Análisis del consumo energético como factor clave en proyectos de desalación de agua de mar

Abstract

A global scenario of increasing vulnerability of water resources in Spain makes it increasingly necessary to find alternative sources to meet demand and to encourage natural resources conservation. Among others, desalination of seawater and brackish waters It is one of the most developed options.

The desalination capacity of Spain by using reverse osmosis membranes is higher than 3 hm3/day, which represents 2% of the supply in agriculture and 5% of domestic consumption. Its energy intensity that has been decreasing in recent years up to 2.5 kWh/m3 for seawater, makes the costs of the water produced are still high compared to conventional water supply. That is why desalination plants only operate at full capacity during periods of high drought despite the high investment made.

In this paper a new energy approach of the desalination process is presented to show which variables affect energy consumption. In addition, different future actions are explored that will reduce this consumption even further to make desalination more economically viable as a new safe water resource securing the water supply at any time.