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IAEA Desalination Economic Evaluation Programme (DEEP)

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Contents

ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................3

LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................4

LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................4

1.0: POWER PLANT....................................................................................................................5

2.0: TECHNOLOGIES.................................................................................................................5

2.1: Reverse Osmosis (RO)................................................................................................................................... 5

2.2Desalination Capacities.................................................................................................................................. 8

3.0: REGIONAL ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................9

3.1: Regional DEEP Calculations........................................................................................................................... 9

4.0: POWER AND WATER COSTS.........................................................................................13

4.1 Power Costs................................................................................................................................................ 14

4.2: Water Costs................................................................................................................................................ 15

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5.0: CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................16

6.0: RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................................................................................17

REFERENCES............................................................................................................................18

Abstract

Throughout the existence of human beings, there is the need to have sufficient water of

high quality. Desalination of sea water gives a promising option for producing clean water. For a

long time now, the IAEA has been on the implementing an effective program with an aim of

investigating nuclear power usage in the process of desalination. The plan comprises of technical

testing in regards to the nuclear industrial removal. Despite the fact that numerous quality and

high quantity of data can be removed from the results that are made by the INET/DEEP, a lot of

caution should be applied in the application of these results. This study looks into various

aspects of the Desalination of sea water including nuclear power plant in the desalination

process, the Reverse Osmosis technology and the impacts of using the technology. Other aspects

that are being looked into include the various Desalination capacities and the water and power

cost. Often the DEEP is the common method that is used in the comparison of water production

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costs in given areas instead of using real numbers. The results are the interpreted as one but not

the only source of guidance and information in various sectors.

List of Figures

1. Figure 1: Approximate Geographic Regions ………………………………9

2. Figure 2: Region 1 Graphical Representation of DEEP Calculations…….12

3. Figure 3: Region 2 Graphical Representation of DEEP Calculations…….13

List of Tables

1. Table 1: Region 1 DEEP Calculations…………………………………10

2. Table 2: Region 2 DEEP Calculations………………………………….11

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1.0: Power Plant

Nuclear Power plant is the most ideal power plant for this desalination. Nuclear power

plant comprises of the fission reaction and uranium as the source of fuel. The nuclear power

plant will be used for the generation of electricity. The nuclear power is considered as the most

ideal due to its minimum carbon energy sources, the technology of the nuclear power plant is

thought as one that is friendly to the environment. The nuclear power plant is best preferred to

other sources of energy such as the renewable such as the wind, solar due to its high levels of

reliability. Despite the fact that the capital that is required to set up a nuclear power plant is quite

significant, the cost of operating the plant is quite low(International Atomic Energy Agency,

1996). In justification on the selection of the nuclear power plant, the costs of operating the plant

are quite low and the fact that the nuclear energy sources have a greater density compared to the

fossil fuels and they tend to release large amount of energy (Glueckstern &Kantor, 2018).

Further they tend to require the least amount of fuels but they are ideal as they produce large

quantities of power thus making them quite effective and efficient as soon as they are up and set

up for operation.
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2.0: Technologies

2.1: Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Reverse Osmosis refers to the process of separating the membranes in which pure water tends to

flow from the water sides to the areas with high concentration of sea water through the

impermeable membrane and through the section with the least pressure or the side referred to as

the “pure” water section. Therefore, in order to overcome the natural process of osmosis, that is

the movement of pure water from the area of low concentration to the area of high concentration

for the sake of balancing the osmotic pressures, the side with the sea water is required to be

compressed in order to create a net area that is of enough driving pressure throughout the entire

permeable membrane (Electric Power Research Institute, 2007). Often the sea water tend to

undergo a compression of around the 70-80 pressure per bar. In response to this, with the various

frameworks of the IAEA of the nuclear exploration studies, there are two distinct types of the

Reverse Osmosis (RO). These two types include the “independent RO (SA-RO) and the “

Contagious” RO (C-RO). It is essential to note that the standalone RO tends to make an

assumption that the RO play is normally connected to the power plant only through an electrical

connection. On the other hand, the SA-RO plant does not require to be located within the

conjunction of the power plant but rather it is assumed that these studies are readily available.

The Independent RO is one that assumes that the reverse osmosis power plant is one that

is not only available but it also shares common sea water and an explicit outflow within the

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cooling system of the power plant and has the likelihood of taking advantage of other services

and facilities. Additionally, the Contagious Reverse Osmosis is likely to draw its feed water from

the seawater intake for the sake of taking advantage of the rejection of the power plant heat from

the Reverse Osmosis System thus meeting the Coupling principles of the Nuclear Reactors

within the process of the Seawater Desalination (Agency I&Agency I, 2010). The Reverse

Osmosis commonly tends to require a stringent feed water pre-treatment for the sake of

protecting the membranes from the various impacts of fouling and scaling including the

biological form of fouling. The various extent of prior treatment meets various requirements

depending on a number of factors such as the temperature, seawater as well as the composition

of the sea water, its intake, materials of the membrane and the ration of recovery (Electric Power

Research Institute, 2007)

. The Reverse Osmosis comprises if the following steps;

 The disinfection of Chlorine in order to prevent any forms of biological growths in the

feed water.

 Coagulation process then followed by the process of mechanical process through

sedimentation, filtration and flotation in order to enhance the removal of the suspended

and the colloidal matter from the feed waters.

 Adjustment of the PH index through condition using the acids for the carbonate scale

suppression and using the various inhibitors such as the poly-phosphates in order to

prevent the formation of the sulphate scales.

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 Feed de-chlorination is essential using the activated carbon filters for the sake of the

membranes that are sensitive to the chlorine.

Normally, the Reverse Osmosis (RO) are created using a variety of configurations. The two

categories that have proven to be commercially successful include the spiral wound modules

otherwise referred to as the membrane elements and the hollow fibre modules (Glueckstern

&Kantor, 2018). In both of these two types of configurations, the elements of the membranes

tend to be connected serially with pressure vessels that have up-to 7-8 spiral wounds modules

as well as 2-3 hollow fibre modules (Electric Power Research Institute, 2007). The high

levels of salt rejection and the good high levels of pressure operating qualities of the current

membranes give space to the economical operation of the sea water RO plants within the

single system. This type of technology is best preferred as it has become one of the most

reliable commercial processes that are applicable to the various largescale uses such as the

nuclear power plant.

2.2Desalination Capacities

The desalination processes that are treated within the DEEP include the technologies of the

membrane and the distillation process with an inclusion of the hybrid combination of the two

processes. As it is with the power plant calculations, the performance and the econo,ic

calculations are purely based on the various simplified models and the correlations of the

nuclear power plant. This technological approach is basically necessary as a way of

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providing a suitable model that is possible and logic within the spreadsheet frameworks of

the spreadsheets as an approach that is taken for the DEEP calculations. This technology

however has various disadvantages of making an introduction of some inherent assumptions

into the analysis thus imposing various inherenet limitation on the obtained results. The

tool’s inherent characteristics are required to be kept in mind while making an evaluation and

while making an interpretation of the various obtained results (Agency I&Agency I, 2010).

This technology of desalination capacities has various characteristics and limitation which

include the following.

 A desalination plant of a certain capacity is made up of smaller units and the defauly

unit size can only be calculated using the various DEEP multiples of 1200m/d of upto

a maximum of 4800 for the distillation plants (Electric Power Research Institute,

2007). This technology gives a logic selection in which the DEEP makes calculation

on the size and the various number of units giving results within the various aspects

of the installed capacities that tend to exceed the specified capacities. The extent to

which the capacity may differ directly depends on the capacities (Electric Power

Research Institute, 2007).

 The costs of the water plants depend on the evaluated base unit costs that are

expressed in the form of m/d and multiplied by the total number of the units. An

economy of scale tends to be assumed through making various correlation factors for

both of the unit sizes and the total number of units. A combination of these factors
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tends to give results that are quite conter-intuitive thus some caution should be

exercised while making a comparison of the costs of water of the different capacities

(Electric Power Research Institute, 2007).

 For the Reverse Osmosis nuclear plants, the DEEP makes calculations of the

contagious configurations and the stand-alone configurations as well (Electric Power

Research Institute, 2007)

 . Notably, for the contagious plant, the temperatures of the feed water and to the

Reverse Osmosis can be increased to make a reflection on the usage of the power

plant condenser cooling water tends to discharge the feed water towards the Reverse

Osmosis System.

3.0: Regional Analysis

Figure 1: Approximate Geographic Regions (Electric Power Research Institute, 2007)

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3.1: Regional DEEP Calculations.

Region 1 and Region 2 DEEP calculations are included in the excel file below.

Table 2: Region 2 DEEP Calculations

Figure 2: Region 1 Graphical Representation of DEEP Calculations

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Figure 3: Region 2 Graphical Representation of DEEP Calculations

4.0: Power and Water Costs

The dual purpose nuclear plants have been designed for the production of

electricity and water, the cost of the generating power is an essential parameter as
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they are of significant contribution towards the production costs and the capability to

be able to make a generation of the revenue as separate parameters. Below is an

outline of the various findings accrued from the estimated cost of the generation of

power (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1996).

4.1 Power Costs

 The PHWR produces quite minimal costs of electricity with an exclusion

of the HTR-100 which is often considered as a separate in this case of

study. Under the high levels of availability as per the estimates made in

this study, the production cos are approximated to be in the range of

$/kw.h 0.02 for region 1 its 900MW and for regions 2 and 3 the costs are

estimated to be 600MW.

 The costs of electricity from PWR and the PC plants are quite comparable,

however they are under quite expensive conditions through the PWR

emissions that are about 35% lower or 22% higher as compared those that

are acquired from the plant.

 With every technology that is input in the desalination, the scales of

technology are quite relevant to the roles in the aspects that the costs of

energy have been reduced by 0.05$/kw per hour as the power tends to

increase from 600 to 900MW. However in some cases, the technology

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tends to advance with an advancement on the various techniques in

construction that tend to lead to reduced times in construction and further

reduce the impacts of economy on the standards.

 Due to the reduced prices, the cost of energy in regions 1are reduced to

10-30% as compared to regions 2 and 3. However, there is less difference

on the cost of energy in regions 2 and 3 as the impact of the maximum

discount rates tends to be considered for these regions as significant

impacts.

4.2: Water Costs

The cost of producing water is dependent on the specifications of the site

as well as the considerations especially on the economic considerations

and the costs of electricity costs. However some general observations have

been made as discussed below;

 In the case of nuclear power conditions, the option of the nuclear tends to

appear to be of an advantage for the Reverse Osmosis technology.

 In the cases of the mineral economic conditions, the costs of the nuclear

power plant options as well as the residues tend to be quite similar.

 the water costs from the reverse osmosis systems are commonly lower as

compared to those that are from the multi-effect distillation systems as

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they tend to vary from 10-30% depending on the various ranges of the

reverse osmosis technology. this therefore gives the reverse osmosis an

advantage in the economy irrespective of the fact that the products of

water have greater contents of the total dissolved solids as compared to the

multi-effect distillation.

 The costs of water from the Reverse Osmosis are not underestimated due

to the estimates that are made between the prices of the electricity grid that

are used during the times of unavailability of the nuclear power plants and

the costs of production as calculated by the DEEP at specified power

stations.

 The costs of water from the distillation programs are quite higher as

compared to those that are from the multi-effect distillation by a range of

0.045-0.90$.m3. This making a huge difference between the distillation

programs and the Reverse Osmosis.

5.0: Conclusion

The utilization of the nuclear power and the production of water is quite an legal and safe

approach instead of using the fossil fuels. In general, the sugar reduction economies of the

nuclear goats are directed by similar factors as those of the economies using the nuclear power
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generation. The cost that is accrued in the production of low-energy and with an improved safety

that is coupled with an increase in the essential considerations in the environment can lead to an

increase in competition for the nuclear power as compared to the plants that use the renewable

sources of energy (Electric Power Research Institute, 2007). The extraction of the nuclear metals

as a result therefore can be quite a competitive approach. Other additional factors that are related

to the removal of salt from water may further lead to an improvement in the competitiveness of

the extraction of the nuclear energy as compared to the extraction of iron through mineral energy

systems including;

 High levels of temperature

 High load properties

 Possibilities of having a reduction in the final vapor humidity

From the analysis made on the results indicate that due to the increase in the competitiveness of

the nuclear power plant option has the possibility of increasing significantly in case the funding

cost is reduced as is currently expected for the modern reactors as they are being developed

(Glueckstern &Kantor, 2018).

6.0: Recommendations

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The focus of the study on the nuclear extraction has been with an aim of addressing the

two most significant challenges facing the nuclear disposal in regards to the consumption of

energy and the cost of producing water. To make improvements in the production of water and

consumption of energy a number of recommendations should be put into place;

 It was shown that any form of improvements that were made in energy efficiency can be

achieved through taking an advantage of the waste heat that is emitted by a condenser

cooling system from the reactor.

 Using the cooled cooling water in place of the heated water in the Reverse Osmosis

system creates channels of improving the reverse osmosis process efficiency thus making

an increase in the production of drinking water by using the size of the plant and the

consumption of energy thus giving a correspondence of the reduction in the production

units of water.

 According to studies, making continuous improvements can be achieved through utilizing

sophisticated approaches as a way of improving the reverse osmosis systems

(International Atomic Energy Agency, 1996).

 Various improvements I the production of water’s efficiency as well as the related

reductions in the costs of water have been under high levels of investigations on seawater

conditions. Therefore, since the DEEP did not make any tests of costs for the charges on

the water supply, then it would be essential to make modifications to suit the intended

purpose.
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 A new category should be added rather than modifying the existing statistics in order to

make direct comparisons on the impact of moving from an independent system and into

an affected system then into an integrated desalination that included the used waste water

of the reverse osmosis.

References

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY. (1996). Potential for nuclear desalination

as a source of low cost potable water in north africa. Vienna: International Atomic

Energy Agency.

ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE. (2007). Desalination technology evaluation.

Palo Alto, CA: The Institute.

Agency, I., & Agency, I. (2010). Advanced Fuel Pellet Materials and Fuel Rod Design for

Water Cooled Reactors. Lanham: International Atomic Energy Agency.

Glueckstern, P., & Kantor, Y. (2018). Economic evaluation of using small sized nuclear reactors

for seawater desalination. Desalination, 22(1-3), 101-110. doi: 10.1016/s0011-

9164(00)88366-6

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Panicker, S., & Tewari, P. (2017). Safety and reliability aspects of seawater reverse osmosis

desalination plant of nuclear desalination demonstration project. International Journal Of

Nuclear Desalination, 2(3), 244. doi: 10.1504/ijnd.2007.013548.

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