Efficiency improvements for small-scale reverse-osmosis systems

The water supplies of some small inland communities may come in the form of river systems that offer brackish water. Not fit for immediate human consumption, the water can be further processed using reverse osmosis to be converted into drinking water.In very remote areas there are limited energy res...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Susanto-Lee, Robertus
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Curtin University 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/286
Description
Summary:The water supplies of some small inland communities may come in the form of river systems that offer brackish water. Not fit for immediate human consumption, the water can be further processed using reverse osmosis to be converted into drinking water.In very remote areas there are limited energy resources, and for those areas that lie beyond a municipal distribution grid, renewable energy sources may be used. A reverse osmosis system that operates from the limited power generated by a renewable energy system must do so with the utmost of efficiency. Three methods in improving the efficiency of small-scale reverse-osmosis system are investigated, namely high-pressure pump speed control, feed water heating and vacuum pump based energy recovery.