Design and Operation Optimization for Water and Power Cogeneration System by Reverse Osmosis and Renewable Energy Technologies

In this study, the integration of renewable energy resources (RES) with reverse osmosis (RO) system is investigated to examine optimal design and operation of integrated water and power system over a planning time horizon. The supplied power from RES is assumed to be consumed by RO system for water production. Normally, model parameters vary over time such as water salinity, temperature, wind speed, solar radiation. Therefore, the proposed optimization problem is based on a multiperiod mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. The MINLP model features two design and operation layers. The first layer includes design variables and constraints which are independent of time. These variables provide the capital investment requirements, and feasibility boundaries for the operation layer. The second layer involves time dependent variables and constraints to provide optimal operation and cost for the integrated system. The optimal results from the MINLP model will provide optimal system configuration and equipment size for the integrated system. Furthermore, the results will give optimal operation for the integrated system over the planning time horizon. A case study for seawater RO desalination system integrated with wind technology will be analyzed to show the application for the MINLP model.