Renewable energies (solar and wind energies) associated to reverse osmosis (RO) are gaining renewed interest for brackish and seawater desalination. Another potential source of energy is the hydrostatic pressure at a sufficient operative depth or height to perform the RO process. This article...

This paper describes the potential of the development of a seawater desalination system that combines the technologies of reverse osmosis (RO) and photovoltaic (PV) to deliver 100m3/day of sweet water. Silicon cells are chosen for the PV array and the polyamide thin-film composite seawater...

PV plant for water pumping and desalination in remote area has been implemented; the plant was the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. The design of PV plant was based on the specification of the site, the depth and quality of water, the daily water quantity produced and the autonomy period of the...

This paper discusses the design process of a mini-grid hybrid power system with reverse osmosis desalination plant for remote areas, together with an economic analysis and environmental considerations for the project life cycle. It presents a design scenario for supplying electricity and...

Desalination of water is essential to supply sufficient good quality water to remote areas to satisfy various needs. Saudi Arabia has enormous amount of deep water and the underground water in many areas of this country is so brackish that it requires extensive pre-treatment. In order to utilise...

Renewable energy sources (RES) for powering desalination processes is a promising option especially in remote and arid regions where the use of conventional energy is costly or unavailable. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is one of the most suitable desalination processes to be coupled with different...

The Solarflow was invented at The Environmental Technology Centre, Murdoch University (the Murdoch ETC) in Perth, Western Australia as part of a doctoral thesis in the early 1990s researching suitable water treatment systems for remote indigenous communities. The design has been modified since...

This paper introduces a novel concept for a hybrid desalination system that combines reverse electrodialysis (RED) and reverse osmosis (RO) processes. In this hybrid process the RED unit harvests the energy in the form of electricity from the salinity gradient between a highly concentrated...

Growing populations and periodic drought conditions have exacerbated water stress in many areas worldwide. In response, some municipalities have considered desalination of saline water as a freshwater supply. Unfortunately, desalination requires a sizeable energy investment. However, renewable...

Although reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the most energy efficient desalination technology, it still requires a great deal of energy to create the high pressures necessary to desalinate seawater. An opposite process of RO, called pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), utilizes the salinity gradient...