A new approach for process optimization of a METVC desalination system

Abstract

A B S T R AC TMaking potable water through desalination plants is a very important process in areas where clean water is highly required. One of the most common and acceptable desalination processes is multiple effect evaporation desalination (MED) process. The main objective of this paper is optimization of MED desalination with thermal vapor compression (METVC) from economical and thermodynamic point of view. Hence, fi rst, a comprehensive thermodynamic model for METVC is developed and then the effect of operating parameters on thermal performance of the system is analyzed. Since the values of operating parameters have a great effect on both thermal performance and cost of the plant, the optimization of these parameters is very important. In this regard, some researchers have focused on improving the economical or thermodynamic aspect of the system. However, in practice it is reasonable to optimize both these criteria simultaneously. Based on this, in order to optimize the process of METVC and show infl uence of objective function on optimization results, four objective functions are chosen as four cases for optimization. These cases include 1) minimizing specifi c heat transfer area, 2) maximizing exergy effi ciency, 3) maximizing performance ratio (PR) and 4) minimizing specifi c heat transfer area and maximizing PR. In fact, cases 1 to 3 are single objective problem while case 4 is a multi objective problem. All of the optimization problems are solved by a heuristic optimization problem, namely, Genetic Algorithm (GA). From optimization study, it can be seen that the results of multi objective problem are perfect and more reasonable than other cases. In other words, the results of cases 1 to 3 demonstrate some improvement in either thermodynamic or economical aspects of the system although multi objective optimization satisfy both thermodynamic and economical aspects of METVC and exhibit a rational system that could be applied for a real design approach.

RETRACTED: An integrated optimization model and application of MEE-TVC desalination system

“…Seyed Ehsan Shakib [12] made an optimization on MEE-TVC system with four objectives by genetic algorithm from the view of thermal economics.…”

A lab-scale MED dealing with salinity wastewater: the study of optimal operation schemes and parameters

“…Many researches have been made in MED desalination systems from different aspects and some progress has been obtained. For example, many reports have studied the general computer code and optimal model for thermo economic optimizations of MED desalination systems [18][19][20][21][22]. However, the related reports on operation parameters of lab-scale MED system were very less.…”

Optimization of multi-effect distillation process using a linear enthalpy model

“…Other works have focused on the optimization of the physical structure of the MED process via exhaustive iterative methods [13][14][15][16][17]. Studies that neglect economics have sought to maximize distillate production and or minimize overall exergy losses [12,18,19].…”