Techno-economic assessment of a novel wind-powered RO system with a compressed air energy storage for water desalination

Mohamed Mohamed Elsakka, Ahmed Refaat, Khalid M. Alzahrani, Jee Loong Hee, Lin Ma, Yasser Elhenawy, Thokozani Majozi, Ahmed Gharib Yosry, Ahmed Amer, Gamal Hafez Moustafa and Asmaa Ahmed

Energy, 2024, vol. 311, issue C

Abstract: The convergence of renewable energy and water desalination offers a promising solution to water scarcity and climate change. Utilizing wind power to operate reverse osmosis (RO) systems promises a sustainable future with ample freshwater and reduced carbon emissions. This paper introduces a novel wind-powered RO desalination system, employing a pneumatic approach with wind-driven compressors, energy storage, and air-operated pumps. Additionally, an energy recovery pressure exchanger enhances efficiency by capturing energy from the brine. A detailed mathematical model using MATLAB/Simulink evaluates system performance across various Egyptian coastal locations, optimizing wind turbine numbers to minimize desalination costs. The findings reveal that compressed air energy storage is essential for consistent operation despite wind variability, ensuring reliability during low or fluctuating wind conditions. The techno-economic assessment highlights the importance of site-specific adaptations for maximizing performance and cost-effectiveness. Hurghada emerged as the optimal location with the lowest desalination cost ($0.65/m³) and highest annual water production (19,500 m³), while Suez had the highest cost at $1.35/m³. Seasonal variations impact performance, with mid-winter showing more system on-off cycles compared to mid-summer. Sensitivity analysis highlights the importance of optimizing capital and operational costs, as a 20 % variation in these costs shifts the levelized cost of water by 10 %.

Keywords: Reverse osmosis; HVAWT; Desalination; Techno-economic assessment; Compressed air energy storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054422403072X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

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:eee:energy:v:311:y:2024:i:c:s036054422403072x

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133296

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().