A Study of Highly Efficient Zero Discharge Desalination System

Conventional evaporation seawater desalination technologies consume a lot of energy to produce freshwater and therefore are not economically beneficial. They have also caused serious pollution to the surrounding environment due to the concentrated discharge emitted at the end of the process. In this study, the MVR(Mechanical Vapor Recompression) desalination system was designed based on the exergy concept so as to maximize energy efficiency and attain a perfect zero discharge desalination system to minimize the impact on the marine eco-system by condensed discharged water. The MVR desalination system has been designed and built to desalinate up to 75 tons of water per day. Also, the performance assessment was carried out with the application of crystallization crystallizer which is a complex thickening technology. As a result, the same amount of fresh water was produced using about 1/3 of the energy that would be needed by the conventional evaporation method, and in addition, using the highly concentrate technology allowed for a concentration range of approximately more than 15wt.%.