Comparative techno-economic assessment of osmotically-assisted reverse osmosis and batch-operated vacuum-air-gap membrane distillation for high-salinity water desalination

Zhang, Zhuoran; Atia, A. A.; Andrés-Mañas, J. A.; Zaragoza, Guillermo; Fthenakis, Vasilis M.

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2022.115737

Comparative techno-economic assessment of osmotically-assisted reverse osmosis and batch-operated vacuum-air-gap membrane distillation for high-salinity water desalination

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Desalination

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.115737· OSTI ID:1977061

Zhang, Zhuoran ^[1]; Atia, A. A. ^[2]; Andrés-Mañas, J. A. ^[3]; Zaragoza, Guillermo ^[3]; Fthenakis, Vasilis M. ^[2]

Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); OSTI
Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), Almeria (Spain). Plataforma Solar de Almería; Universidad de Almeria (Spain)

New developments in pressure- and thermally driven membrane desalination technologies offer the potential to cost-effectively treat high-salinity waters, especially when powered by low-cost solar electricity and thermal energy. This paper presents a comparative techno-economic assessment of the state-of-the-art most promising pressure- and thermally driven membrane technologies for high recovery desalination, namely, osmotically-assisted reverse osmosis (OARO) and batch-operated vacuum-air-gap membrane distillation (batch V-AGMD), to produce potable water while concentrating brine within the range of 140–290 g/L TDS for minimum-liquid-discharge (MLD) and zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) applications. It is shown that both OARO and batch V-AGMD can treat feedwater and brines with TDS in the range of 30–125 g/L with corresponding fresh water recovery rates of 85–25%. When low cost solar electricity and thermal energy are used, the resulting levelized cost of water (LCOW) from OARO is in the range of 0.70–6.28 $/m³, and that from batch-V-AGMD is in the range of 1.74–2.77 $/m³. OARO is more cost-effective than batch V-AGMD when feedwater salinity is below 70 g/L and recovery below 75%, whereas batch V-AGMD is more cost-effective at higher recovery rates and salinity levels. Finally, the sensitivity of this comparison on energy prices and module costs is discussed.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008401

OSTI ID:: 1977061

Journal Information:: Desalination, Journal Name: Desalination Journal Issue: C Vol. 532; ISSN 0011-9164

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Comparative techno-economic assessment of osmotically-assisted reverse osmosis and batch-operated vacuum-air-gap membrane distillation for high-salinity water desalination

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