The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article
Steady improvements in the specific energy consumption of reverse osmosis desalination have led to its increasing dominance of the seawater desalination industry. While energy consumption is clearly the dominant factor in assessing the environmental impact of desalination technologies, there are oth...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Sustainability Science and Technology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2977-3504/ade1dc |
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| author | Hussain A Al Nasser Fatma Al-Radhi Ali A Al-Hamzah Christopher M Fellows |
| author_facet | Hussain A Al Nasser Fatma Al-Radhi Ali A Al-Hamzah Christopher M Fellows |
| author_sort | Hussain A Al Nasser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Steady improvements in the specific energy consumption of reverse osmosis desalination have led to its increasing dominance of the seawater desalination industry. While energy consumption is clearly the dominant factor in assessing the environmental impact of desalination technologies, there are other factors involved in the transition from thermal-based to membrane-based desalination that need to be considered in assessing the full environmental costs. These include the impact of product water containing higher total dissolved solids on transmission systems and on the suitable use cases for desalinated water, the large quantity of composite polymer waste generated by membrane desalination, and the higher brine concentrations discharged into marine environments. This perspective article gives an industrial insight into these challenges from the viewpoint of one of the global leaders in the seawater desalination industry, the Saudi Water Authority. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7d6afbcaa7eb4e48988d56f14c7a40d5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2977-3504 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainability Science and Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-7d6afbcaa7eb4e48988d56f14c7a40d52025-08-20T03:43:51ZengIOP PublishingSustainability Science and Technology2977-35042025-01-012202300110.1088/2977-3504/ade1dcThe transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights articleHussain A Al Nasser0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3269-8848Fatma Al-Radhi1https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4765-5971Ali A Al-Hamzah2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9114-2570Christopher M Fellows3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8976-8651Water Technologies Innovation Institute and Research Advancement, Saudi Water Authority , Jubail, Saudi ArabiaWater Technologies Innovation Institute and Research Advancement, Saudi Water Authority , Jubail, Saudi ArabiaWater Technologies Innovation Institute and Research Advancement, Saudi Water Authority , Jubail, Saudi Arabia; School of Science and Technology, The University of New England , Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaWater Technologies Innovation Institute and Research Advancement, Saudi Water Authority , Jubail, Saudi Arabia; School of Science and Technology, The University of New England , Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaSteady improvements in the specific energy consumption of reverse osmosis desalination have led to its increasing dominance of the seawater desalination industry. While energy consumption is clearly the dominant factor in assessing the environmental impact of desalination technologies, there are other factors involved in the transition from thermal-based to membrane-based desalination that need to be considered in assessing the full environmental costs. These include the impact of product water containing higher total dissolved solids on transmission systems and on the suitable use cases for desalinated water, the large quantity of composite polymer waste generated by membrane desalination, and the higher brine concentrations discharged into marine environments. This perspective article gives an industrial insight into these challenges from the viewpoint of one of the global leaders in the seawater desalination industry, the Saudi Water Authority.https://doi.org/10.1088/2977-3504/ade1dcdesalinationreverse osmosisseawaterthermal desalinationrecyclingmarine environments |
| spellingShingle | Hussain A Al Nasser Fatma Al-Radhi Ali A Al-Hamzah Christopher M Fellows The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article Sustainability Science and Technology desalination reverse osmosis seawater thermal desalination recycling marine environments |
| title | The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article |
| title_full | The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article |
| title_fullStr | The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article |
| title_full_unstemmed | The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article |
| title_short | The transition from thermal to membrane-based seawater desalination—industry insights article |
| title_sort | transition from thermal to membrane based seawater desalination industry insights article |
| topic | desalination reverse osmosis seawater thermal desalination recycling marine environments |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2977-3504/ade1dc |
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