Renewable Energy Desalination Systems C
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Renewable Energy Desalination Systems C. Koroneos, E. Nanaki, K. Moustakas, D. Malamis Unit of Environmental Science and Technology School of Chemical Engineering 9, Iroon Polytechneiou St., Zographou Campus Athens 157 73 Greece Abstract The Objective of this work is to present an overview of desalination technologies that can be powered using renewable energy and to compare them thermodynamically on their performance. The performance of the systems is directly related to the economic cost and the environmental impact. Currently, the majority of large-scale desalination plants in the world employ Multistage Flash (MSF), Multiple Effect Distillation (ME), and reverse osmosis (RO), because these desalination technologies were the first to mature and because they have large economies of scale. MSF and ME are most appropriate for large-scale systems where heat is available such as geothermal energy, solar energy or waste heat. The RO, vapour compression (VC), and electrodialysis (ED) use only electrical energy. The electricity can be produced from wind energy or photovoltaics. Which system is most appropriate for a given location depends mostly on the quality of the available feedwater, since the feedwater characteristics determine the pretreatment requirements and energy demands, and therefore cost and complexity, of membrane systems. 1. Introduction Desalination is a treatment process that removes salts from water. Saline solutions other than seawater are typically described as brackish water with a salt concentration from 1000 to 11000 ppm TDS. Normal seawater has a salinity of 35000 ppm TDS or more, mostly sodium chloride. A typical desalination plant consists of water treatment system, the desalination unit and a post treatment system (Figure 1). Saline water Seawater: >35000 ppm TDS Brackish water: 1000-11000 ppm TDS Feed Treatment Thermal Energy Energy High grate Desalination plant Low grate Reject Brine Post Treatment Fresh Water Figure 1. Water and energy flow diagram of a desalination unit Several desalination processes have been developed but not all of them are reliable and in commercial use. The most important processes are split into two main categories: Thermal (or distillation) processes: the most widely used for seawater desalination are Multistage-Flash Distillation (MSF), the Multi Effect Distillation (MED) and the Vapor Compression (VC) process. Membrane processes: consist of Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Electrodialysis (ED) processes. ED is confined to desalination of brackish water while RO can be used for both, brackish and seawater desalination. Two critical parameters of the desalination processes are the quality of the produced water and the energy required. Product water quality depends on the desalination process. Distillation processes are producing water around 20 ppm TDS and membrane processes are usually designed to produce water of 100-500 ppm TDS. Potable water for human consumption should comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) limits (Table 1) and should not be totally devoid of salts. Table 1. WHO standards for potable water Concentration (ppm) Constitutes Limited values Max allowed values Total Dissolved Salts (TDS) 500 1500 Cl 200 600 2+ SO4 200 400 Ca2+ 75 100 Mg2+ 30 150 F- 0.7 1.7 NO3- <50 100 Cu2+ 0.05 1.5 Fe3+ 0.10 1.0 NaCl 250 - pH 7-8 6.5-9 In general, desalination is an energy intensive technology and the energy input may be thermal, (defined in terms of units of water produced per unit of steam or per 2500 kj used) mechanical or electrical, (expressed in kWh/m3) 2. Thermal processes About 60 percent of the world’s desalted water is produced with heat to distill fresh water from sea water. In the distillation process the saline water is heated, producing water vapor that is in turn condensed to form fresh water. In a laboratory or industrial plant, water is heated to the boiling point to produce the maximum amount of water vapor. In a desalination plant, by adjusting the atmospheric pressure the boiling point of the seawater is controlled. Decreasing the pressure the boiling point is also decreasing. The reduction of the boiling point is important in the desalination process for two major reasons: multiple boiling and scale control. To boil, water needs two important conditions: the proper temperature relative to its ambient pressure and enough energy for vaporization. When water is heated to its boiling point and then the heat is turned off, the water will continue to boil only for a short time because the water needs additional energy (the heat of vaporization) to permit boiling. Once the water stops boiling, boiling can be renewed by either adding more heat or by reducing the ambient pressure above the water. If the ambient pressure is reduced, then the water would then be at a temperature above its boiling point (because of the reduced pressure) and will boil with the extra heat from the higher temperature to supply the heat of vaporization needed. As the heat of vaporization is supplied, the temperature of the water will fall to the new boiling point. To significantly reduce the amount of energy needed for vaporization, the distillation desalting process usually uses multiple boiling in successive vessels, each operating at a lower temperature and pressure. This process of reducing the ambient pressure to promote boiling can continue downward and, if carried to the extreme with the pressure reduced enough, the point at which water would be boiling and freezing at the same time would be reached. For gauging the performance of a thermal desalination plant the performance ratio is used: mass of distillate produced Performance Ratio (1) mass of steam consumed Aside from multiple boiling, the other important factor is scale control. Although most substances dissolve more readily in warmer water, some dissolve more readily in cooler water. Unfortunately, some of these substances like carbonates and sulfates are found in seawater. One of the most important is gypsum (CaSO4), which begins to leave solution when water approaches about 95 0C (203 0F). This material forms a hard scale that coats any tubes or containers present. Scale creates thermal and mechanical problems and, once formed, is difficult to remove. One way to avoid the formation of this scale is to keep the temperature and boiling point of the water below that of temperature. These two concepts have made various forms of distillation successful in locations around the world. The process, which accounts for the most desalting capacity is multi-stage flash distillation commonly referred to as the MSF process. 2.1. Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSF) The Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSF) is the process, which accounts for the most desalting capacity (over 50% of desalination plants capacity worldwide). There are two configurations of the MSF process: The “once through” consists of two sections: 1. The heat rejection section 2. Brine heater The “brine recirculation” consists of the following three sections: 1. The heat rejection section 2. The heat recovery section 3. Brine heater The recovery and rejection section consist of a series of stages and each stage consist of a flash chamber and a heat exchanger / condenser. In both configurations, the seawater is heated in the brine heater. The heated seawater then flows into the next stage, where the ambient pressure is such that the water will immediately boil. The sudden introduction of the heated water into the chamber causes it to boil rapidly, almost exploding or flashing into steam. Generally, only a small percentage of this water is converted to steam (water vapor), depending on the pressure maintained in this stage since boiling will continue only until the water cools (furnishing the heat of vaporization) to the boiling point. In the brine recirculation configuration the seawater is taken into the plant and fed through the heat rejection stage (Figure 2). The function of this section is to reject thermal energy from the plant and to allow to the product water and brine to exit the plant at lowest possible temperature. The seawater feed is mixed with a large mass of brine, which is recirculated through the plant (brine recirculation). Then the feed passes through a number of heat exchangers, raising its temperature. The preheated feed then is heated up to its terminal temperature in the brine heater. The flow then passes to the top flash stage where the reduction of pressure causes a small fraction to flash off as vapor. This process continues right down to the bottom stage of the plant in the rejection section, where part is rejected as “blowdown” and the rest is mixed the incoming make up (seawater) and then recycled via the brine recirculation pump. Steam Ejector Steam from boiler Seawater Feed Brine Heater Product Water Brine Brine Brine Brine Condensate Brine Discharge Heat Recovery Section Brine Recirculation Heat Regection Section Figure 2. Typical flow diagram of Multi-Stage Flash distillation plant The MSF plants are designed for various performance ratios. A performance ratio of 12 is the practical upper limit for MSF plants. Typically, an MSF plant can contain from 4 to about 40 stages. Increasing the number of stages reduces the heat transfer surface that is required. This has to be off-set against the cost of providing extra stages. Complicated optimization calculations have to be undertaken where the main parameters are capital and operating cost. The MSF plants usually operate at the top feed temperatures (after the brine heater) of 90- 120°C (194-248°F). One of the factors that affect the thermal efficiency of the plant is the difference in temperature from the brine heater to the condenser on the cold end of the plant. Operating a plant at the higher temperature limits of 120°C (248°F) tends to increase the efficiency, but it also increases the potential for detrimental scale formation and accelerated corrosion of metal surfaces.