The objective of this study was to review literature cited data and information for seawater and brackish water desalination technologies used to produce municipal potable water, as well as outline the framework for evaluating desalination systems. This framework provided a foundational methodology to a follow-up report, Volume 2, which is an energy bandwidth study of desalination systems (released in Fall 2017) that builds upon the literature reported energy values in the Volume 1 report, estimates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from potable water production, and explores different scenarios to comprehend the engineering and economic challenges and opportunities of desalination systems.
This methodology rigorously evaluates and assesses the energy consumption and carbon emissions of currently applied, state-of-the-art, and research and development (R&D) technologies for desalination systems, as well as determines the absolute minimum energy requirements for desalination systems. The methodology is split among five different unit operations in desalination systems: feedwater intake, pre-treatment, desalination, post-treatment, and concentrate management/disposal. Within these unit operations, the energy consumption was analyzed (including pumping, and energy recovery), and carbon emissions were estimated. The primary focus of this study was seawater desalination, but brackish water desalination was also considered.