Methodology for Selecting

Desalination Processes in
Water/Energy Supply Structures
H EINZ L UDWIG , Fichtner, GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

ABSTRACT
epending on the extent to which water becomes

D a more and more valuable property and its

appropriation and quality protection develops as
an essential importance for mankind, desalination
processes will increasingly contribute to water recla-
mation, treatment, supply and saving measures not only
in the arid areas of the earth.

ROLE OF WATER SOURCES AND SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

Depending on the local availability of water resources
and the existing consumer structure, the task of water
resources and supply management is to:
ensure optimal utilisation of the existing natural water
resources
ensure proper distribution of these with respect to
water consumers
make up for deficient resources by developing
additional ones
set up monitoring and control mechanisms to take
account of future developments in population and
industrial growth.
Apart from the exploitation of natural water resources
both ground- and surface water it is possible, and
also necessary, to make use on a regional basis of
rainwater, to recycle and re-use water, and if these
resources prove inadequate, to incorporate desalination
of brackish water and seawater into the supply structure.
Re-use of effluent from municipal sewage treat-
ment plants may be considered above all, for
quality-oriented supply of municipal and industrial
consumers as well as for irrigation purposes.
DESALINATION PROCESSES FIELDS OF APPLICATION
FOR DRINKING WATER PRODUCTION AND WATER
RESOURCES CONSERVATION
Desalination finds application in water resources and
supply management for water re-use particularly in
industry, but also for generating drinking water from
brackish water and seawater.
Ion exchange processes are used for specific treat-
ments, such as water softening or removal of nitrates
from ground and surface waters, as well as for indus- Figure 1 (top)
trial water recycling. This also applies to electrodialysis. Role of water resources and sup-
Evaporation processes have been employed up to ply management in water supply
and consumption
now on an industrial scale in some applications in the
textile industry, as well as in power plants for operating
Figure 2
closed water and effluent water circuits. Nanofiltration Desalination processes fields of
has become established for treating all water resources, application for drinking water
with a primary focus on surface water treatment as well production and conservation
as the re-use of municipal and industrial effluents.
Although in these applications drinking water is not
generated, the effect is to preserve drinking water
resources. The application of reverse osmosis for
water re-use may also be considered under this aspect.
In municipal sewage treatment plants, reverse osmosis
can be a step on the way to rendering the effluent drink-
able. This process is already widely applied today for
treating brackish water and seawater. Evaporation
as a technology for generating drinking water is used
in the main for seawater desalination.

S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L 55

Figure 3
Role of desalination in water
resources and supply manage-
ment strategies
Figure 4
Basic demand and generic
parameters in desalination
systems selection
56 S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L
ROLE OF DESALINATION AND WATER RESOURCES AND
SUPPLY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
In the stepwise establishment of water resources and
supply management strategies, firstly existing inland
water resources have to be identified with respect to
their nature and quality, their capacities, availability
and expected fluctuations, followed by ranking in
order of their quality and capacity. The resource situa-
tion has then to be determined under the aspect of the
total water demand and its future development and in
addition as regards both quality and quality require-
ments of specific consumers.
High-ranking resources are then examined first to
establish to what extent they can be used for meeting
existing and future demand. In the next step, it is neces-
sary to find out how supply deficiencies can be met by
corresponding supply management for example by
water re-use and quality-oriented supply. These
measures are to be compared with the application of
low-ranking inland sources or of seawater with the appli-
cation of desalination. To come to a decision, cost
comparisons are made between the various options
accompanied by investigations into feasibility, security
of supply and consumer acceptance, above all of
quality-oriented supply and water re-use. The decision
taking process then concludes with identification of
measures necessary for meeting balance-of-supply
deficits with or without supply management and/or the
application of desalination technologies.
BASIC DEMAND AND GENERIC PARAMETERS
Before undertaking selection of desalination processes,
firstly it is necessary to ascertain basic consumption figures
for water (and of electricity in dual-purpose plants), avail-
able and planned capacities as well the electricity and
water demands with future developments. Other general
parameters which significantly influence the structure
of the supply facilities are:
situation of electricity transmission and water
distribution network
economics of electricity and water sales
fuel situation
land sites situation
overall economic parameters
environmental legislation and requirements
methodology of desalination process selection.
If the supply of drinking water is the prime aim when
selecting a desalination process, then at the start of the
selection procedure, single purpose and dual-purpose
plants are of equal ranking. In this case, electricity
generation is a factor for reducing overall costs by the
amount of income from sales of electricity. By comparing
the drinking water production cost, in a first step the
processes are ranked, and some may be screened out.
In the case of single-purpose plants, this selection
parameter can be quickly derived by a comparison of
process economics. In the case of dual-purpose plants,
first the electricity and steam production alternatives have
to be compared, also under the aspect of how electricity
and water load curves in their development and fluctu-
ations can be met in the general supply structure. These
alternatives will then be subjected to optimisation,
followed by a comparison of their economics. This
will involve estimating the costs for generating heat and
electricity, which provide the starting figures for the
following step of optimisation of desalination processes
and a comparison of their economics. During a complex
iteration process, electricity and steam production
costs and their influences on the cost situation of desali-
nation shall be matched to each other until a satisfactory
balance is found, for optimisation of total costs. As a conse-
quence, the production cost of drinking water will be
known also for the dual-purpose process. However,
the costs represent only a snapshot of the current situa-
tion, and by appropriate sensitivity analyses with defined
variation bands for fuel price, electricity export and import,
escalation rates, depreciation period and product water
composition, the influences on the remaining desalination
options and their total costs should be investigated. The
result is defined scenarios which indicate the variation
band of drinking water costs under certain external influ-
ences, and so throw into sharp relief the risks and
advantages of the application of various desalination
processes. This provides the basis for finally selecting
the process, provided that no additional investigations
are to be undertaken regarding privatisation of all or parts
of the supply units. In this case, the sensitivity analysis
will have to be followed by a comparison of various
scenarios considering:
owner/operation alternatives for the desalination part,
the electricity generation part, or both;
influences of electricity and heat imports from
external resources.
Following such analysis, a picture is obtained of
the final costs and operating situation to permit selec-
tion of a process option.
Depending on the extent to which water becomes a
Figure 5
more and more valuable property and its appropriation Criteria in desalination process
CRITERIA FOR DESALINATION PROCESS SELECTION and quality protection develop as essential importance selection
For screening desalination processes, the key selection for mankind, desalination processes will increasingly
criteria on technical and process levels are: contribute to water reclamation, treatment, supply and
seawater quality, pollution situation and trends as saving measures not only in the arid areas of the earth.
well as the extraction situation, particularly for the
critical site evaluation for membrane processes; ABOUT THE AUTHOR
process design and efficiency with regard to capacity, Heinz Ludwig, Director Water Technology, has a M.Sc. in
product quality and component design; Chemical Engineering, and 35 years of professional experience.
construction materials and extent of automation; Mr Ludwig is highly experienced in water supply and treatment
energy, labour and consumables requirements; projects. As one of the directors of the Water Technology depart-
layout and space requirements, particularly if only ment he was responsible for many broad environmental and san-
a restricted plot size is available; itation projects. He gained his outstanding ability during his
environmental aspects. many years of professional activity and acted as Project Manager

The cost of production of drinking water by seawater
desalination today is in a range of between about 0.5 and
1.5 $/m3. Essential cost-determining criteria are:
Basic design process design parameter like seawater
salinity, composition and temperature and their
annual fluctuations
and Project Director as well as Senior Engineer and Expert for
wastewater and water treatment technologies. Mr Ludwig is a
Sworn Expert for Industrial Service water, wastewater treatment
and membrane processes for treating aqueous solutions regis-
tered at the Mid-Neckar Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Capital cost for process equipment, civil works

and infrastructure facilities
IF YOU HAVE ANY ENQUIRIES REGARDING THE
Energy import and export cost (heat and/or power) CONTENT OF THIS ARTICLE , PLEASE CONTACT:
Operation cost of personnel, consumables and
Mr Heinz Ludwig
maintenance
Director Water Technology
Service life of membranes and membranes replacement
cost (for reverse osmosis as desalination process) Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG

Site-related cost factors. Sarweystrasse 3

70191 Stuttgart
For desalination of brackish waters of lower salt content
or for waste water recovery (waste water recycling in the Germany
industry, tertiary treatment of local waste water) the treat-
ment costs mostly are below the cost level of sea water
desalination. Tel: +49 8995 667
In a comprehensive water management scheme it is Fax: + 49 8995 459
to be carefully verified, under technical and economical E-mail: ludwigh@fichtner.de or v@fichtner.de
aspects, to what extent natural water resources should
be complemented by application of sea water desalination
processes or alternative desalination techniques could
be used in development of natural brackish water
resources and within the framework of water saving
measures in the industrial field.

S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L 57