COMPARISON BETWEEN

MSF AND MED TVC

CONFIGURATIONS
MULTI EFFECT DESALINATION WITH THERMAL VAPOR
COMPRESSION (MED TVC)

or Steam
Transformer

6kg 12kg 18kg

12kg

1 kg

GOR=6 RR=0.333
2. Explanation of MED Process

3
Once through Multistage Flash (MSF)
A once through multistage flash (MSF)e vaporator consists of several consecutive stages
(evaporating chambers) maintained at decreasing pressures from the first stage (hot) to the
last stage (cold).
Brine recycle MSF configuration
 Non
Non condensable
condensable Venting
Venting Brine
Brine Recycle
Recycle
Inside
Inside Tube
Tube
Condenser
Condenser Demisted
Demisted Vapor
Vapor
Tube
Tube Bundle
Bundle
Distillate
Distillate Distillate
Tray
Tray

Demister
Demister
Pads
Pads Vapor Brine
Mist
Splash
Splash
Plate
Plate Flashing
Flash
Flash weir Brine
Box
Box

AN MSF RECOVERY STAGE

MSF stage
 2. Explanation of MED Process

Difference on MSF and MED : Longitudinal

MED TVC effect

MSF stage 8
MED TVC Analysis
illustration #1

9
 Mass Balance Calculation
Mcd

MED TVC plant with given

boundary conditions

Recovery ratio (mass of distillate/mass of seawater makeup) =o.28571 GOR =9.7

Calculate
1. mass flow rate of steam,
2. seawater makeup,
6
3. brine discharge,
4. total cooling seawater feed
5. cooling water reject 10
 Mass Balance Calculation
Mcd

Recovery ratio (mass of distillate/mass of seawater makeup) =o.28571 GOR =9.7

Calculate
1. mass flow rate of steam,
2. seawater makeup,
3. brine discharge,
4. total seawater feed
5. cooling water reject 11
 Mass Balance Calculation

ms mF x W
xW
mCD
mc
mSW
xW

Mass Balance Calculation mB m

Overall mass balance xB xD D

mF = m B + m D
mSW=mCD + mF

Overall salt balance

mF xW = mB xB + mD xD
12
 Mass Balance Calculation
1. Seawater Flow Rate Calculation mSW

ms MF
Mcd

mSW
mc

MB MD
Overall energy balance
Qin = Hs – Hc

Mcd= Msw-Mf

13
• Vapor enthalpy
• Hv = 2499.56 + 1.841 Tv – 0.1043* 10^-3* TV ^-2 – 9.0357* 10^-6*
Tv^3
• Tv [ = ] oC
• 
• 
• Latent heat
•  = 2504.166 - 2.4806* Tv
• To calculate the enthalpy of brine:
• Hb1 = -10.9967*10^ -3 *X1 * Tv1^0.8237 + 4.2431 *TV1^0.99666
• 
• X [=] PPT = X [PPM] * 1/1000
 where hsw and hw are the specific enthalpy of seawater and pure water respectively.

• w salinity kgsalt /kgwater

• example w = 35000 ppm = (35000 kg salt)/ (1000000 kg water)= 0.035 kg salt/
kgwater
FUNDAMENTALS OF
SWRO DESALINATION
PROCESSES

Dr. Osman A. Hamed

 Thermal Processes
Separation of fresh water
from saline water by heating
COMMON
SEAWATER
DESALINATION
PROCESSES Membrane Processes
Separation of fresh water
from saline water by
semi-permeable membrane
 Reverse osmosis principle
• Reverse osmosis is a separation process where saline water (seawater or
brackish water) is forced under high pressure through a semi- permeable
membrane results in two streams – one of fresh water of low salinity
(permeate) and one of feed source water of elevated salinity
(concentrate) .

Semi-permeable refers to a membrane that

selectively allows water to pass through the
membrane at much higher rate than the transfer rate
of any other constituents contained in it. Depending
on their size and electric charge, most of the saline
water constituents are retained (rejected) on the
feed side of the RO membrane and the purified water
(permeate) passes through the membrane,
 THE CONCEPT OF REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESS

Mechanical
Pressure
Osmotic Pressure

Salt Pure
Water Water

Osmosis
•Assume that a semi permeable
membrane is placed between two Pure
Pure Salt Water
compartments in a tank. A salt
Water Water
solution is placed in one
compartment and pure water
solution in the other one.
Reverse Osmosis
The semi permeable is selected to allow
Osmotic Equilibrium When a pressure higher than
water ions with smaller molecules to •As water passes through the the osmotic pressure is
pass through it but acts as a barrier to membrane to the salt solution, the mechanically applied to the
salt ions with larger molecules . level of liquid in the saltwater salt water, pure water from
compartment will rise until enough
Water ions will then pass from the pure water hydrostatic pressure, is generated the salt water solution passes
compartment to the saltwater compartment to stop the osmosis. through the membrane to the
to maintain the same salt concentration on •This pressure is called osmotic
pure water side. This
both sides of the membrane. pressure.
This phenomena is known as osmosis
phenomenon is called
“reverse osmosis”
 Membrane desalination System
High
pressure Membrane
pump
Product
60 bar 0 bar
Sea water 3 m3/h 1 m3/h
Feed 1 bar 40000ppm 58 bar 200ppm
2 m3/h
70000 ppm
Brine
Reject
.
 In the Reverse Osmosis (RO), the seawater pressure is first increased from 1 bar to 60 bar
which is above the osmotic pressure (25 to 30 bar).
 When the high pressure sea water flow of 3 m3/h is exposed to the semi-permeable
membranes only desalinated water will pass through the semi-permeable membranes
which selectively pass water and excludes salts. , leaving the solid salt particles
behind .
 Out of the 3 m3/h sea watr feed only 1 m3/h of desalinated water is produced and 2
m3/h of highly saline water is rejected.
 Elements of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Process

Post-
Desalinated
Pre-treatment fresh water
Fresh water treatment

Seawater
Intake reverse osmosis system consists of
five major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
(2) pressurization
Concentrate brine (3) membrane separation
to outfall (4) energy recovery and
(5) post-treatment stabilization
reverse osmosis system consists of five
major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
(2) pressurization
(3) membrane separation
(4) energy recovery and
(5) post-treatment stabilization
reverse osmosis system consists of five
major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
 Pretreatment
Pretreatment of seawater obtained from the intake is an essential part in the RO process because it
protects membrane surfaces from scaling and fouling and also provides protection to the high-pressure
pumps.
 Pretreatment
Pretreatment of seawater obtained from the intake is an essential part in the RO process because it
protects membrane surfaces from scaling and fouling and also provides protection to the high-pressure
pumps.
1.The water is biologically disinfected by injecting chemicals like sodium hypochlorite to remove algae
and bacteria and to prevent microorganism growth.
2.Ferric chloride as a flocculant and sulphuric acid are added to adjust pH and control scale formation
3.The seawater is treated against debris, particles and suspended solids by a multimedia gravity filter
that removes particles larger than 10 microns.
 Pretreatment
.
4.The filtered water produced by the plant’s pretreatment system is passed through
cartridge filters into the suction pipe of the high p ressure RO feed pumps. The main
purpose of the cartridge filters is to protect the RO membranes from damage by
filtration media, small particles of rust or other particulates that occasionally can be
contained in the filtered water.
5. Antiscalining and dechlorination
reverse osmosis system consists of five
major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
(2) pressurization
HIGH PRESSURE PUMP
After pretreatment the high-salinity source water will need to be pressurized at a
level higher than the naturally occurring seawater osmotic pressure which is around
25 bar .The high pressure pump raises the pressure of the pretreated feedwater to an
operating pressure which ranges from 55 to 82 bars appropriate for the membrane
and the salinity of the seawater.

Reverse Osmosis Section Post-treatment Section

Pretreatment Section
reverse osmosis system consists of five
major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
(2) pressurization
(3) membrane separation
Membranes
When the high pressure pretreated saline water is admitted to the membrane system, the semi permeable
membranes inhibit the passage of dissolved salts while permitting the desalinated product water of the
relatively low molecular size to pass through.

Applying feedwater to the membrane assembly results in the seperation of the saline water into
freshwater product stream and a concentrated brine reject stream.

Because no membrane is perfect in its rejection of dissolved salts, a small percentage of salt passes
through the membrane and remains in the product water

Reverse Osmosis Section Post-treatment Section

Pretreatment Section
reverse osmosis system consists of five
major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
(2) pressurization
(3) membrane separation
(4) energy recovery
ENERGY RECOVERY SYSTEMS

The concentrated brine leaving the SWRO membrane loses only 1 – 4 bar relative to the applied pressure from the high-pressure pump.
Consequently recovery of this energy and its utilization to reduce the overall energy demand of SWRO is one of the major optimization
issues during the design of a RO seawater desalination plant).

There are various energy recovery technologies

available on the market. All technologies apply the same basic principle of exchanging energy between the reject stream and the
feed seawater stream
~

Low pressure
reverse osmosis system consists of five
major components/processes:
(1) seawater pretreatment,
(2) pressurization
(3) membrane separation
(4) energy recovery and
(5) post-treatment stabilization
Post treatment

The product water from the membrane assembly usually requires to be post treated to
satisfy the local drinking water standards before it is distributed to the community.
Common pretreatment of desalinated water that exits for RO desalination facilities
includes pH adjustment, remineralization, and disinfection.
Desalinated water is typically soft and corrosive and needs treatment to make it harder
and more alkaline. It is always treated with calcium-based compounds like lime or calcite
for hardness and with chemicals such as carbon dioxide, which add alkalinity to protect
the water distribution system against corrosion. In addition, desalinated water is usually
chlorinated for disinfection.
RO configurations include single stage, two stages, and two-pass systems.

Single stage
The single stage system includes a set of parallel pressure vessels. Each pressure vessel typically contains up
to 6 to 8 membrane elements i.The membrane elements are connected in series, whereas the reject of the
previous element serves as feed for the successive one. As in each element a portion of water crosses the
membrane, the salinity of the reject gradually increases along the elements of the vessel. As a result, the
osmotic pressure increases and the net water flow decreases, while the absolute salt passage is higher.

A number of vessels connected in parallel is referred to as a “stage”. The membrane assembly unit (also
called “RO train”) consists of pressure vessels, piping and manifolds
 Two stage SWRO system (high recovery)
The two-stage system includes two trains of pressure vessels,.
 
When the single stage system will not be capable to provide the
maximum desired recovery as the result of limitations imposed on
the number of modules that can be placed in series in a single stage
system , a second stage is included to process the brine stream
leaving the first stage.
TWO PASS SYSTEM
The two-pass system includes two trains of pressure vessels. In this case the second train process the
permeate water leaving the first train. This necessitate the use of an inter-stage pumping unit to increase the
pressure of the permeate water leaving the first pass and entering the second pass. Use of the two-pass
system allows for production of high purity permeate water with salinity below 10 ppm. A two-pass system
can process seawater as well as high salinity brackish water. Assuming a membrane salt rejection ratio of
99% and feed seawater with a salinity of 34,000 ppm, would generate a permeate with a salinity of 340
ppm from the first pass. In the second pass, the permeate salinity will then be 3.4 ppm, which can be used
as feed water in the demineralization units in boiler houses.
TWO PASS SYSTEM
The two-pass system, Figure 13 also includes two trains of pressure vessels. In this case the second train
process the permeate water leaving the first train. This necessitate the use of an inter-stage pumping unit to
increase the pressure of the permeate water leaving the first pass and entering the second pass. Use of the
two-pass system allows for production of high purity permeate water with salinity below 10 ppm. A two-
pass system can process seawater as well as high salinity brackish water. Assuming a membrane salt
rejection ratio of 99% and feed seawater with a salinity of 34,000 ppm, would generate a permeate with a
salinity of 340 ppm from the first pass. In the second pass, the permeate salinity will then be 3.4 ppm,
which can be used as feed water in the demineralization units in boiler houses.
Selection among these configurations depends on the desired quality of the product water. In this regard,
the two-pass system gives the highest purity product; therefore, its use is suitable for preparation of make-
up boiler water. The single stage system gives the simplest layout of all configurations and its use is quite
common on various desalination applications. The two-stage system is quite common for brackish water
use, where it is necessary to increase the overall recovery ratio.
 ENERGY RECOVERY SYSTEMS
High
pressure Membrane
pump
Product
60 bar 0 bar
Sea water 3 m3/h 1 m3/h
Feed 1 bar 40000ppm 58 bar 200ppm
2 m3/h
70000 ppm
Brine
Reject
.
The concentrated brine leaving the SWRO membrane loses only 1 – 4 bar relative to
the applied pressure from the high-pressure pump.

Consequently recovery of this energy and its utilization to reduce the overall energy
demand of SWRO is one of the major optimization issues during the design of a RO
seawater desalination).
centrifugal-type devices
The earliest energy recovery devices (ERD) used in SWRO plants are centrifugal-type devices
such as the Francis Turbine, Pelton Wheel and Turbocharger. These devices convert
the hydraulic energy of the concentrate into mechanical energy to drive a piston or pump
which transfers hydraulic energy back into the feed.

Energy recovery Process scheme with turbocharger.

Pressure exchanger (isobaric exchanger)
Since around 2000, isobaric chamber energy recovery devices have replaced centrifugal devices
in most new SWRO plants. Isobaric ERDs transfer hydraulic energy directly from the concentrate
directly into the feed, as the two streams come into direct contact (with minimal mixing).
As a result of the single energy conversion, efficiency loss is reduced when compared with
centrifugal ERDs
Energy recovery
 
Electricity consumption is a main cost component of the overall water production cost of SWRO.
The RO reject stream (concentrate) contains most of the energy supplied to the seawater feed to the
desalination process by the high pressure pumps. Consequently, recovery of this energy and its
utilization to reduce the overall energy demand of SWRO is one of the major optimization issues
during the design of a RO seawater desalination plant.

There are two basic principles of exchanging energy between the reject stream and the feed
seawater stream.

1. The earliest energy recovery devices (ERD) used in SWRO plants are centrifugal-type devices
such as the Francis Turbine, Pelton Wheel and Turbocharger. These devices convert the hydraulic
energy of the concentrate into mechanical energy to drive a piston or pump, which transfers
hydraulic energy back into the feed.

2. Since around 2000, isobaric chamber energy recovery devices have replaced centrifugal devices
in most new SWRO plants. Isobaric ERDs transfer hydraulic energy directly from the concentrate
directly into the feed, as the two streams come into direct contact (with minimal mixing). As a
result of the single energy conversion, efficiency loss is reduced when compared with centrifugal
ERDs
Figure shows hydraulic turbocharger arrangement. The seawater supply is first passed to a traditional

electrically driven pump where the pressure is raised from 2 to 41 bar. It is then directed to a turbocharger

system. The turbocharger system incorporates a turbine converting the hydraulic energy of the concentrate to

mechanical energy which is transmitted by an impeller to the secondary assisting pump. The pump impeller then

converts the mechanical energy back to hydraulic energy, offering an additional energy boost by increasing the

seawater supply pressure from 41 to 63.4 bar. The Turbocharger thus reduces the amount of pressure the high-

pressure pump must create. In a way, it acts as a second pump, powered by a hydraulic turbine rather than a

traditional electric motor. The energy recovery efficiency of the hydraulic turbocharger system is around 85%

(University thesis).
 
As shown in Figure , the SWRO seawater supply is divided in two parallel streams. One stream is passed to a
conventionally electrically driven pump to increase its pressure from 3 to 75 bar. The second stream which has
nearly the same volume as the SWRO concentrate flow, is passed to a pressure exchanger . In the pressure
exchanger the hydraulic energy of the concentrate is transferred directly to boost the hydraulic energy of the
incoming second stream and consequently its pressure is raised from from 3 to 72 bar. It is directed to booster
pump to increase its its pressure to 75 bar and mixed with first steam before being admitted to the SWRO
membrane system.
 
Pressure exchanger system transfer hydraulic energy from the concentrate directly into the seawater feed . There
is no need to convert the concentrate hydraulic energy into mechanical energy which will be subsequently
utilized to augument the hydraulic energy of the seawater supply as has been adopted in turbine and
tutbocharger arrangements . The energy recovery of pressure exchanger is thus significantly higher and with
efficiencies of 95–97%.

In an installation that uses a pressure exchanger, the high-pressure pump will give off 41% of the energy, the
booster pump will give off 2% of the energy and the pressure exchanger will give off the remaining 57%. The
pressure exchanger does not use any external energy, so the total energy savings will be 57%.By practising
pressure directly to incoming seawater in a membrane system, a reduction of 60% in size of the high-pressure
pump can be achieved. This does not only save energy; it also saves purchase costs of high-pressure pumps.
(energy recovery 2020).
 
 
 RO Process Characteristics
1.
1. RO
RO processes
processes can can handle
handle mostmost feedwaters,
feedwaters, but
but the
the
process
process becomes
becomes less
less efficient
efficient and
and the
the costs
costs increase
increase
as
as salinity
salinity levels
levels in
in the
the feedwater
feedwater increase.
increase.
2.
2. Brackish
Brackish waters
waters can
can result
result inin recoveries
recoveries ofof 70%
70% or
or
greater,
greater, while
while seawaters
seawaters efficiencies
efficiencies are
are generally
generally in
in
the
the order
order of
of 35
35 –
– 45%.
45%.
3. Multiple trains can be used to meet product water
requirements.

4. Membrane processes operated near ambient

temperatures, the pressures applied are very high
ranging from 15 to 25 Bar for brackish water and from
54 -80 Bar for seawater .
5. TDS concentrations achievable in product water
ranges from 20 mg/L (brackish water) to 500 mg/L
(seawater).

Higher TDS means a higher osmotic pressure and therefore the

pressure required to overcome osmotic pressure increases,
resulting in increasing capital and operating costs. The efficiency
decreases as the salt content in feedwater increases as the salt
concentration in the brine solutions can only increase to the point
at which precipitation is reached. .
RO plants are powered exclusively by electrical energy. Typical
energy requirements for RO processes are:
■ Electrical energy (kWh/kL) for brackish waters: 1.0 –
2.5.
■ Electrical energy (kWh/kL) for seawater: 3.0 – 8.5
The energy requirements for RO plants can be reduced by
employing energy recovery devices, such as energy recovery
turbines, energy recovery turbochargers, work exchanger energy
recovery and pressure exchanger energy recovery systems. These
energy recovery devices work by regaining part of the pressure
energy in the brine waste stream. This regained energy is directed
back into the system and utilized to power the high-pressure
pumps.
 Advantage – RO Facilities

1. The construction and operation of RO plants are

simple and relatively low-cost .
2. The plant capacity can be increased, by simply
adding extra modules.
3. Only part of the plant has to be shut down to
facilitate maintenance, as the modules can be
maintained separately.
4. RO processes can be designed to be compact and
portable.
5. The efficiency can be high if brackish water is used
~ 80%.
 – RO CONSTRAINTS
1. There is limited economy of scale as increasing
production means adding new modules.

2. The most expensive equipment item (the membranes)

has the lowest life expectancy 2-5 years.
3. Pressurized equipment items require special materials
to cope with the high pressures.

4. RO plants are less reliable because failure can occur

due to improper pre-treatment .
5. Pilot plants and/or good historical seasonal water
quality data is required to guarantee a well designed
plant.

6. Production capacity is sensitive to water

temperature.

7. RO systems do not cope well with widely

fluctuating raw water quality.
Key design data of thermal and membrane desalination
processes
         
Unit MSF MED-TVC SWRO

Maximum TDS in Concentrate        

% ~ 6,9 ~ 5,8 - 6,4 ~ 7,0

Maximum Seawater Recovery        

(a)
% ~ 40 ~ 30 ~ 45

Overall Seawater        
Recovery % ~ 11 - 14 ~ 11 - 14 ~ 45

Typical Product Water TDS       ~ 250 - 500(b)

~ 20 - 100(c)
mg/L < 25 < 25 < 5 (d)

Specific Area Requirement m²/ (m³/d)      

0.13 - 0.25 0.13 - 0.25 0.4 - 0.6
MULTI EFFECT DESALINATION WITH THERMAL VAPOR
COMPRESSION (MED TVC)

or Steam
Transformer

6kg 12kg 18kg

12kg

1 kg

GOR=6 RR=0.333
Brine recycle MSF configuration
 TABLE ES.6. Energy Consumption of Seawater Desalination Methods

Desalination method MSF   MED-TVC SWRO

Electrical energy (kWh/m3) 3.4–4.5   1.2–1.8 2.8-5.0

         

Electrical equivalent of thermal energy (kWh/m3) 5.6–8.0   4.0– 8.0 None

         

Total equivalent electrical energy (kWh/m3) 9.0–12.5   5.2–9.8 2.8-5.0

 Thank You
Saline Water Desalination Research Institute
Power and Desalination
Plant Combinations
SINGLE PURPOSE WATER PLANTS

60
Process Schematic – Single purpose MSF
arrangement

61
SINGLE PURPOSE POWER PLANTS

62
 Schematic diagram of steam power
plant
Typical heat balance of steam power plant
DUAL PURPOSE POWER/WATER
CONFIGURATIONS

65
 Steam Power Generation Cycles

nn
Chemical Energy Thermal Gas or Steam Mechanical Electrical
In Fuel Energy Cycle

Combustio
Energy

Generator
Energy

Waste
Heat
Surroundings
 Seawater

Seawater intake

Pretreatment
LP steam
Desalination Condensate Power generation
Plant Plant
Pumping
power
Post Net power
treatment output

Pumping status

Brackish water
Consumers Blending

Operation flow
Power/Water chartChart
Flow for a water/power cogeneration plant 67
Financial Benefits for Dual Purpose Plants

Dual purpose power/water plants have an overall

financial gain against two single purpose plants.
■ Sharing of some common equipment (boiler and its
associated facilities, intake and outfall facilities).

■ Elimination of some equipment

(power plant condenser)
■ Tremendous saving in fuel consumption related to
the desalting process

68
 Fuel
requirements

Fuel =598 MW
requirements
=447 MW Dual Single
Purpose Purpose
104.45 MW
Electrical 298 MW
243 MW

Dual Single
Purpose Water Production Purpose

15 MIGD 298 MW
204 MW

Thermal Benefits of Cogeneration Plants 69

Schematic diagram of dual purpose desalination plant (back-pressure steam turbine
connected to desalination plant (BP-ST))
 
 
Schematic diagram of Gas turbine plus unfired heat recovery steam generator plus auxiliary boiler
connected to desalination plant (GT-HRSG)
 Schematic diagram of a dual purpose plant (Gas turbine plus supplementary-fired heat recovery steam
generator plus backpressure steam turbine connected to desalination plant (CC-BP))
 
74
 Typical power to water ratios for different technologies
Technology PWR (MW installed/Million Imperial Gallopns
per)
Steam turbine BTG-MED 3.5
Steam turbine BTG-MSF 5
Steam turbine EST-MED 7
Steam turbine EST-MSF 10
Gas turbine GT-HRSG-MED 6
Gas turbine GT-HRSF-MSF 8
Combine cycle BTG-MED 10
Combine cycle BTG- MSF 16
Combine cycle EST-MED 12
Combine cycle EST-MSF 19

75