Improving well production performance by using realtime wash desalting planning tool WDPT in the North Sea

Due to natural depletion many mature fields are currently suffering from productivity issues due to halite precipitation in the North Sea. Main actions to prevent or solve this type of scaling issues include increasing flowing pressures (topside choking or velocity strings), but often considered easiest and most economical are fresh water washes...

Membrane distillation against a pressure difference

Membrane distillation is an attractive technology for production of fresh water from seawater. The MemPower® concept, studied in this work, uses available heat (86 °C) to produce pressurized water (2.2 bar and 46 °C) by membrane distillation, which again can be used to power a turbine for co-production of electricity. We develop a non...

Mild desalination demopilot: New normalization approach to effectively evaluate electrodialysis reversal technology

Key performance indicators for characterization of nanofiltration performance are well developed, similar key performance indicators for electrodialysis reversal are however underdeveloped. Under the E4Water project Dow Benelux BV and Evides Industriewater BV operate a pilot facility to compare both technologies for their application to mildly...

Simultaneous production of high-quality water and electrical power from aqueous feedstock’s and waste heat by high-pressure membrane distillation

A new membrane distillation (MD) concept (MemPower) has been developed for the simultaneous production of high-quality water from various aqueous feedstocks with cogeneration of mechanical power (electricity). Driven by low-grade heat (waste, solar, geothermal, etc.) a pressurized distillate can be produced by operating TNO’s Memstill® process...

Mild desalination of various raw water streams

For chemical industries, fresh water availability is a pre-requisite for sustainable operation. However, in many delta areas around the world, fresh water is scarce. Therefore, the E4Water project (http://www.e4water.eu) comprises a case study at the Dow site in Terneuzen, The Netherlands, which is designed to develop commercial applications for...

Techno-economic assessment of boiler feed water production by membrane distillation with reuse of thermal waste energy from cooling water

The European KIC-Climate project Water and Energy for Climate Change (WE4CC) aims at the technical demonstration, business case evaluation and implementation of new value chains for the production of high-quality water using low-grade thermal waste energy from cooling water. A typical large-scale waste heat water network is the production of the...

A bio-thermic seawater desalination system using halophytes

A bio-thermic seawater desalination system using halophytes was developed and successfully tested. A greenhouse as part of a test rig, with different sorts of mangroves, was installed. Measurements showed promising results concerning fresh water relative yielding rates up to 1.4 kg/h/m2 (leaf surface)/m2 (heat exchanger surface). In addition to...

Cryo-FIB-SEM and MIP study of porosity and pore size distribution of bentonite and kaolin at different moisture contents

Clays often constitute the main component of poultices used for salt extraction from porous materials in conservation intervention. Knowledge of the evolution in porosity and pore size of clay based poultices, due to shrinkage during drying, is of crucial importance for the selection of the most suitable poultice.We have studied the porosity and...

Development and pilot testing of full-scale membrane distillation modules for deployment of waste heat

Membrane distillation is an attractive technology for extracting fresh water from seawater. Newly developed modules have been used in pilot tests and bench scale tests to demonstrate the potential of producing excellent product water quality in a single step, little need for water pretreatment and a thermal energy requirement of approximately...

Integrated membrane distillation-crystallization: Process design and cost estimations for seawater treatment and fluxes of single salt solutions

The goal of this research is to design an integrated membrane distillation-crystallization (MDC) process for desalination of seawater with pure water and dry salts as the only products. The process is based on a combination of membrane distillation (MD) and osmotic distillation (OD) steps with integrated crystallization. In the first MD step...

Environmental assessment of desalination processes: Reverse osmosis and Memstill®

Desalination becomes in many parts of the world and also in Europe a promising option to combat water stress in water scarce regions. However, also the question of sustainability and environmental impacts of this technology is in focus of numerous studies and discussions. Especially, the focus is set on high energy demand and disposal of...

Comparison of environmental impact and energy efficiency of desalination processes by LCA

In this study two desalination technologies have been compared by means of LCA with the focus on energy supply with a variety of scenarios based on different assumptions. The studied technologies are reverse osmosis and the newly developed technology Memstill where electrical energy demand is reduced by using external thermal energy source and...

Optimizing the extraction of Soluble salts from porous materials by poultices

Poultices are often used to extract salts from salt-deteriorated objects, but the results achieved can be highly variable. Currently, poulticing materials and methodologies are selected empirically, but many variables affect the treatment outcome, so achieving the 'best fit' between available materials, application methods and substrate...

Desalination of masonry structures: Fine tuning of pore size distribution of poultices to substrate properties

Desalination is a relatively new intervention in the field of conservation of architectural heritage. Especially the desalination of immovable objects, such as masonry structures, is still a trial-error practice. In the field, different desalination materials and methods are used, sometimes with unsatisfactory results. Better understanding of...

Determination of denaturated proteins and biotoxins by on-line size-exclusion chromatography-digestion-liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry

A multidimensional analytical method for the rapid determination and identification of proteins has been developed. The method is based on the size-exclusion fractionation of protein-containing samples, subsequent on-line trypsin digestion and desalination, and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry...

Memstill® - Low cost membrane distillation technology for seawater desalination

Despite widespread research and development efforts during the last 25 years, membrane distillation still is not an accepted process for seawater desalination. A consortium of nine parties is presently developing a modified air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) process, aiming at presenting a low-cost alternative for both large and small scale RO...