SALINITYGRADIENTENERGY CONVERSION

Gurmukh D. Mehta, Satish C. Jain and Malcolm D. Fraser InterTechnology/Solar Corporation Warrenton , Virginia 221 86 and Sam 3 . Senatore and Harold L. Rothstein Ebasco ServicesIncorporated e Nw York, Nw York 10006 e
ABSTRACT

I.

WORKING PRINCIPLE

The f e a s i b i l i t y o f Osmo-Hydro PowerTb' (OHP) systems, a s conceived by ITC/Solar, t o g e n e r a t e e l e c t r i c i t y i n a practical and economic manner from aqueous a salinesolutions i s discussed.Initialdesignof 50-kWe system using brackishwater and saturated show t h a t brine i s presented.Preliminaryestimates for larger units the capital cost ofsuch asystem will be around $4,000 t o $5,000 pernet kWe.

The technical and economic f e a s i b i l i t y of s a l i n i t % gradientenergyconversionusing Osmo-Hydro Power (OHP) systems was investigated by InterTechnology/ under two Department SolarCorporation(ITC/Solar) of Energy funded projects. Under one project (1*) laboratoryexperiments were done t o investigate severaltechnological problems of such system, a including membrane compactionunder h i g h hydraulic pressures,saltpolarization, and brine-induced deterioration of membranes. The second project ( 2 ) was concerned w i t h the development of OHP systems for utilizing various sources of s a l t and water, development of asystem simulation model, and assessmentof the potential for salt/water OHP systems togenerate power i n the U.S. Under thisproject, preliminary performance estimates were made with a Results of comprehensive model f o r OHP systems. these two projects are well documented i n References ( 3 ) t o ( 6 ) . This paper discuss will some of the pertinent results from these two projects. Encouraged by the findings of these two studies, the Department of Energy awarded a j o i n t c o n t r a c t t o Ebasco and InterTechnology/Solar todesign a 50-kW system, which startedinJanuary 1979. The f i r s t phase of this contract was completed i n April 1979 ( 7 ) . The r e s u l t s of this phase arealsodiscussed i n this paper. In p a r t i c u l a r i t will be shown t h a t Osmo-Hydro Power systems u t i l i z i n g seawateror w i t h the brackishwaterarefeasible.Furthermore, development of pressure-retarded osmosis merdbranes, thesesystemscould be cost-competitive w i t h other renewable energysystems.

Ifconcentrated brine i s separated from "fresh" water or dilute brine by asemipermeable membrane, permeable only t o water and not s a l t , water permeates from the "fresh" w a t e r r d i l u t e b r i n e t o a concentrated brine. The d r i v i n g mechanism i n such process i s osmosis. The magnitude ofwaterpermeation flux across the membrane i s proportionalto the two the difference i n the osmotic pressures of is a t a hydrsolutions.Iftheconcentratedbrine the aulic pressure AP higher than the dilute brine, direction of water flux i s s t i l l from dilute brine toconcentrated brine, againstthehydraulicpressure, as l o n g a s AP i s l e s s than. theosmoticpressure difference, A n . The magnitude of thewater flux i n this case i s , however, reduced and i s proof A n - AP. portionalto the netdrivingpressure In this configurationthewaterpermeates due t o , what is called,pressure-retardedosmosis (PRO). In OHP systems, the free energy of mixing of a d i l u t e and a concentratedbrine is harnessed by means of PRO. In thisprocess,waterpermeates through asemipermeable membrane against a hydraulic pressure gradient, from a d i l u t e s a l t s o l u t i o n t o a concentrated s a l t s o l u t i o n , t o produce pressurized mixed brine. Due t o waterpermeation,the salt concentration of the mixed brine leaving the membrane module i s lower (while i t s volume flow r a t e i s enterhigher)than that for the concentrated brine ingthe membrane module. The mixed brine is depressurized i n a hydroturbine t o generate power, a part of which goes into pressurizing the concentrated brineenteringthesystem. To allowfor some backdiffusion of s a l t through the membrane from the concentratedbrine t o the d i l u t e brine and t o avoid any continuousbuildup of s a l t on the dilute-brine i s always side, asmall flushingstreamflowrate maintained on the dilute-brine side. Foran open-cyclesystem, the effluents from the turbine and theflushingstreamaredischargedto waste,whereas, f o r a closed-cyclesystem,these streamsarefedinto athermal unmixer which separates the mixed brine i n t o a dilute brine and a concentratedbrineto be pumped to the membrane nodule t o complete thecycle.

Numbers inparenthesesdesignateReferences end of paper.

at

566 CH1478-7/79/0000-056$00.75 @ 1979 IEEE

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PAST WORK AND RESULTS

Of

I n t h i s s e c t i o n we b r i e f l y summarize t h e r e s u l t s our f i r s t two studies,(1) and ( 2 ) . A. Laboratory esting f T o branes (1) Semipermeable Mem-

whichhas a s o l a r e v a p o r a t i o n pond, a s a l t s o l u t i o n mine t o r e p l e n i s h t h e s a l t l o s t f r o m t h e pond,and a source o f water. The complete model was used t o c a l c u l a t e t h e p e r formance o f an OHP s y s t e m u s i n g h o l l o w f i b e r membranes with Jn 9verage water permeation coefficient o f 0.00075 m /m -day-atm. The special components selectedforthisstudy were t h e pump f o r pumping theslurryorthesolidsoluteintothehigh-press u r er e s e r v o i r ,t h et u r b i n e and thegenerator t o generateelectricityfromthehigh-pressurebrine solution,andthehigh-pressurereservoir/mixer. The c o s t of the pretreatment equipment, piping, valves,instrumentation,buildings and o t h e ri t e m s (otherthan membranes and specialequipmentidentif i e d i n t h e above paragraph) was assumed t o be2-1/2 timesthe membrane c o s t based on t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f RO systems. The membrane performanceandcostwere based upon present-day RO membranes. The r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y , w h i c h were r e p o r t e d i n References ( 5 ) and ( 6 ) , r e a summarized below: 1. Withpresent-daytechnology--membraneswhich p r e s e n t l y e x i s t a t l e a s t on t h e l a b o r a t o r y level--the cost of electricity generated from an OHP system i s e s t i m a t e d a t $0.30 t o $0.40 p e r k i l o w a t t - h o u r f o r a one-MW system. A 1-F4bJ OHP s y s t e m o p e r a t i n g a t a h y d r a u l i c p r e s s u r e o f 1,900 p s i w i t h a b r i n e h a v i n g an osmoticpressure o f about 4,400 p s i would r e q u i r e membrane area o f about 2,000 f t / n e t kW, f l o w o f 50% s l u r r y o f a b o u t 180 gpm ( s a l t flow o f about 1.3 ton/min), fresh water flow of about 2,500 gpm, andan evap9ration pond area o f about 1,633 acres (2.5 m andwould i ), operate a t a m e c h a n i c a l e f f i c i e n c y o f 70%. I n t h e d e s i g n o f a w a t e r / s a l t OHP system, i t i s t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y f e a s i b l e and c o s t - e f f e c t i v e ( i n comparisonwithusingsaturatedbrine)touse a s l u r r y o f 50% s o l i d s as t h e makeup s a l t s o l u tion. An i n c r e a s e i n membrane waterpermeationcoe f f i c i e n t has t h e m o s t s i g n i f i c a n t b e n e f i c i a l e f f e c t on t h e c o s t o f e l e c t r i c i t y producedby t h i s system. The c o s t o f e l e c t r i c i t y g e n e r a t e d i n c r e a s e s fromabout $0.40/kWh t o $0.50/kWh i f seawater instead of fresh water is used as t h e d i l u t e brine.
I 11.

As m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r , t h e o b j e c t i v e o f t h i s s t u d y was t o examine c e r t a i n c r i t i c a l t e c h n o l o g i c a l p r o b lems associated with OHP systems u t i l i z i n g b r i n e s . Forthehollowfiber modulesfrom DuPont i t was found that: Dilution or concentration salt polarization Was 1. n o t a serious problem. However, appreciable saltcontentinthe"fresh"waterfeed may have a significantadverseinfluence on PRO operat i o n due t o f o r m a t i o n o f a s a l t c o n c e n t r a t i o n g r a d i e n ti nt h ep o r o u ss u b s t r u c t u r eo ft h e membrane (3). While concentrated brine had nopermanent 2. damaging e f f e c t on membranes, the water perm e a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t was a s t r o n g i n v e r s e functionofthebrineconcentrationorosmotic pressure(4). A brine-sidehydraulicpressureof 60 atm was 3. found t o b e t o o h i g h f o r DuPont f i b e r s t o withstand. 4 . The w a t e r p e r m e a t i o n f l u x d e c l i n e c o e f f i c i e n t a t a brine-side osmotic pressure of 160atm (15.3% NaCl concentration) and a h y d r a u l i c pressureof 50 atm was f o u n d t o be unacceptable (.4 1 The pretreatment requirements for O P systems H 5. werefound t o be more c r i t i c a l t h a n t h o s e f o r reverseosmosis (RO) systems.

2.

I n summary, f r o m t h e l a b o r a t o r y r e s u l t s i t was evidentthatwhile power generation using OHP systems i s t e c h n i c a l l y f e a s i b l e , t h e p r e s e n t - d a y r e verseosmosis membranes would have t o be m o d i f i e d t o p e r f o r m s a t i s f a c t o r i l y i n PRO. For OHP systems t o be economicallyfeasible,thedevelopment o f a PRO fiber capable of operating at very high osmotic (200 t o 300atm)and hydraulic(about 100atm)pressures, and having an average yater permeation coefficient of 0.001 t o 0.005 m /m -day-atmwould be v e r y des i r a b l e . Based upon o u rd i s c u s s i o n sw i t hv a r i o u s RO membrane manufacturers, we b e l i e v e i t i s reasonable t o assume t h a t s u c h a f i b e r can be developed i n aboutthreetofiveyears.
B.

3.

4.

5.

Systems Analysis (2) CURRENT WORK B e g i n n i n gt h i ss e c t i o n , we w d i s c u s s c u r r e n t work i l p r e s e n t l y b e i n g done by Ebasco ServicesIncorporated and InterTechnology/SolarCorporationtogether on the preliminary design of an osmotic-pressure energy conversion system. This work s t a r t e di n January 1979 and comprises phases. two The f i r s t phase, which was completed i n A p r i l 1979 (71, w be i l discussed i n t h e r e s t o f t h i s paper. A. Objective The s p e c i f i c o b j e c t i v e o f t h i s s t u d y was t o p r e p a r e an i n i t i a l d e s i g n o f a 50-kW Osmo-Hydro Power System

This study was concerned with the development of an OHP systemsimulation model f o r u t i l i z i n g v a r i o u s sources o f s a l t and w a t e r t o g e n e r a t e e l e c t r i c a l power i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . To perform systemsanalyses on s a l t / w a t e r OHP systems, a comprehensivetechno-economicmodel was developedfromtheinformationgathered on the component p a r t s o f an OHP system. The model was concerned with both performance and c o s t o f an OHP systemas a f u n c t i o n o f d e s i g n v a r i a b l e s , o p e r a t i n g variables, and f i n a n c i a lo rc o s tv a r i a b l e s . The t y p e o f OHP system envisioned for analysis was one

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usingseawater as the dilute brine and saturated salt solution as the concentrated brine, and a solar evaporation pond f o rs a l tr e c y c l i n g . Performance and cost estivates for the design of an OHP system using brackish water instead of seawater were a l s o made. Preliminaryinvestigationsof an evaporator/condanser as a s u b s t i t u t e f o r t h e s o l a r evaporation pond, and a once-through system using river water and seawater (concentrated brine) , were also undertaken. Approach To achieve the above objective, the work was d i v i d e d i-nto a number of tasks and subtasksdescribed below:
B.

mizations. were made t o minimize the cost of the power produced w i t h respect t o the following variables: and 1900 Hydraulic pressures of1000,1450, psig; Salt makeup solutions of both 50% s o l i d s a l t s l u r r y and saturated brine; and Membrane inner-diameter(ID) f i b e r dimensions of 60 microns and 80 microns.

1.

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6.

Membrane Acquisition,Testing and Forecasting Based upon the results of this task, an av rage water permeation c o e f f i c i e n t of 0.003 m3/m'day-atm for hollow f i b e r membraneswas assumed for this study. was Pretreatment - The objective of this task t o determinethepretreatmentrequirements of d i f f e r e n t flowstreams i n an OHP system based upon the past experience of reverse osmosis plants. Equipment Identification and Status - Under this t a s k a v a i l a b i l i t y of major components l i k e s l u r r y pump, turbine,high-pressurereservoir and generator were investigated.Material requirements, performance and cost of a l l t h e components were also estimated during this task. Site Survey and Selection - The objective of this task was t o collect accurate data about the resources required for an OHP system i n order t o determine the feasibility of siting such a system. System Optimization - Under this task the system was optimized to obtain the lowest energy cost. This was accomplished by varying the: (a)operationvariables:dilute brine concentration (brackish water or seawater) , concentratedbrineconcentration, makeup brine concentration (saturated brine or 50% solid salt slurry), hydraulic pressure, flow r a t e s ; (b) system parameters: once-through system (including river water/seawater case) , s a l t recyclesystemusingevaporation pond, and closed-cycle system using solar panels andan evaporator/ condenser system operated by waste heat; and ( c )f i b e r dimensions. I n i t i a l Design - Based upon the results of the above tasks, the plant layout and flow diagrams f o r a 50-kW OHP system using brackish water and seawater w i t h saturated brine were prepared. The flow sheet for the brackish water/saturated brine case u s i n g a solar evaporation pond is shown i n Figure 1. The capitalcosts of the proposed 50-kW systems and a one-MW systems were also estimated under this task.

the The r e s u l t s of these optimizations indicated attractiveness of 1900 p s i g shell-side operation, 50% s l u r r y makeup and 80-micron f i b e r ID. In the courseof this study, certain changes were i n corporated i n the computer model described i n Reference 2 (in addition to the changesnecessary t o perform theoptmizations).Specifically,the memin brane cost model was revised to allow variation membrane costsasthe fiber dimensions change. For example, i n going from 60-micron ID t o 80-mijron ID the unit2membrane cost changes from $0.8l/ftto $l.OO/ft . Also, the cost o f landsurveying, and dike and gate construction for the solar evaporation pond was increased from $775/acre t o $1550/acre, based on current Ebasco land preparation cost estimates, and a nondepreciablelandcost of $500/acre was used for the cost of the pond area.
The optimized system flow r a t e s determined by the computer model were used by Ebasco to prepare the system flowdiagrams, s i z e a l l system components, determine s i t i n g r e s t r i c t i o n s , and estimate system capitalcosts. The equipment s i z e s were determined toprovidecontinuous system operation a t f u l l flow, w i t h sufficient additional capacity and redundancy to allow for expected equipmentmaintenance d u r i n g operation. the system components were Capital cost estimates of based on quotesprovided by equipment manufacturers, or from Ebasco engineeringexperience w i t h similar components. 0. Different Systems The base case that was studied for Phase I is a 50kW design w i t h 3.5% s a l t water(seawater) on one side and saturated salt solution on the other side of the hollow f i b e r membranes. Thiscaseincluded a solarevaporation pond, During thecourseofthis t o destudy, i t was decided t o extendourreview velop an additional basic flow sheet using brackish requires waterinstead o f seawater.Thisoption reduced flow rates and therefore can utilize smaller and l e s s expensive components a s compared to the seawaterbasecase. Based on data from reverse osmosis water purification systems, the operating costs f o r pretreatment and labor would a l s o be expected t o be less for the brackish water systems than forthe seawater. system. Finally,theuseof brackishwater systems greatly increases the potenti a l number o f sites available for a practical OsmoHydroPower System. Other 50-kW Osmo-Hydro Power systemsinvestigated b u t n o t subjected to detailed study, were the cases of:

C. Methodolo TheDsmo-Hydrogiower system computer model devel oped by InterTechnology/SolarCorporation(ITC/Solar) and described i n ( 2 ) was used t o determineoptimal system flow rates, membrane area requirements, turbine generator sizing and solar pond area. O p t i -

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1.
2.

no saltcrystallizationfortheshell-side makeup and an open-cycle system u s i n g r i v e r water on the bore s i d e and seawater on the shell side o f the membrane.

The computer simulation results show that the system p a r a s i t i c power losses (the power generated by the turbine needed to operate the system)consume as much as 60 t o 80% of the gross power when a saturated-brine makeup solution is used,with either brackish or freshwaterflow on the bore side. This compares t o p a r a s i t i c power losses of about 35 t o 37% when a s a l t s l u r r y w i t h 50% s o l i d s a l t i s used f o r makeup. The primaryreason f o r t h ? d i f f e r ence i s t h e f a c t o r of3.13(60.5 l b s a l t / f t of solutionintheslurrydivided by 19.3 l b s a l t / f t volume ofsolution i n saturatedbrine)timeshigher to be pressurized t o providethe same weight of s a l t makeup. The pressurizationof makeup s a l ts o l u t i o n is the largest parasitic power loss i n thesystem. Therefore,largeincreasesinall system flow r a t e s andcomponent sizes are required for the saturatedbrine makeup case as compared t o the slurry makeup turbine o u t p u t t o case to provide sufficient gross yield a net power outputof 50kW. A system w i t h no s a l t c r y s t a l l i z a t i o n i s therefore n o t nearly as att r a c t i v e a s asystem w i t h a s a l t s l u r r y makeup. Since the salt requirement for a 5O-kM seawaterbase a once-through case studies is 166 tonsofsalt/day, (i.e, no recycle) system based upon a s a l t s l u r r y makeup i s not considered economically feasible. The river water-seawater open-cycle case suffers from the same p a r a s i t i c power loss problems, plus the fact that the osmoticpressureofseawater (about 370 p s i g ) i s so much smaller than that of a saturated salt solution that about 4.5 million square feet of membrane area per net electrical a 50-kW r i v e r kilowatt i s required.Costsfor water-seawater system would therefore be expected t o exceed $225,000,000, which is obviously uneconomic.
E. Economics The preliminary estimate of the capital cost component of the product cost for the- 50-kW system base case u s i n g seawater i s 39 cents/kWh. The use of brackish water instead of seawater would reducethe capitalcost component t o about 30 cents/kWh. I t i s recognized t h a t a prototype u n i t shouldnot be j u s t i f i e d on i t s economics, b u t rather on the pot e n t i a l merits of economy o f scale. For example, based on commonly acceptedscalingformulas, aoneMW seawater-pondsystem would yield a capital product cost component of 12 cents/kWh. A one-MW brackish water based system would have a capital product cost component of about 9 cents/kWh.

a b i l i t y of s u i t a b l e land and evaporation conditions. W therefore also initiated investigations e and prepared a basicflow diagram f o r a closed-cycle 50k e Osmo-Hydro W Power system, u t i l i z i n g amechanical evaporator operating on a wasteheatsourceinstead o f an economic sysof thesolar pond. Development tem on this basis would e s s e n t i a l l y avoidresource 1imitation.restrictions inherent i n the other system described above, in that the required water and s a l t could be continuouslyrecycled.

An a l t e r n a t i v e t o the utilization o f wasteheat f o r amechanical evaporator i s the use of solar energy collected by solarpanels. However, based on current solar panel c o s t s , t h i s a l t e r n a t i v e does notappear to be cost-effective.
IV.
1.

CONCLUSIONS

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Osmo-Hydro Power systems u t i 1 izing either seawater or brackish water as the bore-side f l u i d , w i t h saturated salt solution as the shell-side fluid and a solar evaporation pond for re-concentration of t h e s a l t , a r e f e a s i b l e . The capitalproductcost component f o r the output from a one-MW system could be in the range of 9 to 1 2 cents/kWh. Actual system costswill be strongly sitedependent. Estimates foractualsitesareto be provided i n Phase I1 of thepresentstudy. W i t h theexceptionofthe membranes, a l l system components are available and can be purchased essentially"off-the-shelf". Development of membranes w i t h c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s suitable for Osmo-Hydro Power applications i n pressure-retarded osmosis is needed. Development of suitable membranes i s possible i n the Further work i n this area is nearfuture, necessary. Development of a practicalevaporatorcondenser system u t i l i z i n g wasteprocessheat to replace t h e s o l a r pond should be pursued.
V.
RECOMMENDED FUTURE WORK

A a r e s u l t of the studies undertaken i n Phase I , s the following are the recommendations f o r f u r t h e r studyto be conducted during Phase 11.
1.
w i t h pond Select actual sites for the seawater w i t h pond case, and base case, brackish water evaporator/condenser w i t h waste heat case system options. Determine waterpretreatmentrequirements and resulting estimated capital and operating costs for pretreatment (including chemicals and labor) for a s i t e s e l e c t e d above for the seawater w i t h pond basecase. Prepare revised and up-dated flowdiagrams f o r Osmo-Hydro Power systems a t each s i t e s e l e c t e d above. Estimate total capital, operating and maintenance costs for an Osmo-Hydro Power system located a t one of the sites selected above. Estimatetheoverallpotential of salt/water Osrno-Hydro Power systems i n the United States.

2.

Actual system costs will depend strongly on the particular s i t e locations especially i n regard t o pretreatment costs, pond or evaporator sizing, salt makeup costs, and plant construction costs. About one-halfof the total capital cost for the above systems i s associated w i t h the solar pond system. Utilizationof a s o l a r pond a l s o poses extensive siting restrictions i n terms of avail-

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A K O LD E E T C N WE GMNS The work reported i n t h i s paper was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract numbers EG77-6-01-4066, EG-77-C-05-5560 and DE-AC05-79 ET21001. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressedhereinarethose of authors and do not necessarily reflect the views o f the Department of Energy. REFERENCES 1. InterTechnology/SolarCorporation,"Solar Electricity: Investigations ?& Technological Problems of Osmo-Hydro Power Systems Which Produce Power from Aqueous Saline Solutions," Report Number 010378 to the U.S. Department of Energy, Plarch, 1978. InterTechnology/SolarCorporation,"Solar E l e c t r i c i t y : Osmo-Hydro Power from Aqueous Saline Solutions, Assessment of i t s Potential," Report No. 280378 t o t h e U.S. Department Bf Energy, March, 1978. G.D. Mehta and S. Loeb, "InternalPolarization in the Porous Substructure of a Semipermeable Membrane under Pressure-Retarded Osmosis," Journalof Membrane Science, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1978. G.D. Mehta and S . Loeb, "Performance of Permasep B-9 and B-10 Membranes i n Various Osmotic Regions and a t High Osmotic Pressures,"Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1979. M.D. Fraser, S. Loeb and G.D. Mehta, "Assessment ofthePotentialofGenerating Power from Aqueoyh Saline Solutions by Means of Osmo-Hydro Power Systems," presented a t 13th IECEC, San Diego, California, 20 - 25 August 1978. G.D. Mehta, S. Loeb and M.D. Fraser,"Feasib i l i t y and Econoyics of S a l i n i t y Power Using 14th IECEC, BOston, Osmo-Hydro Power Massachusetts, 5 - 10 August 1979. Ebasco ServicesIncorporated,"Preliminary Design of an Osmotic-Type Salinity Gradient Energy Converter - Phase I Design Effort," Submitted t o t h e U.S. Department of Energy. April 30, 1979.
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