Sustainability Ranking of Desalination Plants Using Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Inference Systems

Rabee Rustum,Mohammad Zounemat-Kermani,Miklas Scholz,Shaun Forrest,Anu Mary John Kurichiyanil,Adebayo J Adeloye,Corrado Sommariva

doi:10.3390/su12020631

Abstract

As water desalination continues to expand globally, desalination plants are continually under pressure to meet the requirements of sustainable development. However, the majority of desalination sustainability research has focused on new desalination projects, with limited research on sustainability performance of existing desalination plants. This is particularly important while considering countries with limited resources for freshwater such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it is heavily reliant on existing desalination infrastructure. In this regard, the current research deals with the sustainability analysis of desalination processes using a generic sustainability ranking framework based on Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Inference Systems. The fuzzy-based models were validated using data from two typical desalination plants in the UAE. The promising results obtained from the fuzzy ranking framework suggest this more in-depth sustainability analysis should be beneficial due to its flexibility and adaptability in meeting the requirements of desalination sustainability.

Highlights

Desalination has rapidly expanded and evolved into a vitally important water source over many regions of the world
This is important while considering countries with limited resources for freshwater such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it is heavily reliant on existing desalination infrastructure
Corresponding specifications and performance indicators from two these desalination plants with differing technologies are highlighted in Tables 4 and 5

Summary

Introduction

Desalination has rapidly expanded and evolved into a vitally important water source over many regions of the world. With this exponential regional growth of desalination comes significant economic, environmental and social impacts (or sustainability pillars) [1]. Wider sustainability definitions have been developed, which include the triple-bottom-line concept covering environmental, social and economic factors [4]. This approach considers each of the pillars of equal importance in the decision-making process [5,6,7,8,9]. Up to seven sustainability pillars can be considered depending on the analysis and context in which the pillars are used [6,10]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion