Abstract
Desalination technology provides a long-term option for supplying freshwater to water-scarce coastal areas, such as the region between Karachi and Gwadar in Pakistan. Desalination through reverse osmosis (RO) is a low-energy process. Recent advancements in multi-effect desalination (MED) technology, such as integrating adsorption/absorption vapor compression systems and the synthesis of novel antiscalants, have made it a viable option. The current top brine temperature (TBT) for the MED unit is 65 °C (due to salt precipitation in the evaporators), which may accommodate 8 – 10 falling film evaporators. However, with to advancements in antiscalants, the TBT can now be extended to 85 °C, indicating the inclusion of more evaporators and hence increased freshwater yield. A mathematical model of the MED unit is created in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) for this purpose, and the MED unit's performance is evaluated at increased TBT. The mathematical model is validated using a literature-based empirical model as well as a commercial desalination facility in Qatar. This work presents and discusses the influence of the number of effects, TBT on performance ratio, specific heat transfer area, and specific cooling water requirement.
Published Version
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