RECENT RENEWABLE ENERGY DRIVEN DESALINATION SYSTEM RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH-AMERICA

This paper summarizes the current status of renewable energy driven water desalination projects built or designed in North America. It considers both solar and wind energy as the energy sources. It discusses results of experimental projects and assessments that have been made of them. It also includes a discussion of advances in development of components that have been used in such systems. The following processes are considered: simple distillation, multistage flash distillation, freeze separation, vapor compression, electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis (RO). As indicated, the paper specifically addresses projects of North American origin. Among the most successful renewable energy driven plants to date have been those that use RO. Reverse osmosis is, in fact, the most commonly used method of conventionally powered desalination in the United States. For example, approximately 100 RO systems are known to be operating in Florida. For that reason a particular effort has been directed at describing those developments in RO technology in North America that can be applied in renewable energy driven applications. Similarly, advances in wind energy system design make wind turbines more readily usable for powering RO systems reliably and cost effectively than they could do so in the past. The paper discusses these advances in the context of desalination, and suggestions are made for future development which could further enhance wind energy's potential for use in desalination.