Sea Water Desalination
Content
No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Research & Development
The magazine of the Scientific Chronicles
Seawater desalination
Did you know?
The first desalination processes: In the 4th century BC, Aristotle observed the principle of distillation. In the 12th century, Adélard de Bath described two experiments in Quœstiones naturales : “In the sun, after evaporation on a rock, seawater is transformed into salt; when the sun is absent, seawater is heated and under the effect of cooking, it can also be observed to transform into salt. This metamorphosis explains that the sea is saltier in summer than winter, and that the southern seas are saltier than the northern seas.” From ancient times, sailors have desalinated seawater in simple boilers on their boats, but such use on an industrial scale is recent.
Aristotle
Key information
In the 1960’s, thermal processes were developed and used to desalinate seawater. Also, research was carried out on a desalination process utilizing reverse osmosis. 1978: start-up of the first seawater desalination plant using reverse osmosis, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 72% of the earth’s surface is covered in water. 97% of this water is saline The average salinity of seawater is around 35 g of salt (sodium chloride) per liter that is 3.5% of the water’s weight, and can vary depending on the climate: 7g/l in the Baltic Sea, 270g/l in the Dead Sea. The distribution of the remaining 3% (freshwater) is very uneven: 10 countries share 60% of the reserves, while 29 others (in Africa, and the Middle East) face chronic shortages. The desalination of seawater is a solution that increases the available freshwater resources, provides a solution in the event of drought, and for coping with shortages and crisis situations.
Of strategic importance
“Desalination is of strategic importance to Veolia Environnement. Seawater is an alternative source that provides a solution to water needs now and for the future.” Antoine Frérot
President, Veolia Water
Contents
Page 1 I Of strategic importance by Antoine Frérot I Did you know? I Key information I Research objectives Page 2 I Need to know about… Page 3 I Close-up on Research and Development programs Page 4 I For more information… I Video fact sheet I Contact
Research objectives
Essentially focused on the process of reverse osmosis, Veolia Environnement’s research aims to optimize the operation of desalination plants utilizing membrane processes. The research is focused on two main aspects: I Pretreatment of the seawater to limit membrane clogging further down in the treatment process; I Reducing the energy expenditure to cut the cost of desalination and improve the environmental outcomes. Michel Dutang
Director of Research, Development and Technology, Veolia Environnement.
“Veolia Environnement Research and Development is working on making desalination an alternative solution accessible to the greatest number both technologically and economically.”
Seawater desalination
Need to know about…
Seawater is an inexhaustible resource, but it contains 1,000 times the salt set by the WHO for human consumption.
What is a membrane?
The membrane is a flat surface with selective permeability. Its main role is to remove salt. It also retains undesirable components in the water (micro-algae, bacteria, certain viruses, micro-organisms, and micro-pollutants), overcomes turbidity (cloudy water), limits disinfection by-products, and results in the production of treated water. In the case of reverse osmosis, the removal of undesirable physical-chemical biological elements is virtually total.
The most frequent seawater desalination techniques
Distillation or thermal desalination The seawater is heated to evaporation. Only the water molecules are driven off, leaving behind a deposit of salt and other substances. The vapor is condensed to produce freshwater. Desalination compared with river water treatment: Reverse osmosis or membrane desalination: the seawater is forced under pressure through a membrane filter. The salts and microorganisms are retained by the membrane. This process does, however, require preliminary treatment of the water. Today, these two techniques roughly share half the global market each. Between 1990 and 2001, the market share of reverse osmosis rose from 40 to 53%. Veolia Environnement’s research has focused on reverse osmosis, as its market share is predicted to climb to 70% (compared with 20% for thermal desalination and 10% for other methods) by 2020. All the characteristics of the seawater to be desalinated need to be taken into account in selecting the process operation parameters to control aspects, such as corrosion, deposits and costs.
Pièce Spacer d ’écartement
Concentrate Concentrat Permeate outlet Sortie perméat
Concentrat Concentrate Alimentation au Infeed through travers de spacer the l’écarteur
Upsides
I I I I
What is reverse osmosis?
Osmosis is a principle found in nature. If two aqueous solutions with different saline concentrations are separated by a membrane, the water spontaneously passes through the membrane from the solution with the lower salt concentration to the solution with the higher concentration. Reverse osmosis is based on the reverse of this principle. It consists in applying a high pressure to the salty water, which entails high energy consumption, to force it through a membrane. Under this process, only the water molecules pass through the membrane, thereby producing freshwater.
I Alternative solution to the
shortage of water Fewer chemical reagents Less sludge produced Less costly civil engineering Constant treated water quality
Downsides
I High energy consumption I Cost still high I Volume of water produced
insufficient compared with the volume of seawater treated I Disturbance to the marine environment from extraction and reject water with a very high salt content
• Module spiralé
Perforated header tube Tube collecteur perforé
Membrane Membrane
Membrane Membrane
Pressure Pression
Alimentation Infeed
Eau Seawater de mer
H2O
water Eau pure Treated
Membranes Membranes Ecarteur du canal Infeed d ’alimentation channel spacer
LeThe permeate perméat est drainé is en spirale vers le drained around the spiral to the header collecteur
Eau pure Treated water + + eau de mer filtered seawater filtrée
Seawater Eau
H2O
de mer
Description of a reverse osmosis spiral module.
OSMOSIS OSMOSE
REVERSE OSMOSIS OSMOSE INVERSE
Page 2 / The magazine of the scientific chronicles / No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Seawater desalination
Seawater desalination
Pilot filtration unit in Perth (Australia).
Close-up on Research and Development programs
Veolia Environnement Research and Development is basically working on defining the treatment process, in particular, the water’s pretreatment to reduce energy costs.
Pretreatment research
Research is currently underway at Cape Sicié in Toulon (France). The aim of this study is to optimize the performance of filtration processes used for seawater pretreatment. These trials will provide precise knowledge about the impact of the various parameters on the quality of the pretreated water (filtration rate, depth of the filtering media beds, etc.). Tests have also been carried out (between February and August 2004) at the Abu Dhabi site (Saudi Arabia), as part of an industrial project. The pilot study has demonstrated the effectiveness and robustness of the pretreatment solutions adopted. These processes achieve excellent results, as they remove between 90 and 99% of the solid particles and almost all the microorganisms.
Membrane research
The membrane is the key component in reverse osmosis facilities. Its replacement represents 5% of treatment costs. Membrane separation (or osmosis) has one weak point: membrane clogging. The aim of the Membrane Center of Expertise (ARAMIS), created in 2004 at Anjou Recherche (Veolia Environnement’s water research center) is to identify the matter responsible for clogging, and recommend efficient and durable treatment solutions (pretreatment and appropriate cleaning cycles). A thesis at the University of Poitiers (France) and the Banyuls Oceanographic Institute (France) aims in particular to identify the compounds liable to clog reverse osmosis membranes.
Desalination pretreatment pilot installation in Tawellah (United Arab Emirates)
Membrane clogging The deposit of material leads to the formation of a layer on the membrane surface, which reduces the filtration flow rate and consequently the module’s performance. Clogging is the cause of membrane ageing in three out of four cases.
Advantages of membrane processes
(for the production of drinking water from seawater) Above all, it reduces by a factor of 3 or 4 the energy consumed compared with thermal desalination. Nonetheless, Veolia Environnement researchers are working on improving certain points: I Managing waste (concentrate) to improve the environmental results, I Increasing yield: the volume of water extracted is 2 to 3 times that of the volume of drinking water produced by desalination, I Controlling clogging phenomena, I Reducing operation costs.
Page 3 / The magazine of the scientific chronicles / No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Seawater desalination
Seawater desalination
Fanny Demulier, Steeve Sierra, Martin Geisler, Pierre-Yves Maurie and Hervé Suty.
For more information…
Video fact sheet
The Scientific Chronicles No. 4 Log onto the Group Intranet to view the 4-minute video about the research carried out by Veolia Environnement on seawater desalination. Hervé Suty Director of Anjou Recherche, Veolia Environnement Group Witness: Pierre-Yves Maurie Writer, RMTT – Veolia Transport Scenario: Marie-Odile Monchicourt / 3B Conseils Duration: 4 minutes 30 seconds When: June 10, 2005 Where: Amphitria, Cape Sicié. SIRTTEMEU, Générale des Eaux Preparation: Fanny Demulier, Anne Dequeker-Cormont, Caroline Bellecourt, Edith Weitz Research, Development and Technology Communication Department Veolia Environnement Directors: Steeve Sierra, Martin Geisler Delegate producer: Bruno Plasse, Dawa Productions Magazine design and production: 3B Conseils Graphic design: Bernadette Coléno/3B Conseils Producer: Veolia Environnement Date released online: August 2005 Expert: Thanks to Philippe Rey Engineer, Philippe Marteil and Jean-Christophe Schrotter, Program Directors, Anjou Recherche and the teams at Veolia Water in Cape Sicié, France.
Partnerships
I Organic matter characterization ESIP Poitiers esip.univ-poitiers.fr I Marine environment characterization Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer www.obs-banyuls.fr/ I Electrochemistry and characterization of membrane surfaces Université d’Angers : GIRPA Beaucouzé www.univ-angers.fr I Decision-making tools Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, energy, and GIRPA, behavior of pollutants in the environment. www.epfl.ch
Publications I Impact of conventional pretreatment, prior to reverse osmosis desalination membranes, on the fouling potential of seawater LCEE/ESIP UMR CNRS 6008 Université de Poitiers,France. Sophie Rapenne et Hervé Gallard. Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR CNRS No 7621 and 7628, Banyuls-sur-Mer Cedex, France. C. Courties, J.-P. Croué, P. Lebaron Anjou Recherche, Veolia Water Research Center Maisons-Laffitte – France Sophie Rapenne, Jérôme Leparc Publications presented at AWWA Membrane Technology Conference, Phoenix, United States, March 2005. I Tools for membrane autopsies and antifouling strategies in seawater feeds (review) University of Angers, UMR-MA105, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement et de l'Aménagement, M. Pontie, A. Thekkedath, J. Duchesne, University of Poitiers, LCEE/ESIP UMR-CNRS 6008, Sophie Rapenne Anjou Recherche, Veolia Water, Valérie Jacquemet, Jérôme Leparc, Hervé Suty. I La mer, terreur et fascination, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Seuil 2004 Photo credits Barthélemy l’Anglais, Livre des propriétés des choses, photograph from the publication, La mer, terreur et fascination, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Seuil 2004 (cover).
Sites currently operating: several references
I Palma de Majorca (Spain) I Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) I Ashkelon (Israel)
Documentary resources Veolia Environnement
Audiovisual I The scientific chronicle No. 4: Seawater desalination (see box) I Veolia Environnement Video conference on Ashkelon in Israel by Bruce Durham, Veolia Water, AFAS – 50th anniversary of CERN http://agenda.cern.ch/askArchive.php, May 2004 Brochure : Developing alternative resources. Desalinating seawater
Regulatory context
EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) of December 22, 2000, transposed into French Law by the Law of April 21, 2004 Water Bill - Bruno Sido
The previous scientific chronicles 1 – Legionella 2 – The biroreactor 3 – Fuel cells
Specialized websites
www.edsoc.com European Desalination Society www.cea.fr Atomic Energy Commissariat www.veoliawatersystems.com Veolia Water www.commission-europeenne.fr European Commission
Contact
Department of Research, Development and Technology 36, rue de Liège 75008 PARIS - France Tel.: +33 (0) 1 71 75 06 60 Fax.: +33 (0)1 71 75 10 40 Mail: [email protected]
Page 4 / The magazine of the scientific chronicles / No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Seawater desalination
The magazine of the Scientific Chronicles
Seawater desalination
Did you know?
The first desalination processes: In the 4th century BC, Aristotle observed the principle of distillation. In the 12th century, Adélard de Bath described two experiments in Quœstiones naturales : “In the sun, after evaporation on a rock, seawater is transformed into salt; when the sun is absent, seawater is heated and under the effect of cooking, it can also be observed to transform into salt. This metamorphosis explains that the sea is saltier in summer than winter, and that the southern seas are saltier than the northern seas.” From ancient times, sailors have desalinated seawater in simple boilers on their boats, but such use on an industrial scale is recent.
Aristotle
Key information
In the 1960’s, thermal processes were developed and used to desalinate seawater. Also, research was carried out on a desalination process utilizing reverse osmosis. 1978: start-up of the first seawater desalination plant using reverse osmosis, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 72% of the earth’s surface is covered in water. 97% of this water is saline The average salinity of seawater is around 35 g of salt (sodium chloride) per liter that is 3.5% of the water’s weight, and can vary depending on the climate: 7g/l in the Baltic Sea, 270g/l in the Dead Sea. The distribution of the remaining 3% (freshwater) is very uneven: 10 countries share 60% of the reserves, while 29 others (in Africa, and the Middle East) face chronic shortages. The desalination of seawater is a solution that increases the available freshwater resources, provides a solution in the event of drought, and for coping with shortages and crisis situations.
Of strategic importance
“Desalination is of strategic importance to Veolia Environnement. Seawater is an alternative source that provides a solution to water needs now and for the future.” Antoine Frérot
President, Veolia Water
Contents
Page 1 I Of strategic importance by Antoine Frérot I Did you know? I Key information I Research objectives Page 2 I Need to know about… Page 3 I Close-up on Research and Development programs Page 4 I For more information… I Video fact sheet I Contact
Research objectives
Essentially focused on the process of reverse osmosis, Veolia Environnement’s research aims to optimize the operation of desalination plants utilizing membrane processes. The research is focused on two main aspects: I Pretreatment of the seawater to limit membrane clogging further down in the treatment process; I Reducing the energy expenditure to cut the cost of desalination and improve the environmental outcomes. Michel Dutang
Director of Research, Development and Technology, Veolia Environnement.
“Veolia Environnement Research and Development is working on making desalination an alternative solution accessible to the greatest number both technologically and economically.”
Seawater desalination
Need to know about…
Seawater is an inexhaustible resource, but it contains 1,000 times the salt set by the WHO for human consumption.
What is a membrane?
The membrane is a flat surface with selective permeability. Its main role is to remove salt. It also retains undesirable components in the water (micro-algae, bacteria, certain viruses, micro-organisms, and micro-pollutants), overcomes turbidity (cloudy water), limits disinfection by-products, and results in the production of treated water. In the case of reverse osmosis, the removal of undesirable physical-chemical biological elements is virtually total.
The most frequent seawater desalination techniques
Distillation or thermal desalination The seawater is heated to evaporation. Only the water molecules are driven off, leaving behind a deposit of salt and other substances. The vapor is condensed to produce freshwater. Desalination compared with river water treatment: Reverse osmosis or membrane desalination: the seawater is forced under pressure through a membrane filter. The salts and microorganisms are retained by the membrane. This process does, however, require preliminary treatment of the water. Today, these two techniques roughly share half the global market each. Between 1990 and 2001, the market share of reverse osmosis rose from 40 to 53%. Veolia Environnement’s research has focused on reverse osmosis, as its market share is predicted to climb to 70% (compared with 20% for thermal desalination and 10% for other methods) by 2020. All the characteristics of the seawater to be desalinated need to be taken into account in selecting the process operation parameters to control aspects, such as corrosion, deposits and costs.
Pièce Spacer d ’écartement
Concentrate Concentrat Permeate outlet Sortie perméat
Concentrat Concentrate Alimentation au Infeed through travers de spacer the l’écarteur
Upsides
I I I I
What is reverse osmosis?
Osmosis is a principle found in nature. If two aqueous solutions with different saline concentrations are separated by a membrane, the water spontaneously passes through the membrane from the solution with the lower salt concentration to the solution with the higher concentration. Reverse osmosis is based on the reverse of this principle. It consists in applying a high pressure to the salty water, which entails high energy consumption, to force it through a membrane. Under this process, only the water molecules pass through the membrane, thereby producing freshwater.
I Alternative solution to the
shortage of water Fewer chemical reagents Less sludge produced Less costly civil engineering Constant treated water quality
Downsides
I High energy consumption I Cost still high I Volume of water produced
insufficient compared with the volume of seawater treated I Disturbance to the marine environment from extraction and reject water with a very high salt content
• Module spiralé
Perforated header tube Tube collecteur perforé
Membrane Membrane
Membrane Membrane
Pressure Pression
Alimentation Infeed
Eau Seawater de mer
H2O
water Eau pure Treated
Membranes Membranes Ecarteur du canal Infeed d ’alimentation channel spacer
LeThe permeate perméat est drainé is en spirale vers le drained around the spiral to the header collecteur
Eau pure Treated water + + eau de mer filtered seawater filtrée
Seawater Eau
H2O
de mer
Description of a reverse osmosis spiral module.
OSMOSIS OSMOSE
REVERSE OSMOSIS OSMOSE INVERSE
Page 2 / The magazine of the scientific chronicles / No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Seawater desalination
Seawater desalination
Pilot filtration unit in Perth (Australia).
Close-up on Research and Development programs
Veolia Environnement Research and Development is basically working on defining the treatment process, in particular, the water’s pretreatment to reduce energy costs.
Pretreatment research
Research is currently underway at Cape Sicié in Toulon (France). The aim of this study is to optimize the performance of filtration processes used for seawater pretreatment. These trials will provide precise knowledge about the impact of the various parameters on the quality of the pretreated water (filtration rate, depth of the filtering media beds, etc.). Tests have also been carried out (between February and August 2004) at the Abu Dhabi site (Saudi Arabia), as part of an industrial project. The pilot study has demonstrated the effectiveness and robustness of the pretreatment solutions adopted. These processes achieve excellent results, as they remove between 90 and 99% of the solid particles and almost all the microorganisms.
Membrane research
The membrane is the key component in reverse osmosis facilities. Its replacement represents 5% of treatment costs. Membrane separation (or osmosis) has one weak point: membrane clogging. The aim of the Membrane Center of Expertise (ARAMIS), created in 2004 at Anjou Recherche (Veolia Environnement’s water research center) is to identify the matter responsible for clogging, and recommend efficient and durable treatment solutions (pretreatment and appropriate cleaning cycles). A thesis at the University of Poitiers (France) and the Banyuls Oceanographic Institute (France) aims in particular to identify the compounds liable to clog reverse osmosis membranes.
Desalination pretreatment pilot installation in Tawellah (United Arab Emirates)
Membrane clogging The deposit of material leads to the formation of a layer on the membrane surface, which reduces the filtration flow rate and consequently the module’s performance. Clogging is the cause of membrane ageing in three out of four cases.
Advantages of membrane processes
(for the production of drinking water from seawater) Above all, it reduces by a factor of 3 or 4 the energy consumed compared with thermal desalination. Nonetheless, Veolia Environnement researchers are working on improving certain points: I Managing waste (concentrate) to improve the environmental results, I Increasing yield: the volume of water extracted is 2 to 3 times that of the volume of drinking water produced by desalination, I Controlling clogging phenomena, I Reducing operation costs.
Page 3 / The magazine of the scientific chronicles / No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Seawater desalination
Seawater desalination
Fanny Demulier, Steeve Sierra, Martin Geisler, Pierre-Yves Maurie and Hervé Suty.
For more information…
Video fact sheet
The Scientific Chronicles No. 4 Log onto the Group Intranet to view the 4-minute video about the research carried out by Veolia Environnement on seawater desalination. Hervé Suty Director of Anjou Recherche, Veolia Environnement Group Witness: Pierre-Yves Maurie Writer, RMTT – Veolia Transport Scenario: Marie-Odile Monchicourt / 3B Conseils Duration: 4 minutes 30 seconds When: June 10, 2005 Where: Amphitria, Cape Sicié. SIRTTEMEU, Générale des Eaux Preparation: Fanny Demulier, Anne Dequeker-Cormont, Caroline Bellecourt, Edith Weitz Research, Development and Technology Communication Department Veolia Environnement Directors: Steeve Sierra, Martin Geisler Delegate producer: Bruno Plasse, Dawa Productions Magazine design and production: 3B Conseils Graphic design: Bernadette Coléno/3B Conseils Producer: Veolia Environnement Date released online: August 2005 Expert: Thanks to Philippe Rey Engineer, Philippe Marteil and Jean-Christophe Schrotter, Program Directors, Anjou Recherche and the teams at Veolia Water in Cape Sicié, France.
Partnerships
I Organic matter characterization ESIP Poitiers esip.univ-poitiers.fr I Marine environment characterization Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer www.obs-banyuls.fr/ I Electrochemistry and characterization of membrane surfaces Université d’Angers : GIRPA Beaucouzé www.univ-angers.fr I Decision-making tools Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, energy, and GIRPA, behavior of pollutants in the environment. www.epfl.ch
Publications I Impact of conventional pretreatment, prior to reverse osmosis desalination membranes, on the fouling potential of seawater LCEE/ESIP UMR CNRS 6008 Université de Poitiers,France. Sophie Rapenne et Hervé Gallard. Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR CNRS No 7621 and 7628, Banyuls-sur-Mer Cedex, France. C. Courties, J.-P. Croué, P. Lebaron Anjou Recherche, Veolia Water Research Center Maisons-Laffitte – France Sophie Rapenne, Jérôme Leparc Publications presented at AWWA Membrane Technology Conference, Phoenix, United States, March 2005. I Tools for membrane autopsies and antifouling strategies in seawater feeds (review) University of Angers, UMR-MA105, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement et de l'Aménagement, M. Pontie, A. Thekkedath, J. Duchesne, University of Poitiers, LCEE/ESIP UMR-CNRS 6008, Sophie Rapenne Anjou Recherche, Veolia Water, Valérie Jacquemet, Jérôme Leparc, Hervé Suty. I La mer, terreur et fascination, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Seuil 2004 Photo credits Barthélemy l’Anglais, Livre des propriétés des choses, photograph from the publication, La mer, terreur et fascination, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Seuil 2004 (cover).
Sites currently operating: several references
I Palma de Majorca (Spain) I Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) I Ashkelon (Israel)
Documentary resources Veolia Environnement
Audiovisual I The scientific chronicle No. 4: Seawater desalination (see box) I Veolia Environnement Video conference on Ashkelon in Israel by Bruce Durham, Veolia Water, AFAS – 50th anniversary of CERN http://agenda.cern.ch/askArchive.php, May 2004 Brochure : Developing alternative resources. Desalinating seawater
Regulatory context
EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) of December 22, 2000, transposed into French Law by the Law of April 21, 2004 Water Bill - Bruno Sido
The previous scientific chronicles 1 – Legionella 2 – The biroreactor 3 – Fuel cells
Specialized websites
www.edsoc.com European Desalination Society www.cea.fr Atomic Energy Commissariat www.veoliawatersystems.com Veolia Water www.commission-europeenne.fr European Commission
Contact
Department of Research, Development and Technology 36, rue de Liège 75008 PARIS - France Tel.: +33 (0) 1 71 75 06 60 Fax.: +33 (0)1 71 75 10 40 Mail: [email protected]
Page 4 / The magazine of the scientific chronicles / No. 4 / July-August 2005 / Seawater desalination
