Estimation of Water Production Cost from Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plant in Korea

Abstract

The history of desalination's cost estimations is some four decades old. Initially, at the beginning of the 1960s, the only process for seawater desalination was distillation. The only feasible and economical option to achieve large capacities was by dual-purpose, electric power/seawater desalination plants, using multi-stage flash (MSF) technology. About a decade later, two new technologies capable to desalt seawater have evolved, the low-pressure multi-effect distillation (MED), and improved reverse osmosis (RO).Since the seventies, these three technologies are the main processes used for seawater desalination. MSF and MED are implemented in conjunction with power production while RO is the only viable option for an independent application.The two practical options, since the 1960s, for brackish water desalination are electro dialysis (ED) and RO. ED is mainly applied for water of low salinity or for special purposes such as nitrate removal, while RO is used for a wide spectrum of raw water sources. This wide spectrum has recently been expanded to include also some "difficult" surface water sources, including wastewater, by applying improved Integrated Membrane Systems (IMS), integrating ultra-filtration (UF) or micro filtration (MF) with low fouling RO membranes.Major feasibility studies and cost estimates were initiated by the US Office of Saline Water (OSW) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These studies evaluated dual-purpose plants for combined supply of power and desalinated seawater.The aim of the present paper is to review significant cost estimations, and in some cases actual desalination costs in the last four decades. All the costs are normalized according to a common set of ground rules and macro-economic parameters. First cost estimatesIn the 1950s desalination water cost was some $ 1 2/1,000 gal (~ $0.5 /m 3 ). This cost was considered very high at that time. OSW was established in 1952 to tackle this challenge and by 1956, OSW sponsored the first study on the applicability of combining nuclear reactors with saline water desalination processes.The 1960s had witnessed many national programs intended to study and evaluate longrange development of desalination, mainly in conjunction with nuclear power reactors, for combined supply of power and water. OSW initiated large number of studies and conceptual designs of desalination plants [1], while IAEA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) were active in evaluating nuclear dual-purpose plants [2][3][4][5][6][7].Several national programs were reported at a symposium on nuclear desalination, organized in November 1968 by IAEA in Madrid:H. Kronberger reviewed the U.K. desalination RO program [5] activities in improving MSF and other desalination processes were discussed.M. N. Edwards reviewed fifteen years of the US desalination program [1], emphasizing the pursuing for low cost desalination technology.

Economic Dispatch Optimization of Multi-Water Resources: A Case Study of an Island in South Korea

“…The cost functions used here are taken from [22,23] and the cost estimation standards are those developed by the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea [24].…”