Seawater desalination plant by reverse osmosis powered with photovoltaic

solar energy. A supply option for remote areas

T. Espino, B. Peñate#, D. Henríquez, J. Betancort, G. Piernavieja

(1)
Energy, Water and Bioengineering Division, Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, S.A.
(2) Playa de Pozo Izquierdo s/n –35119 (Santa Lucía) Gran Canaria, Spain
Phone +34 928 727503; Fax +34 928 727517; emails: baltasarp@itccanarias.org; gpiernavieja@itccanarias.org

Abstract

This paper presents the results of Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC) project called
DESSOL-Desalination with Photovoltaic Solar Energy. This project is the optimization of the one
first version of the system, which was development in close collaboration with Aachen University
of Applied Sciences (Julich, Germany) in 1998 [1]. The DESSOL project proposes a solution for
the water scarcity in isolated areas that the conventional electric grid does not reach. We make
use of photovoltaic solar energy (PV) to power a pilot sea water desalination system based on
reverse osmosis (RO) with a mean production capacity of 3 m³/day (7 operating hours annual
average) with no electricity of a thermal origin, but with certain solar radiation conditions. This
experience has shown the technical and economic viability of these systems, which can be
efficiently extrapolated to other water productions or qualities.

Keywords: Reverse osmosis desalination; Photovoltaic system; Batteries.

1. Introduction

In the last decade, desalination, especially by reverse osmosis (RO), has become one of the
principal safe sources of supply of potable water, and even water for agricultural use, in Spain
and other countries with limited natural water resources. It is in the Mediterranean, Africa, the
Middle East, and son on, where the potable water supply is a high priority problem. The water
resources in these areas are limited and even diminishing, since water becomes saline due to
sea water filtrations and there is extensive irrigation. All this leads to the need to identify new
sources of supply such as the desalination of brackish or sea water.

However, the installation of desalting plants leads to total dependence on power, meaning that
the water-energy combination becomes of the utmost importance, to a point where in many
places it is true that “if there is no power, there is no water”. This is where renewable energies
play a fundamental role as a new source of electricity to help to obtain the water that is so vital
for human use (European Water Charter. Strasbourg, 1968).

The autonomous photovoltaic solar-reverse osmosis (PV-RO) system with power storage and
control system presented here is capable of satisfying the water demand of an area isolated
from the electric grid (50–75 inhabitants) with a scarcity of potable water. The optimised system
[1] has a production capacity of 400 L/h (at 60 bar) from sea water, operating an average of 8
hours per day in the summer and 6 in the winter.

PV-RO systems have been devised which are only simulations based on a design[2-4] or which
have been designed and tested with a manual plant in continuous operation [5,6]. Our real
installation approaches the model from the automation perspective, using a control programme
to manage and optimise the hours of solar radiation available.

#
Corresponding author.

1
2. Location of the desalination plant

The autonomous PV-RO system tested is in the ITC facilities on the

Pozo Izquierdo beach, in the municipality of Santa Lucía on the island
of Gran Canaria (Las Palmas-Spain). The ITC is a publicly-owned
company of the Government of the Canary Islands. Under its
Technical Management is the Energy, Water and Bioengineering
Division, which is responsible for fostering the industrial development
of the Canary Islands in the field of renewable energies and water
technologies, facilitating the participation of businesses and acting as
a platform for R&D and innovation testing.

The weather conditions at Pozo Izquierdo make it an area of

excellent qualities for R&D concerning renewable energies. The following table (Table 1) shows
some information on the location and its climate.

Table 1: Location and climate data (2001) referring to the ITC facilities at Pozo Izquierdo beach (Gran Canaria).

Orientation of the terrain South-west

Surface area available 109,000 m²
Distance from the sea <100 m
Maximum altitude above sea level 3m
Mean annual solar radiation (on hz. surface) (*) 2,044 kWh/m²
Mean annual wind speed 7.8 m/s
Mean annual temperature 23.5ºC
Mean annual humidity 65 - 70%
Annual rainfall 105 mm (5 –10 days of rain/year)

(*) Compare with the 1,653 kWh/m² of Madrid [7] and the 1,718 kWh/m² of Almería [8].

Figure 1: Aerial views of the ITC facilities at Pozo Izquierdo

beach.

Figure 1 shows a series of aerial views of the

ITC facilities at Pozo Izquierdo. Figure 2 5
defines the specific technical areas of the
4
project: sea water collection (1), the
Desalination dome (2), the pond of produced 2
water (3), the photovoltaic field (4) and the
battery house (5).
3
1

Figure 2: Location of the principal components on the ITC facilities.

2
3. Description of the PV-RO system

The system basically consists of a sea water RO desalination plant operating and an isolated
photovoltaic system (PV) with power storage based on batteries, producing the power required
for the desalination process. Figure 3 is a diagram of the principal power and water lines of the
PV-RO system tested.

ELECTRICAL
SUPPLY (PV)

1
WELL HIGH CIP
PUMP PRESSURE PUMP
PUMP

Pressure: 3 bar Pressure <70 bar Caudal max : 8 m3/h

Flow: 2,5 m³/h Flow max: 1,5 m³/h P : 0,75 kW
P: 1 kW P: 2,2 kW (60 bar)

Brine flow

RO lines
Sea water 12 elements
Cartridge Filters (2.5” ∅)
Product

Water line
Capacity: 10 m³/d
Electrical line Water quality<500 mg/L

Figure 3: Diagram of the PV-RO system1.

RO Desalination plant
The sea water desalination plant uses RO technology and has a rated production at 60 bar of
10 m³/d (24 hours), producing potable water with a mean conductivity value of less than 1,000
µS/cm and specific rated consumption in the
desalination process of 5.5 kWh/m³. It is a
compact installation in an AISI 316 stainless
steel frame, and has two parallel lines of 6 spiral
-wound membranes each (2.5” x 40”) (Figure 4).
All the high pressure water lines are in flexible
rubber and the low pressure line is made out of
plastic (PVC and PE-HD). The plant thus has
optimal resistance in corrosive atmospheres and
therefore requires minimal maintenance. Table 2
provides a list of the components and the
principal characteristics of the lines comprising
the system.

Figure 4: 10 m³/d sea water desalination plant.

1
Clean in place

3
Table 2: Components of the sea water desalination plant.
Pre-treatment line High pressure line
Motor-driven feed valve Stainless steel ¾” ∅ Low pressure switch 1 bar cut-out pressure
Pre-filtration manometer 0-10 bar High pressure pump 900 L/h (2.2 kW)
Cartridge filter 25 µm Pump output manometer 0-100 bar
12 tubes (2 m. long)
Cartridge filter 5 µm Membrane tubes
Max. pressure 1000 psi
Post-filtration manometer 0-10 bar RO membranes 12 SW-2540
Temperature sensor PT-100 High pressure switch 67 bar cut-out pressure
Tube output manometer 0-100 bar
Brine rejection line High pressure transmitter
Stainless steel 904 L
Needle valve
¾” ∅

Motor-driven by-pass Stainless steel

Product line
valve Closure time 150 s
Buoy Buoy
Brine rotameter Product rotameter
200-1800 L/h 0-600 L/h
Conductivity and pH
Compensating tank 60 L
transmitter and sensor
Product water counter
Conductivity and pH
CIP line
transmitter and sensor
Clean tanks 2 x 200 L (each)
Motor-driven valve Stainless steel ¾” ∅
Centrifugal impulse 700 L/h
pump 0.75 kW

One interesting new aspect of the plant is the design of the hydraulic system for the plant’s
operating mode when the plant is shut down on a daily basis, to prevent the process brine from
remaining in contact with the membranes all night. A flushing process according to the brine
volume contained is of vital importance. Therefore, the centrifugal cleaning pump pumps around
300 L of product water (from the cleaning tanks) at a pressure of about 3-4 bar. Once this
process is complete, the product water in the compensating tank acts by direct osmosis until the
concentrations are the same. The tubes thus remain submerged in water with a low salinity
value and are prevented from deteriorating.

The plant’s electric installation includes an automatic mechanism which not only collects data
from the system but also authorises the plant’s start-up, shut-down and control. The inclusion of
this component has reduced the electric system to a minimum.

Electrical-Supply - PV system
The power generating system has a 4.8 kWp photovoltaic field consisting of sixty-four 75 Wp A-
75 modules, power accumulation consists of twenty-four 385 Ah 2 V vessels, a 75 A regulator, a
4.5 kW inverter and a protection panel with which we separate and protect the panel lines, also
including the battery output protection fuses. The following figure (Figure 6) shows a diagram of
the photovoltaic system used in the project.

4
 Regulator
Inverter DC/AC
48 V/75 A
48 V/4,500W
PV field
64 modules (A-75)

4.8 kWp Bank of accumulators

19 kWh

Figure 5: Diagram of the 4.8 kWp photovoltaic system.

Basically, the photovoltaic field is

connected to a bank of accumulators
providing it with power (Figure 8). This
process is controlled by a regulator, a
device in charge of managing the charge
process, preventing the batteries becoming
over or undercharges with a view to
lengthening their lives as much as
possible. Each time the regulator cuts off
the charge process, the power provided by
the photovoltaic generator is lost. This
factor is used to design the plant’s control
programme, with which we can practically
eliminate these charge cut-out periods,
thus making the best possible use of the
solar energy available.

Figure 6: Photovoltaic field and accumulators bank area.

The accumulators fulfil two functions. On the one hand, they keep the input voltage to the
inverter stable and, on the other, they make it possible to make use of the surplus radiation in
the middle of the day, when more power is supplied by the photovoltaic system than is
consumed by the plant. This surplus is later used to operate the system in the early and late
hours of the day, when the process is inverted. This means that the charge regulator never cuts
out the charge process, and there is 100% use of the solar energy available. The direct rated
voltage of the photovoltaic system, which is 48 V, is transformed by the inverter into 220 V (AC)
to adapt it to the plant’s operating voltage.

Control system

The system is controlled by an PLC mechanism and a control system developed in a Windows
environment (Figure 9) which acts as an interface between the automatic mechanism and a
computer in order to provide on-line data graphs. In turn, the control system stores the values of
all the system’s variables once a minute in a data file, so that its evolution can later be
analysed.

The ITC control - programme is responsible at all times for controlling the plant’s operating
status, which varies with the capacity remaining in the accumulation system (C), which in turn
depends on the solar radiation available and the power consumed by the plant during
operations. Measuring this parameter throughout the day, the control decides when the plant

5
starts up and shuts down (in other words, the
operating period), adapting operating hours to
the daily incident solar radiation. Thirteen
operating status categories have been
established for the plant, including on hold
(Status 1), daily start-up (Status 2), daily shut-
down (Status 5), flushing (Status 3), operating
status (from Status 6 to 11), alarm (Status 4)
and manual operating status (Status 12 and
13).

Figure 7: Main menu of the PV-RO system’s control Scada.

The operating status categories are the daily transient phases in which the control programme
sets the plant as soon as start-up status is detected, and they are responsible for deciding when
the plant starts up and shuts down, depending on the battery capacity (C) and the time of day.
Table 3 shows the value of each status category, depending on whether the order is to start up
or shut down. The plant only starts up once a day and therefore there is only one shut-down per
day, accompanied by a brine flushing process.

Table 3: RO plant operating status categories.

START-UP SHUT-DOWN
Status 6 C>377 Ah and 08:30 a.m. Status 6 18:00 or 19:30 p.m.
Status 7 C>310 Ah and 10:00 a.m. Status 7 C<248 Ah or 17:00 p.m.
Status 8 C>248 Ah and 10:30 a.m. Status 8 C<186 Ah or 17:00 p.m.
Status 9 No start-up decided Status 9 C<186 Ah or 16:00 p.m.
Status 10 186 ≤ C ≥ 248 Ah and 10:30 a.m. Status 10 C<248 Ah or 12:00 a.m.
Status 11 C>186 Ah and 12:00 p.m. Status 11 C<186 Ah or 14:00 p.m.

From an analysis of this table, we can see that the desalting plant will operate for a maximum of
11 hours (status 6 is maintained throughout the day) and a minimum of 2 hours (status 11 is
maintained throughout the day). From the monthly data available, it has been seen that the
plant operates for an average of 8 hours per day (3.2 m³/d) in the summer and 6 in the winter
(2.4 m³/d).

Since this is a discontinuous operation, the control programme, of which the following are
significant aspects, is of priority importance:

ƒ The control adapts the plant’s operating time to the solar radiation available on the site.
This has been possible thanks to the use, for the first time, of a battery monitor. This
equipment is constantly measuring the power status of the battery and informing control.
This factor means that this type of plant can be installed anywhere in the world, obtaining
the maximum yield from the power system. The plant will produce more or less water,
depending on the radiation available on the site in question.
The maximum use of the solar radiation available is patent in the data collected. As we
explained earlier, they reveal that the charge regulator has practically not been active,
indicating that all the solar energy available is being used.

ƒ The installation of motor-driven valves in the feed system, in the wash line and the
needle valve by-pass, controlled by the control programme, means that start-ups, shut-
downs and wash processes are fully automatic, so that the plant does not need to be
manned.

6
4. Discussion. Assessment of the system

The most significant meteorological parameters in the study of isolated photovoltaic systems
are the ambient temperature, which inversely affects the yield of the photovoltaic cells, and the
solar radiation available. Logically, this study has been conducted considering the information
for Pozo Izquierdo, where the project is located. The system’s production and performance,
although it is a point of reference for its application anywhere in the world, is specific to this site,
which is considered to be one of the best areas in the world for the use of renewable energies.
We should also remember that in this installation, the inclination of the photovoltaic modules is
altered four times a year (25º from the horizontal plane from February to April, 0º from May to
July, 25º from August to October and 45º from November to January), thus obtaining a mean
annual photovoltaic conversion rate of 92%.

Solar radiation available

The monthly mean daily radiation values on a horizontal surface at Pozo Izquierdo are shown
on table 4. From these values, we can see that at Pozo Izquierdo there is a mean annual daily
value of 5.6 kWh/m², equivalent to 2,044 kWh/m²/year

Table 4: Monthly mean solar radiation values at Pozo Izquierdo (2001).

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
KWh/m² day 3.5 4.6 5.5 6.6 7.6 8.2 7.8 7.2 5.8 4.5 3.3 2.9

Observing the data obtained from the system in this year’s operating period, we can see that
the system’s mean production rate is around 23 kWh/d, with the installation’s global yield2 in the
period at around 83%.

Study of the plant’s operation

To summarise our study of the data collected during the operating period, we will describe the
most significant aspects and different operating days in different radiation conditions.

The plant’s energy balance is obtained by analysing four basic parameters:

ƒ Plant production (L/h): litres of water produced per time unit.
ƒ The system’s electric consumption (Wh): the power demanded by the plant to obtain a
given volume of product at a pre-established water quality (normally between 800 and
1000 µS/cm),
ƒ Quality of the water produced (µS/cm).
ƒ Daily solar radiation (W).

Data analysis
The data analysed is presented in graph form to see their evolution after several days of
operation. Figure 10, representing five consecutive days and it shows the evolution of the
incident solar radiation (W), which is nearly a parabola on the days with good solar radiation;
over the graph (rectangular graph at the top), we can see the electric intensity consumed by the
plant (A), the variable from which we obtain the RO plant’s operating hours and the flow rate
produced. The other rectangular curve (bottom of the graph) represents the evolution of the
instant conductivity value of the water produced (µS/cm).

2
The global yield of the installation includes the photovoltaic yield, the battery yield and the electrical line losses.

7
 (W) (µS/cm)(A)
3 3 1
x10 x10 x10
5.00 3.00 1.50
Potencia Campo Fotovoltaico
PV field power (W) E(>0):132880.08; E(<0):-1869.69
Conductividad Producto
Product water conductivity (uS/cm) Intensidad de consumo
E(>0):499.26; E(<0):0.00
Desalination Plant Load (A)
3.75 2.38 1.12

2.50 1.75 0.75

1.25 1.13 0.37

0.00 0.50 0.00

(GMT) 23/05/2002 22:29:22
24/05/2002 22:29:22
25/05/2002 22:29:22
26/05/2002 22:29:22
27/05/2002 22:29:22
Tiempo ---> 5 Días; 8 Horas

Figure 8: Plant operation over several days.

Taking the most representative parameters of several days with high and low solar radiation, we
obtain the following values:

Table 5: Summary of the operation on a day with high and low solar radiation.

Parameters High solar radiation day Low solar radiation day

Start-up time 8:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m.
Shut-down time 19:30 p.m. 17:00 p.m.
Initial battery capacity 378 Ah 308 Ah
Final battery capacity 367 Ah 277 Ah
Battery energy balance -11 Ah -31 Ah
Total power consumed (in direct current) 550 Ah 350 Ah
PV field production 25 kWh 12.5 kWh
Total plant operating time 11 hours 7 hours
Plant production during the day 4,165 litres 2,430 litres
Mean conductivity 880 µS/cm 662 µS/cm

From an analysis of this data, we reach the following conclusions:

ƒ On days with good radiation, the plant can operate continuously for 11 hours, with a very
small battery discharge. The energy balance shows that the use of a larger accumulation
system is not justified, since the plant practically directly consumes the power generated.
ƒ The control programme system adapts the possible operating hours to the solar radiation
available. Whereas in the first case the plant operates for 11 hours, for days with low
radiation we only obtain an average of 7 operating hours, and the battery is more
discharged, since the little radiation available is not capable of recharging the battery to
the initial values.

Following is a summary of the system’s performance after several days of very low radiation.
Based on the data analysed we can evaluate that the batteries are on low charge, so the RO
plant will operate the minimum possible hours until a day of good radiation, in which case the
control reacts by making the plant operate for a few hours a day until the batteries charge level

8
is recovered. In these cases, the solar radiation is entirely used to return the batteries to their
normal charge level.

Table 6: Summary of the operation on a day of high radiation after several days of low radiation – battery charge recovery
(29/09/2002).

Start-up time 10:30 a.m.

Shut-down time 12:00 p.m.
Initial battery capacity 217 Ah
Final battery capacity 326 Ah
Battery energy balance +109 Ah
Total power consumed (in direct current) 105 Ah
PV field production 16.6 kWh
Total plant operating time 1.5 hours
Plant production during the day 570 litres
Mean conductivity 908 µS/cm

To date, and after monitoring the project for over 12 months, we have observed, in the worst
case scenario, a discharge of 264 Ah. This has allowed us to optimise the battery capacity,
establishing its value at 385Ah in C1003. The bank of batteries will be at most 68% discharged
in this worst case scenario, and this will only occur a few times a year, which has a direct impact
on lengthening the life of the battery.

Night time operations have been tested, with the plant only operating at night and the system
charging the batteries during the day. There are factors which make night time operations totally
inadvisable, since there is no charge available to power a 24-hour operation. These factors are:

ƒ During the day, and with medium-high radiation, the voltage at the battery terminals
remains around 50 - 52 V in relation to the system’s rated voltage of 48 V. When the
plant operates at night, since there is no solar collection in the system, the battery
voltage is around 46 - 47 V. This means that the amperes-hour (Ah) taken from the
battery are greater, since it is operating at a lower voltage. The result of all this is that for
the same quantity of water, we need more A per hour during the night than during the
day. The data obtained reveals a consumption difference of between 30 and 40 Ah in
eight operating hours.
ƒ The component which most benefits from daytime consumption is the battery. During the
day, and only during the first and last hours of the plant operation, the battery suffers a
very small discharge, since demand then exceeds generation. In the middle hours of the
day, when generation is equal to or exceeds demand, the battery is practically not
discharged at all. With a night time operation, the battery is subject to complete charge-
discharge cycles, in the best of cases discharging 30 or 40% in each cycle. If the battery
does not have time to recover during the day, this could reach a figure of 50% or more.
This would logically represent greater wear and the battery will have a shorter life.

Preliminary economic feasibility of the process

Having confirmed the technical viability of the DESSOL plant, and before considering its
economic viability, we must remember that these systems are not designed to compete with
conventional centralised desalting processes, but to satisfy the need for water in remote coastal
or inland areas (with brackish water).

These areas, largely located on the northern-sub-Saharan coast of Africa and in parts of South
America and Asia, are typically far from water and electric distribution networks, and in places
where road or sea transport greatly increases the cost of the resource. They have a road
transport network for water using tankers or private transport with sales prices ranging from 0.01
– 0.04 €/L, or 13.30 – 19.00 €/m³ (data specific to Mauritania) [9].

3
Parameter used to define the battery capacity at a discharge regime defined by the capacity divided by 100.

9
Two hypothetical cases have been studied in which a system of these characteristics is installed
(Table 7). The first (case 1) is a situation in which the system is a private business which has to
obtain profits to justify sale of the resource. In case 2, the operation is not aimed at making a
profit, and has partial external financing, providing that the system finances itself when in
operation.

In both cases, the minimum sales prices are lower than they actually are in these remote areas,
and the water is available at the point of consumption, without depending on transport or
availability in the closest towns.

Table 7: Summary of the economic viability study on the Dessol PV-RO system tested.

Study variables Case 1 Case 2

Years of use 15 15
Mean annual production 1,050 m³ 1,050 m³
Membrane replacement 2 years 2 years
Battery replacement 5 years 5 years
Annual operating and maintenance costs 5% investment 5% investment
External contribution (grant) 0% 25% investment
Internal ROI (return on investment) 8% 6%
(+)
Minim sales price of the water produced 9.62 €/m³ 7.51 €/m³

(*) Obtaining a mean net value of 0.00 €

5. Conclusions

We have designed, tested and optimised a sea water RO desalination plant powered by
photovoltaic solar energy produced in a 4.8 kWp PV field, in the ITC facilities at Pozo Izquierdo.
The RO plant produces 400 L/h (operating at 60 bar) and is satisfactorily adapted to the
discontinuous operating mode to which it is exposed, obtaining rated operating data within the
design parameters in the year of experimentation.

The system tested is presented as a technically and economically viable solution to the potable
water supply in remote coastal or inland areas far from towns, with a mean daily solar radiation
value. It is a feasible alternative not only to the transport of water to these locations, but also to
the use of this technology for treating polluted water in large territories.

The desalination plant has been equipped with a double brine flushing system for its daily shut-
downs, which delays the ageing and loss of efficiency of the RO membranes when it is not
operating.

The PV-RO system has a fully automatic control system which manages the power generated
and converts it on a daily basis into water, thus obtaining an average of 8 operating hours per
day in the summer and 6 hours in the winter (7 hours annual average).

The power storage capacity of the bank of batteries, 19 kWh, is fully optimised, making the
installation technically and economically viable. One totally original aspect is measuring the
variation in battery capacity in real time by means of a battery monitor with RS232 output,
making full use of the solar radiation available and the generation of a large amount of useful
information with a view to analysing battery variations over time. The night time use of the
battery capacity is not recommended, since this wastes part of the power stored.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank to Dr. A. Neskakis and Dr. D. Herold for the cooperation provided in
the development of the process.

10
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