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Comparative Analysis of Conventional and Emerging Technologies for Seawater Desalination: Northern Chile As a Case Study

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Comparative Analysis of Conventional and Emerging Technologies for Seawater Desalination: Northern Chile As a Case Study membranes Review Comparative Analysis of Conventional and Emerging Technologies for Seawater Desalination: Northern Chile as A Case Study Aldo Saavedra 1, Hugo Valdés 2,* , Andrea Mahn 1 and Orlando Acosta 3 1 Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Av. Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 3363, Estación Central 9160000, Chile; [email protected] (A.S.); [email protected] (A.M.) 2 Centro de Innovación en Ingeniería Aplicada (CIIA), Departamento de Computación e Industrias, Facultad de Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Universidad Católica del Maule (UCM), Av. San Miguel 3605, Talca 3460000, Chile 3 Gestionare Consultores, Carlos Antunez 2025 of. 608, Providencia 7500000, Chile; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +56-2-71203-438 Abstract: The aim of this work was to study different desalination technologies as alternatives to conventional reverse osmosis (RO) through a systematic literature review. An expert panel evaluated thermal and membrane processes considering their possible implementation at a pilot plant scale (100 m3/d of purified water) starting from seawater at 20 ◦C with an average salinity of 34,000 ppm. The desalination plant would be located in the Atacama Region (Chile), where the high solar radiation level justifies an off-grid installation using photovoltaic panels. We classified the collected information about conventional and emerging technologies for seawater desalination, and then an expert panel Citation: Saavedra, A.; Valdés, H.; evaluated these technologies considering five categories: (1) technical characteristics, (2) scale-up Mahn, A.; Acosta, O. Comparative potential, (3) temperature effect, (4) electrical supply options, and (5) economic viability. Further, the Analysis of Conventional and potential inclusion of graphene oxide and aquaporin-based biomimetic membranes in the desalin- Emerging Technologies for Seawater ization processes was analyzed. The comparative analysis lets us conclude that nanomembranes Desalination: Northern Chile as A represent a technically and economically competitive alternative versus RO membranes. Therefore, a Case Study. Membranes 2021, 11, 180. profitable desalination process should consider nanomembranes, use of an energy recovery system, https://doi.org/10.3390/ and mixed energy supply (non-conventional renewable energy + electrical network). This document membranes11030180 presents an up-to-date overview of the impact of emerging technologies on desalinated quality water, process costs, productivity, renewable energy use, and separation efficiency. Academic Editor: Noreddine Ghaffour Keywords: seawater desalination; emerging technologies; conventional technologies; thermal tech- Received: 5 February 2021 nologies; membrane technologies Accepted: 26 February 2021 Published: 5 March 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral 1. Introduction with regard to jurisdictional claims in Desalination is a separation process intended to increase water availability in struc- published maps and institutional affil- turally water-deficient countries that suffer recurrent periods of drought. Recently, the iations. International Desalination Association (IDA) [1] reported that 150 countries apply desali- nation, based on daily activities of more than 300 million people worldwide. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of desalination plants and the daily water production increased by 12.4% and 41.2%, respectively, proving the accelerated growth of this technology [1,2]. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Saudi Arabia has the largest water-production installed capacity, with 12 Mm3/d, Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. representing 9.81% of the worldwide capacity, followed by the United Arab Emirates, This article is an open access article the United States of America, Spain, and China, at 7.5, 4.7, 3.6, and 3.0%, respectively. distributed under the terms and Installation of desalination plants is mostly preferred when there is no simple alterna- conditions of the Creative Commons tive to obtain fresh water, low-cost energy is feasible, and high standards of living allow Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// it [3]. After World War II, the commercial exploitation of desalination focused on tech- creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ nologies based on thermal processes that use phase change to separate volatile solvent 4.0/). Membranes 2021, 11, 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11030180 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/membranes Membranes 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 29 United States of America, Spain, and China, at 7.5, 4.7, 3.6, and 3.0%, respectively. Instal- Membranes 2021, 11, 180 lation of desalination plants is mostly preferred when there is no simple alternative2 of 28to obtain fresh water, low-cost energy is feasible, and high standards of living allow it [3]. After World War II, the commercial exploitation of desalination focused on technologies based on thermal processes that use phase change to separate volatile solvent (water) from (water)nonvolatile from solutes nonvolatile (salts) solutes [4,5]. (salts)Currently, [4,5]. there Currently, are two there types are twoof desalination types of desalination technolo- technologies:gies: thermal and thermal membrane. and membrane. Figure 1 shows Figure th1e conventionalshows the conventional and emerging and technologies emerging technologiesfor desalination, for highlighting desalination, reverse highlighting osmosis reverse (RO) with osmosis 65% (RO)of installed with 65% capacity of installed world- capacitywide [1,6–9]. worldwide [1,6–9]. Figure 1.1. Schematic classificationclassification ofof desalinationdesalination technologies.technologies. Nowadays, the greatest challenge for desalination processes is toto lowerlower operatingoperating and energy costs,costs, throughthrough emergingemerging technologiestechnologies [[10,11].10,11]. TheseThese emergingemerging technologiestechnologies may arise from taking advantage of externalities generated by synergies established inin thethe search for innovation inin integratedintegrated operationoperation modelsmodels [[12,13].12,13]. Likewise,Likewise, thethe incorporationincorporation of renewable energies (e.g., solar, wind,wind, andand geothermal)geothermal) intointo desalinationdesalination andand integratedintegrated processes (such as RO with pressure-retarded osmosisosmosis (PRO)),(PRO)), hashas gainedgained attentionattention asas anan alternative to reduce energy costs byby 50–75%50–75% ofof thethe operationaloperational costscosts inin thethe conventionalconventional process [[14–16],14–16], andand 60%60% ofof thethe specificspecific energyenergy consumptionconsumption (SEC)(SEC) ofof RORO [[17].17]. In recent years,years, thethe numbernumber ofof publicationspublications onon technoeconomictechnoeconomic studies studies about about desalin- desali- izationnization processes processes has has increased increased considerably. considerably. For For instance, instance, Arafat Arafat [18] [18] related related sustainability sustaina- ofbility desalination of desalination processes processes with technical with information,technical information, concluding thatconcluding current knowledgethat current is insufficientknowledge tois describeinsufficient the to relevance describe and the complexity relevance ofand desalination complexity processes. of desalination Silva-Pinto pro- andcesses. Cunha-Marques Silva-Pinto and [6 ]Cunha-Mar evaluated theques economic [6] evaluated feasibility the econom of differentic feasibility desalination of different and en- ergydesalination supply technologies,and energy supply emphasizing technologies, hybrid optionsemphasizing and the hybrid relevance options of locally and the specific rele- solutions.vance of locally However, specific the solutions. authors did However, not illustrate the authors their evaluationdid not illustrate with a their particular evaluation case. Proskynitopoulouwith a particular case. and KatsoyiannisProskynitopoulou [19] reported and Katsoyiannis case studies [19] of reported the main case desalinization studies of technologies,the main desalinization highlighting technologies, energy costs highlighting and economic energy parameters. costs and The economic authors parameters. considered desalinization as a drinking water production process applicable only in areas of water scarcity [20,21]. This article presents different desalination technologies as alternatives to conventional reverse osmosis through current state-of-the-art desalination processes considering the existing conventional and emerging technologies and a technical economic comparison between them. Further, this document offers evaluated thermal and membrane processes Membranes 2021, 11, 180 3 of 28 considering their possible implementation at a pilot plant scale (100 m3/d of purified water) starting from seawater at 20 ◦C and average salinity of 34,000 ppm. 1.1. Conventional and Emerging Technologies for Desalination Desalination technologies are classified as conventional or emerging, depending on the scientific and technical development level, and their presence in the market. According to the definition proposed by Day et al. [22], emerging desalination technologies are “scientific innovations that generate incentives to make investments in the desalination process. These innovations are based on evolved technologies that improve desalination process (that is reduce energy consumption, minimize rejection and improve water quality)”. Further, a sustainability desalination industry
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