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Desalination and Water Treatment 61 (2017) 183–195
www.deswater.com January

doi:10.5004/dwt.2016.11105

Reverse osmosis powered by concentrating solar power (CSP):
A case study for Trapani, Sicily

Sérgio Casimiro a,c,1, *, Mahran K.A. Ahmed , João P. Cardoso , J. Farinha Mendes a
b
a
a Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, I.P., Lisboa, Portugal, email: sergio.casimiro@lneg.pt
b Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK
c Sustainable Energy Systems, MIT-Portugal Program, Lisboa, Portugal
Received 1 August 2015; Accepted 15 July 2016

a b s t r a c t
The objective of this paper is to analyze the physical performance of two technologies in a water and
electricity co-generation scheme: concentrated solar power (CSP) plant coupled to a reverse osmosis
(RO) unit for a location in the city of Trapani, in southern Italy. The CSP+RO system is also compared
with a multi-effect desalination (MED) unit powered by a CSP plant in the same location in Italy, adapt-
ing a model developed in a previous study [2]. The location of Trapani is used as it allows the compari-
son of the simulation results with an existing stand-alone gas powered commercial MED plant located at
Trapani [3] (which has operated until very recently). This work was conducted using as the main simu-
lation tools: the system advisor model (SAM) developed by the US National Renewable Energy Labora-
tory (NREL); a recent upgrade to SAM made available to this work through the Portuguese Laboratório
Nacional de Energia e Geologia I.P. (LNEG); and the reverse osmosis system analysis (ROSA) developed
by the Dow Chemical Company. A technical visit to a real commercial RO plant in the south of Portugal
(Alvor) was conducted, and the data gathered was used in the validation of the ROSA model. The results
for the Trapani case study show that the CSP-RO arrangement has the capability to produce ~46% of
the total production of the full scale plant at Trapani, if operated at nominal capacity, year round. Also,
the CSP-RO system provides ~14% more water and ~20% more electricity than the CSP-MED system
throughout the studied period of one year. The two co-generation schemes provide promising potential
to fight the issues related to fresh water shortages and dependency on fossil fueled desalination. Thus,
they can aid in decreasing the effects associated with CO emissions and climate change.
2
Keywords: Reverse osmosis; Concentrated solar power; System analysis; Multi-effect desalination;
Solar; Desalination; Co-generation, System advisor model; Renewable

1. Introduction growth rates and global climate changes, water demand
in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region alone
The use of seawater desalination to provide fresh
drinking water is a well-established and flourishing indus- is going to increase by around 50% in the next 35 years
try. The two main technologies used are thermal desalina- [1]. The utilization of renewable energy sources for the
production of drinking water is of great global interest, as
tion and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration. In the
main market for the desalination industry—the Middle it can potentially provide a sustainable solution for fresh
water production in regions like the Middle East. The
East—large scale desalination plants are heavily used for
the production of fresh water. It is expected that at current work described in this paper falls under this framework.
It focuses on studying the potential of seawater desalina-
*Corresponding author. tion systems powered by concentrated solar power (CSP)
1 Present address: Center for Complex Engineering Systems, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Presented at EuroMed 2015: Desalination for Clean Water and Energy Palermo, Italy, 10–14 May 2015.
Organized by the European Desalination Society.

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