| dc.description.abstract | Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a power generation process that harnesses the salinity gradient between two bodies of water. In literature, the most dominant example of this type of energy is from the mixing of sea water and river water. However, as the first pilot plant of this type proved, this pair is not sufficient to generate enough energy to offset the cost of generation and is unfeasible economically.
This work aims to assess the techno-economic feasibility of both single stage and multistage PRO design configurations using hypersaline solution (as Draw) and Seawater (as feed). The hypersaline draw of focus is produced water which is obtained from oil and gas reservoirs. For this work, a PRO simulator is used, which was developed at Texas A&M University at Qatar. It uses the Q-electrolattice Equation of State (EoS) and a mass transfer model to determine equipment parameters, pump and turbine powers as well as stream properties of interest. This work extends the capabilities of the simulator to handle economic calculations as well as the decision-making criteria that points to profitability or lack thereof. Its capabilities were also extended to interface with DAKOTA – a tool to aid in sensitivity analysis and mathematical optimization.
Using Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) as the techno-economic parameter of interest, this work shows that energetic and economic optimum occur at different system conditions, quantifies the effect of membrane nonidealities on LCOE, shows the optimal plant dimensions and system conditions to operate a PRO plant using both ideal and real membranes and compares PRO to other renewable energy technologies. It also shows results of the energetic and economic performance of multistage systems. | |
