A new visual package for design and simulation of desalination processes

Thermoeconomic analysis of some existing desalination processes

A new visual library for design and simulation of solar desalination systems (SDS)

Simulation and economic evaluation of a coupled thermal vapor compression desalination process for produced water management

Novel Tri Hybrid Desalination Plants

A variety of industrial wastewater recovery technologies for different areas and applications has been developed over the years, including primarily thermal and membrane processes. The main thermal processes include atmospheric distillation, distillation with mechanical vapor compression, vacuum distillation, multi-stage flash distillation, multi-effect distillation with thermal vapor compression, etc. [1,2]. The membrane processes contain reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and nanofiltration. The multi-stage flash distillation and reverse osmosis processes dominate in most applications. Wastewater recovery and re-use technologies have been expanding rapidly in recent decades. The market is also driven by the falling costs of wastewater recovery, which are due to the technological advances in the process. The costs of clean water produced by wastewater recovery process dropped considerably over the years as a result of reductions in price of equipment, reductions in power consumption and advances in system design and operating experiences. In this work state-of-the art and innovative wastewater recovery/re-use technologies are estimated and compared in their features and cost respects. The new technology is discussed that allows increasing in energy efficiency of the wastewater recycling and reduce electricity consumption associated with conventional methods. Successful development and implementation of the technology for food processing applications will provide large energy and water savings to the industry. These savings are tied to an energy efficiency increase and reduction in pumping power for process water supply. The ability to integrate waste heat recovery with wastewater reuse also leads to product cost reduction opportunities for producers.

A computer package has been developed for design and simulation of thermal desalination processes. This was motivated by unavailability of such packages in the literature or on a commercial scale. The package includes models for various systems of the single effect evaporation (SEE), the multistage flash (MSF), and the multi effect evaporation (MEE). The MSF systems include brine circulation, brine mixing, once through, and thermal vapor compression. The MEE configurations include parallel and forward feed systems. The SEE and MEE systems include the stand-alone and the vapor compression units. Vapor compression systems include mechanical, thermal, absorption, and adsorption heat pumps. All models are based on a well-developed set of material and energy balance equations as well as correlations for evaluation of physical properties, heat transfer coefficient, and thermo-dynamic losses. All mathematical models have been developed and previously tested and validated by authors against available industrial and literature data. All models generate the design and simulation variables, which have the strongest effect on the unit product cost. These include the thermal performance ratio, the specific heat transfer area, the conversion ratio, the specific power consumption, and the specific flow rate of cooling water. The computer package includes displays for process design, rating, flow charting, performance calculations, help files, and graphing of process schematics and performance curves. The package allows for parameter selection, printing of forms and data files, and selection of parameters for performance charts. The package performs checks on parameter range and prevents pinch conditions in various heat exchange processes. The package have been tested in a number of undergraduate, graduate, and training classes and found simple to use and providing fast and accurate results. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 8: 80–103, 2000

Chapter 4 - Renewable Energy-Powered Membrane Technology: Cost Analysis and Energy Consumption

Geothermal energy, harnessed through the Earth's thermal resources, emerges as an enduring and sustainable remedy to tackle the urgent concern of water scarcity through desalination. By harnessing the innate thermal reservoirs within the planet, geothermal energy provides a distinctive avenue for generating heat and electricity, particularly when synergistically aligned with desalination procedures. To understand the insights of the implications of geothermal energy for desalination, we conducted a comprehensive literature review analysis. Main objectives of the review are to (i.) disseminate insights into geothermal-driven desalination, (ii.) explore potentialities and obstacles of geothermal-driven desalination, and (iii.) evaluate forthcoming environmental, socio-economic predicaments associated with this approach. We selected 50 peer reviewed scholarly communications published using Google Scholar from 2000 to 2022, focusing on impactful English-language publications within esteemed scientific journals. We found multi-effect evaporation/distillation (MED); multi-stage flash distillation (MSF); thermal vapor compression (TVC) and mechanical vapor compression (MVC). Membrane processes include electrodialysis (ED), reverse osmosis (RO), and membrane desalination are the common techniques used across mainly in Australia, USA, UAE, Sub-Saharan and African nations, and Japan. The integration of innovative designs of these methods can enhance the efficacy and cost-efficiency of geothermal desalination systems. Furthermore, critical environmental, social, and economic concerns linked to geothermal-driven desalination were identified. We noted that high-capacity factor for stable heat supply, independent of seasonal changes, ideal temperatures (70-90° C) for low-temperature desalination, cost-effectiveness with simultaneous power and water production, environmentally friendly with no emissions, versatile to meet energy demand across scales are some of main advantages of selection of geothermal energy for desalination. Some studies showed that geothermal energy for desalination is practical and effective, especially in areas facing water scarcity, strengthening water security. However, challenges persist, necessitating inventive solutions encompassing the pursuit of robust materials designed for high-temperature operation and streamlining energy conversion and integration processes. Other foreseen difficulties include the potential environmental impacts on geothermal reservoirs and the necessity for careful resource management to maintain a fair socio-economic equilibrium. Thus, the future research direction should be mainly focus on harnessing geothermal heat to drive the process, significantly reducing energy consumption and mitigating carbon emissions to potentially be employed across the world.
 
 Keywords: Carbon emission mitigation, Desalination, Energy conservation, Geothermal Energy, Water security

Energy storage for desalination processes powered by renewable energy and waste heat sources

Features of multi-effect evaporation desalination plants

Chapter 5 - Multiple Effect Evaporation Vapor Compression

The vast majority of commercial desalination systems utilise one of four desalination processes: reverse osmosis (RO), multi-stage flash (MSF), multiple-effect distillation (MED) and mechanical vapour compression (MVC). A small fraction of desalination systems utilise electrodialysis (ED) technology to treat low salinity brackish water. Worldwide, RO desalination systems account for close to 50% of overall capacity. However, in the arid countries of the Middle East, the majority of desalination systems utilise evaporation processes: MSF, MED and MVC. Although, the energy requirement of evaporation processes is higher than that for membrane processes, distillation desalination systems will continue to dominate Middle East markets for some time to come, due to the large base of thermal desalination units, with proven high operational reliability and the convenience of their integration with power plants (dual purpose systems). With the growing trend to privatise the desalination market in the Middle East, the proportion of desalination capacity supplied by RO will increase, due to the better economics of the RO process. In this chapter, an up-to-date review of industrial units has been performed in order to present the most common features of industrial operating units. This review includes typical design parameters, operating conditions and process performances. Moreover the developments that have taken place over the years are presented, along with examples of recent installations and their production capacities, performance parameters and locations.KeywordsReverse OsmosisDuplex Stainless SteelFeed WaterUnit Product CostReverse Osmosis MembraneThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Utilization of waste heat in the desalination process

A simulator for thermal desalination processes

The problem of fresh water lack can be solved my desalination of the seawater. Desalination of the seawater can be accomplished by several methods. Distillation of the seawater is one of the most promising among them. Comparative analysis of distillation desalination plant requires certain criteria. This criterion must take into account both energy consumption and seawater salinity. Relation of the minimal work required for seawater desalination to energy consumption was selected as such criterion. Four types of the distillation plants were considered: Multi-effect distillation plants (MED), multi-effect distillation plants with mechanical vapor compression (MVC) plants, MVC desalination plants have the best multi-effect distillation plant with thermal vapor compression (TVC) plants and Multistage flash distillation plants (MSF). MSF plants gave dependency that their efficiency rise along the gain ratio. That may be explained by the fact that its steam consumption does not depend on seawater consumption. TVC plants have slightly higher efficiency than MED plants. Thus, MVC plants can be recommended to use if there is no heat source, MSF plants - if there is heat source and plant must have a high gain ratio and TVC plant in the rest cases.