Desalination

Desalination
y Processthatremovesdissolvedminerals(includingbutnot
limitedtosalt)fromseawaterandbrackishwater
y History
y 1852:Britishpatentondesalinationdevice
y 1928:Firstmajorcommitmenttodesalination(Curacao,
NetherlandsAntilles)
y 1938:Firstlargescaledesalinationplant(SaudiArabia)
y WWII:ConsiderabledesalinationresearchbyUS
(establishmentofOfficeofSalineWater(OSW)andOffice
ofWaterResearchandTechnology(OWRT)
y U.Sdesalinationresearchfunding:
1977 $144million,2000 $1.3million
SimplifiedBoxDiagramforDesalination
Feedwater (seawaterorbrackishwater)

SalineWater

Energy Brine
Thermal, DESALTING Waste
Electrical,
Solar,Wind
DEVICE Discharge

FreshWater

Product
WorldDesalinationCapacityby
SourceofWater(June1999)
DiagramofaVaporStill
MajorDesaltingProcesses
y Thermal:
y Multistageflashdistillation
y Multipleeffectdistillation
y Vaporcompression
y Membrane:
y Electrodialysis
y Reverseosmosis

Minorprocesses:freezing,membranedistillation,solar
humidification
BoilingTemperatureofWateratDifferentPressures

Pressure(bar) Temperature(deg.C)
2 120
1 100
0.25 65
0.1 45
 Multistageflashdistillation
Advantages Disadvantages
Productionofwaterwith Requireslargeenergyinput
goodquality(5to50ppm Highmaintenance
tds) requirements
ROproduces10to500 LargerspaceneededthatRO
ppm tds desalinationplant
Leadingtechnologyforlarge Mostexperienceisfrom
scaleseawaterdistillation(in MiddleEastwhereenergy
usefor40years) costsarelessofaconcern
Largeamountofwater
necessaryforproductionand
cooling
 Componentsofa
ReverseOsmosisPlant
 ReverseOsmosis
Advantages Disadvantages
Reducedenergycosts Sensitivetofeedwater quality
comparedtodistillation andrequiresextensive
Higherwaterrecoverythan feedwater treatmenttolimit
distillation(45%forseawater) scalingandmembranefouling
Inadditiontoremovingsalts, Complicatedfeedwater
ROprocessesalsoremoveother pretreatment
contaminants:organic
molecules,viruses,bacteria,
silica
Automationfeasible
ProposedKalaeloaDesalinationFacility
y Seawaterreverseosmosisdesalinationfacility
y UndevelopedlocationpreviouslypartofBarbersPoint
NavalAirStation
y WaterproductionexpectedbySpring2004
y Produce5mgd freshwaterfrom12mgd ofsourcewater
y SupplementOahuspotablewatersupply
y Willoccupy20acresofland
y Wastedisposalthroughinjectionwells
y Cost:$54million(capital),$6.80per1000gallons
 ProposedLocationof
KalaeloaDesalinationFacility