SAMUDRAM

Technical Overview:
Road to Design Cost Effective & Efficient
Desalination Mechanism

Kamal Bharakhda

SAMUDRAM

Abstract
Desalination is a technique or process of producing fresh water from the
saline/brackish/salt water/sea water by removing dissolve salts to make it
suitable for the human use, agriculture and for Industrial use.
97% of the earth water is non consumable. Only 3% consumable water is
available and even less than 1% fresh water is within human reach where
agriculture uses two third of it. Fresh water demands doubles by every 20
years. Human will required 40% more water than currently used. 40% of the
world population is struggling with water shortage.
To overcome water shortage, world has planned many ways rather than
depending on natural resources like Rain, River, ground water etc. sea water is
almost unlimited resource for consumable water. We just have to find a way to
purify sea water.
By following the rule, World has developed many technologies on desalination
process which is termed as Desalination Systems like, Reverse Osmosis,
Thermal Distillation etc. All kinds of desalination technologies have their own
way to process saline water, thus they all have their own limitations or
disadvantages. Most technologies have faced feeding energy issues.
In this paper, within taking care of Environmental, Technical, Economical and
Social issues, an attempt has been made to deliver the cost effective & energy
efficient mechanisms for desalination systems to overcome maximum
limitations or disadvantages of current desalination technologies.

Core Objectives
a. Why choosing Thermal Distillation as desalination technology?
b. Conceptualizing the Cost effective mechanisms for Thermal Distillation.

SAMUDRAM

Introduction
In India now a days Latur is just a become synonyms of a word Water
Droughts. This 2016s summer played an important role as eye opener for the
government to work forcefully for finding other resources of potable water to
overcome future water related crisis.
On that note, government has taken some serious actions of supplying water
to drought affected areas by using of Rail Transport Service. Unfortunately, its
not an efficient and effective way to played against water drought every time.
May be its not the first time that this kind of water droughts scares India. It
was a geographical effect where ground water has been disappeared since
ago. Its even not about India, Its a global Issue. Drought affected areas are
much above the sea level and even far from the sea side. Even these drought
affected areas are placed into scarcity zone of rainfall distribution. Its due to
Industrialization and deforestation has promote negative effect on climate
which further destructs the rainfall pattern and regional water crisis.
There are two main source of getting fresh water.
1. From Natural Resources
2. Desalination of Sea Water
Rains, Ground Water, River, Fresh Water reservoir are the natural readymade
fresh water resources are available costless to the human being.
Industrialization has caused deforestation and all those human intervention in
natural process has indirectly created this water crisis.
Rain mechanism or water cycle is worlds own natural desalinations plant. Its
not only captures vapor from the oceans but also from the forest where trees
and other plants are feeding groundwater for photosynthesis process, which
further buildup foundation of rain which can cover areas where natural sea
water rain doesnt sets. Thats how forest and Oceans both are playing major
role to build water cycle to reach almost every corner of the earth for
occupying fresh water for the living kinds.

SAMUDRAM
So thats how we have disturbed the natural phenomenon of water cycle and
creating water drought affected areas like Latur.
Why we need Desalination Technologies to overcome Water Crisis?
Water has been recognized as basic human rights. Large quantity of fresh
water is required in many parts of the world for agriculture, industrial and
domestic uses. As of today, nearly one fourth of mankind is suffering from
inadequate fresh water supply. Owing to the foreseen growth of population
worldwide (especially in developing countries), the above mentioned situations
will be more and more critical over next two decades or so.
As we have mentioned the reasons, drought and desertification are increasing
significantly, involving wider and wider areas of the planet. More than twothird of the earth surface is covered with water.
Water availability will remain constant in near future. Industrial and domestic
water use increases at twice at the rate of population increases. Water
consumption increased seven fold since 1900. In short, water demands double
every 20 years. Fresh water resources are almost completely exhausted in
many middle-east countries.
By taking in note of increasing population and current conditions of natural
resource are propelling us to go for the man-made desalination methods for
balancing the future needs of fresh water.
Global installed desalination plant capacity by feed water resources
Sea Water
Brackish Water
River Water
Waste Water
Pure Water
Other

58%
23%
7%
5%
6%
1%

SAMUDRAM

Fig. 1 Desalination Process

From the fig.1 we can easily understands the desalination process. When giving
a required Input energy to the plant desalination mechanism, incoming saline
water, will extracts the fresh water from the saline water (as technology
works) and plant also produces salt residue which is even called as BRINE.

Types of Desalination Process:

There are two types of Process has been evolved for desalination.
1. Distillation Process
2. Membrane Process
Distillation Process: Generating vapor from the saline water by giving thermal
energy which will produce Brine and thus fresh water as vapor further
condenses. It is also called as Thermal Process.
Membrane Process: While forcing salt water against membrane at high
pressure, so that water molecules can pass through membranes and the salt
are left behind as briny concentrate.

SAMUDRAM
Desalination Technologies
Distillation or Thermal Process
`Multi State Flash (MSF)
Multi Effect Distillation (MED)
Thermal Vapor Compression (TVC)
Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC)

Membrane or Non-Thermal Process

Reverse Osmosis (RO)
Electro Dialysis (ED)
Electro Dialysis Reversal (EDR)

Pros and Cons of various Desalination Processes

Process Recovery & Total
Dissolved Solids

RO

ED /
EDR

Pros

Cons

Lower energy
consumption
Relatively lower
investment cost
No cooling water
flow
Simple operation
and fast startup
High Production
Capacity
Removal of
Contaminants other
than salts
Modular Design
Maintenance doe
not required entire
plant to shutdown

Higher cost for

chemical and
membrane
replacement
30-60%
recovery
Vulnerable to feed
possible by single
water quality changes
pass (higher recovery
Adequate prepossible by multiple
treatment a necessity
pass or water with
lower salinity)
Mechanical failures
due to high pressure
< 500 mg/L TDS for
operation
seawater
Appropriately trained
and qualified
< 200 mg/L TDS for
personnel
brackish water
recommended
Minimum membrane
life expectancy around
five to seven years
Energy usage
Only suitable for feed
proportional to salts
water upto 12000
removed not volume
mg/L TDS
treated
Periodic Cleaning of
85-94%
Recovery
Higher membrane
membranes required
Possible
life of 7 to 10 years
Leaks may occur in
Operational at low
membrane stacks
140-600 mg/L TDS
to moderate
Bacteria cannot be
pressures.
removed by system
Post treatment require
for potable water
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SAMUDRAM

MSF

25-50% recovery in
high
temperature
recyclable MSF plant
< 50 mg/L TDS

MED

0-65%
possible

recovery

<10 mg/L TDS

VCD

~
50%
possible

recovery

<10 mg/L TDS

Lends itself to large

capacity designs
Proven, reliable
technology with long
operating life
Flashing rather than
boiling reduces
incidence of scaling
Minimal pre
treatment of feed
water required
High quality product
water
Plant process and
cost independent of
salinity level
Heat energy can be
source by combining
with power
generation
Large economics of
scale
Minimal
pretreatment of
feed water required
Lesser operational
staff
Tolerates on normal
levels
Heat energy can be
sourced with power
generation
Very high quality
product water
Developed process
with low
consumption of
chemicals
Economic with high
salinity (>50000 )
Low input energy
Lower capital

Large capital
investment
Energy intensive
process
Larger footprint
required
Corrosion problems if
material of lesser
quality used
Slow startup rates
Maintenance requires
entire plant to
shutdown
High level of technical
knowledge required
Recovery ratio low

High energy
consumption
High capital
operational cost
High quality of material
required due to
corrosion
Product requires
cooling and blending to
being used for potable
water needs

Startup required
auxiliary heating
source to generate
vapor
Limited to smaller
sized plants
Compressor needs
higher level of
maintenance
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SAMUDRAM
Lets discuss our primary assumption and preferences of PLANT:
1. We need bulk water to be desalinated from the plant. It means we have
to provide bulk input feed of sea water to the plant.
2. We will use sea water which has salinity of more than > 35000 mg/L TDS.
3. We want almost best quality of water as output from the plant.
4. We dont want wear and tear parts into operation unit.
5. We may be okay with high input energy.

Conclusion
So from above our assumptions, preferences, and comparisons tables of
various technological systems of desalination, we came to the following
conclusion.

Our plant will be design on Thermal Distillation based technology.

-----------

After a long description, we came to conclusion that which technology will be

work as our operational Technology. We might have to adopt advantages from
the various technologies mentioned above but our goal is to create highly cost
effective mechanism for the desalination process.
What next?
a. We will discuss water cycle in depth.
b. Thermal desalination process (our operational technology) is nothing
but a mimic of water cycle. So we will discuss about, what actually
happening in water cycle?
c. We will try to grab the actual happening process in water cycle and will
convert that phenomenon into mechanism.
d. We will discuss what wrong with current technologies. And how can
we put our concepts into a design.
e. We will describe some innovative mechanism created by our team on
the base of what we understand in water cycle.
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SAMUDRAM

Methodology
Water Cycle or Natural Thermal Desalination Process
Water cycle is one of the most important natural mechanisms of the earth. I
think due to only this process, our earth is still filled with living hood. Its due
to water cycle that we all get costless fresh water in the form rain and we using
it as for drinking, agriculture, manufacturing etc.

When I had started to research over this project, I came across to the various
process of desalination but I was too impressed with process of water cycle.
Its straight, simple, effective and reliable. Water cycle is also termed as
distillation process. Where vapor has been generates form the bombardment
of photons of the sun rays over water resources and then it creates vapor
which gets settled in the height and then it gets condenses and creates a Rain!
What a Simple process. But it has very LOGICAL concepts in its core which
cannot be left without understand.
So whats actually happening during water cycle?
If we take a look to the initial process of creating vapor is the key point. Thats
where magic is happening. Thats where we all missed the right punch of the
nature.
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SAMUDRAM
We all are treating water cycle as normal distillation process. Where fluid gets
boiled successively and then vapor has been collected for condensation
process.
Consider, one container has been filled with fluid with half of it. And you have
set it for distillation process by heating up container from the bottom.
In that thermal process we started to heat up material in the container from
the bottom. Then that heating process is started to heat bottom layer of the
fluid to the next top layer.
What actually happening is, that bottom layer of fluid losses energy to the
successive top layer of it and the process will be continue till that energy get
reach to the top most layer of the fluid in the container.
Now that top most layer is final layer of the fluid, so it gets heat up
continuously till it reaches to the phase changing temperature. At that point
top layer will be changes its phase to vapor from liquid. Thats how normal
thermal process has been carried out since.
Problem with that process is transferring the energy from one layer to another
layer of the fluid within same environment is not 100% efficient or reversible
or isothermal. So its not advisable to perform.
But now lets discuss what happening with water cycle in that process.
Sun rays or heating charged photon packets are directly attacking top layers of
the fluid. This is what we required!

Fig. 2 Vapor generation mechanism of water cycle

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SAMUDRAM
Disadvantages of applying heating to the bottom layer.
1. Requires high startup energy.
2. Process is not isothermal at all. So the looses of energy by layer to layer
will be increasing.
3. When you start to heat up liquid from the bottom, it gets disturbs the
each and every molecule of the liquid layer which creates molecular
imbalance and generate impure vapor content.
4. Output flow will be slow.
5. We cannot apply heating to flowing liquid.
From above discussions, we come to the conclusion that, if we keep focus to
provide input energy directly to the top layer of the liquid, than we may create
most efficient and effective system for desalination process.
Advantages of applying heating to the top layer of water.
Applying heating to the top layer creates space for generating vapor from the
flowing liquid, which is a required criterion for bulk & fastest production.

Conclusion from water cycle concept

Top layer or thin layer of flowing liquid will share same behavior to create
mimic of water cycle in plant.
Generating a good quality of water from the desalination plant is not only
requirement but to create same quality in bulk and fast within use of small
amount of energy in compare to all other plants.
If we design Vapor generating unit in such a way that it can produce vapor
from flowing thin layer of water within energy efficient way then we can
produce chip, fast, effective, efficient and good quality water from
desalination technology.

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SAMUDRAM

Construction
Lets discuss our desalination plant:

Fig. 3 Desalination Plant Design

Each unit of the plant has its own energy requirement and maintenance. But
Vapor generation unit is main and key unit of the plant where actually a phase
change of sea water to vapor has been carried out. Thus it requires maximum
amount of energy and maintenance. Thats why we have designed that unit in
such a way that it will be super energy efficient in compare to all other plant
technologies.

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SAMUDRAM

Following we have showing basic design of the vapor generation unit. Take a
look to the side view of it.

- The slant plate is hollow flat box which is filled with the fluid of capacity
to hold super heat
- Sea Water will be flown on the slant plate with thinnest possible form
which is key mechanism of the unit.
- Vapor collector just placed on the above of slant plate keeping smallest
gap.
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SAMUDRAM
- At the end almost all recovery of water has been completed except salt
residue and other impurities.
- There is also a scrapper mechanism to collect salt from the plate which
will keep clean the space for the flowing water.
- In short, this design comes up to limit the all disadvantages of other
technologies.
After a many research and designing of the plant we stand up for this
technology for the vapor generation unit. We know this will be proved
effective and efficient.
Although, this paper is all about giving understanding and idea about efficient
and effective plant processes. Still there are many things left on discussion.
We want to create model of this unit to understand the effectivity of the
mechanism. We wish this design will provide everything that we looking for the
ideal desalination plant.
We need further research and development team to cover each possibility.

Thank you.

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SAMUDRAM

References
1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The FAOSTAT
Database, Population: annual time series, June 2000, Rome.
2. UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) (2003) Key Facts about
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3. World Health Organization. Guidelines for drinking water quality,
Geneva, 1984, Vol. I. Recommendations.
4. I. Alatiqi, H.Ettouney, and H.El-Dessouky, Process control in water
desalination industry: an overview. Desalination 126 (1999) 15-32.
5. M.H.I. Dore, Forecasting the economic costs of desalination technology.
Desalination 172 (2005) 207-214.
6. U. Ebensperger and P. Isley, Review of the current state of desalination.
Water Policy Working Paper 2005-008. Georgia State University.
Environmental Policy Program; Water Policy Centre (2005).
7. M. Schiffler, Perspectives and challenges for desalination in the 21st
century. Desalination 165 (2004) 1-9.
8. IDA, IDA Worldwide Desalting Inventory 2002, International Desalination
Association (2002).
9. RENEWABLE
ENERGY
POWERED
DESALINATION
SYSTEMS:
TECHNOLOGIES AND ECONOMICS-STATE OF THE ART by Mohamed A.
Eltawil, Zhao Zhengming1and Liqiang Yuan

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