Work principles of different methods of seawater desalination and parametric analysis of a multiple effect desalination (MED)

Abstract

The present work was conceived from a real demand from the City Hall of Fortaleza/CE for seawater desalination projects to supply fresh water to the city. As a result, initially, the working principles of different desalination processes, their productive capacities and energy requirements were explored in the form of a literature review. It was then concluded that Multiple Effect Desalination (MED) is the most promising method, as it presents low energy consumption compared to the most used methods, due to the potential for self-sufficiency of the thermal energy required and because pre-treatment is not necessary as complex, since its operation takes place at a moderate temperature. Subsequently, a case study was carried out, involving mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of a MED desalination plant, using the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software. Finally, the parametric analysis was carried out, which showed that the model used for the case study presents a good performance, in addition to being adaptable for implementation in a series of possibilities. In this way, case studies in the area can lead to practical models that can meet existing demands, as well as the adaptation of methods such as the one in question.