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ADC Baseline tests reveal trends in membrane performance
... The improved RO system described in the next section dramatically reduces pumping power. A typical power requirement is more than 2 kwh/cubic meter of desalinated water [7,9] for a modern conventional RO system with energy recovery in which the recovery rate for desalinated water is 45%. This figure is for the main pumping power which ranges from 65 to 85% of the total power to run system [9]. ...
... A typical power requirement is more than 2 kwh/cubic meter of desalinated water [7,9] for a modern conventional RO system with energy recovery in which the recovery rate for desalinated water is 45%. This figure is for the main pumping power which ranges from 65 to 85% of the total power to run system [9]. The major auxiliary pumping requirements are to provide the intake pumping power (typically 15 to 20% of the total power) and the power for pre-filtration (typically 10% of total power) [10]. ...
... Total Pump Capacity = W S,total x m total (9) The total power input to the pumps is the total pump capacity from equation (9) divided by the pump efficiency, i.e. ...
One requirement of sustainable irrigation is a guaranteed source of water at
adequate levels. It is also obvious that the cost of the irrigation water delivered to
the user must allow the user to profit from its use. The costs of irrigation falls
typically in three categories: 1. Cost of the water used; 2. Energy cost to purify
and transport the water; and 3. Initial costs of the infrastructure and its
maintenance. This paper addresses all of these requirements for sustainable
irrigation. It is proposed that the ocean is the ultimate source of
sustainable water. Further the required purification of the water is to be
accomplished by a novel reverse osmosis system which minimizes the energy
costs. Finally, a solar collection system is incorporated in the proposed system to
minimize the impact of global warming due to use of fossil fuels. The proposed
system has particular application to desert areas near oceans such as North Africa
and Australia. This paper includes the development of a model for performance
and cost of the system and shows the circumstances for which the proposed
system is viable.
Keywords: reverse osmosis, desalination, OTEC, sustainable irrigation.
... Reverse osmosis has been reported to be the most efficient desalination technology as its energy requirement is minimum i.e. 1.8 kWh/m 3 [116,118]. In reverse osmosis-based desalination plant, the energy demand can reach 4 kWh/m 3 by adding a coupled process of pumping and pretreatment [117,119]. Further advancement in RO technologies have still some constraints in order to reduce the overall energy consumption to less than 3 kWh/m 3 [119]. ...
... In reverse osmosis-based desalination plant, the energy demand can reach 4 kWh/m 3 by adding a coupled process of pumping and pretreatment [117,119]. Further advancement in RO technologies have still some constraints in order to reduce the overall energy consumption to less than 3 kWh/m 3 [119]. Different approaches are employed for the desalination of saline water and wastewater treatment and are operated at different locations, which in turn, leads to the excessive use of land and human resources [120]. ...
Wastewaters generated from several industrial activities containing organic substrates present a vital basis for harnessing bioenergy. Aerobic wastewater treatment methods, for instance, activated sludge process and trickling filter are unsustainable due to constant energy requirements for aeration, and sludge management. Currently, Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology presents an appropriate alternative for energy positive wastewater treatment and permits synchronized wastewater treatment, bioelectricity production, and resource recovery via bioelectrochemical remediation mediated by electroactive microbes. The added advantage of using MFC technology for effluent treatment is that several bio-based processes including removal of biochemical and chemical oxygen demand, nitrification, denitrification, sulfate removal and removal of heavy metals can be carried out in the same bioreactor. Thus, MFCs can both substitute and complement the conventional energy-intensive technologies for efficient removal as well as the recovery of sulfate, nitrogen, and phosphate without any tertiary treatment. Thus, the present review covers the recent advances in the utilization of microbial fuel cell technology for the removal of organic as well as recalcitrant pollutants from a wide range of industrial and domestic effluents with the simultaneous production of low-cost energy. Hybrid systems developed in integration with conventional treatment systems that make the process energy neutral and thus pave a way forward to the scale-up of MFCs for sustainable wastewater treatment have been discussed. Moreover, some critical challenges related to the field applications of microbial fuel cell technology dealing with a wide range of effluents, have also been analyzed and presented.
... Currently all the desalination technologies are energy intensive process [3]. A recent study reported that the energy consumption for reverse osmosis (RO) would be 1.8 kWh m −3 , if the energy requirement for pump was considered without considering the energy requirement for pretreatment [4]. On an average, the energy consumption of RO including pretreatment and pumping was 3.5 ± 0.5 kWh m −3 . ...
... In the anode chambers, sieved sewage (355-m diameter sieve, effluents from primary settling tank, Sultan Qaboos University wastewater treatment plant, Oman) was circulated continuously as a substrate and inoculums during the start-up period by a peristaltic pump (Master flex, USA). The characteristics of domestic waste water averaged 312 ± 32 mg L −1 of total COD, 92 ± 13 mg L −1 of soluble COD, 217 ± 64 mg L −1 of SS 195 ± 56 mg L −1 of VSS, 05 ± 5 mg L −1 of TDS, 38 ± 4 mg L −1 of TN and 39 ± 34 mg L −1 of PO 4 3− . The pH of the wastewater at influent tank was maintained manually at 7.2 ± 0.1 using concentrated HCl or NaOH solution at every time of recharging the influent tank (All of these data shows averages and standard deviations based on a series of 4 replicates). ...
The research work demonstrated the performance of an integrated MFC capable of recovering osmotic water and electricity using forward osmosis in a double-chambered baffled channel reactor. The potential of applying electrochemically active (EA) aerobic marine biofilms on the cathode electrode was explored by eliminating the costly Pt-catalyst, thus making the system more eco-friendly and sustainable. The bio-cathode osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) used in this study was operated by two different conditions of oxygen supplied into the marine EA biofilms (i.e., the conventional oxygen supply by perforated pipes, and the enhanced oxygen supply by micro-pore air diffuser). The system recovered a maximum electrical power, 28.90 Wm-3 net cathodic compartments (NCC), while removing 63 ± 8 % of COD from raw domestic wastewater. The rate of osmotic water recovery was 1.46 ± 0.04 Lm-2h-1. The amount of recovered osmotic water showed a great potential for integrating osmosis into the marine bio-cathode OsMFC. The dominating bacterial communities identified in the cathodic biofilms were mainly gamma-Proteobacteria and alpha-Proteobacteria.
... Currently all the desalination technologies are energy intensive process [3]. A recent study reported that the energy consumption for reverse osmosis (RO) would be 1.8 kWh m −3 , if the energy requirement for pump was considered without considering the energy requirement for pretreatment [4]. On an average, the energy consumption of RO including pretreatment and pumping was 3.5 ± 0.5 kWh m −3 . ...
... In the anode chambers, sieved sewage (355-m diameter sieve, effluents from primary settling tank, Sultan Qaboos University wastewater treatment plant, Oman) was circulated continuously as a substrate and inoculums during the start-up period by a peristaltic pump (Master flex, USA). The characteristics of domestic waste water averaged 312 ± 32 mg L −1 of total COD, 92 ± 13 mg L −1 of soluble COD, 217 ± 64 mg L −1 of SS 195 ± 56 mg L −1 of VSS, 05 ± 5 mg L −1 of TDS, 38 ± 4 mg L −1 of TN and 39 ± 34 mg L −1 of PO 4 3− . The pH of the wastewater at influent tank was maintained manually at 7.2 ± 0.1 using concentrated HCl or NaOH solution at every time of recharging the influent tank (All of these data shows averages and standard deviations based on a series of 4 replicates). ...
... The minimum energy requirement for desalination technology is basically a function of the molar concentration of feed and effluent solutions and water recovery. Typically, the energy efficiency of RO for sea water desalination to reach a concentration of 0.5 g/L at a water recovery of 42% was 1.58 kW·h/m 3 and about 65% energy efficiency (MacHarg et al. 2008). In contrast, the energy efficiency for RO treating impaired water of 2 to 0.5 g/L was about 3.3%, with an energy consumption of 1.01 kW · h/m 3 (Bergman 1999). ...
... Le maillage de 5 mm des tambours permet d'épargner les organismes de moyenne et grande taille (Kettab et al., 2006). En revanche, l'entraînement dans le circuit d'eau peut tuer un grand nombre de petits organismes tels que le phytoplancton, le zooplancton et les alevins des poisons (MacHarg et al., 2008). ...
This work aims to study the impact of the installation of seawater desalination plant in Agadir bay by drawing up the initial health state of two marine ecosystems Tifnit-Douira and Cap Ghir receiving desalination plants. Thus, a multidisciplinary study was conducted in the sentinel species Mytilus galloprovincialis, combining two complementary approaches: i) the chemical approach (physico-chemistry and chemical detection of pollutants); and (ii) the biological approach (ecotoxicological study of multi-biomarker response and reproductive biology). An inventory of macro-phyto/zoo-benthic species associated with mussel beds was also carried out to assess the biodiversity of these ecosystems.
Our results related to the physicochemical approach in the two studied stations reveal values that oscillate between: 16.24 and 21.61 °C for seawater temperature; 7.39 and 8.73 for pH; 43.15 and 65.16 mS/cm for conductivity and between 27.40 and 43.75 PSU for salinity. TDS and dissolved oxygen values vary between 21.14 to 31.88 and 4.33 to 8.14 mg/l respectively. These parameters follow monthly fluctuations in the two studied ecosystems due to the marine environmental responses to changes in daily and weekly climatic conditions and also to seasonal hydrodynamic factors (currents, swell and upwellings).
The study of metal pollution in both ecosystems has shown that their concentrations undergo monthly, seasonal and annual fluctuations depending on the dosed element. Cd, Pb and Cu recorded relatively high levels (2.28, 2.50 and 6.86 mg/kg respectively) with comparable annual profiles between the two stations. While Arsenic (As) oscillates between 7.97 and 12.60 mg/kg without reaching the toxicity threshold of 14 mg/kg. The measured values are significantly high, especially at Cap Ghir with a stability of the values throughout the study period. This attests to the presence of Arsenic in a natural way in the Atlantic marine ecosystem. The results obtained for the major metal elements studied showed maximums of 6.33, 145.51 and 285.74 mg/kg respectively for Mn, Fe and Zn. The revealed annual patterns appear similar between the two ecosystems with moderate seasonal fluctuations.
Biomarker response measures, Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST), Catalase (CAT) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) in Mytilus galloprovincialis, have been shown to be present in measurable and inducible amounts. In addition, response levels fluctuate respectively between 1.94 to 8.85; 3.74 to 36.91; 3.52 to 17.94 and 1.13 to 5.91 nmol/mg protein. This is explained by the response of these molluscs, to variations in environmental conditions as well as to the presence of certain contaminants including heavy metals mainly Cadmium, and consequently to the physiological disturbances of the species during its development cycle.
The study of reproductive cycle in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, testifies to a continuous sexual activity throughout the year with periods of collective egg-laying coinciding with spring and summer. The number of these collective gametic release varies between two to three periods depending on the environmental conditions, especially variations in seawater temperature. This results in a lack of collective sexual rest period in these mussel populations. The sex ratio study shows a balance between males and females of 1.14:1 in Tifnit-Douira, and it varies between 1.12:1 to 1.18:1 in Cap Ghir. The histological study allowed the detection of a single case of hermaphroditism, revealed for the first time in mussel populations in the Agadir bay.
The values of the condition index are high (>60) in Mytilus galloprovincialis of the studied stations during all seasons even during laying periods. The favorable conditions of the environment allow a continuous allometric and weight growth throughout the year. Regarding biological diversity, both stations have a very high diversity of Macro-Phyto/Zoo-benthic species. Indeed, the animal kingdom is rather dominated by Crustaceans and Gastropods, while Chromophytes and Rhodophytes are the most dominant in the plant kingdom.
All these results prove the well-balanced state of the environment in the two studied ecosystems Tifnit-Douira and Cap Ghir; and that permanent monitoring should be realized to protect their health state from the impact of desalination plants.
Keywords: Mytilus galloprovincialis, Agadir Bay, Cap Ghir, Tifnit-Douira, Desalination, Biomarkers, Marine ecosystem, Heavy metals, Reproductive cycle, Biodiversity, Biomonitoring.
... The new machine SWRO could figure out this problem well and reduce gases emission efficiently. Apart from this, the number of power driving for SWRO has diminished considerably in the past [10,18,19]. On the other hand, as the maturity of desalination technique, it also offers the drinking water solutions of coastal construction. ...
The purpose of this research is to design a self-circulation residence near Greenland using fully renewable energy and dead water effect. Special values in terms of commercial for Greenland lead to the increase of local population. Previous investigations mainly study the particular dead water effect phenomenon neglecting the utilization of this influence, which may provide energy for local residence. This research implements electromagnetic induction to design a power generation equipment and self-circulation system. Final results show that the designed device could successfully produce power using dead water effect occurring in Greenland. In addition, a building utilizing self-circulation system is also devised to achieve energy circulation. In conclusion, dead water effect could be used to generate electricity and some special places have the potential to realize energy circulation.
... Water desalination can significantly increase the freshwater supply for drinking, industrial use and irrigation. All current desalination technologies require significant electrical or thermal energy, with reverse osmosis (RO) consuming electric energy of at least 3 kWh/m 3in extensive tests about 10 years ago, the Affordable Desalination Collaboration (ADC) in California measured 1.6 kWh/m 3 for RO power consumption on the best commercially available membranes, and total plant energy about twice as high, once pre-treatment and pumping is factored in (MacHarg et al., 2008). ...
The world's largest demonstrator of a revolutionary energy system in desalination for drinking water production is in operation. MIDES uses Microbial Desalination Cells (MDC) in a pre-treatment step for reverse osmosis (RO), for simultaneous saline stream desalination and wastewater treatment.
MDCs are based on bio-electro-chemical technology, in which biological wastewater treatment can be coupled to the desalination of a saline stream using ion exchange membranes without external energy input. MDCs simultaneously treat wastewater and perform desalination using the energy contained in the wastewater. In fact, an MDC can produce around 1.8 kWh of bioelectricity from the energy contained in 1 m3 of wastewater. Compared to traditional RO, more than 3 kWh/m3 of electrical energy is saved. With this novel technology, two low-quality water streams (saline stream, wastewater) are transformed into two high-quality streams (desalinated water, treated wastewater) suitable for further uses.
An exhaustive scaling-up process was carried out in which all MIDES partners worked together on nanostructured electrodes, antifouling membranes, electrochemical reactor design and optimization, life cycle assessment, microbial electrochemistry and physiology expertise, and process engineering and control. The roadmap of the lab-MDC upscaling goes through the assembly of a pre-pilot MDC, towards the development of the demonstrator of the MDC technology (patented). Nominal desalination rate between 4-11 Lm-2h-1 is reached with a current efficiency of 40 %. After the scalability success, two MDC pilot plants were designed and constructed consisting of one stack of 15 MDC pilot units with a 0.4 m2 electrode area per unit.
This book presents the information generated throughout the EU funded MIDES project and includes the latest developments related to desalination of sea water and brackish water by applying microbial desalination cells.
ISBN: 9781789062113 (Paperback)
ISBN: 9781789062120 (eBook)
... So, despite not harvesting energy externally, the load should be near short circuit conditions (i.e., R ext ~0) to maximise the desalination rate (i.e., production of freshwater). Remarkably, producing freshwater using MDC represents indirect energy savings in comparison with a conventional desalination system (i.e., the RO system consuming 1.5-2.5 kWh m −3 for brackish water desalination [45] , 2.8-3 kWh m −3 in the case of seawater desalination [46] ). ...
A microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a microbial fuel cell (MFC) integrated with an electrodialysis (ED) cell in the same device to simultaneously treat wastewater, desalinate brackish or seawater, and produce electric energy. Most previously reported studies used oxygen reduction as the primary cathodic reaction. In contrast, we have explored brackish water desalination (7 g L−1) and energy production using a laboratory MDC system (cross-section 100 cm2, batch mode) and ferricyanide as the catholyte. Furthermore, a rational explanation of desalination performance when using a catholyte is presented, and, additionally, the impact of producing electrical energy on desalination performance is discussed. Interestingly, conductivity variation in the saline chamber can be used to predict electrochemical performance. In summary, this study provides the basis for the development, design, and optimisation of low-energy desalination using MDC technology.
... The Affordable Desalination Collaboration (ADC) in the United States performed long term tests of RO system with highly efficient commercially available membranes, pumps and energy recovery technology at the time of testing (2006)(2007). The results showed that the lowest energy consumption at RO system recovery of 50% and membrane flux of 15.3 L/m 2 -h, was around 1.85 kW-h/m 3 [111]. Given the Table 4 Comparison between thermal and membrane-based processes. ...
The utilization of seawater for drinking purposes is limited by the high specific energy consumption (SEC) (kW-h/m³) of present desalination technologies; both thermal and membrane-based. This is in turn exasperated by high water production costs, adding up to the water scarcity around the globe. Most technologies are already working near their thermodynamic limit, while posing challenges in further SEC reductions. Understanding the current energy status and energy breakdowns of leading desalination technologies will further help in realizing limitations and boundaries imposed while working for improved system performances. This paper comprehensively reviews the energy requirements and potential research areas for reduced SEC of various thermal, membrane-based and emerging desalination technologies. For thermal desalination processes, which consume a large chunk of energy for heating, renewable energy sources can be a viable option for bringing down the energy requirements. Hence, this review also focuses on the potential of desalination-renewable energy integrations. The review extends beyond conventional energy reduction possibilities to utilizing novel, advanced membranes and innovative techniques for energy offsets. The future of desalination for optimized energy requirements is projected to include ultra-high permeability membranes, fouling resistant membranes, hybrid systems, and renewable-energy driven desalination.
... In this context, the most extended desalination technology is reverse osmosis (RO) with an associated energy consumption of 3.5 kWh·m −3 (50% recovery) (MacHarg et al., 2008). Temperature-driven technologies such as multi stage flash (MSF) and multi effect distillation (MED) consume even larger amounts of energy (5.5-40 kWh·m −3 ), thus limiting their use only in countries with low fuel cost (Sharon and Reddy, 2015). ...
Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) represents an innovative technology which accomplishes simultaneous desalination and wastewater treatment without external energy input. MDC technology could be employed to provide freshwater with low-energy input, for example, in remote areas where organic wastes (i.e., urban or industrial) are available. In addition, MDC technology has been proposed as pre-treatment in conventional reverse osmosis plants, with the aim of saving energy and avoiding greenhouse gases related to conventional desalination processes. The use of oxygen reduction (i.e. O 2 + 2H 2 O + 4e − → 4 OH − , E 0 ′ = 0.815 V, pH = 7) was usually implemented as cathodic reaction in most of the MDCs reported in literature, whereas other strategies based on liquid catholytes have been also proposed, for example, ferro-ferricyanide redox couple (i.e. Fe(CN) 3− 6 + 1e − → Fe(CN) 4− 6 , E 0 = 0.37 V). As the MDC designs in the literature and operation modes (i.e., batch, continuous, semi-continuous, etc.) are quite different, the available MDC studies are not directly comparable. For this reason, the main objective of this work was to have a proper comparison of two similar MDCs operating with two different catholyte strategies, and compare performance and desalination efficiencies. In this sense, this study compares the desalination performance of two laboratory-scale MDCs located in two different locations for brackish water and sea water using two different strategies. The first strategy consisted of an air cathode for efficient oxygen reduction, while the second strategy was based on a liquid catholyte with Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ solution (i.e., ferro-ferricyanide complex). Both strategies achieved desalination efficiency above 90% for brackish water. Nominal desalination rates (NDR) were in the range of 0.17-0.14 L·m −2 ·h −1 for brackish and seawater with air diffusion cathode MDC, respectively, and 1.5-0.7 L·m −2 ·h −1 when using ferro-ferricyanide redox MDC. Organic matter present in wastewater was effectively removed at 0.9 and 1.1 kg COD·m −3 ·day −1 using the air diffusion cathode MDC for brackish and Ramírez-Moreno et al. Comparative Performance of Microbial Desalination Cells sea water, respectively, and 7.1 and 19.7 kg COD·m −3 ·day −1 with a ferro-ferricyanide redox MDC. Both approaches used a laboratory MDC prototype without any energy supply (excluding pumping energy). Pros and cons of both strategies are discussed for subsequent upscaling of MDC technology.
... In this context, the most extended desalination technology is reverse osmosis (RO) with an associated energy consumption of 3.5 kWh·m −3 (50% recovery) (MacHarg et al., 2008). Temperature-driven technologies such as multi stage flash (MSF) and multi effect distillation (MED) consume even larger amounts of energy (5.5-40 kWh·m −3 ), thus limiting their use only in countries with low fuel cost (Sharon and Reddy, 2015). ...
Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) represents an innovative technology which accomplishes simultaneous desalination and wastewater treatment without external energy input. MDC technology could be employed to provide freshwater with low-energy input, for example, in remote areas where organic wastes (i.e. urban or industrial) are available. In addition, MDC technology has been proposed as pre-treatment in conventional reverse osmosis plants, with the aim of saving energy and avoiding greenhouse gases related to conventional desalination processes. The use of oxygen reduction (i.e. O2 + 2H2O +4e- 4 OH-, E0’ = 0.815 V, pH=7) was usually implemented as cathodic reaction in most of the MDCs reported in literature, whereas other strategies based on liquid catholytes have been also proposed, for example, ferro-ferricyanide redox couple (i.e. Fe(CN)63- + 1e- Fe(CN)64-, E0 = 0.37 V). As the MDC designs in the literature and operation modes (i.e. batch, continuous, semi-continuous, etc.) are quite different, the available MDC studies are not directly comparable. For this reason, the main objective of this work was to have a proper comparison of two similar MDCs operating with two different catholyte strategies, and compare performance and desalination efficiencies.
In this sense, this study compares the desalination performance of two laboratory-scale MDCs located in two different locations for brackish water and sea water using two different strategies. The first strategy consisted of an air cathode for efficient oxygen reduction, while the second strategy was based on a liquid catholyte with Fe3+/Fe2+ solution (i.e. ferro-ferricyanide complex).
Both strategies achieved desalination efficiency above 90% for brackish water. Nominal desalination rates (NDR) were in the range of 0.17-0.14 L·m-2·h-1 for brackish and seawater with air diffusion cathode MDC, respectively, and 1.5-0.7 L·m-2·h-1 when using ferro-ferricyanide redox MDC. Organic matter present in wastewater was effectively removed at 0.9 and 1.1 kg COD·m-3·day-1 using the air diffusion cathode MDC for brackish and sea water, respectively, and 7.1 and 19.7 kg COD·m-3·day-1 with a ferro-ferricyanide redox MDC. Both approaches used a laboratory MDC prototype without any energy supply (excluding pumping energy). Pros and cons of both strategies are discussed for subsequent upscaling of MDC technology.
... Lots of technologies, such as thermal desalination and reverse osmosis, have been introduced over the years for desalination of saline water but these technologies are energy and cost intensive using approximately 3-68 kWh to desalinate 1 m 3 of saltwater from the sea [1][2][3][4][5] but any reduction of salinity will benefit the energy efficiency of a downstream reverse osmosis (RO). In spite of such challenges the demand for freshwater, which forms only 3% of world water, is very high due to the rapid increase in its utility as a result of the exponential population growth [6]. ...
The concept microbial desalination cells (MDC) evolved from microbial fuel cells (MFC) technology. MDCs have been used in a wide range of applications since its introduction in 2009 including various configuration introduced by different researchers to solve some challenges in the operation of the reactor. Some of these applications include; seawater desalination, brackish water desalination, water softening, hydrogen and chemical production and groundwater remediation. Performance and efficiency of this technology is influenced by many factors just as any other technology, this review enlightens the varying impact of reactor configuration, pH imbalance/fluctuation, operational conditions , microbial conditions, substrate, materials and dimensions, electrode materials, resistance, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and conductivity on the performance of the MDC rector in terms of electricity production, desalination and wastewater treatment (COD removal). The study also identifies and demonstrates the factors other studies have compared over the years till date classified under technical topics, theoretically showing their significance to enhance the improvement of MDC for future extension of its application. The study as well shows the relationship between the individual factors along with how these factors contribute to the performance and efficiency of the MDC reactor, its processing (operation) and the way forward.
... In this sense, current water desalination technologies can significantly increase water resources for human consumption, industrial use and irrigation, but require significant electric or thermal energy. On top of the environmental impact due to brine disposal [1], reverse osmosis (RO) consumes around 3.5 kWhm À3 of electric energy [2] for seawater desalination with only a recovery of 50%, while thermal technologies could reach more than 7 kWhm À3 to drive desalination processes. The installed capacity of systems in year 2015 was about 86.8 million m 3 day À1 of desalted water, this is expected to increase drastically in the next years. ...
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: <1 mS cm⁻¹) using a filter press-based MDC prototype without any energy supply (excluding peristaltic pump energy). This start-up protocol is not only optimized for time but also simplifies operational procedures making it a more feasible strategy for future scaling-up of MDCs either as a single process or as a pre-treatment method combined with other well established desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO) or reverse electrodialysis.
... RO technology has improved dramatically since the 1950s [147]: the most efficient desalination process, RO, now requires ⇠2.6 kWh per cubic meter of fresh water compared with 8 kWh in 1980 [173]. However, desalination still comes at a high cost [174]. ...
Desalination is one of the most promising approaches to supply new fresh water in the face of growing water issues. However, commercial reverse osmosis (RO) techniques still suffer from important drawbacks. In order for desalination to live up to the water challenges of this century, a step-change is needed in RO membrane technology. Thanks to significant advances in the field of computational materials science in the past decade, it is becoming possible to develop a new generation of RO membranes. In this thesis, we explore how computational approaches can be employed to understand, predict and ultimately design a future generation of RO membranes based on graphene. We show that graphene, an atom-thick layer of carbon with exceptional physical and mechanical properties, could allow for water passage while rejecting salt ions if it possessed nanometer-sized pores. Using computer simulations from the atomic scale to the engineering scale, we begin by investigating the relationship between the atomic structure of nanoporous graphene and its membrane properties in RO applications. We then investigate the thermodynamics, chemistry and mechanics of graphene and the water and salt surrounding it. Finally, we establish the system-level implications of graphene's promising membrane properties for desalination plants. Overall, this thesis reveals that graphene can act as an RO membrane with two orders of magnitude higher water permeability than commercial polymer membranes as long as the nanopores have diameters around 0.6nm, that graphene is strong enough to withstand RO pressures as long as it is supported by a substrate material with adequate porosity, and that a nanoporous graphene membrane could ultimately reduce either the energy footprint or the capital requirements of RO desalination. Ultimately, this thesis highlights a path for the development of next-generation membranes for clean water production in the 21st century.
... Inspired by this, Kumar et al. found that AQPs incorporated into polymersomes show water permeability up to two orders of magnitude greater than the commercial RO membranes and a selectivity of about 100% [9]. At a first glance an aquaporin membrane should then be ideally suited as a building block for UPMs capable of bringing down the current desalination energy cost of ~ 2.6 kWh/m 3 [10]. Also for seawater RO ...
In recent years, aquaporin biomimetic membranes (ABMs) for water separation have gained considerable interest. Although the first ABMs are commercially available, there are still many challenges associated with further ABM development. Here, we discuss the interplay of the main components of ABMs: aquaporin proteins (AQPs), block copolymers for AQP reconstitution, and polymer-based supporting structures. First, we briefly cover challenges and review recent developments in understanding the interplay between AQP and block copolymers. Second, we review some experimental characterization methods for investigating AQP incorporation including freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, stopped-flow light scattering, and small-angle X-ray scattering. Third, we focus on recent efforts in embedding reconstituted AQPs in membrane designs that are based on conventional thin film interfacial polymerization techniques. Finally, we describe some new developments in interfacial polymerization using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane cages for increasing the physical and chemical durability of thin film composite membranes.
... At the most affordable point for a single-stage 190,000 m 3 /d plant, a total treatment energy in the range of 2.75-2.98 kWh/m 3 was demonstrated [60]. ...
... At a first glance an aquaporin membrane should then be ideally suited as a building block for UPMs capable of bringing down the current desalination energy cost of~2.6 kWh/m 3 [10]. Also for seawater RO ...
... Energy efficiency is obtained in RO systems either by using the energy remaining in the concentrate stream to pressurize more water or ease the burden on the high pressure pump, or by using thinner, high productivity, low pressure, membranes while accepting a lower rejection of salts. The Affordable Desalination Collaborative has demonstrated the most efficient high pressure RO desalination with pretreatment at 2.75 -2.98 kWh/m3 (10.4 -11.3 kWh/kgal) with 50% water recovery (MacHarg, Seacord, & Sessions, 2008). ...
There are a number of locations where a utility might want to be able to treat multiple sources of water with one treatment system. A few that are of current interest at the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are: • The Texas Gulf Coast where brackish surface or groundwater is available for much of the year but only seawater is available during dry seasons; • South Central California where the character of the irrigation drainage water changes with the intensity of irrigation; • Inland desert areas where the composition of brackish surface and groundwater is significantly different when augmented with storm water. In each situation the composition of source water varies widely over the year, or even shorter periods in the case of irrigation drainage which changes with the irrigation cycle. It is not practical to build separate facilities to treat water at different times of the year. A system with built in flexibility to adapt to changing water composition would be preferable. Examples of how flexibility can be built in to a reverse osmosis design are presented based on a brackish water membrane system modeled using Hydranautics IMS Design software, and a seawater system designed using Dow FilmTec's Reverse Osmosis System Analysis software. In both cases the conversion from one source water to another can be accomplished with a few extra valves and a supplemental pump for the brackish water case. Seawater is accommodated with a brackish system by lowering recovery from 75 to 50% and converting the second stage to a second pass. Brackish water is accommodated in the seawater system by converting one third of the system operating on concentrate pressure to a second stage operating at the residual pressure from the concentrate of the other two thirds of the system which then form the first stage of the brackish system.
... Nevertheless, the reverse osmosis method is predicted to approach the technical limits within several years later. It is due to this fact the reverse osmosis process cannot be operated over 50% of the water recovery efficiency, and the improvement of the energy efficiency which can be increased through the technology development is difficult when considering the cost of the chemical and the equipment for the pretreatment of the seawater and the operating cost of the high pressure pump which provides water with the pressure for penetrating the reverse osmosis membrane [9]. Therefore, to overcome the limits of the desalination technology, the new desalination technology which decreases the energy consumption of the desalination process and the cost of the water production is required by generating the energy through the usage of osmotic pressure of concentrated seawater and integrating the resource recovery system. ...
The performance of FO is predicted numerically by one-dimensional model. Mass balance equation for the feed and draw side are coupled with the water flux model considering concentration polarization. Results of the present study showed the flow rate of the feed and draw solution should be determined by considering the water flux and the water recovery efficiency. Using the draw solution of as high concentration as possible is helpful to improve the water flux. As increasing the membrane module length, the averaged water flux per membrane length decreases but the water production increases. Therefore, in order to determine the membrane length, it is required to consider the water flux reduction, total water production, membrane size and the number of membrane. The water flux of counter-current flow is about 10% higher than that of co-current flow. Forming feed solution into series and draw solution into rows are effective in increasing water flux.
... At a first glance an aquaporin membrane should then be ideally suited as a building block for UPMs capable of bringing down the current desalination energy cost of~2.6 kWh/m 3 [10]. Also for seawater RO ...
Based on their unique combination of offering high water permeability and high solute rejection aquaporin proteins have attracted considerable interest over the last years as functional building blocks of biomimetic membranes for water desalination and reuse. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the properties of aquaporins, their preparation and characterization. We discuss the challenges in exploiting the remarkable properties of aquaporin proteins for membrane separation processes and we present various attempts to construct aquaporin in membranes for desalination; including an overview of our own recent developments in aquaporin-based membranes. Finally we outline future prospects of aquaporin based biomimetic membrane for desalination and water reuse.
... Electrically-driven pumps are used to apply the hydrostatic pressure that is higher than the osmotic pressure to the feed seawater at one side of the membrane, and permeate with lower TDS is produced on the other side. Over the recent years, improved membrane technologies and better energy recovery systems have yielded RO systems to have specific energy consumption between 2.5 and 3.5 kWh m − 3 [16,17]. Despite the low energy consumption, the drawbacks of RO systems are the product water quality associating with residuals of boron, chlorides, and bromides, as well as the high maintenance of the mechanical equipment and membrane lifespan [18]. ...
Low temperature waste heat-driven adsorption desalination (AD) cycles offer high potential as one of the most economically viable and environmental-friendly desalination methods. This article presents the development of an advanced adsorption desalination cycle that employs internal heat recovery between the evaporator and the condenser, utilizing an encapsulated evaporator–condenser unit for effective heat transfer. A simulation model has been developed based on the actual sorption characteristics of the adsorbent–adsorbate pair, energy and mass balances applied to the components of the AD cycle. With an integrated design, the temperature in the evaporator and the vapor pressurization of the adsorber are raised due to the direct heat recovery from the condenser, resulting in the higher water production rates, typically improved by as much as three folds of the conventional AD cycle. In addition, the integrated design eliminates two pumps, namely, the condenser cooling water and the chilled water pumps, lowering the overall electricity consumption. The performance of the cycle is analyzed at assorted heat source and cooling water temperatures, and different cycle times as well as the transient heat transfer coefficients of the evaporation and condensation.
... In this figure, the power consumed to purify one cubic meter of seawater by reverse osmosis is plotted over the last 40 years. [12][13][14][15] This power is approaching the limit of Eq. 16, shown as the dashed horizontal line. Improvements in reverse osmosis membranes and module designs do seem to be approaching the limits calculated here. ...
Rising energy costs have renewed interest in energy efficient separations. Such efficiencies can be defined as the free energy of unmixing divided by the work done on and the heat added to the process. The greatest efficiencies occur when the energy cost far exceeds any capital cost. In this limit, rate processes are not important, and efficiency is governed by thermodynamics. Efficiencies for gas absorption and stripping are then typically around 50%. The efficiencies of liquid–liquid extractions are lower, especially when one solute is wanted at higher concentration. The efficiencies of membrane separations are higher, but these require high pressure, normally obtained mechanically. As a result, membrane efficiencies should be reduced by any Carnot efficiency of generating the mechanical energy. These results, which are consistent with earlier estimates for distillation, have implications for carbon dioxide capture as a route to mitigating global warming. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012
One way in order to reduction energy consumption and providing the required water in both well-established technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodialysis is use of the strengths of two or more processes through hybridization. Other key objectives of hybridization include increasing the capacity of the plant flexibility in operation and meeting the specific requirements for water quality. At this section, has been provided a critical review of hybrid desalination systems, and methods used to optimize such systems with respect to these objectives. For instance, coupling two process like as electrodialysis with RO is very effective in order to overcome the low recovery in RO systems. On the other hand, we can use for two or more processes such as RO with membrane distillation (MD) or zero liquid discharge (ZLD) for treatment of hypersaline feed solutions. At this section, also have been reviewed the applicability of salinity gradient power technologies with desalination systems and we identified the gaps that for effective upscaling and execution and implementation of such hybrid systems need to be addressed.
Despite water being critical for human survival, its uneven distribution, and exposure to countless sources of pollution make water shortages increasingly urgent. Membrane technology offers an efficient solution for alleviating the water shortage impact. The selectivity and permeability of membranes can be improved by incorporating additives of different nature and size scales. However, with the vast debate about the environmental and economic feasibility of the common nanoscale materials in water treatment applications, we can infer that there is a long way before the first industrial nanocomposite membrane is commercialized. This stumbling block has motivated the scientific community to search for alternative modification routes and/or materials with sustainable features. Herein, we present a pragmatic review merging the concept of sustainability, nanotechnology, and membrane technology through the application of natural additives (e.g., Clays, Arabic Gum, zeolite, lignin, Aquaporin), recycled additives (e.g., Biochar, fly ash), and recycled waste (e.g., Polyethylene Terephthalate, recycled polystyrene) for polymeric membrane synthesis and modification. Imparted features on polymeric membranes, induced by the presence of sustainable natural and waste-based materials, are scrutinized. In addition, the strategies harnessed to eliminate the hurdles associated with the application of these nano and micro size additives for composite membranes modification are elaborated. The expanding research efforts devoted recently to membrane sustainability and the prospects for these materials are discussed. The findings of the investigations reported in this work indicate that the application of natural and waste-based additives for composite membrane fabrication/modification is a nascent research area that deserves the attention of both research and industry.
Brine is a hyper-saline by-product that is produced in the desalination process. This by-product has an adverse environmental impact due to its high salinity and therefore its treatment is considered necessary. The minimum energy consumption (MEC) has been studied in seawater desalination, but not in brine treatment. In this regard, this research study introduces a mathematical model to calculate the MEC in the desalination brine treatment. Furthermore, the actual energy consumption (AEC) of the desalination technologies is presented. In this model, various parameters, such as the recovery rate, the salinity and the temperature of the feed brine, the purity of the freshwater produced and the dissolved salt nature, are considered. The analysis revealed that the MEC increases by increasing the recovery rate, the feed brine salinity, the feed brine temperature and the purity of the freshwater produced. On the other side, the MEC decreases by increasing the molar mass of the dissolved salt. The AEC is at least two times higher than the MEC due to irreversibility. Most membrane-based technologies are less energy-intensive than thermal-based technologies; however, they cannot currently treat significantly high-saline brine as do thermal-based technologies. Future advances in materials/system designs are expected to reduce the AECs.
This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction How Much Water is There? Finding More Fresh Water Desalination: Water from Water Desalination: Water from Water Outline Abbreviations
Desalination of brackish and salty water by reverse osmosis (RO) has been increasingly applied to address regional water shortages. Especially at high water recovery, the crystallization of sparingly soluble salts near or on the membrane surface (‘scaling’) is a serious limitation during RO operation. This dissertation characterizes scaling by gypsum (CaSO4∙2H2O) and its interactions with natural organic matter (NOM) in cross-flow RO and stirred beaker crystallization experiments. The results show that gypsum scaling and associated RO performance losses are alleviated in the presence of NOM unless thick NOM-fouling layers develop.
Global water stress, raw material depletion, environmental pollution, energy production, and consumption are already severe problems that our modern society have to solve and overcome for maintaining and increasing the quality of our life. Membrane engineering with its various operations is one of the disciplines more involved in the technological innovations necessary to face these strongly interconnected problems. In this work, the most interesting aspects of membrane engineering in water desalination are identified, not only for the production of freshwater but also for the production of energy and for the recovery of metals from the concentrated waste streams of the desalination plants. In particular, the potentialities of integrated membrane-based desalination processes with membrane distillation (MD)/membrane crystallization (MCr)/pressure-retarded osmosis/reverse electrodialysis units are described. Desalination processes designed in this way could become closed systems, exploiting seawater in order to approach zero liquid discharge (ZLD), or near ZLD, and total raw materials utilization.
Use of ground water, reclaimed water and other impaired water sources is a critical strategy for fresh surface water conservation. Since impaired water desalination by reverse osmosis is energy-intensive, a robust ion-exchange resin wafer electrodeionization technology was developed for energy saving of impaired water desalination. The loose ion exchange resin beads were immobilized and molded to form a porous resin wafer material, and utilized for impaired water desalination. In this study, the impaired water desalination using resin wafer electrodeionization was evaluated along with various key performance indicators, including current efficiency, energy efficiency and productivity. Results suggest that resin wafer electrodeionization can improve energy efficiency to greater than 35% in comparison to reverse osmosis (normally ~12%) for impaired water desalination. The energy consumption of resin wafer electrodeionization was found to be 0.354–0.657 kWh/m3 with productivity of 20.1–41.3 L/h/m2 (i.e., 5.3–10.9 gal/h/m2) for impaired water desalination. For reclaiming cooling water at thermoelectric plants in U.S., a huge amount of energy usage (~400 GWh/day) can be saved, if resin wafer electrodeionization was applied instead of commercial reverse osmosis. It is concluded that resin wafer electrodeionization offers the potential for treating impaired water as a source water, which should be viewed as a crucial component in portfolio of water supply options.
Seawater desalination has become affordable and drought-proof water supply alternative for many urban coastal centers worldwide as a result of dramatic advances in reverse osmosis membrane technology and equipment for energy recovery, which have occurred over the past 20 years. This article provides an overview of key factors influencing desalination costs and energy use and discusses recent trends for their minimization. Advances in reverse osmosis membrane productivity and practical aspects of the use of energy recovery equipment are described, and their potential for cost and energy savings is ranked. The presented material evaluates key benefits of collocation of desalination plants with existing once-trough power generation stations; efficiency of the latest isobaric equipment for recovery of energy from concentrate, nanoparticle-enhanced reverse osmosis membrane elements; and the state-of-the-art configurations of reverse osmosis systems used in the most advanced seawater desalination plants worldwide.Keywords:desalination;reverse osmosis;collocation;nano-particles;energy use;water production costs;membrane elements;hybrid configuration;three-center design
A barometric sealed flash evaporative desalination system was designed to ensure effective utilization of waste heat energy from a process plant. Unlike other conventional system, steam is not used in this desalination process. The plant was constructed in an existing thermal power plant, and experiments were carried out at various temperature differences between condenser reject and surface seawater at various flow rates. The operational and constructional parameters of the plant components were discussed and theoretical calculations for estimating the fresh water yield are presented. The influence of plant operating variables on fresh water generation using low grade thermal energy is experimentally studied. It is found that increase in the power plant condenser reject seawater temperature, feeding to the evaporator, influences the fresh water yield. Increased seawater flow rate to both the flash evaporator and the distillate condenser, decreased distillation plant saturation pressure lead to an increase in the fresh water generation. A maximum yield of 0.086 m3/h is obtained at 14.8 m3/h and 25 m3/h seawater flow rates to the evaporator and condenser respectively, for a flash evaporator system pressure of 49 mbar. The overall agreement between the measured and the theoretical calculations is of the order of 91–96%.
The combined negative effect of both fresh water shortage and energy depletion has encouraged the research to move forward to explore effective solutions for water desalination with less energy consumption. Reverse osmosis (RO), the most common technology for desalination today, uses much less energy than thermal processes. Several modifications and improvements have been made to RO during the last four decades in order to minimize energy consumption, and the process is now near thermodynamic limits. To further reduce energy requirements for desalination, other approaches are needed. A microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a recent technology that could be used as an alternative to RO. An MDC uses electrical current, produced by electrochemically active bacteria, to concurrently generate bioenergy, treat wastewater, and desalinate water. In an attempt to answer the question of whether this emerging technology has the ability to stand alone as an efficient replacement for RO, or it is best if used as an RO pre-treatment setup, this review addresses the near-future application of MDCs in terms of its integration with RO operation.
In this paper, a performance evaluation of a multi-vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) module was conducted using a one-dimensional model. The mathematical model consisted of momentum, mass and energy balance equation using the water permeate flux model and heat flux model. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental results from previous literature. The validated VMD model was implemented into Aspen Plus. Then, a multi-VMD module with one-through flow was simulated. As a result, in the high velocity region, the hydraulic pressure was used as the constraint to determine the number of membrane modules. In the low velocity region, the number of membrane module was determined based on the feed temperature. To improve water recovery and thermal efficiency of the multi-VMD module, the recycle flow was considered and the waste heat included in the discharge brine was recovered. As a result, it was possible to achieve water recovery over 40%. In addition, as the recycle flow ratio increased, thermal efficiency also improved since heat duty and thermal consumption per unit water production decreased.
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 (43 W/m3) than that obtained with an AEM (40 W/m3) or CEM (23 W/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 4.1 L/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.
The cost of desalinated water is likely one of the most relevant indicators to characterize and compare desalination with other technical options to supply water for urban, industrial and agricultural purposes, not to mention the social and environmental aspects associated with each option.A first step toward selecting the most appropriate solution to water shortage is to disclose fully and accurately desalination costs associated with each alternative to both government bodies and general public. This is known in economic terms as the full cost.In principle, costs associated with the production of desalinated water are easy to assess. However, it is difficult to compare costs from different facilities in practical terms due to lack of detailed data as well as the lack of a common method for cost estimation.This study aims to present a clear and easy methodology for estimating seawater desalination costs. As a case study, this methodology was applied to seven large-size desalination plants located in the Segura River Basin (Spain).
Energy or heat recovery schemes are keys for the performance improvement of any heat-activated cycles such as the absorption and adsorption cycles. We present two innovative heat recovery schemes between the condensing and evaporating units of an adsorption desalination (AD) cycle. By recovering the latent heat of condenser and dumping it into the evaporative process of the evaporator, it elevates the evaporating temperature and hence the adsorption pressure seen by the adsorbent. From isotherms, this has an effect of increasing the vapour uptake. In the proposed configurations, one approach is simply to have a run-about water circuit between the condenser and the evaporator and a pump is used to achieve the water circulation. This run-around circuit is a practical method for retrofitting purposes. The second method is targeted towards a new AD cycle where an encapsulated condenser–evaporator unit is employed. The heat transfer between the condensing and evaporative vapour is almost immediate and the processes occur in a fully integrated vessel, thereby minimizing the heat transfer resistances of heat exchangers.
Energy remains the major operating expense when producing desalted water by seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). Recent advances in membrane materials and highly efficient energy recovery devices have drastically reduced the energy required to desalinate seawater over a wide range of system capacities. This study tests the performance of novel, commercially available, high-permeability membranes (including nanocomposite membranes) over an extended period of time. Tests were carried out utilizing a 125 m/day SWRO system with independently verified continuous power monitoring. The desalination subsystem utilizes a staged membrane configuration and a low flux—low recovery design to minimize the overall energy consumption, reduce potential fouling, and reduce membrane cleaning. The specific power required to desalinate water to produce potable water having total dissolved solids below 400 mg/L was consistently below 2.0 kWh/m for feedwater temperatures above 20 °C using commercially available high pressure pumps and energy recovery devices.
This chapter gives an overview on the worldwide installed desalination capacity by different source water types, technologies, and end uses. It furthermore discusses the historical development of the main desalination technologies, regional and future trends. About 63% of the present desalination capacity of 44.1 million cubic meters per day is produced from seawater, 19% from brackish water, and 5% from waste water sources. Much of the expected growth of the desalination market will take place in the seawater sector, although brackish water and wastewater desalination will presumably become more important in the future. The figures show that desalination is developing into a coastal-based industry in some sea regions such as the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea, with potential to harm the marine environmental resources it depends on. The key environmental concerns are briefly outlined, covering the intakes and discharges, and energy demand of the main processes, followed by an outlook on impact mitigation measures.
In recent years, numerous large-scale seawater desalination plants have been built in water-stressed countries to augment available water resources, and construction of new desalination plants is expected to increase in the near future. Despite major advancements in desalination technologies, seawater desalination is still more energy intensive compared to conventional technologies for the treatment of fresh water. There are also concerns about the potential environmental impacts of large-scale seawater desalination plants. Here, we review the possible reductions in energy demand by state-of-the-art seawater desalination technologies, the potential role of advanced materials and innovative technologies in improving performance, and the sustainability of desalination as a technological solution to global water shortages.
Increasing demand for allocated freshwater resources, declining freshwater quality, drought, and the need for a diverse water supply portfolio are among the many reasons that people across the United States and the world are looking to the sea as a potential supply. However, in the United States, the high cost of desalination has historically hindered interest in seawater as a possible fresh water supply. Sensitive to the issue of cost as a limitation to realizing large scale implementation of seawater desalination, engineers, scientists, and the manufacturing industry have worked over the last two decades to reduce both the capital and operating cost associated with desalinated water. The Affordable Desalination Collaboration (ADC) is a California non-profit organization composed of a group of leading companies and agencies in the desalination industry that have agreed to pool their resources and share their expertise in the mission to realize the affordable desalination of seawater. Using a combination of proven technologies, the ADC has demonstrated that seawater reverse osmosis can be used to produce water at an affordable cost comparable to other supply alternatives. As a result, the ADC is pleased to announce their mission is a success. Desalination is affordable and can provide another cost effective tool to water agencies seeking a diverse water supply portfolio. The ADC's demonstration scale seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant completed over six months of testing at the US Navy's Seawater Desalination Test Facility in Port Hueneme, California in March of 2006. Three membranes were tested while varying flux and recovery to estimate the most affordable operating point. The most affordable operating point was estimated by calculating the net present value for each tested condition, accounting for both capital and operating costs. The results of this work are presented herein.
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant at Avila Beach in California uses seawater for both cooling water and for make-up water for steam generation. An equipment and service company a designed, built, and operates a complete water treatment system serving the high-purity water needs of this power plant. For more than 10 years, the seawater treatment section has demonstrated excellent long-term performance. This article will mainly discuss operating experience of the seawater desalination section of the water treatment plant. However, there will also be some discussion of the rest of the integrated membrane system for high-purity water production at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Station, operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Affordable Desalination Collaboration 10 mgd Conceptual Case Study
- T F Seacord
- S Dundorf
- J Macharg
Seacord, T.F., S. Dundorf, and J. MacHarg. Affordable Desalination Collaboration 10 mgd Conceptual Case Study. Proc. 2007 AMTA Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada