Integration of Hydraulic Wind Turbines for

Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination

Antonio Jarquin-Laguna Francesca Greco
dept. Maritime and Transport Technology dept. Hydraulic Engineering
sect. Offshore and Dredging Engineering sect. Offshore Engineering
Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology
Delft, the Netherlands Delft, The Netherlands
[Link]@[Link] [Link]@[Link]

Abstract—The integration of renewable energy sources to high associated expenses to the environmental impact and CO2
power seawater desalination is crucial to mitigate CO2 emissions emissions. Every day, 90 billion liters of water are desalinated
and to face the increasing challenges that are stressing fresh all over the world contributing with 76 million of tonnes of
water resources depletion. In particular wind energy is one of
the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy with a high CO2 released per year. The required high energy consumption
potential to reduce the seawater desalination’s environmental from conventional technologies is a critical factor that affects
impact. While most applications are aimed at using conventional the economics of seawater desalination [3].
wind technologies to produce the electricity required by the
desalination processes, wind turbines with hydraulic transmis- B. Wind driven desalination
sion can bring new opportunities to avoid the multiple energy
Wind energy is one of the most cost-effective forms of
conversion steps and make fresh water production from wind
energy more simple and cost-effective. This paper elaborates on renewable energy with a high potential to reduce the seawater
two potential configurations, numerical modelling and possible desalination’s environmental impact by 75% [4]. In addition,
control strategies which are able to directly combine a horizontal wind energy uses virtually no water to operate during its life
axis wind turbine rotor, a hydraulic transmission and a seawater cycle. Most applications of wind energy in combination with
reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination unit. The integration of an
seawater reverse osmosis desalination (SWRO) are aimed at
ideal pressure exchanger as energy recovery devices (ERD) to
increase the operating efficiency of the SWRO unit is analysed. using conventional wind technologies to produce the electricity
Results are shown for the most relevant operating conditions of required by seawater desalination processes [5]. First, wind
the integrated system in terms of wind speeds, pressures, brine turbines convert the kinetic energy from the wind flow into
salinity and fresh water productions. Intermediate results are mechanical and then electrical energy. Only then, the elec-
also shown for the dynamic analysis and simulation of the wind
tricity taken from the grid is converted back to mechanical
powered direct-driven SWRO system subject to turbulent wind
speed conditions. energy required by the pumps to power the SWRO process
Index Terms—Wind energy, seawater desalination, reverse using between 4 and 6 kWh per cubic meter of fresh water
osmosis, hydraulic drives. produced. It is clearly seen that the current solution involves
multiple energy conversion steps using the grid as an energy
I. I NTRODUCTION buffer to account for the wind power fluctuations. In this
A. The water problem paper, a new approach is presented where hydraulic wind
Water scarcity is already a global issue affecting at least turbines are dedicated to produce fresh water in a more direct
one fifth of the world’s population [1]. The depletion and manner without any electrical intermediate conversion and
contamination of fresh water sources, touching different sec- potentially avoiding the need of the electrical grid as shown in
tors like agriculture, tourism and industry, threatens not only the schematic of Fig. 1. By avoiding the intermediate electrical
the economic development and people’s health, but also con- conversion steps, it is expected that the hydraulic wind turbine
tributes to other problems like political instability, conflicts will produce fresh water from wind energy between 10 and
and migrations [2]. Remote locations and small islands are 20% more efficient when compared to a conventional wind
particularly affected by water resources issues. With half of the turbine used for grid connected seawater desalination.
world’s population living within 100 km from an ocean and
C. Opportunities and challenges
considering that 97% of the water is saline, seawater desali-
nation promotes itself as an alternative and interesting source The development of integrated wind turbines with SWRO
for fresh water production. Conventionally, remote places and technology offers the following opportunities to make fresh
island communities use fossil fuels to provide the energy water production from wind energy more cost effective:
required to operate the different desalination technologies, • Improved efficiency: avoiding multiple energy conversion
however these fuels are vulnerable to volatile global market steps will allow to the proposed technology to reduce the
prices and to logistical supply problems, in addition to the energy required to produce a cubic meter of fresh water.

978-1-7281-2317-2/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

 (a) Wind driven SWRO with variable valve.

Fig. 1. Comparison between conventional and proposed wind powered SWRO

system.

• Cost reduction on operation and maintenance: eliminating (b) Wind driven SWRO with pressure exchanger ERD.
the electrical components simplifies the maintenance and
repair work by having less components. In addition, Fig. 2. Schematic of two potential configurations for wind powered direct
driven-driven SWRO system.
simplifying the energy conversion at the nacelle will
allow to reduce the top mass weight.
• Elimination of CO2 emissions: seawater desalination direct wind energy conversion as shown in Fig. 2. In order
from wind energy will contribute to the energy transition to keep the wind speed rotor within its optimal operating
by saving between 1.4 and 1.8 kg of CO2 for every cubic region, two control strategies are proposed to enable a variable
meter of fresh water produced [6]. speed operation using the hydraulic components for below
• Increased accessibility of SWRO to remote locations: rated wind speed conditions using the system pressure. The
coastal or offshore locations will be able to use their wind results are shown for a theoretical 500 kW turbine using
resource to produce fresh water regardless of their access an isobaric energy recovery device (ERD) to increase the
to the electrical grid. operating efficiency of the SWRO unit.
• Water storage: the desalinated water can be stored cost
effectively compared to storage of electrical energy pro- II. P ROPOSED DIRECT- DRIVEN WIND TURBINE SWRO
duced from the wind turbines. DESALINATION SYSTEM

From a system point of view, integrating effectively wind A. Wind driven SWRO with variable valve
turbine and SWRO technologies requires fundamental under- The simplest configuration consists of a wind turbine rotor
standing of the underlying interaction mechanisms between the coupled to a positive displacement water pump and SWRO
components involved in the chain of conversion processes. It desalination module as shown in Fig. 2a. According to the
is clear that the feedback effects between the wind turbine wind speed and rotational speed of the rotor, the seawater flow
rotor, the control system and desalination processes need to is pumped into the reverse osmosis desalination module, where
be considered for a proper evaluation and optimisation. Wind a membrane separates fresh water from salts and ions. Once
turbines are highly dynamic systems which are subject to the the osmotic pressure is reached, the fresh water is permeated
stochastic nature of wind. In contrast, SWRO technologies are across the membrane and collected at atmospheric pressure.
units which are typically operated under relatively constant The salts and ions retained by the membrane are disposed into
and stationary conditions. The application of wind powered a high concentration stream which flows along the module, i.e.
SWRO desalination follows previous work where the integra- brine. A concentrate valve located in the concentrate stream
tion of wind turbine technology in combination with hydraulic allows to regulate the back pressure of the system. This ability
systems for power conversion has been studied for hydraulic to manipulate the pressure in the water pump discharge will
offshore wind turbines [7]–[9]. directly influence the pump torque which in turn, may be
This paper elaborates on the modelling, simulation and used for closed loop control of the rotor speed in below rated
comparison of two potential configurations of SWRO with operating conditions. This configuration has been proposed
for tidal energy desalination in [10], and the control strategy
has been analysed and implemented in wind turbines that
incorporate a hydraulic-drivetrain and Pelton turbine [9].

B. Wind driven SWRO with isobaric energy recovery device

The integration of a pressure exchanger ERD is proposed
in this configuration as shown in Fig. 2b. Part of the feed
seawater is sent at atmospheric pressure to the hydraulic wind
turbine while the rest is sent to the pressure exchanger ERD.
The purpose of this device is to extract the remaining pressure
content of the discharged brine and transfer it to the feed
flow to improve the SWRO operating efficiency [11], [12]. An
auxiliary boost pump is used to regulate the concentrate flow
and to compensate for any pressure losses in the ERD. The
main feature of this concept, is that all the feed flow from the
rotor-pump is converted into permeate while the boost pump
is used to regulate the concentrate stream and ERD flow rates.
In a similar manner as the previous concept, the boost pump of Fig. 3. Principle of operation of the pressure exchanger as energy recovery
the ERD can be employed to modify the system pressure, thus device.
it can be used to control the pump torque and consequently
the rotor speed.
The pressure exchanger ERD is made of a high-pressure speed to the upstream wind speed, with the rotational speed
housing containing a ceramic rotor perforated by many ducts. of the rotor ωr ,
Surrounding the rotor there are a sleeve and two end covers.
During its operation, as shown in Fig. 3 the rotor is first filled ωr R
λ= (3)
by the low pressure seawater (a). While rotating, the rotor Uw
exposes briefly the low pressure seawater flow to the high
Although this model do not consider any aero-elastic or
pressure concentrate (b), allowing the transfer of energy from
unsteady aerodynamic effects, the aerodynamic loading is
the latter via direct contact. The pressurized seawater is then
assumed to give sufficient detail on the the wind turbine rotor
pushed out of the pressure exchanger (c) joining the stream
behaviour for the purposes of this work.
of the high pressure pump. The concentrate is pushed out at
a lower pressure by the feed seawater (d). The rotor ducts
B. Hydraulic drive train
function as a cartridge charging and discharging as the pressure
transfer process repeats itself. In this way, energy is captured The wind turbine rotor is directly connected to a large
that would be otherwise wasted, reducing the system power positive displacement water pump through the low-speed rotor
consumption per produced volume of permeate up to 60% shaft. Assuming a stiff connection, the angular acceleration
compared with a system without ERD [13]. of the rotor-pump assembly can be described through the
imbalance of the aerodynamic torque and the opposing torque
III. S IMPLIFIED MATHEMATICAL MODELS from the water pump. The mass moments of inertia of the
A. Wind turbine rotor rotor and water pump are given by Jr and Jp respectively
The simplified aerodynamic characteristics of a horizontal
axis wind turbine rotor can be described as a function of its
(Jr + Jp ) ω̇r − τaero (U, β, ωr ) + τp (ωr , Δpp ) = 0 (4)
geometrical characteristics and through its non-dimensional
steady-state performance coefficients. The aerodynamic torque
The water pump has a constant volumetric displacement
and power can be expressed with the following equations as a
Vp which determines the volume of fluid that is obtained
function of the upstream wind speed Uw , the air density ρair
for each rotor revolution based on the positive displacement
and the rotor radius R.
principle. The volumetric flow rate of the pump Qp , and the
transmitted torque τp are based on quasi-steady relations as
1 a function of the pressure difference across the pump Δp
τaero = Cτ (λ, β) ρair π R3 Uw2 (1)
2 and of the rotational speed of the rotor-pump assembly. The
1 internal leakage losses are described with the laminar leakage
Paero = CP (λ, β) ρair πR2 Uw3 (2)
2 coefficient Cs and included as a linear function of the pressure
The torque and power coefficients, Cτ and CP , are defined across the pump. Similarly, the pump torque includes a viscous
as function of the collective pitch angle of the blades β and the friction component with the damping coefficient Bp and a dry
tip speed ratio λ which is the ratio of the rotor tip tangential component described with the coefficient Cf p [14].
 The valve settings can be manipulated through an actuator
like a spear valve which is able to modify the friction losses
Qp = Vp ωr − Cs Δp (5) factor ev . The dynamics of such an actuator are approximated
τp = Vp Δp + Bp ωr + Cf p Vp Δp (6) by a first order differential equation:
C. RO membranes d
Tv ev = ev,ref − ev (13)
The transport mechanism of the reverse osmosis desalina- dt
tion process is based the solution-diffusion model to represent where the valve constant Tv , denotes the characteristic time
the transport of water across the dense RO membrane and of the valve to reach the reference value ev,ref .
the retention of salts and ions [15]. According to this model,
the permeants are absorbed by the membrane surface, then E. Isobaric ERD unit
diffused across its thickness and lastly they are released at the The simplified model of the pressure exchanger is derived
other side of the membrane. The flow rate of each component as well from the mass balance principle [17]. The overall mass
per unit area that passes across the membrane is given by the flow rates of water and solute is expressed from the following
water flux according to the following equation: ordinary differential equation:

Jw = Kw (Δp − Δπ) (7) dmb,out

= Ff,in Cf,in + Fb,in Cb,in − Ff,out Cf,out (14)
dt
where Kw represents the water permeability constant,
with Fb,out = Fb,in + OV · Ff,in (15)
ΔpRO is the difference in pressure between the two sides
of the membrane and Δπ is the osmotic pressure difference. where mf,out refers to the overall mass of the pressurized
The osmotic pressure difference depends on the effective feed water at the outlet of the ERD. The overall mass flow
concentration of total dissolved solids Cef f , considered at the rates of the influents for the feed and brine are described by
feed side of the membrane surface [16]: Ff,in and Fb,in respectively, whereas Fb,out represents that of
the effluent for the brine. The overflush ratio OV denotes the
water that must be bypassed or dumped during each cycle to
Δπ = δCef f T (8) maintain coordination between all the chambers in the pressure
  
Cef f Uf exchanger [13]. The overflush is determined by the difference
= a + (1 − a) (1 − Rm ) + Rm (9)
Cf Uc between Ff,in and Ff,out .
where the salt rejection Rm represents the ability of the Similarly, the differential equation for the mass balance of
membrane to retain the salts, T denotes the seawater tem- the solute is expressed as:
perature in K, a is the weighting coefficient, Cf represents
the feed concentration at the RO membranes and U is the dmb,out
= Ff,in Cf,in + Fb,in Cb,in − Ff, out Cf, out (16)
water velocity. The subscripts f, c and p stand for the feed, dt
concentrate and permeate respectively. Considering the mass with Cf, out = M (Cb, in − Cf, in ) + Cf, in (17)
balance over the RO membrane, the following relation between
where mb,out is the solute mass of the depressurized brine,
flow rates is obtained:
Cb,in and Cf,in indicate the concentrations of the influents
for the high pressure brine and low pressure feed, respectively
Uf Af − Uc Ac − Up Ap = 0 (10) and Cf,out represents the concentration of the effluent for the
Another important parameter that characterizes the RO pressurized feed. The volumetric mixing ratio between the feed
membranes is the recovery rate RR, which represents the ratio and brine streams caused by the hydraulic energy transfer in
of membrane permeate or product water to the system feed the ERD unit is given by M . Using this ratio, it is possible to
water. estimate the increased salinity of the feed stream at the outlet
of the ERD and at the entrance of the RO membranes for
Qp Up Ap different recovery rates as shown in Fig. 4.
RR = = (11)
Qf Uf Af A auxiliary boost pump is integrated together with the ERD
device to compensate any pressure losses and to regulate
D. Concentrate valve the recovery rate of the SWRO. It will be assumed that
The following non-linear model is used to describe the valve an ideal boost pump, either with variable speed or variable
using the energy and mass balances as proposed by [16], where displacement, will be able to adjust the recovery rate according
the friction losses factor ev depends on the valve geometrical to a reference value RRref and a characteristic time constant
characteristics and is used to represent the valve resistance to TERD as described by the following first order differential
the flow. equation:
d 1 d
ρV Uc = ΔpAc − ρw ev Ac Uc2 (12) TERD RR = RRref − RR (18)
dt 2 dt
 3
300
Concentration ratio [-]

M=0
2.5 M=0.05
Optimal Cp →
M=0.1 250
2 M=0.2 WTRO with ERD
M=0.5
WTRO with variable valve

Torque [kNm]
200
1.5

150 U=10 m/s

1

100 U=9 m/s

0.5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
U=8 m/s
Recovery rate [-] 50

Fig. 4. Increased salinity at the RO membranes as a function of the recovery U=6 m/s
0
rate for different mixing ratios of the ERD. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Rotor speed [rpm]

IV. VARIABLE SPEED STRATEGY Fig. 5. Aerodynamic torque for different wind speeds and transmitted torque
of the SWRO systems with and without ERD.
For below rated wind speeds, the power capture of the wind
turbine rotor is maximised by adjusting its rotational speed to
match the optimal aerodynamic performance while keeping V. N UMERICAL RESULTS
a fixed pitch angle. These conditions occur at a constant tip A. Steady state-results
speed ratio where CP,max is achieved. A quadratic relation
The operational conditions of the SWRO system with and
for the optimal aerodynamic torque as a function of the rotor
without ERD pressure exchanger are obtained for different
speed is obtained by substituting (2) and (3) into (1) [18].
operating wind speeds, using as a reference a 500kW wind
1 CP,max 5 2
turbine rotor with a rotor radius of 30m. The pump sizing
τaero =  3 ρπR ωr (19) was done according to the operational limits of both the rotor
2 λC
P,max
and the SWRO module. The maximum rotational speed of
For a constant displacement pump, the relation between the rotor is limited by the rotor tip velocity of 80m/s while
the pump torque and the rotational speed depends directly a maximum operating pressure of 75 bars is imposed by
on the pressure across the pump as presented in (6). The the mechanical-resistance of the SWRO membranes. For the
system pressure is given by both the osmotic pressure and configuration with pressure exchanger ERD, it is assumed that
the membrane characteristics as a function of the volumetric the pressure transfer occurs ideally without any pressure loss
flow rates according to (7), (8), (9), and (11) resulting in the and that the auxiliary boost pump is able to adapt to the
following relation: required recovery rate. The rest of the selected design values
ρ Qp are summarized in Table I. The cut-in wind speed is achieved
Δp = + δT Cef f (Qp , Qf ) (20) when the rotor-pump assembly is able to achieve the minimum
Am Nm Kw
osmotic pressure between 6 and 6.5m/s, see Fig. 6, while a
For the configuration with a variable valve, the back pres- maximum system pressure of 72.5 bars is achieved for steady-
sure of the system is manipulated through the valve settings state conditions at a resulting rated wind speed of 10.3m/s.
according to (12) and (13) with dependent permeate and brine
flow rates. On the other hand, for the pressure exchanger ERD, 80 Maximum pressure
the boost pump can be used to adjust the output flow of the
70 System →
ERD with (18) and influence the osmotic pressure which is
Pressure [bar]

WTRO system with ERD

the second term on the right hand side of (20). With the ERD 60 WTRO system with variable valve setting

unit, the permeate flow rate is given by the water pump flow 50
rate as linear function of the rotational speed of the rotor- 40 ← Osmotic
pump assembly. Both strategies are shown in the torque-speed ↓
30
graph of Fig .5, where it is shown that for low rotor-speeds a
minimum torque is required to overcome the osmotic pressures 20
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
and only after 6.5 or 7.0m/s the rotor is able to operate with Wind speed [m/s]
the desired variable speed relation for optimal aerodynamic
efficiency. Other control strategies to manipulate the system Fig. 6. Steady-state pressures.
pressure in hydraulic wind turbines have been presented in
[9], [19].
 350 results were obtained using a variable time-step integration
300 with 4th order Runge-Kutta scheme. The simulation results
Flow rates [m3/h]

250 are shown as a preliminary case study to verify the dynamic

200
WTRO with ERD response of the proposed configurations for a generated mean
WTRO with variable valve
150 wind speed of 8.0m/s as shown in Fig 10. A value of 12%
100
turbulence intensity was created with a Kaimal spectrum
according to the IEC 61400-3. The rest of the simulation
50
parameters are presented in Table I.
0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Wind speed[m/s] TABLE I
D ESIGN AND SIMULATION PARAMETERS
Fig. 7. Steady-state permeate flow rates.
Description Symbol Value unit
Air density ρair 1.225 kg/m3
0.8
Seawater density ρw 1025 kg/m3
WTRO with ERD Seawater temperature T 22 degC
Recovery rate [-]

0.6 Intake feed concentration Cfin 35500 ppm

WTRO with variable valve
Rotor radius R 30 m
Rotor mass moment of inertia Jr 6.5e5 kg m2
0.4
Pump mass moment of inertia Jp 1.5e4 kg m2
Pump volumetric displacement Vp 233 L/rev
0.2 Pump’s laminar leakage coefficient Cs 6.6e-10 m3 /(sPa)
Pump’s viscous friction coefficient Bp 0.0 Nm s
Pump’s dry fiction coefficient Cf p 0.02 -
0 Mass transfer coefficient Kw 6.4e-9 s/m
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Number of membranes Nm 88 -
Wind speed [m/s]
Area per membrane Am 15.6 m2
Feed flow pipe area Af 9.1e-3 m2
Fig. 8. Steady-state recovery rates of the SWRO system. Concentrate pipe area Ac 9.1e-3 m2
Permeate pipe area Ap 5.5e-3 m2
Osmotic pressure coefficient δ 0.2641 Pa/(ppm K)
It is clearly seen in Figs. 7 and 8 that the configuration Fractional salt rejection Rm 0.97 -
Concentration weighting coefficient a 0.5 -
with the ideal pressure exchanger ERD allows for at least Overflush ratio of ERD OV 0.05 -
five times higher production of fresh water with respect to Volumetric mixing of ERD M 0.06 -
the variable valve configuration. However, the higher recovery System volume V 8.0 m3
rates required with the ERD system between 50-75% might be Valve time constant Tv 4.0 s
ERD time constant TERD 4.0 s
difficult to achieve in practice. These values are only possible
with a very large auxiliary boost pump which might seem
unfeasible. The recovery rates for the variable valve are below The variable rotor speed response is shown in Fig 11.
40%, which are within the conventional operational envelope Despite the turbulent wind conditions, the tip speed ratio is
of existing SWRO systems. kept within the desired value in both configurations which
ensures that optimal aerodynamic performance is achieved
B. Time-domain simulations according to the proposed variable speed strategies. The dy-
The system of coupled algebraic and differential equations namic response of the SWRO system is shown in Fig. 12. In
presented in section III was used to develop the time-domain accordance to the steady-state results, the system with pressure
numerical model of the two configurations from Fig. 2 in exchanger ERD is able to produce a higher flow rate of
the commercial software MATLAB/Simulink. The numerical permeate and depicts similar variations around the mean value
with respect to the variable valve case. On the other hand,
a higher effective concentration in the ERD configuration is
×104
8 obtained as a result of the brine recirculation and mixing with
Concentration [ppm]

7
WTRO with ERD the feed seawater. Thus, higher osmotic pressure fluctuations
WTRO with variable valve
are obtained which could have an important impact on the
6 fatigue and degradation of the SWRO membranes.
5 The specific energy consumption (SEC) is a conventional
performance parameter used in SWRO desalination, which is
4
defined as the electrical energy needed to produce a cubic
3 meter of permeate [20]. In the simulations the captured wind
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
energy is used instead of the electrical energy to obtain a SEC
Wind speed[m/s] between 6.5-12 and 1-2 kWh per cubic meter of fresh water
for the variable valve and the ERD configurations respectively
Fig. 9. Steady-state effective concentration of the SWRO system. as shown in the last graph of Fig. 12.
 10
Wind speed [m/s]

6
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]

Fig. 10. Wind speed time series with 8.0 m/s mean value and 12% turbulence intensity used for the time-domain simulations.

25 ideal ERD
Rotor speed [rpm]

variable valve

20

15
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]
9 ideal ERD
λ@C P,max
Tip speed ratio [-]

variable valve
8

7
λ@C τ,max
6

5
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]
Fig. 11. Time-domain results for the rotor speed response subject to turbulent wind speed conditions.

VI. C ONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK rates. A time-domain numerical model was derived from first
principles, with the purpose of simulating the response of the
This paper elaborates on the idea to combine wind power two configurations under turbulent wind speed conditions. The
and seawater reverse osmosis desalination using hydraulic intermediate results of this work showed that using a pressure
technology and eliminating the intermediate electrical con- exchanger introduces higher concentrations and pressure fluc-
version steps. Two configurations were proposed in which tuations when compared to a configuration with an adjustable
the interaction mechanisms between the wind turbine rotor, valve. From the dynamic response its was shown that for the
the control system, the water pump and the SWRO have an selected control strategy there is a compromise between the
important influence on the production of fresh water for below higher amount of permeate and the higher pressure fluctuations
rated wind speed conditions. A control strategy to modify required by the ERD system.
the rotor speed based on the system pressure was presented Future work will explore other configurations and control
with the aim to keep optimal aerodynamic performance as strategies in which a sacrifice of the rotor’s aerodynamic per-
in conventional wind turbines. The integration of a pressure formance could result in better operating conditions regarding
exchanger energy recovery device showed the potential to pressures and recovery rates. In addition a more accurate
significantly increase the fresh water production provided that model of the ERD and experimental work will follow to
the boost pump is able to operate in a broad range of recovery validate the results of the numerical models presented.
Permeate flow rate [m3/h]

300

200 ideal ERD

variable valve
100

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]
60 ideal ERD osmotic ERD
variable valve osmotic valve
Pressure [bar]

40

20
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]
ideal ERD
Recovery rates [-]

0.6 variable valve

0.4

0.2

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]
Brine concentration [ppm]

4 ideal ERD
×10
variable valve
6 feed seawater

2
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]
15 ideal ERD
variable valve
SEC [kWh/m3]

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time [s]

Fig. 12. Dynamic response of the SWRO system for below rated wind speed conditions
 R EFERENCES
[1] M. M. Mekonnen, and A. Y. Hoekstra,“Four billion people facing severe
water scarcity,” Sci. Adv. 2(2), pp.1-–6, 2016.
[2] P. Gleick and C. Iceland, “Water, Security, and Conflict,” report from
World Resources Institute, 2018.
[3] International Water Summit, “Energy Efficient Desalination,” January
2018 ‘, p. 15. Available at: [Link].
[4] R. G. Raluy, L. Serra and J. Uche,“Life cycle assessment of desalination
technologies integrated with renewable energies,” Desalination, vol 183,
pp. 81—93, 2005.
[5] M. A. Abdelkareem, M. El Hay Assad, E. T. Sayed. and B.
Soudan,“Recent progress in the use of renewable energy sources to
power water desalination plants,” Desalination, vol. 435, pp. 97-–113,
2017.
[6] M. Elimelech and W. A. Phillip,“The Future of Seawater and the
Environment: Energy, Technology, and the Environment,” Science, vol.
333, pp. 712-–718, August, 2011.
[7] N. F. B. Diepeveen,“On the Application of Fluid Power Transmission
in Offshore Wind Turbines,” Delft University of Technology, PhD
dissertation, August 2013.
[8] A. Jarquin Laguna, “Centralised electricity generation in offshore wind
farms using hydraulic networks,” Delft University of Technology, PhD
dissertation, April 2017.
[9] S. P. Mulders, N. F. B. Diepeveen and J. W. van Wingerden, “Control
design, implementation and evaluation for an in-field 500 kW wind
turbine with a fixed-displacement hydraulic drivetrain,” Wind Energy
Science, pp. 1-–37, May, 2018.
[10] F. Greco and A. Jarquin-Laguna, “Simulation of a horizontal axis tidal
turbine for direct driven reverse- osmosis desalination,” Advances in
Renewable Energies Offshore, Taylor & Francis Group, London, pp.
181-188, October 2018.
[11] R. L. Stover, “Development of a fourth generation energy recovery
device. A ’CTO’s Notebook’,” Desalination, vol 165(SUPPL.), pp.
313—321, 2004.
[12] S. Mambretti, E. Orsi, S. Gagliardi and R. Stover, “Behaviour of energy
recovery devices in unsteady flow conditions and application in the
modelling of the Hamma desalination plant,” Desalination, vol. 238,
pp. 233-–245, 2009.
[13] R. L. Stover, “Seawater reverse osmosis with isobaric energy recovery
devices,” Desalination, vol. 203, pp. 168—175, 2007.
[14] H. E. Merritt, “Hydraulic Control Systems,” John Wiley & sons, 1967.
[15] J. G. Wijman and R. W. Baker, “The Solution Diffusion Model : A
Review,” Journal of Membrane Science, 1995.
[16] A. R. Bartman, P. D. Christofides and Y. Cohen, “Nonlinear Model-
Based Control of an Experimental Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination
System,” IFAC Proceedings Volumes, vol. 42(11), pp. 892–897, 2009.
[17] K. Jeong, Y. G. Lee, S. J. Ki and J. H. Kim, “Modeling seawater reverse
osmosis system under degradation conditions of membrane performance:
assessment of isobaric energy recovery devices and feed pressure control
benefits,” Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 57:43, pp.20210–
20218, 2016.
[18] F. D. Bianchi, H. De Battista, and R. J. Mantz, “Wind Turbine Control
Systems: Principles, Modelling and Gain Scheduling Design,” Cleveland
Clinic quarterly, vol. 26, Springer, 2007.
[19] D. Buhagiar, T. Sant and M. Bugeja, “A Comparison of Two Pressure
Control Concepts for Hydraulic Offshore Wind Turbines,” ASME. J.
Dyn. Sys., Meas., Control, vol. 138(8), pp. 081007-1–081007-11, 2016.
[20] A. Zhu, P. D. Christofides and Y. Cohen, “Effect of Thermodynamic
Restriction on Energy Cost Optimization of RO Membrane Water
Desalination,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., vol. 48, pp.6010–6021, 2009.