Renewable energy based freshwater production utilizing reverse osmosis desalination

Abstract

ABSTRACT The ever-increasing need for fresh water sources puts pressure on researchers to seek new freshwater generation solutions. Amongst them, renewable energy-based applications are attracting increasing interest due to their environmentally friendly nature. In this study, a new approach is proposed that combines renewable energy production system with the reverse osmosis desalination plant. Especially for offshore locations, one of the main problems is to access both energy and fresh water sources. In this study, the wave energy conversion system is used in order to provide a clean energy source for a reverse osmosis desalination-based plant solution. The wave energy converter system is modeled with consideration of a set of irregular sea wave elevation data. The proposed controller of the wave energy converter system adjusts the tuning parameters of the power take-off unit to optimize the operation of the system. The captured power from wave energy conversion system is utilized to produce fresh water from the reverse osmosis-based desalination model. The simulation results indicate that for 20 min time period, the produced water levels in the storage tanks are about 54.8 m3, 97.6 m3, 110.6 m3, and 193.3 m3 for DS1, DS2, DS3, and DS4, respectively. While, one of the main problems to be solved is the mismatch between the produced power by the renewable energy-based system and the required power consumed by the desalination plant. The proposed approach presented in this study indicates that the operation of the two systems in combined manner can be much more feasible solution as it is a very much environmentally friendly and an effective solution.