Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
saline water. The transportation of water by tankers or barges involves a lot of expense and is
fraught with logistical problems which can make fresh water not only very expensive when
available but also its supply being very susceptible to frequent interruptions. The use of small
conventional desalination units using a fossil fuel such as diesel oil as the energy supply can
suffer from the same procurement problems that are encountered with transporting fresh
water, namely transportation expenses and supply reliability.
Some of the remote areas are blessed with abundant solar radiation which can be used as
an energy source for small desalination units to provide a reliable drinking water supply for
the inhabitants of the remote areas. Recently, considerable attention has been given to the use
of solar energy as an energy source for desalination because of the high cost of fossil fuel in
remote areas, difficulties in obtaining it, interest in reducing air pollution and the lack of
electrical power source in remote areas. Desalination of seawater and brackish water is one of
the ways for meeting future fresh water demand. Conventional desalination technology is
fairly well established, and some of the processes may be considered quite mature although
there is still considerable scope for improvement and innovation. Conventional desalination
processes are energy intensive, and one of the major cost items in operating expenses of any
conventional desalination plant is the energy cost. Thus, one of the major concerns about
using desalination as a means of supplying fresh water to remote communities is the cost of
energy. Apart from energy cost implications, there are environmental concerns with regard to
the effects of using conventional energy sources. In recent years it has become clear that
environmental pollution caused by the release of green house gases resulting from burning
fossil fuels is responsible for ozone depletion and atmospheric warming. The need to control
atmospheric emissions of greenhouse and other gases and substances will increasingly need to
be based on growing reliance on renewable sources of energy.
Figure 1. Picture of Abu Dhabi solar desalination plant.
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