5,000,000 imp.gal/day sea water desalination plant for the Ministry of Electricity and Water, Government of Kuwait

Regulatory challenges of Palestinian strategies on distribution of desalinated water

Regulatory challenges of Palestinian strategies on distribution of desalinated water

Desalination and water resource management in Kuwait

Desalination and water resource management in Kuwait

해수담수화 플랜트 시장 진출 유망 국가 분석을 위한 지수를 개발하였고 이를 위해서 관련된 자료를 수집하고 분석하였다. 자료의 특성상 국가별로 편차가 커 스케일 재조정 방법을 통해 각 지표별로 표준화를 실시하였고, 해수담수화 플랜트에 대한 전문가들을 대상으로 Delphi 기법을 통한 설문 조사를 통해 가중치를 결정하였다. 총 23개의 지표를 3가지 요소로 나누어 각각의 항목별로 가중치를 결정하였으며, 사우디아라비아, UAE, 쿠웨이트, 이란, 카타르, 중국, 싱가포르, 인도, 알제리, 터키, 미국 등 11개 국가, 즉 해수담수화 플랜트 해외 시장 유망 국가들에 대해서 지수를 산정하였다. 산정된 지수를 비교하였을 때 미국이 0.537, 중국이 0.490, 사우디아라비아가 0.329로 나타났다. 현지 사정을 고려하였을 때는 미국과 중국은 해외 시장 진출을 하는데 많은 어려움이 있을 수 있지만 그 외에 국가에 대해서는 본 연구의 결과를 바탕으로 전략적으로 시장 진출을 도모하는데 도움이 될 것으로 판단된다. An index was developed for analyzing the promising countries for seawater desalination plant and related data sets were collected and analyzed. Each indicators was standardized by scale readjustment method and Delphi method was used to calculate the weights for indicators from questionnaire survey by experts in seawater desalination plant field. Twenty three indicators were selected and they were classified into three groups, economic, social, and environmental indicator groups. Eleven countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Qatar, China, Singapore, India, Algeria, Turkey, United States) were selected considering present data availability and index for each country was calculated. The results show United States and China took the first (0.537) and second (0.490) place for the most promising country for seawater desalination plant. However it will not be easy to play a significant role in the markets because of present seawater desalination technology level and national policy, etc. Saudi Arabia took the third (0.329) place and other countries which has more than 0.2 index value can be considered as a promising countries for seawater desalination plant. We can establish a strategy to export our seawater desalination technology and plant using the result of this study. The developed index can be applied to other countries, which were not included in this study, when their data is available.

The development of renewable energy technologies is of global importance. To realize a sustainable society, fossil-resource-independent technologies, such as solar- and wind-power generation, should be widely adopted. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is one such potential renewable energy technology. PRO requires salt water and fresh water, both of which can be found at seawater desalination plants. The total power generation capacity of PRO, using concentrated seawater and fresh water, is 3 GW. A large amount of energy is required for seawater desalination; therefore, the introduction of renewable energy should be prioritized. Kyowakiden Industry Co., Ltd., has been working on introducing PRO to seawater desalination plants since 2001 and is attracting attention for its ongoing PRO pilot plant with a scale of 460 m3/d, using concentrated seawater and treated sewage water. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of introducing PRO in existing desalination plants. The feasibility was examined based on technology, operation, and economy. Based on the number of seawater desalination plants in each country and the electricity charges, it was determined whether the introduction of PRO would be viable.

Oman is situated at the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula at the entrance to the Arabian Gulf, and its coastline stretches 1700 km along the Gulf of Oman in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. Most of the population lives in the north-eastern coastal areas and in the capital area of Muscat. The climate of Oman is typically described as a tropical hyper-arid, with two distinct seasons: winter and summer. The winter period extends from late November to April, during which rains at irregular intervals occur. However, based on 27 years of rainfall data from 1977 (Kwarteng et al., 2009), the annual mean rainfall for the whole country is 117 mm. Hot weather with high humidity is experienced in the coastal areas during the summer months. The mean air temperature in northern Oman varies between 32 oC to 48 oC from May to September, and between 26 oC to 36 oC from October to April. The mean wind speeds range between 2 and 3.5 m/s, with high winds encountered during the summer months. Desalinated water has been used in Oman since 1976 when the Al-Ghubrah (co-location) power and seawater desalination plant using a thermal technology of multi-stage flash (MSF) was first commissioned in Muscat. To meet continuously growing water demand due to population growth and economic and social development and to reduce the reliance on groundwater resources, by 1999 the Al-Ghubrah plant had seven MSF desalination units installed. The first seawater desalination unit installed had a capacity of 22,750 m3/d, and the other six MSF units each have a capacity of 27,000 m3/d. Desalinated water usage in Oman is expected to increase further in the future, due to new industrial and tourismrelated developments. Desalination plants extract large volumes of seawater and discharge hot, hypersaline brine back into the marine environment. Therefore, the main concern of continuous brine discharges has been the potential impact upon the salinity of seawater (and possible thermal stress for discharges from MSF plants), and the resultant effects to marine communities around discharge outlets. Other occasional discharges from the plants include corrosion products, toxic antifoulants and antiscalants used in maintaining plant infrastructure (Roberts et al., 2010). As brine discharges are often denser and heavier than receiving marine waters, the brine streams tend to sink and spread further along the seabed than at the

Optimizing desalinated sea water blending with other sources to meet magnesium requirements for potable and irrigation waters

Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have been widely applied in seawater desalination (SWRO) and wastewater reclamation as the main desalination technology since 2000. SWRO plants face challenges to reduce energy consumption and brine disposal to lessen marine pollution. To tackle these challenges, a SWRO-PRO (Pressure Retarded Osmosis) System was proposed in the “Mega-ton Water System” project under the Japanese national project of the “Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology” (FIRST Program). To reduce the energy consumption of the main SWRO plant, an innovative low-pressure SWRO membrane and a next generation energy recovery device (ERD) were developed by the “Mega-ton Water System” project. In addition to this research and development, a new membrane process has been proposed and confirmed as a low-pressure multi-stage SWRO (LMS). A brine conversion two-stage SWRO system was invented 20 years ago, and has been in operation for over 15 years. Application of the SWRO membrane process to actual commercial plants was an important research theme. The low-pressure multi-stage SWRO System (LMS) was an innovative method of introducing a low-pressure membrane and the membrane element in the pressure vessel was designed to avoid heavy fouling of lead elements. As a result of these developments at mega-ton scale SWRO plants, a 20% energy reduction was possible in the SWRO system of the “Mega-ton Water System”. In the development of the PRO process, a PRO hollow fiber membrane module with a maximum 13.3 w/m2 of membrane power density using a 10-inch module was established at a prototype PRO plant. Thus, a 30% energy reduction was possible using the SWRO-PRO System in the “Mega-ton Water System” at mega-ton scale SWRO plants. The brine disposal problem was also solved by this system.

Water scarcity is a global issue that has extreme effects on conflict zones in particular. Therefore, seawater desalination provided a practical solution to reduce the problem. The Gaza Strip suffers from potable water scarcity due to groundwater contamination and the deterioration of the coastal aquifers. Thereby, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) had constructed three seawater desalination plants (SDP’s) in addition to purchasing potable water from the Israeli company (Mekorot). Due to the importance of the SDP’s, a flexible and comprehensive management system is required to ensure the sustainability of the performance. Thereby, this study aims to assess the potentiality of applying the Integrated Management System (IMS) in seawater desalination plants. This study used data collected from reports, questionnaires, and interviews, which is then analysed statistically, in order to identify the effects and barriers of applying the IMS in seawater desalination plants. The data also was used in SWOT analysis to formulate strategies for applying the IMS. The reports showed that the physicochemical water quality of samples from seawater desalination plants is compatible with PWA and WHO standards. The results from the questionnaire showed that there are positive impacts of applying the IMS on the performance of the desalination plants in terms of the financial, administrative, technical, environmental, and socio-economic aspects. However, the study identified 12 barriers which were analysed through SWOT analysis to formulate strategies to facilitate the implementation of the IMS. The highest priority and most applicable strategy is the formation of a partnership with the UN institutions to obtain international protection and facilitate the entry of the required materials.

Objectives The production cost of reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination plant is determined by the CAPEX (Capital expenditure) and OPEX (Operating expenditure). In detail, CAPEX and OPEX are composed of direct cost, overhead cost, electricity cost, and other O&M costs. However, CAPEX and OPEX may vary by country and region. Therefore, this study tries to estimate the production cost by calculating the construction and maintenance costs depending on production capacities based on the operation results such as TDS concentration and the energy consumption from a seawater desalination plant in Korea. Methods A two-stage RO based seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 10 MIGD (45,000 m3/d) was used in this study. The plant consists of a 2 MIGD (9,000 m3/d) unit having DABF (Dissolved air bio-ball filter) and UF (Ultrafiltration) as pretreatment processes, and another 8 MIGD (36,000 m3/d) unit having DABF and DMF (Dual media filtration) as pretreatment processes. To estimate the production cost, construction and maintenance costs were calculated by using GWI's Desaldata cost estimator. CAPEX (Capital expenditure) was calculated based on production capacity, recovery rate, TDS concentration and temperature of seawater, while OPEX (Operating expenditure) was calculated based on production capacity, country, energy consumption, and electricity unit price. Results and Discussion The energy consumptions from EMS (Energy Management System) were 5.48 kWh/m3 at SLC (9,000 m3/d) and 3.4 kWh/m3 at MLC (45,000 m3/d), respectively. In the CAPEX, MLC was reduced by 395,954 ￦/m3 compared to SLC, and the LLC was lower by 192,019 ￦/m3 than MLC. Overall, CAPEX decreased as the production capacity increased. The CAPEX of small plants with production capacity between 10,000 and 50,000 m3/d was significantly different; however, there was no significant difference in larger plants having a capacity above 100,000 m3/d. The OPEX for the annual production capacity showed a sizable difference with 742.3 ￦/m3, 636.5 ￦/m3 and 580.3 ￦/m3 for SLC, MLC, and LLC, respectively. The electricity cost was a substantial portion of OPEX. Also, the production costs based on the interest rates (3% and 5%) were 1,326-1,384 ￦/m3, 1,163-1,209 ￦/m3, and 1,023-1,070 ￦/m3 for SLC, MLC, and LLC, respectively. The results were consistent with 1.0 US$/m3, which is the average production costs presented from other references. Conclusions The production cost estimated using the Desaldata cost estimator based on the CAPEX and OPEX tends to decrease as the capacity increases. However, when the capacity increased over 50,000 m3/d, the production cost decreased by an average of 40 ￦/m3. Thus the decrement of production cost reduced. From these results, the production cost of tap water through seawater desalination was estimated between 1,023 ￦/m3 and 1,070 ￦/m3 above 100,000 m3/d. Therefore, it is difficult to introduce a large-scale desalination plant in Korea, because the average tap water price was 834.6 ￦ in Korea in 2017. However, It is expected that the seawater desalination will be introduced as an alternative water source whenever drinking water price rises, or when the quantity of available drinking water sources reduce due to climate change and water pollution, or whenever energy consumption is reduced as a result of the steady development of the component technologies such as the reverse osmosis membrane, high-pressure pump, and energy recovery device. Key words: Reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant, Water price, Capital expenditure, Operating expenditure, Energy consumption

Climate change is a major issue that is very interesting to discuss. Climate change is believed to be caused by the greenhouse gas effect. CO2 is one of the gases that causes the greenhouse gas effect. Therefore, to avoid the dangers of climate change, reducing CO2 emissions is the main topic in various articles. In this article, CO2 emission mitigation is analyzed in the sea water desalination plant using reverse electrodialysis power generation. Reverse electrodialysis is a power plant that does not produce CO2 emissions which converts energy from the difference in salinity of two solutions into electrical energy through selective ion membrane technology. There are 8 sea water desalination (SWD) unit which produces 242 tons/h of clean water for industrial activity and blowdown water of 3,161 tons/h, the blowdown water is wastewater. The SWD unit requires 3.043 tons/h of seawater as feed water, 0.164 MW of electricity and 86 tons/h of steam worth 64.1 MW as an energy. The energy are met from the combined heat and power operation. Combined heat and power require of fuel oil and fuel gas which produce CO2 emissions of 1,352,445,626 kgCO2/y. From the analysis on the SWD plant, the CO2 emission is 148,411,874 kgCO2/y. By implementing reverse electrodialysis power generation, blowdown water at the SWD plant which has a salinity concentration of 680 mol/m3 can produce electricity of 0.414 MW (3,636 MWh/y). If the electricity generated is used to substitute the electricity needs at the refinery plant, the CO2 emissions that can be mitigated is 2,955,915 kgCO2/y

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are taking a leading role as a solar-based renewable energy source (RES) because of their unique advantages. This trend is being increased in the field of Seawater desalination. This paper presents a study on the Seawater Desalination Plant (SWDP) located in Egypt feeding from the utility network. The main challenge in such a non-linear system with a high level of variability is the optimum sizing of the SWDP with the proposed whole solar-powered while keeping good dynamic performance. In this article, a solid electrical load analysis is presented to assess the optimal design of SWDP fed by the PV system. Moreover, optimal maximum power point tracking controllers (MPPTCs) are developed to enhance the dynamic performance of SWDP fed by the PV system. To accomplish this study, a real grid connected seawater desalination plant located in Egypt is implemented. The selected SWDP is producing 700 m3/day. The real experimental data of the plant were extracted through daily readings of electricity consumption and water production meters. This experimental data is then introduced to the HOMER program to suggest the optimal components of the PV system based on the minimum net present cost. The developed power plant consists of a Photovoltaic (PV) array, DC/AC converter, load and grid. Also, to tackle the challenge of the low conversion efficiency of the PV system, three MPPTCs are investigated to improve the dynamic performance of the proposed SWDP fed by the PV system. Incremental Conductance in conjunction with three artificial intelligence (AI) optimization techniques (Particle Swarm Optimization, Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Harris Hawks Optimization) is developed for the assessment of the dynamic performance of the presented SWDP fed by PV. The system was constructed, modeled and simulated through MATLAB/SIMULINK. The attained results of the three methods are promising in extracting the maximum power with minimum error from the PV system while improving the performance of SWDP. The obtained simulation, as well as experimental results, proves the efficacy of the suggested optimal design strategy.

Development of the most adequate pre-treatment for high capacity seawater desalination plants with open intake

Despite the fact of being intensive energy consumption, MSF is a mature technology that characterised by a high production capacity of high-quality water. The multistage flash (MSF) desalination process is one of the prominent thermal desalination used in the industry of seawater desalination to produce high quantity and high quality of freshwater. However, this process consumes large amount of energy and faces thermal limitations due to its high degree of exergy destruction at several units of the process. Therefore, the research of MSF is still existed to elevate the performance indicators and to resolve the concern of high energy consumption. To rectify these limitations, it is important to determine the units responsible in dissipating energy. This study aims to model an industrial MSF process validated against real data and then investigate the exergy destruction and thermodynamic limitations of the process. As a case study, Azzour MSF seawater desalination plant, located in Al Khiran in Kuwait is under the focus. A comprehensive model is developed by analysing several published models. Specifically, the calculation of exergy destruction has embedded both physical and chemical exergies that identified as a strong point of the model developed. As expected, the highest exergy destruction (55.5%) occurs within the heat recovery section followed by the brine heater with exergy destruction of 28.26% of the total exergy destruction. This study identifies the sections of the industrial process that cause the highest energy losses.