Artemis Water Strategy

Water resilience for a thirsty future

Aug 02 2010

Desalitech Reduces Costs of Desalination

Middelgrunden Windmills Outside Copenhagen
Efficient desalination can utilize alternative energy, like these Danish windmills, thus relying on the ocean twice. / Photo: andjohan on Flickr

The most common question I field when I mention desalination is, “Doesn’t that take a lot of energy?”

The truth is, yes, it does. That’s why you’ll not hear me advocate for desalination without strongly insisting on complementary conservation.

We must redouble our conservation efforts by upgrading infrastructure intelligently and in no way excuse wasteful water practices by pointing to the plentiful, historical ingredients of desalination: oceans of water and oceans of coal.

Each barrel of freshwater extracted from the ocean has costs, so we should use the water as efficiently as possible, recycling it and then remediating it into the water cycle.

Yet, conservation alone isn’t going to meet our water needs. The world’s population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion over the next 30 – 40 years, while the current, natural water cycle is not expected to increase its output.

Just as we must increase conservation, we must prepare for the impending water plateau by increasing our capacity to produce fresh water.

Hence my excitement in June when I heard about Desalitech’s successful pilot.The test purified Mediterranean saltwater, using Desalitech’s proprietary Closed-Circuit Desalination saltwater reverse osmosis method (SWRO-CCD).

Using common components, without energy recovery, running a high-pressure pump at 81% mean efficiency and circulation pump at 37.5% mean efficiency, the pilot achieved 48% recovery at 2.05 – 2.40 kWh per cubic meter of fresh water. For comparison, Perth’s desalination plant using Energy Recovery from ERI achieves 43% recovery at 2.32 kWh/m3.

Desalitech aims to increase the mean efficiency of the off-the-shelf, high-pressure pump to 88%, to provide recovery at 1.75 – 1.95 kWh/m3 on Mediterranean saltwater. The same pumps used on ocean water could produce equal recovery at 1.5 – 1.7 kWh/m3.

Desalitech’s implementation reduces the cost of powering desalination processes. It also decreases capital expenditures. Nadav Efraty, CEO of Desalitech, told me, “This technology is reducing energy consumption by up to 50% when we utilize about twice the membranes, reduces energy by about 10-15% when we use only 40% of the membranes compared to a conventional plant, or reduces energy about 30% when we utilizes the same amount of membranes, but in this mode, since we don’t utilize any form of energy recovery, we still see a reduction in capital expenditures.”

Even with less than half the membranes, the technology still sees 10-15% energy reduction. That’s a 60% savings on capital expenditures for membranes.

As an added element of efficiency, plants utilizing Desalitech’s technology can turn plants up and down depending on demand: Nadav explained, “The very same unit can operate at very high production rates part of the day (when power rates are low for example) and in extremely low energy consumption the rest of the day.”

Desalitech does this by independently controlling component flow rates, recovery, pressures and cross flow irrespective of the other variables.

Following their successful pilot, Desalitech is addressing brackish water. Desalitech’s three BWRO installations are fully operational facilities, capable of producing 10,000 m3 fresh water per day.

 

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Commentary, Conservation, Desalinization, Drinking Water, Energy, News · Tagged: brackish water, conservation, desalination, desalitech, energy, ERI, freshwater, Israel

Jul 23 2010

Calera Captures Carbon in Concrete, Produces Clean Water

Concrete apartments in Gimhae, Republic of Korea, extend to the horizon.
In Gimhae, South Korea, concrete apartments extend to the horizon. / Photo: oceandestoiles on flickr

Concrete. There’s a lot of it on earth. Pretty much every paradise has its parking lot. And its big-box store, high-rise condos, sidewalks, stadiums and office parks. Bridges, tunnels, jetties, locks, canals, station platforms: all require concrete.

Concrete is the second most consumed substance on earth (pdf), after water: three tons of it per year, per person on earth.

Manufacturing all that concrete is the second largest source of carbon emissions in the world, after energy generation, accounting for 5% of world CO2 emissions.

But a Californian company, Calera, has developed a solution.

Calera’s process, called Mineralization via Aqueous Precipitation, makes producing cement – the binding ingredient in concrete – remarkably efficient, by tackling multiple problems in one play.

[Read more…]

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Avatar, Desalinization, Featured, Wastewater Treatment · Tagged: brines, Calera, carbon capture and sequestration, desalination, global warming, recycling

Jul 06 2010

Desalination Spending to Double

Azzizia Desalination Plant, Saudi Arabia
Azzizia Desalination Plant in Saudi Arabia / Photo: Waleed Alzuhair on Flickr

Here’s some good news for advanced desalination technology companies.Worldwide desalting capacity is projected to increase by 50 million cubic meters per day over the next six years, according to a recent study by Pike Research.Meanwhile, annual spending on desalination will double by 2016, from $8.3b to $16.6 billion. Spending will total $87.8 billion during that time period. [Read more…]

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Commentary, Desalinization, Energy, Investments, Trends · Tagged: aqua via, china, desalination, desalitech, ERI, forward osmosis, HTI, Israel, Oasys, reverse osmosis, Rotec, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA

Jun 21 2010

Water Prices to Increase by 8% in WA

Drought in Western Australia
Cracked earth in Midland, Western Australia just east of Perth

Between 1997 and 2007 water supplies in Perth, the capital and largest city in Western Australia, decreased by 65%, leading Perth to commission the Kwinana desalinization plant in late 2006. The plant provides 130 million litres of water a day, and runs on renewable energy supplied by the Emu Downs Wind Farm.

Public pressure compelled the Western Australia Water Corp to utilize renewable energy. Pressure exchangers from Energy Recovery, Inc, an Artemis Top 50 company, save the plant 15.6 MW of energy, reducing energy usage at the plant to 180GWh a year. That’s only 66% of Emu Downs’ 270GWh a year produced from wind.

But the price of water throughout Western Australia continues to climb. The estimated 8% increase in Western Australia, announced today by Opposition Leader Eric Ripper, would complete a 40% increase in the cost of water to households in the past three years.

With their vast coastlines and open spaces, Western Australia can look to the seas for further partnerships between advanced, efficient water technology and sustainable energy like wind and solar.

Leaders in Western Australia seem to be thinking likewise. As Gary Crisp of Western Australia Water Corp said, “I predict that desalination will account for at least half of Perth’s water in the next 30 years.”

Photo credit: Aleatoric Consonance on Flickr

 

Written by Laura Shenkar · Categorized: Avatar, Commentary, Desalinization, News, Technology, Trends · Tagged: collaboration, desalination, drought, perth, price of water, western australia

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