Ro desalination system for irrigation purposes : [electronic resource]. I. modeling and optimization /

Year book of Misr Society of Agricultural Engineering : The 20 th. Annual Conference of the Misr Society of Agricultural Engineering "Agricultural Engineering and Country Challenges"

Includes references.

This research aims to study the effect of low pressure reverse osmosis
'LPRO' on desalination process performance for the desalination unit and
energy consllmption to rationalize the lise of water desalination lInit to
suit irrigation ofdifferent crops. The laboratory experiments were carried
out in thermal engineering laboratory at Department ofMechanics in the
Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. The parameters used in
this experiments were: feed concentrations. feed water temperature and
feed pressure. A mathematical model was developed and the genetic
algorithms technique was used to predict the optimum operating point of
the low pressure reverse osmosis. The mathematical model focuses on
steady state performance predictions and optimization of the Reverse
Osmosis (RO) process utilizing a set of implicit mathematical equations
which are generated by combining solution-diffusion model with film
theory approach. The numerical study is concerned with writing a
computer program GARO (Genetic Algorithms Reverse Osmosis) using
MATLAS which performs optimization ofthe RO process under low feed
water pressure for potential ofenergy saving in irrigation. The GARO is
a single objective optimization program which finds the mathematical
relationship between operational factors of the RO desalination unit and
the permeate flow rate per unit area, thus the prediction of specific
energy consumption in the RO desalination process under low pressure
reverse osmosis. The results showed that the effect of low-pressure
reverse osmosis desalination leads to a decrease of permeate flow rate,
permeate recovery. salt reject, specific energy consumption and water
production cost but also leads to increase in salt passage and permeate
water concentration.
The effect offeed water temperature was not significant. The theoretical
results obtained are in a good agreement with that experimentally
obtained especially at higher flow rates. The numerical and the
experimental results of optimization indicated that the optimal point was
at specific energy consumption of 1. 52 kWhlm3
, and a permeate flow rate
of 2.8i m3/d at feed water concentration of 2000 ppm, feed water
temperature of 30°e. and feed pressure of II bar.

Summary in Arabic