was recovered when the crossflow velocity for physical cleaning was the same as the crossflow velocity during FDFO desalination. However, when a higher crossflow velocity or Reynolds number was used, the flux was recovered almost completely, irrespective of the DS concentration used. This study underscores the importance of selecting a suitable fertiliser for FDFO desalination of brackish groundwater to avoid membrane scaling and severe flux decline. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Energy efficiency of batch and semi-batch (CCRO) reverse osmosis desalination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warsinger, David M; Tow, Emily W; Nayar, Kishor G; Maswadeh, Laith A; Lienhard V, John H

    2016-12-01

    As reverse osmosis (RO) desalination capacity increases worldwide, the need to reduce its specific energy consumption becomes more urgent. In addition to the incremental changes attainable with improved components such as membranes and pumps, more significant reduction of energy consumption can be achieved through time-varying RO processes including semi-batch processes such as closed-circuit reverse osmosis (CCRO) and fully-batch processes that have not yet been commercialized or modelled in detail. In this study, numerical models of the energy consumption of batch RO (BRO), CCRO, and the standard continuous RO process are detailed. Two new energy-efficient configurations of batch RO are analyzed. Batch systems use significantly less energy than continuous RO over a wide range of recovery ratios and source water salinities. Relative to continuous RO, models predict that CCRO and batch RO demonstrate up to 37% and 64% energy savings, respectively, for brackish water desalination at high water recovery. For batch RO and CCRO, the primary reductions in energy use stem from atmospheric pressure brine discharge and reduced streamwise variation in driving pressure. Fully-batch systems further reduce energy consumption by not mixing streams of different concentrations, which CCRO does. These results demonstrate that time-varying processes can significantly raise RO energy efficiency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. A Well Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Unit Diagnosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elfil, H.; Hila, M.; Hannachi, A.; Yeza, A.

    2009-01-01

    In this present work the diagnosis results of a reverse osmosis desalination unit are reported. Since 1997, the desalination unit was supplying a 1200 bed hotel. The feed water was driven from a well situated 300 m away form the sea. The water has an approximate salinity of 6gg.L -1 . The unit was producing 600 m 3 per day of desalinated water with a Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) of nearly 400 mg.L -1 . The desalination unit has two stages with 67 pour cent and 42 pour cent yields respectively giving an average yield of 81 pour cent. The behavior of all water streams with respect to aggressiveness and scaling tendency was assessed. The 2nd stage reject water was shown to exhibit a very high scaling behavior with an instantaneous precipitation in the absence of feed water chemical treatment. The analyses have shown that the produced water was very aggressive. The second stage module autopsy has revealed a sharp decrease of the membrane performances because of mineral as well as organic fooling buildup. The inorganic scale was essentially made of coesite and calcite and kaolinite clay. The presence of silica and clay could be attributed to an inadequate filtration pre-treatment process that was not able to retain all the suspended matter in the feed water. Whereas the presence calcite crystals at the membrane surface, reveals that the chemical inhibition performed at the pre-treatment process without adjusting the water pH was not able to prevent calcium carbonate precipitation. A periodic acid wash of the 2nd stage membranes is then necessary to guarantee this stage desired objectives.

  12. Hydrographic parameters and distribution of dissolved Cu, Ni, Zn and nutrients near Jeddah desalination plant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fallatah Mohammad M.

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The development of safe desalination plants with low environmental impact is as important an issue as the supply of drinking water. The desalination plant in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia, Red Sea coast produces freshwater from seawater by multi-stage flash distillation (MSFD and reverse osmosis (RO. The process produces brine as by-product, which is dumped into the sea. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of Jeddah desalination plant on the coastal water in the nearby of the plant. Total concentrations of dissolved Cu, Ni, Zn and nutrients in several locations around the plant were analyzed by cathodic stripping voltammetry. The average levels of dissolved Cu, Ni, and Zn on surface in the sampling locations were 15.02, 11.02, and 68.03 nM respectively, whereas the levels at the seafloor near the discharging point were much higher. Distribution of temperature, salinity, nutrients and dissolved oxygen were quite normal both on surface and in depth.

  13. Ruled-based control of off-grid desalination powered by renewable energies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alvaro Serna

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available A rule-based control is presented for desalination plants operating under variable, renewable power availability. This control algorithm is based on two sets of rules: first, a list that prioritizes the reverse osmosis (RO units of the plant is created, based on the current state and the expected water demand; secondly, the available energy is then dispatched to these units following this prioritized list. The selected strategy is tested on a specific case study: a reverse osmosis plant designed for the production of desalinated water powered by wind and wave energy. Simulation results illustrate the correct performance of the plant under this control.

  14. The photovoltaic-powered water desalination plant 'SORO' design, start up, operating experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuhaeusser, G.; Mohn, J.; Petersen, G.

    Design features, operational parameters, and test results of a year of operation of the SORO prototype photovoltaic (PV) reverse osmosis salt water desalinization plant are described. Chemicals are added to the salt water to control the pH, prevent formation of compounds which could plug the flow system, and kill bacteria and slime which might grow in the solution. The water is pressurized and forced into contact with membranes which separate the fresh water from the brackish or sea water. The flow rate in the project was 180 l/h, with the main electrical energy load being the high pressure pump and the well pump. Batteries are charged before current is switched to power the desalinization system. The plant yielded 1.50 cu of fresh water/day and is concluded to be a viable design for scale-up to larger production figures, besides being economically competitive with solar desalinization installations where the salt content is 2000 ppm.

  15. Reverse Osmosis

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    many applications, one of which is desalination of seawater. The inaugural Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 1901 to van 't Hoff for his seminal work in this area. The present article explains the principle of osmosis and reverse osmosis. Osmosis and Reverse Osmosis. As the name suggests, reverse osmosis is the ...

  16. Desalination of brackish and sea water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shukla, Dilip R.

    2005-01-01

    In Pali, Rajasthan, a population of 4 lacs gets about 6 million liters of water. Only 34 out of 116 municipalities in AP get regular water. Desalination found acceptance because of the decreasing water table leading to high salinity and making conventional treatment methods irrelevant. While choosing amongst the competitive desalination techniques that are available today for conversion of large quantities of saline water, Reverse Osmosis (RO) and distillation techniques stand out. RO rules the brackish water market where feed salinity is over 700 mg/L. Waste heat is nowadays a non-entity in power plants due to the developments of waste heat recovery systems in power plant technology. Most of the large plants tend to choose thermal desalination. Improved RO economics have in turn increased the attractiveness and use of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology for many large drinking water projects through out the world. Energy cost is the single largest factor in the cost of Sea Water System (usually 20 to 30% of total cost of water). Nuclear Power Corporation, Kudankulam proposed to build a SW desalination system based on RO technology to meet the water requirement of the Anu Vijay Nagar township and Nuclear Power Station. Energy recovery turbine helps reduce the overall system energy requirement. (author)

  17. Research and development of utilization system of photovoltaic power generation. R and D of stand-alone system (desalination system for remote island-reverse osmosis)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1986-08-01

    This system is an independent system which utilizes DC power obtained by a solar cell for the power source for a sea water desalination plant. The system is constructed of 2 series of a reverse osmosis membrane module system by which the power storage requirement in the battery is minimized by storing in the form of water instead. Effective battery capacity is 46.2 KWH which corresponds to the operation of 0.7 days. Hoso-jima in the central part of the Seto Inland Sea is estimated as the plant location and satisfies the conditions of this verification test. It is being examined to use the solar cells of single and poly crystal types as they have been often practically used to a considerable extent, because the test plant is going to be used as a commercial plant after the test operation is completed. Nominal capacity of 0.55 m/sup 2//h was set for the reverse osmosis sea water desalination unit on the basis of 4.5 m/sup 2//d (a daily average for the agricultural water required for 1,000 m/sup 2/ hydroponic area). Annual average water production is roughly 5.3 m/sup 2//d. (2 figs, 1 tab)

  18. The Physical, Chemical and Microbial Quality of Treated Water in Qom s Desalination Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. R. Yari

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available Background and objectivesWater is the basis of life and health. The health of food and water supply plays an important role in human health. One of the methods of water desalination is membrane filter reverse osmosis method. This method is used for desalination of drinking water supply in Qom.MethodsThis is a descriptive, cross-sectional study designed to determine the quality of treated water in Qom desalination plant in year 2002. Inlet and outlet water samples of this plant were examined by the standard examination methods and the collected data were compared with national and international standards. Excel software was used for statistical analysis.ResultsThe results showed that the residual chlorine concentration, total hardness and fluoride concentration were lower than the minimum standard limit set for drinking water. The pH was also lower than the minimum standard limit. Microbial contamination was detected in 6% of samples.ConclusionThe results show that the acidity of water was lower than standard in whole plant. This gives corrosive properties to the water and increases the dissolution of materials, which are in contact with this water. In order to eliminate the secondary contamination, the concentration of residual chlorine should be 1 mg/l. But, none of the measurements showed a concentration as high as this value. As fluoride is an important element for health and growth of bone and teeth, especially in growing children, fluoride should be added to the drinking water. As the relationship between hardness of water and cardiovascular diseases has been established, it can be concluded that this drinking water supply can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases in long time. Dilution of this water is recommended to adjust various factors to the standard limits and keep the total dissolved solids low.Keywords: Qom ;Water; Reverse Osmosis; Desalination Plant; Water Quality

  19. Reverse osmosis desalination of chitosan cross-linked graphene oxide/titania hybrid lamellar membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Hui; Sun, Penzhan; Zhang, Yingjiu; Zhu, Hongwei

    2016-07-08

    With excellent mass transport properties, graphene oxide (GO)-based lamellar membranes are believed to have great potential in water desalination. In order to quantify whether GO-based membranes are indeed suitable for reverse osmosis (RO) desalination, three sub-micrometer thick GO-based lamellar membranes: GO-only, reduced GO (RGO)/titania (TO) nanosheets and RGO/TO/chitosan (CTS) are prepared, and their RO desalination performances are evaluated in a home-made RO test apparatus. The photoreduction of GO by TO improves the salt rejection, which increases slowly with the membrane thickness. The RGO/TO/CTS hybrid membranes exhibit higher rejection rates of only about 30% (greater than threefold improvement compared with a GO-only membrane) which is still inferior compared to other commercial RO membranes. The low rejection rates mainly arise from the pressure-induced weakening of the ion-GO interlayer interactions. Despite the advantages of simple, low-cost preparation, high permeability and selectivity of GO-based lamellar membranes, as the current desalination performances are not high enough to afford practical application, there still remains a great challenge to realize high performance separation membranes for water desalination applications.

  20. Simulation with Trnsys of thermal Solar System for desalination by means of inverse osmosis; Simulacion con Trnsys de sistemas solares termicos para desalinizacion mediante osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez-Villada, J.; Bruno, J. C.; Coronas, A.

    2008-07-01

    The use of power cycles driven by solar energy to provide the required mechanical energy to drive the high-pressure pump of Reverse Osmosis systems for desalination is an interesting alternative to the conventional electric systems. In this paper it is presented a model developed in Trnsys/Trnopt for the optimisation of the operating temperature in these systems to maximise the desalted water production. The results obtained show that adjusting the plant operation to this optimal temperature following the ambient conditions at each moment, a very important increase in the desalted water production could be achieved. (Author)

  1. Economic competitiveness of seawater desalinated by nuclear and fossil energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tian Li; Wang Yongqing; Guo Jilin; Liu Wei

    2001-01-01

    The levelized discounted production water cost method and the new desalination economic evaluation program (DEEP1.1) were used to compare the economics of desalination using nuclear or fossil energy. The results indicate that nuclear desalination is more economic than fossil desalination with reverse osmosis (RO), multi-effect distillation (MED) and multi-stage flash (MSF). The desalination water cost varies depending on the desalination technology and the water plant size from 0.52-1.98 USD·m -3 with the lowest water price by RO and the highest by MSF. The sensitivity factors for the economic competitiveness increases in order of the discounted rate, desalination plant scale, fossil fuel price, specific power plant investment, seawater temperature and total dissolve solid (TDS). The highest water cost is about 22.6% more than the base case

  2. Suitability of second pass RO as a substitute for high quality MSF product water in Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murugan, V.; Venkatesh, P.; Balasubramanian, C.; Nagaraj, R.; Yadav, Manoj Kumar; Prabhakar, S.; Tewari, P.K.

    2012-01-01

    Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant at Kalpakkam consists of both Multi Stage Flash Distillation (MSF) and Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) process to produce desalinated water. It supplies part of highly pure water from MSF to Madras Atomic Power Station for its boiler feed requirements and remaining water is blend with SWRO product water and sent to other common facilities located inside Kalpakkam campus. A critical techno-economic analysis is carried out to find out the suitability of second pass RO to sustain the availability of highly pure water in case of MSF plant shutdown. (author)

  3. State of the art in the process design of large sea water desalination plants; Estado del arte en el diseno del proceso de plantas desaladoras de agua de mar de gran capacidad

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanchez Sanchez, J. M.; Sanchez Castillo, N.; Sanchez Castillo, R.

    2008-07-01

    The desalination of seawater is used in commercial operations worldwide in order to obtain large quantities of proper water for population supply, irrigation or industrial uses. The designs of the processes which are involved in desalination are changing all the time. In this paper the evolution of the processes of seawater desalination plants will be discussed. It will focus on large Reverse Osmosis desalination plants: also it will discuss the reasons of this evolution. (Author) 8 refs.

  4. Energy optimization of Llobregat Desalination Plant by ERD; Optimizacion energetica de la Desalinizadora del Llobregat mediante sistemas de intercambio de presion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miguel, C.; Cazurra, T.; Jurado, J. L.; Orbe, H.; Sanz, M. A.; Icaza, G.; Galtes, J.

    2009-07-01

    Construction of the Llobregat desalination seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant will represent the guarantee of drinking water supply in the entire network managed by Aigues Ter Llobregat. The biggest cost associated to the drinking water supply produced by means of SWRO is mainly due to the necessary high operating pressures at the inlet of membranes. Due to this reality, Llobregat Desalination Plant incorporates the most state of the art and efficient technologies available, with the aim on minimizing the energy consumption. As a a result, one of the fundamental parts of these technologies are the Energy Recovery Devices (ERD), which recover the remaining energy (as a pressure form) in the brine out from the reverse osmosis, transferring this pressure to part of seawater feed towards the membranes, reducing the needs of energy consumption and the size the high pressure pump. (Author) 6 refs.

  5. The techno-economic optimization of a 100MWe CSP-desalination plant in Arandis, Namibia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dall, Ernest P.; Hoffmann, Jaap E.

    2017-06-01

    Energy is a key factor responsible for a country's economic growth and prosperity. It is closely related to the main global challenges namely: poverty mitigation, global environmental change and food and water security [1.]. Concentrating solar power (CSP) is steadily gaining more market acceptance as the cost of electricity from CSP power plants progressively declines. The cogeneration of electricity and water is an attractive prospect for future CSP developments as the simultaneous production of power and potable water can have positive economic implications towards increasing the feasibility of CSP plant developments [2.]. The highest concentrations of direct normal irradiation are located relatively close to Western coastal and Middle-Eastern North-African regions. It is for this reason worthwhile investigating the possibility of CSP-desalination (CSP+D) plants as a future sustainable method for providing both electricity and water with significantly reduced carbon emissions and potential cost reductions. This study investigates the techno-economic feasibility of integrating a low-temperature thermal desalination plant to serve as the condenser as opposed to a conventional dry-cooled CSP plant in Arandis, Namibia. It outlines the possible benefits of the integration CSP+D in terms of overall cost of water and electricity. The high capital costs of thermal desalination heat exchangers as well as the pumping of seawater far inland is the most significant barrier in making this approach competitive against more conventional desalination methods such as reverse osmosis. The compromise between the lowest levelized cost of electricity and water depends on the sizing and the top brine temperature of the desalination plant.

  6. Control of biofouling by xanthine oxidase on seawater reverse osmosis membranes from a desalination plant: enzyme production and screening of bacterial isolates from the full-scale plant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagaraj, V; Skillman, L; Li, D; Xie, Z; Ho, G

    2017-07-01

    Control of biofouling on seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes is a major challenge as treatments can be expensive, damage the membrane material and often biocides do not remove the polymers in which bacteria are embedded. Biological control has been largely ignored for biofouling control. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of xanthine oxidase enzyme against complex fouling communities and then identify naturally occurring bacterial strains that produce the free radical generating enzyme. Initially, 64 bacterial strains were isolated from different locations of the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant. In our preceding study, 25/64 isolates were selected from the culture collection as models for biofouling studies, based on their prevalence in comparison to the genomic bacterial community. In this study, screening of these model strains was performed using a nitroblue tetrazolium assay in the presence of hypoxanthine as substrate. Enzyme activity was measured by absorbance. Nine of 25 strains tested positive for xanthine oxidase production, of which Exiguobacterium from sand filters and Microbacterium from RO membranes exhibited significant levels of enzyme production. Other genera that produced xanthine oxidase were Marinomonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Pseudoalteromonas and Staphylococcus. Strain variations were observed between members of the genera Microbacterium and Bacillus. Xanthine oxidase, an oxidoreductase enzyme that generates reactive oxygen species, is endogenously produced by many bacterial species. In this study, production of the enzyme by bacterial isolates from a full-scale desalination plant was investigated for potential use as biological control of membrane fouling in seawater desalination. We have previously demonstrated that free radicals generated by a commercially available xanthine oxidase in the presence of a hypoxanthine substrate, effectively dispersed biofilm polysaccharides on industrially fouled membranes

  7. Desalination processes and technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furukawa, D.H.

    1996-01-01

    Reasons of the development of desalination processes, the modern desalination technologies, such as multi-stage flash evaporation, multi-effect distillation, reverse osmosis, and the prospects of using nuclear power for desalination purposes are discussed. 9 refs

  8. Feasibility of municipal solid waste (MSW as energy sources for Saudi Arabia’s future Reverse osmosis (RO desalination plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agboola Phillips O.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA generates between 1.4–1.75 kg/person/day of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW that accounts for over 16 million tons of MSW/year. The solid waste collected from different sources is dumped in landfills, thereby creating environmental concerns. In this paper, the potential of solid waste as an energy source (Waste to Energy (WTE for Reverse Osmosis (RO water purification was evaluated. The KSA is known for its acute fresh water shortages and uses desalination technology in meeting its daily water requirements; a process that is energy intensive. The evaluation of the energy content of MSW shows a potential to produce about 927 MW in 2015, based on a total mass burn, and about 1,692 MW in 2032. The MSW-WTE plants can produce about 1.5% of the targeted 120 GW of energy for 2032. For the R.O system, it will give approximately 16.8% of the daily fresh water needed for total mass burn and 2.4% with the recycling option.

  9. Comparative study of economic competitive for nuclear seawater desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tian Li; Wang Yongqing

    2001-01-01

    The method of levelized discounted production water cost and the new desalination economic evaluation program (DEEP1.1) are used. Many cases of seawater desalination by nuclear energy or fossil energy combined with reverse osmosis (RO), Multi-effect distillation (MED) or multi-stage flash (MSF) technology in south-east Asia is performed and their economic competitive is analyzed. Their results indicate, the nuclear desalination plants have stronger economic competitive comparing to the fossil in the RO, MED and MSF technology. The desalination water cost is very changeable depending on the difference of desalination technology and water plant size. Its range is 0.56 dollar · m -3 - 1.89 dollar · m -3 , the lowest desalination water cost is product by RO and the highest is by MSF. The sensitive factors of the economic competitive are orderly the discounted rate, desalination plant size, seawater temperature and total dissolved solids (TDS), fossil fuel price and specific power plant investment. The highest rate of water cost is about 19.3% comparing to base case

  10. The effect of flow and chemical corrosion in reverse osmosis over desalinated water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Young Jae [Chunnam National Univ., Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Pak, Byung Gu [Doosan Heavy Industry Co., Tongyoung (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-12-15

    Desalinated water produced by a reverse osmosis (RO) filtering method forms about 22% of total production of desalinated water in the world. However, the RO environment is very corrosive due to the presence of various chemicals for water treatment and the flow of sand particles leading to corrosion. Recently, there has been much effort to substitute cheaper and more corrosion resistant stainless steels for copper based alloys as a valve material in RO. Nevertheless, the effects of chemicals and particles on the corrosion of stainless steels have rarely been studied. Erosion phenomenon was detected under the condition with the flow rate of more than 8ms{sup -1} in spite of the absence of sand particles. In seawater containing sand particles, the erosion in stainless steels was accelerated further.

  11. Water permeability of nanoporous graphene at realistic pressures for reverse osmosis desalination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen-Tanugi, David; Grossman, Jeffrey C. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

    2014-08-21

    Nanoporous graphene (NPG) shows tremendous promise as an ultra-permeable membrane for water desalination thanks to its atomic thickness and precise sieving properties. However, a significant gap exists in the literature between the ideal conditions assumed for NPG desalination and the physical environment inherent to reverse osmosis (RO) systems. In particular, the water permeability of NPG has been calculated previously based on very high pressures (1000–2000 bars). Does NPG maintain its ultrahigh water permeability under real-world RO pressures (<100 bars)? Here, we answer this question by drawing results from molecular dynamics simulations. Our results indicate that NPG maintains its ultrahigh permeability even at low pressures, allowing a permeate water flux of 6.0 l/h-bar per pore, or equivalently 1041 ± 20 l/m{sup 2}-h-bar assuming a nanopore density of 1.7 × 10{sup 13} cm{sup −2}.

  12. Isotope and ion selectivity in reverse osmosis desalination: geochemical tracers for man-made freshwater.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kloppmann, Wolfram; Vengosh, Avner; Guerrot, Catherine; Millot, Romain; Pankratov, Irena

    2008-07-01

    A systematic measurement of ions and 2H/1H, 7Li/6Li, 11B/10B, 18O/ 16O, and 87Sr/86Sr isotopes in feed-waters, permeates, and brines from commercial reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants in Israel (Ashkelon, Eilat, and Nitzana) and Cyprus (Larnaca) reveals distinctive geochemical and isotopic fingerprints of fresh water generated from desalination of seawater (SWRO) and brackish water (BWRO). The degree of isotope fractionation during the passage of water and solutes through the RO membranes depends on the medium (solvent-water vs. solutes), chemical speciation of the solutes, their charge, and their mass difference. O, H, and Sr isotopes are not fractionated during the RO process. 7Li is preferentially rejected in low pH RO, and B isotope fractionation depends on the pH conditions. Under low pH conditions, B isotopes are not significantly fractionated, whereas at high pH, RO permeates are enriched by 20 per thousand in 11B due to selective rejection of borate ion and preferential permeation of 11B-enriched boric acid through the membrane. The specific geochemical and isotopic fingerprints of SWRO provide a unique tool for tracing "man-made" fresh water as an emerging recharge component of natural water resources.

  13. Integration of renewables and reverse osmosis desalination – Case study for the Jordanian energy system with a high share of wind and photovoltaics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Novosel, T.; Ćosić, B.; Pukšec, T.

    2015-01-01

    and solar potential but practically no utilization with 99% of the produced electricity coming from imported fossil fuels resulting in high CO2 emissions and a potential security of supply issue. The utilization of reverse osmosis desalination in a combination with brine operated pump storage units and wind......Jordan is a country faced with several environmental and energy related issues. It is the Worlds' fourth most water deprived country with a water consumption of only 145m3 per capita annually, less than a third of the established severe water poverty line. Jordan is also a country rich in wind...... and (PV) photovoltaic plants can tackle both issues. The desalination plants can produce the much needed water and act as a flexible demand to increase the penetration of intermittent renewables supported by the brine operated pump storage units. This paper presents six scenarios for the development...

  14. Feasibility study on replacement of power plant and desalination plant in Aktau City, Manghistau Region, Republic of Kazakhstan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    For the purpose of conserving energy and reducing greenhouse effect gas emission, feasibility study was conducted for improvement of efficiency of power generation/desalination facilities at MAEK Energy Center, Aktau City, Manghistau, Kazakhstan. Presently, the main facilities are the conventional natural gas fired power plant, evaporation type seawater desalination facility, hot water production facility, etc. In the project, introduction of the following was planned to be made: cogeneration facility composed of two units of 1,100-degree C class gas turbine and reverse osmosis (RO) type desalination facility for drinking water production with a capacity of 50,000 t/d. As a result of the study, the energy conservation amount in this project was 151,900-165,400 toe/y in power generation facility, and the greenhouse effect gas reduction amount was 355,000-387,000 t-CO2/y in power generation facility and 268,000 t-CO2/y in desalination facility. The construction cost and operational cost of the plant were 45.7 billion yen and 2.8 billion yen/y. In the economical estimation, ROI and ROE before tax were 7.4 and 34.8, respectively, which were considered to be appropriate values as social infrastructure related conditions. (NEDO)

  15. Hybrid gas turbine–organic Rankine cycle for seawater desalination by reverse osmosis in a hydrocarbon production facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eveloy, Valérie; Rodgers, Peter; Qiu, Linyue

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Seawater reverse osmosis driven by hybrid gas turbine–organic Rankine power cycle. • High ambient air and seawater temperatures, and high seawater salinity. • Energy–exergy analysis of power and desalination systems for six organic fluids. • Economic viability of waste heat recovery in subsidized utility pricing context. - Abstract: Despite water scarcity, the use of industrial waste heat for seawater desalination has been limited in the Middle East to date. This study evaluates the technical and economic feasibility of integrating on-site gas turbine power generation and reverse osmosis equipment for the production of both electricity and fresh water in a coastal hydrocarbon production facility. Gas turbine exhaust gas waste heat is recovered using an intermediate heat transfer fluid and fed to an organic Rankine cycle evaporator, to generate mechanical power to drive the reverse osmosis high pressure pump. Six candidate organic working fluids are evaluated, namely toluene, benzene, cyclohexane, cyclopentane, n-pentane and R245fa. Thermodynamic and desalination performance are assessed in the harsh climatic and salinity conditions of the Arabian Gulf. The performance metrics considered incorporate electric power and permeate production, thermal and exergy efficiency, specific energy consumption, system size, and permeate quality. Using toluene in the bottoming power cycle, a gain in power generation efficiency of approximately 12% is achieved relative to the existing gas turbine cycle, with an annual average of 2260 m"3/h of fresh water produced. Depending upon the projected evolution of local water prices, the investment becomes profitable after two to four years, with an end-of-life net present value of 220–380 million USD, and internal rate of return of 26–48%.

  16. General Overview of Desalination Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ari-Nugroho

    2004-01-01

    Desalination, as discussed in this journal, refers to a water treatment process that removes salts from water. Desalination can be done in a number of ways, but the result is always the same : fresh water is produced from brackish or seawater. The quality of distillate water is indicated by the contents of Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) in it, the less number of TDS contents in it, the highest quality of distillate water it has. This article describes the general analysis of desalination technologies, the varies of water, operation and maintenance of the plant, and general comparison between desalination technologies. Basically, there are two common technologies are being used, i.e. thermal and membrane desalination, which are Multi Effect Distillation (MED), Multi Stage Flash (MSF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO), respectively. Both technologies differ from the energy source. Thermal desalination needs heat source from the power plant, while membrane desalination needs only the electricity to run the pumps. In thermal desalination, the vapour coming from boiling feedwater is condensate, this process produces the lowest saline water, about 10 part per million (ppm). The membrane technology uses semipermeable membrane to separate fresh water from salt dissolve. This technology produces the fresh water about 350-500 ppm. (author)

  17. Fusion power plant for water desalination and reuse

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borisov, A.A.; Desjatov, A.V.; Izvolsky, I.M.; Serikov, A.G.; Smirnov, V.P.; Smirnov, Yu.N.; Shatalov, G.E.; Sheludjakov, S.V.; Vasiliev, N.N.; Velikhov, E.P.

    2001-01-01

    Development of industry and agriculture demands a huge fresh water consumption. Exhaust of water sources together with pollution arises a difficult problem of population, industry, and agriculture water supply. Request for additional water supply in next 50 years is expected from industrial and agricultural sectors of many countries in the world. The presented study of fusion power plant for water desalination and reuse is aimed to widen a range of possible fusion industrial applications. Fusion offers a safe, long-term source of energy with abundant resources and major environmental advantages. Thus fusion can provide an attractive energy option to society in the next century. Fusion power tokamak reactor based on RF DEMO-S project [Proc. ISFNT-5 (2000) in press; Conceptual study of RF DEMO-S fusion reactor (2000)] was chosen as an energy source. A steady state operation mode is considered with thermal power of 4.0 GW. The reactor has to operate in steady-state plasma mode with high fraction of bootstrap current. Average plant availability of ∼0.7 is required. A conventional type of water cooled blanket is the first choice, helium or lithium coolants are under consideration. Desalination plant includes two units: reverse osmosis and distillation. Heat to electricity conversion schemes is optimized fresh water production and satisfy internal plant electricity demand The plant freshwater capacity is ∼6000000 m 3 per day. Fusion power plant of this capacity can provide a region of a million populations with fresh water, heat and electricity

  18. Fusion power plant for water desalination and reuse

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borisov, A.A.; Desjatov, A.V.; Izvolsky, I.M.; Serikov, A.G.; Smirnov, V.P.; Smirnov, Yu.N.; Shatalov, G.E.; Sheludjakov, S.V.; Vasiliev, N.N. E-mail: vasiliev@nfi.kiae.ru; Velikhov, E.P

    2001-11-01

    Development of industry and agriculture demands a huge fresh water consumption. Exhaust of water sources together with pollution arises a difficult problem of population, industry, and agriculture water supply. Request for additional water supply in next 50 years is expected from industrial and agricultural sectors of many countries in the world. The presented study of fusion power plant for water desalination and reuse is aimed to widen a range of possible fusion industrial applications. Fusion offers a safe, long-term source of energy with abundant resources and major environmental advantages. Thus fusion can provide an attractive energy option to society in the next century. Fusion power tokamak reactor based on RF DEMO-S project [Proc. ISFNT-5 (2000) in press; Conceptual study of RF DEMO-S fusion reactor (2000)] was chosen as an energy source. A steady state operation mode is considered with thermal power of 4.0 GW. The reactor has to operate in steady-state plasma mode with high fraction of bootstrap current. Average plant availability of {approx}0.7 is required. A conventional type of water cooled blanket is the first choice, helium or lithium coolants are under consideration. Desalination plant includes two units: reverse osmosis and distillation. Heat to electricity conversion schemes is optimized fresh water production and satisfy internal plant electricity demand The plant freshwater capacity is {approx}6000000 m{sup 3} per day. Fusion power plant of this capacity can provide a region of a million populations with fresh water, heat and electricity.

  19. Two-step optimization of pressure and recovery of reverse osmosis desalination process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Shuang; Liu, Cui; Song, Lianfa

    2009-05-01

    Driving pressure and recovery are two primary design variables of a reverse osmosis process that largely determine the total cost of seawater and brackish water desalination. A two-step optimization procedure was developed in this paper to determine the values of driving pressure and recovery that minimize the total cost of RO desalination. It was demonstrated that the optimal net driving pressure is solely determined by the electricity price and the membrane price index, which is a lumped parameter to collectively reflect membrane price, resistance, and service time. On the other hand, the optimal recovery is determined by the electricity price, initial osmotic pressure, and costs for pretreatment of raw water and handling of retentate. Concise equations were derived for the optimal net driving pressure and recovery. The dependences of the optimal net driving pressure and recovery on the electricity price, membrane price, and costs for raw water pretreatment and retentate handling were discussed.

  20. Nuclear power desalinating complex with IRIS reactor plant and Russian distillation desalinating unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostin, V. I.; Panov, Yu.K.; Polunichev, V. I.; Fateev, S. A.; Gureeva, L. V.

    2004-01-01

    This paper has been prepared as a result of Russian activities on the development of nuclear power desalinating complex (NPDC) with the IRIS reactor plant (RP). The purpose of the activities was to develop the conceptual design of power desalinating complex (PDC) and to evaluate technical and economical indices, commercial attractiveness and economical efficiency of PDC based on an IRIS RP with distillation desalinating plants. The paper presents the main results of studies as applied to dual-purpose PDC based on IRIS RP with different types of desalinating plants, namely: characteristics of nuclear power desalinating complex based on IRIS reactor plant using Russian distillation desalinating technologies; prospective options of interface circuits of the IRIS RP with desalinating plants; evaluations of NPDC with IRIS RP output based on selected desalinating technologies for water and electric power supplied to the grid; cost of water generated by NPDC for selected interface circuits made by the IAEA DEEP code as well as by the Russian TEO-INVEST code; cost evaluation results for desalinated water of PDC operating on fossil fuel and conditions for competitiveness of the nuclear PDC based on IRIS RP compared with analog desalinating complexes operating on fossil fuel.(author)

  1. Procedures of water desalination with solar energy and f-chart method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrović Andrija A.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Due to rapid population growth, and climate change caused by environmental pollution needs for drinking water are increasing while amount of freshwater are decreasing. However possible solution for freshwater scarcity can be found in water desalination procedures. In this article three representative water desalination solar powered plants are described. Except explanation of processes it is also mentioned basic advantages and disadvantages of humidification, reverse osmosis and desalination evaporation by using solar energy. Simulation of the solar desalination system is analyzed with f-chart method monthly, located on located 42 degrees north latitude.

  2. Economics of Renewable Energy for Water Desalination in Developing Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enas R. Shouman

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the economics of renewable energy- powered desalination, as applied to water supply for remote coastal and desert communities in developing countries. In this paper, the issue of integration of desalination technologies and renewable energy from specified sources is addressed. The features of Photovoltaic (PV system combined with reverse osmosis desalination technology, which represents the most commonly applied integration between renewable energy and desalination technology, are analyzed. Further, a case study for conceptual seawater reverse osmosis (SW-RO desalination plant with 1000 m3 /d capacity is presented, based on PV and conventional generators powered with fossil fuel to be installed in a remote coastal area in Egypt, as a typical developing country. The estimated water cost for desalination with PV/ SW-RO system is about $1.25 m3 , while ranging between $1.22-1.59 for SW-RO powered with conventional generator powered with fossil fuel. Analysis of the economical, technical and environmental factors depicts the merits of using large scale integrated PV/RO system as an economically feasible water supply relying upon a renewable energy source.

  3. Direct osmosis method of purification and desalination of drinking water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khaydarov, R.A.; Khaydarov, R.R.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: Drinking water quality is one of the general factors influencing people's health. The human activity in industry and agriculture has led to pollution of the environment: soil, air, both surface and ground waters that are polluted with chemical substances. It has a disastrous effect on the health of the population, especially of children. At present, the known equipment, based on ion exchange, electrodialysis and reverse osmosis, require great expense, energy expenditures, and highly qualified personnel that are inaccessible to the population especially living in remote regions. Methods, which are usually used in water supplying plants, cannot remove spore forms of bacteria and many types of chemical substances. The purpose of this Project is to create an absolutely new method for purification of drinking water from chemical and biological agents. The method is based on using direct osmosis process that removes all contaminants except one and removing last contaminant. This method will be used for making new low energy-consuming and cheap mini-systems for individual and collective use for desalination of drinking water and purification from bacteria, radionuclides, heavy metal ions, and organic contaminants. Preliminary experiments and calculations conducted in Uzbekistan show that the energy consumption is 0.8 MW per 1 m 3 of water. Advantage of the method is low energy consumption, potentially purifying water without pretreatment and removing different types of bacteria including spore forms, radionuclides, heavy metal ions, organic contaminants. Devices can be powered by solar units in remote locations. The purpose of this work is further elaboration of this technology creation of new method and its accommodation to conditions of different countries. Test models will be made and tested in laboratories of interested countries

  4. Combined solar organic Rankine cycle with reverse osmosis desalination process: Energy, exergy, and cost evaluations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nafey, A.S.; Sharaf, M.A. [Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez Canal University, Suez (Egypt)

    2010-11-15

    Organic Rankine cycles (ORC) have unique properties that are well suited to solar power generation. In this work design and performance calculations are performed using MatLab/SimuLink computational environment. The cycle consists of thermal solar collectors (Flat Plate Solar Collector (FPC), or Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC), or Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC)) for heat input, expansion turbine for work output, condenser unit for heat rejection, pump unit, and Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit. Reverse osmosis unit specifications used in this work is based on Sharm El-Shiekh RO desalination plant. Different working fluids such as: butane, isobutane, propane, R134a, R152a, R245ca, and R245fa are examined for FPC. R113, R123, hexane, and pentane are investigated for CPC. Dodecane, nonane, octane, and toluene are allocated for PTC. The proposed process units are modeled and show a good validity with literatures. Exergy and cost analysis are performed for saturation and superheated operating conditions. Exergy efficiency, total exergy destruction, thermal efficiency, and specific capital cost are evaluated for direct vapor generation (DVG) process. Toluene and Water achieved minimum results for total solar collector area, specific total cost and the rate of exergy destruction. (author)

  5. On the optimal design of forward osmosis desalination systems with NH3-CO2-H2O solutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gazzani, Matteo; Pérez-Calvo, José Francisco; Sutter, Daniel; Mazzotti, Marco

    2017-01-01

    Membrane-based forward osmosis, especially when NH3-CO2-H2O mixtures are adopted as draw solutions, is a promising new process for clean water production, including seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. In such a process, water is first removed from the feed (e.g. seawater) by exploiting

  6. Regulatory requirements for desalination plant coupled with nuclear reactor plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yune, Young Gill; Kim, Woong Sik; Jo, Jong Chull; Kim, Hho Jung; Song, Jae Myung

    2005-01-01

    A small-to-medium sized reactor has been developed for multi-purposes such as seawater desalination, ship propulsion, and district heating since early 1990s in Korea. Now, the construction of its scaled-down research reactor, equipped with a seawater desalination plant, is planned to demonstrate the safety and performance of the design of the multi-purpose reactor. And the licensing application of the research reactor is expected in the near future. Therefore, a development of regulatory requirements/guides for a desalination plant coupled with a nuclear reactor plant is necessary for the preparation of the forthcoming licensing review of the research reactor. In this paper, the following contents are presented: the design of the desalination plant, domestic and foreign regulatory requirements relevant to desalination plants, and a draft of regulatory requirements/guides for a desalination plant coupled with a nuclear reactor plant

  7. Reasons for the Fast Growing Seawater Desalination Capacity in Algeria

    KAUST Repository

    Drouiche, Nadjib; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Naceur, Mohamed Wahib; Mahmoudi, Hacè ne; Ouslimane, Tarik

    2011-01-01

    growing markets. Five desalination plants, including the Africa's largest seawater reverse osmosis project with a total capacity of 200,000 m3 per day, are already in operation and the remaining projects are either under construction or in commissioning

  8. Biofouling of reverse-osmosis membranes during tertiary wastewater desalination: microbial community composition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Ashhab, Ashraf; Herzberg, Moshe; Gillor, Osnat

    2014-03-01

    Reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination is frequently used for the production of high-quality water from tertiary treated wastewater (TTWW). However, the RO desalination process is often hampered by biofouling, including membrane conditioning, microbial adhesion, and biofilm growth. The vast majority of biofilm exploration concentrated on the role of bacteria in biofouling neglecting additional microbial contributors, i.e., fungi and archaea. To better understand the RO biofouling process, bacterial, archaeal and fungal diversity was characterized in a laboratory-scale RO desalination plant exploring the TTWW (RO feed), the RO membrane and the RO feed tube biofilms. We sequenced 77,400 fragments of the ribosome small subunit-encoding gene (16S and 18S rRNA) to identify the microbial community members in these matrices. Our results suggest that the bacterial, archaeal but not fungal community significantly differ from the RO membrane biofouling layer to the feedwater and tube biofilm (P < 0.01). Moreover, the RO membrane supported a more diverse community compared to the communities monitored in the feedwater and the biofilm attached to the RO feedwater tube. The tube biofilm was dominated by Actinobacteria (91.2 ± 4.6%), while the Proteobacteria phylum dominated the feedwater and RO membrane (at relative abundance of 92.3 ± 4.4% and 71.5 ± 8.3%, respectively), albeit comprising different members. The archaea communities were dominated by Crenarchaeota (53.0 ± 6.9%, 32.5 ± 7.2% and 69%, respectively) and Euryarchaeota (43.3 ± 6.3%, 23.2 ± 4.8% and 24%, respectively) in all three matrices, though the communities' composition differed. But the fungal communities composition was similar in all matrices, dominated by Ascomycota (97.6 ± 2.7%). Our results suggest that the RO membrane is a selective surface, supporting unique bacterial, and to a lesser extent archaeal communities, yet it does not select for a fungal community. Copyright © 2013

  9. Nuclear desalination option for the international reactor innovative and secure (IRIS) design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ingersoll, D. T.; Binder, J. L.; Conti, D.; Ricotti, M. E.

    2004-01-01

    The worldwide demand for potable water is on the rise. A recent market survey by the World Resources Institute shows a doubling in desalinated water production every ten years from both seawater and brackish water sources. The production of desalinated water is energy intensive, requiring approximately 3-6 kWh per cubic meter of produced desalted water. At current U.S. water use rates, 1 kW of energy capacity per capita (or 1000 MW for every one million people) would be required to meet water needs with desalted water. The choice of the desalination technology determines the form of energy required: electrical energy for reverse osmosis systems, relatively low quality thermal energy for distillation systems, and both electrical and thermal energy for hybrid systems such as pre-heat RO systems. Nuclear energy plants are attractive for large scale desalination application. Nuclear plants can provide both electrical and thermal energy in an integrated, co-generated fashion to produce a spectrum of energy products including electricity, desalted water, process heat, district heating, and potentially hydrogen generation. A particularly attractive option for nuclear desalination is to couple it with an advanced, modular, passively safe reactor design such as the International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) plant. This allows for countries with smaller electrical grid needs and infrastructure to add new electrical and desalination capacity in smaller increments and at distributed sites. The safety by design nature of the IRIS reactor will ensure a safe and reliable source of energy even for countries with limited nuclear power experience and infrastructure. Two options for the application of the IRIS nuclear power plant to the cogeneration of electricity and desalted water are presented, including a coupling to a reverse osmosis plant and a multistage flash distillation plant. The results from an economic assessment of the two options are also presented.(author)

  10. Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project (NDDP) in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tewari, P.K.; Misra, B.M.

    2001-01-01

    In order to gainfully employ the years of experience and expertise in various aspects of desalination activity, BARC (India) has undertaken installation of a hybrid nuclear desalination plant coupled to 170 MW(e) PHWR station at Kalpakkam, Chennai in the Southeast coast of India. The integrated system, called the Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project (NDDP), will thus meet the dual needs of process water for nuclear power plant and drinking water for the neighbouring people. NDDP aims for demonstrating the safe and economic production of good quality water by nuclear desalination of seawater. It comprises a 4500 m 3 /d Multistage Flash (MSF) and a 1800 m 3 /d Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant. MSF section uses low pressure steam from Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Kalpakkam. The objectives of the NDDP (Kalpakkam) are as follows: to establish the indigenous capability for the design, manufacture, installation and operation of nuclear desalination plants; to generate necessary design inputs and optimum process parameters for large scale nuclear desalination plant; to serve as a demonstration project to IAEA welcoming participation from interested member states. The hybrid plant is envisaged to have a number of advantages: a part of high purity desalted water produced from MSF plant will be used for the makeup demineralised water requirement (after necessary polishing) for the power station; blending of the product water from RO and MSF plants would provide requisite quality drinking water; the RO plant will continue to be operated to provide the water for drinking purposes during the shutdown of the power station

  11. Rotating carbon nanotube membrane filter for water desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tu, Qingsong; Yang, Qiang; Wang, Hualin; Li, Shaofan

    2016-01-01

    We have designed a porous nanofluidic desalination device, a rotating carbon nanotube membrane filter (RCNT-MF), for the reverse osmosis desalination that can turn salt water into fresh water. The concept as well as design strategy of RCNT-MF is modeled, and demonstrated by using molecular dynamics simulation. It has been shown that the RCNT-MF device may significantly improve desalination efficiency by combining the centrifugal force propelled reverse osmosis process and the porous CNT-based fine scale selective separation technology. PMID:27188982

  12. Nuclear energy for seawater desalination - options in future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yadav, M.K.; Murugan, V.; Balasubramaniyan, C.; Nagaraj, R.; Dangore, Y.

    2010-01-01

    Full text: With ever increasing water scarcity, many alternatives are being tried to supplement the existing water resources. There are regions where water is scarce and population is growing and is at the mercy of inadequate supplies. Seawater constitutes a practically unlimited source of saline water. When desalted, it can augment the existing potable water resources for the people in nearby area and also meet the increasing demand. BARC has been engaged in the field of desalination and developed expertise in both thermal and membrane technologies. It has setup 6300 M 3 /D Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project (NDDP) at Kalpakkam, where both membrane and thermal technologies have been used for sea water desalination. Desalination process needs energy and nuclear energy is strong option in view of limited fossil fuels and environmental concerns. Multi Stage Flash (MSF) plant based on thermal technology has been coupled to MAPS Reactors and Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant is based on membrane technology. This paper discusses various aspects of coupling of desalination plant with nuclear reactors and also discusses salient features of hybridization of thermal and membrane technologies

  13. Supercritical water desalination (SCWD) : process development, design and pilot plant validation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Odu, Samuel Obarinu

    2017-01-01

    Conventional desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO), multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) and electro dialysis (ED) have a major drawback; the production of a liquid waste stream with an increased salinity (compared to the feed) that has to be disposed of. The treatment of this waste

  14. Thermal coupling system analysis of a nuclear desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adak, A.K.; Srivastava, V.K.; Tewari, P.K.

    2010-01-01

    When a nuclear reactor is used to supply steam for desalination plant, the method of coupling has a significant technical and economic impact. The exact method of coupling depends upon the type of reactor and type of desalination plant. As a part of Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project (NDDP), BARC has successfully commissioned a 4500 m 3 /day MSF desalination plant coupled to Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam. Desalination plant coupled to nuclear power plant of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) type is a good example of dual-purpose nuclear desalination plant. This paper presents the thermal coupling system analysis of this plant along with technical and safety aspects. (author)

  15. Application of forward osmosis membrane technology for oil sands process-affected water desalination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yaxin; Liang, Jiaming; Liu, Yang

    2016-01-01

    The extraction process used to obtain bitumen from the oil sands produces large volumes of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW). As a newly emerging desalination technology, forward osmosis (FO) has shown great promise in saving electrical power requirements, increasing water recovery, and minimizing brine discharge. With the support of this funding, a FO system was constructed using a cellulose triacetate FO membrane to test the feasibility of OSPW desalination and contaminant removal. The FO systems were optimized using different types and concentrations of draw solution. The FO system using 4 M NH4HCO3 as a draw solution achieved 85% water recovery from OSPW, and 80 to 100% contaminant rejection for most metals and ions. A water backwash cleaning method was applied to clean the fouled membrane, and the cleaned membrane achieved 77% water recovery, a performance comparable to that of new FO membranes. This suggests that the membrane fouling was reversible. The FO system developed in this project provides a novel and energy efficient strategy to remediate the tailings waters generated by oil sands bitumen extraction and processing.

  16. Algal toxins and reverse osmosis desalination operations: Laboratory bench testing and field monitoring of domoic acid, saxitoxin, brevetoxin and okadaic acid

    KAUST Repository

    Seubert, Erica L.

    2012-12-01

    The occurrence and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been increasing globally during the past few decades. The impact of these events on seawater desalination facilities has become an important topic in recent years due to enhanced societal interest and reliance on this technology for augmenting world water supplies. A variety of harmful bloom-forming species of microalgae occur in southern California, as well as many other locations throughout the world, and several of these species are known to produce potent neurotoxins. These algal toxins can cause a myriad of human health issues, including death, when ingested via contaminated seafood. This study was designed to investigate the impact that algal toxin presence may have on both the intake and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process; most importantly, whether or not the naturally occurring algal toxins can pass through the RO membrane and into the desalination product. Bench-scale RO experiments were conducted to explore the potential of extracellular algal toxins contaminating the RO product. Concentrations exceeding maximal values previously reported during natural blooms were used in the laboratory experiments, with treatments comprised of 50 μg/L of domoic acid (DA), 2 μg/L of saxitoxin (STX) and 20 μg/L of brevetoxin (PbTx). None of the algal toxins used in the bench-scale experiments were detectable in the desalinated product water. Monitoring for intracellular and extracellular concentrations of DA, STX, PbTx and okadaic acid (OA) within the intake and desalinated water from a pilot RO desalination plant in El Segundo, CA, was conducted from 2005 to 2009. During the five-year monitoring period, DA and STX were detected sporadically in the intake waters but never in the desalinated water. PbTx and OA were not detected in either the intake or desalinated water. The results of this study demonstrate the potential for HAB toxins to be inducted into coastal RO intake facilities, and the

  17. Algal toxins and reverse osmosis desalination operations: Laboratory bench testing and field monitoring of domoic acid, saxitoxin, brevetoxin and okadaic acid

    KAUST Repository

    Seubert, Erica L.; Trussell, Shane; Eagleton, John; Schnetzer, Astrid; Cetinić, Ivona; Lauri, Phil; Jones, Burton; Caron, David A.

    2012-01-01

    The occurrence and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been increasing globally during the past few decades. The impact of these events on seawater desalination facilities has become an important topic in recent years due to enhanced societal interest and reliance on this technology for augmenting world water supplies. A variety of harmful bloom-forming species of microalgae occur in southern California, as well as many other locations throughout the world, and several of these species are known to produce potent neurotoxins. These algal toxins can cause a myriad of human health issues, including death, when ingested via contaminated seafood. This study was designed to investigate the impact that algal toxin presence may have on both the intake and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process; most importantly, whether or not the naturally occurring algal toxins can pass through the RO membrane and into the desalination product. Bench-scale RO experiments were conducted to explore the potential of extracellular algal toxins contaminating the RO product. Concentrations exceeding maximal values previously reported during natural blooms were used in the laboratory experiments, with treatments comprised of 50 μg/L of domoic acid (DA), 2 μg/L of saxitoxin (STX) and 20 μg/L of brevetoxin (PbTx). None of the algal toxins used in the bench-scale experiments were detectable in the desalinated product water. Monitoring for intracellular and extracellular concentrations of DA, STX, PbTx and okadaic acid (OA) within the intake and desalinated water from a pilot RO desalination plant in El Segundo, CA, was conducted from 2005 to 2009. During the five-year monitoring period, DA and STX were detected sporadically in the intake waters but never in the desalinated water. PbTx and OA were not detected in either the intake or desalinated water. The results of this study demonstrate the potential for HAB toxins to be inducted into coastal RO intake facilities, and the

  18. Effective energy management by combining gas turbine cycles and forward osmosis desalination process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Min Young; Shin, Serin; Kim, Eung Soo

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Innovative gas turbine system and FO integrated system was proposed. • The feasibility of the integrated system was analyzed thermodynamically. • GOR of the FO–gas turbine system is 17% higher than those of MED and MSF. • Waste heat utilization of the suggested system is 85.7%. • Water production capacity of the suggested system is 3.5 times higher than the MSF–gas turbine system. - Abstract: In the recent years, attempts to improve the thermal efficiency of the gas turbine cycles have been made. In order to enhance the energy management of the gas turbine cycle, a new integration concept has been proposed; integration of gas turbine cycle and forward osmosis desalination process. The combination of the gas turbine cycle and the forward osmosis (FO) desalination process basically implies the coupling of the waste heat from the gas turbine cycle to the draw solute recovery system in the FO process which is the most energy consuming part of the whole FO process. By doing this, a strong system that is capable of producing water and electricity with very little waste heat can be achieved. The feasibility of this newly proposed system was analyzed using UNISIM program and the OLI property package. For the analysis, the thermolytic draw solutes which has been suggested by other research groups have been selected and studied. Sensitivity analysis was conducted on the integration system in order to understand and identify the key parameters of the integrated system. And the integrated system was further evaluated by comparing the gain output ratio (GOR) values with the conventional desalination technologies such as multi stage flash (MSF) and multi effect distillation (MED). The suggested integrated system was calculated to have a GOR of 14.8, while the MSF and MED when integrated to the gas turbine cycle showed GOR value of 12. It should also be noted that the energy utilization of the suggested integrated system is significantly higher by 27

  19. Reasons for the Fast Growing Seawater Desalination Capacity in Algeria

    KAUST Repository

    Drouiche, Nadjib

    2011-05-24

    Seawater/brackish water desalination has been widely adopted by the Algerian Government in the last few years to supply potable water to municipality for various purposes mainly for domestic and industrial uses especially in areas where demand is high due to shortage of fresh water resources, rapid population growth and development of industry and tourism. Ten years ago, desalination was confined to the industrial use only especially in oil and gas industry as the country was relying on rain water and other available sources to supply fresh water to municipalities. Due to chronic drought conditions, the Ministry of Water Resources reviewed the national water strategy and a strong option for desalination was adopted where an ambitious program was thus put into action. Sixteen mega-plants, with capacities ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 m3 per day, primarily based on Reverse Osmosis technology, were launched in the last few years making the Algerian desalination program one of the world\\'s fastest growing markets. Five desalination plants, including the Africa\\'s largest seawater reverse osmosis project with a total capacity of 200,000 m3 per day, are already in operation and the remaining projects are either under construction or in commissioning. An integrated water resources management was also adopted as additional option to cuter the increasing water demand as there is also a great potential for water reuse and conventional water treatment. An additional benefit of this would be reducing the volume of treated wastewater disposed into the environment. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

  20. Impact of solar energy cost on water production cost of seawater desalination plants in Egypt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamei, A.; Zaag, P. van der; Munch, E.

    2008-01-01

    Many countries in North Africa and the Middle East are experiencing localized water shortages and are now using desalination technologies with either reverse osmosis (RO) or thermal desalination to overcome part of this shortage. Desalination is performed using electricity, mostly generated from fossil fuels with associated greenhouse gas emissions. Increased fuel prices and concern over climate change are causing a push to shift to alternative sources of energy, such as solar energy, since solar radiation is abundant in this region all year round. This paper presents unit production costs and energy costs for 21 RO desalination plants in the region. An equation is proposed to estimate the unit production costs of RO desalination plants as a function of plant capacity, price of energy and specific energy consumption. This equation is used to calculate unit production costs for desalinated water using photovoltaic (PV) solar energy based on current and future PV module prices. Multiple PV cells are connected together to form a module or a panel. Unit production costs of desalination plants using solar energy are compared with conventionally generated electricity considering different prices for electricity. The paper presents prices for both PV and solar thermal energy. The paper discusses at which electricity price solar energy can be considered economical to be used for RO desalination; this is independent of RO plant capacity. For countries with electricity prices of 0.09 US$/kWh, solar-generated electricity (using PV) can be competitive starting from 2 US$/W p (W p is the number of Watts output under standard conditions of sunlight). For Egypt (price of 0.06 US$/kWh), solar-generated electricity starts to be competitive from 1 US$/W p . Solar energy is not cost competitive at the moment (at a current module price for PV systems including installation of 8 US$/W p ), but advances in the technology will continue to drive the prices down, whilst penalties on usage

  1. System Design and Analysis of Electricity Provision for a Desalination Plant: A Study for Pozo Colorado, Paraguay

    OpenAIRE

    Zeiner, Ingerid

    2014-01-01

    Fresh water scarcity and drinking water quality is a challenge in Pozo Colorado, a district in the northern part of Paraguay. The area has groundwater resources that have not yet been exploited, but this water is saline and undrinkable unless it is treated. Establishing a brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination plant that produces potable water could be a solution to the problem. With high solar intensity in the region, a grid-connected battery back-up PV system could provide a rel...

  2. Using microbial desalination cells to reduce water salinity prior to reverse osmosis

    KAUST Repository

    Mehanna, Maha

    2010-01-01

    A microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new method to reduce the salinity of one solution while generating electrical power from organic matter and bacteria in another (anode) solution. Substantial reductions in the salinity can require much larger volumes of the anode solution than the saline water, but any reduction of salinity will benefit the energy efficiency of a downstream reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system. We investigated here the use of an MDC as an RO pre-treatment method using a new type of air-cathode MDC containing three equally sized chambers. A single cycle of operation using a 1 g L -1 acetate solution reduced the conductivity of salt water (5 g L-1 NaCl) by 43 ± 6%, and produced a maximum power density of 480 mW m-2 with a coulombic efficiency of 68 ± 11%. A higher concentration of acetate (2 g L-1) reduced solution conductivity by 60 ± 7%, and a higher salt concentration (20 g L-1 NaCl) reduced solution conductivity by 50 ± 7%. The use of membranes with increased ion exchange capacities further decreased the solution conductivity by 63 ± 2% (20 g L-1 NaCl). These results demonstrate substantial (43-67%) desalination of water is possible using equal volumes of anode solution and salt water. These results show that MDC treatment could be used to substantially reduce salt concentrations and thus energy demands for downstream RO processing, while at the same time producing electrical power. © 2010 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

  3. Aquifer composition and the tendency toward scale-deposit formation during reverse osmosis desalination - Examples from saline ground water in New Mexico, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huff, G.F.

    2006-01-01

    Desalination is expected to make a substantial contribution to water supply in the United States by 2020. Currently, reverse osmosis is one of the most cost effective and widely used desalination technologies. The tendency to form scale deposits during reverse osmosis is an important factor in determining the suitability of input waters for use in desalination. The tendency toward scale formation of samples of saline ground water from selected geologic units in New Mexico was assessed using simulated evaporation. All saline water samples showed a strong tendency to form CaCO3 scale deposits. Saline ground water samples from the Yeso Formation and the San Andres Limestone showed relatively stronger tendencies to form CaSO4 2H2O scale deposits and relatively weaker tendencies to form SiO2(a) scale deposits than saline ground water samples from the Rio Grande alluvium. Tendencies toward scale formation in saline ground water samples from the Dockum Group were highly variable. The tendencies toward scale formation of saline waters from the Yeso Formation, San Andres Limestone, and Rio Grande alluvium appear to correlate with the mineralogical composition of the geologic units, suggesting that scale-forming tendencies are governed by aquifer composition and water-rock interaction. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Needs and processes for the sea water desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Livet, F.

    2007-11-01

    The author shows the needs of the sea water desalination for the dry countries. The main technique is the reverse osmosis. It requires electricity and its development needs big electric power plants. For economical and ecological reasons, the nuclear energy seems well appropriate. Libya is for instance very interested in this technique, because of their water shortage problem. (A.L.B.)

  5. The Development of a Renewable-Energy-Driven Reverse Osmosis System for Water Desalination and Aquaculture Production

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Clark C K Liu

    2013-01-01

    Water and energy are closely linked natural resources-the transportation, treatment, and distribution of water depends on low-cost energy;while power generation requires large volumes of water. Seawater desalination is a mature technology for increasing freshwater supply, but it is essentially a trade of energy for freshwater and is not a viable solution for regions where both water and energy are in short supply. This paper discusses the development and application of a renewable-energy-driven reverse osmosis (RO) system for water desalination and the treatment and reuse of aquaculture wastewater. The system consists of (1) a wind-driven pumping subsystem, (2) a pressure-driven RO membrane desalination subsystem, and (3) a solar-driven feedback control module. The results of the pilot experiments indicated that the system, operated under wind speeds of 3 m s-1 or higher, can be used for brackish water desalination by reducing the salinity of feedwater with total dissolved solids (TDS) of over 3 000 mg L-1 to product water or permeate with a TDS of 200 mg L-1 or less. Results of the pilot experiments also indicated that the system can remove up to 97%of the nitrogenous wastes from the fish pond effluent and can recover and reuse up to 56%of the freshwater supply for fish pond operation.

  6. Data on daily fluoride intake based on drinking water consumption prepared by household desalinators working by reverse osmosis process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karbasdehi, Vahid Noroozi; Dobaradaran, Sina; Esmaili, Abdolhamid; Mirahmadi, Roghayeh; Ghasemi, Fatemeh Faraji; Keshtkar, Mozhgan

    2016-09-01

    In this data article, we evaluated the daily fluoride contents in 20 household desalinators working by reverse osmosis (RO) process in Bushehr, Iran. The concentration levels of fluoride in inlet and outlet waters were determined by the standard SPADNS method using a spectrophotometer (M501 Single Beam Scanning UV/VIS, UK). The fluoride content in outlet waters were compared with EPA and WHO guidelines for drinking water.

  7. Short Review on Predicting Fouling in RO Desalination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Ruiz-García

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Reverse Osmosis (RO membrane fouling is one of the main challenges that membrane manufactures, the scientific community and industry professionals have to deal with. The consequences of this inevitable phenomenon have a negative effect on the performance of the desalination system. Predicting fouling in RO systems is key to evaluating the long-term operating conditions and costs. Much research has been done on fouling indices, methods, techniques and prediction models to estimate the influence of fouling on the performance of RO systems. This paper offers a short review evaluating the state of industry knowledge in the development of fouling indices and models in membrane systems for desalination in terms of use and applicability. Despite major efforts in this field, there are gaps in terms of effective methods and models for the estimation of fouling in full-scale RO desalination plants. In existing models applied to full-scale RO desalination plants, neither the spacer geometry of membranes, nor the efficiency and frequency of chemical cleanings are considered.

  8. Fertiliser drawn forward osmosis process: Pilot-scale desalination of mine impaired water for fertigation

    KAUST Repository

    Phuntsho, Sherub; Kim, Jung Eun; Johir, Mohammad AH; Hong, Seungkwan; Li, Zhenyu; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Leiknes, TorOve; Shon, Ho Kyong

    2016-01-01

    The pilot-scale fertiliser driven forward osmosis (FDFO) and nanofiltration (NF) system was operated in the field for about six months for the desalination of saline groundwater from the coal mining activities. Long-term operation of the FDFO-NF system indicates that simple hydraulic cleaning could effectively restore the water flux with minimal chemical cleaning frequency. No fouling/scaling issues were encountered with the NF post-treatment process. The study indicates that, FDFO-NF desalination system can produce water quality that meets fertigation standard. This study also however shows that, the diffusion of solutes (both feed and draw) through the cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane could be one of the major issues. The FO feed brine failed to meet the effluent discharge standard for NH4+ and SO42+ (reverse diffusion) and their concentrations are expected to further increase at higher feed recovery rates. Low rejection of feed salts (Na+, Cl−) by FO membrane may result in their gradual build-up in the fertiliser draw solution (DS) in a closed FDFO-NF system eventually affecting the final water quality unless it is balanced by adequate bleeding from the system through NF and re-reverse diffusion towards the FO feed brine. Therefore, FO membrane with higher reverse flux selectivity than the CTA-FO membrane used in this study is necessary for the application of the FDFO desalination process.

  9. Fertiliser drawn forward osmosis process: Pilot-scale desalination of mine impaired water for fertigation

    KAUST Repository

    Phuntsho, Sherub

    2016-02-20

    The pilot-scale fertiliser driven forward osmosis (FDFO) and nanofiltration (NF) system was operated in the field for about six months for the desalination of saline groundwater from the coal mining activities. Long-term operation of the FDFO-NF system indicates that simple hydraulic cleaning could effectively restore the water flux with minimal chemical cleaning frequency. No fouling/scaling issues were encountered with the NF post-treatment process. The study indicates that, FDFO-NF desalination system can produce water quality that meets fertigation standard. This study also however shows that, the diffusion of solutes (both feed and draw) through the cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane could be one of the major issues. The FO feed brine failed to meet the effluent discharge standard for NH4+ and SO42+ (reverse diffusion) and their concentrations are expected to further increase at higher feed recovery rates. Low rejection of feed salts (Na+, Cl−) by FO membrane may result in their gradual build-up in the fertiliser draw solution (DS) in a closed FDFO-NF system eventually affecting the final water quality unless it is balanced by adequate bleeding from the system through NF and re-reverse diffusion towards the FO feed brine. Therefore, FO membrane with higher reverse flux selectivity than the CTA-FO membrane used in this study is necessary for the application of the FDFO desalination process.

  10. Fuzzy logic: applications to the pretreatment of brackish feed water in reverse osmosis treatment plants; Logica difusa: aplicaciones al pretratamiento del agua salobre de elimentacion de plantas desalladoras por osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pluss Contino, J.; Simon Ruiz, J. L.; Hernandez, A.; Menendez Martinez, A.; Yaglian Steiner, E.; Menendez Fernandez, A.; Marcelo Cano, F.

    2004-07-01

    Frequently physical and chemical alteration that can suffer feed water composition and membranes behaviour of reverse osmosis desalination plants (RODP), define a vague nature system from the point of view of decision make process. In this work, we proposes the utilization of the approximate reasoning associated with the fuzzy logic, as an alternative to approach this problem and to make possible early corrective actions, that is, to do a proactive maintenance with Condition-based maintenance (CBM) technology. (Author) 21 refs.

  11. Desalination for a thirsty world

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2010-01-01

    Shortages of fresh water for some, unbridled consumption by others create intolerable planetary imbalances. The treatment of seawater and brackish water can really be effective in readjusting this inequality. Because they are reliable and efficient and their output is stable, the techniques preferred by the desalination industry are thermal distillation and reverse osmosis. Because thermal distillation processes consume considerable energy, they are often paired with gas-, coal- or fuel oil-fired heating plant to take advantage of the steam produced. More than three-quarters of this energy is effectively used to preheat the seawater. In the nuclear option (fresh water + electric power), the reactors simultaneously produce fresh water and electric power, ensuring a stable, continuous supply of energy. A portion of the steam produced by the turbine of the plant's secondary circuit is customarily used to run the alternator to generate electricity. The other portion can be fed to a desalination installation, which may be composed of a combination of several systems (hybrid installations). Highly competitive, this type of cogeneration is particularly appropriate for large scale desalination installations. This is the case for some of the Gulf Emirates and for Jordan: both are investigating the nuclear option to cover their electric power and fresh water requirements. The first nuclear desalination plant dedicated to producing fresh water was built for the city of Aktau (170,000 inhabitants) in Kazakhstan on the Caspian Sea in 1963 and continued operation through 1999. Experiments for producing potable water are taking place in India, Pakistan, Egypt and Libya. In Japan, around ten small desalination units coupled with nuclear power plants produce fresh water for industrial use, and nuclear-run district heating projects are currently being developed in Russia and China. The problem of what to do with the hyper-saline brine produced by desalination and its affect on

  12. Carbon Dioxide Nucleation as a Novel Cleaning Method for Sodium Alginate Fouling Removal from Reverse Osmosis Membranes desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Alnajjar, Heba

    2017-05-01

    The use of Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have been significantly increasing in water desalination, and the main operational obstacle in RO desalination plants is membrane fouling. Among other solutes, dissolved biopolymers, such as polysaccharides can lead to severe membrane fouling especially with the addition of calcium ions because of the complexation formation between the surface of membrane and foulants materials. However, this complexation can also take place in the feed bulk, resulting in foulants aggregates formation. Although there are some physical techniques that can maintain the membrane performance without reducing its lifetime, only chemical cleanings are still commonly used in RO plants. In this study, a novel cleaning method is proposed to restore the membrane performance by removing the deposited foulants without reducing the membrane lifetime. The cleaning method is based on using water saturated with dissolved CO2 gas, and its principle is based on producing spontaneous CO2 bubbles due to local pressure difference leading to nucleation of bubbles throughout the membrane surface, especially at nucleation sites, which improve the cleaning efficiency. Alginic acid sodium salt was used as a model of polysaccharides foulants in presence of different concentrations of NaCl and calcium ions aiming to enhance membrane fouling, and then CO2 cleaning solution efficiency, in terms flux recovery (FR), was tested under different operating conditions and compared to other cleaning methods. Average FR of 20%±3, 25%±3 and 80%±3 for MilliQ water, a cleaning solution at pH4, and CO2 solution at 6 bar, 0.17 m/s, and 23 ̊C ±0.2 for 6 minutes were obtained, respectively. The efficiency of this novel cleaning method was also compared to direct osmosis overnight, and the average flux was comparable (about 60%±3), though that the cleaning time was significantly different. Various calcium concentrations (0-10 mM) were added in the alginate solution to study the

  13. Membrane-based seawater desalination: Present and future prospects

    KAUST Repository

    Amy, Gary L.

    2016-10-20

    Given increasing regional water scarcity and that almost half of the world\\'s population lives within 100 km of an ocean, seawater represents a virtually infinite water resource. However, its exploitation is presently limited by the significant specific energy consumption (kWh/m) required by conventional desalination technologies, further exasperated by high unit costs ($/m) and environmental impacts including GHG emissions (g CO-eq/m), organism impingement/entrainment through intakes, and brine disposal through outfalls. This paper explores the state-of-the-art in present seawater desalination practice, emphasizing membrane-based technologies, while identifying future opportunities in step improvements to conventional technologies and development of emerging, potentially disruptive, technologies through advances in material science, process engineering, and system integration. In this paper, seawater reverse osmosis (RO) serves as the baseline conventional technology. The discussion extends beyond desalting processes into membrane-based salinity gradient energy production processes, which can provide an energy offset to desalination process energy requirements. The future membrane landscape in membrane-based desalination and salinity gradient energy is projected to include ultrahigh permeability RO membranes, renewable-energy driven desalination, and emerging processes including closed-circuit RO, membrane distillation, forward osmosis, pressure retarded osmosis, and reverse electrodialysis according various niche applications and/or hybrids, operating separately or in conjunction with RO.

  14. Pushing desalination recovery to the maximum limit: Membrane and thermal processes integration

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Burhan, Muhammad; Ng, Kim Choon

    2017-01-01

    The economics of seawater desalination processes has been continuously improving as a result of desalination market expansion. Presently, reverse osmosis (RO) processes are leading in global desalination with 53% share followed by thermally driven

  15. Design concepts of nuclear desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-11-01

    Interest in using nuclear energy for producing potable water has been growing worldwide in the past decade. This has been motivated by a variety of factors, including economic competitiveness of nuclear energy, the growing need for worldwide energy supply diversification, the need to conserve limited supplies of fossil fuels, protecting the environment from greenhouse gas emissions, and potentially advantageous spin-off effects of nuclear technology for industrial development. Various studies, and at least one demonstration project, have been considered by Member States with the aim of assessing the feasibility of using nuclear energy for desalination applications under specific conditions. In order to facilitate information exchange on the subject area, the IAEA has been active for a number of years in compiling related technical publications. In 1999, an inter regional technical co-operation project on Integrated Nuclear Power and desalination System Design was launched to facilitate international collaboration for the joint development by technology holders and potential end users of an integrated nuclear desalination system. This publication presents material on the current status of nuclear desalination activities and preliminary design concepts of nuclear desalination plants, as made available to the IAEA by various Member States. It is aimed at planners, designers and potential end-users in those Member States interested in further assessment of nuclear desalination. Interested readers are also referred to two related and recent IAEA publications, which contain useful information in this area: Introduction of Nuclear Desalination: A Guidebook, Technical Report Series No. 400 (2000) and Safety Aspects of Nuclear Plants Coupled with Seawater Desalination Units, IAEA-TECDOC-1235 (2001)

  16. Forward osmosis membrane modular configurations for osmotic dilution of seawater by forward osmosis and reverse osmosis hybrid system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jung Eun; Phuntsho, Sherub; Ali, Syed Muztuza; Choi, Joon Young; Shon, Ho Kyong

    2018-01-01

    This study evaluates various options for full-scale modular configuration of forward osmosis (FO) process for osmotic dilution of seawater using wastewater for simultaneous desalination and water reuse through FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid system. Empirical relationship obtained from one FO membrane element operation was used to simulate the operational performances of different FO module configurations. The main limiting criteria for module operation is to always maintain the feed pressure higher than the draw pressure throughout the housing module for safe operation without affecting membrane integrity. Experimental studies under the conditions tested in this study show that a single membrane housing cannot accommodate more than four elements as the draw pressure exceeds the feed pressure. This then indicates that a single stage housing with eight elements is not likely to be practical for safe FO operation. Hence, six different FO modular configurations were proposed and simulated. A two-stage FO configuration with multiple housings (in parallel) in the second stage using same or larger spacer thickness reduces draw pressure build-up as the draw flow rates are reduced to half in the second stage thereby allowing more than four elements in the second stage housing. The loss of feed pressure (pressure drop) and osmotic driving force in the second stage are compensated by operating under the pressure assisted osmosis (PAO) mode, which helps enhance permeate flux and maintains positive pressure differences between the feed and draw chamber. The PAO energy penalty is compensated by enhanced permeate throughput, reduced membrane area, and plant footprint. The contribution of FO/PAO to total energy consumption was not significant compared to post RO desalination (90%) indicating that the proposed two-stage FO modular configuration is one way of making the FO full-scale operation practical for FO-RO hybrid system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Microbial desalination cells for energy production and desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Younggy

    2013-01-01

    Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) are a new, energy-sustainable method for using organic matter in wastewater as the energy source for desalination. The electric potential gradient created by exoelectrogenic bacteria desalinates water by driving ion transport through a series of ion-exchange membranes (IEMs). The specific MDC architecture and current conditions substantially affect the amount of wastewater needed to desalinate water. Other baseline conditions have varied among studies making comparisons of the effectiveness of different designs problematic. The extent of desalination is affected by water transport through IEMs by both osmosis and electroosmosis. Various methods have been used, such as electrolyte recirculation, to avoid low pH that can inhibit exoelectrogenic activity. The highest current density in an MDC to date is 8.4A/m2, which is lower than that produced in other bioelectrochemical systems. This implies that there is a room for substantial improvement in desalination rates and overall performance. We review here the state of the art in MDC design and performance, safety issues related to the use of MDCs with wastewater, and areas that need to be examined to achieve practical application of this new technology. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  18. Technoeconomic Optimization of Waste Heat Driven Forward Osmosis for Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater Treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gingerich, Daniel B [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Bartholomew, Timothy V [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Mauter, Meagan S [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    2017-06-26

    With the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent Effluent Limitation Guidelines for Steam Electric Generators, power plants are having to install and operate new wastewater technologies. Many plants are evaluating desalination technologies as possible compliance options. However, the desalination technologies under review that can reduce wastewater volume or treat to a zero-liquid discharges standard have a significant energy penalty to the plant. Waste heat, available from the exhaust gas or cooling water from coal-fired power plants, offers an opportunity to drive wastewater treatment using thermal desalination technologies. One such technology is forward osmosis (FO). Forward osmosis utilizes an osmotic pressure gradient to passively pull water from a saline or wastewater stream across a semi-permeable membrane and into a more concentrated draw solution. This diluted draw solution is then fed into a distillation column, where the addition of low temperature waste heat can drive the separation to produce a reconcentrated draw solution and treated water for internal plant reuse. The use of low-temperature waste heat decouples water treatment from electricity production and eliminates the link between reducing water pollution and increasing air emissions from auxiliary electricity generation. In order to evaluate the feasibility of waste heat driven FO, we first build a model of an FO system for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater treatment at coal-fired power plants. This model includes the FO membrane module, the distillation column for draw solution recovery, and waste heat recovery from the exhaust gas. We then add a costing model to account for capital and operating costs of the forward osmosis system. We use this techno-economic model to optimize waste heat driven FO for the treatment of FGD wastewater. We apply this model to three case studies: the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) 550 MW model coal fired power plant without carbon

  19. Contribution to the optimization of the coupling of nuclear reactors to desalination processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dardour, S.

    2007-04-01

    This work deals with modelling, simulation and optimization of the coupling between nuclear reactors (PWR, modular high temperature reactors) and desalination processes (multiple effect distillation, reverse osmosis). The reactors considered in this study are PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) and GTMHR (Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor). The desalination processes retained are MED (Multi Effect Distillation) and SWRO (Sea Water Reverse Osmosis). A software tool: EXCELEES of thermodynamic modelling of coupled systems, based on the Engineering Algebraic Equation Solver has been developed. Models of energy conversion systems and of membrane desalination processes and distillation have been developed. Based on the first and second principles of thermodynamics, these models have allowed to determine the optimal running point of the coupled systems. The thermodynamic analysis has been completed by a first economic evaluation. Based on the use of the DEEP software of the IAEA, this evaluation has confirmed the interest to use these types of reactors for desalination. A modelling tool of thermal processes of desalination in dynamic condition has been developed too. This tool has been applied to the study of the dynamics of an existing plant and has given satisfying results. A first safety checking has been at last carried out. The transients able to jeopardize the integrated system have been identified. Several measures aiming at consolidate the safety have been proposed. (O.M.)

  20. Bacterial community structure and variation in a full-scale seawater desalination plant for drinking water production

    KAUST Repository

    Belila, Abdelaziz

    2016-02-18

    Microbial processes inevitably play a role in membrane-based desalination plants, mainly recognized as membrane biofouling. We assessed the bacterial community structure and diversity during different treatment steps in a full-scale seawater desalination plant producing 40,000 m3/d of drinking water. Water samples were taken over the full treatment train consisting of chlorination, spruce media and cartridge filters, de-chlorination, first and second pass reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and final chlorine dosage for drinking water distribution. The water samples were analyzed for water quality parameters (total bacterial cell number, total organic carbon, conductivity, pH, etc.) and microbial community composition by 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. The planktonic microbial community was dominated by Proteobacteria (48.6%) followed by Bacteroidetes (15%), Firmicutes (9.3%) and Cyanobacteria (4.9%). During the pretreatment step, the spruce media filter did not impact the bacterial community composition dominated by Proteobacteria. In contrast, the RO and final chlorination treatment steps reduced the Proteobacterial relative abundance in the produced water where Firmicutes constituted the most dominant bacterial group. Shannon and Chao1 diversity indices showed that bacterial species richness and diversity decreased during the seawater desalination process. The two-stage RO filtration strongly reduced the water conductivity (>99%), TOC concentration (98.5%) and total bacterial cell number (>99%), albeit some bacterial DNA was found in the water after RO filtration. About 0.25% of the total bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were present in all stages of the desalination plant: the seawater, the RO permeates and the chlorinated drinking water, suggesting that these bacterial strains can survive in different environments such as high/low salt concentration and with/without residual disinfectant. These bacterial strains were not caused by contamination during

  1. Feasibility Analysis of a Seabed Filtration Intake System for the Shoaiba III Expansion Reverse Osmosis Plant

    KAUST Repository

    Rodríguez, Luis Raúl

    2012-06-01

    The ability to economically desalinate seawater in arid regions of the world has become a vital advancement to overcome the problem on freshwater availability, quality, and reliability. In contrast with the major capital and operational costs for desalination plants represented by conventional open ocean intakes, subsurface intakes allow the extraction of high quality feed water at minimum costs and reduced environmental impact. A seabed filter is a subsurface intake that consists of a submerged slow sand filter, with benefits of organic matter removal and pathogens, and low operational cost. A site investigation was carried out through the southern coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology down to 370 kilometers south of Jeddah. A site adjacent to the Shoaiba desalination plant was selected to assess the viability of constructing a seabed filter. Grain sieve size analysis, porosity and hydraulic conductivity permeameter measurements were performed on the collected sediment samples. Based on these results, it was concluded that the characteristics at the Shoaiba site allow for the construction of a seabed filtration system. A seabed filter design is proposed for the 150,000 m3/d Shoaiba III expansion project, a large-scale Reverse Osmosis desalination plant. A filter design with a filtration rate of 7 m/d through an area of 6,000 m2 is proposed to meet the demand of one of the ten desalination trains operating at the plant. The filter would be located 90 meters offshore where hydraulic conductivity of the sediment is high, and mud percentage is minimal. The thin native marine sediment layer is insufficient to provide enough water filtration, and consequently the proposed solution involves excavating the limestone rock and filling it with different layers of non-native sand and gravel of increasing grain size. An initial assessment of the area around Shoaiba showed similar sedimentological conditions that could

  2. Application of pressure assisted forward osmosis for water purification and reuse of reverse osmosis concentrate from a water reclamation plant

    KAUST Repository

    Jamil, Shazad

    2016-07-26

    The use of forward osmosis (FO) is growing among the researchers for water desalination and wastewater treatment due to use of natural osmotic pressure of draw solute. In this study pressure assisted forward osmosis (PAFO) was used instead of FO to increase the water production rate. In this study a low concentration of draw solution (0.25 M KCl) was applied so that diluted KCl after PAFO operation can directly be used for fertigation. The performance of PAFO was investigated for the treatment of reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) from a water reclamation plant. The water production in PAFO was increased by 9% and 29% at applied pressure of 2 and 4 bars, respectively, to feed side based on 90 h of experiments. Granular activated carbon (GAC) pretreatment and HCl softening were used to reduce organic fouling and scaling prior to application of PAFO. It reduced total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC) by around 90% and 85%, respectively from untreated ROC. Subsequently, this led to an increase in permeate flux. In addition, GAC pretreatment adsorbed 12 out of 14 organic micropollutants tested from ROC to below detection limit. This application enabled to minimise the ROC volume with a sustainable operation and produced high quality and safe water for discharge or reuse. The draw solution (0.25 M KCl) used in this study was diluted to 0.14 M KCl, which is a suitable concentration (10 kg/m3) for fertigation, due to water transport from feed solution. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

  3. Safety analysis of coupling system of hybrid (MED-RO) nuclear desalination system utilising waste heat from HTGR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raha, Abhijit; Kishore, G.; Rao, I.S.; Adak, A.K.; Srivastava, V.K.; Prabhakar, S.; Tewari, P.K.

    2010-01-01

    To meet the generation IV goals, High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) are designed to have relatively higher thermal efficiency and enhanced safety and environmental characteristics. It can provide energy for combined production of hydrogen, electricity and other industrial applications. The waste heat available in the HTGR power cycle can also be utilized for the desalination of seawater for producing potable water. Desalination is an energy intensive process, so use of waste heat from HTGR certainly makes desalination process more affordable to create fresh water resources. So design of the coupling system, as per the safety design requirement of nuclear desalination plant, of desalination plant with HTGR is very crucial. In the first part of this paper, design of the coupling system between hybrid Multi Effect Desalination-Reverse Osmosis (MED-RO) nuclear desalination plant and HTGR to utilize the waste heat in HTGR are discussed. In the next part deterministic safety analysis of the designed coupling system of are presented in detail. It was found that all the coupling system meets the acceptance criteria for all the Postulated Initiating Events (PIE's) limited to DBA. (author)

  4. A Desalination Battery

    KAUST Repository

    Pasta, Mauro; Wessells, Colin D.; Cui, Yi; La Mantia, Fabio

    2012-01-01

    Water desalination is an important approach to provide fresh water around the world, although its high energy consumption, and thus high cost, call for new, efficient technology. Here, we demonstrate the novel concept of a "desalination battery", which operates by performing cycles in reverse on our previously reported mixing entropy battery. Rather than generating electricity from salinity differences, as in mixing entropy batteries, desalination batteries use an electrical energy input to extract sodium and chloride ions from seawater and to generate fresh water. The desalination battery is comprised by a Na 2-xMn 5O 10 nanorod positive electrode and Ag/AgCl negative electrode. Here, we demonstrate an energy consumption of 0.29 Wh l -1 for the removal of 25% salt using this novel desalination battery, which is promising when compared to reverse osmosis (∼ 0.2 Wh l -1), the most efficient technique presently available. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

  5. A desalination battery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasta, Mauro; Wessells, Colin D; Cui, Yi; La Mantia, Fabio

    2012-02-08

    Water desalination is an important approach to provide fresh water around the world, although its high energy consumption, and thus high cost, call for new, efficient technology. Here, we demonstrate the novel concept of a "desalination battery", which operates by performing cycles in reverse on our previously reported mixing entropy battery. Rather than generating electricity from salinity differences, as in mixing entropy batteries, desalination batteries use an electrical energy input to extract sodium and chloride ions from seawater and to generate fresh water. The desalination battery is comprised by a Na(2-x)Mn(5)O(10) nanorod positive electrode and Ag/AgCl negative electrode. Here, we demonstrate an energy consumption of 0.29 Wh l(-1) for the removal of 25% salt using this novel desalination battery, which is promising when compared to reverse osmosis (~ 0.2 Wh l(-1)), the most efficient technique presently available. © 2012 American Chemical Society

  6. A Desalination Battery

    KAUST Repository

    Pasta, Mauro

    2012-02-08

    Water desalination is an important approach to provide fresh water around the world, although its high energy consumption, and thus high cost, call for new, efficient technology. Here, we demonstrate the novel concept of a "desalination battery", which operates by performing cycles in reverse on our previously reported mixing entropy battery. Rather than generating electricity from salinity differences, as in mixing entropy batteries, desalination batteries use an electrical energy input to extract sodium and chloride ions from seawater and to generate fresh water. The desalination battery is comprised by a Na 2-xMn 5O 10 nanorod positive electrode and Ag/AgCl negative electrode. Here, we demonstrate an energy consumption of 0.29 Wh l -1 for the removal of 25% salt using this novel desalination battery, which is promising when compared to reverse osmosis (∼ 0.2 Wh l -1), the most efficient technique presently available. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

  7. Mechanical vapor compression Desalination plant at Trombay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adak, A.K.; Kishore, G.; Srivastava, V.K.; Tewari, P.K.

    2007-01-01

    Desalination plants based on Mechanical Vapour Compression (MVC) technology are inherently the most thermodynamically efficient. The thermodynamic efficiency of the MVC process is derived from the application of the heat pump principle. A single unit of two-effect MVC desalination pilot plant of capacity 50 m3/day has recently been commissioned at Trombay, Mumbai. The desalination unit is very compact and unique of its kind in the seawater desalination technologies and is being operated by using electricity only. Horizontal tube thin film spray desalination evaporators are used for efficient heat transfer. It is suitable for a site, where feed water is highly saline and condenser cooling water is absent and where a thermal heat source is not available. The unit produces high quality water, nearly demineralized (DM) quality directly from seawater. There is no need of polishing unit and product water can be utilized directly as make up of boiler feed and for other high quality process water requirements in the industries. This paper includes the design and highlights the technical features of this unit. (author)

  8. The Energy-Water Nexus: An Analysis and Comparison of Various Configurations Integrating Desalination with Renewable Power

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary M. Gold

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This investigation studies desalination powered by wind and solar energy, including a study of a configuration using PVT solar panels. First, a water treatment was developed to estimate the power requirement for brackish groundwater reverse-osmosis (BWRO desalination. Next, an energy model was designed to (1 size a wind farm based on this power requirement and (2 size a solar farm to preheat water before reverse osmosis treatment. Finally, an integrated model was developed that combines results from the water treatment and energy models. The integrated model optimizes performances of the proposed facility to maximize daily operational profits. Results indicate that integrated facility can reduce grid-purchased electricity costs by 88% during summer months and 89% during winter when compared to a stand-alone desalination plant. Additionally, the model suggests that the integrated configuration can generate $574 during summer and $252 during winter from sales of wind- and solar-generated electricity to supplement revenue from water production. These results indicate that an integrated facility combining desalination, wind power, and solar power can potentially reduce reliance on grid-purchased electricity and advance the use of renewable power.

  9. Waste water regeneration technologies: the experience of a pilot plant using an MBR process and micro-ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis in the waste water treatment plant at Canals-Lucidol de Cre spins (Valencia, Spain); Tecnologias para la regeneracion de aguas residuales: experiencia con planta piloto mediante un proceso MBR y membranas de micro-ultrafiltracion y osmosis inversa en la EDAR de Canals-L' Alcudia de Crespins (Valencia)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez Muro, J. L.; Garcia Garcia, J. J.; Morenilla Martinez, J. J.; Bernacer Bonora, I.; Lloret Salinas, R.; Pascual Garrido, J.; Escribano Romero, F.; Zarzo Martinez, D.

    2006-07-01

    This article looks at membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology and the use of micro-ultrafiltration membranes systems for treating sewage prior to reverse osmosis to desalinate sewage plant affluent. MBR technology ensures stable effluent quality (it is not affected by problems of sedimentation of the biological sludge in the clarifier) and practical disinfecting of the sludge. Micro-ultra-filtration technologies, either as treatment prior to reverse osmosis, or as independent tertiary treatment systems, generally guarantee extremely demanding permeate characteristics: SDI15 < 3-fouling index-, absence of microbiological organisms, and cloudines < 1 NTU. (Author)

  10. Utility/user requirements for the MHTGR desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, S.J.; Snyder, G.M.

    1989-01-01

    This paper describes the approach used by Gas-Cooled Reactor Associates (GCRA) and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) in developing Utility/User (U/U) Requirements for the Modular High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (MHTGR) Desalination Plant. This is a cogeneration plant that produces fresh water from seawater, and electricity. The U/U requirements for the reference MHTGR plant are used except for those changes necessary to: provide low-grade heat to a seawater desalination process, enable siting in a Southern California coastal area, take advantage of reduced weather extremes where substantial cost reductions are expected, and use seawater cooling instead of a cooling tower. The resulting requirements and the differences from the reference MHTGR requirements are discussed. The nuclear portion of the design is essentially the same as that for the reference MHTGR design. The major differences occur in the turbine-generator and condenser, and for the most part, the design parameters for the reference plant are found to be conservative for the desalination plant. The most important difference in requirements is in the higher seismic levels required for a Southern California site, which requires reassessment and possible modification of the design of some reference plant equipment for use in the desalination plant. (author). 5 refs, 1 tab

  11. The technologies used in desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Curto, G.; Napoli, E.; Rizzuti, L.

    2009-01-01

    In the research the main desalination processes of sea and brackish water are analyzed and discussed. The processes can be separated into the categories of Thermal and Membrane Processes. The thermal processes can be further divided between those in which heat is supplied to the water, causing its evaporation (single-step evaporation processes, Multi flash processes and multiple effects processes of evaporation), and those, less frequently used, where the heat is instead subtracted, causing a phenomenon of crystallization. The membrane processes, on the other side, are based on the passage of salt or brackish water through synthetic semi-permeable membranes. They can be subdivided between those employing reverse osmosis processes, where the selective solvent passage through the membranes is guaranteed by high pressure differences and those based on electrodialysis. [it

  12. Desalination of Seawater using Nuclear Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misra, B.M.

    2006-01-01

    Desalination technologies have been well established since the mid 20th century and are widely deployed in many parts of the world having acute water scarcity problems. The energy for these plants is generally supplied in the form of either steam or electricity largely using fossil fuels. The intensive fuels of fossil fuels raises environmental concerns especially in relation to greenhouse gas emissions. The depleting sources and future price uncertainty of the fossil fuels and their better use for other vital industrial applications is also a factor to be considered for sustainability. The desalination of sea water using nuclear energy is a feasible option to meet the growing demand of potable water. Over 150 reactor-years of operating experience of a nuclear desalination have been accumulated worldwide. Several demonstration programs of nuclear desalination are also in progress to confirm its technical and economic viability under country specific conditions, with the technical coordination or support of IAEA. Recent techno-economic feasibility studies carried out by some Member States indicate the competitiveness of nuclear desalination. This paper presents the salient activities on nuclear desalination in the Agency and in the interested Member states. Economic research on further water cost reduction includes investigation on utilization of waste heat from different reactor types for thermal desalination pre-heat reverse osmosis and hybrid desalination systems. The main challenge for the large scale deployment of nuclear seawater desalination is the lack of infrastructure and the resources in the countries affected by water scarcity problems which are however, interested in adoption of nuclear desalination for the sustainable water resources. Socio-economic and environmental aspects and the public perception are also important factors requiring greater information exchange. (author)

  13. Plant experience with temporary reverse osmosis makeup water systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polidoroff, C.

    1986-01-01

    Pacific Gas and Electric (PG and E) Company's Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), which is located on California's central coast, has access to three sources of raw water: creek water, well water, and seawater. Creek and well water are DCPP's primary sources of raw water; however, because their supply is limited, these sources are supplemented with seawater. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the temporary, rental, reverse osmosis systems used by PG and E to process DCPP's raw water into water suitable for plant makeup. This paper addresses the following issues: the selection of reverse osmosis over alternative water processing technologies; the decision to use vendor-operated temporary, rental, reverse osmosis equipment versus permanent PG and E-owned and -operated equipment; the performance of DCPP's rental reverse osmosis systems; and, the lessons learned from DCPP's reverse osmosis system rental experience that might be useful to other plants considering renting similar equipment

  14. Design of nuclear desalination concentrate plant by using zero discharge desalination concept for Bangka Island

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Erlan Dewita, Siti Alimah

    2015-01-01

    Nuclear desalination is a process to separate salt of seawater by using nuclear energy. Desalination concentrate is a problem in nuclear desalination. Desalination concentrate is sometimes discharged directly into the seawater, therefore it can affects the water quality of beach and rise negative effects on the biota in the vicinity of the output. ZDD (Zero Discharge Desalination) concept can be applied to minimized environment impact. This study is conducted by using PWR type NPP as nuclear heat source and using ZDD concept to process desalination waste. ZDD is a concept for processing of desalination concentrate into salt and chemical products which have economic values. Objectives of this study is to design nuclear desalination concentrate processing plant in Bangka Island. The methodology is literature assessment and calculation with excel programme. The results of this study shows that the main the products are NaCl (pharmaceutical salt) and cakes BaSO4, Mg(OH)2BaCO3 as by products. (author)

  15. Technical review and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: Current and future challenges for better water supply sustainability

    KAUST Repository

    Ghaffour, Noreddine

    2013-01-01

    Desalination capacity has rapidly increased in the last decade because of the increase in water demand and a significant reduction in desalination cost as a result of significant technological advances, especially in the reverse osmosis process. The cost of desalinated seawater has fallen below US$0.50/m3 for a large scale seawater reverse osmosis plant at a specific location and conditions while in other locations the cost is 50% higher (US$1.00/m3) for a similar facility. In addition to capital and operating costs, other parameters such as local incentives or subsidies may also contribute to the large difference in desalted water cost between regions and facilities. Plant suppliers and consultants have their own cost calculation methodologies, but they are confidential and provide water costs with different accuracies. The few existing costing methodologies and software packages such as WTCost© and DEEP provide an estimated cost with different accuracies and their applications are limited to specific conditions. Most of the available cost estimation tools are of the black box type, which provide few details concerning the parameters and methodologies applied for local conditions. Many desalination plants built recently have greater desalinated water delivery costs caused by special circumstances, such as plant remediation or upgrades, local variation in energy costs, and site-specific issues in raw materials costs (e.g., tariffs and transportation). Therefore, the availability of a more transparent and unique methodology for estimating the cost will help in selecting an appropriate desalination technology suitable for specific locations with consideration of all the parameters influencing the cost. A techno-economic evaluation and review of the costing aspects and the main parameters influencing the total water cost produced by different desalination technologies are herein presented in detail. Some recent developments, such as the increase of unit capacity

  16. Performances of nanofiltration and low pressure reverse osmosis membranes for desalination: characterization and modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boussouga, Y. A.; Lhassani, A.

    2017-03-01

    The nanofiltration and the reverse osmosis processes are the most common techniques for the desalination of water contaminated by an excess of salts. In this present study, we were interested in the characterization of commercial, composite and asymmetric membranes of nanofiltration (NF90, NF270) and low pressure reverse osmosis (BW30LE). The two types of characterization that we opted for our study: (i) characterization of electrical proprieties, in terms of the surface charge of various membranes studied by the measurement of the streaming potential, (ii) hydrodynamic characterization in terms of hydraulic permeability with pure water, mass transfer and phenomenological parameters for each system membrane/salt using hydrodynamic approaches. The irreversible thermodynamics allowed us to model the observed retention Robs of salts (NaCl and Na2SO4) for the different membranes studied, to understand and to predict a good filtration with a membrane. A study was conducted on the type of mass transfer for each system membrane/salt: convection and diffusion. The results showed that all tested membranes are negatively charged for the solutions at neutral pH, this is explained by their material composition. The results also showed competitiveness between the different types of membranes. In view of that the NF remains effective in terms of selective retention with less energy consumption than LPRO.

  17. Equipment and materials for coupling interfaces of a nuclear reactor with desalination and heating plants based on floating NHPS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panov, Yu.K.; Polunichev, V.I.

    1998-01-01

    Intensive design activity is currently underway in Russia on floating nuclear installations, relying on proven marine NSSSs of KLT-40-type, which are capable of generating electricity, producing potable water and heat for industrial and district heating purposes. In particular, design work of the first floating power unit for a pilot nuclear co-generation station, which is due to be situated at the Pevek port area in the Chukotsky national district (extreme north-east of Russia), is approaching completion, and preparatory work is being carried out for fabrication of its most labour-intensive components. Work is also in progress together with 'CANDESAL Inc. (Canada)' on the conceptual design of a floating power-desalination complex. Most suitable options of floating power-desalination complexes are being sought, addressing requirements of potential customers. Earlier, at the IAEA technical committee meeting (1993) it was shown that a complex, which combines a highly effective condensation turbine and a modem reverse-osmosis desalination facility, could be considered as most preferable from the view point of efficient utilisation of thermal energy generated by nuclear reactors for co-production of potable water and electricity. The prospective technology for sea water desalination by a reverse-osmosis method is being developed in particular by 'CANDESAL Inc.'. It was also pointed out that another sufficiently efficient installation for potable water and electricity co-production is a dual-purpose complex which integrates both condensation and back-pressure turbines and a distillation desalination facility. Similar flow configurations were adopted for the nuclear desalination complex at Aktau (Kazakhstan) which has been in operation since 1972. 'SverdNIIKhimMash' institute (Ekaterinburg) is a Russian leading designer of modem distillation desalination facilities. This paper presents heat and fluid diagrams of floating complexes, brief description of their key

  18. Thermal desalination in GCC and possible development

    KAUST Repository

    Darwish, Mohamed Ali

    2013-01-01

    The Water Desalination and Reuse Center in King Abdulla University of Science and Technology, in Saudi Arabia, held a workshop on thermal desalination on the 11th and 12th of March, 2013. This paper was presented as part of a lecture at the workshop. It presents the status and possible developments of the two main thermal desalination systems processing large quantities of seawater in the Gulf Cooperation Council, multi-stage flash, and thermal vapor compression systems. Developments of these systems were presented to show how these systems are competing with the more energy-efficient seawater reverse osmosis desalting. © 2013 © 2013 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  19. Thermal desalination in GCC and possible development

    KAUST Repository

    Darwish, Mohamed Ali

    2013-06-28

    The Water Desalination and Reuse Center in King Abdulla University of Science and Technology, in Saudi Arabia, held a workshop on thermal desalination on the 11th and 12th of March, 2013. This paper was presented as part of a lecture at the workshop. It presents the status and possible developments of the two main thermal desalination systems processing large quantities of seawater in the Gulf Cooperation Council, multi-stage flash, and thermal vapor compression systems. Developments of these systems were presented to show how these systems are competing with the more energy-efficient seawater reverse osmosis desalting. © 2013 © 2013 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  20. A framework for investigating the interactions between climate, dust, solar power generation and water desalination processes in Desert Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siam, M. S.; Alqatari, S.; Ibrahim, H. D.; AlAloula, R. A.; Alrished, M.; AlSaati, A.; Eltahir, E. A. B.

    2016-12-01

    Increasing water demand in Saudi Arabia due to rapid population growth has forced the rapid expansion of seawater desalination plants in order to meet both current and future freshwater needs. Saudi Arabia has a huge potential for solar energy, hence, solar-powered desalination plants provide an opportunity to sustainably address the freshwater demand in the kingdom without relying on fossil fuels energy. However, the desert climate of Saudi Arabia and limited access to the open ocean imposes several challenges to the expansion and sustainability of solar-powered desalination plants. For example, the frequent and intense dust storms that occur in the region can degrade solar panels and significantly reduce their efficiency. Moreover, the high salinity Arabian Gulf is both the source of feedwater and sink of hypersaline discharge (brine) for many plants in the east of the Kingdom, and the brine may alter the salinity, temperature and movement of the water thereby reducing the quality of the feedwater to the desalination plants. Here, we propose a framework to investigate the different interactions between climate, dust, solar power generation and seawater desalination in order to identify optimal parameters such as locations of solar panels and seawater intake for sustainable implementation of solar-powered desalination plants. This framework integrates several numerical models including regional climate, hydrodynamics, Photovoltaics (PV) and Photovoltaic-Reverse Osmosis (PV-RO) models that are used to investigate these interactions for a solar-powered desalination plant at AlKhafji on the Northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia.

  1. Removal of oil pollutants in seawater as pretreatment of reverse osmosis desalination process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wen Jian; Nishijima, Wataru; Baes, Aloysius U.; Okada, Mitsumasa [Hiroshima Univ., Environmental Science Dept., Hiroshima (Japan); Kitanaka, Atsushi [Fuji-Electric Corporate Research and Development Ltd., Yokosuka, Kanagawa (Japan)

    1999-11-01

    Weathered oil contaminated seawater (WOCS) was used to investigate the behaviour of soluble oil components in seawater in various pretreatment processes for removal of oil pollutants in seawater. The various pretreatment processes were a reverse osmosis desalination process in combination with advanced oxidation processes, ultrafiltration, coagulation, GAC adsorption, biological treatment and separation with a low pressure RO membrane. WOCS was prepared by mixing oil, nutrients and fresh seawater which was exposed to sunlight to simulate photooxidation and microbial degradation of oil in the marine environment. It was found that WOCS contained soluble components with relatively small molecular size, which are refractory to biodegradation and difficult to remove by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), UF membrane or coagulation using FeCl{sub 3} or PAC as flocculants. However, DOC in WOCS (OCWOCS) was easily adsorbed to GAC. Low pressure RO membranes with higher salt rejection rate could remove more OCWOCS compared to those of lower salt rejection rate. (Author)

  2. Removal of oil pollutants in seawater as pretreatment of reverse osmosis desalination process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wen Jian; Nishijima, Wataru; Baes, Aloysius U.; Okada, Mitsumasa [Hiroshima Univ., Environmental Science Dept., Hiroshima (Japan); Kitanaka, Atsushi [Fuji-Electric Corporate Research and Development Ltd., Yokosuka, Kanagawa (Japan)

    1999-07-01

    Weathered oil contaminated seawater (WOCS) was used to investigate the behaviour of soluble oil components in seawater in various pretreatment processes for removal of oil pollutants in seawater. The various pretreatment processes were a reverse osmosis desalination process in combination with advanced oxidation processes, ultrafiltration, coagulation, GAC adsorption, biological treatment and separation with a low pressure RO membrane. WOCS was prepared by mixing oil, nutrients and fresh seawater which was exposed to sunlight to simulate photooxidation and microbial degradation of oil in the marine environment. It was found that WOCS contained soluble components with relatively small molecular size, which are refractory to biodegradation and difficult to remove by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), UF membrane or coagulation using FeCl{sub 3} or PAC as flocculants. However, DOC in WOCS (OCWOCS) was easily adsorbed to GAC. Low pressure RO membranes with higher salt rejection rate could remove more OCWOCS compared to those of lower salt rejection rate. (Author)

  3. Economic evaluation of the integrated SMART desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Lee, Man Kye; Yeo, Ji Won; Kim, Hee Chul; Chang, Moon Hee

    2001-04-01

    In this study, an economic evaluation methodology of the integrated SMART desalination plant was established and the economic evaluation of SMART was performed. The plant economics was evaluated with electricity generation costs calculated using approximate estimates of SMART cost data and the result was compared with the result calculated using the SMART design data and estimated bulk materials. In addition, a series of sensitivity studies on the power generation cost was performed for the main economic parameters of SMART Power credit method was used for the economic analysis of the integrated SMART desalination plant. Power credit method is a widely used economic analysis method for the cogeneration plant when the major portion of the energy is used for the electricity generation. In the case of using SMART fot power generation only, the result shows that the electricity generation cost of SMART is higher than that of the alternative power options. However, it can be competitive with the other power options in the limited cases, especially with the gas fired combined plant. In addition, an economic analysis of the integrated SMART desalination plant coupled with MED was performed. The calculated water production cost is in the range of 0.56 approx. 0.88($/m 3 ) for the plant availability of 80% or higher, which is close to the study results presented by the various other countries. This indicates that SMART can be considered as a competitive choice for desalination among various alternative energy sources

  4. Economic evaluation of the integrated SMART desalination plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Lee, Man Kye; Yeo, Ji Won; Kim, Hee Chul; Chang, Moon Hee

    2001-04-01

    In this study, an economic evaluation methodology of the integrated SMART desalination plant was established and the economic evaluation of SMART was performed. The plant economics was evaluated with electricity generation costs calculated using approximate estimates of SMART cost data and the result was compared with the result calculated using the SMART design data and estimated bulk materials. In addition, a series of sensitivity studies on the power generation cost was performed for the main economic parameters of SMART Power credit method was used for the economic analysis of the integrated SMART desalination plant. Power credit method is a widely used economic analysis method for the cogeneration plant when the major portion of the energy is used for the electricity generation. In the case of using SMART fot power generation only, the result shows that the electricity generation cost of SMART is higher than that of the alternative power options. However, it can be competitive with the other power options in the limited cases, especially with the gas fired combined plant. In addition, an economic analysis of the integrated SMART desalination plant coupled with MED was performed. The calculated water production cost is in the range of 0.56 approx. 0.88($/m{sup 3}) for the plant availability of 80% or higher, which is close to the study results presented by the various other countries. This indicates that SMART can be considered as a competitive choice for desalination among various alternative energy sources.

  5. Seawater desalination plant using nuclear heating reactor coupled with MED process

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    A small size plant for seawater desalination using nuclear heating reactor coupled with MED process was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, China. This seawater desalination plant was designed to supply potable water demand to some coastal location or island where both fresh water and energy source are severely lacking. It is also recommended as a demonstration and training facility for seawater desalination using nuclear energy. The design of small size of seawater desalination plant couples two proven technologies: Nuclear Heating Reactor (NHR) and Multi-Effect Destination (MED) process. The NHR design possesses intrinsic and passive safety features, which was demonstrated by the experiences of the project NHR-5. The intermediate circuit and steam circuit were designed as the safety barriers between the NHR reactor and MED desalination system. Within 10~200 MWt of the power range of the heating reactor, the desalination plant could provide 8000 to 150,000 m3/d of high quality potable water. The design concept and parameters, safety features and coupling scheme are presented.

  6. Seawater desalination plant using nuclear heating reactor coupled with MED process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Shaorong; Dong Duo; Zhang Dafang; Wang Xiuzhen

    2000-01-01

    A small size plant for seawater desalination using nuclear heating reactor coupled with MED process was developed by the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, China. this seawater desalination plant was designed to supply potable water demand to some coastal location or island where both fresh water and energy source are severely lacking. It is also recommended as a demonstration and training facility for seawater desalination using nuclear energy. The design of small size of seawater desalination plant couples two proven technologies: Nuclear Heating Reactor (NHR) and Multi-Effect Destination (MED) process. The NHR design possesses intrinsic and passive safety features, which was demonstrated by the experiences of the project NHR-5. the intermediate circuit and steam circuit were designed as the safety barriers between the NHR reactor and MED desalination system. Within 10-200 MWt of the power range of the heating reactor, the desalination plant could provide 8000 to 150,000 m 3 /d of high quality potable water. The design concept and parameters, safety features and coupling scheme are presented

  7. Study on photovoltaic power systems. Development of dispersed stand-alone system (seawater desalination system for remote island areas-osmosis)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1987-09-01

    This study deals with development of a system of seawater osmosis desalination for remote island areas and agricultural-process water-supply. The demonstration system, installed in Hosojima, was simulated for examination. The yearly-averaged generated electric energy was 76 kWh/day, and the consumed energy 72 kWh/day. The calculated water productivity was 5.5 m/sup 3//day in the first step, and 4.9 m/sup 3//day in the second. This amount had a high balance with that required for hydropholic water of 4.5 m/sup 3//day. The generated output was 30.8 kWp (power range of 10-100 kW) for the solar cells, and 840 Ah for the electric batteries. The generated direct-current power was supplied to the loads without use of a DA converter, which contributes to the high energy efficiency and the inexpensiveness of the system. This system can be unattendantly operated in the normal conditions. After construction of the demonstration plant, the respective units and the total system were adjusted to give good results. (1 fig, 1 tab)

  8. A multi evaporator desalination system operated with thermocline energy for future sustainability

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2017-05-05

    All existing commercial seawater desalination processes, i.e. thermally-driven and membrane-based reverse osmosis (RO), are operated with universal performance ratios (UPR) varying up to 105, whilst the UPR for an ideal or thermodynamic limit (TL) of desalination is at 828. Despite slightly better UPRs for the RO plants, all practical desalination plants available, hitherto, operate at only less than 12% of the TL, rendering them highly energy intensive and unsustainable for future sustainability. More innovative desalination methods must be sought to meet the needs of future sustainable desalination and these methods should attain an upper UPR bound of about 25 to 30% of the TL. In this paper, we examined the efficacy of a multi-effect distillation (MED) system operated with thermocline energy from the sea; a proven desalination technology that can exploit the narrow temperature gradient of 20°C all year round created between the warm surface seawater and the cold-seawater at depths of about 300–600m. Such a seawater thermocline (ST)-driven MED system, simply called the ST-MED process, has the potential to achieve up to 2 folds improvement in desalination efficiency over the existing methods, attaining about 18.8% of the ideal limit. With the major energy input emanated from the renewable solar, the ST-MED is truly a “green desalination” method of low global warming potential, best suited for tropical coastal shores having bathymetry depths of 300m or more.

  9. Strategies for merging microbial fuel cell technologies in water desalination processes: Start-up protocol and desalination efficiency assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borjas, Zulema; Esteve-Núñez, Abraham; Ortiz, Juan Manuel

    2017-07-01

    Microbial Desalination Cells constitute an innovative technology where microbial fuel cell and electrodialysis merge in the same device for obtaining fresh water from saline water with no energy-associated cost for the user. In this work, an anodic biofilm of the electroactive bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens was able to efficiently convert the acetate present in synthetic waste water into electric current (j = 0.32 mA cm-2) able to desalinate water. .Moreover, we implemented an efficient start-up protocol where desalination up to 90% occurred in a desalination cycle (water production:0.308 L m-2 h-1, initial salinity: 9 mS cm-1, final salinity: osmosis (RO) or reverse electrodialysis.

  10. The application of nuclear energy for seawater desalination. The Candesal nuclear desalination system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humphries, J.R.; Sweeney, C.B.

    1997-01-01

    As the global consumption of water increases with growing population and rising levels of industrialization, major new sources of potable water production must be developed. Desalination of seawater is an energy intensive process which brings with it a demand for additional energy generation capacity. The Candesal nuclear desalination/cogeneration system has been developed to address both requirements, providing improved water production efficiency and lower costs. To meet large scale water production requirements the Candesal system integrates a nuclear energy source, such as the CANDU reactor, with a reverse osmosis (ro) desalination facility, capturing the waste heat from the electrical generation process to improve the efficiency of the ro process. By also using advanced feed water pre-treatment and sophisticated system design integration and optimization techniques, the net results is a substantial improvement in energy efficiency, economics, and environmental impact. The design is also applicable to a variety of conventional energy sources, and applies over the full range of desalination plant sizes. Since potable water production is based on membrane technology, brackish water and tertiary effluent from waste water treatment can also be used as feed streams to the system. Also considered to be a fundamental component of the Candesal philosophy is a technology transfer program aimed at establishing a complete local capability for the design, fabrication, operation and maintenance of these facilities. Through a well defined and logical technology transfer program, the necessary technologies are integrated into a nation's industrial capability and infrastructure, thus preparing local industry for the long term goal of manufacturing large scale, economical and environmentally benign desalination facilities. (author). 8 refs, 3 figs

  11. Energy recovery by pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) in SWRO–PRO integrated processes

    KAUST Repository

    Wan, Chun Feng

    2015-11-11

    Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a promising technology to reduce the specific energy consumption of a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant. In this study, it is projected that 25.6-40.7millionkWh/day of energy can be recovered globally, if the brines from SWRO are used as the draw solution and diluted to the seawater level in a PRO system. Detailed integrated SWRO-PRO processes are developed in this study with the option to form a closed-loop SWRO-PRO process that can substantially reduce the pretreatment cost of desalination. The governing mathematical models that describe both the transport phenomena on a module level and the energy flow on a system level are developed to evaluate the performances of the SWRO-PRO processes. The model aims to investigate the performance of the hollow fibers as dilution occurs and provides guidelines on hollow fiber module design and process operation. Determining the dilution factor and the corresponding operating pressure of PRO is the key to optimize the integrated process. The specific energy consumptions of three SWRO-involved processes; namely, (1) SWRO without a pressure exchanger, (2) SWRO with a pressure exchanger, and (3) SWRO with pressure exchangers and PRO are compared. The results show that the specific energy consumptions for the above three processes are 5.51, 1.79 and 1.08kWh/(m of desalinated water) for a 25% recovery SWRO plant; and 4.13, 2.27 and 1.14kWh/(m of desalinated water) for a 50% recovery SWRO plant, using either freshwater or wastewater as the feed solution in PRO.

  12. Assessment of Silt Density Index (SDI) as Fouling Propensity Parameter in Reverse Osmosis Desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Rachman, Rinaldi

    2011-07-01

    Reverse osmosis operations are facing persistent fouling phenomenon that has challenged the integrity of these processes. Prediction of fouling potential by measuring a fouling index toward feed water is essential to ensure robust operation. Moreover, employing a reliable fouling index with good reproducibility and precision is necessary. Silt density index (SDI) is considered insufficient in terms of reliability and empirical theory, among other limitations. Nevertheless due its simplicity, SDI measurement is utilized extensively in RO desalination systems. The aim of this research is to assess the reliability of SDI. Methods include the investigation of different SDI membranes and study of the nature of the SDI filtration. Results demonstrate the existence of the membrane properties\\' variation within manufacturers, which then causes a lack of accuracy in fouling risk estimation. The nature of particles during SDI filtration provides information that particle concentration and size play a significant role on SDI quantification with substantial representation given by particles with size close to membrane nominal pore size. Moreover, turbidity assisted SDI measurements along with determination of UF pretreated and clean water fouling potential, establishes the indication of non-fouling related phenomena involved on SDI measurement such as a natural organic matter adsorption and hydrodynamic condition that alters during filtration. Additionally, it was found that the latter affects the sensitivity of SDI by being represented by some portions of SDI value. Keywords: Reverse Osmosis, Fouling index, Particulate Fouling, Silt Density Index (SDI), and Assessment of SDI.

  13. Model-based Extracted Water Desalination System for Carbon Sequestration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gettings, Rachel; Dees, Elizabeth

    2017-03-23

    The focus of this research effort centered around water recovery from high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) extracted waters (180,000 mg/L) using a combination of water recovery (partial desalination) technologies. The research goals of this project were as follows: 1. Define the scope and test location for pilot-scale implementation of the desalination system, 2.Define a scalable, multi-stage extracted water desalination system that yields clean water, concentrated brine, and, salt from saline brines, and 3. Validate overall system performance with field-sourced water using GE pre-pilot lab facilities. Conventional falling film-mechanical vapor recompression (FF-MVR) technology was established as a baseline desalination process. A quality function deployment (QFD) method was used to compare alternate high TDS desalination technologies to the base case FF-MVR technology, including but not limited to: membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), and high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO). Technoeconomic analysis of high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO) was performed comparing the following two cases: 1. a hybrid seawater RO (SWRO) plus HPRO system and 2. 2x standard seawater RO system, to achieve the same total pure water recovery rate. Pre-pilot-scale tests were conducted using field production water to validate key process steps for extracted water pretreatment. Approximately 5,000 gallons of field produced water was processed through, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and steam regenerable sorbent operations. Improvements in membrane materials of construction were considered as necessary next steps to achieving further improvement in element performance at high pressure. Several modifications showed promising results in their ability to withstand close to 5,000 PSI without gross failure.

  14. Nanostructured materials for water desalination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Humplik, T; Lee, J; O' Hern, S C; Fellman, B A; Karnik, R; Wang, E N [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (United States); Baig, M A; Hassan, S F; Atieh, M A; Rahman, F; Laoui, T, E-mail: tlaoui@kfupm.edu.sa, E-mail: karnik@mit.edu, E-mail: enwang@mit.edu [Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia)

    2011-07-22

    Desalination of seawater and brackish water is becoming an increasingly important means to address the scarcity of fresh water resources in the world. Decreasing the energy requirements and infrastructure costs of existing desalination technologies remains a challenge. By enabling the manipulation of matter and control of transport at nanometer length scales, the emergence of nanotechnology offers new opportunities to advance water desalination technologies. This review focuses on nanostructured materials that are directly involved in the separation of water from salt as opposed to mitigating issues such as fouling. We discuss separation mechanisms and novel transport phenomena in materials including zeolites, carbon nanotubes, and graphene with potential applications to reverse osmosis, capacitive deionization, and multi-stage flash, among others. Such nanostructured materials can potentially enable the development of next-generation desalination systems with increased efficiency and capacity. (topical review)

  15. Nanostructured materials for water desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humplik, T; Lee, J; O'Hern, S C; Fellman, B A; Karnik, R; Wang, E N; Baig, M A; Hassan, S F; Atieh, M A; Rahman, F; Laoui, T

    2011-01-01

    Desalination of seawater and brackish water is becoming an increasingly important means to address the scarcity of fresh water resources in the world. Decreasing the energy requirements and infrastructure costs of existing desalination technologies remains a challenge. By enabling the manipulation of matter and control of transport at nanometer length scales, the emergence of nanotechnology offers new opportunities to advance water desalination technologies. This review focuses on nanostructured materials that are directly involved in the separation of water from salt as opposed to mitigating issues such as fouling. We discuss separation mechanisms and novel transport phenomena in materials including zeolites, carbon nanotubes, and graphene with potential applications to reverse osmosis, capacitive deionization, and multi-stage flash, among others. Such nanostructured materials can potentially enable the development of next-generation desalination systems with increased efficiency and capacity. (topical review)

  16. Nanostructured materials for water desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humplik, T.; Lee, J.; O'Hern, S. C.; Fellman, B. A.; Baig, M. A.; Hassan, S. F.; Atieh, M. A.; Rahman, F.; Laoui, T.; Karnik, R.; Wang, E. N.

    2011-07-01

    Desalination of seawater and brackish water is becoming an increasingly important means to address the scarcity of fresh water resources in the world. Decreasing the energy requirements and infrastructure costs of existing desalination technologies remains a challenge. By enabling the manipulation of matter and control of transport at nanometer length scales, the emergence of nanotechnology offers new opportunities to advance water desalination technologies. This review focuses on nanostructured materials that are directly involved in the separation of water from salt as opposed to mitigating issues such as fouling. We discuss separation mechanisms and novel transport phenomena in materials including zeolites, carbon nanotubes, and graphene with potential applications to reverse osmosis, capacitive deionization, and multi-stage flash, among others. Such nanostructured materials can potentially enable the development of next-generation desalination systems with increased efficiency and capacity.

  17. The Physical, Chemical and Microbial Quality of Treated Water in Qom s Desalination Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.R Yari

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available

    Background and objectives

    Water is the basis of life and health. The health of food and water supply plays an important role in human health. One of the methods of water desalination is membrane filter reverse osmosis method. This method is used for desalination of drinking water supply in Qom.

    Methods

    This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study designed to determine the quality of treated water in Qom desalination plant in year 2002. Inlet and outlet water samples of this plant were examined by the standard examination methods and the collected data were compared with national and international standards. Excel software was used for statistical analysis.

    Results

    The results showed that the residual chlorine concentration, total hardness and fluoride concentration were lower than the minimum standard limit set for drinking water. The pH was also lower than the minimum standard limit. Microbial contamination was detected in 6% of samples.

    Conclusion

    The results show that the acidity of water was lower than standard in whole plant. This gives corrosive properties to the water and increases the dissolution of materials, which are in contact with this water. In order to eliminate the secondary contamination, the concentration of residual chlorine should be 1 mg/l. But, none of the measurements showed a concentration as high as this value. As fluoride is an important element for health and growth of bone and teeth, especially in growing children, fluoride should be added to the drinking water. As the relationship between hardness of water and cardiovascular diseases has been established, it can be concluded that this drinking water supply can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases in long time. Dilution of this water is recommended to adjust various factors to the standard limits and keep the total dissolved solids low.

  18. Wastewater treatment, energy recovery and desalination using a forward osmosis membrane in an air-cathode microbial osmotic fuel cell

    KAUST Repository

    Werner, Craig M.

    2013-02-01

    A microbial osmotic fuel cell (MOFC) has a forward osmosis (FO) membrane situated between the electrodes that enable desalinated water recovery along with power generation. Previous designs have required aerating the cathode chamber water, offsetting the benefits of power generation by power consumption for aeration. An air-cathode MOFC design was developed here to improve energy recovery, and the performance of this new design was compared to conventional microbial fuel cells containing a cation (CEM) or anion exchange membrane (AEM). Internal resistance of the MOFC was reduced with the FO membrane compared to the ion exchange membranes, resulting in a higher maximum power production (43W/m3) than that obtained with an AEM (40W/m3) or CEM (23W/m3). Acetate (carbon source) removal reached 90% in the MOFC; however, a small amount of acetate crossed the membrane to the catholyte. The initial water flux declined by 28% from cycle 1 to cycle 3 of operation but stabilized at 4.1L/m2/h over the final three batch cycles. This decline in water flux was due to membrane fouling. Overall desalination of the draw (synthetic seawater) solution was 35%. These results substantially improve the prospects for simultaneous wastewater treatment and seawater desalination in the same reactor. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  19. Economy Aspect for Nuclear Desalination Selection in Muria Peninsula

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudi, Ariyanto; Alimah, Siti

    2011-01-01

    An assessment of economy aspect for nuclear desalination selection has been carried out. This study compares the costs of water production for the Multi Stage Flash Distillation (MSF), Multi Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination process coupled to PWR. Economic analysis of water cost are performed using the DEEP-3.1. The results of the performed case study of Muria Peninsula showed that the water cost to desalination process coupled with PWR nuclear power plant (at 5% interest rate, 2750 m 3 /day capacity, 28 o C temperature, 28.700 ppm TDS) with MSF plant is the highest (1.353 $/m 3 ), compared to 0.885 $/m 3 and 0.791 $/m 3 with the MED and RO plants respectively. As for MSF process, water cost by RO are also sensitive to variables, such as the interest rate, temperature and total salinity. However, MED process is sensitive to interest rate and temperature based on the economic aspect. MSF and MED plants produce a high-quality product water with a range of 1.0 - 50 ppm TDS, while RO plants produce product water of 200 - 500 ppm TDS. Water requirements for reactor coolant system in PWR type is about 1 ppm. Based on economic aspect and water requirements for reactor coolant system in PWR type, so co-generation of PWR and MED may be a favourable option for being applied in Muria Peninsula. (author)

  20. Economic Aspect for Nuclear Desalination Selection in Muria Peninsula

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudi, Ariyanto; Alimah, Siti

    2011-01-01

    An assessment of economy aspect for nuclear desalination selection has been carried out. This study compares the costs of water production for the Multi Stage Flash Distillation (MSF), Multi Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination process coupled to PWR. Economic analysis of water cost are performed using the DEEP-3.1. The results of the performed case study of Muria Peninsula showed that the water cost to desalination process coupled with PWR nuclear power plant (at 5% interest rate, 2750 m 3 /day capacity, 28 o C temperature, 28.700 ppm TDS) with MSF plant is the highest (1.353 $/m 3 ), compared to 0.885 $/m 3 and 0.791 $/m 3 with the MED and RO plants respectively. As for MSF process, water cost by RO are also sensitive to variables, such as the interest rate, temperature and total salinity. However, MED process is sensitive to interest rate and temperature based on the economic aspect. MSF and MED plants produce a high-quality product water with a range of 1.0 - 50 ppm TDS, while RO plants produce product water of 200 - 500 ppm TDS. Water requirements for reactor coolant system in PWR type is about 1 ppm. Based on economic aspect and water requirements for reactor coolant system in PWR type, so co-generation of PWR and MED may be a favourable option for being applied in Muria Peninsula. (author)

  1. Desalination of seawater with nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nisan, S.; Volpi, L.

    2003-01-01

    About 40 % of the world population is concerned with water scarcity. This article reviews the different techniques of desalination: distillation (MED and MSF), reverse osmosis (RO), and electrodialysis (ED). The use of nuclear energy rests on several arguments: 1) it is economically efficient compared to fossil energy. 2) nuclear reactors provide heat covering a broad range of temperature, which allows the implementation of all the desalination techniques. 3) the heat normally lost at the heat sink could be used for desalination. And 4) nuclear is respectful of the environment. The feedback experience concerning nuclear desalination is estimated to about 100 reactor-years, it is sufficient to allow the understanding of all the physical and technological processes involved. In Japan, 8 PWR-type reactors are coupled to MED, MSF, and RO desalination techniques, the water produced is used locally mainly for feeding steam generators. (A.C.)

  2. Desalination of seawater with nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nisan, S.; Volpi, L.

    2001-01-01

    About 40 % of the world population is concerned with water scarcity. This article reviews the different techniques of desalination: distillation (MED and MSF), reverse osmosis (RO), and electrodialysis (ED). The use of nuclear energy rests on several arguments: 1) it is economically efficient compared to fossil energy; 2) nuclear reactors provide heat covering a broad range of temperature, which allows the implementation of all the desalination techniques; 3) the heat normally lost at the heat sink could be used for desalination; and 4) nuclear is respectful of the environment. The feedback experience concerning nuclear desalination is estimated to about 100 reactor-years, it is sufficient to allow the understanding of all the physical and technological processes involved. In Japan, 8 PWR-type reactors are coupled to MED, MSF, and RO desalination techniques, the water produced is used locally mainly for feeding steam generators. (A.C.)

  3. Source water quality shaping different fouling scenarios in a full-scale desalination plant at the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Muhammad

    2013-02-01

    The complexity of Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane fouling phenomenon has been widely studied and several factors influencing it have been reported by many researchers. This original study involves the investigation of two different fouling profiles produced at a seawater RO desalination plant installed on a floating mobile barge. The plant was moved along the coastline of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. The two locations where the barge was anchored showed different water quality. At the second location, two modules were harvested. One of the modules was pre-fouled by inorganics during plant operation at the previous site while the other was installed at the second site. Fouled membranes were subjected to a wide range of chemical and microbiological characterization procedures. Drastically different fouling patterns were observed in the two membranes which indicates the influence of source water quality on membrane surface modification and on fouling of RO membranes. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

  4. Multilayer Nanoporous Graphene Membranes for Water Desalination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen-Tanugi, David; Lin, Li-Chiang; Grossman, Jeffrey C

    2016-02-10

    While single-layer nanoporous graphene (NPG) has shown promise as a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination membrane, multilayer graphene membranes can be synthesized more economically than the single-layer material. In this work, we build upon the knowledge gained to date toward single-layer graphene to explore how multilayer NPG might serve as a RO membrane in water desalination using classical molecular dynamic simulations. We show that, while multilayer NPG exhibits similarly promising desalination properties to single-layer membranes, their separation performance can be designed by manipulating various configurational variables in the multilayer case. This work establishes an atomic-level understanding of the effects of additional NPG layers, layer separation, and pore alignment on desalination performance, providing useful guidelines for the design of multilayer NPG membranes.

  5. Marine monitoring surveys for desalination plants-A critical review

    KAUST Repository

    Lattemann, Sabine

    2013-01-01

    Environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies are standard practice and a regulatory requirement for most new desalination projects today. However, most of the EIA studies are limited to predictive information; that is, they gather information on the project and the project\\'s environment before project implementation to make predictions about likely impacts. The EIAs may involve comprehensive studies, such as field monitoring, laboratory toxicity testing, and modeling studies. Consequently, the"surprising paucity of useful experimental data, either from laboratory tests or from field monitoring studies", which was observed by the US National Research Council in 2008, has been gradually decreasing. However, there is still a long-term research need on the site-specific effects of desalination plants after project commissioning has taken place. A main challenge of field research is the adequate design of the monitoring studies, which have to adequately distinguish the effects of the desalination project from natural processes over long periods of time. The existing monitoring studies have so far used a wide range of approaches and methods to investigate the environmental impacts of desalination plant discharges. Shortfalls are often that they are limited in scope, short-term, or localized. In essence, many studies fall short of recognizing the potentially synergetic effects of the single waste components of the discharges on marine organisms and the complexity of the potential responses by the ecosystem. While the possible risk of damage arising from the concentrate discharge to the marine environment in close proximity to the outfall is at hand, no conclusive evidence can yet be provided concerning the long-term impacts of desalination plant discharges, let alone the cumulative impacts on certain sea areas. This paper conducts a critical review of existing monitoring programs for desalination plants. Shortcomings of current practices are identified and relevant

  6. Diagnosis of small capacity reverse osmosis desalination unit for domestic water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hillali, Z.; Hamed, A.; Elfil, Hamza; Ferjani, E.

    2009-01-01

    Tunisian norm of drinking water tolerates a maximum TDS of 1.5 g/L, and the domestic water presents usually a salinity grater than 500 mg/L. In the last years, several small capacity reverse osmosis desalination prototypes have been marketed. They are used to desalinate brackish water with TDS lower than 1.5 g/L. This RO unit, tested with tap waters during four years, was diagnosed. The RO unit produces 10-15 L/Hour with a recovery rate between 25 and 40 pour cent and salt rejection in order of 90 pour cent. The salinity of the tested domestic water is located between 0.4 and 1.4 g/L. Water pretreatment is composed of three filtration operations (cartridge filter, granulate active carbon filter and 5 =m cartridge filter). Pretreated water is pumped through RO membrane with maximum pressure of 6 bars. At the 4th year, the RO unit performances were substantial decreased. Recovery rate and salt rejection fall down more than 50 and 100% respectively and the pressure drop increase from 1 to 2.1 bar The membrane regeneration allowed only the rate recovery restoration. The membrane selectivity was not improved. The membrane seems irreversibly damaged by the tap water chlorine none retained by the deficient pretreatment. An autopsy of the used RO membrane was done by different analysis techniques as SEM/EDX, AFM, XRD and FTIR spectroscopy. The analysis of membrane (proper and used) surfaces show a deposit film on the used membrane witch evaluated to environ 2 =m, it indicates a fooling phenomenon. The SEM photos show deterioration on the active layer material of the membrane witch seems attacked by the tap water chlorine. The X Rays Diffraction and FTIR show that the deposit collected on the used membrane contains organic and mineral (Gypsum, SiO 2 and clays) materials. Silicates and clays can exist in tap waters and reach the RO membrane when the pretreatment micro-filter became deficient. The Gypsum presence is due only to germination on the membrane.

  7. Transient behaviour and coupling aspects of a hybrid MSF-RO nuclear desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tewari, P.K.; Misra, B.M.

    1998-01-01

    BARC is setting up a 6300 M 3 /day (1.4 MGD) hybrid MSF-RO nuclear desalination plant for sea water desalination at Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) coupled to a 170 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). The transient behaviour and coupling aspects of this dual purpose plant has been discussed. A hybrid desalination plant appears to offer high availability factor. (author)

  8. Seawater quality and microbial communities at a desalination plant marine outfall. A field study at the Israeli Mediterranean coast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drami, Dror; Yacobi, Yosef Z; Stambler, Noga; Kress, Nurit

    2011-11-01

    Global desalination quadrupled in the last 15 years and the relative importance of seawater desalination by reverse osmosis (SWRO) increased as well. While the technological aspects of SWRO plants are extensively described, studies on the environmental impact of brine discharge are lacking, in particular in situ marine environmental studies. The Ashqelon SWRO plant (333,000 m(3) d(-1) freshwater) discharges brine and backwash of the pre-treatment filters (containing ferric hydroxide coagulant) at the seashore, next to the cooling waters of a power plant. At the time of this study brine and cooling waters were discharged continuously and the backwash discharge was pulsed, with a frequency dependent on water quality at the intake. The effects of the discharges on water quality and neritic microbial community were identified, quantified and attributed to the different discharges. The mixed brine-cooling waters discharge increased salinity and temperature at the outfall, were positively buoyant, and dispersed at the surface up to 1340 m south of the outfall. Nutrient concentrations were higher at the outfall while phytoplankton densities were lower. Chlorophyll-a and picophytoplankton cell numbers were negatively correlated with salinity, but more significantly with temperature probably as a result of thermal pollution. The discharge of the pulsed backwash increased turbidity, suspended particulate matter and particulate iron and decreased phytoplankton growth efficiency at the outfall, effects that declined with distance from the outfall. The discharges clearly reduced primary production but we could not attribute the effect to a specific component of the discharge. Bacterial production was also affected but differently in the three surveys. The combined and possible synergistic effects of SWRO desalination along the Israeli shoreline should be taken into account when the three existing plants and additional ones are expected to produce 2 Mm(3) d(-1) freshwater by

  9. Heavy metal contamination in sand and sediments near to disposal site of reject brine from desalination plant, Arabian Gulf: Assessment of environmental pollution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alshahri, Fatimh

    2017-01-01

    Accumulation of heavy metals in environment may cause series potential risk in the living system. This study was carried out to investigate heavy metal contamination in sand samples and sediments along the beach near to disposal site of reject brine from Alkhobar desalination plant, which is one of the oldest and largest reverse osmosis desalination plants in eastern Saudi Arabia, Arabian Gulf. Fourteen heavy metals (U, Ca, Fe, Al, Ti, Sr, Rb, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, As, and Zr) were measured using gamma-ray spectrometry, atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (EDX). The obtained data revealed that the concentrations of these metals were higher than the values in sediment and soil for other studies in Arabian Gulf. Furthermore, the mean values of Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, As, Sr, and Zr concentrations in sand and sediments were higher than the geochemical background values in shale. The contamination factor (CF), modified degree of contamination (mC d ) and pollution load index (PLI) were assessed. According to contamination factors (CF > 1), the results showed elevated levels of Cu, Cr, Mn, Zr, and As in all samples. The highest value of contamination factor was found for As. Based on PLI (PLI > 1), the values of all sampling sites indicate a localized pollution in the study area. Current study could be useful as baseline data for heavy metals in sand and sediments nearby a desalination plant.

  10. Experimental Investigation of Solar Powered Reverse Osmosis ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    fire7-

    due to its low energy consumption is one of the best desalination alternatives. ... numerous villages and farmers, it is very difficult to extend an electric grid to every ... osmosis coupling with solar PV systems holds great promise for increasing ...

  11. Observations on the quality of desalinated water in the Segura river basin. Irrigation and supply; Observaciones sobre la calidad del agua desalada en la Cuenca del Seguro. Riego y abastecimiento

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Latorre Carrion, M.; Camara Zapata, J. M.

    2004-07-01

    Desalination of seawater by reverse osmosis (RO) is an unconventional water resource that could help to maintain irrigation crops in the Segura river basin. Its suitability for irrigation purposes needs to be studied to prevent the soil from being harmed and the quality and yield of the crops from falling. This article describes a simulation of the functioning of a RO desalination plant based on actual seawater data (Mazarron). The results show that desalinated water has an ionic balance giving rise to a high specific absorption rate of Na+ and low electrical conductivity, which means that its quality for agricultural purposes is deficient. The article sets out the requirements for irrigation water and the problems they pose for desalination plants. The suitability of desalinated water for agricultural purposes is ecaminaed, corrective measures proposed and the cost involved quantified. (Author) 5 refs.

  12. Present status of and subjects on the industrial utilization of polymer separation membranes. Japan`s first largest sea water desalination plant by RO; Kobunshi bunrimaku no sangyo riyo no genjo to kadai. Zosui bun`ya ni okeru maku riyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Furuichi, M. [Kurita Water Industries Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1998-07-05

    The utilization in Japan and abroad is discussed of desalination methods using evaporation, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, and electrodialysis membranes, out of various desalination techniques for seawater and others containing more salt. A new seawater desalination plant built in Okinawa, Japan, is outlined, and the future trend of Japan`s efforts for desalination is predicted. The said plant in Okinawa is the largest ever built in this country, and occupies 4th or 5th place in terms of capacity among similar facilities across the world. It was completed in April, 1997, and produces pure water at a rate of 40,000m{sup 3}/day. This plant, operating on RO, comprises eight RO membrane units each capable of 5131{sup 3}/day. The membranes are of the spiral type, consisting of Toray`s crosslinked aramid-base composite membranes and Nitto Denko`s membranes composed totally of crosslinked aromatic polyamide. The greatest of the pending tasks is to reduce the desalination cost. As for the operating cost of the desalination facility at the current stage, it costs 120-130 yen/m{sup 3} on the 40,000m{sup 3}/day scale, and the power cost occupies approximately 60% of the total operating cost. It is concluded that the consumption of electric power and chemicals per pure water produced have to be reduced. 8 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs.

  13. Future Energy Benchmark for Desalination: is it Better to have a Power (electricity) Plant with ro or Med/msf?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Ng, Kim Choon; Thu, Kyaw

    2016-06-01

    Power and desalination cogeneration plants are common in many water scared courtiers. Designers and planners for cogeneration face tough challenges in deciding the options:- Is it better to operate a power plant (PP) with the reverse osmosis (i.e., PP+RO) or the thermally-driven multi-effect distillation/multi-stage flashed (PP+MED/MSF) methods. From literature, the RO methods are known to be energy efficient whilst the MED/MSF are known to have excellent thermodynamic synergies as only low pressure and temperature steam are used. Not with-standing the challenges of severe feed seawater of the Gulf, such as the frequent harmful algae blooms (HABs) and high silt contents, this presentation presents a quantitative analyses using the exergy and energetic approaches in evaluating the performances of a real cogeneration plant that was recently proposed in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. We demonstrate that the process choice of PP+RO versus PP+MED depends on the inherent efficiencies of individual process method which is closely related to innovative process design. In this connection, a method of primary fuel cost apportionment for a co-generation plant with a MED desalination is presented. We show that an energy approach, that captures the quality of expanding steam, is a better method over the conventional work output (energetic) and the energy method seems to be over-penalizing a thermally-driven MED by as much as 22% in the operating cost of water.

  14. Future Energy Benchmark for Desalination: Is it Better to have a Power (Electricity) Plant With RO or MED/MSF?

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Ng, Kim Choon; Thu, Kyaw

    2016-01-01

    Power and desalination cogeneration plants are common in many water scared courtiers. Designers and planners for cogeneration face tough challenges in deciding the options:- Is it better to operate a power plant (PP) with the reverse osmosis (i.e., PP+RO) or the thermally-driven multi-effect distillation/multi-stage flashed ( PP+MED/MSF) methods. From literature, the RO methods are known to be energy efficient whilst the MED/MSF are known to have excellent thermodynamic synergies as only low pressure and temperature steam are used. Not with-standing the challenges of severe feed seawater of the Gulf, such as the frequent harmful algae blooms (HABs) and high silt contents, this presentation presents a quantitative analyses using the exergy and energetic approaches in evaluating the performances of a real cogeneration plant that was recently proposed in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. We demonstrate that the process choice of PP+RO versus PP+MED depends on the inherent efficiencies of individual process method which is closely related to innovative process design. In this connection, a method of primary fuel cost apportionment for a co-generation plant with a MED desalination is presented. We show that an energy approach, that captures the quality of expanding steam, is a better method over the conventional work output (energetic) and the energy method seems to be over-penalizing a thermally-driven MED by as much as 22% in the operating cost of water.

  15. Future Energy Benchmark for Desalination: Is it Better to have a Power (Electricity) Plant With RO or MED/MSF?

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2016-06-23

    Power and desalination cogeneration plants are common in many water scared courtiers. Designers and planners for cogeneration face tough challenges in deciding the options:- Is it better to operate a power plant (PP) with the reverse osmosis (i.e., PP+RO) or the thermally-driven multi-effect distillation/multi-stage flashed ( PP+MED/MSF) methods. From literature, the RO methods are known to be energy efficient whilst the MED/MSF are known to have excellent thermodynamic synergies as only low pressure and temperature steam are used. Not with-standing the challenges of severe feed seawater of the Gulf, such as the frequent harmful algae blooms (HABs) and high silt contents, this presentation presents a quantitative analyses using the exergy and energetic approaches in evaluating the performances of a real cogeneration plant that was recently proposed in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. We demonstrate that the process choice of PP+RO versus PP+MED depends on the inherent efficiencies of individual process method which is closely related to innovative process design. In this connection, a method of primary fuel cost apportionment for a co-generation plant with a MED desalination is presented. We show that an energy approach, that captures the quality of expanding steam, is a better method over the conventional work output (energetic) and the energy method seems to be over-penalizing a thermally-driven MED by as much as 22% in the operating cost of water.

  16. Permeability of uncharged organic molecules in reverse osmosis desalination membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dražević, Emil; Košutić, Krešimir; Svalina, Marin; Catalano, Jacopo

    2017-06-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are primarily designed for removal of salts i.e. for desalination of brackish and seawater, but they have also found applications in removal of organic molecules. While it is clear that steric exclusion is the dominant removal mechanism, the fundamental explanation for how and why the separation occurs remains elusive. Until recently there was no strong microscopic evidences elucidating the structure of the active polyamide layers of RO membranes, and thus they have been conceived as "black boxes"; or as an array of straight capillaries with a distribution of radii; or as polymers with a small amount of polymer free domains. The knowledge of diffusion and sorption coefficients is a prerequisite for understanding the intrinsic permeability of any organic solute in any polymer. At the same time, it is technically challenging to accurately measure these two fundamental parameters in very thin (20-300 nm) water-swollen active layers. In this work we have measured partition and diffusion coefficients and RO permeabilities of ten organic solutes in water-swollen active layers of two types of RO membranes, low (SWC4+) and high flux (XLE). We deduced from our results and recent microscopic studies that the solute flux of organic molecules in polyamide layer of RO membranes occurs in two domains, dense polymer (the key barrier layer) and the water filled domains. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Optimal scheduling of biocide dosing for seawater-cooled power and desalination plants

    KAUST Repository

    Mahfouz, Abdullah Bin; Atilhan, Selma; Batchelor, Bill; Linke, Patrick; Abdel-Wahab, Ahmed; El-Halwagi, Mahmoud M.

    2011-01-01

    Thermal desalination systems are typically integrated with power plants to exploit the excess heat resulting from the power-generation units. Using seawater in cooling the power plant and the desalination system is a common practice in many parts

  18. Solar photovoltaic power for water desalination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wood, J. R.; Crutcher, J. L.; Norbedo, A. J.; Cummings, A. B.

    1980-07-01

    There is a considerable global need for systems which can meet the drinking water requirements of small communities (7000 people or less) from brackish water or from seawater. Solar photovoltaic panels are an ideal source of power for the purpose, primarily because they produce electricity, which can be used to power a membrane type desalting unit, i.e., either a reverse osmosis plant or an electrodialysis unit. In addition, electricity is most convenient for feedwater pumping. This paper addresses considerations which arise in the design and construction of a complete solar powered water desalination system which requires no supply of fuel nor any form of backup power (grid connection or engine generator).

  19. Experience with nuclear desalination in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiota, Y.

    1996-01-01

    In Japan, the seawater desalination facilities were used mainly for potable water in remote islands and industrial water such as boiler feedwater. In order to produce potable water, distillation processes, Electrical Dialysis (ED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) were used in the past. The distillation facilities were used to produce boiler feedwater, however, RO facilities are now used for this purpose, such as the nuclear desalination facilities with capacities of 2600 m 3 /d, 2000 m 3 /d and 1000 m 3 /d, in Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd., Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc. and Kyuhshu Electric Power Co., Inc., respectively. The RO process is becoming a main stream of desalination because the process has a low energy consumption. 6 tabs

  20. Solar-Powered Desalination: A Modelling and Experimental Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leblanc, Jimmy; Andrews, John

    2007-10-01

    Water shortage is becoming one of the major problems worldwide. As such, desalination technologies have been implemented to meet growing demands for fresh water. Among the desalination technologies, thermal desalination, including multi stage flash (MSF) and multi effect evaporation (MEE), is the current leading desalination process. Reverse osmosis (RO) is also being increasingly used. Despite technological improvements, thermal desalination and reverse osmosis continue to be intensive fossil-fuel consumers and contribute to increased levels of greenhouse gases. As energy costs rise, thermal desalination by solar energy and/or low cost waste heat is likely to become increasingly attractive. As part of a project investigating the productive use of saline land and the development of sustainable desalination systems, the feasibility of producing potable water from seawater or brackish water using desalination systems powered by renewable energy in the form of low-temperature solar-thermal sources has been studied. A salinity-gradient solar pond and an evacuated tube solar collector system have been used as heat sources. Solar ponds combine solar energy collection with long-term storage and can provide reliable thermal energy at temperature ranges from 50 to 90 °C. A visual basic computer model of the different multi-stage flash desalination processes coupled with a salinity-gradient solar pond was developed to determine which process is preferable in regards to performance and greenhouse impact. The governing mathematical equations are derived from mass balances, heat energy balances, and heat transfer characteristics. Using the results from the modelling, a small-scale solar-powered desalination system, capable of producing up to 500 litres of fresh water per day, was designed and manufactured. This single-stage flash system consists of two main units: the heat supply and storage system and the flash desalination unit. Two different condenser heat exchanger

  1. Development of regulatory requirements/guides for desalination unit coupled with nuclear plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jo, Jong Chull; Yune, Young Gill; Kim, Woong Sik

    2005-10-01

    The basic design of System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor (SMART), a small-to-medium sized integral type pressurized water reactor (PWR) with the capacity of 330MWth, has been developed in Korea. In order to demonstrate the safety and performance of the SMART design, 'Development Project of SMART-P (SMART-Pilot Plant)' has been being performed as one of the 'National Mid and Long-term Atomic Energy R and D Programs', which includes design, construction, and start-up operation of the SMART-P with the capacity of 65MWth, a 1/5 scaled-down design of the SMART. At the same time, a study on the development of regulatory requirements/guides for the desalination unit coupled with nuclear plant has been carried out by KINS in order to prepare for the forthcoming SMART-P licensing. The results of this study performed from August of 2002 to October of 2005 can be summarized as follows: (1) The general status of desalination technologies has been survey. (2) The design of the desalination plant coupled with the SMART-P has been investigated. (3) The regulatory requirements/guides relevant to a desalination unit coupled with a nuclear plant have been surveyed. (4) A direction on the development of domestic regulatory requirements/guides for a desalination unit has been established. (5) A draft of regulatory requirements/guides for a desalination unit has been developed. (6) Expert technical reviews have been performed for the draft regulatory requirements/guides for a desalination unit. The draft regulatory requirements/guides developed in this study will be finalized and can be applied directly to the licensing of the SMART-P and SMART. Furthermore, it will be also applied to the licensing of the desalination unit coupled with the nuclear plant

  2. A Method for Seawater Desalination via Squeezing Ionic Hydrogels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Chi; Wang, Yanhong; Lang, Xuemei; Fan, Shuanshi

    2016-12-06

    In this study, mechanical force applied to squeeze poly(sodium acrylate-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels that contained seawater in order to obtain fresh water. By incorporating ionic monomer sodium acrylate (SA) into hydrogels, the salt rejection was significantly enhanced from 27.62% to 64.57% (feed concentration 35.00g/L NaCl solution). As SA's concentration continuously increased, salt rejection declined due to the change in hydrogel's matrix structure. Therefore, water recovery raised as the current swelling degree increased. We also measured pore size distribution by applying mercury intrusion porosimetry on each hydrogel sample in the interest of finding out whether the sample SA5/HEMA15 owned multi pore structure, since the result could be good for the desalination performance. After 4 times reused, the hydrogel remained good desalination performance. Although compared to reverse osmosis (RO) and multistage flash distillation (MSF) & multiple effect distillation (MED) the salt rejection of this hydrogel (roughly 64%) seemed low, the hydrogels can be used for forward osmosis and reverse osmosis, as pretreatment of seawater to reduce the energy consumption for the downstream.

  3. Impaired Performance of Pressure-Retarded Osmosis due to Irreversible Biofouling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bar-Zeev, Edo; Perreault, François; Straub, Anthony P; Elimelech, Menachem

    2015-11-03

    Next-generation pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) approaches aim to harness the energy potential of streams with high salinity differences, such as wastewater effluent and seawater desalination plant brine. In this study, we evaluated biofouling propensity in PRO. Bench-scale experiments were carried out for 24 h using a model wastewater effluent feed solution and simulated seawater desalination brine pressurized to 24 bar. For biofouling tests, wastewater effluent was inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and artificial seawater desalination plant brine draw solution was seeded with Pseudoalteromonas atlantica. Our results indicate that biological growth in the feed wastewater stream channel severely fouled both the membrane support layer and feed spacer, resulting in ∼50% water flux decline. We also observed an increase in the pumping pressure required to force water through the spacer-filled feed channel, with pressure drop increasing from 6.4±0.8 bar m(-1) to 15.1±2.6 bar m(-1) due to spacer blockage from the developing biofilm. Neither the water flux decline nor the increased pressure drop in the feed channel could be reversed using a pressure-aided osmotic backwash. In contrast, biofouling in the seawater brine draw channel was negligible. Overall, the reduced performance due to water flux decline and increased pumping energy requirements from spacer blockage highlight the serious challenges of using high fouling potential feed sources in PRO, such as secondary wastewater effluent. We conclude that PRO power generation using wastewater effluent and seawater desalination plant brine may become possible only with rigorous pretreatment or new spacer and membrane designs.

  4. Nuclear desalination: harnessing the seas for development of coastal areas of Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayub, M.S.; Butt, W.M.

    2005-01-01

    already operating a Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant to meet its operating requirements, contributing to its ultimate heat sink. The experience gained in the installation and commissioning of the RO plant will be very useful for the proposed nuclear desalination plant. The objective of this paper is to present the work done by PAEC in preparing the engineering feasibility for coupling a 1MGD demonstration nuclear desalination plant with KANUPP. The paper discusses in detail the criteria for selection of the most appropriate thermal desalting process, capacity of the plant and the coupling arrangement with the existing power plant without disturbing the normal operation of KANUPP. (author)

  5. New Dynamic Library of Reverse Osmosis Plants with Fault Simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luis, Palacin; Fernando, Tadeo; Cesar, de Prada; Elfil, Hamza

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents an update of a dynamic library of reverse osmosis plants (ROSIM). This library has been developed in order to be used for optimization, simulation, controller testing or fault detection strategies and a simple fault tolerant control is tested. ROSIM is based in a set of components representing the different units of a typical reverse osmosis plant (as sand filters, cartridge filters, exchanger energy recoveries, pumps, membranes, storage tanks, control systems, valves, etc.). Different types of fouling (calcium carbonate, iron hydroxide, biofouling) have been added and the mathematical model of the reverse osmosis membranes, proposed in the original library, has been improved.

  6. FY 2000 report on the basic survey to promote Joint Implementation, etc. Project for improvement of efficiency of the power generation/desalination plant in Aktau City; 2000 nendo kyodo jisshi nado suishin kiso chosa hokokusho. Aktau shi hatsuden zosui plant koritsu kaizen jigyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    For the purpose of conserving energy and reducing greenhouse effect gas emission, feasibility study was conducted for improvement of efficiency of power generation/desalination facilities at MAEK Energy Center, Aktau City, Manghistau, Kazakhstan. Presently, the main facilities are the conventional natural gas fired power plant, evaporation type seawater desalination facility, hot water production facility, etc. In the project, introduction of the following was planned to be made: cogeneration facility composed of two units of 1,100-degree C class gas turbine and reverse osmosis (RO) type desalination facility for drinking water production with a capacity of 50,000 t/d. As a result of the study, the energy conservation amount in this project was 151,900-165,400 toe/y in power generation facility, and the greenhouse effect gas reduction amount was 355,000-387,000 t-CO2/y in power generation facility and 268,000 t-CO2/y in desalination facility. The construction cost and operational cost of the plant were 45.7 billion yen and 2.8 billion yen/y. In the economical estimation, ROI and ROE before tax were 7.4 and 34.8, respectively, which were considered to be appropriate values as social infrastructure related conditions. (NEDO)

  7. Apparatus, System, and Method for Forward Osmosis in Water Reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor

    2013-01-03

    An apparatus, system, and method for desalinating water is presented. The invention relates to recovery of water from impaired water sources by using FO and seawater as draw solution (DS). The seawater becomes diluted over time and can be easily desalinated at very low pressures. Thus, a device consumes less energy when recovering water. The apparatus, system and method comprise an immersed forward osmosis cell.

  8. Treatment calculation program for reverse osmosis facilities; Programa de calculo de tratamiento para instalaciones de osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adroer, M.; Bodas, J.; Coma, J.

    2001-07-01

    Reverse osmosis if a technique used ever more frequently for the desalination of water. it is very important to maintain the permeability of the membrane as much as possible throughout its life, and in order to do this, is necessary to know the incrustations properties of the water in contact with the membrane. The Adicro program has been developed to calculate the characteristics of this water from the analysis of the intake water, the type of membrane used, and the recovery percentage. It also calculates the necessary inhibitor doses and, finally, whether the supply water is apt for use in the plant under the predicted conditions or whether it should be modified. (Author) 2 refs.

  9. Energy system impacts of desalination in Jordan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Poul Alberg Østergaard

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Climate change mitigation calls for energy systems minimising end-use demands, optimising the fuel efficiency of conversion systems, increasing the use of renewable energy sources and exploiting synergies wherever possible. In parallel, global fresh water resources are strained due to amongst others population and wealth increase and competitive water uses from agriculture and industry is causing many nations to turn to desalination technologies. This article investigates a Jordanian energy scenario with two different desalination technologies; reverse osmosis (RO driven by electricity and Multi Stage Flash (MSF desalination driven by Cogeneration of Heat and Power (CHP. The two systems impact the energy systems in different ways due to the technologies’ particular characteristics. The systems are analyses in the energy systems analysis model EnergyPLAN to determine the impacts on energy system performance. Results indicate that RO and MSF are similar in fuel use. While there is no use of waste heat from condensing mode plants, efficiencies for CHP and MSF are not sufficiently good to results in lower fuel usage than RO. The Jordanian energy system is somewhat inflexible giving cause to Critical Excess Electricity Production (CEEP even at relatively modest wind power penetrations. Here RO assists the energy system in decreasing CEEP – and even more if water storage is applied.

  10. Floating nuclear energy plants for seawater desalination. Proceedings of a technical committee meeting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-05-01

    Floating nuclear desalination facilities are one of the alternatives being considered. They may offer a particularly suitable choice for remote locations and small island or coastal communities where the necessary manpower and infrastructure to support desalination plants are not available. In the interest of focusing specific attention on the technology of floating nuclear desalination, the IAEA sponsored a Technical Committee Meeting on Floating Nuclear Plants for Seawater Desalination from 29 to 31 May 1995 in Obninsk, Russian Federation. This publication documents the papers and presentations given by experts from several countries at that meeting. It is hoped that the information contained in this report will be a valuable resource for those interested in nuclear desalination, and that it will stimulate further interest in the potential for floating nuclear desalination facilities. Refs, figs, tabs

  11. Implementation of the dual-purpose principle in Iran, Bushehr desalination and nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edalat, M.; Mansoori, F.S.; Entessari, J.; Hamidi, H.

    1978-01-01

    The requirements for electrical power and fresh water and the past and present desalination projects in Iran are discussed. The different methods usually employed in coupling the desalination plants with power plants are outlined, and the interdependency of the two plants and the safety aspects due to radioactive contamination are considered. Finally, the method utilizing a pressurized hot water loop as a safety barrier for the two proposed desalination plants to be coupled with the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plants under construction in Iran is described. (author)

  12. RO-PRO desalination: An integrated low-energy approach to seawater desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prante, Jeri L.; Ruskowitz, Jeffrey A.; Childress, Amy E.; Achilli, Andrea

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • In the novel RO-PRO system, the energy produced by PRO is utilized to offset the energy consumed by the RO. • The specific energy consumption of a RO-PRO system was modeled for the first time. • A novel module-based PRO model for full-scale applications was developed. • The minimum net specific energy consumption of the modeled RO-PRO system was 1.2 kW h/m 3 at 50% RO recovery. • A sensitivity analysis showed a min RO-PRO specific energy consumption of 1.0 kW h/m 3 and a max power density of 10 W/m 2 . - Abstract: Although reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the most energy efficient desalination technology, it still requires a great deal of energy to create the high pressures necessary to desalinate seawater. An opposite process of RO, called pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), utilizes the salinity gradient between a relatively fresh impaired water source and seawater to produce pressure and hence, energy. In this paper, PRO is evaluated in conjunction with RO, in a system called RO-PRO desalination, to reduce the energy requirement of seawater RO desalination. RO-PRO specific energy consumption was modeled using RO conditions at the thermodynamic restriction and a newly developed module-based PRO model. Using a well-characterized cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane, the minimum net specific energy consumption of the system was found to be approximately 40% lower than state-of-the-art seawater RO. A sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effects of membrane characteristics on the specific energy production of the PRO process in the RO-PRO system. The sensitivity analysis showed that the minimum specific energy consumption using virtual membranes is approximately 1.0 kW h per m 3 of RO permeate at 50% RO recovery and that a maximum power density of approximately 10 W/m 2 could be achieved

  13. Nuclear desalination for the northwest of Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ortega C, R. F.

    2008-01-01

    The IMPULSA project of the Engineering Institute of UNAM, it has dedicated from the year 2005 to the study and development of new desalination technologies of seawater with renewable energies. The objective is to form a group of expert engineers and investigators in the desalination topics able to transform their scientific knowledge in engineering solutions, with a high grade of knowledge of the environment and the renewable energies. In the middle of 2007 was took the initiative in the IMPULSA project to study the nuclear desalination topic. It is evident that before the high cost of the hydrocarbons and its high environmental impact, the nuclear generation alternative of energy becomes extremely attractive, mainly for desalination projects of seawater of great size. The Northwest of Mexico is particularly attractive as the appropriate site for one nuclear desalination plant of great size given its shortage of drink water and the quick growth of its population; as well as its level of tourist, agricultural and industrial activity. In this study was revised the state of the art of the nuclear desalination on the world and it is simulated some couplings and operation forms of nuclear reactors and desalination units, from the thermodynamic and economic viewpoint with the purpose of identifying the main peculiarities of this technology. The objective of the study was to characterize several types and sizes of nuclear reactors of the last generation that could be couple to a desalination technology as multi-stage distillation, type flash distillation or inverse osmosis. It is used for this effect the DEEP 3.1 program of the IAEA to simulate the coupling and to carry out an economic preliminary evaluation. Was found cost very competitive of 0.038-0.044 US$/kWh for the electric power production and 0.60 to 0.77 US$/m 3 for the drink water produced, without including the water transport cost or the use of carbon certificates. (Author)

  14. Safety aspects of nuclear plants coupled with seawater desalination units

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-08-01

    The purpose of this publication is to address the safety and licensing aspects of nuclear power plants for which a significant portion of the heat energy produced by the reactor is intended for use in heat utilization applications. Although intended to cover the broad spectrum of nuclear heat applications, the focus of the discussion will be the desalination of sea water using nuclear power plants as the energy source for the desalination process

  15. Needs and processes for the sea water desalination; Besoins et Procedes pour le dessalement de l'eau de mer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Livet, F. [Institut National Polytechnique (INPG-UJF), SIMaP, UMR CNRS 5266, 38 - Grenoble (France)

    2007-11-15

    The author shows the needs of the sea water desalination for the dry countries. The main technique is the reverse osmosis. It requires electricity and its development needs big electric power plants. For economical and ecological reasons, the nuclear energy seems well appropriate. Libya is for instance very interested in this technique, because of their water shortage problem. (A.L.B.)

  16. Energy system impacts of desalination in Jordan

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østergaard, Poul Alberg; Lund, Henrik; Mathiesen, Brian Vad

    2014-01-01

    and Multi Stage Flash (MSF) desalination driven by Cogeneration of Heat and Power (CHP). The two systems impact the energy systems in different ways due to the technologies’ particular characteristics. The systems are analyses in the energy systems analysis model EnergyPLAN to determine the impacts......Climate change mitigation calls for energy systems minimising end-use demands, optimising the fuel efficiency of conversion systems, increasing the use of renewable energy sources and exploiting synergies wherever possible. In parallel, global fresh water resources are strained due to amongst...... others population and wealth increase and competitive water uses from agriculture and industry is causing many nations to turn to desalination technologies. This article investigates a Jordanian energy scenario with two different desalination technologies; reverse osmosis (RO) driven by electricity...

  17. Ion-containing reverse osmosis membranes obtained by radiation grafting method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hegazy, E.-S.A.; El-Assy, N.B.; Dessouki, A.M.; Shaker, M.M.

    1989-01-01

    Cationic membranes obtained by radiation grafting of aqueous acrylic acid onto low density polyethylene films followed by alkaline treatment to confer ionic character in the graft chains, were tested for reverse osmosis desalination of saline water. Selected physical properties of such membranes were investigated. The grafted membranes possess good mechanical and electrical properties. Water uptake for the alkali-treated membrane was much higher than that of the alkali-untreated one. The effect of operation time, degree of grafting, applied pressure and feed concentration on the water flux and salt rejection for the grafted membranes was investigated. Such cationic membranes showed good durability, thermal and chemical stability, acceptable water flux and salt rejection which may make them acceptable for practical use in reverse osmosis desalination of sea water. (author)

  18. Technical review and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: Current and future challenges for better water supply sustainability

    KAUST Repository

    Ghaffour, NorEddine; Missimer, Thomas M.; Amy, Gary L.

    2013-01-01

    Desalination capacity has rapidly increased in the last decade because of the increase in water demand and a significant reduction in desalination cost as a result of significant technological advances, especially in the reverse osmosis process

  19. Instrumentation project of 3rd desalination plant at Tuas (Singapore)

    OpenAIRE

    Charco Iniesta, Sara

    2016-01-01

    This project consists on the description of instrumentation used in Tuas III desalination plant at Singapore and its flow process description. The project has been developed as part of the work of the instrumentation department of the responsible company of the engineering design of Tuas III desalination plant. First of all is important to know the water problems which suffer all the people who live in Singapore. Singapore is a city-state and is home to 5.5 million residents. The coun...

  20. Model-Based Extracted Water Desalination System for Carbon Sequestration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dees, Elizabeth M. [General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY (United States); Moore, David Roger [General Electric Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY (United States); Li, Li [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Kumar, Manish [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

    2017-05-28

    Over the last 1.5 years, GE Global Research and Pennsylvania State University defined a model-based, scalable, and multi-stage extracted water desalination system that yields clean water, concentrated brine, and, optionally, salt. The team explored saline brines that ranged across the expected range for extracted water for carbon sequestration reservoirs (40,000 up to 220,000 ppm total dissolved solids, TDS). In addition, the validated the system performance at pilot scale with field-sourced water using GE’s pre-pilot and lab facilities. This project encompassed four principal tasks, in addition to Project Management and Planning: 1) identify a deep saline formation carbon sequestration site and a partner that are suitable for supplying extracted water; 2) conduct a techno-economic assessment and down-selection of pre-treatment and desalination technologies to identify a cost-effective system for extracted water recovery; 3) validate the downselected processes at the lab/pre-pilot scale; and 4) define the scope of the pilot desalination project. Highlights from each task are described below: Deep saline formation characterization The deep saline formations associated with the five DOE NETL 1260 Phase 1 projects were characterized with respect to their mineralogy and formation water composition. Sources of high TDS feed water other than extracted water were explored for high TDS desalination applications, including unconventional oil and gas and seawater reverse osmosis concentrate. Technoeconomic analysis of desalination technologies Techno-economic evaluations of alternate brine concentration technologies, including humidification-dehumidification (HDH), membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), turboexpander-freeze, solvent extraction and high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO), were conducted. These technologies were evaluated against conventional falling film-mechanical vapor recompression (FF-MVR) as a baseline desalination process. Furthermore, a

  1. Coagulation and ultrafiltration in seawater reverse osmosis pretreatment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tabatabai, S.A.A.

    2014-01-01

    Seawater desalination is a globally expanding coastal industry with an installed capacity of over 80 million m3/day. Algal blooms pose a challenge to the operation of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes and pre-treatment systems due to high concentrations of algal cells and algal organic

  2. Surface modification of reverse osmosis desalination membranes by thin-film coatings deposited by initiated chemical vapor deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ozaydin-Ince, Gozde, E-mail: gozdeince@sabanciuniv.edu [Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Matin, Asif, E-mail: amatin@mit.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Khan, Zafarullah, E-mail: zukhan@mit.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Zaidi, S.M. Javaid, E-mail: zaidismj@kfupm.edu.sa [Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Gleason, Karen K., E-mail: kkgleasn@mit.edu [Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

    2013-07-31

    Thin-film polymeric reverse osmosis membranes, due to their high permeation rates and good salt rejection capabilities, are widely used for seawater desalination. However, these membranes are prone to biofouling, which affects their performance and efficiency. In this work, we report a method to modify the membrane surface without damaging the active layer or significantly affecting the performance of the membrane. Amphiphilic copolymer films of hydrophilic hydroxyethylmethacrylate and hydrophobic perfluorodecylacrylate (PFA) were synthesized and deposited on commercial RO membranes using an initiated chemical vapor deposition technique which is a polymer deposition technique that involves free-radical polymerization initiated by gas-phase radicals. Relevant surface characteristics such as hydrophilicity and roughness could be systematically controlled by varying the polymer chemistry. Increasing the hydrophobic PFA content in the films leads to an increase in the surface roughness and hydrophobicity. Furthermore, the surface morphology studies performed using the atomic force microscopy show that as the thickness of the coating increases average surface roughness increases. Using this knowledge, the coating thickness and chemistry were optimized to achieve high permeate flux and to reduce cell attachment. Results of the static bacterial adhesion tests show that the attachment of bacterial cells is significantly reduced on the coated membranes. - Highlights: • Thin films are deposited on reverse osmosis membranes. • Amphiphilic thin films are resistant to protein attachment. • The permeation performance of the membranes is not affected by the coating. • The thin film coatings delayed the biofouling.

  3. Contribution to the optimization of the coupling of nuclear reactors to desalination processes; Contribution a l'optimisation du couplage des reacteurs nucleaires aux procedes de dessalement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dardour, S

    2007-04-15

    This work deals with modelling, simulation and optimization of the coupling between nuclear reactors (PWR, modular high temperature reactors) and desalination processes (multiple effect distillation, reverse osmosis). The reactors considered in this study are PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) and GTMHR (Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor). The desalination processes retained are MED (Multi Effect Distillation) and SWRO (Sea Water Reverse Osmosis). A software tool: EXCELEES of thermodynamic modelling of coupled systems, based on the Engineering Algebraic Equation Solver has been developed. Models of energy conversion systems and of membrane desalination processes and distillation have been developed. Based on the first and second principles of thermodynamics, these models have allowed to determine the optimal running point of the coupled systems. The thermodynamic analysis has been completed by a first economic evaluation. Based on the use of the DEEP software of the IAEA, this evaluation has confirmed the interest to use these types of reactors for desalination. A modelling tool of thermal processes of desalination in dynamic condition has been developed too. This tool has been applied to the study of the dynamics of an existing plant and has given satisfying results. A first safety checking has been at last carried out. The transients able to jeopardize the integrated system have been identified. Several measures aiming at consolidate the safety have been proposed. (O.M.)

  4. Effect of oil spills on coastal power plants, refineries, and desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiefer, C.; Mussali, Y.

    1992-01-01

    Major oil spills such as those experienced in the Gulf War, in Alaska, and in the Gulf of Mexico have raised concern for the protection of coastal facilities which use seawater for cooling or process purposes such as power stations, refineries, and desalination plants. Because of the availability of large quantities of cooling water, many power stations and refineries are located along the coastline in the United States and throughout the world. In addition, many countries in the Middle East, the Caribbean, and other areas of the world depend on desalination plants located along the coast for the vital supply of drinking water. The objective of this paper is to determine the levels of oil contamination which will adversely affect plant performance or result in damage to specific plant equipment such as condensers, heat exchangers, pumps, screens, water treatment equipment, and other vital water handling mechanisms

  5. Boron Removal from Seawater by Thin-Film Composite Reverse Osmosis Membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Al Sunbul, Yasmeen

    2018-04-01

    Reverse Osmosis membranes have been successfully proven to remove almost 99% of chemicals dissolved in seawater. However, removal of certain trace elements, such as boron is challenging and relatively low for seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants compared to thermal desalination plants. Boron is naturally occurring and is present in seawater at an average concentration of 4.5-5 mg/L. While boron is a vital element, its toxicity has been proven on crops, animals and possibly humans. Additionally, boron should be removed to comply with the current guideline value of 0.5 mg/L, for drinking water, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is barely attained by a single-pass process seawater reverse osmosis plant. Currently, multipass reverse osmosis membrane operations with pH modifications are the only valid method for boron removal. However, this is not economically efficient as it requires higher energy and chemicals consumptions. The objective of this study was to investigate boron removal by commercial TFC RO membranes in addition to custom-made KAUST-synthesized TFC membrane. Five membrane samples were examined: Toray, Sepro, Koch, and KAUST in-house synthesized membrane. Three different feed pH conditions were used: pH6, pH8, and pH10. Filtration experiments were conducted in two parts. In experiment 1, all five membranes were examined for boron rejection in a dead-end permeation system, whereas in experiment 2 the two membranes with the highest boron rejection from experiment 1 were tested in a cross-flow system. Permeate and feed samples were taken continuously and analyzed for boron concentration, rejection calculation. Membrane surfaces were characterized according to hydrophilicity, roughness and surface charge. The results showed for all the tested membranes that boron rejection increased as the feed pH increased. KAUST, defect-free TFC, showed the highest performance for boron rejection for all pH conditions, although, it shows the

  6. Inorganic fouling mitigation by salinity cycling in batch reverse osmosis

    OpenAIRE

    Maswadeh, Laith A.; Warsinger, David Elan Martin; Tow, Emily W.; Connors, Grace B.; Swaminathan, Jaichander; Lienhard, John H

    2018-01-01

    Enhanced fouling resistance has been observed in recent variants of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination which use time-varying batch or semi-batch processes, such as closed-circuit RO (CCRO) and pulse flow RO (PFRO). However, the mechanisms of batch processes' fouling resistance are not well-understood, and models have not been developed for prediction of their fouling performance. Here, a framework for predicting reverse osmosis fouling is developed by comparing the fluid residence time in bat...

  7. Enhancing forward osmosis water recovery from landfill leachate by desalinating brine and recovering ammonia in a microbial desalination cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iskander, Syeed Md; Novak, John T; He, Zhen

    2018-05-01

    In this work, a microbial desalination cell (MDC) was employed to desalinate the FO treated leachate for reduction of both salinity and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The FO recovered 51.5% water from a raw leachate and the recovery increased to 83.5% from the concentrated leachate after desalination in the MDC fed with either acetate or another leachate as an electron source and at a different hydraulic retention time (HRT). Easily-degraded substrate like acetate and a long HRT resulted in a low conductivity desalinated effluent. Ammonia was also recovered in the MDC cathode with a recovery efficiency varying from 11 to 64%, affected by current generation and HRT. Significant COD reduction, as high as 65.4%, was observed in the desalination chamber and attributed to the decrease of both organic and inorganic compounds via diffusion and electricity-driven movement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Design aspects of 50 m3/d prototype mobile desalination unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharyya, K.P.; Srivastava, V.K.; Tewari, P.K.

    2004-01-01

    Supply of fresh water on sustainable basis to all inhabitants is the national responsibility. As a part of national programme to improve quality of life in our society, Desalination Division, BARC has undertaken a project on construction of barge mounted mobile desalination unit of capacity 50 m 3 /d under the domain of health care. The plant is capable of producing safe drinking water at any site and condition where potable water is limited from water sources as lakes and dams, spring, river, bores, estuaries, and open sea. The unit is also capable of purifying nuclear, biological and chemical contaminated water source namely arsenic, fluoride and nitrate. However, the main objective of this prototype mobile unit is to derive potable water from sea water. The barge mounted desalination plant could be useful to the people on shore, in areas like Rann of Kutch or coastal areas which had been affected by natural calamities like floods or severe drought; in small islands like Lakshadeep and Andaman and Nicobar. This type of mobile unit could also be useful for constructional purposes of plants located adjoining to the shore. The plant encompasses state of art reverse osmosis (RO) technology with membrane based ultrafiltration (UF) pretreatment system along with built-in back wash provision and remineralisation. The system is designed for heavy duty tasks in order to withstand frequent relocation from site to site and in skid patterns for portable transportation via road upon requirement. The conceptual design of the plant is over. The design and constructional aspects of the mobile plant are elaborated in this paper. (author)

  9. Design aspects of a multipurpose fusion power plant for desalination and agrochemical processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabri, Z.A.

    1975-02-01

    A description is given of the skeletal structure of a multipurpose fusion power plant, designed for desalination and agrochemicals production. The plant is a complex that comprises dual purpose power and desalination units, separation and processing units for recovery of soluble salts in the effluent of the desalination unit, mariculture units for production of algae for food and as food for shrimp and other fish species. The electrical power unit is a two-component fusion device that burns deuterium and helium-3 utilizing a fast fusion cycle

  10. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS TYPES OF SOLAR COLLECTORS FOR PERFORMANCE SOLAR DESALINATION PLANT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rakhmatulin I.R.

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the possibility of using renewable energy for water purification. Results of analysis of a preferred energy source for a water purification using installed in places where fresh water shortages and a lack of electrical energy. The possibility of desalination of salt water using solar energy for regions with temperate climate. Presented desalination plant working on energy vacuum solar collectors, principles of action developed by the desalination plant. The experimental results of a constructed distiller when working with vacuum glass tubes and vacuum tubes with copper core inside. Conclusions about the possibility of using solar collectors for water desalination, are tips and tricks to improve the performance of solar desalination plant.

  11. Characterization of saline groundwater across the coastal aquifer of Israel as resource for desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Shaked; Russak, Amos; Sivan, Orit; Yechieli, Yospeh; Oren, Yoram; Kasher, Roni

    2015-04-01

    In arid countries with access to marine water seawater desalination is becoming an important water source in order to deal with the water scarcity and population growth. Seawater reverse osmosis (RO) facilities use open seawater intake, which requires pretreatment processes to remove particles in order to avoid fouling of the RO membrane. In small and medium size desalination facilities, an alternative water source can be saline groundwater in coastal aquifers. Using saline groundwater from boreholes near the shore as feed water may have the advantage of natural filtration and low organic content. It will also reduce operation costs of pretreatment. Another advantage of using groundwater is its availability in highly populated areas, where planning of large RO desalination plants is difficult and expensive due to real-estate prices. Pumping saline groundwater underneath the freshwater-seawater interface (FSI) might shift the interface towards the sea, thus rehabilitating the fresh water reservoirs in the aquifer. In this research, we tested the potential use of saline groundwater in the coastal aquifer of Israel as feed water for desalination using field work and desalination experiments. Specifically, we sampled the groundwater from a pumping well 100 m from the shore of Tel-Aviv and sea water from the desalination plant in Ashqelon, Israel. We used an RO cross flow system in a pilot plant in order to compare between the two water types in terms of permeate flux, permeate flux decline, salt rejection of the membrane and the fouling on the membrane. The feed, brine and fresh desalinated water from the outlet of the desalination system were chemically analyzed and compared. Field measurements of dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and salinity were also conducted in situ. Additionally, SDI (silt density index), which is an important index for desalination, and total organic carbon that has a key role in organic fouling and development of biofouling, were measured and

  12. Fouling of Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Membrane: Chemical and Microbiological Characterization

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Muhammad T.

    2013-01-01

    In spite of abundant water resources, world is suffering from the scarcity of usable water. Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination technology using polymeric membranes has been recognized as a key solution to water scarcity problem. However

  13. Advances in nuclear desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misra, B.M.

    2003-01-01

    The Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Project (NDDP) at Kalpakkam aims to demonstrate the safe and economic production of good quality water by desalination of seawater comprising 4,500 m 3 /d Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) and 1,800 m 3 /d Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant. The design of the hybrid MSF-RO plant to be set up at an existing nuclear power station is presented. The MSF plant based on long tube design requires less energy. The effect on performance of the MSF plant due to higher seawater intake temperature is marginal. The preheat RO system part of the hybrid plant uses reject cooling seawater from the MSF plant. This allows lower pressure operation, resulting in energy saving. The two qualities of water produced are usable for the power station as well as for drinking purposes with appropriate blending. The post treatment is also simplified due to blending of the products from MSF and RO plants. The hybrid plant has a number of advantages: part of high purity desalted water produced from the MSF plant will be used for the makeup demineralised water requirement (after necessary polishing) for the power station; blending of the product water from RO and MSF plants would provide requisite quality drinking water; and the RO plant will continue to be operated to provide water for drinking purposes during the shut down of the power station. Commissioning of the RO section is expected in 2002 and that of the MSF section in 2003. Useful design data are expected from the plant on the coupling of small and medium size reactors (SMR) based on PHWR. This will enable us to design a large size commercial plant up to 50,000 m 3 /d capacity. India will share the O and M experience of NDDP to member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) when the plant is commissioned. The development work for producing good quality water for power station from high salinity water utilizing low grade waste heat is presented. About 40 and 100 MWth low temperature waste heat is

  14. Comparison of Configurations for High-Recovery Inland Desalination Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip A. Davies

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Desalination of brackish groundwater (BW is an effective approach to augment water supply, especially for inland regions that are far from seawater resources. Brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO desalination is still subject to intensive energy consumption compared to the theoretical minimum energy demand. Here, we review some of the BWRO plants with various system arrangements. We look at how to minimize energy demands, as these contribute considerably to the cost of desalinated water. Different configurations of BWRO system have been compared from the view point of normalized specific energy consumption (SEC. Analysis is made at theoretical limits. The SEC reduction of BWRO can be achieved by (i increasing number of stages, (ii using an energy recovery device (ERD, or (iii operating the BWRO in batch mode or closed circuit mode. Application of more stages not only reduces SEC but also improves water recovery. However, this improvement is less pronounced when the number of stages exceeds four. Alternatively and more favourably, the BWRO system can be operated in Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD mode and gives a comparative SEC to that of the 3-stage system with a recovery ratio of 80%. A further reduction of about 30% in SEC can be achieved through batch-RO operation. Moreover, the costly ERDs and booster pumps are avoided with both CCD and batch-RO, thus furthering the effectiveness of lowering the costs of these innovative approaches.

  15. Combined desalination, water reuse, and aquifer storage and recovery to meet water supply demands in the GCC/MENA region

    KAUST Repository

    Ghaffour, Noreddine

    2013-01-01

    Desalination is no longer considered as a nonconventional resource to supply potable water in several countries, especially in the Gulf Corporation Countries (GCC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as most of the big cities rely almost 100% on desalinated water for their supply. Due to the continuous increase in water demand, more large-scale plants are expected to be constructed in the region. However, most of the large cities in these countries have very limited water storage capacity, ranging from hours to a few days only and their groundwater capacity is very limited. The growing need for fresh water has led to significant cost reduction, because of technological improvements of desalination technologies which makes it an attractive option for water supply even in countries where desalination was unthinkable in the past. In the GCC/MENA region, operating records show that water demand is relatively constant during the year, while power demand varies considerably with a high peak in the summer season. However, desalination and power plants are economically and technically efficient only if they are fully operated at close to full capacity. In addition, desalination plants are exposed to external constraints leading to unexpected shutdowns (e.g. red tides). Hybridization of different technologies, including reverse osmosis and thermal-based plants, is used to balance the power to water mismatch in the demand by using the idle power from co-generation systems during low power demand periods. This has led to consideration of storage of additional desalinated water to allow for maximum production and stability in operation. Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) would then be a good option to store the surplus of desalinated water which could be used when water demand is high or during unexpected shutdowns of desalination plants. In addition, increased reuse of treated wastewater could bring an integrated approach to water resources management. In this

  16. Calcium carbonate scaling in seawater desalination by ammonia-carbon dioxide forward osmosis: Mechanism and implications

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Zhenyu

    2015-02-07

    Forward osmosis (FO) is an osmotically driven membrane process, where the membrane separates a draw solution (DS) with high salinity from a feed solution (FS) with low salinity. There can be a counter direction flow of salt (i.e., salt leakage) that may interact with the water flux through the FO membrane. For the first time reported, this study describes a new calcium carbonate scaling phenomenon in the seawater FO desalination process using ammonium bicarbonate as the DS. The scaling on the membrane surface at the feed side is caused by the interaction between an anion reversely diffused from the DS and a cation present in the FS, causing a significant decline of the water flux. The composition of the scaling layer is dominated by the solubility (represented as solubility product constant, Ksp) of salt formed by the paired anion and cation. Membrane surface morphology plays a crucial role in the reversibility of the scaling. If the scaling occurs on the active layer of the FO membrane, hydraulic cleaning (increasing crossflow velocity) efficiency to restore the water flux is up to 82%. When scaling occurs on the support layer of the FO membrane, the hydraulic cleaning efficiency is strongly reduced, with only 36% of the water flux recovered. The present study reveals the risk of scaling induced by the interaction of feed solute and draw solute, which is different from the scaling caused by the supersaturation in reverse osmosis and other FO studies reported. The scaling investigated in this study can occur with a very low solute concentration at an early stage of the FO process. This finding provides an important implication for selection of draw solution and development of new membranes in the FO process.

  17. Preliminary design of seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis desalination systems driven by low-temperature solar organic Rankine cycles (ORC)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delgado-Torres, Agustin M.; Garcia-Rodriguez, Lourdes

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, the coupling between the low-temperature solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis desalination units has been carried out. Four substances have been considered as working fluids of the solar cycle (butane, isopentane, R245fa and R245ca). With these four fluids the volumetric flow of fresh water produced per unit of aperture area of stationary solar collector has been calculated. The former has been made with the optimized direct vapour generation (DVG) configuration and heat transfer fluid (HTF) configuration of the solar ORC. In the first one (DVG), working fluid of the ORC is directly heated inside the absorber of the solar collector. In the second one (HTF), a fluid different than the working fluid of the ORC (water in this paper) is heated without phase change inside the absorber of the solar collector. Once this fluid has been heated it is carried towards a heat exchanger where it is cooled. Thermal energy delivered in this cooling process is transferred to the working fluid of the ORC. Influence of condensation temperature of the ORC and regeneration's process effectiveness over productivity of the system has also been analysed. Finally, parameters of several preliminary designs of the low-temperature solar thermal driven RO desalination are supplied. R245fa is chosen as working fluid of the ORC in these preliminary designs. The information of the proposed preliminary designs can also be used, i.e., for the assessment of the use of thermal energy rejected by the solar cycle. Overall analysis of the efficiency of the solar thermal driven RO desalination technology is given with the results presented in this paper and the results obtained with the medium temperature solar thermal RO desalination system presented by the authors in previous papers. This work has been carried out within the framework of the OSMOSOL and POWERSOL projects.

  18. Preliminary design of seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis desalination systems driven by low-temperature solar organic Rankine cycles (ORC)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Delgado-Torres, Agustin M. [Dpto. Fisica Fundamental y Experimental, Electronica y Sistemas, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria Civil e Industrial, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avda. Astrofisico Francisco Sanchez s/n. 38206 La Laguna (Tenerife) (Spain); Garcia-Rodriguez, Lourdes [Dpto. Ingenieria Energetica, Universidad de Sevilla Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n 41092 Sevilla (Spain)

    2010-12-15

    In this paper, the coupling between the low-temperature solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis desalination units has been carried out. Four substances have been considered as working fluids of the solar cycle (butane, isopentane, R245fa and R245ca). With these four fluids the volumetric flow of fresh water produced per unit of aperture area of stationary solar collector has been calculated. The former has been made with the optimized direct vapour generation (DVG) configuration and heat transfer fluid (HTF) configuration of the solar ORC. In the first one (DVG), working fluid of the ORC is directly heated inside the absorber of the solar collector. In the second one (HTF), a fluid different than the working fluid of the ORC (water in this paper) is heated without phase change inside the absorber of the solar collector. Once this fluid has been heated it is carried towards a heat exchanger where it is cooled. Thermal energy delivered in this cooling process is transferred to the working fluid of the ORC. Influence of condensation temperature of the ORC and regeneration's process effectiveness over productivity of the system has also been analysed. Finally, parameters of several preliminary designs of the low-temperature solar thermal driven RO desalination are supplied. R245fa is chosen as working fluid of the ORC in these preliminary designs. The information of the proposed preliminary designs can also be used, i.e., for the assessment of the use of thermal energy rejected by the solar cycle. Overall analysis of the efficiency of the solar thermal driven RO desalination technology is given with the results presented in this paper and the results obtained with the medium temperature solar thermal RO desalination system presented by the authors in previous papers. This work has been carried out within the framework of the OSMOSOL and POWERSOL projects. (author)

  19. Reverse osmosis: experience of cold commissioning trials in waste immobilisation plant, Trombay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anand, G.; Bose, Aditi; Verma, B.B.

    1999-01-01

    Industrial scale reverse osmosis plant for low level radioactive waste put up in Waste Immobilisation Plant (WIP), Trombay is the first of its kind in India. The performance test with inactive simulated waste is meeting the desired performance. The preliminary treatment of LLW stream at W.I.P., Trombay is proposed to be carried out with reverse osmosis membrane separation process. The design, recovery and rejection ratio of LLW is described

  20. Desalination by renewable energy: A mini review of the recent patents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Al-Rawajfeh Aiman Eid

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent patents on water desalination by using renewable energy technologies are critically reviewed with highlighting on environmental impacts and sustainable development. An overview of using wind, hydroelectric, wave and tidal, wind/solar, geothermal, and solar renewable energy technologies for desalinated water production are assessed. Solar energy is the mother of all other renewable energies; it does not pollute, it is free and available everywhere. Several patents have been invented systems and methods that collected and converted solar energy to electrical energy via solar energy which can be used for water desalination. Wind farm with wind-driven pressurizing devices is used to desalinate salt water by reverse osmosis. Geothermal has been used as an effective method for water desalination. It is highly recommended to provide seawater desalination powered by a renewable energy source in remote areas. On the other hand, sequentially staged of energy conversion steps operate at low efficiencies.

  1. Rotating Reverse-Osmosis for Water Purification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lueptow, RIchard M.

    2004-01-01

    A new design for a water-filtering device combines rotating filtration with reverse osmosis to create a rotating reverse- osmosis system. Rotating filtration has been used for separating plasma from whole blood, while reverse osmosis has been used in purification of water and in some chemical processes. Reverse- osmosis membranes are vulnerable to concentration polarization a type of fouling in which the chemicals meant not to pass through the reverse-osmosis membranes accumulate very near the surfaces of the membranes. The combination of rotating filtration and reverse osmosis is intended to prevent concentration polarization and thereby increase the desired flux of filtered water while decreasing the likelihood of passage of undesired chemical species through the filter. Devices based on this concept could be useful in a variety of commercial applications, including purification and desalination of drinking water, purification of pharmaceutical process water, treatment of household and industrial wastewater, and treatment of industrial process water. A rotating filter consists of a cylindrical porous microfilter rotating within a stationary concentric cylindrical outer shell (see figure). The aqueous suspension enters one end of the annulus between the inner and outer cylinders. Filtrate passes through the rotating cylindrical microfilter and is removed via a hollow shaft. The concentrated suspension is removed at the end of the annulus opposite the end where the suspension entered.

  2. An alternative design concept in reverse osmosis desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boeddeker, K.W.; Hilgendorff, W.; Kaschemekat, J.

    1976-01-01

    A highly adaptable plate system for reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration with easily accessible flat membranes is introduced, employing a straight-channel construction of plastic components, designed to tolerate comparatively bold operations conditions at the calculated expense of membrane service life. Pilot installations are illustrated. (orig.) [de

  3. Generalized Least Energy of Separation for Desalination and Other Chemical Separation Processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karan H. Mistry

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Increasing global demand for fresh water is driving the development and implementation of a wide variety of seawater desalination technologies driven by different combinations of heat, work, and chemical energy. This paper develops a consistent basis for comparing the energy consumption of such technologies using Second Law efficiency. The Second Law efficiency for a chemical separation process is defined in terms of the useful exergy output, which is the minimum least work of separation required to extract a unit of product from a feed stream of a given composition. For a desalination process, this is the minimum least work of separation for producing one kilogram of product water from feed of a given salinity. While definitions in terms of work and heat input have been proposed before, this work generalizes the Second Law efficiency to allow for systems that operate on a combination of energy inputs, including fuel. The generalized equation is then evaluated through a parametric study considering work input, heat inputs at various temperatures, and various chemical fuel inputs. Further, since most modern, large-scale desalination plants operate in cogeneration schemes, a methodology for correctly evaluating Second Law efficiency for the desalination plant based on primary energy inputs is demonstrated. It is shown that, from a strictly energetic point of view and based on currently available technology, cogeneration using electricity to power a reverse osmosis system is energetically superior to thermal systems such as multiple effect distillation and multistage flash distillation, despite the very low grade heat input normally applied in those systems.

  4. Sistemas híbridos con base en las energías renovables para el suministro de energía a plantas desaladoras / Hybrid systems with base in the renewable energy for the energy supply to desalination plants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deivis Ávila‐Prats

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available En el siguiente trabajo se modelan los sistemas híbridos con base en las energías renovables, quegaranticen las necesidades energéticas en plantas desaladoras de ósmosis inversa, con unacapacidad de hasta 50 m3 de producción diaria, a fin de obtener la combinación óptima. Para elprocesamiento de los datos se hará uso del software especializado HOMER. Se tomarán comoelementos de partida: la demanda eléctrica de una planta desaladora tipo, las especificacionestécnicas de los equipos propuestos, así como los potenciales de radiación solar y las velocidades deviento de la región analizada (Islas Canarias.Las conclusiones muestran que el sistema híbrido óptimo, desde el punto de vista técnico-económicopara el suministro de energía a desaladoras de ósmosis inversa con capacidad de producción de 50m3/día, será un sistema eólico- diesel, compuesto por: dos aerogeneradores, un banco de baterías yun generador diesel. Se demuestra que la velocidad del viento es la variable termodinámicadeterminante para la configuración de los sistemas híbridos estudiados, considerando los potencialesenergéticos naturales existentes en la región estudiada.Palabras claves: desalinización, ósmosis inversa, HOMER, Islas Canarias, sistemas híbridos, energíasrenovables._____________________________________________________________________AbstractIn the following work the hybrid systems with base in the renewable energy are modeled, to comparemany different design options based on their technical and economic merits. The energy necessitieswill be guaranteed in reverse osmosis desalination plants, with a capacity of up to 50 m3 of dailyproduction. The data processing was analyzed using the computer model, HOMER. The departureelements were: the electric demand of the desalination plant, the technical specifications of theequipments, as well as the potentials of solar radiation and the speeds of wind of the analyzed region(Canary Island

  5. Mathematical model for solar-hydrogen heated desalination plant using humidification-dehumidification process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yassin, Jamal S.; Eljrushi, Gibril S.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a mathematical model for thermal desalination plant operating with solar energy and hydrogen. This plant is composed of two main systems, the heating system and the distillation system. The distillation system is composed of multi-cells; each cell is using the humidification-dehumidification (H-D) process in the distillation unit and getting the required amount of heat from feed seawater heater. The feed seawater heater is a heat exchanger used to raise the temperature of the preheated seawater coming from the condensation chamber (Dehumidifier) of each cell to about 85 degree centigrade. The heating amount in the heat exchangers is obtained from the thermal storage tank, which gets its energy from solar thermal system and is coupled with a hydrogen-fired backup system to guaranty necessary operating conditions and permit 24 hours solar H-D desalination plant to enhance the performance of this system. The mathematical model studies the performance of the proposed desalination system using thermal solar energy and hydrogen as fuel. Other pertinent variable in the heating and distillation system are also studied. The outcomes of this study are analyzed to enhance the used solar desalination process and make commercial.(Author)

  6. Performance of tubular reverse osmosis for the desalination ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Municipal solid waste leachate (MSWL) has the potential to pollute the water environment and to affect biological treatment processes adversely if not properly handled. Reverse osmosis (RO) has the ability to remove both organics and inorganics effectively from effluents. Therefore, RO was evaluated for the treatment of ...

  7. Energetic, Exergetic, and Economic Analysis of MED-TVC Water Desalination Plant with and without Preheating

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuri Eshoul

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Desalination is the sole proven technique that can provide the necessary fresh water in arid and semi-arid countries in sufficient quantities and meet the modern needs of a growing world population. Multi effect desalination with thermal vapour compression (MED-TVC is one of most common applications of thermal desalination technologies. The present paper presents a comprehensive thermodynamic model of a 24 million litres per day thermal desalination plant, using specialised software packages. The proposed model was validated against a real data set for a large-scale desalination plant, and showed good agreement. The performance of the MED-TVC unit was investigated using different loads, entrained vapour, seawater temperature, salinity and number of effects in two configurations. The first configuration was the MED-TVC unit without preheating system, and the second integrated the MED-TVC unit with a preheating system. The study confirmed that the thermo-compressor and its effects are the main sources of exergy destruction in these desalination plants, at about 40% and 35% respectively. The desalination plant performance with preheating mode performs well due to high feed water temperature leading to the production of more distillate water. The seawater salinity was proportional to the fuel exergy and minimum separation work. High seawater salinity results in high exergy efficiency, which is not the case with membrane technology. The plant performance of the proposed system was enhanced by using a large number of effects due to greater utilisation of energy input and higher generation level. From an economic perspective, both indicators show that using a preheating system is more economically attractive.

  8. A floating desalination/co-generation system using the KLT-40 reactor and Canadian RO desalination technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humphries, J.R.; Davies, K.

    2000-01-01

    As the global consumption of water increases with growing populations and rising levels of industrialization, major new sources of potable water production must be developed. To address this issue efficiently and economically, a new approach has been developed in Canada for the integration of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination systems with nuclear reactors as an energy source. The resulting nuclear desalination/cogeneration plant makes use of waste heat from the electrical generation process to preheat the RO feedwater, advanced feedwater pre-treatment and sophisticated system design integration and optimization techniques. These innovations have led to improved water production efficiency, lower water production costs and reduced environmental impact. The Russian Federation is developing the KLT-40 reactor for application as a Floating Power Unit (FPU). The reactor is ideally suited for such purposes, having bad many years of successful operation as a marine propulsion reactor aboard floating nuclear powered icebreakers and other nuclear propelled vessels. Under the terms of a cooperation agreement with the Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy, CANDESAL Enterprises Ltd has evaluated the FPU, containing two KLT-40 reactors, as a source of electrical energy and waste heat for RO desalination. A design concept for a floating nuclear desalination complex consisting of the FPU and a barge mounted RO desalination unit has been analyzed to establish preliminary performance characteristics for the complex. The FPU, operating as a barge mounted electrical generating station, provides electricity to the desalination barge. In addition, the condenser cooling water from the FPU is used as a source of preheated feedwater for the RO system on the desalination barge. The waste heat produced by the electrical generating process is sufficient to provide RO feedwater at a temperature of about 10 deg. C above ambient seawater temperature. Preliminary design studies have

  9. Optimum size determination of nuclear dual-purpose desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaussens, J.

    1966-01-01

    The economics of dual-purpose desalination plants is presented from a general standpoint. The concept of demand curves for water and electricity is introduced, which leads to a rational sharing of production costs between both commodities within the framework of a market. The purpose of the study, which is based upon the principles of classical economics, is to develop objective criteria for the design of desalination plants and to derive from these a normative method for pricing both joint products, water and electricity, following as much as possible the structure of the demand. Such criteria are in particular either the maximization of benefit for the operator or the maximum welfare for the community. They involve either equality between marginal costs and revenues, or equality between marginal costs and marginal satisfactions (theory of surplus). As the size of the plant is often the predominant factor in selecting the process to be used, it follows from the above considerations that this selection is closely related to: (a) The shape of the demand curve for water; (b) The economic criterion selected and the relevant constraints (public or private ownership, limitation of the investments, etc). This makes market surveys and a rather refined economic analysis indispensable before any decision is taken on the desalination technique to be adopted. (author). Abstract only

  10. Exceptionally fast water desalination at complete salt rejection by pristine graphyne monolayers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Minmin; Qiu, Hu; Guo, Wanlin

    2013-12-20

    Desalination that produces clean freshwater from seawater holds the promise of solving the global water shortage for drinking, agriculture and industry. However, conventional desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation involve large amounts of energy consumption, and the semipermeable membranes widely used in reverse osmosis face the challenge to provide a high throughput at high salt rejection. Here we find by comprehensive molecular dynamics simulations and first principles modeling that pristine graphyne, one of the graphene-like one-atom-thick carbon allotropes, can achieve 100% rejection of nearly all ions in seawater including Na(+), Cl(-), Mg(2+), K(+) and Ca(2+), at an exceptionally high water permeability about two orders of magnitude higher than those for commercial state-of-the-art reverse osmosis membranes at a salt rejection of ~98.5%. This complete ion rejection by graphyne, independent of the salt concentration and the operating pressure, is revealed to be originated from the significantly higher energy barriers for ions than for water. This intrinsic specialty of graphyne should provide a new possibility for the efforts to alleviate the global shortage of freshwater and other environmental problems.

  11. Potential of dyes as draw solutions in forward osmosis for the South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2University of Maribor, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, ... Forward osmosis (FO) technology has gained substantial interest as a possible lower-energy desalination ...... thesis, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty ... membranes: fouling reversibility and cleaning without chemical reagents.

  12. REMOVAL OF CHLORINATED AND BROMINATED ALKANES FROM DRINKING WATER USING REVERSE OSMOSIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Membrane use in water treatment has historically focused on desalination. With the development of new membrane materials, attention began to focus on reverse osmosis and pervaporation as alternatives to traditional water treatment processes. This paper addresses the use of reve...

  13. Biofouling of reverse-osmosis membranes under different shear rates during tertiary wastewater desalination: microbial community composition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Ashhab, Ashraf; Gillor, Osnat; Herzberg, Moshe

    2014-12-15

    We investigated the influence of feed-water shear rate during reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination on biofouling with respect to microbial community composition developed on the membrane surface. The RO membrane biofilm's microbial community profile was elucidated during desalination of tertiary wastewater effluent in a flat-sheet lab-scale system operated under high (555.6 s(-1)), medium (370.4 s(-1)), or low (185.2 s(-1)) shear rates, corresponding to average velocities of 27.8, 18.5, and 9.3 cm s(-1), respectively. Bacterial diversity was highest when medium shear was applied (Shannon-Weaver diversity index H' = 4.30 ± 0.04) compared to RO-membrane biofilm developed under lower and higher shear rates (H' = 3.80 ± 0.26 and H' = 3.42 ± 0.38, respectively). At the medium shear rate, RO-membrane biofilms were dominated by Betaproteobacteria, whereas under lower and higher shear rates, the biofilms were dominated by Alpha- and Gamma- Proteobacteria, and the latter biofilms also contained Deltaproteobacteria. Bacterial abundance on the RO membrane was higher at low and medium shear rates compared to the high shear rate: 8.97 × 10(8) ± 1.03 × 10(3), 4.70 × 10(8) ± 1.70 × 10(3) and 5.72 × 10(6) ± 2.09 × 10(3) copy number per cm(2), respectively. Interestingly, at the high shear rate, the RO-membrane biofilm's bacterial community consisted mainly of populations known to excrete high amounts of extracellular polymeric substances. Our results suggest that the RO-membrane biofilm's community composition, structure and abundance differ in accordance with applied shear rate. These results shed new light on the biofouling phenomenon and are important for further development of antibiofouling strategies for RO membranes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Influence of ion size and charge on osmosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannon, James; Kim, Daejoong; Maruyama, Shigeo; Shiomi, Junichiro

    2012-04-12

    Osmosis is fundamental to many processes, such as in the function of biological cells and in industrial desalination to obtain clean drinking water. The choice of solute in industrial applications of osmosis is highly important in maximizing efficiency and minimizing costs. The macroscale process of osmosis originates from the nanoscale properties of the solvent, and therefore an understanding of the mechanisms of how these properties determine osmotic strength can be highly useful. For this reason, we have undertaken molecular dynamics simulations to systematically study the influence of ion size and charge on the strength of osmosis of water through carbon nanotube membranes. Our results show that strong osmosis occurs under optimum conditions of ion placement near the region of high water density near the membrane wall and of maintenance of a strong water hydration shell around the ions. The results in turn allow greater insight into the origin of the strong osmotic strength of real ions such as NaCl. Finally, in terms of practical simulation, we highlight the importance of avoiding size effects that can occur if the simulation cell is too small.

  15. Simulation and thermoeconomic analysis of different configurations of gas turbine (GT)-based dual-purpose power and desalination plants (DPPDP) and hybrid plants (HP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rensonnet, Thibaut; Uche, Javier; Serra, Luis

    2007-01-01

    This paper contains a simulation and a thermoeconomic analysis of several configurations of gas turbine (GT)-based dual-purpose power and desalination plants (DPPDP): Gas turbine with reverse osmosis (GT+RO), combined cycle with reverse osmosis (CC+RO), combined cycle with multi-effect distillation (CC+MED) and two different hybrid plant (HP) arrangements combining CC, MED and RO (CC+MED+RO, CC+MED+RO bis ). The last two configurations only differ from the feed solution to the MED units (raw seawater or brine coming from the RO discharge). A complete thermodynamic simulation at both design and at part load conditions has been made, as well as an exergy and an exergo-economic (thermoeconomic) analysis of each configuration, in order to compare the evolution of the water and electricity cost for different arrangements. The results show that even for a significantly reduced fuel cost (1.42 $/GJ), the CC is much more profitable than a GT operating in open cycle, with electricity cost values of 1.647 and 2.166 c$/kWh, respectively. As was expected, RO is more efficient and profitable than MED desalination processes, the difference in the obtained desalted water cost being significant. In the hybrid configuration with MED fed by the RO brine discharge, a decrease in the equivalent electrical consumption of nearly 2 kWh/m 3 was achieved, but even in this case RO was more efficient (14.15 vs. 4.048 kWh/m 3 ). The evolution of electricity cost in each configuration is more similar at part load operation than at full load, but in the case of water cost, RO is once again more profitable and less sensitive to load variations. Costs given in this paper correspond to investment and fuel costs. Further, profitability and operation strategies of HP, i.e., DPPDP combining distillation and membrane processes, are also analyzed. It is shown that HP can be more profitable than RO plants in the case of increasing the water production capacity of existing DPPDP, because the profit

  16. Possibility of Thermomechanical Compressor Application in Desalination Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blagin, E. V.; Shimanov, A. A.; Uglanov, D. A.; Korneev, S. S.

    2018-01-01

    This article deals with estimation of thermocompressor operating possibility in desalination plant with mechanical vapour compressor. In this plant thermocompressor is used instead of commonly used centrifugal compressor. Preliminary analysis shows that such plant is able to operate, however, power consumption is 3.5-6.5 higher in comparison with traditional MVC plant. In turn, utilization of thermocompressor allows avoiding usual high-frequency drive of centrifugal compressor. Drives with frequency of 50 Hz are enough for thermocompressor when centrifugal compressor requires drives with frequency up to 500 Hz and higher. Approximate thermocompressor dimensions are estimated.

  17. Forward osmosis niches in seawater desalination and wastewater reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Li, Zhenyu; Sarp, Sarper; Bucs, Szilard; Amy, Gary L.; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

    2014-01-01

    for desalination and wastewater treatment: (i) chemical storage and feed water systems may be reduced for capital, operational and maintenance cost, (ii) water quality is improved, (iii) reduced process piping costs, (iv) more flexible treatment units, and (v

  18. Advances in desalination technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pankratz, T.M.

    2005-01-01

    Seawater desalination has been the cornerstone of the Middle East's water supply strategy since the mid-1950s, and most of the installed desalination capacity is still provided by multistage flash evaporators. But, desalination is changing. In fact, the term 'desalination' is no longer limited to seawater applications; desalination technologies are now routinely employed to desalinate brackish groundwater and repurify municipal effluents. Recent advances in desalination technology have simultaneously reduced costs while dramatically improving performance and reliability to the point where desalination technologies now compete with 'conventional' treatment processes in many applications. New commercial strategies and a realisation of the economies-of-scale have led to further improvements in plant economics, and an increase in the size of plants now being developed and constructed. This presentation reviews advances in membrane and membrane pretreatment systems, energy recovery devices, materials of construction, hybrid process configurations, increased unit capacities, and the use of public-private partnerships; all of which have led to reduced capital and operating costs, enabling desalination to be economically competitive with traditional treatment options. Advances in desalination technology have resulted in better performances, lower capital and operating costs, and increased application of desalination systems. In the face of increased water shortages and growing costs of 'conventional treatment', this trend will certainly continue. (author)

  19. Bacterial community structure and variation in a full-scale seawater desalination plant for drinking water production

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Belila, A.; El-Chakhtoura, J.; Otaibi, N.; Muyzer, G.; Gonzalez-Gil, G.; Saikaly, P.E.; van Loosdrecht, M.C.M.; Vrouwenvelder, J.S.

    2016-01-01

    Microbial processes inevitably play a role in membrane-based desalination plants, mainly recognized as membrane biofouling. We assessed the bacterial community structure and diversity during different treatment steps in a full-scale seawater desalination plant producing 40,000 m3/d of drinking

  20. Assessment of silt density index (SDI) as fouling propensity parameter in reverse osmosis (RO) desalination systems

    KAUST Repository

    Rachman, Rinaldi

    2013-01-01

    Due to its simplicity, silt density index (SDI) is extensively used in reverse osmosis systems despite its limitations in predicting membrane fouling. Employing a reliable fouling index with good reproducibility and precision is necessary. The aim of this investigation is to assess the reliability of SDI in order to understand the reasons for the low level of precision and accuracy. Different commercial SDI membranes and feed water quality were used in this study. Results showed the existence of membrane properties\\' variation within manufacturers, which then causes a lack of accuracy in fouling risk estimation. The nature of particles during SDI filtration provides information that particle concentration and size play a significant role in SDI quantification with substantial representation given by particles with size close to membrane nominal pore size. Moreover, turbidity-assisted SDI measurements along with determination of ultrafiltration permeate and clean water fouling potential, establish the indication of nonfouling-related phenomena involved on SDI measurement such as natural organic matter adsorption and hydrodynamic conditions that alters during filtration. Additionally, it was found that the latter affects the sensitivity of SDI by being represented by some portions of SDI values. © 2013 Desalination Publications.

  1. Assessment of silt density index (SDI) as fouling propensity parameter in reverse osmosis (RO) desalination systems

    KAUST Repository

    Rachman, Rinaldi; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Wali, F.; Amy, Gary L.

    2013-01-01

    Due to its simplicity, silt density index (SDI) is extensively used in reverse osmosis systems despite its limitations in predicting membrane fouling. Employing a reliable fouling index with good reproducibility and precision is necessary. The aim of this investigation is to assess the reliability of SDI in order to understand the reasons for the low level of precision and accuracy. Different commercial SDI membranes and feed water quality were used in this study. Results showed the existence of membrane properties' variation within manufacturers, which then causes a lack of accuracy in fouling risk estimation. The nature of particles during SDI filtration provides information that particle concentration and size play a significant role in SDI quantification with substantial representation given by particles with size close to membrane nominal pore size. Moreover, turbidity-assisted SDI measurements along with determination of ultrafiltration permeate and clean water fouling potential, establish the indication of nonfouling-related phenomena involved on SDI measurement such as natural organic matter adsorption and hydrodynamic conditions that alters during filtration. Additionally, it was found that the latter affects the sensitivity of SDI by being represented by some portions of SDI values. © 2013 Desalination Publications.

  2. Comparison of environmental impact and energy efficiency of desalination processes by LCA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tarnacki, K.M.; Melin, T.; Jansen, A.E.; Medevoort, J. van

    2011-01-01

    In this study two desalination technologies have been compared by means of LCA with the focus on energy supply with a variety of scenarios based on different assumptions. The studied technologies are reverse osmosis and the newly developed technology Memstill where electrical energy demand is

  3. Exceptionally fast water desalination at complete salt rejection by pristine graphyne monolayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xue, Minmin; Qiu, Hu; Guo, Wanlin

    2013-01-01

    Desalination that produces clean freshwater from seawater holds the promise of solving the global water shortage for drinking, agriculture and industry. However, conventional desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation involve large amounts of energy consumption, and the semipermeable membranes widely used in reverse osmosis face the challenge to provide a high throughput at high salt rejection. Here we find by comprehensive molecular dynamics simulations and first principles modeling that pristine graphyne, one of the graphene-like one-atom-thick carbon allotropes, can achieve 100% rejection of nearly all ions in seawater including Na + , Cl − , Mg 2+ , K + and Ca 2+ , at an exceptionally high water permeability about two orders of magnitude higher than those for commercial state-of-the-art reverse osmosis membranes at a salt rejection of ∼98.5%. This complete ion rejection by graphyne, independent of the salt concentration and the operating pressure, is revealed to be originated from the significantly higher energy barriers for ions than for water. This intrinsic specialty of graphyne should provide a new possibility for the efforts to alleviate the global shortage of freshwater and other environmental problems. (paper)

  4. REMOVAL OF CHLORINATED ALKENE SOLVENTS FROM DRINKING WATER BY VARIOUS REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Historically, membranes have been used to desalinate water. As new membrane materials are developed, traditional water treatment schemes may incorporate membrane technologies, such as reverse osmosis, to address a variety of new concerns such as low molecular weight volatile org...

  5. Microporous Silica Based Membranes for Desalination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João C. Diniz da Costa

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This review provides a global overview of microporous silica based membranes for desalination via pervaporation with a focus on membrane synthesis and processing, transport mechanisms and current state of the art membrane performance. Most importantly, the recent development and novel concepts for improving the hydro-stability and separating performance of silica membranes for desalination are critically examined. Research into silica based membranes for desalination has focussed on three primary methods for improving the hydro-stability. These include incorporating carbon templates into the microporous silica both as surfactants and hybrid organic-inorganic structures and incorporation of metal oxide nanoparticles into the silica matrix. The literature examined identified that only metal oxide silica membranes have demonstrated high salt rejections under a variety of feed concentrations, reasonable fluxes and unaltered performance over long-term operation. As this is an embryonic field of research several target areas for researchers were discussed including further improvement of the membrane materials, but also regarding the necessity of integrating waste or solar heat sources into the final process design to ensure cost competitiveness with conventional reverse osmosis processes.

  6. Forward osmosis applied to evaporative cooling make-up water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nicoll, Peter; Thompson, Neil; Gray, Victoria [Modern Water plc, Guildford (United Kingdom)

    2012-11-15

    Modern Water is in the process of developing a number of forward osmosis based technologies, ranging from desalination to power generation. This paper outlines the progress made to date on the development and commercial deployment of a forward osmosis based process for the production of evaporative cooling tower make-up water from impaired water sources, including seawater. Evaporative cooling requires significant amounts of good quality water to replace the water lost by evaporation, drift and blowdown. This water can be provided by conventional desalination processes or by the use of tertiary treated sewage effluent. The conventional processes are well documented and understood in terms of operation and power consumption. A new process has been successfully developed and demonstrated that provides make-up water directly, using a core platform 'forward osmosis' technology. This new technology shows significant promise in allowing various raw water sources, such as seawater, to be used directly in the forward osmosis step, thus releasing the use of scarce and valuable high grade water for other more important uses. The paper presents theoretical and operational results for the process, where it is shown that the process can produce make-up water at a fraction of the operational expenditure when compared to conventional processes, in particular regarding power consumption, which in some cases may be as low as 15 % compared to competing processes. Chemical additives to the cooling water (osmotic agent) are retained within the process, thus reducing their overall consumption. Furthermore the chemistry of the cooling water does not support the growth of Legionella pneumophila. Corrosion results are also reported. (orig.)

  7. Potential of dyes as draw solutions in forward osmosis for the South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Forward osmosis (FO) technology has gained substantial interest as a possible lower-energy desalination technology. However, challenges such as the availability of effective draw solutions (DS) have limited its implementation. This study evaluated alternative feed water resources and assessed the potential of dye ...

  8. Ab Initio Density Functional Theory Investigation of the Interaction between Carbon Nanotubes and Water Molecules during Water Desalination Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Loay A. Elalfy

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Density functional theory calculations using B3LYP/3-21G level of theory have been implemented on 6 carbon nanotubes (CNTs structures (3 zigzag and 3 armchair CNTs to study the energetics of the reverse osmosis during water desalination process. Calculations of the band gap, interaction energy, highest occupied molecular orbital, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, electronegativity, hardness, and pressure of the system are discussed. The calculations showed that the water molecule that exists inside the CNT is about 2-3 Å away from its wall. The calculations have proven that the zigzag CNTs are more efficient for reverse osmosis water desalination process than armchair CNTs as the reverse osmosis process requires pressure of approximately 200 MPa for armchair CNTs, which is consistent with the values used in molecular dynamics simulations, while that needed when using zigzag CNTs was in the order of 60 MPa.

  9. Influence of fuel costs on seawater desalination options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Methnani, Mabrouk

    2007-01-01

    Reference estimates of seawater desalination costs for recent mega projects are all quoted in the range of US$0.50/m 3 . This however does not reflect the recent trends of escalating fossil fuel costs. In order to analyze the effect of these trends, a recently updated version of the IAEA Desalination Economic Evaluation Program, DEEP-3, has been used to compare fossil and nuclear seawater desalination options, under varied fuel cost and interest rate scenarios. Results presented for a gas combined-cycle and a modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor design, show clear cost advantages for the latter, for both Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). Water production cost estimates for the Brayton cycle nuclear option are hardly affected by fuel costs, while combined cycle seawater desalination costs show an increase of more than 40% when fuel costs are doubled. For all cases run, the nuclear desalination costs are lower and if the current trend in fossil fuel prices continues as predicted by pessimist scenarios and the carbon tax carried by greenhouse emissions is enforced in the future, the cost advantage for nuclear desalination will be even more pronounced. Increasing the interest rate from 5 to 8% has a smaller effect than fuel cost variations. It translates into a water cost increase in the range of 10-20%, with the nuclear option being the more sensitive. (author)

  10. Management of the Tobruk power station and seawater desalination plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Homann, H J

    1983-01-01

    BBC and two consortium firms provided, for one year, the management personnel for operation and maintenance of the power and seawater desalination plant in Tobruk, Libya, constructed under the leadership of BBC. The plant organisation was established at site in cooperation with the client. Following thorough training, the client's staff took over plant management after one year according to contract.

  11. Flux patterns and membrane fouling propensity during desalination of seawater by forward osmosis

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Zhenyu; Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Li, Qingyu; Zhan, Tong; Amy, Gary L.

    2012-01-01

    The membrane fouling propensity of natural seawater during forward osmosis was studied. Seawater from the Red Sea was used as the feed in a forward osmosis process while a 2. M sodium chloride solution was used as the draw solution. The process was conducted in a semi-batch mode under two crossflow velocities, 16.7. cm/s and 4.2. cm/s. For the first time reported, silica scaling was found to be the dominant inorganic fouling (scaling) on the surface of membrane active layer during seawater forward osmosis. Polymerization of dissolved silica was the major mechanism for the formation of silica scaling. After ten batches of seawater forward osmosis, the membrane surface was covered by a fouling layer of assorted polymerized silica clusters and natural organic matter, especially biopolymers. Moreover, the absorbed biopolymers also provided bacterial attachment sites. The accumulated organic fouling could be partially removed by water flushing while the polymerized silica was difficult to remove. The rate of flux decline was about 53% with a crossflow velocity of 16.7. cm/s while reaching more than 70% with a crossflow velocity of 4.2. cm/s. Both concentration polarization and fouling played roles in the decrease of flux. The salt rejection was stable at about 98% during seawater forward osmosis. In addition, an almost complete rejection of natural organic matter was attained. The results from this study are valuable for the design and development of a successful protocol for a pretreatment process before seawater forward osmosis and a cleaning method for fouled membranes. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

  12. A comparative study of parameters used in design and operation of desalination experimental facility versus the process parameters in a commercial desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanra, M.S.; Verma, R.K.; Ramani, M.P.S.

    1982-01-01

    Desalination Experimental Facility (DEF) based on multistage flash desalination process has been set up by the Desalination Division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay. The design parameters of DEF and materials used for various equipment and parts of DEF are mentioned. DEF was operated for 2300 hours in six operational runs. The range of operational parameters maintained during operation and observations on the performance of the materials of construction are given. Detailed comparison has been made for the orocess parameters in DEF and those in a large size plant. (M.G.B.)

  13. Evaluating the efficiency of different microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes used as pretreatment for Red Sea water reverse osmosis desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Almashharawi, Samir

    2013-01-01

    Conventional processes are widely used as pretreatment for reverse osmosis (RO) desalination technology since its development. However, these processes require a large footprint and have some limitation issues such as difficulty to maintain a consistent silt density index, coagulation control at low total suspended solids, and management of higher waste sludge. Recently, there has been a rapid growth in the use of low-pressure membranes as pretreatment for RO systems replacing the conventional processes. However, despite the numerous advantages of using this integrated membrane system mainly providing good and stable water quality to RO membranes, many issues have to be addressed. The primary limitation is membrane fouling which reduces the permeate flux; therefore, higher pumping intensity is required to maintain a consistent volume of product. This paper aims to optimize the permeation flux and cleaning frequency by providing high permeate quality. Different low-pressure polyethersulfone membranes with different pore sizes ranging from 0.1 lm to 50 kDa were tested. Eight different filtration configurations have been applied including the variation of coagulant doses aiming to control membrane fouling. Results showed that all the configurations with/without coagulation, provided permeate with excellent water quality which improves the stability of RO performance. However, more stable fluxes with less-energy consumption were achieved by using the 0.1 lm and 100 kDa membranes with 1 mg/L FeCl3 coagulation. The use of UF membranes, having tight pores, without coagulation also proved to be an excellent option for Red Sea water RO pretreatment. © 2013 Desalination Publications.

  14. Water desalination as a possible opportunity for the GT- and H2-MHR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bogart, S. Locke; Schultz, Ken

    2004-01-01

    There is growing concern that many areas of the world are suffering ongoing and increasing water shortages. Much of this concern is manifested in the United Nation's World Water Assessment Programme, the results of which were published in the spring of 2003. Other researchers have corroborated the findings of this work. However, while the UN has characterized water availability as a 'crisis', this view would seem to be excessive. Nevertheless, many parts of the world, particularly in developing nations inclusive of the middle east, are experiencing severe water stress and some of these have embarked on large-scale seawater desalination projects. The current work explores, in a preliminary way, the application of high temperature helium cooled reactors in either an electricity or a hydrogen production mode for desalination. Three desalination technologies are discussed: reverse osmosis (RO) and thermal processes using either Multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) or Multi-effect distillation (MED). For the latter, it is found that the waste heat rejected from a high temperature reactor comes in power levels and temperatures reasonably well suited for desalination. An economic comparison was made using the best available data and scaling to compare the processes. What was found that reverse osmosis and thermal distillation possess comparable costs within the error bars of the analysis but that the former generally resulted in slightly lower costs. Thus the choice between them can be made with other criteria such as feed salinity and product quality. It was also found that desalinated water co-produced with either electricity (RO and MED) or hydrogen (MED) are expected to cost about the same. Since hydrogen and desalinated water can be produced off the grid, this co-production architecture appears attractive for the early deployment of high temperature helium cooled reactors. (authors)

  15. High solute rejecting membranes for reverse osmosis: Polyetheramide hydrazide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bindal, R.C.; Ramachandhran, V.; Misra, B.M.; Ramani, M.P.S.

    1991-01-01

    Synthesis of benzhydrazide polymers and determination of reverse osmosis properties of their membranes were reported earlier. Their performance was not adequate for seawater desalination or for high radioactive decontamination factors (DF). The same hydrazide polymers modified by incorporation of additional monomers with ether linkages were synthesized by low temperature polycondensation of freshly prepared m-amino benzhydrazide, p-amino benzhydrazide, and 4,4'-diamino diphenyl ether, with isophthaloyl chloride and terephthaloyl chloride in dimethyl acetamide solvent. A series of film-forming polymers prepared by altering the molar ratios of the reacting monomers were characterized in terms of percent moisture regain, inherent viscosity, solubility parameters, and interfacial sorption characteristics. Asymmetric membranes prepared from these polymer samples were characterized in terms of the pure water permeability constant and the solute transport parameter, and were tested for their reverse osmosis performance. An optimum mole ratio of reaching monomers has been identified for the synthesis of polymer and the resulting membrane offered the best performance for reverse osmosis (salt rejection as high as 99.4% for 3.5% sodium chloride solution). The incorporation of aromatic ether linkages in the polyamide benzhydrazide polymeric chains appears to alter the polar and nonpolar character of the bulk polymer, and also the membrane solution interface characteristics, resulting in enhanced solute separation. These membranes appear to be potential candidates for single-stage seawater desalination and also for a variety of industrial effluent treatment applications for significantly high DF radioactive effluent treatment

  16. Multi-objective optimization of a pressurized solid oxide fuel cell – gas turbine hybrid system integrated with seawater reverse osmosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eveloy, Valerie; Rodgers, Peter; Al Alili, Ali

    2017-01-01

    To improve the capacity and efficiency of distributed power and fresh water generation in coastal industrial facilities affected by regional water scarcity, a natural gas-fueled, pressurized solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine (SOFC-GT) hybrid is integrated with a bottoming organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant. This power and water co-generation system is optimized in terms of two objectives, maximum exergy efficiency and minimum cost rate, using a genetic algorithm. The exergetic and economic performance of three solutions representing maximum exergy efficiency, minimum cost rate, and a compromise between efficiency and cost rate, are compared. When imposing a water production requirement (reference case), the selected compromise multi-objective optimization solution delivers a net power output of 2.4 MWe and 636 m"3/day of permeate, at a co-generation exergy efficiency and cost rate of 71.3% and 0.0256 USD/s, respectively. The system payback time is estimated to be less than six years for typical economic parameters, but would become unprofitable in the most unfavorable economic scenario considered. Overall, the results indicate the thermodynamic and economic benefits of reverse osmosis over thermal desalination processes for integration with high-efficiency power generation systems in coastal regions impacted by domestic gas shortages and water scarcity. - Highlights: • Integration of a pressurized SOFC-GT hybrid system with a reverse osmosis unit. • Multi-objective, exergetic and economic optimization using a genetic algorithm. • Optimum solution delivers 2.4 MWe and 636 m"3/day of desalinated water. • Overall exergy efficiency and cost rate of 71.3% and 0.0256 USD/s, respectively. • System payback time estimated at less than six years for typical economic conditions.

  17. Potential of dyes as draw solutions in forward osmosis for the south african textile industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sheldon, Marshall; Jingxi, Estella Zandile; De Jager, Debbie

    2018-01-01

    The textile industry produces large volumes of wastewater that requires appropriate treatment before being released into the environment. Research globally has focused on advanced desalination technologies to augment the limited freshwater resources. Forward osmosis (FO) technology has gained...

  18. Development of an environmental impact assessment and decision support system for seawater desalination plants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lattemann, S.

    2010-01-01

    Seawater desalination is a rapidly growing coastal-based industry. The combined production capacity of all seawater desalination plants worldwide has increased by 30% over the last two years: from 28 million cubic meters per day in 2007—which is the equivalent of the average discharge of the River

  19. Advantages of the appropriate selection of reverse osmosis membranes in desalination plants with open intake; Ventajs de una adecuada seleccion de membranas de osmosis inversa en plants desaladoras con captacion superficial abierta

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Munoz Elguera, A.; Nishida, M.

    2001-07-01

    It is hoped to make it sufficiently clear with this article that it is of fundamental importance that the reverse osmosis membranes and the conditions under which they will operate be appropriately selected. It is obvious that this choice must be made primarily in function of the quality of the water that will be processed in the water treatment plant ( for which reason it is of vital importance that a detailed study and careful characterisation of this water be carried out previously). This article report the highly encouraging results achieved with Cellulose Tri-acetate membranes in a singular Hollow fibre configuration, known commercially as Hollosep HM 10255FI (of Japanese manufacture), which were evaluated in parallel with LP3 potabilisation membranes that process sea water collected using an open intake system with high levels of microbiological pollution. (Author) 7 refs.

  20. Multi-stage-flash desalination plants of relative small performance with integrated pressurized water reactors as a nuclear heat source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petersen, G.; Peltzer, M.

    1977-01-01

    In the Krupp-GKSS joint study MINIPLEX the requirements for seawater-desalination plants with a performance in the range of 10 000 to 80 000 m 3 distillate per day heated by a nuclear reactor are investigated. The reactor concept is similar to the Integrated Pressurized Water Reactor (IPWR) of the nuclear ship OTTO HAHN. The design study shows that IPWR systems have specific advantages up to 200 MWth compared to other reactor types at least being adapted for single- and dual-purpose desalination plants. The calculated costs of the desalinated water show that due to fuel cost advantages of reactors small and medium nuclear desalination plants are economically competetive with oil-fired plants since the steep rise of oil price in autumn 1973. (author)

  1. Design and development of solar desalination plant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marimuthu Thaneissha a/p

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Direct sunlight has been utilized long back for desalination of water. The desalination process takes place in solar still. Solar still is a device that converts saline water to potable water. This process requires seawater and sunlight which are widely available on Earth. However, the current solar desalination generation capacity is generally low and has high installation cost. Hence, there is a need for the enhancement of the productivity which can be achieved through few modifications. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of solar water desalination worldwide. It presents a comprehensive review of solar desalination technologies that have been developed in recent years which covers the economic and environmental aspects.

  2. Desalination of brackish mine waters by reverse osmosis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kepinski, J; Lipinski, K; Chlubek, N; Delyannis, A; Delyannis, E [eds.

    1976-01-01

    The situation concerning the pollution, by excessive salinity, of the main rivers in Poland is analyzed. The significant contribution of saline coal mine waters is evaluated, with emphasis on large quantities of brackish water in new coal mines. The results are given of preliminary experiments undertaken in order to elaborate the suitable technology. Pretreatment, concentration by reverse osmosis and disinfection of the permeate are the proposed steps. The concentrate as obtained is suitable for further utilization by evaporation.

  3. Full-scale simulation of seawater reverse osmosis desalination processes for boron removal: Effect of membrane fouling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Pyung-Kyu; Lee, Sangho; Cho, Jae-Seok; Kim, Jae-Hong

    2012-08-01

    The objective of this study is to further develop previously reported mechanistic predictive model that simulates boron removal in full-scale seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalination processes to take into account the effect of membrane fouling. Decrease of boron removal and reduction in water production rate by membrane fouling due to enhanced concentration polarization were simulated as a decrease in solute mass transfer coefficient in boundary layer on membrane surface. Various design and operating options under fouling condition were examined including single- versus double-pass configurations, different number of RO elements per vessel, use of RO membranes with enhanced boron rejection, and pH adjustment. These options were quantitatively compared by normalizing the performance of the system in terms of E(min), the minimum energy costs per product water. Simulation results suggested that most viable options to enhance boron rejection among those tested in this study include: i) minimizing fouling, ii) exchanging the existing SWRO elements to boron-specific ones, and iii) increasing pH in the second pass. The model developed in this study is expected to help design and optimization of the RO processes to achieve the target boron removal at target water recovery under realistic conditions where membrane fouling occurs during operation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Renewable energy-driven innovative energy-efficient desalination technologies

    KAUST Repository

    Ghaffour, NorEddine; Lattemann, Sabine; Missimer, Thomas M.; Ng, Kim Choon; Sinha, Shahnawaz; Amy, Gary L.

    2014-01-01

    Globally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) desalinates the largest capacity of seawater but through energy-intensive thermal processes such as multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation (>10 kW h per m3 of desalinated water, including electrical and thermal energies). In other regions where fossil energy is more expensive and not subsidized, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is the most common desalination technology but it is still energy-intensive (3-4 kW h_e/m3). Both processes therefore lead to the emission of significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Moreover, MSF and SWRO technologies are most often used for large desalination facilities serving urban centers with centralized water distribution systems and power grids. While renewable energy (RE) sources could be used to serve centralized systems in urban centers and thus provide an opportunity to make desalination greener, they are mostly used to serve rural communities off of the grid. In the KSA, solar and geothermal energy are of most relevance in terms of local conditions. Our group is focusing on developing new desalination processes, adsorption desalination (AD) and membrane distillation (MD), which can be driven by waste heat, geothermal or solar energy. A demonstration solar-powered AD facility has been constructed and a life cycle assessment showed that a specific energy consumption of <1.5 kW h_e/m3 is possible. An innovative hybrid approach has also been explored which would combine solar and geothermal energy using an alternating 12-h cycle to reduce the probability of depleting the heat source within the geothermal reservoir and provide the most effective use of RE without the need for energy storage. This paper highlights the use of RE for desalination in KSA with a focus on our group's contribution in developing innovative low energy-driven desalination technologies. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Renewable energy-driven innovative energy-efficient desalination technologies

    KAUST Repository

    Ghaffour, Noreddine

    2014-04-13

    Globally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) desalinates the largest capacity of seawater but through energy-intensive thermal processes such as multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation (>10 kW h per m3 of desalinated water, including electrical and thermal energies). In other regions where fossil energy is more expensive and not subsidized, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is the most common desalination technology but it is still energy-intensive (3-4 kW h_e/m3). Both processes therefore lead to the emission of significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Moreover, MSF and SWRO technologies are most often used for large desalination facilities serving urban centers with centralized water distribution systems and power grids. While renewable energy (RE) sources could be used to serve centralized systems in urban centers and thus provide an opportunity to make desalination greener, they are mostly used to serve rural communities off of the grid. In the KSA, solar and geothermal energy are of most relevance in terms of local conditions. Our group is focusing on developing new desalination processes, adsorption desalination (AD) and membrane distillation (MD), which can be driven by waste heat, geothermal or solar energy. A demonstration solar-powered AD facility has been constructed and a life cycle assessment showed that a specific energy consumption of <1.5 kW h_e/m3 is possible. An innovative hybrid approach has also been explored which would combine solar and geothermal energy using an alternating 12-h cycle to reduce the probability of depleting the heat source within the geothermal reservoir and provide the most effective use of RE without the need for energy storage. This paper highlights the use of RE for desalination in KSA with a focus on our group\\'s contribution in developing innovative low energy-driven desalination technologies. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The Threat of Intentional Oil Spills to Desalination Plants in the Middle East: A U.S. Security Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-04-01

    desalination plants.”14 Kuwait and Qatar are almost entirely dependant on desalination plants already for their drinking water and with Qatar’s only aquifer ...rivers), below ground aquifers , and desalination facilities; the focus of this paper. Mary E. Morris most succinctly describes the basic water issues in...with different players and different issues: The first set involves the Jordan and Yarmuk River systems, as well as the West Bank and Gaza aquifers

  7. Present and future activities of nuclear desalination in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minato, A.; Hirai, M.

    2004-01-01

    Seawater desalination plants have been installed at several nuclear power plants in Japan in order to satisfy the regulations for nuclear plant installation. This has been done where there is a limited source of water due to the geological conditions. These desalination plants are being operated to ensure supplemental water by using thermal or electrical energy from the nuclear power plant. The desalination plant is not operated continuously during the year because the major function of the plant is to ensure the supply of supplemental water for the nuclear power plant. Regarding maintenance of the desalination plant, some piping was exchanged due to corrosion by high temperature seawater, however, the desalination plants are being operated without any trouble as of today. Recently, the development of innovative and/or small reactor designs, that emphasise safety features, has been promoted in Japan to use for seawater desalination and for installation in developing countries. An advanced RO system with lower energy consumption technology is also being developed. Furthermore, some Japanese industries and universities are now very interested in nuclear desalination. (author)

  8. Water desalination price from recent performances: Modelling, simulation and analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Metaiche, M.; Kettab, A.

    2005-01-01

    The subject of the present article is the technical simulation of seawater desalination, by a one stage reverse osmosis system, the objectives of which are the recent valuation of cost price through the use of new membrane and permeator performances, the use of new means of simulation and modelling of desalination parameters, and show the main parameters influencing the cost price. We have taken as the simulation example the Seawater Desalting centre of Djannet (Boumerdes, Algeria). The present performances allow water desalting at a price of 0.5 $/m 3 , which is an interesting and promising price, corresponding with the very acceptable water product quality, in the order of 269 ppm. It is important to run the desalting systems by reverse osmosis under high pressure, resulting in further decrease of the desalting cost and the production of good quality water. Aberration in choice of functioning conditions produces high prices and unacceptable quality. However there exists the possibility of decreasing the price by decreasing the requirement on the product quality. The seawater temperature has an effect on the cost price and quality. The installation of big desalting centres, contributes to the decrease in prices. A very important, long and tedious calculation is effected, which is impossible to conduct without programming and informatics tools. The use of the simulation model has been much efficient in the design of desalination centres that can perform at very improved prices. (author)

  9. Recent development in thermally activated desalination methods: achieving an energy efficiency less than 2.5 kWhelec/m3

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2015-05-19

    Water-Energy-Environment nexus is a crucial consideration when designing seawater desalination processes, particularly for the water-stressed countries where the annual water availability is less than 250 m3 per capita. Despite the thermodynamics limit for seawater desalination at normal conditions is about 0.78 to 1.09 kWhelec/m3, the specific energy consumption of desalination of real plants is found to operate at several folds higher. Today’s technological advancement in membranes, namely the reverse osmosis processes, has set an energy consumption of around 3.5–5 kWhelec/m3, while the conventional perception of thermally activated processes such as MSF and MED tends to be higher. Although the higher energetic specific consumption of MED or MSF processes appeared to be higher at 60–100 kWhthermal/m3, their true electricity equivalent has been converted, hitherto, using the energetic analyses where the work potential of working steam of the processes cannot be captured adequately. Thermally activated processes, such as MED and MSF, form the bottoming cycle of a cogeneration plant where both electricity and desalination processes operate in tandem in a cascaded manner. Only the bled-steam at lower exergy is extracted for the desalination processes. In this presentation, we demonstrate that in a cogen plant with 30% bled-steam for MED processes, the exergy destruction ratio is found to be less than 7% of the total available exergy that emanated from the boilers. By the exergetic approach, the equivalent electricity consumption of an average 75 kWhthermal/m3 would result in an electrical equivalent of less than 2.5 kWhelec/m3. Also in this presentation, the authors will elaborate the latest developments in the use of hybridization concept where the MED and the AD cycles are thermodynamically integrated and enhancing the overall efficiency of desalination. © 2015 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  10. Environmental impact assessment of nuclear desalination plant at KANUPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sleem, M.

    2010-01-01

    A Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant (NDDP) of 1600 m/sup 3//d capacity is being installed at Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP). A Nuclear Desalination Plant (NDP) can impact the aquatic environment mainly by subjecting the aquatic life to possible temperature increase and salinity changes in the vicinity of the cooling water and brine discharges. Any wastewater effluent, which will be discharged from the NDDP, may have some adverse effects on the marine life and general environment. In order to protect the environment and comply with the requirement of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA) an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the discharged effluent from NDDP was carried out. In the present work baseline study was carried out for project location, climate, water resources, and ecology. Checklist has been prepared for identification of possible environmental impacts of the project and marked as insignificant, small, moderate or major impact. Appropriate mitigation measures have been recommended that can be incorporated into the intended program to minimize environmental impacts identified during the assessment. Specific conclusions of the study and recommendations have also been provided in this paper.

  11. Problems of pricing fresh water obtained from a sea water desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaussens, J.

    1967-01-01

    Integrating a double-purpose desalination and electricity generating plant into a water supply system alters the conditions in which the other water and electricity sources are used, as the peak and the base load water and electricity demands have to be met at the least cost. This paper attempts to show how the problem of determining optimal water supply structures can be approached, in definite cases, but against a global economic back-ground. It becomes necessary to define the competition between classical resources and desalination plants, as these plants introduce into optimum studies new factors due to the peculiar shape of their production functions. These new factors (fixed and proportional costs structures, flow availabilities) are studied in relation to the production functions in various management cases (private monopoly, public monopoly). (author) [fr

  12. Preparation and water desalination properties of POSS-polyamide nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Duan, Jintang

    2015-01-01

    The application of nanotechnology to thin-film nanocomposites (TFN) is a new route to enhance membrane performance in water desalination. Here, the potential of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) as the nanofiller in polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis membranes was systematically investigated. Four POSS materials (P-8Phenyl, P-8NH3Cl, P-8NH2 and P-1NH2) were introduced into the selective layer by physical blending or chemical fixation during standard interfacial polymerization. Water flux and NaCl rejection were measured with 2000ppm NaCl solution under 15.5bar pressure, and SEM and TEM images of membrane selective layers were obtained. Membranes prepared without POSS showed water flux of 20.0±0.5L/m2·h and salt rejection of 98.0±0.2%. TFN membranes prepared with 0.4% (w/v) P-8Phenyl in the organic phase showed a 65% increase in water flux compared to the pristine PA membrane while maintaining high salt rejection. The selective layer of this membrane maintained the typical ridge-and-valley structure of aromatic PA. Results with P-8NH3Cl and P-8NH2 added to the organic phase were similar. TFN membranes prepared with monoamine P-1NH2 in the organic phase had poor water flux of 3.2L/m2·h, a smooth and more hydrophobic surface, and a much thicker (~400nm) selective layer. One of the four POSS compounds studied, P-8NH3Cl, is sufficiently soluble in water for incorporation into the selective layer via the aqueous phase. Membranes were prepared with P-8NH3Cl in the aqueous phase at varying reaction time, loading, and additive (triethylamine) concentration. With these parameters optimized, water flux increased to 35.4L/m2·h.

  13. NDDP multi-stage flash desalination process simulator design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chatterjee, M.; Sashi Kumar, G.N.; Mahendra, A.K.; Sanyal, A.; Gouthaman, G.

    2006-05-01

    A majority of large-scale desalination plants all over the world employ multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation process. Many of these MSF desalination plants have been set up near to nuclear power plants (generally called as nuclear desalination plants) to effectively utilize the low-grade steam from the power plants as the source of energy. A computer program called MSFSIM has been developed to simulate the MSF desalination plant operation both for steady state and various transients including start up. This code predicts the effect of number of stages, flashing temperature, velocity of brine flowing through the tubes of brine heater and evaporators, temperature of the condensing thin film etc. on the plant performance ratio. Such a code can be used for the design of a new plant and to predict its operating and startup characteristics. The code has been extensively validated with available start up data from the pilot MSF desalination plant of 425-m3/day capacity at Trombay, Mumbai. A MSF desalination plant of 4500-m3/day capacity is under construction by BARC at Kalpakkam, which will utilize the steam from Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). In this present work extensive parametric study of the 4500-m3/day capacity desalination plant at Kalpakkam has been done using the code MSFSIM for optimizing the operating parameters in order to maximize the performance ratio for stable plant operation. The aim of the work is prediction of plant performance under different operating conditions. (author)

  14. Wastewater treatment and reuse. Indian power plant turns sewage into process water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Langer, S.; Schroedter, F.; Demmerle, C. [ERM Lahmeyer International, Neu-Isenburg (Germany)

    2000-07-01

    Lahmeyer International provided consulting services for a private Indian investor of a 200 MW diesel engine power plant, in reviewing and controlling the EPC Contractor from Korea with regard to the treatment plant for dosmestic wastewater and the reverse osmosis plant for desalination. The wastewater treatment and subsequent water treatment for cooling water production comprised: mechanical treatment, biological treatment of domestic wastewater, lime softening, sand filtration, disinfection, micro-filtration, reverse osmosis. The services as Owner's Engineer included: (1) the review of the EPC Contractor's treatment concept, (2) the selection of internationally renowned manufacturer, (3) the review of the detailed design (including civil, mechanical, electrical and I and C work), and (4) onsite technical assistance to the Client during construction and commissioning phase. (orig.)

  15. Integration of solar process heat into an existing thermal desalination plant in Qatar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dieckmann, S.; Krishnamoorthy, G.; Aboumadi, M.; Pandian, Y.; Dersch, J.; Krüger, D.; Al-Rasheed, A. S.; Krüger, J.; Ottenburger, U.

    2016-05-01

    The water supply of many countries in the Middle East relies mainly on water desalination. In Qatar, the water network is completely fed with water from desalination plants. One of these power and desalination plants is located in Ras Abu Fontas, 20 km south of the capital Doha. The heat required for thermal desalination is provided by steam which is generated in waste heat recovery boilers (HRB) connected to gas turbines. Additionally, gas fired boilers or auxiliary firing in the HRBs are used in order to decouple the water generation from the electricity generation. In Ras Abu Fontas some auxiliary boilers run 24/7 because the HRB capacity does not match the demand of the desalination units. This paper contains the techno-economic analysis of two large-scale commercial solar field options, which could reduce the fuel consumption significantly. Both options employ parabolic trough technology with a nominal saturated steam output of 350 t/h at 15 bar (198°C, 240 MW). The first option uses direct steam generation without storage while the second relies on common thermal oil in combination with a molten salt thermal storage with 6 hours full-load capacity. The economic benefit of the integration of solar power depends mainly on the cost of the fossil alternative, and thus the price (respectively opportunity costs) of natural gas. At a natural gas price of 8 US-/MMBtu the internal rate of return on equity (IRR) is expected at about 5%.

  16. Design concept and its requirements of the integrated SMART nuclear desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Kim, Young In; Chon, Bong Hyun; Lee, Doo Jung; Chang, Moon Hee

    2001-02-01

    The integrated SMART desalination plant consists of four(4) units of Multi Effect Distillation Process combined with Thermal-Vapor Compressor(MED-TVC) and coupled with the extracted steam from turbine through the steam transformer. Steam transformer produces the main pressure steam and supplies to the MED-TVC unit. Each distillation unit has the production the capacity of 10,000 m3/day of distilled water per day at top brine temperature of 65 deg C using the seawater supplied at temperature of 33 deg C. MED-TVC was selected as a desalination process coupled with SMART, since the thermal vapor compression is very effective where the steam is available at high temperature and pressure conditions than required in the evaporator. The MED-TVC unit is consisted of the steam supply system, vapor and condensate system, seawater supply system, brine system and chemical dosing system. The standard design of the SMART desalination plant is under development as a part of the SMART project. This report describes design concept of these systems and their requirements

  17. Design concept and its requirements of the integrated SMART nuclear desalination plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Kim, Young In; Chon, Bong Hyun; Lee, Doo Jung; Chang, Moon Hee

    2001-02-01

    The integrated SMART desalination plant consists of four(4) units of Multi Effect Distillation Process combined with Thermal-Vapor Compressor(MED-TVC) and coupled with the extracted steam from turbine through the steam transformer. Steam transformer produces the main pressure steam and supplies to the MED-TVC unit. Each distillation unit has the production the capacity of 10,000 m3/day of distilled water per day at top brine temperature of 65 deg C using the seawater supplied at temperature of 33 deg C. MED-TVC was selected as a desalination process coupled with SMART, since the thermal vapor compression is very effective where the steam is available at high temperature and pressure conditions than required in the evaporator. The MED-TVC unit is consisted of the steam supply system, vapor and condensate system, seawater supply system, brine system and chemical dosing system. The standard design of the SMART desalination plant is under development as a part of the SMART project. This report describes design concept of these systems and their requirements.

  18. Nuclear desalination for the northwest of Mexico; Desalacion nuclear para el noroeste de Mexico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ortega C, R. F. [Instituto de Ingenieria, UNAM, 04510 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

    2008-07-01

    The IMPULSA project of the Engineering Institute of UNAM, it has dedicated from the year 2005 to the study and development of new desalination technologies of seawater with renewable energies. The objective is to form a group of expert engineers and investigators in the desalination topics able to transform their scientific knowledge in engineering solutions, with a high grade of knowledge of the environment and the renewable energies. In the middle of 2007 was took the initiative in the IMPULSA project to study the nuclear desalination topic. It is evident that before the high cost of the hydrocarbons and its high environmental impact, the nuclear generation alternative of energy becomes extremely attractive, mainly for desalination projects of seawater of great size. The Northwest of Mexico is particularly attractive as the appropriate site for one nuclear desalination plant of great size given its shortage of drink water and the quick growth of its population; as well as its level of tourist, agricultural and industrial activity. In this study was revised the state of the art of the nuclear desalination on the world and it is simulated some couplings and operation forms of nuclear reactors and desalination units, from the thermodynamic and economic viewpoint with the purpose of identifying the main peculiarities of this technology. The objective of the study was to characterize several types and sizes of nuclear reactors of the last generation that could be couple to a desalination technology as multi-stage distillation, type flash distillation or inverse osmosis. It is used for this effect the DEEP 3.1 program of the IAEA to simulate the coupling and to carry out an economic preliminary evaluation. Was found cost very competitive of 0.038-0.044 US$/kWh for the electric power production and 0.60 to 0.77 US$/m{sup 3} for the drink water produced, without including the water transport cost or the use of carbon certificates. (Author)

  19. Adsorption Desalination: A Novel Method

    KAUST Repository

    Ng, Kim Choon

    2010-11-15

    The search for potable water for quenching global thirst remains a pressing concern throughout many regions of the world. The demand for new and sustainable sources and the associated technologies for producing fresh water are intrinsically linked to the solving of potable water availability and hitherto, innovative and energy efficient desalination methods seems to be the practical solutions. Quenching global thirst by adsorption desalination is a practical and inexpensive method of desalinating the saline and brackish water to produce fresh water for agriculture irrigation, industrial, and building applications. This chapter provides a general overview of the adsorption fundamentals in terms of adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and heat of adsorption. It is then being more focused on the principles of thermally driven adsorption desalination methods. The recent developments of adsorption desalination plants and the effect of operating conditions on the system performance in terms of specific daily water production and performance ratio are presented. Design of a large commercial adsorption desalination plant is also discussed herein.

  20. Future sustainable desalination using waste heat: kudos to thermodynamic synergy

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2015-12-02

    There has been a plethora of published literature on thermally-driven adsorption desalination (AD) cycles for seawater desalination due to their favorable environmentally friendly attributes, such as the ability to operate with low-temperature heat sources, from either the renewable or the exhaust gases, and having almost no major moving parts. We present an AD cycle for seawater desalination due to its unique ability to integrate higher water production yields with the existing desalination methods such as reverse osmosis (RO), multi-stage flashing (MSF) and multi-effect distillation (MED), etc. The hybrid cycles exploit the thermodynamic synergy between processes, leading to significant enhancement of the systems\\' performance ratio (PR). In this paper, we demonstrate experimentally the synergetic effect between the AD and MED cycles that results in quantum improvement in water production. The unique feature is in the internal latent heat recovery from the condenser unit of AD to the top-brine stage of MED, resulting in a combined, or simply termed as MEAD, cycle that requires no additional heat input other than the regeneration of an adsorbent. The batch-operated cycles are simple to implement and require low maintenance when compared with conventional desalination methods. Together, they offer a low energy and environmentally friendly desalination solution that addresses the major issues of the water-energy-environment nexus. © 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

  1. Reverse osmosis seawater test facility on board NS Otto Hahn

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boeddeker, K.W.; Hilgendorff, W.; Kaschemekat, J.

    1977-01-01

    To evaluate the performance of reverse osmosis membranes and prototype modules for the desalination of sea water under near technical conditions, a test station has been installed on board the nuclear research vessel NS Otto Hahn. A newly designed plate module with variable membrane area and favorable membrane exchange properties is being used as a test instrument for membranes and operating conditions. (orig./HK) [de

  2. Environmental assessment of desalination processes: Reverse osmosis and Memstill®

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tarnacki, K.; Meneses, M.; Melin, T.; Medevoort, J. van; Jansen, A.

    2012-01-01

    Desalination becomes in many parts of the world and also in Europe a promising option to combat water stress in water scarce regions. However, also the question of sustainability and environmental impacts of this technology is in focus of numerous studies and discussions. Especially, the focus is

  3. Microfluidic desalination techniques and their potential applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roelofs, Susan Helena; van den Berg, Albert; Odijk, Mathieu

    2015-01-01

    In this review we discuss recent developments in the emerging research field of miniaturized desalination. Traditionally desalination is performed to convert salt water into potable water and research is focused on improving performance of large-scale desalination plants. Microfluidic desalination

  4. Performance of Potassium Bicarbonate and Calcium Chloride Draw Solutions for Desalination of Saline Water Using Forward Osmosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Nematzadeh

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Forward osmosis (FO has recently drawn attention as a promising membrane based method for seawater and brackish water desalination. In this study, we focus on the use of calciun chloride (CaCl2 and potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3 as inorganic salt draw solution candidates due to their appropriate performance in water flux and reverse salt diffusion as well as reasonable cost. The experiments were carried at 25 °C and cross-flow rate of 3 L min−1.  At the same osmotic pressure, the water flux of CaCl2 draw solution tested against deionized feed water, showed 20% higher permeation than KHCO3, which it was attributed to the lower internal concentration polarization (ICP. The reverse diffusion of CaCl2 was found higher than KHCO3 solution which it would be related to the smaller ionic size and the higher permeation of this salt through the membrane. The water flux for both draw solutions against 0.33 M NaCl feed solution was about 2.8 times lower than deionized feed water because of ICP. Higher concentrations of draw solution is required for increasing the water permeation from saline water feed towards the draw side.

  5. Renewable energy-driven innovative energy-efficient desalination technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghaffour, Noreddine; Lattemann, Sabine; Missimer, Thomas; Ng, Kim Choon; Sinha, Shahnawaz; Amy, Gary

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Renewable energy-driven desalination technologies are highlighted. • Solar, geothermal, and wind energy sources were explored. • An innovative hybrid approach (combined solar–geothermal) has also been explored. • Innovative desalination technologies developed by our group are discussed. • Climate change and GHG emissions from desalination are also discussed. - Abstract: Globally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) desalinates the largest capacity of seawater but through energy-intensive thermal processes such as multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation (>10 kW h per m 3 of desalinated water, including electrical and thermal energies). In other regions where fossil energy is more expensive and not subsidized, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is the most common desalination technology but it is still energy-intensive (3–4 kW h e /m 3 ). Both processes therefore lead to the emission of significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Moreover, MSF and SWRO technologies are most often used for large desalination facilities serving urban centers with centralized water distribution systems and power grids. While renewable energy (RE) sources could be used to serve centralized systems in urban centers and thus provide an opportunity to make desalination greener, they are mostly used to serve rural communities off of the grid. In the KSA, solar and geothermal energy are of most relevance in terms of local conditions. Our group is focusing on developing new desalination processes, adsorption desalination (AD) and membrane distillation (MD), which can be driven by waste heat, geothermal or solar energy. A demonstration solar-powered AD facility has been constructed and a life cycle assessment showed that a specific energy consumption of <1.5 kW h e /m 3 is possible. An innovative hybrid approach has also been explored which would combine solar and geothermal energy using an alternating 12-h cycle to reduce the probability of depleting the heat source

  6. Parametric optimization of the MVC desalination plant with thermomechanical compressor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blagin, E. V.; Biryuk, V. V.; Anisimov, M. Y.; Shimanov, A. A.; Gorshkalev, A. A.

    2018-03-01

    This article deals with parametric optimization of the Mechanical Vapour Compression (MVC) desalination plant with thermomechanical compressor. In this plants thermocompressor is used instead of commonly used centrifugal compressor. Influence of two main parameters was studied. These parameters are: inlet pressure and number of stages. Analysis shows that it is possible to achieve better plant performance in comparison with traditional MVC plant. But is required reducing the number of stages and utilization of low or high initial pressure with power consumption maximum at approximately 20-30 kPa.

  7. Selection of inorganic-based fertilizers in forward osmosis for water desalination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tripti Mishra

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The current study aims at the selection of an appropriate draw solute for forward osmosis process. Separation and recovery of the draw solute are the major criteria for the selection of draw solute for forward osmosis process. Therefore in this investigation six inorganic fertilizers draws solute were selected. The selections of inorganic fertilizers as draw solute eliminate the need of removal and recovery of draw solute from the final product. The final product water of forward osmosis process has direct application in agricultural as nutrient rich water for irrigation. These inorganic fertilizers were tested based on their water extraction (water flux capacity. This experimental water flux was compared with the observed water flux. It was noted that the observed water flux is much higher than the attained experimental water flux. The difference of these two fluxes was used to calculate the performance ratio of each selected fertilizer. Highest performance ratio was shown by low molecular weight compound ammonium nitrate (22.73 and potassium chloride (21.03 at 1 M concentration, whereas diammonium phosphate (DAP which has highest molecular weight among all the selected fertilizer show the lowest performance ratio (10.02 at 2 M concentration. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v4i2.12660 International Journal of Environment Vol.4(2 2015: 319-329

  8. Entropy Generation Analysis of Desalination Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John H. Lienhard V

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Increasing global demand for fresh water is driving the development and implementation of a wide variety of seawater desalination technologies. Entropy generation analysis, and specifically, Second Law efficiency, is an important tool for illustrating the influence of irreversibilities within a system on the required energy input. When defining Second Law efficiency, the useful exergy output of the system must be properly defined. For desalination systems, this is the minimum least work of separation required to extract a unit of water from a feed stream of a given salinity. In order to evaluate the Second Law efficiency, entropy generation mechanisms present in a wide range of desalination processes are analyzed. In particular, entropy generated in the run down to equilibrium of discharge streams must be considered. Physical models are applied to estimate the magnitude of entropy generation by component and individual processes. These formulations are applied to calculate the total entropy generation in several desalination systems including multiple effect distillation, multistage flash, membrane distillation, mechanical vapor compression, reverse osmosis, and humidification-dehumidification. Within each technology, the relative importance of each source of entropy generation is discussed in order to determine which should be the target of entropy generation minimization. As given here, the correct application of Second Law efficiency shows which systems operate closest to the reversible limit and helps to indicate which systems have the greatest potential for improvement.

  9. A novel small dynamic solar thermal desalination plant with a fluid piston converter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahkamov, Khamid; Orda, Eugene; Belgasim, Basim; Makhkamova, Irina

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A dynamic solar desalination plant was developed which works cyclically. • It integrates an evacuated tube solar collector and fluid piston converter. • Pressure during desalination process varies with frequency of 2–4 Hz. • The system has a small increase in fresh water yield and provides pumping capacity. • Mathematical modelling provides accurate description of experimental performance. - Abstract: An innovative small dynamic water desalination plant was developed and tested under laboratory conditions. The system is a combination of a heat pipe evacuated tube solar collector, conventional condenser and novel fluid piston converter. Saline water is boiled and turned into vapour in the manifold of the solar collector. A small fraction of the solar energy supplied to the plant is used to drive the fluid piston converter. Oscillations of the fluid piston periodically change the volume and pressure in the plant. For the duration of approximately half of the periodic cycle the pressure in the plant drops below the atmospheric level causing flash boiling of saline water in the manifold of the solar collector. Generated vapour is turned into fresh water in the condenser which is surrounded by a cooling jacket with saline water. The flash boiling effect improves the fresh water production capacity of the plant. Additionally, the fluid piston converter drives a pump which provides lifting of saline water from a well and pumps this through the cooling jacket of the condenser to a saline water storage tank. This tank replenishes saline water in the manifold of the solar collector. Experimental investigations demonstrated the saline water self-circulation capability of the plant and increase in the fresh water production compared to the static mode of operation. Experimental data was also used to calibrate the mathematical model of the plant. Comparison of theoretical and experimental information demonstrates that the model accurately predicts the

  10. Boiler feedwater treatment using reverse osmosis at Suncor OSG

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, T.

    1997-01-01

    The installation of a new 1000 cu m/hr reverse osmosis water treatment system for boiler feedwater at a Suncor plant was discussed. The selection process began in 1993 when Suncor identified a need to increase its boiler feedwater capacity. The company reviewed many options available to increase the treated water capacity. These included: contracting the supply of treated water, adding additional capacity, replacing the entire plant, reverse osmosis, and demineralization. The eventual decision was to build a new 1000 cu m/hr reverse osmosis water treatment plant with the following key components: a Degremont Infilco Ultra Pulsator Clarifier and a Glegg Water Conditioning multimedia filter, Amberpack softeners and reverse osmosis arrays. The reverse osmosis plant was environmentally favourable over an equivalent demineralization plant. A technical comparison was provided between demineralization and reverse osmosis. The system has proven to be successful and economical in meeting the plants needs. 5 figs

  11. High-performance multi-functional reverse osmosis membranes obtained by carbon nanotube·polyamide nanocomposite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inukai, Shigeki; Cruz-Silva, Rodolfo; Ortiz-Medina, Josue; Morelos-Gomez, Aaron; Takeuchi, Kenji; Hayashi, Takuya; Tanioka, Akihiko; Araki, Takumi; Tejima, Syogo; Noguchi, Toru; Terrones, Mauricio; Endo, Morinobu

    2015-01-01

    Clean water obtained by desalinating sea water or by purifying wastewater, constitutes a major technological objective in the so-called water century. In this work, a high-performance reverse osmosis (RO) composite thin membrane using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and aromatic polyamide (PA), was successfully prepared by interfacial polymerization. The effect of MWCNT on the chlorine resistance, antifouling and desalination performances of the nanocomposite membranes were studied. We found that a suitable amount of MWCNT in PA, 15.5 wt.%, not only improves the membrane performance in terms of flow and antifouling, but also inhibits the chlorine degradation on these membranes. Therefore, the present results clearly establish a solid foundation towards more efficient large-scale water desalination and other water treatment processes. PMID:26333385

  12. The seawater desalination needs of Tunisia after the year 2010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ben-Kraiem, H.

    2000-01-01

    The supply of drinking water for north and central Tunisia is guaranteed from surface water resources in the north and other subsurface resources. These resources will satisfy the water demand in this region until the year 2010 and 100000 m 3 /d by the year 2015. In the south of Tunisia, the water supply comes from local subsurface resources, including the lake water of the chotts. Maximum exploitation of these lakes, whose average salinity exceeds 2 g/l, has already been reached. Therefore, non-conventional resources such as desalination have become unavoidable if the water quality is to be improved and the resources are to be maximized. The needs of this region will reach 80000 m 3 /d by the year 2010. This deficit can only be met by the desalination of seawater. At present, about 60000 m 3 /d of water is desalinated in the country using the reverse osmosis process and electric energy. (author)

  13. Review: Water recovery from brines and salt-saturated solutions: operability and thermodynamic efficiency considerations for desalination technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vane, Leland M

    2017-03-08

    When water is recovered from a saline source, a brine concentrate stream is produced. Management of the brine stream can be problematic, particularly in inland regions. An alternative to brine disposal is recovery of water and possibly salts from the concentrate. This review provides an overview of desalination technologies and discusses the thermodynamic efficiencies and operational issues associated with the various technologies particularly with regard to high salinity streams. Due to the high osmotic pressures of the brine concentrates, reverse osmosis, the most common desalination technology, is impractical. Mechanical vapor compression which, like reverse osmosis, utilizes mechanical work to operate, is reported to have the highest thermodynamic efficiency of the desalination technologies for treatment of salt-saturated brines. Thermally-driven processes, such as flash evaporation and distillation, are technically able to process saturated salt solutions, but suffer from low thermodynamic efficiencies. This inefficiency could be offset if an inexpensive source of waste or renewable heat could be used. Overarching issues posed by high salinity solutions include corrosion and the formation of scales/precipitates. These issues limit the materials, conditions, and unit operation designs that can be used.

  14. Experiences on sea water reverse osmosis plant at Anuvijay township, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balasubramanian, M.R.; Selvavinayagam, P.; Singaravelan, S.; Ramdoss, R.; Sundar, R.S.

    2007-01-01

    Sea water reverse Osmosis plant SWRO of KKNPP is located at Anuvijay township, Chettikulam, Tirunelveli District, Tamilnadu. The objective of SWRO is to produce 2400 M 3 of potable quality water per day. This plant consists of four streams, each having a capacity of 25 M 3 /hr. Each stream is having 9 pressure tube in parallel and each pressure tube has 6 polyamide spiral wound membrane in series. (author)

  15. Optimal scheduling of biocide dosing for seawater-cooled power and desalination plants

    KAUST Repository

    Mahfouz, Abdullah Bin

    2011-02-13

    Thermal desalination systems are typically integrated with power plants to exploit the excess heat resulting from the power-generation units. Using seawater in cooling the power plant and the desalination system is a common practice in many parts of the world where there is a shortage of freshwater. Biofouling is one of the major problems associated with the usage of seawater in cooling systems. Because of the dynamic variation in the power and water demands as well as the changes in the characteristics of seawater and the process, there is a need to develop an optimal policy for scheduling biocide usage and cleaning maintenance of the heat exchangers. The objective of this article is to introduce a systematic procedure for the optimization of scheduling the dosing of biocide and dechlorination chemicals as well as cleaning maintenance for a power production/thermal desalination plant. A multi-period optimization formulation is developed and solved to determine: the optimal levels of dosing and dechlorination chemicals; the timing of maintenance to clean the heat-exchange surfaces; and the dynamic dependence of the biofilm growth on the applied doses, the seawater-biocide chemistry, the process conditions, and seawater characteristics for each time period. The technical, economic, and environmental considerations of the system are accounted for. A case study is solved to elucidate the applicability of the developed optimization approach. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

  16. The nuclear desalination project in Morocco

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-01-01

    The objectives of the seawater desalination demonstration plant in Morocco are to buildup the technical confidence in the utilization of nuclear heating reactor for seawater desalination; to establish a data base for reliable extrapolation of water production costs for a commercial nuclear plant; and to further strengthen the nuclear infrastructure in Morocco. The water production capacity of the demonstration plant would be about 8000 m 3 /d. The objectives of pre-project study are to establish a reliable basis for a decision on a nuclear desalination plant in Morocco, using a small Chinese heating reactor and to train the Morocco experts in reactor technology and licensing aspects

  17. Reverse osmosis and its use at the nuclear power plants. Purification of primary circuit coolant by the means of reverse osmosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kus, Pavel; Vonkova, Katerina; Kunesova, Katerina; Bartova, Sarka; Skala, Martin; Moucha, Tomáš

    2014-01-01

    This contribution is focused on the use of membrane technologies (e.g. reverse osmosis) for the primary coolant purification at the nuclear power plants. Currently, boric acid present in the primary coolant is preconcentrated at the evaporators, but their operation is very inefficient and expensive. Therefore, reverse osmosis was proposed as one of promising methods possibly replacing evaporators. The aim of the purification process is to achieve boric acid solution of a defined concentration (40 g/l) in the retentate stream in order to recycle it and reuse it in the primary circuit. Additionally, permeate flow should consist solely of pure water. To study the efficiency of several reverse osmosis modulus in the boric acid removal form the water solutions, experimental apparatus was constructed in our laboratory. It consists of the solution reservoir, pump and reverse osmosis modulus. The arrangement of experiments was batch and the retentate flow was refluxed to the feed solution. Several modulus of commercial reverse osmosis membranes were tested. The feed solution contained various concentrations of H 3 BO 3 , KOH, LiOH and NH 3 in order to simulate real primary coolant composition. Based on the experimental results, mathematical model was developed in order to optimize experimental conditions for the best results in primary coolant purification and boric acid preconcentration. (author)

  18. Costing methods for nuclear desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1966-01-01

    The question of the methods used for costing desalination plants has been recognized as very important in the economic choice of a plant and its optimization. The fifth meeting of the Panel on the Use of Nuclear Energy in Saline Water Conversion, convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency in April 1965, noted this fact and recommended the preparation of a report on suitable methods for costing and evaluating nuclear desalination schemes. The Agency has therefore prepared this document, which was reviewed by an international panel of experts that met in Vienna from 18 to 22 April, 1966. The report contains a review of the underlying principles for costing desalination plants and of the various methods that have been proposed for allocating costs in dual-purpose plants. The effect of the different allocation methods on the water and power costs is shown at the end of the report. No attempt is made to recommend any particular method, but the possible limitations of each are indicated. It is hoped that this report will help those involved in the various phases of desalination projects

  19. Eukaryotic community diversity and spatial variation during drinking water production (by seawater desalination) and distribution in a full-scale network

    KAUST Repository

    Belila, Abdelaziz

    2016-12-01

    Eukaryotic microorganisms are naturally present in many water resources and can enter, grow and colonize water treatment and transport systems, including reservoirs, pipes and premise plumbing. In this study, we explored the eukaryotic microbial community structure in water during the (i) production of drinking water in a seawater desalination plant and (ii) transport of the drinking water in the distribution network. The desalination plant treatment involved pre-treatment (e.g. spruce filters), reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration and post-treatment steps (e.g. remineralization). 454 pyrosequencing analysis of the 18S rRNA gene revealed a highly diverse (35 phyla) and spatially variable eukaryotic community during water treatment and distribution. The desalination plant feed water contained a typical marine picoeukaryotic community dominated by Stramenopiles, Alveolates and Porifera. In the desalination plant Ascomycota was the most dominant phylum (15.5% relative abundance), followed by Alveolata (11.9%), unclassified fungi clade (10.9%) and Porifera (10.7%). In the drinking water distribution network, an uncultured fungi phylum was the major group (44.0%), followed by Chordata (17.0%), Ascomycota (11.0%) and Arthropoda (8.0%). Fungi constituted 40% of the total eukaryotic community in the treatment plant and the distribution network and their taxonomic composition was dominated by an uncultured fungi clade (55%). Comparing the plant effluent to the network samples, 84 OTUs (2.1%) formed the core eukaryotic community while 35 (8.4%) and 299 (71.5%) constituted unique OTUs in the produced water at the plant and combined tap water samples from the network, respectively. RO membrane filtration treatment significantly changed the water eukaryotic community composition and structure, highlighting the fact that (i) RO produced water is not sterile and (ii) the microbial community in the final tap water is influenced by the downstream distribution system. The study

  20. World interest in nuclear desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1969-01-01

    Nuclear power will be used in a desalination plant for the first time in a USSR plant now nearing completion. Studies are in progress to expand the concept of linking the power to chemical industries. These and other developing ideas were subjects of keen discussion by world experts at an Agency conference on nuclear desalination in Madrid. (author)

  1. Feasibility study of a dedicate nuclear desalination system: Low-pressure inherent heat sink nuclear desalination plant (LIND)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Ho Sik; No, Hee Cheon; Jo, Yu Gwan; Wivisono, Andhika Feri; Park, Byung Ha; Choi, Jin Young; Lee, Jeong Ik; Jeong, Yong Hoon; Cho, Nam Zin [Dept. of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-04-15

    In this paper, we suggest the conceptual design of a water-cooled reactor system for a low-pressure inherent heat sink nuclear desalination plant (LIND) that applies the safety-related design concepts of high temperature gas-cooled reactors to a water-cooled reactor for inherent and passive safety features. Through a scoping analysis, we found that the current LIND design satisfied several essential thermal-hydraulic and neutronic design requirements. In a thermal-hydraulic analysis using an analytical method based on the Wooton-Epstein correlation, we checked the possibility of safely removing decay heat through the steel containment even if all the active safety systems failed. In a neutronic analysis using the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, we estimated a cycle length of approximately 6 years under 200 MW{sub th} and 4.5% enrichment. The very long cycle length and simple safety features minimize the burdens from the operation, maintenance, and spent-fuel management, with a positive impact on the economic feasibility. Finally, because a nuclear reactor should not be directly coupled to a desalination system to prevent the leakage of radioactive material into the desalinated water, three types of intermediate systems were studied: a steam producing system, a hot water system, and an organic Rankine cycle system.

  2. Feasibility study of a dedicated nuclear desalination system: Low-pressure Inherent heat sink Nuclear Desalination plant (LIND

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ho Sik Kim

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we suggest the conceptual design of a water-cooled reactor system for a low-pressure inherent heat sink nuclear desalination plant (LIND that applies the safety-related design concepts of high temperature gas-cooled reactors to a water-cooled reactor for inherent and passive safety features. Through a scoping analysis, we found that the current LIND design satisfied several essential thermal–hydraulic and neutronic design requirements. In a thermal–hydraulic analysis using an analytical method based on the Wooton–Epstein correlation, we checked the possibility of safely removing decay heat through the steel containment even if all the active safety systems failed. In a neutronic analysis using the Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, we estimated a cycle length of approximately 6 years under 200 MWth and 4.5% enrichment. The very long cycle length and simple safety features minimize the burdens from the operation, maintenance, and spent-fuel management, with a positive impact on the economic feasibility. Finally, because a nuclear reactor should not be directly coupled to a desalination system to prevent the leakage of radioactive material into the desalinated water, three types of intermediate systems were studied: a steam producing system, a hot water system, and an organic Rankine cycle system.

  3. Efficiency improvement and exergy destruction reduction by combining a power and a multi-effect boiling desalination plant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Alsairafi

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Electric power and desalted seawater demand is increasing in Kuwait mainly due to residential and industrial growth, especially in summer season. In the past six years, Kuwait citizens have been facing the problem of automated power and water disconnection because of the electricity and water production is lower than the consumption. A common idea for resolving such a problem is to build new power plants but this solution is not practical due to environmental issues. Another choice but more engineer challenging approach for resolving this problem is to improve the efficiency and performance of the already existing power plants. Currently, there are six power plants in Kuwait; four of them have both stand-alone gas-turbine and steam-turbine power plants, one is steam power plant and one is gas turbine power plant. Combined power and desalination plant are more attractive in Kuwait since they have higher thermal efficiency than traditional ones and both electric power and process heat (e.g., desalting can be produced simultaneously. The relatively low temperature multi-effect desalination (MED process (around 75oC saturated temperature as the heat source is thermodynamically the most efficient of all thermal distillation processes (source, and consumes about 2 kWh/m3 pumping energy. In this study, factors affecting the performance of a combined power and MED-desalination plant have been studied. This includes the atmospheric humidity, compressor inlet air temperature, top brine temperature, desalination unit capacity, cooling water temperature, and the number of evaporation stages of the MED unit. A first- and second-law analysis of the proposed system was carried out under several operating conditions. As an example, a 125 MW Siemens V94.2 gas turbine of Al-Zour gas turbine power plant in Kuwait has been selected. It is found that the overall thermal efficiency of the proposed system increases significantly as the desalination unit capacity

  4. Adsorption desalination: An emerging low-cost thermal desalination method

    KAUST Repository

    Ng, K. C.

    2013-01-01

    Desalination, other than the natural water cycle, is hailed as the panacea to alleviate the problems of fresh water shortage in many water stressed countries. However, the main drawback of conventional desalination methods is that they are energy intensive. In many instances, they consumed electricity, chemicals for pre- and post-treatment of water. For each kWh of energy consumed, there is an unavoidable emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) at the power stations as well as the discharge of chemically-laden brine into the environment. Thus, there is a motivation to find new direction or methods of desalination that consumed less chemicals, thermal energy and electricity.This paper describes an emerging and yet low cost method of desalination that employs only low-temperature waste heat, which is available in abundance from either the renewable energy sources or exhaust of industrial processes. With only one heat input, the Adsorption Desalination (AD) cycle produces two useful effects, i.e., high grade potable water and cooling. In this article, a brief literature review, the theoretical framework for adsorption thermodynamics, a lumped-parameter model and the experimental tests for a wide range of operational conditions on the basic and the hybrid AD cycles are discussed. Predictions from the model are validated with measured performances from two pilot plants, i.e., a basic AD and the advanced AD cycles. The energetic efficiency of AD cycles has been compared against the conventional desalination methods. Owing to the unique features of AD cycle, i.e., the simultaneous production of dual useful effects, it is proposed that the life cycle cost (LCC) of AD is evaluated against the LCC of combined machines that are needed to deliver the same quantities of useful effects using a unified unit of $/MWh. In closing, an ideal desalination system with zero emission of CO2 is presented where geo-thermal heat is employed for powering a temperature-cascaded cogeneration plant.

  5. A multi-stage-flash desalination plant of relative small performance with an integrated pressurized water reactor as a nuclear heat source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peltzer, M.; Petersen, G.

    1976-01-01

    In the Krupp-GKSS joint study MINIPLEX the requirements for seawater-desalination-plants with a performance in the range of 10,000 to 80,000 m 3 /d heated by a nuclear reactor are investigated. The reactor concept is similar to the integrated pressurized water reactor (IPWR) of the nuclear ship OTTO HAHN. The calculated costs of the desalinated water show, that due to the fuel cost advantages of reactors small and medium nuclear desalination plants are economically competetive with oil-fired plants since the steep rise of oil price in autumn 1973. (orig.) [de

  6. Siting of nuclear desalination plants in Saudi Arabia: A seismic study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aljohani, M.S.; Abdul-Fattah, A.F.; Almarshad, A.I.

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents the selection criteria generally and seismic criteria specifically to select a suitable site in Saudi Arabia for a nuclear desalination plant. These criteria include geological, meteorological, cooling water supply discharge, transport infrastructure, population, electric grid, water network capacity, environmental impact and airport movement. The seismicity of the Arabian peninsula for the locations of seismic activity along the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf coastlines from 1973 to 2000 was studied carefully. This study included towns and locations along the east and west coastlines and their distances from the seismic event site. The results showed that Rabigh City along the west coast of Saudi Arabia is a good site to build a nuclear desalination plant. This is because of the following reasons: good seismic stability; good weather statistics; no flooding; mild wave conditions; good supply and discharge; good transportation infrastructure; low population area; very close to the huge electric grid. (author)

  7. Impact of spacer thickness on biofouling in forward osmosis

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

    2014-06-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) indirect desalination systems integrate wastewater recovery with seawater desalination. Niche applications for FO systems have been reported recently, due to the demonstrated advantages compared to conventional high-pressure membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Among them, wastewater recovery has been identified to be particularly suitable for practical applications. However, biofouling in FO membranes has rarely been studied in applications involving wastewater effluents. Feed spacers separating the membrane sheets in cross-flow systems play an important role in biofilm formation. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of feed spacer thickness (28, 31 and 46mil) on biofouling development and membrane performance in a FO system, using identical cross-flow cells in parallel studies. Flux development, biomass accumulation, fouling localization and composition were determined and analyzed. For all spacer thicknesses, operated at the same feed flow and the same run time, the same amount of biomass was found, while the flux reduction decreased with thicker spacers. These observations are in good agreement with biofouling studies for RO systems, considering the key differences between FO and RO. Our findings contradict previous cross-flow studies on particulate/colloidal fouling, where higher cross-flow velocities improved system performance. Thicker spacers reduced the impact of biofouling on FO membrane flux. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

  8. Impact of spacer thickness on biofouling in forward osmosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valladares Linares, R; Bucs, Sz S; Li, Z; AbuGhdeeb, M; Amy, G; Vrouwenvelder, J S

    2014-06-15

    Forward osmosis (FO) indirect desalination systems integrate wastewater recovery with seawater desalination. Niche applications for FO systems have been reported recently, due to the demonstrated advantages compared to conventional high-pressure membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Among them, wastewater recovery has been identified to be particularly suitable for practical applications. However, biofouling in FO membranes has rarely been studied in applications involving wastewater effluents. Feed spacers separating the membrane sheets in cross-flow systems play an important role in biofilm formation. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of feed spacer thickness (28, 31 and 46 mil) on biofouling development and membrane performance in a FO system, using identical cross-flow cells in parallel studies. Flux development, biomass accumulation, fouling localization and composition were determined and analyzed. For all spacer thicknesses, operated at the same feed flow and the same run time, the same amount of biomass was found, while the flux reduction decreased with thicker spacers. These observations are in good agreement with biofouling studies for RO systems, considering the key differences between FO and RO. Our findings contradict previous cross-flow studies on particulate/colloidal fouling, where higher cross-flow velocities improved system performance. Thicker spacers reduced the impact of biofouling on FO membrane flux. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Impact of spacer thickness on biofouling in forward osmosis

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Bucs, Szilard; Li, Z.; AbuGhdeeb, M.; Amy, Gary L.; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

    2014-01-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) indirect desalination systems integrate wastewater recovery with seawater desalination. Niche applications for FO systems have been reported recently, due to the demonstrated advantages compared to conventional high-pressure membrane processes such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Among them, wastewater recovery has been identified to be particularly suitable for practical applications. However, biofouling in FO membranes has rarely been studied in applications involving wastewater effluents. Feed spacers separating the membrane sheets in cross-flow systems play an important role in biofilm formation. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of feed spacer thickness (28, 31 and 46mil) on biofouling development and membrane performance in a FO system, using identical cross-flow cells in parallel studies. Flux development, biomass accumulation, fouling localization and composition were determined and analyzed. For all spacer thicknesses, operated at the same feed flow and the same run time, the same amount of biomass was found, while the flux reduction decreased with thicker spacers. These observations are in good agreement with biofouling studies for RO systems, considering the key differences between FO and RO. Our findings contradict previous cross-flow studies on particulate/colloidal fouling, where higher cross-flow velocities improved system performance. Thicker spacers reduced the impact of biofouling on FO membrane flux. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Seawater desalination using an advanced small integral reactor - SMART

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Chang, Moon Hee; Lee, Man Ki

    1999-01-01

    A concept of a dual-purpose integrated nuclear desalination plant coupled with the advanced small integral reactor SMART was established. The design concept of the plant aims to produce 40,000m 5 /day of water with the MED process and to generate about 90 MWe of electricity. In order to examine the technical, economic, and safety considerations in coupling SMART with desalination, a preliminary analysis on water production costs and a safety review of potential disturbances of the integrated nuclear desalination plant have been performed. The results of economic evaluation show that the use of SMART for seawater desalination is either comparative to or more economical, with respect to the water production cost, than the use of fossil fuels in comparison with the data published by the IAEA. It was also found that any possible transient event of the desalination plant does not impact on the reactor safety. The key safety parameters of the transient events induced by the potential disturbances of the desalination plant are bounded by the limits of safety analysis of SMART

  11. Destinação de águas residuárias provenientes do processo de dessalinização por osmose reversa Disposal of wastewater from desalination process by reverse osmosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tales M. Soares

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Nos últimos anos, inúmeros aparelhos de dessalinização por osmose reversa foram instalados no Brasil, sobretudo na Região Nordeste, onde se têm, historicamente, graves problemas econômicos e sociais devido à escassez de água. A dessalinização das águas pode constituir-se em uma ferramenta concreta de desenvolvimento regional no semi-árido do Nordeste brasileiro; entretanto, é necessário que se considerem os riscos ambientais decorrentes, isto porque, na dessalinização se gera, além da água potável, uma água residuária (rejeito, altamente salina e de poder poluente elevado. No presente texto são revisados trabalhos conduzidos no Brasil e em outros paises, os quais utilizam diversas alternativas para a destinação e o uso deste rejeito.During the last years, many desalination equipments by reverse osmosis were installed in Brazil, especially in Northeast Region, where, historically, serious socioeconomic problems exist due to water scarcity. Despite water desalinization be able to constitute a concrete tool for the development of Northeast Region, it is necessary to consider the consequent environmental risks, because in desalination process, besides the potable water a wastewater (reject, highly salty and pollutant is also generared. In the present article, studies conducted in Brazil and in other countries are revised which present alternatives for disposal and use of this reject.

  12. Integrating seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation forward osmosis process using thin-film composite mixed matrix membrane with functionalized carbon nanotube blended polyethersulfone support layer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Hyeon-Gyu; Son, Moon; Choi, Heechul

    2017-10-01

    Thin-film composite mixed matrix membrane (TFC MMM) with functionalized carbon nanotube (fCNT) blended in polyethersulfone (PES) support layer was synthesized via interfacial polymerization and phase inversion. This membrane was firstly tested in lab-scale integrating seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation forward osmosis (FO) process. Water flux of TFC MMM was increased by 72% compared to that of TFC membrane due to enhanced hydrophilicity. Although TFC MMM showed lower water flux than TFC commercial membrane, enhanced reverse salt flux selectivity (RSFS) of TFC MMM was observed compared to TFC membrane (15% higher) and TFC commercial membrane (4% higher), representing membrane permselectivity. Under effluent organic matter (EfOM) fouling test, 16% less normalized flux decline of TFC MMM was observed compared to TFC membrane. There was 8% less decline of TFC MMM compared to TFC commercial membrane due to fCNT effect on repulsive foulant-membrane interaction enhancement, caused by negatively charged membrane surface. After 10 min physical cleaning, TFC MMM displayed higher recovered normalized flux than TFC membrane (6%) and TFC commercial membrane (4%); this was also supported by visualized characterization of fouling layer. This study presents application of TFC MMM to integrated seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation FO process for the first time. It can be concluded that EfOM fouling of TFC MMM was suppressed due to repulsive foulant-membrane interaction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Design aspects of reverse osmosis plants for rad waste treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prabhakar, S.; Panicker, S.T.; Misra, B.M.

    1993-01-01

    The potential of reverse osmosis process has been well established in the nuclear waste treatment. The nuclear wastes are characterised by chemically insignificant levels of radioactive nuclides and small amounts (a few hundred ppm) of inactive ionic species. The basic design objectives in these systems aim at higher volume reduction factors, i.e. corresponding to recovery factor of more than 0.9 and a decontamination factor of at least 10, i.e. corresponding to a solute rejection of more than 90%. In this paper, the salient aspects of the design of a reverse osmosis system for radioactive waste treatment is discussed in the light of the operating experience of an experimental plant based on plate module configuration and utilizing cellulose acetate membranes prepared in our laboratory. (author). 3 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

  14. Pushing desalination recovery to the maximum limit: Membrane and thermal processes integration

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2017-05-05

    The economics of seawater desalination processes has been continuously improving as a result of desalination market expansion. Presently, reverse osmosis (RO) processes are leading in global desalination with 53% share followed by thermally driven technologies 33%, but in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries their shares are 42% and 56% respectively due to severe feed water quality. In RO processes, intake, pretreatment and brine disposal cost 25% of total desalination cost at 30–35% recovery. We proposed a tri-hybrid system to enhance overall recovery up to 81%. The conditioned brine leaving from RO processes supplied to proposed multi-evaporator adsorption cycle driven by low temperature industrial waste heat sources or solar energy. RO membrane simulation has been performed using WinFlow and IMSDesign commercial softwares developed by GE and Nitto. Detailed mathematical model of overall system is developed and simulation has been conducted in FORTRAN. The final brine reject concentration from tri-hybrid cycle can vary from 166,000ppm to 222,000ppm if RO retentate concentration varies from 45,000ppm to 60,000ppm. We also conducted economic analysis and showed that the proposed tri-hybrid cycle can achieve highest recovery, 81%, and lowest energy consumption, 1.76kWhelec/m3, for desalination reported in the literature up till now.

  15. Water Diffusion Mechanism in Carbon Nanotube and Polyamide Nanocomposite Reverse Osmosis Membranes: A Possible Percolation-Hopping Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araki, Takumi; Cruz-Silva, Rodolfo; Tejima, Syogo; Ortiz-Medina, Josue; Morelos-Gomez, Aaron; Takeuchi, Kenji; Hayashi, Takuya; Terrones, Mauricio; Endo, Morinobu

    2018-02-01

    This paper is a contribution to the Physical Review Applied collection in memory of Mildred S. Dresselhaus. The mechanism of water diffusion across reverse osmosis nanocomposite membranes made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and aromatic polyamide is not completely understood despite its high potential for desalination applications. While most of the groups have proposed that superflow inside the CNT might positively impact the water flow across membranes, here we show theoretical evidence that this is not likely the case in composite membranes because CNTs are usually oriented parallel to the membrane surface, not to mention that sometimes the nanotube cores are occluded. Instead, we propose an oriented diffusion mechanism that explains the high water permeation by decreasing the diffusion path of water molecules across the membranes, even in the presence of CNTs that behave as impermeable objects. Finally, we provide a comprehensive description of the molecular dynamics occurring in water desalination membranes by considering the bond polarizability caused by dynamic charge transfer and explore the use of molecular-dynamics-derived stochastic diffusion simulations. The proposed water diffusion mechanism offers an alternative and most likely explanation for the high permeation phenomena observed in CNTs and PA nanocomposite membranes, and its understanding can be helpful to design the next generation of reverse osmosis desalination membranes.

  16. Preparation and selected properties of ion-containing reverse osmosis membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hegazy, E.S.A.; Dessouki, A.M.

    1986-01-01

    Ion-containing reverse osmosis membranes were prepared by the post radiation grafting of 4-vinylpyridine onto low density polyethylene films, followed by quaternization of the pyridine rings in the graft chains to confer ionic character to the membranes. The effect of some preparation conditions on the grafting yield was investigated. Different quaternizing agents such as methyl iodide, allyl bromide, and hydrochloric acid were used for the quaternization of the graft chains. The effect of quaternizing agent and degree of grafting on the properties of the membranes such as swelling behaviour, specific electric resistance, water flux and salt rejection, was investigated. The properties of these ionic membranes did not deteriorate with the operation time and they show a great promise for the use in the field of reverse osmosis desalination of sea water. (author)

  17. Organic Carbon Reduction in Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plants, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    KAUST Repository

    Alshahri, Abdullah

    2015-12-01

    Desalination is considered to be a major source of usable water in the Middle East, especially the Gulf countries which lack fresh water resources. A key and sometimes the only solution to produce high quality water in these countries is through the use of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination technology. Membrane fouling is an economic and operational defect that impacts the performance of SWRO desalination technology. To limit this fouling phenomenon, it is important to implement the appropriate type of intake and pre-treatment system design. In this study, two types of systems were investigated, a vertical well system and a surface-water intake at a 9m depth. The purpose of this investigation is to study the impact of the different intake systems and pre-treatment stages in minimizing the concentrations of algae, bacteria, natural organic matter (NOM) and transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), in the feed water prior to pre-treatment, through the pre-treatment stages, and in the product water and concentrate. Water samples were collected from the surface seawater, the intakes (wells for site A, 9 m depth open ocean intake at site B), after the media filter, after the cartridge filter, and from the permeate and reject streams. The measured parameters included physical parameters, algae, bacteria, total organic carbon (TOC), fractions of dissolved NOM, particulate and colloidal TEP. The results of this study prove that the natural filtration and biological treatment of the seawater which occur in the aquifer matrix are very effective in improving the raw water quality to a significant degree. The results demonstrated that algae and biopolymers were 100% removed, the bacterial concentrations were significantly removed and roughly 50% or greater of TOC concentrations was eliminated by the aquifer matrix at site A. The aquifer feeding the vertical wells reduced TEP concentrations, but to differing degree. There is a slight decrease in the concentrations of

  18. Enhanced Performance of Thin Film Composite Forward Osmosis Membrane by Chemical Post-Treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zheng; Chen, Jiangrong; Cao, Zhen; Wang, Jian; Guo, Chungang

    2018-01-01

    Forward osmosis is an attractive technique in water purification and desalination fields. Enhancement of the forward osmosis membrane performance is essential to the application of this technique. In this study, an optimized chemical post-treatment approach which was used to improve RO membrane performance was employed for enhancing water flux of thin film composite forward osmosis membrane. Home-made polysulfide-based forward osmosis membrane was prepared and nitric acid, sulfuric acid, ethanol, 2-propanol were employed as post-treatment solutions. After a short-term treatment, all the membrane samples manifested water flux enhancement compared with their untreated counterparts. Over 50% increase of water flux had been obtained by ethanol solution treatment. The swelling, changes of hydrophobicity and solvency in both active layer and substrate were verified as the major causes for the enhancement of the water flux. It is noted that the treatment time and solution concentration should be controlled to get both appropriate water flux and reverse salt flux. The results obtained in this study will be useful for further FO membrane development and application.

  19. Local desalination treatment plant wastewater reuse and evaluation potential absorption of salts by the halophyte plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elham Kalantari

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The expansion of arid and semi-arid areas and consequently water scarcity are affected by climate change. This can influence on availability and quality of water while demands on food and water are increasing. As pressure on freshwater is increasing, utilization of saline water in a sustainable approach is inevitable. Therefore, bioremediation using salt tolerant plants that is consistent with sustainable development objectives might be an alternative and effective approach. In this study, saline wastewater from a local desalination treatment plant was utilized to irrigate four halophyte plants, including Aloevera, Tamarix aphylla, Rosmarinus officinalis and Matricaria chamomilla. A field experiment was designed and conducted in Zarrindasht, south of Iran in years 2012-2013 accordingly. Two irrigation treatments consisting of freshwater with salinity of 2.04 dS.m-1 and desalination wastewater with salinity of 5.77dSm-1 were applied. The experiment was designed as a split plot in the form of randomized complete block design (RCB with three replications. The results of variance analysis, ANOVA, on salt concentration in Aloevera showed that there was no significant difference between the effects of two irrigation water qualities except for Na. In Rosmarinus officinalis, only the ratio of K/Na showed a significant difference. None of the examined salt elements showed a significant difference in Tamarix aphylla irrigated with both water qualities. In Matricaria chamomilla, only Mg and K/Na ratio showed a significant difference (Duncan 5%. As a result, no significant difference was observed in salt absorption by the examined plants in treatments which were irrigated by desalination wastewater and freshwater. This could be a good result that encourages the use of similar wastewater to save freshwater in a sustainable system.

  20. Energy consumption in membrane capacitive deionization for different water recoveries and flow rates, and comparison with reverse osmosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhao, R.; Porada, S.; Biesheuvel, P.M.; Wal, van der A.

    2013-01-01

    Membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) is a non-faradaic, capacitive technique for desalinating brackish water by adsorbing ions in charged porous electrodes. To compete with reverse osmosis, the specific energy consumption of MCDI needs to be reduced to less than 1 kWh per m3 of freshwater

  1. Study of reliability for the electricity cogeneration and seawater desalination in the Northwest of Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hernandez U, G. O.; Ortega C, R. F.

    2008-01-01

    The IMPULSA project of the Engineering Institute of UNAM, it has dedicated from the year 2005 to the study and development of new desalination technologies of seawater with renewable energies. The objective is to form a group of expert engineers and investigators in the desalination topics able to transform their scientific knowledge in engineering solutions, with a high grade of knowledge of the environment and the renewable energies. In the middle of 2007 was took the initiative in the IMPULSA project to study the nuclear desalination topic by its characteristics of zero gas emissions of greenhouse effect, competitive costs in the generation, operative experience and safety of the nuclear reactors, resulting attractive mainly for the desalination projects of seawater of great size. The Northwest of Mexico is particularly attractive as the appropriate site for one nuclear desalination plant of great size given its shortage of drink water and the quick growth of its population; as well as its level of tourist, agricultural and industrial activity. In this study was analyzed from a thermodynamic viewpoint, mentioning the economic aspect, the nuclear desalination according to the world experience; they were simulated some couplings and operation forms of nuclear reactors and desalination units, was made emphasis in one particularly. The objective of the study was to characterize several types and sizes of nuclear reactors of the last generation that could be coupled to a desalination technology as multi-stage distillation, type flash distillation or inverse osmosis. Specially and topic of this article, it is studied a case of the IRIS reactor of 335 MW e coupled to a MED station of nominal capacity of 140,000 m 3 /day. It is utilized for this effect the DEEP 3.1 program of the IAEA to simulate the coupling and to carry out a thermodynamic and economic preliminary evaluation, as well as the THERMOFLEX simulator to reinforce and to compare the thermodynamic part. They

  2. Coupling of AST-500 heating reactors with desalination facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kourachenkov, A.V.

    1998-01-01

    The general issues regarding NHR and desalination facility joint operation for potable water production are briefly considered. AST-500 reactor plant and DOU GTPA-type evaporating desalination facilities, both relying on proven technology and solid experience of construction and operation, are taken as a basis for the design of a large-output nuclear desalination complex. Its main design characteristics are given. Similarity of NHR operation for a heating grid and a desalination facility in respect of reactor plant operating conditions and power regulation principles is pointed out. The issues of nuclear desalination complexes composition are discussed briefly as well. (author)

  3. Exergy Analysis of a Two-Pass Reverse Osmosis (RO Desalination Unit with and without an Energy Recovery Turbine (ERT and Pressure Exchanger (PX

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuri M. Eshoul

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an exergy analysis of an actual two-pass (RO desalination system with the seawater solution treated as a real mixture and not an ideal mixture. The actual 127 ton/h two pass RO desalination plant was modeled using IPSEpro software and validated against operating data. The results show that using the (ERT and (PX reduced the total power consumption of the SWRO desalination by about 30% and 50% respectively, whereas, the specific power consumption for the SWRO per m3 water decreased from 7.2 kW/m3 to 5.0 kW/m3 with (ERT and 3.6 kW/m3 with (PX. In addition, the exergy efficiency of the RO desalination improved by 49% with ERT and 77% with PX and exergy destruction was reduced by 40% for (ERT and 53% for (PX. The results also showed that, when the (ERT and (PX were not in use, accounted for 42% of the total exergy destruction. Whereas, when (ERT and (PX are in use, the rejected seawater account maximum is 0.64%. Moreover, the (PX involved the smallest area and highest minimum separation work.

  4. Predictive Control Applied to a Solar Desalination Plant Connected to a Greenhouse with Daily Variation of Irrigation Water Demand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lidia Roca

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The water deficit in the Mediterranean area is a known matter severely affecting agriculture. One way to avoid the aquifers’ exploitation is to supply water to crops by using thermal desalination processes. Moreover, in order to guarantee long-term sustainability, the required thermal energy for the desalination process can be provided by solar energy. This paper shows simulations for a case study in which a solar multi-effect distillation plant produces water for irrigation purposes. Detailed models of the involved systems are the base of a predictive controller to operate the desalination plant and fulfil the water demanded by the crops.

  5. Reverse Osmosis

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Osmosis is a phenomenon which regulates many biological functions in plants and animals. That the plants stand upright, or the water reaches the tip of every leaf of a plant is due to osmotic pressure. The fact that we cannot survive by drinking seawater is also linked to this same phenomenon. J H van 't. Hoff showed in ...

  6. Source book for planning nuclear dual-purpose electric/distillation desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reed, S.A.

    1981-02-01

    A source book on nuclear dual-purpose electric/distillation desalination plants was prepared to assist government and other planners in preparing broad evaluations of proposed applications of dual-purpose plants. The document is divided into five major sections. Section 1 presents general discussions relating to the benefits of dual-purpose plants, and spectrum for water-to-power ratios. Section 2 presents information on commercial nuclear plants manufactured by US manufacturers. Section 3 gives information on distillation desalting processes and equipment. Section 4 presents a discussion on feedwater pretreatment and scale control. Section 5 deals with methods for coupling the distillation and electrical generating plants to operate in the dual mode

  7. Source book for planning nuclear dual-purpose electric/distillation desalination plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reed, S.A.

    1981-02-01

    A source book on nuclear dual-purpose electric/distillation desalination plants was prepared to assist government and other planners in preparing broad evaluations of proposed applications of dual-purpose plants. The document is divided into five major sections. Section 1 presents general discussions relating to the benefits of dual-purpose plants, and spectrum for water-to-power ratios. Section 2 presents information on commercial nuclear plants manufactured by US manufacturers. Section 3 gives information on distillation desalting processes and equipment. Section 4 presents a discussion on feedwater pretreatment and scale control. Section 5 deals with methods for coupling the distillation and electrical generating plants to operate in the dual mode.

  8. Comparative productivity of distillation and reverse osmosis desalination using energy from solar ponds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tleimat, B.W.; Howe, E.D.

    1982-11-01

    This paper presents comparative analyses of two methods for producing desalted water using the heat collected by a solar pond - the first by distillation, and the second by reverse osmosis. The distillation scheme uses a multiple-effect distiller supplied with steam generated in a flash boiler using heat from a solar pond. Solar pond water passes through a heat exchanger in the water system ahead of the flash boiler. The second scheme uses a similar arrangement to generate hydrocarbon vapor which drives a Rankine cycle engine. This engine produces mechanical/ electrical power for the RO plant. The analyses use two pond water temperatures -82.2/sup 0/C (180/sup 0/F) and 71.1/sup 0/C (160/sup 0/F) -- which seem to cover the range expected from salt-gradient ponds. In each case, the pond water temperature drops by 5.56/sup 0/C (10/sup 0/F) while passing through the vapor generator system. Results of these analyses show that, based on the assumptions made, desalted water could be produced by distillation at productivity rates much greater than those estimated for the RO plant.

  9. Comparative productivity of distillation and reverse osmosis desalination using energy from solar ponds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tleimat, B.W.; Howe, E.D.

    1982-11-01

    This paper presents comparative analyses of two methods for producing desalted water using the heat collected by a solar pond - the first by distillation, and the second by reverse osmosis. The distillation scheme uses a multiple-effect distiller supplied with steam generated in a flash boiler using heat from a solar pond. Solar pond water passes through a heat exchanger in the water system ahead of the flash boiler. The second scheme uses a similar arrangement to generate hydrocarbon vapor which drives a Rankine cycle engine. This engine produces mechanical/ electrical power for the RO plant. The analyses use two pond water temperatures 82.2/sup 0/C (180/sup 0/F) and 71.1/sup 0/C (160/sup 0/F) - which seem to cover the range expected from salt-gradient ponds. In each case, the pond water temperature drops by 5.56/sup 0/C (10/sup 0/F) while passing through the vapor generator system. Results of these analyses show that, based on the assumptions made, desalted water could be produced by distillation at productivity rates much greater than those estimated for the RO plant.

  10. Review of nuclear electricity generation and desalination plants and evaluation of SMART application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Han Ok; Kang, Hyung Suk; Cho, Bong Hyun; Yoon, Ju Hyeon; Kim, Hwan Yeol; Lee, Young Jin; Kim, Joo Pyung; Lee, Doo Jeong; Chang, Moon Hee

    1998-03-01

    KAERI are developing a new advanced integral reactor named SMART for dual application purpose of the electric power generation and seawater desalination. This report are describing the general desalting methods with its technology development and the coupling schemes between electricity generation system and desalting system. Though MSF takes the most part of currently operating seawater desalination plants, MED and RO has been preferred in the past decade. MED has a advantage over MSF with the view to investment costs and energy efficiency. The coupling between electricity generation system and desalination system can be realized by using one of back pressure cycle, extraction cycle, and multi-shaft cycle. New design and operating strategy has to be established for various environment and load conditions. To evaluate the candidate desalination systems of SMART and the coupling method of it with other secondary systems, the desalted water and electricity were calculated through the several options. The result shows that back pressure cycle is preferred at the high water/power ratio and extraction cycle at the low value. If energy efficiency are only considered, RO will be best choice. (author). 17 refs., 12 tabs., 31 figs

  11. Teaching Mass Transfer and Filtration Using Crossflow Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration: An Experiment for the Undergraduate Unit Operations Lab

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anastasio, Daniel; McCutcheon, Jeffrey

    2012-01-01

    A crossflow reverse osmosis (RO) system was built for a senior-level chemical engineering unit operations laboratory course. Intended to teach students mass transfer fundamentals related to membrane separations, students tested several commercial desalination membranes, measuring water flux and salt rejections at various pressures, flow rates, and…

  12. A small floating seawater desalination plant by using a nuclear heating reactor coupled with the MED process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xue Dazhi; Zhang Dafang; Dong Duo [Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China)

    2000-03-01

    Based on the experience of development of nuclear district heating reactor (NHR) a seawater desalination plant using NHR coupled with the multi-effect distillation (MED) process is being designed. With the same technology a floating desalination plant was proposed to supply potable water to remote areas or islands. With a 10 MWth NHR the floating plant could produce 4000 m{sup 3}/d of potable water and 750 kW of electricity. The design of NHR-10 and the safety features are described. The coupling scheme and parameters are given. Some special considerations for using in ship condition are also presented in this paper. (author)

  13. Coupling of AST-500 heating reactors with desalination facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gureyeva, L.V.; Egorov, V.V.; Podberezniy, V.L.

    1997-01-01

    The general issues regarding the joint operation of a NHR and a desalination facility for potable water production are briefly considered. The AST-500 reactor plant and the DOUGTPA-type evaporating desalination facilities, both relying on proven technology and solid experience of construction and operation, are taken as a basis for the design of a large-output nuclear desalination complex. Its main design characteristics are given. The similarity of NHR operation for heating grid and desalination facility in respect of reactor plant operating conditions and power regulation principles is pointed out. The issues of nuclear desalination complexes composition are discussed briefly as well. (author). 2 refs, 1 fig., 1 tab

  14. Coupling of AST-500 heating reactors with desalination facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gureyeva, L V; Egorov, V V [OKBM, Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation); Podberezniy, V L [Scientific Research Inst. of Machine Building, Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation)

    1997-09-01

    The general issues regarding the joint operation of a NHR and a desalination facility for potable water production are briefly considered. The AST-500 reactor plant and the DOUGTPA-type evaporating desalination facilities, both relying on proven technology and solid experience of construction and operation, are taken as a basis for the design of a large-output nuclear desalination complex. Its main design characteristics are given. The similarity of NHR operation for heating grid and desalination facility in respect of reactor plant operating conditions and power regulation principles is pointed out. The issues of nuclear desalination complexes composition are discussed briefly as well. (author). 2 refs, 1 fig., 1 tab.

  15. New Technologies for Seawater Desalination Using Nuclear Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-01-01

    As seawater desalination technologies are rapidly evolving and more States are opting for dual purpose integrated power plants (i.e. cogeneration), the need for advanced technologies suitable for coupling to nuclear power plants and leading to more efficient and economic nuclear desalination systems is obvious. The Coordinated Research Programme (CRP) New Technologies for Seawater Desalination using Nuclear Energy was organized in the framework of the Technical Working Group on Nuclear Desalination (TWG-ND). The TWGND was established in 2008 with the purpose of advising the IAEA Deputy Director General and promoting the exchange of technical information on national programmes in the field of seawater desalination using nuclear energy. This CRP project was conducted within the Nuclear Power Technology Development Section of the IAEA. It was launched in 2009 and completed by 2011, with research proposals received from nine Member States: Algeria, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The project aimed to review innovative technologies for seawater desalination which could be coupled to main types of existing nuclear power plant. Such coupling is expected to help making nuclear desalination safer and more economical, and hence more attractive for newcomer States interested in nuclear desalination. The project also aimed to collect ideas and suggestions necessary to update the IAEA desalination economic evaluation program (DEEP) software to become more robust and versatile. The specific objectives of the project were the introduction of innovative technologies and their economic viability, which could help make nuclear desalination a globally viable option for the safe and sustainable production of fresh water. The technologies under scrutiny in this CRP involve the low temperature horizontal tube multi-effect distillation, heat recovery systems using heat pipe based heat exchangers

  16. Energy minimization strategies and renewable energy utilization for desalination: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramani, Arun; Badruzzaman, Mohammad; Oppenheimer, Joan; Jacangelo, Joseph G

    2011-02-01

    Energy is a significant cost in the economics of desalinating waters, but water scarcity is driving the rapid expansion in global installed capacity of desalination facilities. Conventional fossil fuels have been utilized as their main energy source, but recent concerns over greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have promoted global development and implementation of energy minimization strategies and cleaner energy supplies. In this paper, a comprehensive review of energy minimization strategies for membrane-based desalination processes and utilization of lower GHG emission renewable energy resources is presented. The review covers the utilization of energy efficient design, high efficiency pumping, energy recovery devices, advanced membrane materials (nanocomposite, nanotube, and biomimetic), innovative technologies (forward osmosis, ion concentration polarization, and capacitive deionization), and renewable energy resources (solar, wind, and geothermal). Utilization of energy efficient design combined with high efficiency pumping and energy recovery devices have proven effective in full-scale applications. Integration of advanced membrane materials and innovative technologies for desalination show promise but lack long-term operational data. Implementation of renewable energy resources depends upon geography-specific abundance, a feasible means of handling renewable energy power intermittency, and solving technological and economic scale-up and permitting issues. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Pressure retarded osmosis for energy production: membrane materials and operating conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, H; Choi, J-S; Lee, S

    2012-01-01

    Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a novel membrane process to produce energy. PRO has the potential to convert the osmotic pressure difference between fresh water (i.e. river water) and seawater to electricity. Moreover, it can recover energy from highly concentrated brine in seawater desalination. Nevertheless, relatively little research has been undertaken for fundamental understanding of the PRO process. In this study, the characteristics of the PRO process were examined using a proof-of-concept device. Forward osmosis (FO), reverse osmosis (RO), and nanofiltration (NF) membranes were compared in terms of flux rate and concentration polarization ratio. The results indicated that the theoretical energy production by PRO depends on the membrane type as well as operating conditions (i.e. back pressure). The FO membrane had the highest energy efficiency while the NF membrane had the lowest efficiency. However, the energy production rate was low due to high internal concentration polarization (ICP) in the PRO membrane. This finding suggests that the control of the ICP is essential for practical application of PRO for energy production.

  18. The use of microbial and chemical analyses to characterize the variations in fouling profile of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Manes, Carmem Lara De O

    2013-01-01

    Biofouling of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes is one of the most common problems in desalinations plants reducing the efficiency of the water production process. The characterization of bacterial community composition from fouling layers as well as detailed analysis of surrounding chemical environment might reveal process specific bacterial groups/species that are involved in RO biofouling. In this study, advanced organics analytic methods (elemental analysis, FTIR, and ICP-OES) were combined with high-throughput 16S rRNA (pyro) sequencing to assess in parallel, the chemical properties and the active microbial community composition of SWRO membranes from a pilot desalination plant (MFT, Tarragona) in February 2011 and July 2011. Prefiltered ultrafiltration. waters fed SWRO membranes during third and fifth month of operation, respectively. SWRO samples were taken from three modules at different positions (first, fourth, and sixth) in order to investigate the spatial changes in fouling layers\\' chemical and microbiological composition. The overall assessment of chemical parameters revealed that fouling layers were mainly composed by bio and organic material (proteins and lipids). Ca and Fe were found to be the most abundant elements having an increasing concentration gradient according to the module position. Bacterial community composition of SWRO membranes is mostly represented by the Gammaproteobacteria class with interesting differences in genera/species spatial and temporal distribution. This preliminary result suggests that pretreatments and/or operational conditions might have selected different bacterial groups more adapted to colonize SWRO membranes. © 2013 Desalination Publications.

  19. State of the art and review on the treatment technologies of water reverse osmosis concentrates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-González, A; Urtiaga, A M; Ibáñez, R; Ortiz, I

    2012-02-01

    The growing demand for fresh water is partially satisfied by desalination plants that increasingly use membrane technologies and among them reverse osmosis to produce purified water. Operating with water recoveries from 35% to 85% RO plants generate huge volumes of concentrates containing all the retained compounds that are commonly discharged to water bodies and constitute a potentially serious threat to marine ecosystems; therefore there is an urgent need for environmentally friendly management options of RO brines. This paper gives an overview on the potential treatments to overcome the environmental problems associated to the direct discharge of RO concentrates. The treatment options have been classified according to the source of RO concentrates and the maturity of the technologies. For the sake of clarity three different sources of RO concentrates are differentiated i) desalination plants, ii) tertiary processes in WWTP, and iii) mining industries. Starting with traditional treatments such as evaporation and crystallization other technologies that have emerged in last years to reduce the volume of the concentrate before disposal and with the objective of achieving zero liquid discharge and recovery of valuable compounds from these effluents are also reviewed. Most of these emerging technologies have been developed at laboratory or pilot plant scale (see Table 1). With regard to RO concentrates from WWTP, the manuscript addresses recent studies that are mainly focused on reducing the organic pollutant load through the application of innovative advanced oxidation technologies. Finally, works that report the treatment of RO concentrates from industrial sources are analyzed as well. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Sea water desalination by horizontal tubes evaporator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohammadi, H.K.; Mohit, M.

    1986-01-01

    Desalinated water supplies are one of the problems of the nuclear power plants located by the seas. This paper explains saline water desalination by a Horizontal Tube Evaporator (HTE) and compares it with flash evaporation. A thermo compressor research project using HTE method has been designed, constructed, and operated at the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center ENTC. The poject's ultimate goal is to obtain empirical formulae based on data gathered during operation of the unit and its subsequent development towards design and construction of desalination plants on an industrial scale

  1. Economics of nuclear desalination: New developments and site specific studies. Final results of a coordinated research project 2002-2006

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-07-01

    to enhance prospects of demonstration and eventually for the successful implementation of nuclear desalination plants in Member States. This TECDOC presents the results of techno-economic feasibility studies carried out for specific sites in the ten Member States, participating in CRP2. Some of the new developments, adopted by certain Member States, and aiming to further reduce desalted water costs, have also been discussed. These results reflect the current practices, data, and assumptions specific to each participating country for the cost evaluations of nuclear and conventional water and energy cogeneration systems and their inter-comparisons. The values of various economic parameters are therefore country specific. Results are site specific and are dependent on several factors and the economic assumptions used. However, the case studies have shown that, in general, the nuclear desalination costs can vary from 0.5 to 0.94 $/m 3 for reverse osmosis (RO), from 0.6 to 0.96 $/m3 for multi effect distillation (MED) and from 1.18 to 1.48 $/m3 for multi stage flash (MSF) plants. All nuclear options are economically attractive as compared with the gas turbine combined cycle based desalination systems - as long as gas prices remain higher than 150 $/toe (21 $/bbl). It is expected that the information provided in this report would be useful to engineers, scientists and students, as well as decision makers in the Member States and would incite them to consider or to accelerate the deployment of nuclear desalination plants in their respective countries. This publication has been prepared through the collaboration of all the participants to the CRP

  2. Wave Power as Solution for Off-Grid Water Desalination Systems: Resource Characterization for Kilifi-Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Francisco

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Freshwater scarcity is one of humanity’s reoccurring problems that hamper socio-economic development in many regions across the globe. In coastal areas, seawater can be desalinated through reverse osmosis (RO and transformed into freshwater for human use. Desalination requires large amounts of energy, mostly in the form of a reliable electricity supply, which in many cases is supplied by diesel generators. The objective of this work is to analyze the wave power resource availability in Kilifi-Kenya and evaluate the possible use of wave power converter (WEC to power desalination plants. A particular focus is given use of WECs developed by Uppsala University (UU-WEC. The results here presented were achieved using reanalysis—wave data revealed that the local wave climate has an approximate annual mean of 7 kW/m and mode of 5 kW/m. Significant wave height and wave mean period are within 0.8–2 m and 7–8 s respectively, with a predominant wave mean direction from southeast. The seasonal cycle appeared to be the most relevant for energy conversion, having the highest difference of 6 kW/m, in which April is the lowest (3.8 kW/m and August is the peak (10.5 kW/m. In such mild wave climates, the UU–WEC and similar devices can be suitable for ocean energy harvesting for water desalination systems. Technically, with a capacity factor of 30% and energy consumption of 3 kWh/m3, a coastal community of about five thousand inhabitants can be provided of freshwater by only ten WECs with installed capacity of 20 kW.

  3. Saving on natural resources with SRO - desalination of industrial waste water for reuse at ESKOM Tutuka (two years operating experience)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walt, Mike van der; Wessels, A.

    2001-07-01

    Natural resources are protected and saved with the new spiral reverse osmosis (SRO) plant at the Eskom Tutuka power station in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. 7,000 m{sup 3}/day of saline underground mine water blended with 5,400 m{sup 3}/day of cooling water blowdown is pretreated and desalinated before the product water is returned to the cooling water circuit. Weir Envig designed, constructed, installed and commissioned the plant in phases between August 1998 and April 1999 with innovative use of existing infrastructure and phased removal of the live, ageing electrodialysis reversal plant. The plant performance during two years of operation is presented, which demonstrates that good pretreatment and cleaning system design allows SRO to produce consistent high-quality water from this difficult and varying feed. The result is a coal mine with no effluent problems, a new source of water for the power station and a treatment plant, which produces significantly better condenser cooling water and maintain zero liquid discharge. (orig.)

  4. Power generation from water salinity gradient via osmosis and reverse osmosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ivanov, Milancho

    2015-01-01

    To reduce dependence on fossil fuels, while at the same time to meet the growing energy demands of the world, it is necessary to explore and promote new alternative energy sources. One such type of renewable energy sources, which recently gained greater credibility is the energy extracted from the water salinity gradient, which is also called blue energy. In this research project will be described a new model of osmotic power plant (MIOS plant), which uses a combination of reverse osmosis and osmosis to convert the energy from the water salinity gradient into electricity. MIOS plant can be built as a vessel anywhere on the surface of the oceans or in the form of dam on the land, which will have a huge advantage over existing plants that can be built only on mouths of rivers. (author)

  5. Potential effects of desalinated water quality on the operation stability of wastewater treatment plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lew, Beni; Cochva, Malka; Lahav, Ori

    2009-03-15

    Desalinated water is expected to become the major source of drinking water in many places in the near future, and thus the major source of wastewater to arrive at wastewater treatment plants. The paper examines the effect of the alkalinity value with which the water is released from the desalination plant on the alkalinity value that would develop within the wastewater treatment process under various nitrification-denitrification operational scenarios. The main hypothesis was that the difference in the alkalinity value between tap water and domestic wastewater is almost exclusively a result of the hydrolysis of urea (NH(2)CONH(2), excreted in the human urine) to ammonia (NH(3)), regardless of the question what fraction of NH(3(aq)) is transformed to NH(4)(+). Results from a field study show that the ratio between the alkalinity added to tap water when raw wastewater is formed (in meq/l units) and the TAN (total ammonia nitrogen, mole/l) concentration in the raw wastewater is almost 1:1 in purely domestic sewage and close to 1:1 in domestic wastewater streams mixed with light industry wastewaters. Having established the relationship between TAN and total alkalinity in raw wastewater the paper examines three theoretical nitrification-denitrification treatment scenarios in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The conclusion is that if low-alkalinity desalinated water constitutes the major water source arriving at the WWTP, external alkalinity will have to be added in order to avoid pH drop and maintain process stability. The results lead to the conclusion that supplying desalinated water with a high alkalinity value (e.g. > or =100 mg/l as CaCO(3)) would likely prevent the need to add costly basic chemicals in the WWTP, while, in addition, it would improve the chemical and biological stability of the drinking water in the distribution system.

  6. Preparation and water desalination properties of POSS-polyamide nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Duan, Jintang; Litwiller, Eric; Pinnau, Ingo

    2015-01-01

    osmosis membranes was systematically investigated. Four POSS materials (P-8Phenyl, P-8NH3Cl, P-8NH2 and P-1NH2) were introduced into the selective layer by physical blending or chemical fixation during standard interfacial polymerization. Water flux and Na

  7. Role of Seawater Desalination in the Management of an Integrated Water and 100% Renewable Energy Based Power Sector in Saudi Arabia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Upeksha Caldera

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This work presents a pathway for Saudi Arabia to transition from the 2015 power structure to a 100% renewable energy-based system by 2050 and investigates the benefits of integrating the power sector with the growing desalination sector. Saudi Arabia can achieve 100% renewable energy power system by 2040 while meeting increasing water demand through seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO and multiple effect distillation (MED desalination plants. The dominating renewable energy sources are PV single-axis tracking and wind power plants with 243 GW and 83 GW, respectively. The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE of the 2040 system is 49 €/MWh and decreases to 41 €/MWh by 2050. Corresponding levelised cost of water (LCOW is found to be 0.8 €/m3 and 0.6 €/m3. PV single-axis tracking dominates the power sector. By 2050 solar PV accounts for 79% of total electricity generation. Battery storage accounts for 41% of total electricity demand. In the integrated scenario, due to flexibility provided by SWRO plants, there is a reduced demand for battery storage and power-to-gas (PtG plants as well as a reduction in curtailment. Thus, the annual levelised costs of the integrated scenario is found to be 1–3% less than the non-integrated scenario.

  8. Intakes and outfalls for seawater reverse-osmosis desalination facilities innovations and environmental impacts

    CERN Document Server

    Jones, Burton; Maliva, Robert

    2015-01-01

    The book assembles the latest research on new design techniques in water supplies using desalinated seawater. The authors examine the diverse issues related to the intakes and outfalls of these facilities. They clarify how and why these key components of the facilities impact the cost of operation and subsequently the cost of water supplied to the consumers. The book consists of contributed articles from a number of experts in the field who presented their findings at the “Desalination Intakes and Outfalls” workshop held at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia in October, 2013. The book integrates coverage relevant to a wide variety of researchers and professionals in the general fields of environmental engineering and sustainable development.

  9. Removal of Radionuclides from Waste Water at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: Desalination and Adsorption Methods - 13126

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kani, Yuko; Kamosida, Mamoru; Watanabe, Daisuke [Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., 7-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 319-1221 (Japan); Asano, Takashi; Tamata, Shin [Hitachi Works, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd. (Japan)

    2013-07-01

    Waste water containing high levels of radionuclides due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, has been treated by the adsorption removal and reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination to allow water re-use for cooling the reactors. Radionuclides in the waste water are collected in the adsorbent medium and the RO concentrate (RO brine) in the water treatment system currently operated at the Fukushima Daiichi site. In this paper, we have studied the behavior of radionuclides in the presently applied RO desalination system and the removal of radionuclides in possible additional adsorption systems for the Fukushima Daiichi waste water treatment. Regarding the RO desalination system, decontamination factors (DFs) of the elements present in the waste water were obtained by lab-scale testing using an RO unit and simulated waste water with non-radioactive elements. The results of the lab-scale testing using representative elements showed that the DF for each element depended on its hydrated ionic radius: the larger the hydrated ionic radius of the element, the higher its DF is. Thus, the DF of each element in the waste water could be estimated based on its hydrated ionic radius. For the adsorption system to remove radionuclides more effectively, we studied adsorption behavior of typical elements, such as radioactive cesium and strontium, by various kinds of adsorbents using batch and column testing. We used batch testing to measure distribution coefficients (K{sub d}s) for cesium and strontium onto adsorbents under different brine concentrations that simulated waste water conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi site. For cesium adsorbents, K{sub d}s with different dependency on the brine concentration were observed based on the mechanism of cesium adsorption. As for strontium, K{sub d}s decreased as the brine concentration increased for any adsorbents which adsorbed strontium by intercalation and by ion exchange. The adsorbent titanium oxide had higher K{sub d}s and it

  10. Removal of Radionuclides from Waste Water at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: Desalination and Adsorption Methods - 13126

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kani, Yuko; Kamosida, Mamoru; Watanabe, Daisuke; Asano, Takashi; Tamata, Shin

    2013-01-01

    Waste water containing high levels of radionuclides due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, has been treated by the adsorption removal and reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination to allow water re-use for cooling the reactors. Radionuclides in the waste water are collected in the adsorbent medium and the RO concentrate (RO brine) in the water treatment system currently operated at the Fukushima Daiichi site. In this paper, we have studied the behavior of radionuclides in the presently applied RO desalination system and the removal of radionuclides in possible additional adsorption systems for the Fukushima Daiichi waste water treatment. Regarding the RO desalination system, decontamination factors (DFs) of the elements present in the waste water were obtained by lab-scale testing using an RO unit and simulated waste water with non-radioactive elements. The results of the lab-scale testing using representative elements showed that the DF for each element depended on its hydrated ionic radius: the larger the hydrated ionic radius of the element, the higher its DF is. Thus, the DF of each element in the waste water could be estimated based on its hydrated ionic radius. For the adsorption system to remove radionuclides more effectively, we studied adsorption behavior of typical elements, such as radioactive cesium and strontium, by various kinds of adsorbents using batch and column testing. We used batch testing to measure distribution coefficients (K d s) for cesium and strontium onto adsorbents under different brine concentrations that simulated waste water conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi site. For cesium adsorbents, K d s with different dependency on the brine concentration were observed based on the mechanism of cesium adsorption. As for strontium, K d s decreased as the brine concentration increased for any adsorbents which adsorbed strontium by intercalation and by ion exchange. The adsorbent titanium oxide had higher K d s and it was used for

  11. Selection of Nuclear Desalination Technology in East Kalimantan Province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siti Alimah; Sudi Ariyanto; Erlan Dewita; Budiarto; Geni R Sunaryo

    2009-01-01

    Nowadays, electricity demand in East Kalimantan increases with a rate of 12% per annum. Since the electricity supply produced by PT PLN increases 8,5% per annum, then it can consequently an occurrence of electricity shortage in the region. NPP may be regarded as one viable option to overcome the problem. In case of fresh water availability, the supply is also less than the demand. Therefore, a serious effort is necessary. Nuclear desalination, which is a process of separating dissolved salts of seawater or brackish water, can be coupled to the NPP to produce fresh water. There are some desalination technology commonly used in the world i.e. MSF (Multi-Stage Flash Distillation), MED (Multi-Effect Distillation) and RO (Reverse Osmosis). This paper shows the study result of selection for desalination technology to obtain the optimum solution. The selection is done based on the thirteen important parameters, which are estimated to affect on determine technology option on the nuclear desalination with a weighing factor with ranges from 1 to 4. The most favourable technology is that with the highest point. The result show that MED has highest weighing factor that is 39, followed 36 for RO and 33 for MSF. Since the water quality requirement to supply NPP is about 1 ppm and to supply public demand is below 1000 ppm, so a hybrid system of MED-RO is optimum option to produce fresh water. (author)

  12. Double-Skinned Forward Osmosis Membranes for Reducing Internal Concentration Polarization within the Porous Sublayer

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Kai Yu

    2010-05-19

    A scheme to fabricate forward osmosis membranes comprising a highly porous sublayer sandwiched between two selective skin layers via phase inversion was proposed. One severe deficiency of existing composite and asymmetric membranes used in forward osmosis is the presence of unfavorable internal concentration polarization within the porous support layer that hinders both (i) separation (salt flux) and (ii) the performance (water flux). The double skin layers of the tailored membrane may mitigate the internal concentration polarization by preventing the salt and other solutes in the draw solution from penetrating into the membrane porous support. The prototype double-skinned cellulose acetate membrane displayed a water flux of 48.2 L·m-2·h -1 and lower reverse salt transport of 6.5 g·m -2·h-1 using 5.0 M MgCl2 as the draw solution in a forward osmosis process performed at 22 °C. This can be attributed to the effective salt rejection by the double skin layers and the low water transport resistance within the porous support layer. The prospects of utilizing the double-selective layer membranes may have potential application in forward osmosis for desalination. This study may help pave the way to improve the membrane design for the forward osmosis process. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

  13. Double-Skinned Forward Osmosis Membranes for Reducing Internal Concentration Polarization within the Porous Sublayer

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Kai Yu; Ong, Rui Chin; Chung, Tai-Shung

    2010-01-01

    A scheme to fabricate forward osmosis membranes comprising a highly porous sublayer sandwiched between two selective skin layers via phase inversion was proposed. One severe deficiency of existing composite and asymmetric membranes used in forward osmosis is the presence of unfavorable internal concentration polarization within the porous support layer that hinders both (i) separation (salt flux) and (ii) the performance (water flux). The double skin layers of the tailored membrane may mitigate the internal concentration polarization by preventing the salt and other solutes in the draw solution from penetrating into the membrane porous support. The prototype double-skinned cellulose acetate membrane displayed a water flux of 48.2 L·m-2·h -1 and lower reverse salt transport of 6.5 g·m -2·h-1 using 5.0 M MgCl2 as the draw solution in a forward osmosis process performed at 22 °C. This can be attributed to the effective salt rejection by the double skin layers and the low water transport resistance within the porous support layer. The prospects of utilizing the double-selective layer membranes may have potential application in forward osmosis for desalination. This study may help pave the way to improve the membrane design for the forward osmosis process. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

  14. Environmental impact assessment of nuclear desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-03-01

    Nuclear desalination is gaining interest among the IAEA Member States, as indicated by the planned projects, and it is expected that the number of nuclear desalination plants will increase in the near future. The IAEA has already provided its Member States with reports and documents that disseminate information regarding the technical and economic feasibility of nuclear desalination. With the rising environmental awareness, in the scope of IAEA's activities on seawater desalination using nuclear power, a need was identified for a report that would provide a generic assessment of the environmental issues in nuclear desalination. In order to offer an overview of specific environmental impacts which are to be expected, their probable magnitude, and recommended mitigation measures, this publication encompasses information provided by the IAEA Member States as well as other specialized sources. It is intended for decision makers and experts dealing with environmental, desalination and water management issues, offering insight into the environmental aspects that are essential in planning and developing nuclear desalination

  15. Estimation of solar energy resources for low salinity water desalination in several regions of Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarasenko, A. B.; Kiseleva, S. V.; Shakun, V. P.; Gabderakhmanova, T. S.

    2018-01-01

    This paper focuses on estimation of demanded photovoltaic (PV) array areas and capital expenses to feed a reverse osmosis desalination unit (1 m3/day fresh water production rate). The investigation have been made for different climatic conditions of Russia using regional data on ground water salinity from different sources and empirical dependence of specific energy consumption on salinity and temperature. The most optimal results were obtained for Krasnodar, Volgograd, Crimea Republic and some other southern regions. Combination of salinity, temperature and solar radiation level there makes reverse osmosis coupled with photovoltaics very attractive to solve infrastructure problems in rural areas. Estimation results are represented as maps showing PV array areas and capital expenses for selected regions.

  16. Desalination Economic Evaluation Program (DEEP-3.0). User's manual

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    DEEP is a Desalination Economic Evaluation Program developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and made freely available for download, under a license agreement (www.iaea.org/nucleardesalination). The program is based on linked Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and can be useful for evaluating desalination strategies by calculating estimates of technical performance and costs for various alternative energy and desalination technology configurations. Desalination technology options modelled, include multi-stage flashing (MSF), multi-effect distillation (MED), reverse osmosis (RO) and hybrid options (RO-MSF, RO-MED) while energy source options include nuclear, fossil, renewables and grid electricity (stand-alone RO). Version 3 of DEEP (DEEP 3.0) features important changes from previous versions, including upgrades in thermal and membrane performance and costing models, the coupling configuration matrix and the user interface. Changes in the thermal performance model include a revision of the gain output ratio (GOR) calculation and its generalization to include thermal vapour compression effects. Since energy costs continue to represent an important fraction of seawater desalination costs, the lost shaft work model has been generalized to properly account for both backpressure and extraction systems. For RO systems, changes include improved modelling of system recovery, feed pressure and permeate salinity, taking into account temperature, feed salinity and fouling correction factors. The upgrade to the coupling technology configuration matrix includes a re-categorization of the energy sources to follow turbine design (steam vs. gas) and cogeneration features (dual-purpose vs. heat-only). In addition, cost data has also been updated to reflect current practice and the user interface has been refurbished and made user-friendlier

  17. Impact of well intake systems on bacterial, algae, and organic carbon reduction in SWRO desalination systems, SAWACO, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    KAUST Repository

    Dehwah, Abdullah

    2014-07-18

    The intake system can play a significant role in improving the feed water quality and ultimately influence the performance of downstream components of the seawater reverse osmosis desalination processes. In most cases, open-ocean intakes produce poor feed water quality in terms of the abundance of naturally occurring organic matter, which increases the risk of membrane fouling. An alternative intake is the subsurface system, which is based on the riverbank filtration concept that provides natural filtration and biological treatment of the feed water prior to the entry of the water into the desalination plant. The use of subsurface intakes normally improves the raw water quality by reducing suspended solids, algae, bacterial, and dissolved organic carbon concentrations. Therefore, the risk of biofouling caused by these substances can be reduced by implementing the appropriate type of intake system. The use of well intake systems was investigated along the Red Sea shoreline of Saudi Arabia in the Jeddah region. Data were collected from a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant with a capacity of 10,000 m3/d. The well system produces feed water from an artificial-fill peninsula that was constructed atop of the seabed. Ten wells have been constructed on the peninsula for extracting raw seawater. Water samples were collected from nearby surface seawater as a reference and from selected individual wells. The percentage of algae and bacterial removal by induced filtration process was evaluated by comparison of the seawater concentrations with the well discharges. Transparent exopolymer particles and organic carbon fractions reduction was also measured. The quality of raw water extracted from the well systems was highly improved compared with the raw seawater source. It was observed that algae were virtually 100% removed and the bacterial concentration was significantly removed by the aquifer matrix. The detailed analysis of organic carbon fraction using liquid

  18. Programme and activities on nuclear desalination in Morocco. Pre-project study on demonstration plant for seawater desalination using nuclear heating reactor in Morocco

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Righi, M.

    1998-01-01

    The first part of this paper gives the general information on the pre-project study of a demonstration plant for seawater desalination using a heating reactor being assessed jointly by Morocco and China. The progress of the pre-project study is elaborated in the second part. (author)

  19. Novel Commercial Aquaporin Flat-Sheet Membrane for Forward Osmosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xia, Lingling; Andersen, Mads Friis; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus

    2017-01-01

    Aquaporin proteins are of great interest to the membrane science community because of their unique characteristics of high water permeability and perfect molecular selectivity. Although these characteristics make aquaporins particularly valuable for desalination applications, none of these aquapo...... was found to exhibit water and reverse solute flux performances similar to those of other commercially available varieties, although this membrane represents one of the few TFC membranes that is available to the academic community for FO testing at the time of this writing.......Aquaporin proteins are of great interest to the membrane science community because of their unique characteristics of high water permeability and perfect molecular selectivity. Although these characteristics make aquaporins particularly valuable for desalination applications, none...... of these aquaporin-based membrane designs has been produced at a large scale. In this work, we report on the recently designed and commercially available Aquaporin Inside flat-sheet membrane designed for forward osmosis (FO) by Aquaporin A/S, Lyngby, Denmark. The Aquaporin Inside flat-sheet membrane is the first...

  20. Application of a multi-criteria analysis for the selection of the most suitable energy source and water desalination system in Mauritania

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bayod Rujula, Angel Antonio; Dia, Nourou Khalidou

    2010-01-01

    Water deficits and their associated shortages are serious problems in many areas of the world. The paper presents a multi-criteria analysis for selection of the most suitable system in Mauritania. Six scenarios, different energy sources, technologies of water desalination processes and water use and five criteria are analyzed. The multi-criteria analysis shows that the optimal solution is different for each scenario; in some cases the photovoltaic-reverse osmosis option is preferable; in others, the best option is reverse-osmosis powered by wind energy or concentrating solar parabolic.

  1. Economic Considerations of Nuclear Desalination in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Man-Ki, Lee; Seung-Su, Kim

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this study is to assess the economics of SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) desalination plant in Korea through DEEP (Devaluation Economic Evaluation Program). SMART is mainly designed for the dual purpose of producing water and electricity with the total capacity of 100 MWe which 10 MWe is used for water production and the remains for the electric generation. SMART desalination plant using MED (Multi-Effect Distillation) process is in the stage of the commercial development and its cost information is also being accumulated. In this circumstances, the economic assessment of nuclear desalination by SMART and the effect of water(or electric) supply price to the regional economy is meaningful to the policy maker. This study is focused on the case study analysis about the economics of SMART desalination plant and the meanings of the case study result. This study is composed of two parts. One is prepared to survey the methodology regarding cost allocation between electricity and water in DEEP and the other is for the economic assessment of SMART. The cost allocation methods that have been proposed or used can be classified into two main groups, one is the cost prorating method and the other is the credit method. The cost of an product item in the dual-purpose plant can be determined differently depending on the costing methods adopted. When it comes to applying credit method adopted in this thesis, the production cost of water depends on what kind of the power cost will be chosen in calculating the power credit. This study also analyses the changes of nuclear desalination economics according to the changes of the important factors such as fossil fuel price. I wish that this study can afford to give an insight to the policy maker about SMART desalination plant. (authors)

  2. Seawater desalination using small and medium light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimamura, Kazuo

    2000-01-01

    Water is an essential substance for sustaining human life. As Japan is an island country, surrounded by the sea and having abundant rainfall, there is no scarcity of water in daily life except during abnormally dry summers or after disasters such as earthquakes. Consequently, there is hardly any demand for seawater desalination plants except on remote islands, Okinawa and a part of Kyushu. However, the IAEA has forecast a scarcity of drinking water in developing countries at the beginning of the 21st century. Further, much more irrigation water will be required every year to prevent cultivated areas from being lost by desertification. If developing countries were to produce such water by seawater desalination using current fossil fuel energy technology, it would cause increased air pollution and global warming. This paper explains the concept of seawater desalination plants using small and medium water reactors (hereinafter called 'nuclear desalination'), as well as important matters regarding the export nuclear desalination plants to developing countries. (author)

  3. Trihalomethanes formation in marine environment in front of Nuweibaa desalination plant as a result of effluents loaded by chlorine residual

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed A. Hamed

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Trihalomethanes have been identified as the most important disinfection byproducts resulted from using chlorine in desalination plants. Nuweibaa desalination plant was chosen to study their effluents impacts on the marine environment in front of the plant in the coastal area of Gulf of Aqaba. Surface and bottom Water Samples were collected from nine locations in the outfall area of this desalination plant during spring and autumn 2014, and analyzed for water temperature, pH value, Salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Biological oxygen demand, Oxidizible organic matter, Total, fixed and volatile suspended matter, residual chlorine (free and combined and trihalomethanes. High total chlorine dosage discharged from the desalination plant achieved high levels of trihalomethanes in the receiving seawater of the outfall area. It has been estimated that about 14524.65671 kg of BOD, 74123.4 kg of OOM, 166896.4375 kg of total suspended solids, 623.634 kg of free chlorine, 469.21 kg of combined chlorine, 206.64 kg of chloroform and 76.48 kg of bromoform are discharged annually from this plant into the Gulf of Aqaba affecting the marine ecosystems. The results of THMs showed that the two main forms of THMs formed in the receiving seawater were chloroform and bromoform and ranged between (5.09–156.59, (2.82–566.06 μg/L respectively. High pH and High combined chlorine concentrations favored the formation of high concentrations of chloroform.

  4. The Energy-Water Nexus: Spatially-Resolved Analysis of the Potential for Desalinating Brackish Groundwater by Use of Solar Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jill B. Kjellsson

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This research looks at coupling desalination with renewable energy sources to create a high-value product (treated water from two low value resources (brackish groundwater and intermittent solar energy. Desalination of brackish groundwater is already being considered as a potential new water supply in Texas. This research uses Texas as a testbed for spatially-resolved analysis techniques while considering depth to brackish groundwater, water quality, and solar radiation across Texas to determine the locations with the best potential for integrating solar energy with brackish groundwater desalination. The framework presented herein can be useful for policymakers, regional planners, and project developers as they consider where to site desalination facilities coupled with solar photovoltaics. Results suggest that the northwestern region of Texas—with abundant sunshine and groundwater at relatively shallow depths and low salinity in areas with freshwater scarcity—has the highest potential for solar powered desalination. The range in capacity for solar photovoltaic powered reverse osmosis desalination was found to be 1.56 × 10—6 to 2.93 × 10—5 cubic meters of water per second per square meter of solar panel (m3/s/m2.

  5. Status of nuclear desalination in IAEA member states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-01-01

    Some of the IAEA Member States have active nuclear desalination programmes and, during the last few years, substantial overall progress has been made in this field. As part of the ongoing activities within the IAEA's nuclear power programme, it was thus decided to prepare a status report, which would briefly describe the recent nuclear seawater desalination related developments and relevant IAEA activities. This status report briefly covers salient aspects of the new generation reactors and a few innovative reactors being considered for desalination and other non-electrical applications, the recent advances in the commonly employed desalination processes and their coupling to nuclear reactors. A summary of techno-economic feasibility studies carried out in interested Member States has been presented and the potable water cost reduction strategies from nuclear desalination plants have been discussed. The socio-economic and environmental benefits of nuclear power driven desalination plants have been elaborated. It is expected that the concise information provided in this report would be useful to the decision makers in the Member States and would incite them to consider or to accelerate the deployment of nuclear desalination projects in their respective countries

  6. Efficient production of electricity and water in cogeneration systems. [Desalination plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tadros, S.K.

    1981-11-01

    This paper discusses two topping cycle steam turbine cogeneration systems. The water desalination plant selected is the multistage flash evaporator cycle which uses brine recirculation and high temperature additives for scale protection and 233F maximum brine temperature. The paper mentions briefly the impact of future fuel prices on design and factors which would further improve thermal efficiency. The fuel chargeable to power is determined. 6 refs.

  7. Desalination and reuse of high-salinity shale gas produced water: drivers, technologies, and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, Devin L; Arias Chavez, Laura H; Ben-Sasson, Moshe; Romero-Vargas Castrillón, Santiago; Yip, Ngai Yin; Elimelech, Menachem

    2013-09-03

    In the rapidly developing shale gas industry, managing produced water is a major challenge for maintaining the profitability of shale gas extraction while protecting public health and the environment. We review the current state of practice for produced water management across the United States and discuss the interrelated regulatory, infrastructure, and economic drivers for produced water reuse. Within this framework, we examine the Marcellus shale play, a region in the eastern United States where produced water is currently reused without desalination. In the Marcellus region, and in other shale plays worldwide with similar constraints, contraction of current reuse opportunities within the shale gas industry and growing restrictions on produced water disposal will provide strong incentives for produced water desalination for reuse outside the industry. The most challenging scenarios for the selection of desalination for reuse over other management strategies will be those involving high-salinity produced water, which must be desalinated with thermal separation processes. We explore desalination technologies for treatment of high-salinity shale gas produced water, and we critically review mechanical vapor compression (MVC), membrane distillation (MD), and forward osmosis (FO) as the technologies best suited for desalination of high-salinity produced water for reuse outside the shale gas industry. The advantages and challenges of applying MVC, MD, and FO technologies to produced water desalination are discussed, and directions for future research and development are identified. We find that desalination for reuse of produced water is technically feasible and can be economically relevant. However, because produced water management is primarily an economic decision, expanding desalination for reuse is dependent on process and material improvements to reduce capital and operating costs.

  8. Preliminary geological study in kabupaten Pamekasan area to support the selection of candidate site of nuclear desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ngadenin; Lilik Subiantoro; Kurnia Setiawan Widana

    2014-01-01

    The area around the southern coast Pamekasan is one of the candidates for the alternatives location of nuclear desalination plant site. In 1949 around Sampang Madura ever tectonic earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale with its epicenter on land. Tectonic earthquake with epicenter on land is likely related to the presence of active faults on the Madura island. Location prospective nuclear desalination plant site should be away or free of active faults. The study aimed to obtain geological information and find out the characteristics of tectonics including active fault to support site studies of nuclear desalination plant on the island of Madura. The method used is the geological mapping scale, 1 : 50,000. Lithology in the area along the south coast district Pamekasan is alluvium Holocene age and conglomerate units of Pleistocene age. There were no indications of active faults in the region. Candidates site at this location is less attractive in terms of geotechnical foundation as can be ascertained bedrock will be found sufficient in that building construction will require expensive. (author)

  9. Solar field control for desalination plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roca, Lidia [Convenio Universidad de Almeria, Plataforma Solar de Almeria, Ctra. Senes s/n, 04200 Tabernas, Almeria (Spain); Berenguel, Manuel [Universidad de Almeria, Dpto. Lenguajes y Computacion, Ctra. Sacramento s/n, 04120 Almeria (Spain); Yebra, Luis; Alarcon-Padilla, Diego C. [CIEMAT, Plataforma Solar de Almeria, Ctra. Senes s/n, 04200 Tabernas, Almeria (Spain)

    2008-09-15

    This paper presents the development and application of a feedback linearization control strategy for a solar collector field supplying process heat to a multi-effect seawater distillation plant. Since one objective is to use as much as possible the solar resource, control techniques can be used to produce the maximum heat process in the solar field. The main purpose of the controller presented in this paper is to manipulate the water flow rate to maintain an outlet-inlet temperature gradient in the collectors, thereby ensuring continuous process heating, or in other words, continuous production of fresh water in spite of disturbances. The dynamic behaviour of this solar field was approximated by a simplified lumped-parameters nonlinear model based on differential equations, validated with real data and used in the feedback linearization control design. Experimental results in the seawater desalination plant at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (Spain) show good agreement of the model and real data despite the approximations included. Moreover, by using feedback linearization control it is possible to track a constant gradient temperature reference in the solar field with good results. (author)

  10. A desalination plant with solar and wind energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, H; Ye, Z; Gao, W

    2013-01-01

    The shortage of freshwater resources has become a worldwide problem. China has a water shortage, although the total amount of water resources is the sixth in the world, the per capita water capacity is the 121th (a quarter of the world's per capita water capacity), and the United Nations considers China one of the poorest 13 countries in the world in terms of water. In order to increase the supply of fresh water, a realistic way is to make full use of China's long and narrow coastline for seawater desalination. This paper discusses a sea water desalination device, the device adopts distillation, uses the greenhouse effect principle and wind power heating principle, and the two-type start is used to solve the problem of vertical axis wind turbine self-starting. Thrust bearings are used to ensure the stability of the device, and to ensure absorbtion of wind energy and solar energy, and to collect evaporation of water to achieve desalination. The device can absorb solar and wind energy instead of input energy, so it can be used in ship, island and many kinds of environment. Due to the comprehensive utilization of wind power and solar power, the efficiency of the device is more than other passive sea water desalting plants, the initial investment and maintenance cost is lower than active sea water desalting plant. The main part of the device cannot only be used in offshore work, but can also be used in deep sea floating work, so the device can utilise deep sea energy. In order to prove the practicability of the device, the author has carried out theory of water production calculations. According to the principle of conservation of energy, the device ais bsorbing solar and wind power, except loose lost part which is used for water temperature rise and phase transition. Assume the inflow water temperature is 20 °C, outflow water temperature is 70 °C, the energy utilization is 60%, we can know that the water production quantity is 8 kg/ m 2 per hour. Comparing

  11. The effect of feed salinity on the biofouling dynamics of seawater desalination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Hui-Ling; Pan, Jill R; Huang, Chihpin; Lin, Justin Chun-Te

    2011-05-01

    A persistent cell labeling dye and a novel microbial counting method were used to explore the effects of salinity on a microbial population in a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system, and these clearly distinguished microbial cell multiplication from cell adherence. The results indicated that microbial multiplication is more active at the front of a seawater RO pressure vessel, while adhesion dominates the back of the vessel. A severe reduction in RO permeate flux and total dissolved solid (TDS) rejection were detected at low salinity, attributed to marked cell multiplication and release of extracellular polymeric substances, whilst a relatively stable flux was observed at medium and high salinity. The results from PCR-DGGE revealed the variation in microbial species distribution on the membrane with salinity. The results imply the critical role of membrane modification in biofouling mitigation in the desalination process.

  12. Heat exchanger design for desalination plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-03-01

    The Office of Saline Water (OSW) accomplished a very large amount of significant work related to the design and performance of large heat exchanger bundles and enhanced heat transfer surfaces. This work was undertaken to provide basic technical and economic data for the design of distillation plants for the desalination of seawater, and should be of value to other industrial applications as well. The OSW work covers almost every aspect of heat exchanger design, and ranges academic research to data gathering on commercial desalting plants. Exchanger design configurations include multistage flash plant condensers, vertical tube falling film and upflow evaporators, and horizontal tube spray film evaporators. Unfortunately, the data is scattered through a large number of reports of which many are concerned primarily with factors other than heat transfer, and the quality of reporting and the quality of the data are far from consistent. This report catalogues and organizes the heat exchanger data developed by the OSW. Some analysis as to the validity of the data is made and ranges of performance that can be expected are given. Emphasis is placed on the vertical tube, falling film evaporators. A thorough analysis of the large literature file that was surveyed was not possible. No analysis was made of the quality of original data, but apparent data discrepancies are pointed out where such discrepancies happen to be found

  13. An explicit solution of the mathematical model for osmotic desalination process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Do Yeon; Gu, Boram; Yang, Dae Ryook [Korea University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-09-15

    Membrane processes such as reverse osmosis and forward osmosis for seawater desalination have gained attention in recent years. Mathematical models have been used to interpret the mechanism of membrane processes. The membrane process model, consisting of flux and concentration polarization (CP) models, is coupled with balance equations and solved simultaneously. This set of model equations is, however, implicit and nonlinear; consequently, the model must be solved iteratively and numerically, which is time- and cost-intensive. We suggest a method to transform implicit equations to their explicit form, in order to avoid an iterative procedure. In addition, the performance of five solving methods, including the method that we suggest, is tested and compared for accuracy, computation time, and robustness based on input conditions. Our proposed method shows the best performance based on the robustness of various simulation conditions, accuracy, and a cost-effective computation time.

  14. Synergies of solar energy use in the desalination of seawater: A case study in northern Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servert, Jorge F.; Cerrajero, Eduardo; Fuentealba, Edward L.

    2016-05-01

    The mining industry is a great consumer of water for hydrometallurgical processes. Despite the efforts in minimizing the use of fresh water through reuse, recycling and process intensification, water demand for mining is expected to rise a 40% from 2013 to 2020. For seawater to be an alternative to groundwater, it must be pumped up to the mine (thousands of meters uphill) and desalinated. These processes require intensive energy and investment in desalination and piping/pumping facilities. A conventional solution for this process would be desalination by reverse osmosis at sea level, powered by electricity from the grid, and further pumping of the desalinated water uphill. This paper compares the feasibility of two solar technologies versus the "conventional" option. LCOW (Levelized Cost of Water) was used as a comparative indicator among the studied solutions, with values for a lifetime of 10, 15, 20 and 25 years, calculated using a real discount rate equal to 12%. The LCOW is lower in all cases for the RO + grid solution. The cost of desalination, ignoring the contribution of pumping, is similar for the three technologies from twenty years of operation. The use of solar energy to desalinate sea water for consumption in the mines of the Atacama region is technically feasible. However, due to the extra costs from pumping whole seawater, and not just the desalinated water, solar solutions are less competitive than the conventional process.

  15. INFLUENCE OF NANOFILTRATION PRETREATMENT ON SCALE DEPOSITION IN MULTI-STAGE FLASH THERMAL DESALINATION PLANTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aiman E Al-Rawajfeh

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Scale formation represents a major operational problem encountered in thermal desalination plants. In current installed plants, and to allow for a reasonable safety margin, sulfate scale deposition limits the top brine temperature (TBT in multi-stage flash (MSF distillers up to 110-112oC. This has significant effect on the unit capital, operational and water production cost. In this work, the influence of nanofiltration (NF pretreatment on the scale deposition potential and increasing TBT in MSF thermal desalination plants is modeled on the basis of mass transfer with chemical reaction of solutes in the brine. Full and partial NF-pretreatment of the feed water were investigated. TBT can be increased in MSF by increasing the percentage of NF-treated feed. Full NF pretreatment of the make-up allows TBT in the MSF plant to be raised up to 175oC in the case of di hybrid NF-MSF and up to 165oC in the case of tri hybrid NF-RO-MSF. The significant scale reduction is associated with increasing flashing range, unit recovery, unit performance, and will lead to reduction in heat transfer surface area, pumping power and therefore, water production cost.

  16. Technical and economic assessment of photovoltaic-driven desalination systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Karaghouli, Ali; Renne, David; Kazmerski, Lawrence L.

    2010-01-01

    Solar desalination systems are approaching technical and cost viability for producing fresh-water, a commodity of equal importance to energy in many arid and coastal regions worldwide. Solar photovoltaics (PV) represent an ideal, clean alternative to fossil fuels, especially for remote communities such as grid-limited villages or isolated islands. These applications for water production in remote areas are the first to be nearing cost-competitiveness due to decreasing PV prices and increasing fossil fuel prices over the last five years. The electricity produced from PV systems for desalination applications can be used for electro-mechanical devices such as pumps or in direct-current (DC) devices. Reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodialysis (ED) desalination units are the most favorable alternatives to be coupled with PV systems. RO usually operates on alternating current (AC) for the pumps, thus requiring a DC/AC inverter. In contrast, electrodialysis uses DC for the electrodes at the cell stack, and hence, it can use the energy supplied from the PV panels with some minor power conditioning. Energy storage is critical and batteries are required for sustained operation. In this paper, we discuss the operational features and system designs of typical PV-RO and PV-ED systems in terms of their suitability and optimization for PV operation. For PV-RO and PV-ED systems, we evaluate their electricity need, capital and operational costs, and fresh-water production costs. We cover ongoing and projected research and development activities, with estimates of their potential economics. We discuss the feasibility of future solar desalination based on expected (or predicted) improvements in technology of the desalination and PV systems. Examples are provided for Middle East and other parts of the World. (author)

  17. Energetic and economic cost of nuclear heat − impact on the cost of desalination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dardour Saied

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available An exploratory study has been carried out to evaluate the cost of heat supplied by a pressurized water reactor type of nuclear reactors to thermal desalination processes. In the context of this work, simplified models have been developed to describe the thermodynamics of power conversion, the energetics of multi-effect evaporation (MED, and the costs of electricity and heat cogenerated by the dual-purpose power plant. Application of these models show that, contrary to widespread belief, (nuclear-powered MED and seawater reverse osmosis are comparable in terms of energy effectiveness. Process heat can be produced, in fact, by a relatively small increase in the core power. As fuel represents just a fraction of the cost of nuclear electricity, the increase in fuel-related expenses is expected to have limited impact on power generation economics.

  18. Evaluation of hydroacid complex in the forward osmosis–membrane distillation (FO–MD) system for desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Peng; Cui, Yue; Ge, Qingchun; Fern Tew, Tjin; Chung, Neal Tai-Shung

    2015-01-01

    The incorporation of membrane distillation (MD) into forward osmosis (FO) provides process sustainability to regenerate the draw solution and to produce clean water simultaneously. However, the reverse salt flux is the major hurdle in the FO-MD system because it not only reduces the effective osmotic driving force across the membrane but also increases the replenishment cost and scaling issue. For the first time, a hydroacid complex with abundant hydrophilic groups and ionic species is evaluated as the draw solutes in the hybrid FO-MD system consisting of multi-bore PVDF MD membranes for seawater/brackish desalination. In order to evaluate the practicality of the hydroacid complex in the FO-MD system, FO and MD experiments were conducted at elevated temperatures and concentrations. The hydroacid complex has displayed desired properties such as high solubility, low viscosity, excellent thermal stability and minimal reverse salt flux suitable for FO and MD operations. FO-MD desalination process was demonstrated with a highest seawater desalination flux of 6/32 LMH (FO/MD). This study may open up the prospective of employing the hydroacid complex as the draw solute in FO-MD hybrid systems for seawater /brackish desalination. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

  19. Evaluation of hydroacid complex in the forward osmosis–membrane distillation (FO–MD) system for desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Peng

    2015-11-01

    The incorporation of membrane distillation (MD) into forward osmosis (FO) provides process sustainability to regenerate the draw solution and to produce clean water simultaneously. However, the reverse salt flux is the major hurdle in the FO-MD system because it not only reduces the effective osmotic driving force across the membrane but also increases the replenishment cost and scaling issue. For the first time, a hydroacid complex with abundant hydrophilic groups and ionic species is evaluated as the draw solutes in the hybrid FO-MD system consisting of multi-bore PVDF MD membranes for seawater/brackish desalination. In order to evaluate the practicality of the hydroacid complex in the FO-MD system, FO and MD experiments were conducted at elevated temperatures and concentrations. The hydroacid complex has displayed desired properties such as high solubility, low viscosity, excellent thermal stability and minimal reverse salt flux suitable for FO and MD operations. FO-MD desalination process was demonstrated with a highest seawater desalination flux of 6/32 LMH (FO/MD). This study may open up the prospective of employing the hydroacid complex as the draw solute in FO-MD hybrid systems for seawater /brackish desalination. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

  20. Aridity, desalination plants and tourism in the eastern Canary Islands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José-León García-Rodríguez

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are the easternmost of the Canary Islands, and are located on the southern edge of the temperate zone, in the subtropical anticyclone belt. With less than 150 mm of rainfall a year, they are classified as an arid zone. Their inhabitants have devised original agricultural systems to combat the aridity, although low yields have historically limited socio-economic development and population growth. These systems were used until the introduction of seawater desalination plants and the arrival of tourism in the last third of the twentieth century, which improved living standards for the local population but also led to a cultural transition. Nevertheless, these farming systems have left behind an important regional heritage, with an environmental and scenic value that has played an integral role in the latest phase of development. The systems have become a tourist attraction and have been central to the two islands being designated biosphere reserves by UNESCO. This article aims to analyse the main socioeconomic and land-use changes that have come about as a result of desalination technology.

  1. Does Chlorination of Seawater Reverse Osmosis Membranes Control Biofouling?

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Muhammad Tariq; Hong, Pei-Ying; Nada, Nabil; Croue, Jean Philippe

    2015-01-01

    Biofouling is the major problem of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes used for desalting seawater (SW). The use of chlorine is a conventional and common practice to control/prevent biofouling. Unlike polyamide RO membranes, cellulose triacetate (CTA) RO membranes display a high chlorine tolerance. Due to this characteristic, CTA membranes are used in most of the RO plants located in the Middle East region where the elevated seawater temperature and water quality promote the risk of membrane biofouling. However, there is no detailed study on the investigation/characterization of CTA-RO membrane fouling. In this investigation, the fouling profile of a full–scale SWRO desalination plant operating with not only continuous chlorination of raw seawater but also intermittent chlorination of CTA-RO membranes was studied. Detailed water quality and membrane fouling analyses were conducted. Profiles of microbiological, inorganic, and organic constituents of analysed fouling layers were extensively discussed. Our results clearly identified biofilm development on these membranes. The incapability of chlorination on preventing biofilm formation on SWRO membranes could be assigned to its failure in effectively reaching throughout the different regions of the permeators. This failure could have occurred due to three main factors: plugging of membrane fibers, chlorine consumption by organics accumulated on the front side fibers, or chlorine adaptation of certain bacterial populations.

  2. Does Chlorination of Seawater Reverse Osmosis Membranes Control Biofouling?

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Muhammad Tariq

    2015-04-01

    Biofouling is the major problem of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes used for desalting seawater (SW). The use of chlorine is a conventional and common practice to control/prevent biofouling. Unlike polyamide RO membranes, cellulose triacetate (CTA) RO membranes display a high chlorine tolerance. Due to this characteristic, CTA membranes are used in most of the RO plants located in the Middle East region where the elevated seawater temperature and water quality promote the risk of membrane biofouling. However, there is no detailed study on the investigation/characterization of CTA-RO membrane fouling. In this investigation, the fouling profile of a full–scale SWRO desalination plant operating with not only continuous chlorination of raw seawater but also intermittent chlorination of CTA-RO membranes was studied. Detailed water quality and membrane fouling analyses were conducted. Profiles of microbiological, inorganic, and organic constituents of analysed fouling layers were extensively discussed. Our results clearly identified biofilm development on these membranes. The incapability of chlorination on preventing biofilm formation on SWRO membranes could be assigned to its failure in effectively reaching throughout the different regions of the permeators. This failure could have occurred due to three main factors: plugging of membrane fibers, chlorine consumption by organics accumulated on the front side fibers, or chlorine adaptation of certain bacterial populations.

  3. Identification of optimum outfall location for desalination plant in the coastal waters off Tuticorin, India

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    DineshKumar, P.K.; NaveenKumar, K.R.; Muraleedharan, K.R.

    Behaviour of the dilution characteristics of the coastal waters off Tuticorin is presented in the background of setting up of a desalination plant. Simulations of dispersion and spreading of the proposed discharges has been carried out. Scenarios...

  4. Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO): Past experiences, current developments, and future prospects

    KAUST Repository

    Sarp, S.; Li, Z.; Saththasivam, J.

    2016-01-01

    Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) has attracted worldwide attention with respect to its salinity gradient energy production potential, and low energy desalination applications. PRO processes, which use Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) brine as draw solutions, have a higher potential of being applied to any new, and existing membrane based seawater desalination systems, as an energy production and/or conservation process. Hydraulic pressure is applied on a high salinity draw solution, and the hydraulic pressure of the high salinity draw solution can be kept relatively constant during operation, even though the volumetric flow rate is to be increased. Therefore, the draw side of the PRO process can be considered near-isobaric, in most cases. The harvested Gibbs free energy of mixing, and the volumetric expansion can explain this near-isobaric behavior of the draw side in the PRO process. Thus, PRO can be used to multiply the internal energy of the draw solution with respect to the ratio of the permeated water flux. Even though PRO has very high theoretical potential for energy production and/or recovery, there are several shortcomings, which should be answered before the realization of the scale up applications, such as; thermodynamic process optimization, high power density membranes, and high efficiency hydraulic pressure conversion and recovery systems. This review gives detailed information about the PRO process including; (1) theoretical background, (2) membranes for PRO, (3) experimental and large scale applications, and (4) economic feasibility of PRO applications.

  5. Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO): Past experiences, current developments, and future prospects

    KAUST Repository

    Sarp, S.

    2016-01-16

    Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) has attracted worldwide attention with respect to its salinity gradient energy production potential, and low energy desalination applications. PRO processes, which use Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) brine as draw solutions, have a higher potential of being applied to any new, and existing membrane based seawater desalination systems, as an energy production and/or conservation process. Hydraulic pressure is applied on a high salinity draw solution, and the hydraulic pressure of the high salinity draw solution can be kept relatively constant during operation, even though the volumetric flow rate is to be increased. Therefore, the draw side of the PRO process can be considered near-isobaric, in most cases. The harvested Gibbs free energy of mixing, and the volumetric expansion can explain this near-isobaric behavior of the draw side in the PRO process. Thus, PRO can be used to multiply the internal energy of the draw solution with respect to the ratio of the permeated water flux. Even though PRO has very high theoretical potential for energy production and/or recovery, there are several shortcomings, which should be answered before the realization of the scale up applications, such as; thermodynamic process optimization, high power density membranes, and high efficiency hydraulic pressure conversion and recovery systems. This review gives detailed information about the PRO process including; (1) theoretical background, (2) membranes for PRO, (3) experimental and large scale applications, and (4) economic feasibility of PRO applications.

  6. Entropy Generation of Desalination Powered by Variable Temperature Waste Heat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David M. Warsinger

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Powering desalination by waste heat is often proposed to mitigate energy consumption and environmental impact; however, thorough technology comparisons are lacking in the literature. This work numerically models the efficiency of six representative desalination technologies powered by waste heat at 50, 70, 90, and 120 °C, where applicable. Entropy generation and Second Law efficiency analysis are applied for the systems and their components. The technologies considered are thermal desalination by multistage flash (MSF, multiple effect distillation (MED, multistage vacuum membrane distillation (MSVMD, humidification-dehumidification (HDH, and organic Rankine cycles (ORCs paired with mechanical technologies of reverse osmosis (RO and mechanical vapor compression (MVC. The most efficient technology was RO, followed by MED. Performances among MSF, MSVMD, and MVC were similar but the relative performance varied with waste heat temperature or system size. Entropy generation in thermal technologies increases at lower waste heat temperatures largely in the feed or brine portions of the various heat exchangers used. This occurs largely because lower temperatures reduce recovery, increasing the relative flow rates of feed and brine. However, HDH (without extractions had the reverse trend, only being competitive at lower temperatures. For the mechanical technologies, the energy efficiency only varies with temperature because of the significant losses from the ORC.

  7. Desalination - A solution to water shortage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shakaib, M.

    2005-01-01

    Pakistan as well as neighbouring countries are faced with critical water shortage for the last few decades. The demand for water has outstripped its supply making the availability of safe water sources an issue Also conflicts over water sharing are expected in many regions of the world. Thus, because of this looming crisis water problems are getting increasing attention all over the world. With the advancement of desalination technology many countries had resorted removal of salts from brackish and sea water as an alternative water supply and they are now viewing desalination as a future solution to problems of lack of water. Today, over 100 countries use desalting requirement. A total of 12,451 desalting units (of a unit size of 100 m/sup 3//d or more) with a total capacity of 22,735,000 m /d had been installed or contracted worldwide. Brackish water desalination plants contribute with 9,400,000 m3/d, whereas the capacity of the sea water plants had reached up to 13,300,000 m3/d. This paper will discuss the use of desalination to produce potable water from saline water for domestic or municipal purposes and also the available desalination techniques that have been developed over the years and have achieved commercial success. (author)

  8. Source water quality shaping different fouling scenarios in a full-scale desalination plant at the Red Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Khan, Muhammad; Manes, Carmem Lara De O; Aubry, Cyril; Croue, Jean-Philippe

    2013-01-01

    produced at a seawater RO desalination plant installed on a floating mobile barge. The plant was moved along the coastline of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. The two locations where the barge was anchored showed different water quality. At the second location

  9. Technical and economic evaluation of nuclear seawater desalination systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grechko, A.G.; Romenkov, A.A.; Shishkin, V.A.

    1998-01-01

    The IAEA Cogeneration/Desalination Cost Model spreadsheets were used for the economic evaluation of sea water desalination plants coupled with small and medium size nuclear reactors developed in RDIPE. The results of calculations have shown that the cost of potable water is equal to or even below 1$/m 3 . This is very close to similar indices of the best fossil driven desalination plants. For remote and difficult-to-access regions, where the transportation share contributes significantly to the product water cost at fossil plants, the nuclear power sources of these reactor types are cost-efficient and can successfully compete with fossil power sources. (author)

  10. Minimizing the Environmental Impact of Sea Brine Disposal by Coupling Desalination Plants with Solar Saltworks: A Case Study for Greece

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stylianos Gialis

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The explosive increase in world population, along with the fast socio-economic development, have led to an increased water demand, making water shortage one of the greatest problems of modern society. Countries such as Greece, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia face serious water shortage issues and have resorted to solutions such as transporting water by ships from the mainland to islands, a practice that is expensive, energy-intensive and unsustainable. Desalination of sea-water is suitable for supplying arid regions with potable water, but extensive brine discharge may affect marine biota. To avoid this impact, we explore the option of directing the desalination effluent to a solar saltworks for brine concentration and salt production, in order to achieve a zero discharge desalination plant. In this context, we conducted a survey in order to evaluate the potential of transferring desalination brine to solar saltworks, so that its disposal to the sea is avoided. Our analysis showed that brine transfer by trucks is prohibitively expensive. In order to make the zero discharge desalination plant economically feasible, efforts should be directed into developing a more efficient technology that will result in the production of only a fraction of the brine that is produced from our systems today.

  11. Geothermal electricity generation and desalination: an integrated process design to conserve latent heat with operational improvements

    KAUST Repository

    Missimer, Thomas M.; Ng, Kim Choon; Thuw, Kyaw; Wakil Shahzad, Muhammad

    2016-01-01

    A new process combination is proposed to link geothermal electricity generation with desalination. The concept involves maximizing the utilization of harvested latent heat by passing the turbine exhaust steam into a multiple effect distillation system and then into an adsorption desalination system. Processes are fully integrated to produce electricity, desalted water for consumer consumption, and make-up water for the geothermal extraction system. Further improvements in operational efficiency are achieved by adding a seawater reverse osmosis system to the site to utilize some of the generated electricity and using on-site aquifer storage and recovery to maximize water production with tailoring of seasonal capacity requirements and to meet facility maintenance requirements. The concept proposed conserves geothermally harvested latent heat and maximizes the economics of geothermal energy development. Development of a fully renewable energy electric generation-desalination-aquifer storage campus is introduced within the framework of geothermal energy development. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis

  12. Geothermal electricity generation and desalination: an integrated process design to conserve latent heat with operational improvements

    KAUST Repository

    Missimer, Thomas M.

    2016-02-05

    A new process combination is proposed to link geothermal electricity generation with desalination. The concept involves maximizing the utilization of harvested latent heat by passing the turbine exhaust steam into a multiple effect distillation system and then into an adsorption desalination system. Processes are fully integrated to produce electricity, desalted water for consumer consumption, and make-up water for the geothermal extraction system. Further improvements in operational efficiency are achieved by adding a seawater reverse osmosis system to the site to utilize some of the generated electricity and using on-site aquifer storage and recovery to maximize water production with tailoring of seasonal capacity requirements and to meet facility maintenance requirements. The concept proposed conserves geothermally harvested latent heat and maximizes the economics of geothermal energy development. Development of a fully renewable energy electric generation-desalination-aquifer storage campus is introduced within the framework of geothermal energy development. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis

  13. Opportunities and Challenges in Application of Forward Osmosis in Food Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rastogi, Navin K

    2016-01-01

    Food processing and preservation technologies must maintain the fresh-like characteristics of food while providing an acceptable and convenient shelf life as well as assuring safety and nutritional value. Besides, the consumers' demand for the highest quality convenience foods in terms of natural flavor and taste, free from additives and preservatives necessitated the development of a number of membrane-based non-thermal approaches to the concentration of liquid foods, of which forward osmosis has proven to be the most valuable one. A series of recent publications in scientific journals have demonstrated novel and diverse uses of this technology for food processing, desalination, pharmaceuticals as well as for power generation. Its novel features, which include the concentration of liquid foods at ambient temperature and pressure without significant fouling of membrane, made the technology commercially attractive. This review aims to identify the opportunities and challenges associated with this technology. At the same time, it presents a comprehensive account of recent advances in forward osmosis technology as related to the major issues of concern in its rapidly growing applications in food processing such as concentration of fruit and vegetable juices (grape, pineapple, red raspberry, orange, and tomato juice and red radish juice) and natural food colorants (anthocyanin and betalains extracts). Several vibrant and vital issues such as recent developments in the forward osmosis membrane and concentration polarization aspects have been also addressed. The asymmetric membrane used for forward osmosis poses newer challenges to account both external and internal concentration polarization leading to significant reduction in flux. The recent advances and developments in forward osmosis membrane processes, mechanism of water transport, characteristics of draw solution and membranes as well as applications of forward osmosis in food processing have been discussed.

  14. A Feasibility Study of Optimal Nuclear Desalination Process for Industrial Water Supply in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Hyunchul; Han, Kiin

    2013-01-01

    Seawater Desalination can be an alternative technology for water production based on salt separation from seawater. Seawater desalination can produce freshwater with necessary quality by choosing an appropriate desalination process and posttreatment methods of the product water. The commercial seawater desalination processes which are proven and reliable for large scale freshwater production are MSF and MED for evaporative desalination and RO for membrane desalination. Vapor compression plants based on thermal and mechanical compression are also employed for the small and medium capacity ranges. The aim of this study is to compare the characteristics and cost of each process methods and suggest the most efficient and effective method of desalination for an industrial water supply to the National Industrial Complex nearby Nuclear Power Plant. The costs associated with desalination depend on many factors such as capital, energy, labor, chemicals that are specific to the location, plant capacity, product salinity pre-treatment necessities, and other site-related costs for land, plant and brine disposal. A detailed analysis of each situation is thus required to estimate desalination costs. It could be stated that RO cost is lower than distillation one in energy and environmental terms. The optimal capacity(10,000 m 3 /day) was decided to analyze the estimated water usage in nuclear power plants. And then compared the availability of each process, energy consumption, O and M and economic aspects. In terms of economic feasibility study, RO is the most recommendable process in nuclear power plants in Korea

  15. Final Scientific/Technical Report for Program Title: Solar Powered Dewvaporation Desalination System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ranganathan, Shashidhar [Polestar Technologies Inc., Needham Heights, MA (United States)

    2017-03-24

    Desalination technologies have been used increasingly throughout the world to produce the drinking water from the brackish ground and sea water for the past few decades. Among the commercially available desalination technologies, reverse osmosis (RO) and multi-stage flash distillation are the most widely used technologies globally. However, these technologies are difficult to be directly integrated with green energies without converting them to electricity. Dewvaporation, a desalination process, uses saturated steam as a carrier-gas to evaporate water from saline feeds and form pure condensate. It has the major technical benefit of reusing energy, released from vapor condensation, multiple times. The current proposal has been planned to address this issue. In Phase I, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a new plasmonic nanoparticle based approach through fabrication and evaluation of a solar powered water vapor generation module. The water vapor generation module allows generation of high temperature plasmon on a fiber bundle end, where strong water and plasmon interaction occurs generating water vapor. Plasmon enhanced water evaporation has been realized on plasmonic nanoparticle immobilized substrate with an energy conversion efficiency of over 50%.

  16. Wastewater reclamation using discarded reverse osmosis membranes for reuse in irrigation in Djibouti, an arid country.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awaleh, Mohamed Osman; Ahmed, Moussa Mahdi; Soubaneh, Youssouf Djibril; Hoch, Farhan Bouraleh; Bouh, Samatar Mohamed; Dirieh, Elias Said

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to establish the feasibility of recovering discarded reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in order to reduce the salinity of domestic treated wastewater. This study shows that the reuse of RO membranes is of particular interest for arid countries having naturally high mineralized water such as Djibouti. The pilot desalination unit reduces the electrical conductivity, the turbidity and the total dissolved salt respectively at 75-85, 96.7 and 95.4%. The water produced with this desalination unit contains an average of 254 cfu/100 mL total coliforms and 87 cfu/100 mL fecal coliforms. This effluent meets the World Health Organization standards for treated wastewater reuse for agricultural purposes. The annual cost of the desalination unit was evaluated as US $/m(3) 0.82, indicating the relatively high cost of this process. Nevertheless, such processes are required to produce an effluent, with a high reuse potential.

  17. Osmosis in Poisoned Plant Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatina, Robert

    1998-01-01

    Describes two simple laboratory exercises that allow students to test hypotheses concerning the requirement of cell energy for osmosis. The first exercise involves osmotically-caused changes in the length of potato tubers and requires detailed quantitative observations. The second exercise involves osmotically-caused changes in turgor of Elodea…

  18. The use of reverse osmosis at nuclear power plants. Replacement of evaporator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kus, Pavel; Bartova, Sarka; Kunesova, Katerina; Smejdova, Vladena; Vonkova, Katerina [Research Centre Rez, Husinec-Rez (Czech Republic). Technological Circuits

    2015-06-01

    Evaporators are being used in nuclear power plants for the treatment of primary coolant containing H3BO3 for neutron absorption and other components for adjusting water chemistry. The aim is to achieve a concentrated H3BO3 solution, which is further purified by ion exchangers and then recycled into the primary cycle. Operation of evaporators is expensive, therefore reverse osmosis was proposed as one promising alternative. A pilot-plant RO unit was used for the experiments performed with feed solution. The successful technology is now being implemented at Temelin NPP.

  19. The use of reverse osmosis at nuclear power plants. Replacement of evaporator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kus, Pavel; Bartova, Sarka; Kunesova, Katerina; Smejdova, Vladena; Vonkova, Katerina

    2015-01-01

    Evaporators are being used in nuclear power plants for the treatment of primary coolant containing H3BO3 for neutron absorption and other components for adjusting water chemistry. The aim is to achieve a concentrated H3BO3 solution, which is further purified by ion exchangers and then recycled into the primary cycle. Operation of evaporators is expensive, therefore reverse osmosis was proposed as one promising alternative. A pilot-plant RO unit was used for the experiments performed with feed solution. The successful technology is now being implemented at Temelin NPP.

  20. The drawbacks of using intermittent doses of sodium hypochlorite as an oxidising biocides in the pre-treatment line of a reverse osmosis desalination plant; Inconvenientes de realizar dosificacion intermitente de hipoclorito de sodio (biocida oxidante), en linea de pretratamiento de una plant desaladora por osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Munoz Elguera, A.; Alday Ansola, J.; Gomez Gotor, A.; Perez Baez, S. O.

    2001-07-01

    This article reports on the adverse effects on the microbiological quality of sea water with a high degree of biological contamination captured by an open intake system when it is subjected to intermittent, or shock, treatment, doses of an oxidising biocides, such as sodium hypochlorite NaClO (Kmm O4, O3, H2, O2), even through the purpose is to control microbiological development in the process water that contaminates the conduits, the units in which the processes are carried out and/or the unit operations, especially inside the membrane modules used in potabilising plants to desalt sea water and/or brackish water by the reverse osmosis technique. The uncontrolled development of a great diversity of microorganisms on the active layer of the membranes causes serious problems in the operation of this type of potabilising plant. (Author) 13 refs.

  1. High performance thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yip, Ngai Yin; Tiraferri, Alberto; Phillip, William A; Schiffman, Jessica D; Elimelech, Menachem

    2010-05-15

    Recent studies show that osmotically driven membrane processes may be a viable technology for desalination, water and wastewater treatment, and power generation. However, the absence of a membrane designed for such processes is a significant obstacle hindering further advancements of this technology. This work presents the development of a high performance thin-film composite membrane for forward osmosis applications. The membrane consists of a selective polyamide active layer formed by interfacial polymerization on top of a polysulfone support layer fabricated by phase separation onto a thin (40 mum) polyester nonwoven fabric. By careful selection of the polysulfone casting solution (i.e., polymer concentration and solvent composition) and tailoring the casting process, we produced a support layer with a mix of finger-like and sponge-like morphologies that give significantly enhanced membrane performance. The structure and performance of the new thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane are compared with those of commercial membranes. Using a 1.5 M NaCl draw solution and a pure water feed, the fabricated membranes produced water fluxes exceeding 18 L m(2-)h(-1), while consistently maintaining observed salt rejection greater than 97%. The high water flux of the fabricated thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes was directly related to the thickness, porosity, tortuosity, and pore structure of the polysulfone support layer. Furthermore, membrane performance did not degrade after prolonged exposure to an ammonium bicarbonate draw solution.

  2. High Performance Thin-Film Composite Forward Osmosis Membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Ngai Yin

    2010-05-15

    Recent studies show that osmotically driven membrane processes may be a viable technology for desalination, water and wastewater treatment, and power generation. However, the absence of a membrane designed for such processes is a significant obstacle hindering further advancements of this technology. This work presents the development of a high performance thin-film composite membrane for forward osmosis applications. The membrane consists of a selective polyamide active layer formed by interfacial polymerization on top of a polysulfone support layer fabricated by phase separation onto a thin (40 μm) polyester nonwoven fabric. By careful selection of the polysulfone casting solution (i.e., polymer concentration and solvent composition) and tailoring the casting process, we produced a support layer with a mix of finger-like and sponge-like morphologies that give significantly enhanced membrane performance. The structure and performance of the new thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane are compared with those of commercial membranes. Using a 1.5 M NaCl draw solution and a pure water feed, the fabricated membranes produced water fluxes exceeding 18 L m2-h-1, while consistently maintaining observed salt rejection greater than 97%. The high water flux of the fabricated thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes was directly related to the thickness, porosity, tortuosity, and pore structure of the polysulfone support layer. Furthermore, membrane performance did not degrade after prolonged exposure to an ammonium bicarbonate draw solution. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

  3. Economics of seawater desalination with innovative nuclear reactors and other energy sources: the EURODESAL project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nisan, S.; Volpi, L.

    2004-01-01

    This paper summarises our recent investigations undertaken as part of the EURODESAL project on nuclear desalination, which were carried out by a consortium of four EU and one Canadian, Industrials and two leading EU R and D organisations. Major results of the project, in particular of its economic evaluation work package as discussed in this paper, are: 1. A coherent demonstration of the technical feasibility of nuclear desalination through the development of technical principles for the optimum cogeneration of electricity and water and by exploring the unique capabilities of the innovative nuclear reactors and desalination technologies; verification that the integrated system design does not adversely affect nuclear reactor safety. 2. The development of codes and methods for an objective assessment of the competitiveness and sustainability of proposed solutions through comparison, in European conditions, with fossil and renewable energy based solutions. The results obtained so far seem to be quite encouraging as regards the economical viability of nuclear desalination options. Thus, for example, specific desalination costs ($/m 3 of desalted water) for nuclear systems such as the AP600 and the French PWR900 (reference base case), coupled to Multiple Effect Distillation (MED) or the Reverse Osmosis (RO) processes, are 30% to 60% lower than fossil energy based systems using pulverised coal and natural gas with combined cycle, at low discount rates and recommended fuel prices. Even in the most unfavourable scenarios for nuclear energy (discount rates = 10%, low fossil fuel prices) desalination costs with the nuclear options with the nuclear reactors are 7% to 15% lower, depending upon the desalination capacities. Furthermore, with the high performance coupling schemes developed by the EURODESAL partners, the specific desalination costs of nuclear systems are reduced by another 2% to 14%, even without system and design optimisation. (author)

  4. On fuzzy control of water desalination plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Titli, A. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 31 - Toulouse (France); Jamshidi, M. [New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Olafsson, F. [Institute of Technology, Norway (Norway)

    1995-12-31

    In this report we have chosen a sub-system of an MSF water desalination plant, the brine heater, for analysis, synthesis, and simulation. This system has been modelled and implemented on computer. A fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for the top brine temperature control loop has been designed and implemented on the computer. The performance of the proposed FLC is compared with three other conventional control strategies: PID, cascade and disturbance rejection control. One major concern on FLC`s has been the lack of stability criteria. An up to-date survey of stability of fuzzy control systems is given. We have shown stability of the proposed FLC using the Sinusoidal Input Describing Functions (SIDF) method. The potential applications of fuzzy controllers for complex and large-scale systems through hierarchy of rule sets and hybridization with conventional approaches are also investigated. (authors)

  5. On fuzzy control of water desalination plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Titli, A [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 31 - Toulouse (France); Jamshidi, M [New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Olafsson, F [Institute of Technology, Norway (Norway)

    1996-12-31

    In this report we have chosen a sub-system of an MSF water desalination plant, the brine heater, for analysis, synthesis, and simulation. This system has been modelled and implemented on computer. A fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for the top brine temperature control loop has been designed and implemented on the computer. The performance of the proposed FLC is compared with three other conventional control strategies: PID, cascade and disturbance rejection control. One major concern on FLC`s has been the lack of stability criteria. An up to-date survey of stability of fuzzy control systems is given. We have shown stability of the proposed FLC using the Sinusoidal Input Describing Functions (SIDF) method. The potential applications of fuzzy controllers for complex and large-scale systems through hierarchy of rule sets and hybridization with conventional approaches are also investigated. (authors)

  6. A computational assessment of the permeability and salt rejection of carbon nanotube membranes and their application to water desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Michael; Corry, Ben

    2016-01-01

    Membranes made from nanomaterials such as nanotubes and graphene have been suggested to have a range of applications in water filtration and desalination, but determining their suitability for these purposes requires an accurate assessment of the properties of these novel materials. In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulations to determine the permeability and salt rejection capabilities for membranes incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at a range of pore sizes, pressures and concentrations. We include the influence of osmotic gradients and concentration build up and simulate at realistic pressures to improve the reliability of estimated membrane transport properties. We find that salt rejection is highly dependent on the applied hydrostatic pressure, meaning high rejection can be achieved with wider tubes than previously thought; while membrane permeability depends on salt concentration. The ideal size of the CNTs for desalination applications yielding high permeability and high salt rejection is found to be around 1.1 nm diameter. While there are limited energy gains to be achieved in using ultra-permeable CNT membranes in desalination by reverse osmosis, such membranes may allow for smaller plants to be built as is required when size or weight must be minimized. There are diminishing returns in further increasing membrane permeability, so efforts should focus on the fabrication of membranes containing narrow or functionalized CNTs that yield the desired rejection or selection properties rather than trying to optimize pore densities. PMID:26712639

  7. Economic and thermal feasibility of multi stage flash desalination plant with brine–feed mixing and cooling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alhazmy, Majed M.

    2014-01-01

    Improving the performance of MSF (multi stage flash) desalination plants is a major challenge for desalination industry. High feed temperature in summer shortens the evaporation range of MSF plants and limits their yield. Installing a cooler at the feed intake expands the evaporation range of MSF plants and increases their yield. Adding a cooler and a mixing chamber increases the capital and operational costs of MSF plants. This paper presents thermal and economic analysis of installing a feed cooler at the plant intake. The profit of selling the additionally produced water must cover the cost of the cooling system. The selling prices for a reasonable breakeven depend on the selected cooling temperature. The cost of installing coolers capable of maintaining feed–brine mixture temperatures of 18–20 °C shows breakeven selling prices of 0.5–0.9 $/m 3 . These prices fall within the current range of potable water selling prices. - Highlights: • Thermo-economic analysis for MSF plant with brine mixing and cooling is presented. • Analysis is based on first and second laws of thermodynamics. • The profit gained from producing additional water covers the cooling cost. • The suggested modification is a promising technique for plants in hot climates

  8. Co-generation project for the Combined Cycle Power Plant President Juarez Rosarito and a reverse osmosis desalting plant; Proyecto de cogeneracion para la planta de ciclo combinado Presidente Juarez Rosarito y una planta desaladora de osmosis inversa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beltran Mora, Hector; Espindola Hernandez, Salvador [Universidad NAcional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)

    2006-11-15

    In this work a technical and economical analysis of the installation of a reverse osmosis desalting plant connected to a power station that uses the combined cycle technology under a co-generation scheme is presented: production of electricity and water. The operation program of the desalting power station will be determined by the demand of energy of the combined cycle power station; the proposal is that the desalting plant operates in the hours of low load of the power station and shuts down at the peak hours of electrical energy demand. So that this study is representative, the demand curves of electric energy of the units of combined cycle of Central President Juarez Rosarito of the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) have been taken and updated the data of the reverse osmosis desalting plants that are available at the moment in the market. As basis of the study the level costs will be determined so much as the electrical energy generated by the power station of combined cycle, operating inside and outside of a co-generation scheme and the costs made level for the water produced by the reverse osmosis plant under two assumptions: the first one is buying the electrical energy from CFE and the second one considering that the CFE is the owner of the desalting plant and therefore the cost of electrical energy to desalting the plant is zero. This work shows the economic impacts on the costs of the generation of electrical energy and on those of the desalted water in a co-generation scheme. The results shown in this study can be considered for the future planning in the construction of desalting plants to supply of water in the Northwestern zones of the country where serious problems of water shortage exist. [Spanish] En este trabajo se presenta un analisis tecnico y economico de la instalacion de una planta desaladora de osmosis inversa acoplada a una central de generacion de energia electrica que utiliza la tecnologia de ciclo combinado bajo un esquema de

  9. Use of Low-Temperature Geothermal Energy for Desalination in the Western United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turchi, Craig S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Akar, Sertac [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cath, Tzahi [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Vanneste, Johan [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Geza, Mengistu [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-11-01

    This joint project between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines has examined the potential of using low-temperature geothermal resources for desalination. The temperature range in question is not well suited for electricity generation, but can be used for direct heating. Accordingly, the best integration approaches use thermal desalination technologies such as multi-effect distillation (MED) or membrane distillation (MD), rather than electric-driven technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO). The examination of different desalination technologies led to the selection of MD for pairing with geothermal energy. MD operates at near-ambient pressure and temperatures less than 100°C with hydrophobic membranes. The technology is modular like RO, but the equipment costs are lower. The thermal energy demands of MD are higher than MED, but this is offset by an ability to run at lower temperatures and a low capital cost. Consequently, a geothermal-MD system could offer a low capital cost and, if paired with low-cost geothermal energy, a low operating cost. The target product water cost is $1.0 to $1.5 per cubic meter depending on system capacity and the cost of thermal energy.

  10. Geochemical Processes During Managed Aquifer Recharge With Desalinated Seawater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganot, Y.; Holtzman, R.; Weisbrod, N.; Russak, A.; Katz, Y.; Kurtzman, D.

    2018-02-01

    We study geochemical processes along the variably-saturated zone during managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with reverse-osmosis desalinated seawater (DSW). The DSW, post-treated at the desalination plant by calcite dissolution (remineralization) to meet the Israeli water quality standards, is recharged into the Israeli Coastal Aquifer through an infiltration pond. Water quality monitoring during two MAR events using suction cups and wells inside the pond indicates that cation exchange is the dominant subsurface reaction, driven by the high Ca2+ concentration in the post-treated DSW. Stable isotope analysis shows that the shallow groundwater composition is similar to the recharged DSW, except for enrichment of Mg2+, Na+, Ca2+, and HCO3-. A calibrated variably-saturated reactive transport model is used to predict the geochemical evolution during 50 years of MAR for two water quality scenarios: (i) post-treated DSW (current practice) and (ii) soft DSW (lacking the remineralization post-treatment process). The latter scenario was aimed to test soil-aquifer-treatment (SAT) as an alternative post-treatment technique. Both scenarios provide an enrichment of ˜2.5 mg L-1 in Mg2+ due to cation exchange, compared to practically zero Mg2+ currently found in the Israeli DSW. Simulations of the alternative SAT scenario provide Ca2+ and HCO3- remineralization due to calcite dissolution at levels that meet the Israeli standard for DSW. The simulated calcite content reduction in the sediments below the infiltration pond after 50 years of MAR was low (<1%). Our findings suggest that remineralization using SAT for DSW is a potentially sustainable practice at MAR sites overlying calcareous sandy aquifers.

  11. Risk analysis of the sea desalination plant at the 5th refinery of south ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this study, hazards in the desalination unit of a gas refinery in Asaluyeh, south of Iran was evaluated, using the PHA-PRO6 software, for which recommendations were made to avoid potential risks involved. Based on 8-years history of the refinery operation, maintenance records, accidents, safety vulnerabilities of the plant ...

  12. A floating cogeneration system using the Russian KLT-40 reactor and Canadian reverse osmosis water purification technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humphries, J.R.; Davies, K.

    1997-01-01

    As the global consumption of water increases with growing populations and rising levels of industrialization, major new sources of potable water production must be developed. To address this issue efficiently and economically, a new approach has been developed in Canada for the integration of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination systems with nuclear reactors as an energy source. The use of waste heat from the electrical generation process to preheat the RO feedwater, advanced feedwater pre-treatment and sophisticated system design integration and optimization techniques have led to improved water production efficiency, lower water production costs and reduced environmental impacts. CANDESAL Inc., has studied the use of its approach to the application of RO technology in the Russian APWS-80 floating nuclear desalination plant. Case studies show that water production efficiently improvements up to about 16% can be achieved. The energy consumed for the CANDESAL optimized APWS-80 design configuration is 4.2 kW·h/m 3 compared to the base APWS-80 design value of 4.9 kW·h/m 3 . Although only a preliminary study, these results suggest that significant improvements in the cost of water production can be achieved. The potential benefits warrant further detailed evaluation followed by a demonstration project. (author). 1 ref., 6 figs, 2 tabs

  13. Exceptional ion rejection ability of directional solvent for non-membrane desalination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rish, Daniel [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Department of Civil Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Luo, Shirui; Kurtz, Brien [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Luo, Tengfei, E-mail: tluo@nd.edu [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States)

    2014-01-13

    The recently demonstrated directional solvent extraction (DSE) is promising for very low temperature, membrane-free water desalination. In this paper, we combine atomistic simulations and experimental validation to demonstrate that the currently used directional solvent, decanoic acid, can reject all major salt ions in seawater, with very high rejection rates. The salinities of the DSE recovered water show that ion rejection rates are ∼98%–99%—similar to those of the best reverse osmosis membranes. Our test also shows that the DSE process can desalt seawater to produce fresh water that meets drinking water standards.

  14. Exceptional ion rejection ability of directional solvent for non-membrane desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rish, Daniel; Luo, Shirui; Kurtz, Brien; Luo, Tengfei

    2014-01-01

    The recently demonstrated directional solvent extraction (DSE) is promising for very low temperature, membrane-free water desalination. In this paper, we combine atomistic simulations and experimental validation to demonstrate that the currently used directional solvent, decanoic acid, can reject all major salt ions in seawater, with very high rejection rates. The salinities of the DSE recovered water show that ion rejection rates are ∼98%–99%—similar to those of the best reverse osmosis membranes. Our test also shows that the DSE process can desalt seawater to produce fresh water that meets drinking water standards

  15. Cogeneration cycles applied to desalination in the Arab World: state of the art

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yassin, Jamal Saleh

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a review of cogeneration cycles applied to water desalination in most of the Arab countries. The scarcity of fresh water resources in many countries around the world, and in particular Gulf countries and north African countries such as Libya and Tunisia forced the local authorities to establish many desalination plants to compensate the water shortage. Some plants are conventional for desalination processes only and others are with cogeneration cycle. The high performance of cogeneration cycles encouraged establishing combined power and desalination plants. The present study is intended to provide an overview of cogeneration cycles in conjunction with desalination technologies under the two main resources of energy, fossils and renewables. Thermal technologies, which utilize fossil resource constitute the mainstay of large-scale desalination in the Arab countries and enjoy a relatively important position worldwide. While the technologies which utilize renewable resources such as solar are getting more attention year by year and still under research and almost for small units.(Author)

  16. A review of environmental governance and its effects on concentrate discharge from desalination plants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    KAUST Repository

    Van Der Merwe, Riaan

    2013-01-01

    The most likely environmental impact of concentrate discharges (in most instances twice the concentration of the ambient environment) leaking from desalination plants on local marine ecosystems has been controversially discussed for many years. Increasing water demand and lack of renewable natural water resources in Saudi Arabia also result in greater dependence on desalination and consequently amplify the impact on marine environment and multifactorial ecosystems in near-field areas of desalination discharges. Accurate scientific baseline data should furnish information on various factors such as intake- and outfall locality, brine (concentrate) discharge and chemical characteristics (i.e. effluent concentration, mass flow rates (flux)), local effects, and even cumulative effects of desalination activities, at least on a regional and even on a national scale. Even if such data were available, in many cases they are non-transparent and are not even accessible, or tend to be overlooked as a result of ambiguous desalination-related policies. This paper focuses on national environmental regulations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and how such regulations help control the flow of concentrate discharge into the receiving waters. © 2013 Desalination Publications.

  17. Seawater desalination with nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    Nuclear power helps reduce costs for energy-intensive processes such as seawater desalination. A new generation of innovative small and medium nuclear power plants could co-generate electricity and potable water from seawater, both safely and at competitive prices in today's market. The IAEA provides technical support to Member States facing water shortage problems, on assessing the viability of nuclear power in seawater desalination. The support, usually channelled through national Technical Cooperation (TC) projects, can take several forms, ranging from educational training and technical advice on feasibility studies to design and safety review of demonstration projects. The IAEA offers a software tool (DEEP) that can be used to evaluate the economics of the different desalination and heat source configurations, including nuclear and fossil options

  18. A multi evaporator desalination system operated with thermocline energy for future sustainability

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Burhan, Muhammad; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Ng, Kim Choon

    2017-01-01

    ) of desalination is at 828. Despite slightly better UPRs for the RO plants, all practical desalination plants available, hitherto, operate at only less than 12% of the TL, rendering them highly energy intensive and unsustainable for future sustainability. More

  19. An exergy approach to efficiency evaluation of desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Ng, Kim Choon

    2017-05-02

    This paper presents an evaluation process efficiency based on the consumption of primary energy for all types of practical desalination methods available hitherto. The conventional performance ratio has, thus far, been defined with respect to the consumption of derived energy, such as the electricity or steam, which are susceptible to the conversion losses of power plants and boilers that burned the input primary fuels. As derived energies are usually expressed by the units, either kWh or Joules, these units cannot differentiate the grade of energy supplied to the processes accurately. In this paper, the specific energy consumption is revisited for the efficacy of all large-scale desalination plants. In today\\'s combined production of electricity and desalinated water, accomplished with advanced cogeneration concept, the input exergy of fuels is utilized optimally and efficiently in a temperature cascaded manner. By discerning the exergy destruction successively in the turbines and desalination processes, the relative contribution of primary energy to the processes can be accurately apportioned to the input primary energy. Although efficiency is not a law of thermodynamics, however, a common platform for expressing the figures of merit explicit to the efficacy of desalination processes can be developed meaningfully that has the thermodynamic rigor up to the ideal or thermodynamic limit of seawater desalination for all scientists and engineers to aspire to.

  20. An exergy approach to efficiency evaluation of desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Kim Choon; Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Son, Hyuk Soo; Hamed, Osman A.

    2017-05-01

    This paper presents an evaluation process efficiency based on the consumption of primary energy for all types of practical desalination methods available hitherto. The conventional performance ratio has, thus far, been defined with respect to the consumption of derived energy, such as the electricity or steam, which are susceptible to the conversion losses of power plants and boilers that burned the input primary fuels. As derived energies are usually expressed by the units, either kWh or Joules, these units cannot differentiate the grade of energy supplied to the processes accurately. In this paper, the specific energy consumption is revisited for the efficacy of all large-scale desalination plants. In today's combined production of electricity and desalinated water, accomplished with advanced cogeneration concept, the input exergy of fuels is utilized optimally and efficiently in a temperature cascaded manner. By discerning the exergy destruction successively in the turbines and desalination processes, the relative contribution of primary energy to the processes can be accurately apportioned to the input primary energy. Although efficiency is not a law of thermodynamics, however, a common platform for expressing the figures of merit explicit to the efficacy of desalination processes can be developed meaningfully that has the thermodynamic rigor up to the ideal or thermodynamic limit of seawater desalination for all scientists and engineers to aspire to.

  1. State-of-art report on the seawater desalination process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Kim, Young In; Lee, Doo Jung; Chang, Moon Hee

    2000-11-01

    Desalination technologies have been developed over the last 40 years and become a reliable industrial process for water production from sea or blackish water. At present, various desalination processes are available for the effective use of seawater or blackish water as valuable water resources. Since a large amount of energy is required for seawater desalination, the cost of energy is important for desalination. For the regions of severe water shortage, however, desalination is the most economical way of water supply compare to any other alternatives. Currently, water supply by seawater desalination is being increased in the areas of the Caribbean, North African and Middle East. Also, desalination of blackish water is being increased in the south-east region of USA. In general, the distillation process and the membrane technology are used for seawater esalination and the membrane and the electric-dialysis for blackish water. However, the selection of the desalination process is highly dependent on the use of produced water and the local environmental conditions where the desalination plant installed. The local condition is the most important parameters for the selection of the desalination process

  2. State-of-art report on the seawater desalination process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, Young Dong; Kim, Young In; Lee, Doo Jung; Chang, Moon Hee

    2000-11-01

    Desalination technologies have been developed over the last 40 years and become a reliable industrial process for water production from sea or blackish water. At present, various desalination processes are available for the effective use of seawater or blackish water as valuable water resources. Since a large amount of energy is required for seawater desalination, the cost of energy is important for desalination. For the regions of severe water shortage, however, desalination is the most economical way of water supply compare to any other alternatives. Currently, water supply by seawater desalination is being increased in the areas of the Caribbean, North African and Middle East. Also, desalination of blackish water is being increased in the south-east region of USA. In general, the distillation process and the membrane technology are used for seawater esalination and the membrane and the electric-dialysis for blackish water. However, the selection of the desalination process is highly dependent on the use of produced water and the local environmental conditions where the desalination plant installed. The local condition is the most important parameters for the selection of the desalination process.

  3. Novel Microbial Electrochemical Technologies and Microorganisms for Power Generation and Desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Chehab, Noura A.

    2014-12-01

    Global increases in water demand and decreases in both the quantity and quality of fresh water resources have served as the major driving forces to develop sustainable use of water resources. One viable alternative is to explore non-traditional (impaired quality) water sources such as wastewater and seawater. The current paradigm for wastewater treatment is based on technologies that are energy intensive and fail to recover the potential resources (water and energy) in wastewater. Also, conventional desalination technologies like reverse osmosis (RO) are energy intensive. Therefore, there is a need for the development of sustainable wastewater treatment and desalination technologies for practical applications. Processes based on microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) and microbial desalination cells (MDCs) hold promise for the treatment of wastewater with recovery of the inherent energy, and MDCs could be used for both desalination of seawater and energy recovery. METs use anaerobic bacteria, referred to as exoelectrogens, that are capable of transferring electrons exogenously to convert soluble organic matter present in the wastewater directly into an electrical current to produce electrical power (MFC and MDC) or biogas (MEC). In my dissertation, I investigated the three types of METs mentioned above to: 1) have a better insight on the effect of 4 oxygen intrusion on the microbial community structure and performance of air-cathode MFCs; 2) improve the desalination efficiency of air-cathode MDCs using ion exchange resins (IXRs); and 3) enrich for extremophilic exoelectrogens from the Red Sea brine pool using MECs. The findings from these studies can shape further research aimed at developing more efficient air-cathode MFCs for practical applications, a more efficient integrated IXRMDC configuration that can be used as a pre-treatment to RO, and exploring extreme environments as a

  4. Energy Implications of Seawater Desalination (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooley, H.; Heberger, M. G.

    2013-12-01

    Freshwater has traditionally come from rivers, lakes, streams, and groundwater aquifers. As demand increases and climate change alters the location and timing of water supply, these traditional sources are becoming unavailable, more difficult, or increasingly expensive to develop. As a result, many communities are switching to alternative sources of water. Interest in pursuing seawater desalination is high in many coastal communities. In California, for example, 17 plants are proposed for development along the California coast and two in Mexico. Water managers are pursing desalination because is a local supply that can help diversify the water supply portfolio. Additionally, it is a reliable supply, which can be especially valuable during a drought. But removing the salt from seawater is an energy-intensive process that consumes more energy per gallon than most other water supply and treatment options. These energy requirements are key factors that will impact the extent and success of desalination in California. Energy requirements for seawater desalination average about 4.0 kWh per cubic meter (m3) of water produced. By comparison, the least energy-intensive options of local sources of groundwater and surface water require 0 - 0.90 kWh per m3; wastewater reuse, depending on treatment levels, may require from 0.26 - 2.2 kWh per m3. Beyond the electricity required for the desalination facility itself, producing any new source of water, including through desalination, increases the amount of energy required to deliver and use the water produced as well as collect, treat, and dispose of the wastewater generated. Energy is the largest single variable cost for a desalination plant, varying from one-third to more than one-half the cost of produced water. Building a desalination plant may reduce a water utility's exposure to water reliability risks at the added expense of an increase in exposure to energy price risk. In dependent on hydropower, electricity prices tend to

  5. Development and characterization of polymeric membranes for water desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bresciani, Danusa; Guimaraes, Danilo H.; Santos, Diego K.M.; Brioude, Michel M.; Jose, Nadia M.; Prado, Luis A.S.A.

    2009-01-01

    This work reports a development of polymeric membranes for water desalination by reverse osmosis. The polyester was synthesized by the reaction between glycerol, and dicarboxylic acids, and was coded PAF. Cellulose acetate/PAF blends containing 10% and 30% of polyester PAF blends were prepared using compression molding. The materials were characterized by DRX, DSC, TGA and SEM techniques. The results blends showed good thermal resistance and thermal events due to the individual components of the blends. The membranes exhibited a good performance in comparison to the neat cellulose acetate membrane. The addition of PAF in the polyester composition of the polymeric blends caused a significant increase of the salt retention of the studied samples. (author)

  6. Effects of N+ implantation on polysaccharide and osmosis stress resistance of liquorice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Shenglin; Wu Lijun; Yu Zengliang

    2007-01-01

    In order to study the effects of N + implantation on osmosis stress resistance of plant, the experiment was taken with liquorice as plant model and 15% PEG as the osmosis stress agent. The results showed that the stem height growth of liquorice increased by 40.2% compared with controls (p + implantation parameters may be useful to increase osmosis stress resistance cultivation of liquorice and to make it mutated with ions beam implantation. (authors)

  7. Water quality assessment of solar-assisted adsorption desalination cycle

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Youngdeuk

    2014-07-01

    This study focuses on the water quality assessment (feed, product and brine) of the pilot adsorption desalination (AD) plant. Seawater from the Red Sea is used as feed to the AD plant. Water quality tests are evaluated by complying the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards with major primary and secondary inorganic drinking water pollutants and other commonly tested water quality parameters. Chemical testing of desalinated water at the post desalination stage confirms the high quality of produced fresh water. Test results have shown that the adsorption desalination process is very effective in eliminating all forms of salts, as evidenced by the significant reduction of the TDS levels from approximately 40,000. ppm in feed seawater to less than 10. ppm. Test results exhibit extremely low levels of parameters which are generally abundant in feed seawater. The compositions of seawater and process related parameters such as chloride, sodium, bromide, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, and silicate in desalinated water exhibit values of less than 0.1. ppm. Reported conductivity measurements of desalinated water are comparable to distilled water conductivity levels and ranged between 2 and 6. μS/cm while TOC and TIC levels are also extremely low and its value is less than 0.5. ppm. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

  8. Sea water desalination utilizing waste heat by low temperature evaporation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raha, A.; Srivastava, A.; Rao, I.S.; Majumdar, M.; Srivastava, V.K.; Tewari, P.K.

    2007-01-01

    Economics of a process is controlled by management of energy and resources. Fresh water has become most valued resource in industries. Desalination is a process by which fresh water resource is generated from sea water or brackish water, but it is an energy intensive process. The energy cost contributes around 25-40% to the total cost of the desalted water. Utilization of waste heat from industrial streams is one of the ecofriendly ways to produce low cost desalted water. Keeping this in mind Low Temperature Evaporation (LTE) desalination technology utilizing low quality waste heat in the form of hot water (as low as 50 deg C) or low pressure steam (0.13 bar) has been developed for offshore and land based applications to produce high purity water (conductivity < 2μS/cm) from sea water. The probability of the scale formation is practically eliminated by operating it at low temperature and controlling the brine concentration. It also does not require elaborate chemical pretreatment of sea water except chlorination, so it has no environmental impact. LTE technology has found major applications in nuclear reactors where large quantity of low quality waste heat is available to produce high quality desalted water for make up water requirement replacing conventional ion exchange process. Successful continuous operation of 30 Te/day LTE desalination plant utilizing waste heat from nuclear research reactor has demonstrated the safety, reliability, extreme plant availability and economics of nuclear desalination by LTE technology. It is also proposed to utilize waste heat from Main Heat Transport (MHT) purification circuit of Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) to produce about 250 Te/ day high quality desalinated water by Low Temperature Evaporation (LTE) process for the reactor make up and plant utilization. Recently we have commissioned a 50 Te/day 2-effect low temperature desalination plant with cooling tower where the specific energy and cooling water requirement are

  9. Design precautions for coupling interfaces between nuclear heating reactor and heating grid or desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng Wenxiang

    1998-01-01

    Nuclear heating reactor (NHR) has been developed by INET since the early eighties. To achieve its economic viability and safety goal, the NHR is designed with a number of advanced and innovative features, including integrated arrangement, natural circulation, self-pressurized performance, dynamically hydraulic control rod drive and passive safety systems. As a new promising energy system, the NHR can serve for district heating, air conditioning, sea-water desalination and other industrial processes. For all of these applications, it is vital that the design and performance of the coupling interfaces shall insure protection of user ends against radioactive contamination. Therefore, an intermediate circuit is provided in the NHR as a physical barrier, and the operating pressure in the intermediate circuit is higher than that in the primary system. In addition, the radioactivity in the intermediate circuit is monitored continuously, and there are also other protection measures in the design for isolating the intermediate circuit and the heating grid or desalination plant under some emergency conditions. The excellent performance of the above design precautions for the coupling interfaces has been demonstrated by operational practice from the NHR-5, a 5 MW(thermal) experimental NHR, which was put into operation in 1989. This paper presents the main design features of the NHR as well as the special provisions taken in the design for coupling the NHR to the heating grid or desalination plant and some operating experience from the NHR-5. (author)

  10. Bounding the marginal cost of producing potable water including the use of seawater desalinization as a backstop potable water production technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dooley, James J.

    2014-04-01

    The analysis presented in this technical report should allow for the creation of high, medium, and low cost potable water prices for GCAM. Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) based desalinization should act as a backstop for the cost of producing potable water (i.e., the literature seems clear that SWRO should establish an upper bound for the plant gate cost of producing potable water). Transporting water over significant distances and having to lift water to higher elevations to reach end-users can also have a significant impact on the cost of producing water. The three potable fresh water scenarios describe in this technical report are: low cost water scenario ($0.10/m3); medium water cost scenario ($1.00/m3); and high water cost scenario ($2.50/m3).

  11. High salinity tolerance of the Red Sea coral Fungia granulosa under desalination concentrate discharge conditions: an in situ photophysiology experiment

    KAUST Repository

    Van Der Merwe, Riaan

    2014-11-10

    Seawater reverse osmosis desalination concentrate may have chronic and/or acute impacts on the marine ecosystems in the near-field area of the discharge. Environmental impact of the desalination plant discharge is supposedly site- and volumetric- specific, and also depends on the salinity tolerance of the organisms inhabiting the water column in and around a discharge environment. Scientific studies that aim to understand possible impacts of elevated salinity levels are important to assess detrimental effects to organisms, especially for species with no mechanism of osmoregulation, e.g., presumably corals. Previous studies on corals indicate sensitivity toward hypo- and hyper-saline environments with small changes in salinity already affecting coral physiology. In order to evaluate sensitivity of Red Sea corals to increased salinity levels, we conducted a long-term (29 days) in situ salinity tolerance transect study at an offshore seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) discharge on the coral Fungia granulosa. While we measured a pronounced increase in salinity and temperature at the direct outlet of the discharge structure, effects were indistinguishable from the surrounding environment at a distance of 5 m. Interestingly, corals were not affected by varying salinity levels as indicated by measurements of the photosynthetic efficiency. Similarly, cultured coral symbionts of the genus Symbiodinium displayed remarkable tolerance levels in regard to hypo- and hypersaline treatments. Our data suggest that increased salinity and temperature levels from discharge outlets wear off quickly in the surrounding environment. Furthermore, F. granulosa seem to tolerate levels of salinity that are distinctively higher than reported for other corals previously. It remains to be determined whether Red Sea corals in general display increased salinity tolerance, and whether this is related to prevailing levels of high(er) salinity in the Red Sea in comparison to other oceans.

  12. Low grade heat utilisation for seawater desalination by the HTTF process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chandrasekhar, M. [Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai (India)]. E-mail: mchansh@magnum.barc.ernet.in; Majumdar, M.; Srivastava, V.K.; Tewari, P.K. [Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai (India)

    2006-07-01

    To improve heat transfer efficiency, Horizontal Tube Thin Film (HTTF) evaporators are being used in multieffect desalination plants. These plants require less pumping energy than thermal-based desalination plants. To generate the design data, experimental studies were carried out in a single-tube HTTF experimental setup, and heat transfer correlations were developed at BARC. The experimental findings and results are presented and discussed in this paper. (author)

  13. Microbial desalination cells for energy production and desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Younggy; Logan, Bruce E.

    2013-01-01

    Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) are a new, energy-sustainable method for using organic matter in wastewater as the energy source for desalination. The electric potential gradient created by exoelectrogenic bacteria desalinates water by driving

  14. Desarrollo de una bomba reciprocante de doble efecto para desalinización de agua por medio de osmosis inversa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Julián Ospina

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available El presente artículo describe el trabajo realizado en el desarrollo de un sistema de bombeo para desalinización con membranas de osmosis inversa. El sistema debe cumplir con requerimientos de alta presión (4.8 MPa y bajos caudales (3.78 L/min, para operar la membrana de osmosis inversa en su rango de mínimo consumo energético. Para cumplir este objetivo se desarrolla un sistema de desplazamiento positivo de acción simple y doble efecto, impulsado con un motoreductor cicloidal. La bomba desarrollada es evaluada experimentalmente bajo condiciones de laboratorio. El análisis de los resultados evidencia altas eficiencias de conversión de energía a lo largo del ciclo de bombeo. Posteriormente, el sistema de bombeo es evaluado en conjunto con una membrana de osmosis inversa, obteniéndose resultados satisfactorios en cuanto a tasas de flujo y concentraciones de permeado. El diseño cumple con los requisitos para sustituir sistemas de bombeo usados en la actualidad, tecnológicamente más complejos y al mismo tiempo más costosos./ The present paper describes the work carried out in the development of a pump system for water desalination in a small reverse osmosis plant. The system must satisfy high pressure (4.8 MPa and low flow rates (3.78 L/min to operate the reverse osmosis membrane in its minimum energy consumption range. In order to achieve this objective, a positive displacement pump system (single action double effect driven by a cyclo speed reduction was developed. The system was tested under laboratory conditions. The analysis of the results shows high energy conversion efficiencies throughout the pumping cycle. The equipment was validated based on the acceptable flow and permeates concentration results. This design is able of replacing actual pump systems that are technologically complex and at the same time more expensive.

  15. Economic Evaluation of a Hybrid Desalination System Combining Forward and Reverse Osmosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Yongjun; Cho, Hyeongrak; Shin, Yonghyun; Jang, Yongsun; Lee, Sangho

    2015-01-01

    This study seeks to evaluate the performance and economic feasibility of the forward osmosis (FO)–reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process; to propose a guideline by which this hybrid process might be more price-competitive in the field. A solution-diffusion model modified with film theory was applied to analyze the effects of concentration polarization, water, and salt transport coefficient on flux, recovery, seawater concentration, and treated wastewater of the FO process of an FO-RO hybrid system. A simple cost model was applied to analyze the effects of flux; recovery of the FO process; energy; and membrane cost on the FO-RO hybrid process. The simulation results showed that the water transport coefficient and internal concentration polarization resistance are very important factors that affect performance in the FO process; however; the effect of the salt transport coefficient does not seem to be large. It was also found that the flux and recovery of the FO process, the FO membrane, and the electricity cost are very important factors that influence the water cost of an FO-RO hybrid system. This hybrid system can be price-competitive with RO systems when its recovery rate is very high, the flux and the membrane cost of the FO are similar to those of the RO, and the electricity cost is expensive. The most important thing in commercializing the FO process is enhancing performance (e.g.; flux and the recovery of FO membranes). PMID:26729176

  16. Surface modification of seawater desalination reverse osmosis membranes: Characterization studies & performance evaluation

    KAUST Repository

    Matin, Asif

    2014-06-01

    In this work we report surface modification of commercial reverse osmosis membranes by depositing ultrathin copolymer coatings, which could potentially enhance the biofouling resistance of RO membranes. Hydrophilic monomer hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and a hydrophobic monomer, perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA) were copolymerized directly on the active layer of commercial aromatic polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes using an initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) technique. Attenuated total reflective Fourier transform infrared spectra (ATR-FTIR) verified the successful modification of the membrane surfaces as a new FTIR adsorption band around 1730cm-1 corresponding to carbonyl groups in the copolymer film appeared after the deposition. X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis also confirmed the presence of the copolymer film on the membrane surface by showing strong fluorine peaks emanating from the fluorinated alkyl side chains of the PFA molecules. Contact angle measurements with deionized water showed the modified membrane surfaces to be initially very hydrophobic but quickly assumed a hydrophilic character within few minutes. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) revealed that the deposited films were smooth and conformal as the surface topology of the underlying membrane surface remained virtually unchanged after the deposition. FESEM images of the top surface also showed that the typical ridge-and-valley structure associated with polyamide remained intact after the deposition. Short-term permeation tests using DI water and 2000ppm NaCl water showed that the deposited copolymer coatings had negligible effect on permeate water flux and salt rejection. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

  17. Calcium carbonate scaling in seawater desalination by ammonia-carbon dioxide forward osmosis: Mechanism and implications

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Zhenyu; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Bucs, Szilard; Aubry, Cyril; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.; Amy, Gary L.

    2015-01-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) is an osmotically driven membrane process, where the membrane separates a draw solution (DS) with high salinity from a feed solution (FS) with low salinity. There can be a counter direction flow of salt (i.e., salt leakage

  18. Current activities on nuclear desalination in the Russian Federation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baranaev, Y.D.

    1996-01-01

    The goal of the RF desalination programme has been to develop small power floating nuclear seawater desalination complex based on KLT-40 reactor, originally developed for ship propulsion, as an energy source. Russia has sufficient fresh water resource rather evenly distributed over country territory (except for several specific conditions where sea or brackish water desalination is required for reliable long term potable water supply) and only limited internal deployment of this system is expected. Therefore, the development programme is mostly oriented to external market. Development of the floating nuclear desalination complex goes in parallel and is backed by the project of floating nuclear electricity and heat cogeneration plant using two KLT-40 reactors. This plant producing up to 70 MW(e) of electricity and up to 50 Gcal/of heat for district heating is now at the basic design stage and planned to be implemented around the year 2000 in Russia, at the Arctic Sea area

  19. Adsorption desalination—Principles, process design, and its hybrids for future sustainable desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil; Burhan, Muhammad; Ang, Li; Ng, Kim Choon

    2018-01-01

    The energy, water, and environment nexus is a crucial factor when considering the future development of desalination plants or industry in water-stressed economies. The new generation of desalination processes or plants has to meet the stringent environment discharge requirements and yet the industry remains highly energy efficient and sustainable when producing good potable water. Water sources, either brackish or seawater, have become more contaminated as feed while the demand for desalination capacities increases around the world. One immediate solution for energy efficiency improvement comes from the hybridization of the proven desalination processes to the newer processes of desalination: For example, the integration of the available heat-driven to adsorption desalination (AD) cycles where significant thermodynamic synergy can be attained when cycles are combined. For these hybrid cycles, a quantum improvement in energy efficiency as well as an increase in water production can be expected. The advent of MED with AD cycles, or simply called the MED-AD cycles, is one such example where seawater desalination can be pursued and operated in cogeneration with the electricity production plants: The hybrid desalination cycles utilize only the low exergy bled-stream at low temperatures, complemented with waste exhaust or renewable solar thermal heat at temperatures between 60°C and 80°C. In this chapter, the authors have reported their pioneered research on aspects of AD and related hybrid MED-AD cycles, both at theoretical models and experimental pilots. Using the cogeneration of electricity and desalination concepts, the authors examine the cost apportionment of fuel cost by the quality or exergy of the working steam for such cogeneration configurations.

  20. Adsorption desalination—Principles, process design, and its hybrids for future sustainable desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Shahzad, Muhammad Wakil

    2018-05-03

    The energy, water, and environment nexus is a crucial factor when considering the future development of desalination plants or industry in water-stressed economies. The new generation of desalination processes or plants has to meet the stringent environment discharge requirements and yet the industry remains highly energy efficient and sustainable when producing good potable water. Water sources, either brackish or seawater, have become more contaminated as feed while the demand for desalination capacities increases around the world. One immediate solution for energy efficiency improvement comes from the hybridization of the proven desalination processes to the newer processes of desalination: For example, the integration of the available heat-driven to adsorption desalination (AD) cycles where significant thermodynamic synergy can be attained when cycles are combined. For these hybrid cycles, a quantum improvement in energy efficiency as well as an increase in water production can be expected. The advent of MED with AD cycles, or simply called the MED-AD cycles, is one such example where seawater desalination can be pursued and operated in cogeneration with the electricity production plants: The hybrid desalination cycles utilize only the low exergy bled-stream at low temperatures, complemented with waste exhaust or renewable solar thermal heat at temperatures between 60°C and 80°C. In this chapter, the authors have reported their pioneered research on aspects of AD and related hybrid MED-AD cycles, both at theoretical models and experimental pilots. Using the cogeneration of electricity and desalination concepts, the authors examine the cost apportionment of fuel cost by the quality or exergy of the working steam for such cogeneration configurations.

  1. Analysis of a Wave-Powered, Reverse-Osmosis System and its Economic Availability in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Yi-Hsiang [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jenne, Dale S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-06-03

    A wave energy converter (WEC) system has the potential to convert the wave energy resource directly into the high-pressure flow that is needed by the desalination system to permeate saltwater through the reverse-osmosis membrane to generate clean water. In this study, a wave-to-water numerical model was developed to investigate the potential use of a wave-powered desalination system (WPDS) for water production in the United States. The model was developed by coupling a time-domain radiation-and-diffraction-method-based numerical tool (WEC-Sim) for predicting the hydrodynamic performance of WECs with a solution-diffusion model that was used to simulate the reverse-osmosis process. To evaluate the feasibility of the WPDS, the wave-to-water numerical model was applied to simulate a desalination system that used an oscillating surge WEC device to pump seawater through the system. The annual water production was estimated based on the wave resource at a reference site on the coast of northern California to investigate the potential cost of water in that area, where the cost of water and electricity is high compared to other regions. In the scenario evaluated, for a 100-unit utility-scale array, the estimated levelized cost of energy for these WECs is about 3-6 times the U.S.'s current, unsubsidized electricity rates. However, with clean water as an end product and by directly producing pressurized water with WECs, rather than electricity as an intermediary, it is presently only 12% greater than typical water cost in California. This study suggests that a WEC array that produces water may be a viable, near-term solution to the nation's water supply, and the niche application of the WPDS may also provide developers with new opportunities to further develop technologies that benefit both the electric and drinking water markets.

  2. Identified Natural Hazards May Cause Adverse Impact on Sustainability of Desalination Plants in Red Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aburizaiza, O. S.; Zaigham, N. A.; Nayyar, Z. A.; Mahar, G. A.; Siddique, A.; Eusufi, S. N.

    2011-12-01

    The Red Sea and its surrounding countries have harsh arid climatic conditions where fast growth of the socio-economic activities and rapid change of lifestyle have caused tremendous stress on water to the level of acute crisis. To meet the water demands, the Red Sea countries have adopted seawater desalination giving priority against their land-based resources. Saudi Arabia is the largest desalinated-water producers in the Red Sea and has practically no adequate backup plan in case of sudden unforeseen emergency. Out of about 3.64 million m3/day, Saudi Arabia is alone being desalinated about 3.29 m3/day seawater from Red Sea and more projects are in progress. Present integrated research study has identified some of natural and anthropogenic hazards, which may be major threats to the quality of the seawater as well as to the desalination plants themselves. Results of present study reveal that the submarine complex morphologic features may cause the isolation of Red Sea from any of the open sea, the increase in the seismicity trends, the active volcanism causing unique longitudinal as well as transverse deformations of the axial trough particularly in the southern part of the Red Sea, the consistently generating enormous hot-brine tectonic-factory all along the deeper parts of the Red Sea rifting trough and other related issues. Considering the identified odd conditions, the total dependence on seawater desalination may not be worthwhile for sustainable water management strategy and consequent socio-economic developments in future. It is recommended that the priority should also be given mainly in three main disciplines to meet the future water challenges - one, developing reliable backup water management; second, alternate options for the supplementary resources of water; and third, the development and immediate implementation of the water-use conservation strategy plan.

  3. IAEA activity related to safety of nuclear desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gasparini, M.

    2000-01-01

    The nuclear plants for desalination to be built in the future will have to meet the standards of safety required for the best nuclear power plants currently in operation or being designed. The current safety approach, based on the achievement of the fundamental safety functions and defence in depth strategy, has been shown to be a sound foundation for the safety and protection of public health, and gives the plant the capability of dealing with a large variety of sequences, even beyond the design basis. The Department of Nuclear Safety of the IAEA is involved in many activities, the most important of which are to establish safety standards, and to provide various safety services and technical knowledge in many Technical Co-operation assistance projects. The department is also involved in other safety areas, notably in the field of future reactors. The IAEA is carrying out a project on the safety of new generation reactors, including those used for desalination, with the objective of fostering an exchange of information on safety approaches, promoting harmonization among Member States and contributing towards the development and revision of safety standards and guidelines for nuclear power plant design. The safety, regulatory and environmental concerns in nuclear powered desalination are those related directly to nuclear power plants, with due consideration given to the coupling process. The protection of product water against radioactive contamination must be ensured. An effective infrastructure, including appropriate training, a legal framework and regulatory regime, is a prerequisite to considering use of nuclear power for desalination plants, also in those countries with limited industrial infrastructures and little experience in nuclear technology or safety. (author)

  4. Economic evaluation of dual purpose desalination plants by fuel type in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seung-Su, Kim; Man-Ki, Lee

    2007-01-01

    In light of the recent rapid increase in the fossil fuel prices it is meaningful to evaluate the impact of these price changes in the economics of dual-purpose desalination projects producing electricity and fresh water simultaneously. The price of crude oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) has increased by about 200% and 100% during the past three or four years. The uranium price has also increased by nearly 500% during the same period. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the economics of SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor) which is being developed as a small size PWR type and the LNG Combine Cycle coupled with MED (Multi-Effect Distillation) which are being acknowledged as promising energy sources for the future in Korea. The methods of analysis used in this paper are the lifetime leveled cost method for the power and water cost calculation and the power credit method for the total cost allocation. DEEP (Devaluation Economic Evaluation Program) developed by IAEA was used to perform an economic comparison between the two dual-purpose desalination projects. From the results of the analysis it is found that the desalination by SMART-MED is much superior to that of LNG CC-MED under the current economic and technical situations. It is also shown that the relative superiority of SMART-MED to LNG CC-MED will be maintained even in case where an increase in the uranium price and the SMART construction cost would reach a maximum in the sensitivity analysis. In the case that the discount rate declines to 5% per year, the relative attractiveness of SMART-MED which is a capital intensive plant will be enhanced when compared to that for a 7% discount rate. In addition to this, it is thought that a nuclear energy source will be favored much more than now in the field of desalination if the regulations for the emission of greenhouse gases are to be strengthened. (authors)

  5. Exergy analysis of micro-organic Rankine power cycles for a small scale solar driven reverse osmosis desalination system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tchanche, B.F.; Lambrinos, Gr.; Frangoudakis, A.; Papadakis, G.

    2010-01-01

    Exergy analysis of micro-organic Rankine heat engines is performed to identify the most suitable engine for driving a small scale reverse osmosis desalination system. Three modified engines derived from simple Rankine engine using regeneration (incorporation of regenerator or feedliquid heaters) are analyzed through a novel approach, called exergy-topological method based on the combination of exergy flow graphs, exergy loss graphs, and thermoeconomic graphs. For the investigations, three working fluids are considered: R134a, R245fa and R600. The incorporated devices produce different results with different fluids. Exergy destruction throughout the systems operating with R134a was quantified and illustrated using exergy diagrams. The sites with greater exergy destruction include turbine, evaporator and feedliquid heaters. The most critical components include evaporator, turbine and mixing units. A regenerative heat exchanger has positive effects only when the engine operates with dry fluids; feedliquid heaters improve the degree of thermodynamic perfection of the system but lead to loss in exergetic efficiency. Although, different modifications produce better energy conversion and less exergy destroyed, the improvements are not significant enough and subsequent modifications of the simple Rankine engine cannot be considered as economically profitable for heat source temperature below 100 °C. As illustration, a regenerator increases the system's energy efficiency by 7%, the degree of thermodynamic perfection by 3.5% while the exergetic efficiency is unchanged in comparison with the simple Rankine cycle, with R600 as working fluid. The impacts of heat source temperature and pinch point temperature difference on engine's performance are also examined. Finally, results demonstrate that energy analysis combined with the mathematical graph theory is a powerful tool in performance assessments of Rankine based power systems and permits meaningful comparison of different

  6. Optimal design and control of solar driven air gap membrane distillation desalination systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Yih-Hang; Li, Yu-Wei; Chang, Hsuan

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Air gap membrane distillation unit was used in the desalination plants. ► Aspen Custom Molder was used to simulate each unit of desalination plants. ► Design parameters were investigated to obtain the minimum total annual cost. ► The control structure was proposed to operate desalination plants all day long. -- Abstract: A solar heated membrane distillation desalination system is constructed of solar collectors and membrane distillation devices for increasing pure water productivity. This technically and economically feasible system is designed to use indirect solar heat to drive membrane distillation processes to overcome the unstable supply of solar radiation from sunrise to sunset. The solar heated membrane distillation desalination system in the present study consisted of hot water storage devices, heat exchangers, air gap membrane distillation units, and solar collectors. Aspen Custom Molder (ACM) software was used to model and simulate each unit and establish the cost function of a desalination plant. From Design degree of freedom (DOF) analysis, ten design parameters were investigated to obtain the minimum total annual cost (TAC) with fixed pure water production rate. For a given solar energy density profile of typical summer weather, the minimal TAC per 1 m 3 pure water production can be found at 500 W/m 2 by varying the solar energy intensity. Therefore, we proposed two modes for controlling the optimal design condition of the desalination plant; day and night. In order to widen the operability range of the plant, the sensitivity analysis was used to retrofit the original design point to lower the effluent temperature from the solar collector by increasing the hot water recycled stream. The simulation results show that the pure water production can be maintained at a very stable level whether in sunny or cloudy weather.

  7. Experimentation with a reverse osmosis plant powered by renewable energies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Segura, L.; Gomez, A. [Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Univ., Las Palmas (Spain). Dept. of Process Engineering; Nuez, I. [Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Univ., Las Palmas (Spain). Dept. of Electronic and Automatic Engineering

    2006-07-01

    This paper described a set of tests conducted in a reverse osmosis plant powered by renewable energy sources. Variations on feed flow, reject flow, recovery and power consumption were investigated. The plant has a production of over 115 m{sup 3} per day. During the experiments, the plant was required to operate at variable loading conditions. An energy recovery system was then developed to operate effectively with the observed variable load conditions. The system was incorporated within the reject flow system and was comprised of a Pelton turbine matched to the axis of an asynchronous energy generator. The system was designed to avoid making changes to the actual hydraulic circuit of the plant. Recovery system failures did not necessitate plant stoppages during the testing period. Simulations conducted to assess the energy system showed that optimal performance of the plant was between 16 and 18 kW with a working pressure of between 57 to 67 bars. Results also suggested that installing the system in the evacuation brine line would maximize the use of kinetic energy. It was concluded that energy recovery systems are ideal for use in seawater installations where functioning pressure levels are high. 14 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs.

  8. Reverse osmosis for the recovery of boric acid from the primary coolant at nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bártová, Šárka, E-mail: sarka.bartova@cvrez.cz [Research Centre Řež Ltd., Husinec-Řež 130, 250 68 Řež (Czech Republic); Kůs, Pavel [Research Centre Řež Ltd., Husinec-Řež 130, 250 68 Řež (Czech Republic); Skala, Martin [Research Centre Řež Ltd., Husinec-Řež 130, 250 68 Řež (Czech Republic); University of Chemical Technology, Prague, Department of Chemical Engineering, Technická 5, Prague 166 28 (Czech Republic); Vonková, Kateřina [Research Centre Řež Ltd., Husinec-Řež 130, 250 68 Řež (Czech Republic)

    2016-04-15

    Highlights: • RO membranes tested for boric acid recovery from primary coolant of nuclear power plants. • Scanning electron microscopy was used for the characterization of the membranes. • Lab scale experiments performed under various operation conditions. • We proposed configuration of and operation conditions for RO unit in nuclear power plant. - Abstract: At nuclear power plants (NPP), evaporators are used for the treatment of primary coolant and other liquid radioactive waste containing H{sub 3}BO{sub 3}. Because the operation of evaporators is expensive, a number of more cost-effective alternatives has been considered, one of which is reverse osmosis. We tested reverse osmosis modules from several manufactures on a batch laboratory apparatus. SEM images of the tested membranes were taken to distinguish the differences between the membranes. Water permeability through membranes was evaluated from the experiments with pure water. The experiments were performed with feed solutions containing various concentrations of H{sub 3}BO{sub 3} in a range commonly occurring in radioactive waste. The pH of the feed solutions ranged from 5.2 to 11.2. Our results confirmed that the pH of the feed solution plays the most important role in membrane separation efficiency of H{sub 3}BO{sub 3}. Certain modifications to the pH of the feed solution were needed to enable the tested membranes to concentrate the H{sub 3}BO{sub 3} in the retentate stream, separate from the pure water in the permeate stream. On this basis, we propose the configuration of and operational conditions for a reverse osmosis unit at NPP.

  9. Energetic and exergetic analysis of cogeneration power combined cycle and ME-TVC-MED water desalination plant: Part-1 operation and performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Almutairi, Abdulrahman; Pilidis, Pericles; Al-Mutawa, Nawaf; Al-Weshahi, Mohammed

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Develop a comprehensive model for a very advanced cogeneration plant using real data. • Evaluate ME-TVC-MED unit using the latest thermodynamic properties of seawater. • Evaluate the desalination unit contribution to the overall efficiency. • Evaluate the stage exergetic efficiency in the ME-TVC-MED unit. • Numerous possibilities have been suggested to improve the proposed system. - Abstract: A comprehensive model of cogeneration plant for electrical power and water desalination has been developed based on energetic and exergetic analyses using real operational data. The power side is a combined cycle power plant (CCPP), while the desalination side is a multi-effect thermal vapour compression plant coupled with a conventional multi-effect plant (ME-TVC-MED). IPSEpro software was utilized to model the process, which shows good agreement with the manufacturer's data and published research. The thermodynamic properties of saline water were obtained from the latest published data in the literature. The performance of the cogeneration plant was examined for different ambient temperatures, pressure ratios, loads, feed water temperatures, number of effects and entrainment ratios. The results show that gas turbine engines produce the highest level of useful work in the system at around 34% of the total fuel input. At the same time, they constitute a major source of irreversibility, which accounts for 84% of the total exergy destruction in the plant, while the lowest source of irreversibility is in the steam turbine of 3.3% due to the type of working fluid and reheating system. In the ME-TVC-MED desalination unit, the highest source of irreversibilities occurs in the effects and in the thermo-compressor. The first two effects in the ME-TVC parallel section were responsible for about 40.6% of the total effect exergy destruction, which constitutes the highest value among all the effects. Operating the system at full load while reducing ambient

  10. Investigation of polyvinylchloride and cellulose acetate blend membranes for desalination

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Gendi, Ayman; Abdallah, Heba; Amin, Ashraf; Amin, Shereen Kamel

    2017-10-01

    The pollution of water resources, severe climate changes, rapid population growth, increasing agricultural demands, and rapid industrialization insist the development of innovative technologies for generating potable water. Polyvinylchloride/cellulose acetate (PVC/CA) membranes were prepared using phase inversion technique for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). The membrane performance was investigated using Red Sea water (El-Ein El-Sokhna-Egypt). The membrane performance indicated that the prepared membranes were endowed to work under high pressure; increasing in feeding operating pressure led to increase permeate flux and rejection. Increasing feed operating pressure from zero to 40 bar led to increase in the salt rejection percent. Salt rejection percent reached to 99.99% at low feed concentration 5120 ppm and 99.95% for Red Sea water (38,528 ppm). The prepared membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry, and mechanical properties. SEM, FTIR and mechanical results were used to distinguish the best membrane for desalination. According to characterization results, one prepared membrane was selected to run performance test in desalination testing unit. The membrane (M3) showed excellent performance and stability under different operating conditions and during the durability test for 36 days.

  11. Desalination Processes Evaluation at Common Platform: A Universal Performance Ratio (UPR) Method

    KAUST Repository

    Wakil Shahzad, Muhammad

    2018-01-31

    The inevitable escalation in economic development have serious implications on energy and environment nexus. The International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016) predicted that the Non Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (non-OECD) countries will lead with 71% rise in energy demand in contrast with only 18% in developed countries from 2012-2040. In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, about 40% of primary energy is consumed for cogeneration based power and desalination plants. The cogeneration based plants are struggling with unfair primary fuel cost apportionment to electricity and desalination. Also, the desalination processes performance evaluated based on derived energy, providing misleading selection of processes. There is a need of (i) appropriate primary fuel cost appointment method for multi-purposed plants and (ii) desalination processes performance evaluation method based on primary energy. As a solution, we proposed exergetic analysis for primary fuel percentage apportionment to all components in the cycle according to the quality of working fluid utilized. The proposed method showed that the gas turbine was under charged by 40%, steam turbine was overcharged by 71% and desalination was overcharged by 350% by conventional energetic apportionment methods. We also proposed a new and most suitable desalination processes performance evaluation method based on primary energy, called universal performance ratio (UPR). Since UPR is based on primary energy, it can be used to evaluate any kind of desalination processes, thermally driven, pressure driven & humidification-dehumidification etc. on common platform. We showed that all desalination processes are operating only at 10-13% of thermodynamic limit (TL) of UPR. For future sustainability, desalination must achieve 25-30% of TL and it is only possible either by hybridization of different processes or by innovative membrane materials.

  12. Candidate for solar power: a novel desalination technology for coal bed methane produced water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sattler, Allan; Hanley, Charles; Hightower, Michael; Wright, Emily; Wallace, Sam; Pohl, Phillip; Donahe, Ryan; Andelman, Marc

    2006-01-01

    Laboratory and field developments are underway to use solar energy to power a desalination technology - capacitive deionization - for water produced by remote Coal Bed Methane (CBM) natural gas wells. Due to the physical remoteness of many CBM wells throughout the Southwestern U>S> as shown in Figure 1, this approach may offer promise. This promise is not only from its effectiveness in removing salt from CBM water and allowing it to be utilized for various applications, but also for its potentially lower energy consumption compared Figure 1: Candidate remote well sites for planned field implementation of new PV-powered desalination process: (a) Raton Basin and (b) San Juan Basin, New Mexico to other technologies, such as reverse osmosis. This coupled with the remoteness (Figure 1) of thousands these wells, makes them more feasible for use with photovoltaic (solar, electric, PV) systems. Concurrent laboratory activities are providing information about the effectiveness of this technology and of the attender energy requirements of this technology under various produced water qualities and water reuse applications, such as salinity concentrations and water flows. These parameters are being used to drive the design of integrated PV-powered desalination systems. Full-scale field implementations are planned, with data collection and analysis designed to optimize the system design for practical remote applications. Earlier laboratory (and very recent laboratory) studies of capacitive deionization have shown promise at common CBM salinity levels. The technology may require less energy. be less susceptible to fouling and is more compact than equivalent reverse osmosis (RO) systems. The technology uses positively and negatively charged electrodes to attract charged ions in a liquid, such as dissolved salts, metals, and some organics, to the electrodes. This concentrates the ions at the electrodes and reduced the ion concentrations in the liquid. This paper discusses the

  13. Rejection of micropollutants by clean and fouled forward osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

    2011-12-01

    As forward osmosis (FO) gains attention as an efficient technology to improve wastewater reclamation processes, it is fundamental to determine the influence of fouling in the rejection of emerging contaminants (micropollutants). This study focuses on the rejection of 13 selected micropollutants, spiked in a secondary wastewater effluent, by a FO membrane, using Red Sea water as draw solution (DS), differentiating the effects on the rejection caused by a clean and fouled membrane. The resulting effluent was then desalinated at low pressure with a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, to produce a high quality permeate and determine the rejection with a coupled forward osmosis - low pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) system. When considering only FO with a clean membrane, the rejection of the hydrophilic neutral compounds was between 48.6% and 84.7%, for the hydrophobic neutrals the rejection ranged from 40.0% to 87.5%, and for the ionic compounds the rejections were between 92.9% and 96.5%. With a fouled membrane, the rejections were between 44.6% and 95.2%, 48.7%-91.5% and 96.9%-98.6%, respectively. These results suggest that, except for the hydrophilic neutral compounds, the rejection of the micropollutants is increased by the presence of a fouling layer, possibly due to the higher hydrophilicity of the FO fouled membrane compared to the clean one, the increased adsorption capacity of hydrophilic compounds and reduced mass transport capacity, membrane swelling, and the higher negative charge of the membrane surface, related to the foulants composition, mainly NOM acids (carboxylic radicals) and polysaccharides or polysaccharide-like substances. However, when coupled with RO, the rejections in both cases increased above 96%. The coupled FO-LPRO system was an effective double barrier against the selected micropollutants. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Rejection of micropollutants by clean and fouled forward osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Li, Zhenyu; Amy, Gary L.

    2011-01-01

    As forward osmosis (FO) gains attention as an efficient technology to improve wastewater reclamation processes, it is fundamental to determine the influence of fouling in the rejection of emerging contaminants (micropollutants). This study focuses on the rejection of 13 selected micropollutants, spiked in a secondary wastewater effluent, by a FO membrane, using Red Sea water as draw solution (DS), differentiating the effects on the rejection caused by a clean and fouled membrane. The resulting effluent was then desalinated at low pressure with a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, to produce a high quality permeate and determine the rejection with a coupled forward osmosis - low pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) system. When considering only FO with a clean membrane, the rejection of the hydrophilic neutral compounds was between 48.6% and 84.7%, for the hydrophobic neutrals the rejection ranged from 40.0% to 87.5%, and for the ionic compounds the rejections were between 92.9% and 96.5%. With a fouled membrane, the rejections were between 44.6% and 95.2%, 48.7%-91.5% and 96.9%-98.6%, respectively. These results suggest that, except for the hydrophilic neutral compounds, the rejection of the micropollutants is increased by the presence of a fouling layer, possibly due to the higher hydrophilicity of the FO fouled membrane compared to the clean one, the increased adsorption capacity of hydrophilic compounds and reduced mass transport capacity, membrane swelling, and the higher negative charge of the membrane surface, related to the foulants composition, mainly NOM acids (carboxylic radicals) and polysaccharides or polysaccharide-like substances. However, when coupled with RO, the rejections in both cases increased above 96%. The coupled FO-LPRO system was an effective double barrier against the selected micropollutants. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

  15. Improved productivity of the MSF (multi-stage flashing) desalination plant by increasing the TBT (top brine temperature)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanshik, Chung; Jeong, Hyomin; Jeong, Kwang-Woon; Choi, Soon-Ho

    2016-01-01

    The evaporating process is very important in the system concerned with liquid foods, seawater distillation and wastewater treatment, which is to concentrate the aqueous solution by evaporating the pure water usually at a vacuum state. In general, the liquid concentration is performed through the membrane, electro-dialysis, and evaporation; the former are separation process and the latter is the phase change process. In this study, only the thermal process was treated for evaluating the specific energy consumption by changing the operating conditions of an existing MSF (multi-stage flashing) desalination plant, which is still dominant for a large scale distillation plant. This study shows the quantitative energy saving strategy in sweater distillation process and, additionally, indicates that the performance of the multi-stage evaporating system can be increased with the elevation of a TBT (top brine temperature). The calculated results were based on the operating data of the currently installed plants and suggests the alternative to improve the performance of the MSF desalination plant, which means that the energy saving can be achieved only by changing the operating conditions of the existing MSF plants. - Highlights: • Detailed operating principles of an multi-stage flashing (MSF) desalting process. • Improved freshwater productivity by increasing the top brine temperature (TBT). • Increased energy efficiency of an existing MSF plants by the TBT increase.

  16. Analysis of a Wave-Powered, Reverse-Osmosis System and Its Economic Availability in the United States: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Yi-Hsiang [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jenne, Dale S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-08-09

    A wave energy converter (WEC) system has the potential to convert the wave energy resource directly into the high-pressure flow that is needed by the desalination system to permeate saltwater through the reverse-osmosis membrane to generate clean water. In this study, a wave-to-water numerical model was developed to investigate the potential use of a wave-powered desalination system (WPDS) for water production in the United States. The model was developed by coupling a time-domain radiation-and-diffraction-method-based numerical tool (WEC-Sim) for predicting the hydrodynamic performance of WECs with a solution-diffusion model that was used to simulate the reverse-osmosis process. To evaluate the feasibility of the WPDS, the wave-to-water numerical model was applied to simulate a desalination system that used an oscillating surge WEC device to pump seawater through the system. The annual water production was estimated based on the wave resource at a reference site on the coast of northern California to investigate the potential cost of water in that area, where the cost of water and electricity is high compared to other regions. In the scenario evaluated, for a 100-unit utility-scale electricity-producing array, the estimated levelized cost of energy for these WECs is about 3-6 times the U.S.'s current, unsubsidized electricity rates. However, with clean water as an end product and by directly producing pressurized water with WECs, rather than electricity as an intermediary, it is presently only 12 percent greater than typical water cost in California. This study suggests that a WEC array that produces water may be a viable, near-term solution to the nation's water supply, and the niche application of the WPDS may also provide developers with new opportunities to further develop technologies that benefit both the electric and drinking water markets.

  17. Impact of socio-economic growth on desalination in the US.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziolkowska, Jadwiga R; Reyes, Reuben

    2016-02-01

    In 2013, around 1336 desalination plants in the United States (US) provided purified water mainly to municipalities, the industry sector and for power generation. In 2013 alone, ∼200 million m(3) of water were desalinated; the amount that could satisfy annual municipal water consumption of more than 1.5 million people in the US. Desalination has proven to be a reliable water supply source in many countries around the world, with the total global desalination capacity of ∼60 million m(3)/day in 2013. Desalination has been used to mitigate water scarcity and lessen the pressure on water resources. Currently, data and information about desalination are still limited, while extensive socio-economic analyses are missing. This paper presents an econometric model to fill this gap. It evaluates the impact of selected socio-economic variables on desalination development in the US in the time span 1970-2013. The results show that the GDP and population growth have significantly impacted the desalination sector over the analyzed time period. The insights into the economics of desalination provided with this paper can be used to further evaluate cost-effectiveness of desalination both in the US and in other countries around the world. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Renewable energy-driven desalination technologies: A comprehensive review on challenges and potential applications of integrated systems

    KAUST Repository

    Ghaffour, Noreddine

    2015-01-01

    Despite the tremendous improvements in conventional desalination technologies, its wide use is still limited due primarily to high energy requirements which are currently met with expensive fossil fuels. The use of alternative energy sources is essential to meet the growing demand for water desalination. In the last few decades a lot of effort has being directed in the use of different renewable energy (RE) sources to run desalination processes. However, the expansion of these efforts towards larger scale plants is hampered by several techno-economic challenges. Several medium-scale RE-driven desalination plants have been installed worldwide. Nevertheless, most of these plants are connected to the electrical grid to assure a continuous energy supply for stable operation. Furthermore, RE is mostly used to produce electric power which can be used to run desalination systems. This review paper focuses on an integrated approach in using RE-driven with an emphasis on solar and geothermal desalination technologies. Innovative and sustainable desalination processes which are suitable for integrated RE systems are presented. An assessment of the benefits of these technologies and their limitations are also discussed.

  19. An Interactive Computer Tool for Teaching About Desalination and Managing Water Demand in the US

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziolkowska, J. R.; Reyes, R.

    2016-12-01

    This paper presents an interactive tool to geospatially and temporally analyze desalination developments and trends in the US in the time span 1950-2013, its current contribution to satisfying water demands and its future potentials. The computer tool is open access and can be used by any user with Internet connection, thus facilitating interactive learning about water resources. The tool can also be used by stakeholders and policy makers for decision-making support and with designing sustainable water management strategies. Desalination technology has been acknowledged as a solution to a sustainable water demand management stemming from many sectors, including municipalities, industry, agriculture, power generation, and other users. Desalination has been applied successfully in the US and many countries around the world since 1950s. As of 2013, around 1,336 desalination plants were operating in the US alone, with a daily production capacity of 2 BGD (billion gallons per day) (GWI, 2013). Despite a steady increase in the number of new desalination plants and growing production capacity, in many regions, the costs of desalination are still prohibitive. At the same time, the technology offers a tremendous potential for `enormous supply expansion that exceeds all likely demands' (Chowdhury et al., 2013). The model and tool are based on data from Global Water Intelligence (GWI, 2013). The analysis shows that more than 90% of all the plants in the US are small-scale plants with the capacity below 4.31 MGD. Most of the plants (and especially larger plants) are located on the US East Coast, as well as in California, Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida. The models and the tool provide information about economic feasibility of potential new desalination plants based on the access to feed water, energy sources, water demand, and experiences of other plants in that region.

  20. Pre-project study on a demonstration plant for seawater desalination using a nuclear heating reactor in Morocco

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Achour, M.

    2000-01-01

    This paper gives in the first part detailed information on the pre-project study on a demonstration plant for seawater desalination using heating reactor implemented by both Moroccan and Chinese sides. The main findings of the pre-project study are given in the second part. (author)

  1. Feasibility of Gallery Intake Systems for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Facilities along the Northern Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia

    KAUST Repository

    Dehwah, Abdullah

    2012-03-01

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is dependent on desalination of seawater to provide new water supplies for the future. Desalination is expensive and it is very important to reduce the cost and lower the energy consumption. Most seawater reverse osmosis facilities use open-ocean intakes, which require extensive pre-treatment processes to remove particulate and biological materials that cause operating problems. An alternative intake is the subsurface system which utilizes the concept of riverbank filtration using wells or galleries and provides natural filtration to improve the quality of feedwater before it enters the desalination plant. This reduces operating cost and lowers energy consumption. Research was focused on evaluating gallery-type intakes (beach and seabed galleries) that could be used along the Northern Red Sea shoreline to provide a better quality feedwater for desalination. The geological characteristics of the visited sites were favorable for the development of seabed filter systems (offshore), but not for beach gallery intakes. The low wave energy along the shoreline and the presence of mud or rocky coasts made beach galleries infeasible. One of the potentially favorable sites for a seabed filter was located in the nearshore area at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). This site has a predominantly sandy offshore bottom with shallow water depths, and a low tide range. In addition, the bottom is always covered with water and contains soft limestone unit below the sand mantle that could be easy excavated to facilitate the construction of a seabed filter. About 50 sediment samples were collected from the site and laboratory measurements were performed on them. Grain size distribution, porosity and hydraulic conductivity measurements were performed on the sediment samples. In addition, six statistical methods were used to estimate the hydraulic conductivity values. Based on results of lab measurements, field observations, tide ranges and sediment types, it

  2. Investigations of the Effects of Biocide Dosing and Chemical Cleaning on the Organic Carbon Removal in an Integrated Ultrafiltration - Nanofiltration Desalination Pilot Plant

    KAUST Repository

    Khojah, Bayan A.

    2017-12-01

    Membrane desalination has become one of the most important desalination technologies used in the world. It provides high water quality for numerous applications and it demonstrates excellent desalination efficiency. One of the most troubling drawbacks of membrane desalination is membrane fouling. It decreases the performance of the membranes and increases the energy requirement. Two of the most important causes of fouling are microbes and organic matter. Hence, to maintain an optimized desalination performance, routine inspection of microbial and organic contents of water is crucial for desalination plants. In this study, water samples were obtained from different treatment points in an ultrafiltration (UF)/nanofiltration (NF) seawater desalination pilot plant. This was performed to better understand how the water quality changes along the desalination scheme. The effect of fouling control techniques, including Chemically Enhanced Backwash (CEB), Cleaning in Place (CIP), and the addition of a biocide (DBNPA) was studied. Different analytical tools were applied, including Bactiquant, Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Assimilable Organic Carbon (AOC), and Liquid Chromatography for Organic Carbon Detection (LC-OCD). Out results showed that UF did not decrease TOC but it was sufficient in removing up to 99.7% of bacteria. Nanofiltration, removed up to 95% of TOC. However, NF permeate had a high increase in AOC as compared to the raw seawater sample. The LC-OCD results suggested that this might be due to the increased low molecular weight neutrals which were the most common organic species in the NF permeate. The fouling control techniques showed various effects on the desalination efficiency. Daily CEB did not cause a reduction in TOC or bacteria but decreased AOC in the UF filtrate. The biocide addition resulted in an adequate membranes protection from fouling and it did not affect the investigated water parameters. When the dosing of biocide was stopped, the water quality

  3. Safety aspects of the desalination of sea water using nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carnino, A.; Gasparini, N.

    2001-01-01

    The nuclear plants for desalination to be built in the future will have to meet the standards of safety required for the best nuclear power plants currently in operation or being designed. Some specific characteristics of desalination plants such as siting and coupling require particular consideration from a safety point of view, and further safety studies will be needed when the type and size of the reactor are determined. The current safety approach, based on the defence in depth strategy, has been shown to be a sound foundation for the safety and protection of public health, and gives the plant the capability of dealing with a large variety of sequences, even beyond the design basis. The Department of Nuclear Safety of the IAEA is involved in many activities, the most important of which are to establish safety standards, and to provide various safety services and technical knowledge in many Technical Co-operation assistance projects. The department is also involved in other safety areas, notably in the field of future reactors. The IAEA is carrying out a project on the safety of new generation reactors, including those used for desalination, with the objective of fostering an exchange of information on safety approaches, promoting harmonization among Member States and contributing towards the development and revision of safety standards and guidelines for nuclear power plant design. The safety, regulatory and environmental concerns in nuclear powered desalination are those related directly to nuclear power plants, with due consideration given to the coupling process. The protection of product water against radioactive contamination must be ensured. An effective infrastructure, including appropriate training, a legal framework and regulatory regime, is a prerequisite to considering use of nuclear power for desalination plants, also in those countries with limited industrial infrastructures and little experience in nuclear technology or safety. (author)

  4. Sweeping Gas Membrane Desalination Using Commercial Hydrophobic Hollow Fiber Membranes; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    EVANS, LINDSEY; MILLER, JAMES E.

    2002-01-01

    Water shortages affect 88 developing countries that are home to half of the world's population. In these places, 80-90% of all diseases and 30% of all deaths result from poor water quality. Furthermore, over the next 25 years, the number of people affected by severe water shortages is expected to increase fourfold. Low cost methods of purifying freshwater, and desalting seawater are required to contend with this destabilizing trend. Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging technology for separations that are traditionally accomplished via conventional distillation or reverse osmosis. As applied to desalination, MD involves the transport of water vapor from a saline solution through the pores of a hydrophobic membrane. In sweeping gas MD, a flowing gas stream is used to flush the water vapor from the permeate side of the membrane, thereby maintaining the vapor pressure gradient necessary for mass transfer. Since liquid does not penetrate the hydrophobic membrane, dissolved ions are completely rejected by the membrane. MD has a number of potential advantages over conventional desalination including low temperature and pressure operation, reduced membrane strength requirements, compact size, and 100% rejection of non-volatiles. The present work evaluated the suitability of commercially available technology for sweeping gas membrane desalination. Evaluations were conducted with Celgard Liqui-Cel(reg s ign) Extra-Flow 2.5X8 membrane contactors with X-30 and X-40 hydrophobic hollow fiber membranes. Our results show that sweeping gas membrane desalination systems are capable of producing low total dissolved solids (TDS) water, typically 10 ppm or less, from seawater, using low grade heat. However, there are several barriers that currently prevent sweeping gas MD from being a viable desalination technology. The primary problem is that large air flows are required to achieve significant water yields, and the costs associated with transporting this air are prohibitive. To

  5. ZVI (Fe0) desalination: catalytic partial desalination of saline aquifers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antia, David D. J.

    2018-05-01

    Globally, salinization affects between 100 and 1000 billion m3 a-1 of irrigation water. The discovery that zero valent iron (ZVI, Fe0) could be used to desalinate water (using intra-particle catalysis in a diffusion environment) raises the possibility that large-scale in situ desalination of aquifers could be undertaken to support agriculture. ZVI desalination removes NaCl by an adsorption-desorption process in a multi-stage cross-coupled catalytic process. This study considers the potential application of two ZVI desalination catalyst types for in situ aquifer desalination. The feasibility of using ZVI catalysts when placed in situ within an aquifer to produce 100 m3 d-1 of partially desalinated water from a saline aquifer is considered.

  6. DESSALEMENT DE L’EAU DE MER ET IMPACTS ENVIRONNEMENTAUX : CAS DE LA STATION D’EL-MACTAÂ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdellah KARA OMAR

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Population expansion, urbanization, pollution, climate change and vegetation destruction are the main reasons for water scarcity, forcing most countries around the world to rely on new resources of providing drinking water. The most widely used alternative resource is seawater desalination. In this paper, the distribution of El-Mactaâ (Willaya of Mostaganem reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant is described and its environmental impact considered. Sea water treatment in the EL-MACTAÂ station takes place in three stages. The process starts with a pretreatment by coarse filtration, followed by low-pressure membrane ultrafiltration. Pretreated water passes through reverse osmosis and finally via a treatment station which guarantees both the adjustment of the pH and the disinfection of the treated water. Despite its advantages seawater desalination is a major cause of damage to the environment.

  7. Nuclear power for desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patil, Siddhanth; Lanjekar, Sanket; Jagdale, Bhushan; Srivastava, V.K.

    2015-01-01

    Water is one of the most important assets to mankind and without which the human race would cease to exist. Water is required by us right from domestic to industrial levels. As notified by the 'American Nuclear Society' and 'World Nuclear Association' about 1/5 th of the world population does not access to portable water especially in the Asian and African subcontinent. The situation is becoming adverse day by day due to rise in population and industrialization. The need of alternative water resource is thus becoming vital. About 97.5% of Earth is covered by oceans. Desalination of saline water to generate potable water is thus an important topic of research. Currently about 12,500 desalination plants are operating worldwide with a capacity of about 35 million m 3 /day using mainly fossil fuels for generation of large amount of energy required for processing water. These thermal power station release large amount of carbon dioxide and other green house gases. Nuclear reactors are capable of delivering energy to the high energy-intensive processes without any environmental concerns for climate change etc., giving a vision to sustainable growth of desalination process. These projects are currently employed in Kazakhstan, India, Japan, and Pakistan and are coupled to the nuclear reactor for generating electricity and potable water as well. The current climatic scenario favors the need for expanding dual purpose nuclear power plants producing energy and water at the same location. (author)

  8. Brackish Water Desalination Coupled With Wastewater Treatment and Electricity Generation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zainab Ziad Ismail

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available A new bio-electrochemical system was proposed for simultaneous removal of organic matters and salinity from actual domestic wastewater and synthetically prepared saline water, respectively. The performance of a three-chambered microbial osmotic fuel cell (MOFC provided with forward osmosis (FO membrane and cation exchange membrane (CEM was evaluated with respect to the chemical oxygen demand (COD removal from wastewater, electricity generation, and desalination of saline water. The MOFC wasinoculated with activated sludge and fueled with actual domestic wastewater. Results revealed that maximum removal efficiency of COD from wastewater, TDS removal efficiency from saline water, power density, and current density were 96%, 90%, 30.02 mW/m2, and 107.20 mA/m2, respectively.

  9. Electrochemical desalination of salt infected limestone masonry of a historic warehouse

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ottosen, Lisbeth M.; Christensen, Iben Vernegren; Rörig-Dalgaard, Inge

    2012-01-01

    plant for electrochemical desalination, a method where the driving force is an applied electrical potential. The test plant covered about 25 m2 surface of a limestone wall of a historic warehouse. It consisted of 72 electrode units which were placed in two rows; the one above the other and the mutual...... was successfully desalinated; however, the Cl concentration was in the same level as initially in samples taken just between sets of anodes and cathodes. The desalination was thus not completed during the test. The removal rate for Cl into the anodes was constant all through the test revealing...... that the desalination could have continued if the test had lasted longer. The test showed that the overall method works, but it also underlined the necessity for development of a new design, which allow for shorter distance between the electrodes in order to shorten the duration of the treatment....

  10. Radiological map evolution in the treatment of 137Cs liquid wastes by a reverse osmosis plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arnal, J.M.; Sancho, M.; Verdu, G.; Gozalvez, J.M.

    2002-01-01

    As a result of an accidental 1 37C s source melting in one of the furnaces of a stainless steel production company located in Spain, a part of the factory was radioactively contaminated. LAINSA (Logistica y Acondicionamientos Industriales S.A.) company took charge of the plant decontamination process, in which 40 m 3 , approximately, of 1 37C s contaminated water with a mean activity of 300 kBq/L were generated. After some preliminary tests in which the efficiency of reverse osmosis (RO) process in the treatment of 1 37C s contaminated effluent was proved, the radioactive liquid waste was treated by a reverse osmosis plant designed by the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Department of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), and built by LAINSA company. Membrane techniques (microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) have become common in the treatment of radioactive effluents having substitute conventional treatments such as evaporation and ionic exchange. The main advantages of membrane processes used for concentrating radioactive wastes are moderate operating conditions, simple apparatus, high decontamination factors and low energy consumption. The treatment was carried out by the research team UPV-LAINSA, and it consisted in the application of reverse osmosis (RO) process with the main objective of reducing the waste volume to be disposed, obtaining a treated liquid with an activity less than the legal discharge limit for 1 37C s radioisotope (300 Bq/L). When working with radioactive effluents it is very important the radiological vigilance of working areas because it ensures that neither exposed personnel nor general public receive doses above established limits. Radiological vigilance consists in determining (continuously or periodically) radiation and contamination levels in working areas and even in those places where personnel can temporarily stand. The aim of this paper is to assess the evolution of radiation levels of the

  11. Control and Modelling of Seawater Desalination Using Solar Technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roca, L.; Yebra, L. J.; Berenguel, M.; Alarcon, D. C.

    2006-07-01

    Desalination plants play a fundamental role in fighting the shortage of fresh water in places with plentiful seawater resources. This paper briefly describes a solar desalination system designed, erected and operated in the AQUASOL project at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA), consisting basically of a CPC (Compound Parabolic Concentrator) solar collector field, two water storage tanks, a multi-effect distillation plant (MED) and a Double Effect Absorption Heat Pump (DEAHP). These subsystems have been modeled to estimate system behaviour and develop control techniques for maintaining optimal operating conditions. (Author)

  12. A review of environmental governance and its effects on concentrate discharge from desalination plants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    KAUST Repository

    Van Der Merwe, Riaan; Lattemann, Sabine; Amy, Gary L.

    2013-01-01

    The most likely environmental impact of concentrate discharges (in most instances twice the concentration of the ambient environment) leaking from desalination plants on local marine ecosystems has been controversially discussed for many years

  13. Some interesting aspects of water, with special reference to nuclear desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inam-ur-Rahman

    2002-01-01

    A brief review is given of the formation, importance, resources and some unique characteristics of water. A reference has been made about the available water racecourse of Pakistan and urgent need of acquiring additional water resources in the county. Importance of water for energy production and energy for acquiring additional water resources is mentioned. Attractive features and feasibility of nuclear desalination, using dual purpose nuclear power plants are discussed. Criteria for selection of suitable reactor type and desalination process are discussed for desired water to power ratios. The world wide growth of desalination capacity, using various desalination processes are listed. (author)

  14. Using decommissioned offshore oil/gas platforms for nuclear/RO desalination: the ONDP (Offshore Nuclear Desalination Platform)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagar, Ankesh

    2010-01-01

    shore by cables alongside the pipeline as additional bounty. The nuclear submarines and ships have been sailing the oceans of the world with these reactors and have proven safe. The other non-conventional energy sources like windmills and wave energy generation have also been tried on oil platforms but the magnitude of energy generation and desalination is incomparable with nuclear energy. The KLT 40S reactors are compact easy to transport and ship, built with excellent safety mechanisms, efficient and are made with 'plug and play' philosophy. The use of non weapon grade uranium makes them ideal for installing them offshore with existing security. They have a proven safety record as well and are cost effective in long run. These 'to be decommissioned' oil platforms are also ideal for DEMWAX (Reverse Osmosis) plants which instead of floats can be anchored at the base of the platform where they meet the required gravity, current and pressure. The location of oil platforms minimizes biofouling and reduces power requirement. Brine plume is also taken care with the available wide ocean floor and strong currents. The challenge is to integrate ready oil platform infrastructure with proven safe nuclear technology and water-management measures, to put them to practice with modification in an Offshore Nuclear Desalination Platform (ONDP). (author)

  15. Geochemical processes during managed aquifer recharge with desalinated seawater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganot, Y.; Holtzman, R.; Weisbrod, N.; Russak, A.; Katz, Y.; Kurtzman, D.

    2017-12-01

    In this work we study the geochemical processes along the variably-saturated zone during managed aquifer recharge (MAR) with reverse-osmosis desalinated seawater (DSW) to an infiltration pond at the Menashe site, located above the Israeli coastal aquifer. The DSW is post-treated by calcite dissolution (remineralization) in order to meet the Israeli desalinated water quality criteria. Suction cups and monitoring wells inside the pond were used to monitor water quality during two MAR events on 2015 and 2016. Results show that cation exchange is dominant, driven by the high Ca2+ concentration in the post-treated DSW. Stable isotope analysis shows that the composition of the shallow groundwater is similar to the recharged DSW, but with enrichment of Mg2+, Na+, Ca2+ and HCO3-. A calibrated variably-saturated reactive transport model was used to predict the geochemical evolution during 50 years of MAR with two water quality scenarios: post-treated DSW and soft DSW (without post-treatment). The latter scenario was aimed to test soil-aquifer-treatment as an alternative post-treatment technique. In terms of water quality, the results of the two scenarios were found within the range of the desalinated water criteria. Mg2+ enrichment was stable ( 2.5 mg L-1), higher than the zero concentration found in the Israeli DSW. Calcite content reduction was low (<1%) along the variably-saturated profile, after 50 years of MAR. This suggests that using soil-aquifer-treatment as a remineralization technique for DSW is potentially a sustainable practice, which is limited only by the current hydraulic capacity of the Menashe MAR site.

  16. Nuclear's potential role in desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kupitz, J.

    1992-01-01

    Motivated by the growing need for fresh water in developing countries, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has promoted a study of the technical and economic viability of using nuclear energy for producing fresh water by desalination of seawater. The outcome of the study is summarized. The most promising desalination processes for large scale water production are outlined and possible energy sources considered. The main incentives for using nuclear energy rather than fossil fuelled plants include: overall energy supply diversification; conservation of limited fossil fuel resources; promotion of technological development; and in particular, environmental protection through the reduction of emissions causing climate change and acid rain. An economic analysis showed that the levelized costs of electricity generation by nuclear power are in general in the same range as those for fossil fuel. Competitiveness depends on the unit size of the plant and interest rates. (UK)

  17. Flux dependency of particulate/colloidal fouling in seawater reverse osmosis systems

    KAUST Repository

    Salinas Rodríguez, S. G.

    2012-01-01

    Fouling is the main operational problem in seawater reverse osmosis systems (SWRO). Particulate fouling is traditionally measured through the silt density index (SDI) and through the modified fouling index (MFI). In recent years, ultrafiltration membranes were used successfully at constant flux-MFI-UF-to measure particulate/colloidal fouling potential and tested in sea water applications. Furthermore, constant flux operation allows predicting the rate of fouling in RO systems. The objectives of this study are: (1) to measure the flux effect in MFI-UF with different membranes (100, 30 and 10 kDa) for raw seawater and pre-treated water before reverse osmosis in three different locations; (2) to study the particulate and colloidal fouling potential of seawater in reverse osmosis systems; (3) to project the increase in pressure due to cake resistance in reverse osmosis systems. In this research, flat ultrafiltration membranes (100, 50, 30 and 10 kDa) are used in a con- stant flux filtration mode to test and compare real seawaters from various locations (North and Mediterranean Sea) and from various full scale facilities including different pre-treatments (i.e., ultrafiltration and coagulation + dual media filtration). The operated fluxes range from 350 down to values close to real RO operation, 15l(m2h)-1. After each filtration test, the MFI-UF is calculated to assess the particulate fouling potential. The obtained results showed that: (1) the particulate and colloidal fouling potential is directly proportional to the applied flux during filtration. This proportionality is related to the compression of the cake deposit occurring at high flux values; (2) the higher the flux, the higher the required pressure, the less porous the cake and therefore the higher the specific cake resistance; (3) particulate and colloidal fouling potential of seawater is site specific and is influenced by pre-treatment. © 2012 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  18. Desalination and hydrogen, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide production via electrophoretic ion exchange and precipitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shkolnikov, Viktor; Bahga, Supreet S; Santiago, Juan G

    2012-08-28

    We demonstrate and analyze a novel desalination method which works by electrophoretically replacing sodium and chloride in feed salt water with a pair of ions, calcium and carbonate, that react and precipitate out. The resulting calcium carbonate precipitate is benign to health, and can be filtered or settled out, yielding low ionic strength product water. The ion exchange and precipitation employs self-sharpening interfaces induced by movement of multiple ions in an electric field to prevent contamination of the product water. Simultaneously, the electrolysis associated with the electromigration produces hydrogen gas, chlorine gas, and sodium hydroxide. We conducted an experimental study of this method's basic efficacy to desalinate salt water from 100 to 600 mol m(-3) sodium chloride. We also present physicochemical models of the process, and analyze replacement reagents consumption, permeate recovery ratio, and energy consumption. We hypothesize that the precipitate can be recycled back to replacement reagents using the well-known, commercially implemented Solvay process. We show that the method's permeate recovery ratio is 58% to 46%, which is on par with that of reverse osmosis. We show that the method's energy consumption requirement over and above that necessary to generate electrolysis is 3 to 10 W h l(-1), which is on par with the energy consumed by state-of-the-art desalination methods. Furthermore, the method operates at ambient temperature and pressure, and uses no specialized membranes. The process may be feasible as a part of a desalination-co-generation facility: generating fresh water, hydrogen and chlorine gas, and sodium hydroxide.

  19. Removal of fouling species from brackish water reverse osmosis reject stream.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayoub, G M; Korban, L; Al-Hindi, M; Zayyat, R

    2018-03-01

    Brine disposal from reverse osmosis (RO) systems remains a major challenge for the desalination industry especially in inland areas where discharge options are very limited. Solutions will entail the introduction of economic treatment processes that will alleviate the brine's negative impact on the environment and reduce its discharge volume. Such processes could act as an intermediary treatment process for the recycling of the brine through an additional RO stage which, for brackish water (BW) desalination, could lead to saving valuable water while reducing the amount of brine discharge. In this context, the study at hand attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of a one-step chemical process for the treatment of BWRO brine. This study seeks to determine optimal operating conditions relative to type, ratio, and dosage of alkalizing chemicals, pH and temperature, for substantially reducing the concentrations of scaling parameters such as calcium, magnesium, silica, and strontium. The results indicate that precipitation softening at pH = 11.5 using combined chemical dosages of NaOH and Na 2 CO 3 in a ratio of 2:1 leads to substantial removal of calcium and magnesium (>95%) and moderately high removal of strontium and silica (>71%).

  20. A Short Review of Membrane Fouling in Forward Osmosis Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, Youngpil; Mulcahy, Dennis; Zou, Linda; Kim, In S.

    2017-01-01

    Interest in forward osmosis (FO) research has rapidly increased in the last decade due to problems of water and energy scarcity. FO processes have been used in many applications, including wastewater reclamation, desalination, energy production, fertigation, and food and pharmaceutical processing. However, the inherent disadvantages of FO, such as lower permeate water flux compared to pressure driven membrane processes, concentration polarisation (CP), reverse salt diffusion, the energy consumption of draw solution recovery and issues of membrane fouling have restricted its industrial applications. This paper focuses on the fouling phenomena of FO processes in different areas, including organic, inorganic and biological categories, for better understanding of this long-standing issue in membrane processes. Furthermore, membrane fouling monitoring and mitigation strategies are reviewed. PMID:28604649