INCREASED WATER PRODUCTION USING A HEAT-RECOVERY ENGINE FOR DIRECT-DRIVE VARI-RO(TM) PUMPING

The new VARI-RO(TM) HR (heat recovery) technology described in this paper can provide increased water production per unit of available thermal energy as compared to ''Existing Methods'' now being used for large scale desalination facilities. This increased production will result in decreased water costs. In addition to these cost savings, there are also significant environmental benefits. The energy consumption to desalt seawater was compared between a MED: PR = 13 system and a VARI-RO(TM) HR425-degrees-F system, which showed that the latter could produce four times the water from the same energy source. The resulting energy cost savings would be $114 million, US $, over a five year period for a system capacity of 100 mgd (million gallons per day). In addition, based on operating the RO system at a lower recovery ratio, a membrane related cost savings of $23 million over five years was projected. Note: This improved water desalting technology is available for licensing.