TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimal sizing of an off-grid, renewable energy reverse osmosis desalination system based on a genetic algorithm
AU - Xu, Daming
AU - Acker, Tom
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Desalination Publications.
PY - 2019/9
Y1 - 2019/9
N2 - The purpose of this work was to find the optimal configuration for an off-grid, renewable energy reverse osmosis desalination (RO) system. The objective was to find the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE), with power reliability as the constraint. A genetic algorithm was used to solve the nonlinear integer programming problem. A site with brackish groundwater in Arizona, USA, was selected. The capacity of the RO system was 11.36 m3/d (3,000 gal/d), requiring a constant power consumption of 2.366 kW. The results showed that the optimal configuration was a hybrid photovoltaic/ wind/diesel/battery system with LCOE 0.527 USD/kWh and the corresponding levelized cost of water 3.585 USD/m3, which were about half of the 7.9 USD/m3 currently paid by residents in the area. Sensitivity analyses showed that: (a) the LCOE was fairly insensitive to photovoltaic panel tilt angle over a range; (b) the optimal tilt angle for the hybrid system must be found in the context of the performance of the entire system; (c) the “more hybrid” the renewable energy system, the lower the LCOE; (d) the LCOE value was monotone increasing as diesel price or discount rate increasing, respectively, and different diesel price or discount rate could bring different optimal configurations with diesel generators.
AB - The purpose of this work was to find the optimal configuration for an off-grid, renewable energy reverse osmosis desalination (RO) system. The objective was to find the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE), with power reliability as the constraint. A genetic algorithm was used to solve the nonlinear integer programming problem. A site with brackish groundwater in Arizona, USA, was selected. The capacity of the RO system was 11.36 m3/d (3,000 gal/d), requiring a constant power consumption of 2.366 kW. The results showed that the optimal configuration was a hybrid photovoltaic/ wind/diesel/battery system with LCOE 0.527 USD/kWh and the corresponding levelized cost of water 3.585 USD/m3, which were about half of the 7.9 USD/m3 currently paid by residents in the area. Sensitivity analyses showed that: (a) the LCOE was fairly insensitive to photovoltaic panel tilt angle over a range; (b) the optimal tilt angle for the hybrid system must be found in the context of the performance of the entire system; (c) the “more hybrid” the renewable energy system, the lower the LCOE; (d) the LCOE value was monotone increasing as diesel price or discount rate increasing, respectively, and different diesel price or discount rate could bring different optimal configurations with diesel generators.
KW - Brackish water desalination
KW - Genetic algorithm
KW - Optimal sizing
KW - Renewable energy
KW - Reverse osmosis
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U2 - 10.5004/dwt.2019.24498
DO - 10.5004/dwt.2019.24498
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073316959
SN - 1944-3994
VL - 163
SP - 67
EP - 82
JO - Desalination and Water Treatment
JF - Desalination and Water Treatment
ER -