Method and system for minimizing energy consumption during reverse osmosis unit operation
AssigneeABB Research Ltd.
InventorsSenthilmurugan Subbiah, Srinivas Mekapati, Kumar S. Mohan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is disclosed for estimating an optimal individual product water flow rate for a RO train in an RO unit. The RO unit includes a plurality of RO trains. The method can include providing a desired overall product water flow rate for the reverse osmosis unit followed by obtaining one or more dynamic characteristics for each RO train in the plurality of RO trains; estimating a minimal specific energy consumption value for each RO train using the one or more dynamic characteristics; and subsequently obtaining an optimal individual product water flow rate for each RO train.
Claims20
A method for estimating an optimal individual product water flow rate for a reverse osmosis (RO) train in a reverse osmosis unit, wherein the reverse osmosis unit includes a plurality of RO trains, the method comprising:
- providing a desired overall product water flow rate for the reverse osmosis unit;
- obtaining one or more dynamic characteristics for each RO train in the plurality of RO trains;
- estimating a minimal specific energy consumption value for each RO train using the one or more dynamic characteristics;
- and
- obtaining an individual product water flow rate for each RO train, wherein the optimal individual product water flow rate is based on a corresponding minimal specified energy consumption value for the RO train, wherein a sum of the individual product water flow rates for each of the plural RO trains yields the desired overall product water flow rate.
A tool for estimating an optimal individual product water flow rate for a reverse osmosis (RO) train in a reverse osmosis unit, wherein the reverse osmosis unit includes a plurality of RO trains, the tool comprising a control system with a computer programmed to perform the following in operation:
- setting a desired overall product water flow rate for the reverse osmosis unit;
- obtaining one or more dynamic characteristics for each RO train in the plurality of RO trains,
- estimating a minimal specific energy consumption value for each RO train using the one or more dynamic characteristics;
- and
- obtaining an individual product water flow rate for each RO train, wherein the individual product water flow rate is based on a corresponding minimal specified energy consumption value for the RO train, wherein a sum of the individual product water flow rates for each of the plural RO trains yields the desired overall product water flow rate.
A reverse osmosis (RO) system comprising:
- a plurality of RO trains for receiving an overall input water to yield a product water, wherein the product water is characterized by a desired overall product water flow rate, and wherein each RO train of the plurality of RO trains is coupled to:
- an input source for input water;
- a high pressure pump for increasing an input pressure for the input water to yield a pressurized input water stream;
- a product outlet;
- and
- a waste outlet;
- wherein each RO train yields a desired product water flow rate into the product outlet, and a reject stream into the waste outlet;
- and
- an optimizer module for estimating a minimal specified energy consumption value for each RO train using one or more dynamic characteristics for the RO train, and for calculating an individual product water flow rate for each RO train, wherein the optimal individual product water flow rate is based on a corresponding minimal specified energy consumption value, and wherein a sum of the individual product water flow rates for each of the plural RO trains yields the desired overall product water flow rate, the optimizer module being configured for generating one or more set points for each RO train based on the individual product water flow rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.