Design and Energy Consumption Analysis of Small Reverse Osmosis Seawater Desalination Equipment

Zhuo Wang, Yanjie Zhang, Tao Wang, Bo Zhang and Hongwen Ma
Additional contact information
Zhuo Wang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Yanjie Zhang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Tao Wang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
Bo Zhang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Hongwen Ma: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: The reverse osmosis method has developed extremely rapidly in recent years and has become the most competitive seawater desalination technology in the world, and it has been widely used in all aspects. Large-scale reverse osmosis desalination plants cannot provide fresh water resources in areas with insufficient water resources and limited space. Therefore, this paper proposes a research plan for a small seawater desalination device based on reverse osmosis, which is mainly suitable for handling emergencies, disaster relief, desert areas and outdoor activities and other needs for timely freshwater resources. It mainly includes pretreatment modules, a reaction infiltration module, a post-processing module and an energy supply module. Detailed design calculations are carried out for the small-scale reverse osmosis membrane system, including the selection and quantity and arrangement of membranes. Subsequently, the one-stage two-stage small-scale reverse osmosis membrane system was modeled, and its energy consumption was analyzed theoretically from the perspectives of specific energy consumption and energy utilization efficiency; the main influencing factors were clarified, and the optimal recovery rate for system operation was determined to be 20%–30%. Finally, an experimental prototype was built to conduct relevant experiments to determine the influence trend of pressure, temperature, concentration, and flow rate on the operating performance of the reverse osmosis system.

Keywords: small capacity; seawater desalination; reverse osmosis; specific energy consumption; energy utilization efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/8/2275/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/8/2275/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:8:p:2275-:d:538558

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().