Abstract
A small-scale seawater reverse-osmosis system with excellent energy efficiency is presented. The system promises to deliver up to 460 l/h of potable water, from seawater (at 40,000 ppm), while consuming less than 1600 W of electrical power. This represents a specific energy consumption of less than 3.5 kWh/m3. Moreover, the flow may be controlled in order to reduce the power consumption by a factor of four without any significant loss of efficiency — the specific energy consumption remains near to 3.5 kWh/m3. The keys to these impressive figures are the energy recovery provided by the Clark pump, from Spectra Watermakers Inc., and the use of a variable water recovery ratio control algorithm, developed by CREST. The significance of the system is that it may be operated from variable intermittent renewable-energy sources, such as wind and solar-photovoltaic (PV), without need of batteries. Results of laboratory testing and extensive modeling are presented.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 229-236 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Desalination |
Volume | 153 |
Issue number | 1-3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- wind
- desalination
- photovoltaic
- renewable energy
- solar
- PV
- seawater
- reverse osmosis
- energy recovery