Reverse Osmosis Desalination Research Articles

Artificial Intelligence-Based Optimization of Renewable-Powered RO Desalination for Reduced Grid Dependence

Water scarcity and the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions have driven the need for renewable-powered desalination. This study evaluates three scenarios for reverse osmosis (RO) desalination powered by photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), and hybrid PV–WT systems, aiming to minimize the levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) and water (LCOW) while reducing grid dependence. The city studied is Zahedan, Iran, which has high potential in renewable energy. A multi-objective optimization approach using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), a popular evolutionary algorithm, is employed to determine the optimal number of PV panels and wind turbines. The results show that the hybrid system outperforms single-source configurations, supplying 34.79 MWh of electricity and 34.19 m3 of desalinated water, while achieving the lowest LCOE (2.73 cent/kWh−1) and LCOW (35.33 cent/m−3). The hybrid scenario covers 65.49% of the electricity demand and 58.54% of the water demand, significantly reducing reliance on the grid compared to the PV and WT scenarios. Additionally, it ensures greater energy stability by leveraging the complementary nature of PV and WT. These findings highlight the techno-economic feasibility of hybrid renewable-powered desalination as a cost-effective and sustainable solution. Future research should focus on integrating energy storage to further enhance efficiency and minimize grid dependency.

Harnessing halophytes to mitigate the environmental impact of membrane desalination brine.

Harnessing halophytes to mitigate the environmental impact of membrane desalination brine.

Techno-economic optimization of a solar-driven system integrating the Kalina cycle, thermoelectric generators, dual-fluid organic Rankine cycle, and reverse osmosis desalination for sustaining sports stadiums

Techno-economic optimization of a solar-driven system integrating the Kalina cycle, thermoelectric generators, dual-fluid organic Rankine cycle, and reverse osmosis desalination for sustaining sports stadiums

The Persistent Challenge of Biofouling in Reverse Osmosis Desalination: A Review of Characterization, Control, and Future Directions

The Persistent Challenge of Biofouling in Reverse Osmosis Desalination: A Review of Characterization, Control, and Future Directions

Energy, Exergy, Economic, and Environmental Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination System Using Photovoltaic Panels and Water Turbine, With the Approach of Design of Experiments

ABSTRACTThe provision of drinking water as one of the basic human needs is of great importance now. Today, many people in different parts of the world, especially in remote and rural areas, do not have access to fresh water. These areas usually have a high potential for using renewable energy. In this article, to increase access to fresh water for people living in remote villages, a water purification system using reverse osmosis technology and solar energy as well as water turbine energy recycling has been used. By combining a reverse osmosis system, solar panel, water turbine, and battery, three different arrangements including photovoltaic/reverse osmosis, photovoltaic/battery/reverse osmosis, and photovoltaic/water turbine/battery/reverse osmosis were investigated. The results show that the most efficient mode for purifying drinking water is the photovoltaic/water turbine/battery/reverse osmosis combination. Under these conditions, the maximum and minimum water desalination amounts reached an average of 150 and 115 L/day in summer and winter, respectively. Moreover, the amount of TDS in the output water decreased to 120 ppm. During the project, approximately 48 m3 of drinking water was produced, and the electricity produced from solar panels and water turbine was 242 and 32 kWh, respectively. Moreover, according to the output data from the Minitab software, the most important parameters affecting the responses of freshwater flow rate and salinity of fresh water are feed pressure and salinity of feed water, respectively.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making: Sustainable Water Desalination

With an increasingly more urbanised global population, surface water and groundwater resources are being/have become outpaced by growing demand. The oceans could address this pertinent scarcity issue, once their high-salinity content is removed. Water desalination could thus be a crucial pathway towards addressing global water scarcity. However, conventional desalination is known to be highly energy-intensive, with limited scalability and potentially significant negative environmental impacts. Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) presents a novel approach towards sustainable water desalination based on sustainability-related criteria. The Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was implemented to determine the most optimal small-scale, modularised, and remote reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant configurations. Twelve configurations were assessed, based on four plant capacities (50, 100, 150, and 200 m3/day) and three diesel-to-solar photovoltaic energy configurations (100–0%, 75–25%, and 60–40%). The hybridised diesel-to-solar configurations were generally ranked higher, particularly when less reliant on diesel, and at small(er) capacities, in terms of the criteria: sustainability, overall efficiency, and standalone potential while maintaining competitive costs. This can likely be attributed to their relatively lower fuel and energy consumption and associated costs. Further research should aim to consider additional criteria, such as battery cost, as well as life cycle assessments that include transportation-related costs/emissions.

Impact of Electromagnetic Fields on Gypsum and Silica Scaling in Reverse Osmosis.

Electromagnetic field (EMF) is a cost-effective, simple, and energy-efficient method for scale control in reverse osmosis (RO) systems. However, its effects on gypsum and silica scaling, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remain poorly understood. This study systematically investigates the effects of EMF treatment on gypsum and silica scaling in RO systems, utilizing synthetic brackish water and natural RO concentrate (ROC) from a desalination facility. For gypsum, EMF changes the crystal morphology, resulting in the formation of a porous, less compact scaling layer. It is more readily removed through hydraulic flushing (HF), enhancing scaling reversibility and water recovery. In the case of silica scaling, EMF promotes homogeneous polymerization in the bulk solution, producing larger silica particles that inhibit the formation of a dense, cross-linked gel layer on the membrane surface, mitigating flux decline. This study thus demonstrates EMF's effectiveness in controlling gypsum scaling in undersaturated feedwaters when combined with HF and in mitigating silica scaling under both HF and non-HF conditions for supersaturated feedwaters. These findings underscore EMF's versatility as a nonchemical approach for scale control in RO desalination and show its substantial potential to enhance membrane performance and operational efficiency in real-world water treatment applications.

High-Performance Polyimide Membranes Containing Graphene Oxide for Reverse Osmosis Desalination.

A novel hybrid polyimide/graphene oxide membrane (PI/G 400, PI/G 500, and PI/G 600) was prepared via a blending process, and their performance as reverse osmosis membranes was investigated. The preparation of the hybrid membranes was characterized by using FT-IR, SEM, TGA, mechanical properties, and water contact angle instruments. So, the prepared hybrid membranes PI/G revealed high thermal stability values up to 800 °C when compared to the PI membrane. Also, it exhibited a lower contact angle at 65.4 ± 1.5° for the PI/G400 than the pure PI membrane at 72.4 ± 3.62°, which was explained by the occurrence of graphene oxide material. Additionally, when the graphene oxide particle was added to the PI matrix, the tensile strength values were increased from 13.2 MPa for the PI membrane to 52.11 MPa for the PI/G 600 membrane. Moreover, the PI/G 500 membrane exhibited a salt rejection rate of 90% and water permeability of 23.17 (L/m2 h) at a pressure of 10 bar, which are considered excellent values when compared to the PI membrane (50.8% and 4.14 L/m2 h). Finally, incorporating graphene oxide particles into the PI matrix enhanced water permeability by providing an alternative path for the water molecules and overcoming the trade-off impact of lower membrane rejection with an increased salt concentration.

An economic comparison of wind, solar, and ocean thermal energy in the Federated States of Micronesia

This study provides a thorough economic analysis which compares different renewable energy sources—wind, solar, and open-cycle ocean thermal energy conversion (OC-OTEC)—for generating electric power and freshwater in the Federated States of Micronesia. The novelty of the present work is in developing empirical models for the capital cost as a function of the installed capacity for wind, photovoltaic (PV), and OTEC systems. The analysis incorporates the latest power plant expenses and predicts price variations by considering factors such as capacity and time. In addition, a streamlined method for calculating the necessary battery storage capacity for daily variations in wind and PV solar energy was developed. The OC-OTEC plant was chosen as a case study due to its ability to simultaneously generate energy and produce freshwater, which is crucial for satisfying the energy and freshwater needs of numerous island populations. To provide a fair and equitable comparison, reverse osmosis desalination equipment is integrated into the wind and PV systems. The results are presented using the levelized cost of electricity associated with producing 20 MW of net electric power and 22,700 m3/day of freshwater and return on investment metrics. OC-OTEC emerges as the most economically advantageous option.

Evaluating physico-chemical and biological impacts of brine discharges for a sustainable desalination development on South America's Pacific coast.

Evaluating physico-chemical and biological impacts of brine discharges for a sustainable desalination development on South America's Pacific coast.

Hybrid solar-wind farm site selection for reverse osmosis desalination: A case study in sistan and baluchestan using Geographic Information System

Hybrid solar-wind farm site selection for reverse osmosis desalination: A case study in sistan and baluchestan using Geographic Information System

Thermodynamic and Exergetic Evaluation of a Newly Designed CSP Driven Cooling-Desalination Cogeneration System

This investigation attempts to develop a tower solar collector-based system designed for the cogeneration of cooling and desalination. The traditional organic Rankine cycle (ORC) integrated with the ejector refrigeration cycle generates limited power and cooling at a single temperature. Acknowledging their limitations, our present study uses an organic flash cycle (OFC) supported by solar heat combined with the two-phase ejector cycle and the reverse osmosis (RO) desalination unit. Since the OFC turbine is fed with two extra streams of fluid, therefore, it provides greater power to run the compressor of the ejector and pumps of the RO unit, resulting in the production of cooling at two different temperatures (refrigeration and air conditioning) and a higher mass flow rate of fresh water. A mathematical model is employed to assess the impact of coil curvature ratio, Rib height, and direct normal irradiation (DNI) on the temperature of the collector’s oil outlet. ANSYS-FLUENT conducts numerical simulations through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The results indicate an ultimate increase in oil outlet temperature of 45% as the DNI increased from 450 to 1000 W/m2 at a curvature ratio of 0.095 when employing the 1st Rib. Further, a steady-state energy and exergy analysis is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed cogeneration, with different design parameters like DNI, coil curvature ratio, rib height, and OFC turbine inlet pressure. The energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the cogeneration system at DNI of 800 W/m2 are obtained as 16.67% and 6.08%, respectively. Exergetic assessment of the overall system shows that 29.57% is the exergy produced as cooling exergy, and the exergy accompanied by freshwater, 68.13%, is the exergy destroyed, and 2.3% is the exergy loss. The solar collector exhibits the maximum exergy destruction, followed by the ejector and RO pumps. Integrating multiple technologies into a system with solar input enhances efficiency, energy sustainability, and environmental benefits.

Energy savings in SWRO desalination via PRO hybridization: a parametric study

This study investigates the potential for energy reduction in a full-scale Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant through hybrid integration with Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO). A pilot test using a 60 m2 PRO membrane kit helped determine key operating parameters, including draw solution (DS) pressure and resulting dilution fluxes. Subsequently, a full-scale analysis was conducted with 650 m2 of PRO membrane area. The integration demonstrated up to 12.56% reduction in specific energy consumption under optimized conditions. Energy savings were found to correlate positively with lower feed pressures, higher brine availability, and optimal dilution rates, while being negatively impacted by pressure losses and high DS-to-FS flow ratios. The study confirms the viability of PRO-SWRO hybridization as a method for enhancing desalination energy efficiency, and highlights areas for further optimization in membrane design and hydraulic configuration.

Autopsy Results and Inorganic Fouling Prediction Modeling Using Artificial Neural Networks for Reverse Osmosis Membranes in a Desalination Plant

Nowadays, reverse osmosis (RO) desalination has become a highly effective and economical solution to address water scarcity worldwide. The membranes used in this type of separation are influenced by both pre-treatment operations and feed water quality, leading to fouling, a complex phenomenon responsible for reducing treatment performance and shortening membrane lifespan. In this study, an autopsy of a RO membrane from the Boujdour plant was performed, and a fouling prediction tool based on transmembrane pressure (TMP) was developed using MATLAB/Simulink (R2015a) with an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The impact of membrane fouling on treatment performance was also examined through one year of monitoring. A detailed analysis of the fouled membrane was conducted using SEM/EDS techniques to characterize the fouling on the membrane’s surface and cross-section. The results revealed significant fractures on the membrane surface, with fouling predominantly consisting of organic deposits (characterized by a high oxygen concentration of 39.69%) and inorganic fouling, including Si (7.99%), Al (2.79%), Mg (1.56%), Fe (1.27%), and smaller quantities of K (0.87%), S (0.36%), and Ca (0.12%). The ANN model for predicting transmembrane pressure was successfully developed, achieving a high R2 value of 92.077% and a low mean square error (MSE) of 0.005657. This predictive model demonstrates the ability to forecast future TMP cycles based on historical data. The research provides a detailed understanding of the types of fouling affecting RO membranes and contributes to the development of preventive strategies to mitigate membrane fouling.

Simulation of Biofouling Caused by Bacillus halotolerans MCC1 on FeNP-Coated RO Membranes

Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination technology offers a promising solution for mitigating water scarcity. However, one of the major challenges faced by RO membranes is biofouling, which significantly increases the desalination costs. Traditional simulation models often overlook environmental variability and do not incorporate the effects of membrane-surface modifications. This paper develops a bacterial growth model for the prediction of seawater desalination performance, applicable to commercial RO membranes, which can be either uncoated or coated with iron nanoparticles (FeNPs or nZVI). FeNPs were selected due to their known antimicrobial properties and potential to mitigate biofilm formation. The native seawater bacterium Bacillus halotolerans MCC1 was used as a model biofouling bacterium. Growth kinetics were determined at different temperatures (from 26 to 50 °C) and pH values (from 4 to 10) to obtain growth parameters. Microbial growth on RO membranes was modeled using the Monod equation. The desalination performance was evaluated in terms of hydraulic resistance and permeate flux under clean and biofouled conditions. The model was validated using desalination data obtained at the laboratory scale. Bacteria grew faster at 42 °C and pH 10. The pH had a more significant effect than temperature on the bacterial growth rate. The FeNP-coated membranes exhibited lower resistance and maintained a higher long-term water flux than the commercial uncoated membrane. This modeling approach is useful for improving the monitoring of feed water parameters and assessing the operational conditions for minimum biofouling of RO membranes. In addition, it introduces a novel integration of environmental parameters and membrane coating effects, offering a predictive tool to support operational decisions for improved RO performance.

Techno-economic analysis and optimization of standalone Hybrid Photovoltaic (PV)/Wind Turbine (WT) with water tank storage driven Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination system

Techno-economic analysis and optimization of standalone Hybrid Photovoltaic (PV)/Wind Turbine (WT) with water tank storage driven Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination system

Vivianite precipitation in high recovery reverse osmosis desalination of anaerobic wastewater effluent

Vivianite precipitation in high recovery reverse osmosis desalination of anaerobic wastewater effluent

Techno-economic evaluation of solar photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis desalination for different locations in Saudi Arabia

Techno-economic evaluation of solar photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis desalination for different locations in Saudi Arabia

Specific energy consumption of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants using machine learning

Specific energy consumption of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants using machine learning

Advanced fabrication and characterization of thin-film composite polyamide membranes for superior performance in reverse osmosis desalination

Thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes are crucial for efficient reverse osmosis (RO) desalination, offering high selectivity and permeability. This study investigates the fabrication and optimization of TFC membranes on polysulfone supports, focusing on their structural, morphological, and performance properties for enhanced desalination efficiency using the phase inversion technique, a method that enables precise control over membrane structure. Key fabrication parameters including the concentrations of m-phenylene diamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC), and the immersion times for both monomers were systematically varied to investigate their impact on membrane hydrophilicity, morphology, and structure. Hydrophilicity was assessed via contact angle measurements, Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the morphology (SEM), and structural properties were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The RO membranes’ desalination performance was evaluated by measuring water flux and salt rejection in a cross-flow setup with saline water (10,000 ppm) under controlled processing conditions. Results indicated that variations in MPD and TMC concentrations, as well as immersion times, significantly influenced membrane hydrophilicity and pore structure, affecting water flux and salt rejection. The maximum salt rejection and water flux for the prepared thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane were 98.6% and 19.1 L/m2 h, respectively obtained at m-phenylenediamine concentration of 2 wt% and tri mesoyl chloride concentration of 0.1 wt/v reacted for 1 min. The study provides insights into optimizing TFC-RO membrane fabrication parameters to enhance desalination efficiency, highlighting the potential of these membranes for high-performance RO desalination applications.