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Energy
Volume 121, 15 February 2017, Pages 205-219

Comparative design of plug and

recirculation RO systems;
thermoeconomic: Case study
Mohammadreza Khanarmuei a … Hamid Mokhtari c, d

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.01.028
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Abstract

The main objective of this article is to determine

which arrangement between the plug and
recirculation reverse osmosis (RRO) is the optimal
reverse osmosis (RO) system for a specific test case.
Another objective is to compare the optimal
operating conditions of these two arrangements.
The RO system is designed to supply a water mass
flow rate of 4000 m3/day for a 20-years period from
Caspian Sea's brackish water to the city of
Miarkelar, Iran. A multi-objective genetic
algorithm is used to determine the best design of
both arrangements of RO systems. Hence, feed
water pressure, recirculated water flow rate, sea
water membrane types, feed water flow rate and the
number of elements in each pressure vessel were
optimized. The objective function were the
recovery rate and the unit production cost.
Considering the optimal state of each arrangement,
an exergy analysis has been performed. An exergy
efficiency of recirculating and plug systems of
82.6% and 92.4% were obtained respectively. The
thermo-economic analysis demonstrates that RRO
results in a 36% decline in investment cost, 2%
increase in operation cost, 6% recovery rate
increment, and 19.7% permeate salt content
decrease compared to the plug RO arrangement.

Introduction

In many populated cities and regions located near

the seas, water is supplied by water wells and
nearby rivers. However, in some areas, people face
problems due to low-quality water and drying of
rivers. These kinds of issues gradually extended in
Iran, which is located in a hot and dry area, and
many towns and villages are now confronted with
water shortage. Contamination of surface waters is
another problem that makes the situation harsher
[1].

In this context, it is often necessary to design a

desalination unit that can supply water to a city or
village. A suitable design should be able to supply
the required drinking water during the project
lifetime, with a high efficiency and at lower costs.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is among the best options to
meet these challenges [1], [2].

Many researchers have investigated the production

of desalinated water with the RO method. In this
regard, Al-Bastaki et al. [3] have studied hollow
fiber and the spiral-wound recovery rate both
theoretically and experimentally. In their study, the
influence of the concentration polarization
phenomenon and the pressure drop were ignored
causing the recovery range determined from the
model to be higher than the experimental value.
Each mass flow rate values of salt and water
through the membrane is defined as an implicit
function of the two membrane dimensions, i.e.
length and radius. Based on the state-space
method, El-Halwagi has modeled the RO system
and provided a way to reduce the flow rate of brine
[4]. In this modeling, the RO network has been
described with four pressure regulation boxes by
which all the possible states of the system is
analyzed. The mathematical model in this study
has been formulated as Mixed-Integer Nonlinear
Programming (MINLP). Zhu et al. [5] have
presented a coefficient to reduce the computational
time based on El-Halwagi's method [4]. Voros et al.
[6] have developed El-Halwagi's method by
formulating a variable ratio to model the problem
by nonlinear programming (NLP). Meskan et al. [7]
have used a direct graph and a matrix connection
to find the optimal structure of RO networks. In
mathematical modeling, a variable reduction
technique accelerates the computation process.

Nemeth [8] has studied ultra-low pressure RO

membranes. This method improves the design and
performance of the system. Voros et al. [9]
identified permeability parameter values for six
different ions. The mass flow rate and
concentration of desalinated water and brine are
found experimentally. Transmission parameters
such as mass transfer coefficients are obtained
using empirical formulas. Experimental plots and
curve fitting are used to obtain these values.
Mokhtari et al. [10] designed an RO system
combined with an ORC and solar farm for a case
study.

Thermo-economic analysis determines the impact

of irreversibility and cost of each process on the
cost of the exergo-economic flow product. Several
articles present a thermo-economic analysis of Sea
Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO), e.g. Refs. [11], [12],
[13]. Romero-Ternero et al. [11] showed that
economic analysis should be done prior to the
thermodynamic analysis; thus, the effect of
operating parameters on Unit Product Cost (UPC)
is an important limitation. In another analysis by
Romero-Ternero et al. [12], the process flowcharts,
exergy rate of flows, exergy cost and rate of exergy
destruction in all pieces of equipment were
specified. The main results show that 80% of the
exergy destruction occurs in the high-pressure
pump, regulator, and energy recovery system. 29%
of extra exergy should be provided for feed water
transition to the plant including pumping from the
sea into purification and pre-purification units.
Exergy efficiency was found to be about 50% in this
process.

Lu et al. [14] have studied RO system with multiple

inputs and outputs. A synthesis-based optimization
technique is used in this research. The spiral
membrane is used in modeling the purification
unit and optimization is done to select the
membrane's type in each stage and the number of
membrane elements in each PV. In the proposed
method, the flow rates allocated to each input and
output is optimized. Marcovecchio et al. [15] have
presented an algorithm for global optimization of
RO networks. RO membranes in this study are
hollow fiber ones. Kimura-sourirajan model is used
to describe the transfer phenomena along the
membrane. The objective function is to minimize
the final cost that includes investment costs (cost of
the membranes, pumping and energy recovery
system, etc.) and operation costs (replacing the
membranes, pre-treatment, chemicals, and spare
parts). The Poullikkas [16] research should be
mentioned as a development of optimization
algorithms for RO systems. In this work, the
algorithm is designed based on the cost of
components and various configurations of RO
systems. That algorithm considers the investment
cost, interest rates, fixed and variable Operation
and Maintenace (O&M) costs and energy cost as its
variable parameters. At the end, six different
designs have been evaluated using this algorithm
and optimal systems have been detected from the
UPC view. Du et al. [17] have presented a multi-
objective optimization for RO systems. In their
work, transfer phenomena are investigated within
the membrane for different values of velocity,
pressure, and concentration. At first, optimization
of energy recovery is done for a variety of energy
recovery devices. Then, a system exergy analysis is
done and finally, an optimal function is provided
for the total annual cost.

Exergy analysis is a powerful tool for determining

the inefficiencies and performance of a process. Al-
Jandi [18] analyzed the Al-Hussein thermal power
plant reverse osmosis purification units using real
data from a thermodynamic standpoint and
calculated the entire cycle exergy flow rate.
Kahraman et al. [19] have examined exergy flow and
exergy destruction rates in a reverse osmosis water
purification unit located in California. Most of the
exergy destruction is due to the pump, motors and
separation unit. It is shown that by using high-
efficiency pumps, water production cost can be
reduced drastically. El-Emam and Dincer [20]
evaluated the performance of reverse osmosis water
purification units with energy recovery. For energy
recovery, a Pelton turbine is used. Then, the
thermodynamic analysis is done based on the first
and second laws of thermodynamics. The exergy
analysis of the system demonstrates that the
greatest amount of irreversibility occurs within the
high-pressure pump and that exergy efficiency is
almost 82.5%.

Reducing Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) is

one of the most important areas of research in the
field of reverse osmosis. Energy recovery
equipment should be used to this end. In many
treatment units, Pelton turbines are used. However,
pressure converters have the highest efficiency
among energy recovery facilities. Peñate's at al [21].
summaries the modifications required if a recovery
system with Pelton turbines is to be replaced by
systems using isobaric-chamber devices.

Energy consumption in RO water treatment

constitutes 70% of the total cost. Centrifugal
devices are among the first types of Energy
Recovery Devices (ERD) that were used to extract
energy in the RO output, which is at high pressure.
These days, however, positive displacement
mechanisms and isobaric devices are employed,
which can operate with almost 97% efficiency. A
study by Stover [22] illustrates that using pressure-
converting ERD enhances RO energy efficiency by
up to 60%. High-pressure converter usage can also
reduce the high-pressure pump cost as well as
increase the efficiency.

Although in some researches, different

configurations of RO system were studied [23], a
direct comparison between Plug and RRO systems
from exergy and economic points of view for a
specific case study has not yet been made.

Fig. 1 shows two typical reverse osmosis systems: (a)

Two-stage plug (b) recirculation. They were
analyzed from economic and exergy standpoints.
UPC is chosen as the system's main economic
parameter. Exergy destruction rate is also
computed for each element of the system with
respect to the second law of thermodynamics,
unlike previous articles. Exergy and economic
characteristics of the two systems are assessed
assuming the same output conditions for both (the
same permeate water mass flow rate and an
appropriate salt concentration range). In other
words, each of the two types of systems is
optimized and the best between the two can be
identified. Computational codes for simulation and
optimization is developed using MATLAB.

The novelties of the current study can be listed as

follows:
- Optimal design of the plug and RRO systems
arrangements.

- Energy, Exergy and Economic analysis of each

system

- Comparison of both systems in optimal state

- Exergy analysis of each module of each PV in

the plug and RRO systems

Section snippets

RO modeling

In a practical process, RO system is a typical plug

type comprising one or more stages as shown in
Fig. 1-a. Each stage consists of several parallel
pressure vessels (PV) working under the same
conditions. In the model, each PV is divided into a
large number of small control volumes, which are
connected in series. Feed water enters the first
element and after filtration, its brine (output of the
first membrane) enters the second element and so
on, up to the last element. The products of all…

Exergy analysis

Exergy analysis is another expression of the second

law of thermodynamics. This strategy helps to find
the energy grade in each component. The total
exergy includes different terms including physical,
chemical, potential and kinetic exergy. Here,
kinetic and potential exergy are neglected [25] and
the total exergy flux can be written as.

where:

The exergy flow at each point of the…

Economic analysis

In addition to the technical study and

thermodynamic considerations, economic analysis
is of the utmost importance to select an optimal
design. Total annual cost (TAC) includes two terms,
namely the operating costs (OC) and total capital
investment (TCI). TCI includes the cost of fixed
capital investment (FCI), startup costs (SUC),
working costs (WC), the cost of licensing, research
and development costs (LRD) and allowance for
funds used during construction (AFUDC) [25]:
…

Comparison with ROSA

To validate the MATLAB code, two scenarios

involving systems with different membranes and
entry conditions have been were simulated and the
results were compared with the ones obtained from
the software ROSA.
➢ Scenario 1…

This scenario involves a plug system with a water

volumetric flow rate and salt concentration of
40 m3/h and 4049 ppm. The plant is modeled in
two steps. There are 3 PVs in the first stage and 2
PVs in the second one. Six series modules are used
in each PV.
➢ Scenario 2…

In this case,…

Genetic algorithms

In this work, we will optimize the recovery rate and

cost simultaneously as will be presented below. An
optimization algorithm was thus required.
According to [27], some of the important
characteristics of “good” optimization algorithms
are:
(1) Generality of the formulation…

(2) Robustness, in the sense of avoiding local

optima, looking for global optimal points…

(3) Capability of handling multiple objectives…

(4) Computational efficiency…

It was decided to rely on genetic algorithms in this

work. Genetic algorithms …

Case study

In order to find the desired water volumetric flow

rate, water consumption per capita is set to
220.27 L/day [28] and the population is supposed to
be 12,125 people at end of life of the plant (20th
year). In order to account for water peak demands,
the plant is designed to be able to produce
4000 m3/d of water during the period. The initial
values of the design parameters are introduced in
Table 7.…

Scenario definition

First, the two types of systems have been optimized

with the GA in order to achieve the lowest costs and
the highest recovery. Table 8 represents the design
variables and their possible range.

Upper and lower water pressure bounds are

determined according to DOW data [24]. To achieve
the desired water flow at different recovery rates (R),
feed flow rate varies within the range of 196–
823 m3/hr. In each PV, there are 2–8 elements [24].
Another optimization parameter is the membrane
type in each…

Choose an optimum case (case 1 or case

2?)

The minimized cost and maximized recovery are

shown in the form of a Pareto front in Fig. 7 for the
plug (case 1) and recirculation (case 2) (RRO)
systems. This is due to population growth during
the operation period. Therefore, in the early years
of the project, more water is produced and thus
stored. The flow rate is supposed to have ±4 m3/h
tolerance in the optimization process. This
constraint provides less optimal states for the
desired system.

As can be seen in Fig. 7, the recovery rate…

Conclusion

A genetic algorithm was employed to optimally

design the RRO and Plug RO systems based on two
objectives, i.e.recovery rate maximization and unit
cost minimization. The design variables are the
membrane type in each stage, RO system type, PV
numbers, feed water flow rate and brine
recirculation (β). Afterwards, according to the best
results for each case, exergy analysis was
performed.

Considering the studies accomplished in the

current work, RRO system is proposed toward
water supply for city…

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Cost optimization of a combined power and
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Energy optimisation of existing SWRO
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Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic
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Exergy analysis of a combined RO, NF,
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View more references

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