Hybrid systems in seawater desalination—practical design aspects, present status and development perspectives

Saline Water for Power Plant Cooling: Challenges and Opportunities

“…These types of systems can optimize water production and energy costs under seasonal variations in power loads, because operation can be switched from electrically driven RO to thermally driven distillation. In periods of high power demand, there will also be associated abundant steam generation such that thermal desalination operations can be maximized; conversely, when there is low power demand (and reduced quantities of available low-grade or waste heat), water production by RO is likely to become more economical (Ludwig 2004). It is noted, however, that to utilize this operational flexibility and realize the cost benefits, the total installed capacity must be larger than the nominal demand for water (NRC 2008).…”

Reducing Chloride Ion Permeation during Seawater Electrolysis Using Double-Polyamide Thin-Film Composite Membranes

“…The global demand for hydrogen has been rising in recent years, with a 22% increase to 115 million tons per year expected by 2030. , Hydrogen gas is currently produced primarily via steam-methane reforming, which results in the generation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. , Water electrolysis driven by renewable electricity (e.g., wind or solar power) for hydrogen production is a cleaner alternative. , However, ultrapure water is usually needed for water electrolysis, which is often not readily available in areas where renewable energy sources are abundant, like coastal regions, as salt water is prevalent in those regions. , Direct seawater electrolysis is problematic due to the evolution of corrosive chlorine gas at the anode, which can shorten the life span of the electrolyzer setup. , One potential solution is to pretreat seawater to produce ultrapure water for electrolysis, but this increases the complexity of hydrogen production. , …”

“…9,10 One potential solution is to pretreat seawater to produce ultrapure water for electrolysis, but this increases the complexity of hydrogen production. 11,12 An asymmetric water electrolyzer configuration has recently been proposed that uses fully oxidized salts (e.g., sodium perchlorate) as contained anolyte and seawater as the catholyte to prevent chlorine evolution. 13 Low-cost (<$10 m −2 ) 13 polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis membranes were used instead of more expensive cation exchange membranes ($250 to $500 m −2 ) 13 commonly used in acidic water electrolyzers to control the ion exchange between the catholyte and anolyte.…”

Membrane distillation hybrids for water production and energy efficiency enhancement: A critical review

“…Hybridization is therefore considered if a single process does not produce the expected product quality or requires too much energy to withstand productivity and sustainability. The hybridization concept, often discussed for desalination to reach a more economical implementation [4][5][6][7][8] is now extensively considered for MD. MD has several attractive benefits, such as low operating temperatures as compared to the conventional distillation process, namely MSF and MED [8][9][10].…”