Abstract
This work examines the economic and environmental performance of seawater desalination plants that integrate reverse osmosis, Rankine cycles and solar collectors. The design of these facilities is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming model (MINLP) that considers the simultaneous minimization of cost and environmental impact given a certain water demand to be fulfilled. The environmental performance is quantified in terms of contribution to global warming, which is holistically determined following life cycle assessment (LCA) principles. A case study that considers weather data of Tarragona (Spain) is used as benchmark to illustrate the capabilities of the approach presented. Using our rigorous modeling and optimization approach, we show that coupling seawater desalination with solar collectors can lead to significant environmental savings at a small increment in cost. Our systematic tool is aimed at guiding decision-makers towards the adoption of more sustainable technological alternatives for seawater desalination.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
