Sea water reverse osmosis - energy efficiency & recovery

The Adelaide desalination plant, located in South Australia, was designed and built by the AdelaideAqua construction consortium for the South Australian Water Corporation (SA Water), a wholly owned public utility. Construction commenced in 2009 at a green field site (Port Stanvac) south of Adelaide, with drinking water production from October 2011 and full production capability and handover to the plant operator on 12 December 2012. The facility uses 100% renewable energy and provides the people of South Australia with one of the most energy efficient sea water desalination plants in the World. This paper examines the performance of the Adelaide desalination plant in terms of energy efficiency. Specific energy saving technologies and innovations are described, including assessment of design and actual performance. The Adelaide desalination plant has achieved 8% lower energy consumption compared to the project's initial design requirements and the specific energy consumption of 3.48 kWh/m3 compares well with industry benchmark efficiencies.