Alexandria Engineering Journal (2017) xxx, xxx–xxx

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Performance test of a sea water multi-stage flash

distillation plant: Case study
A.M.K. El-Ghonemy

Mechatronics Engineering Department, High Institute of Engineering and Technology, Egypt

Received 18 October 2016; revised 8 April 2017; accepted 23 August 2017

KEYWORDS Abstract Multi-Stage-Flash (MSF) Distillation is a large scale sea water desalination plants that
Desalination; are widely used in Gulf area. Most installations of MSF plants are operated in cogeneration with
Seawater MSF plant; a power plant. Also, MSF plants can be combined with other desalination technologies such as
Performance test; Nano filtration and Reverse osmosis (RO) in new installation. However, the new MSF plants are
Case study recommended, where large amounts of cheap or waste energy are available (e.g. conventional power
plants). Also, the plant location is playing an important role for economic operation due to cold or
hot weather conditions.
The present study is applied on the seawater multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination plant that is
currently under operation in Al-Khafji operations plant located in Saudi Arabia (KSA). The plant
contains 20 evaporator stages at capacity of 600,000 gallon per day (GPD). The presented operating
data has been collected during a visit of the plant. The objective is to present field results of this
MSF plant operation in order to measure and evaluate the performance at 70% and 100% capacity
during summer (case-1) and winter (case-2) operation. Then, the plant overall performance indica-
tors are presented to compare between the studied two cases in terms of specific cooling water flow-
rates and performance ratio. Finally, the seasonal performance variation of the plant is included.
The results showed that, for the same plant output, the main cooling water flow rates is decreased
from 47.1% to 20.1% for case-1 and case-2 respectively, which in turns directly reduces the pump-
ing power by the same ratio. Consequently, running the large scale thermal desalination MSF plant
in cold regions is more economic than hot regions for pumping power energy saving considerations.
This is to be considered in future large scale desalination plants.
Ó 2017 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction remove salt from saline water, Commercial desalination tech-

nologies can be classified to thermal desalination based and
A higher salinity is contained in Seawater measured as a total membrane based such as reverse osmosis (RO) technology [1].
dissolved salts (TDS) ranged from 35,000: 45,000 ppm. To The five key components of a desalination system are [2–8]:

1. Intake: is the structures used to extract raw water and

E-mail address: [email protected]
pump it to supply the desalination process.
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2017.08.019
1110-0168 Ó 2017 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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2 A.M.K. El-Ghonemy

2. Pretreatment: is a removal of suspended solids by filtration Kilograms per steam input heat in M Joule, while the gained
system and adding some chemicals, to prepare the raw output ratio (GOR) is defined as the mass of water product
water for further processing. per mass of heating steam. For MSF plants, a typical GOR
3. The main process for removing dissolved solids. is about 8. Also, a typical heat requirement is between 250:
4. Post-treatment is the addition of chemicals to the product 330 kJ/kg products. The specific electricity consumption is
water to adjust the PH value. between 3:5 kW h/m3 [1:6].
5. The concentrate disposal or reuse method at outlet from
desalination system. This is so called Concentrate 1.2. Key data of recommended future MSF plants [8,32]:
management.
Based on experience and investigations on different existing
Multi-stage flash (MSF) units are widely used in the Middle plant designs:
East such that it account for 34% of the world’s seawater
desalination [2]. MSF is a thermal distillation process type. It i. Once through MSF type is suggested instead of brine
can be either once-through (no brine recirculation) or brine recycle one.
recirculation flow systems. The once through type is made of ii. Long tube instead of cross tube.
two sections which are called ‘‘brine heater section” and ‘‘heat iii. Single tier instead of double tier.
recovery section”. While, the brine recirculation one has extra iv. A blow down pump can be canceled by elevation of
section which is ‘‘heat rejection section”. An actual seawater MSF plant about 11 m above sea level.
MSF plant might consist of 19–30 heat recovery stages and v. Placing the brine heater on ground (under head) to pro-
2–3 heat rejection stages. tect against boiling in brine heater.
A successive evaporation of brine water into flash steam is vi. Others such as Improved interstage orifice devices, speci-
coupled with condensation inside the stages, so that the evap- fic weir loads up to 2000 t h
1 m
1, Improved condenser
oration latent heat is recovered by preheating feed seawater, design without stagnant areas.
see Fig. 1.
A successively lower pressure (vacuum) is maintained inside
the stages to maximize water and energy recovery [1,2]. The 1.3. Operational aspects to be focused such as:
vacuum is achieved by a steam ejector driven by high pressure
steam or by a mechanical vacuum pump. To enhance the MSF
Top brine temperature (TBT) is >110 °C for all loads, high
process some of the brine discharge is re-circulated and mixed
temperature anti-scalants with continuous ball cleaning, No
with the incoming seawater in the heat rejection section using a
oxygen scavenger dosing, No separate deaerator, but de-
brine recirculation pump. On the other hand, disadvantages of
aeration in the first stage to atmosphere, Water treatment,
recycle are that more pumps and valves are used. Although the
Speed control pumps to eliminate control valves, Vent and
heat rejection section is used to improve the efficiency, but for
ejector condensers as spray condensers [5:8].
small MSF plants it can be canceled for simplicity [1].
In MSF system, a part of sea water is obtained as distillate
water while the rest is rejected as brine solution at high TDS. 1.4. Process best practices [8,9,75]
The concentration factor is kept near to 1.5 through the blow
down system to avoid scale formation on the heat transfer The following items were highlighted and mentioned in the
surfaces. literatures:
The MSF desalination plants has been studied by many
authors [1–75]. It can be summarized that: (a) Plant capacity:small scale or medium or large.
(b) Number of stages.
1.1. MSF key parameters and performance indicators (c) Distillte water quality: according to World Health Orga-
nization (WHO) standards, the total dissolved solids
(TDS) in the finished water is 500 mg/ L.
Two different performance indicators are used: the perfor-
(d) Pre-treatment requirements: using Acid or polymer. If a
mance ratio (PR) which is defined as the product water in
polymer is used, no degassifier is required. However,
oxygen removal still required. Thus, a deaerator will
be needed. As with the acid treatment system, an oxygen
scavenger is also introduced into the feed stream.
(e) Post-treatment requirements. the product water.
Requires a post treatment to prevent chemical corrosion
of the distribution system.
(f) Materials of construction: Generally, the water to be
desalinated is corrosive and contains high salts. So, the
components materials have to be selected properly of
non-metallic materials or high alloyed materials such
as stainless steel.
(g) Operation and maintenance requirements.
(h) Heat transfer coefficients.
(i) Pump types and sizes.
Fig. 1 Main components of evaporator (stage). (j) Cleaning requirements.

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Performance test of a sea water 3

(k) Product storage requirements.

(l) Emergency generator requirements.

1.5. Intake

– Beach wells are constructed on the beach side in the form of

vertical bore holes. The sandy soil is used as natural pre-
filtration and thus a better feed water quality is obtained.
In addition, the problem of impingement and entrainment
is avoided. However, beach wells can provide limited water
supply which is not enough for large plants. Fig. 3 Dearator principle.
– Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD). This technique used
for Higher intake supply by installing pipelines under the
seabed. The water, prefiltered by the geological layers, sup- (k) Venting System.
plied in sufficient quantities. However, HDD is difficult to (l) Materials.
construct and to maintain. Furthermore, both of beach
wells and HDD have the risk of salt water intrusion into Increasing the TBT results in an increase of flashing
the ground water. range which means increase in the temperature drop
– Pretreatment: generally, Filters and chemicals are used to Between one stage and the next, which is the driving force
avoid the following problems: Suspended particles, Fouling, for heat transfer.
Scaling. A new type of pretreatment is obtained using mem- In addition, more studies were focused on thermo-
brane filtration. Depending on the membranes pore size, economic optimization [5], system dynamics [50] and control
different sizes of particles can be filtered and different pres- [35,37,50]. Finally, the MSF performance was studied by many
sures have to be applied. For instance, Microfiltration (MF) authors [3,4]. Variations in the key parameters were considered
removes particles of down to 0.1 mm. This includes sus- such as performance ratio, specific heat transfer area, and the
pended solids, algae, and some bacteria. The energy con- specific flow rates of cooling water and brine recycle as a func-
sumption is relatively low as small pressures are required tion of number of stages and Top Brine Temperature).
(<2 bar).
1.7. Testing objectives

1.6. Recommendations for future MSF Plants [8,32]

The objective is to present field results of this MSF plant oper-
ation in order to measure and evaluate the performance at
(a) Plant Design Aspects. 70% and 100% capacity during summer (Case-1) and winter
(b) Comparison of Brine Recycle and Once Through Mode. (Case-2) operation. Then, The plant key overall performance
(c) Comparison of Cross Tube and Long Tube Design. indicators are presented to compare between the studied two
(d) Single Tier instead of Double Tier Design. cases in terms of specific cooling water flowrates and perfor-
(e) Elevating the plant at about 11 m above Ground Level. mance ratio. Finally, the seasonal performance variation of
(f) Increased Specific Weir Loads and Optimized Interstage the plant is focused. The studied key operating parameters
Orifices. are: Temperatures and pressure variation through stages.,
(g) Operation Aspects. Brine water and vapor flow rates through stages, Brine concen-
(h) Increased Top Brine Temperature. tration through the stages (TDS), Mass balance distribution of
(i) Seawater Treatment and Scale Prevention Methods. the MSF plant. While the key Overall performance are: GOR:
(j) Speed Control Pumps.

Fig. 2 Schematic of MSF plant under the study [78].

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4 A.M.K. El-Ghonemy

Fig. 4 Sea water inlet temperature control (winter operation).

flashing vapor flow, kg/hr

12000
flashing vapor flow, kg/hr

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
no of stage

Fig. 5 Flashing vapor flow rates at exit from stages at 100% load during summer operation (varies from 11,041 in the first stage down
to: 9503 kg/hr in the last stage). The minimum is 6255 kg/hr at stage 18. while 7768 kg/hr for stage 19.

brine water flow through stages

3000000
brine water flow, Kg/hr

2500000

2000000

1500000

1000000

500000

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
stage no

Fig. 6 Brine water flows inside the stages at 100% load during summer operation (varies from 2,509,959 in the first stage down to
2.325,332 kg/hr in the last stage).

Gain output ratio, CR: concentration ratio, Recirculation (17 as Heat recovery section + 3 as Heat rejection section).
rate/ distillate rate The process description is summarized below:

2.1. Sea water feed

2. The plant description (Figs. 2 and 4) [64]

Seawater at about 20 °C is screened and pumped through the

The plant under the study consists of three sections: Heat condenser tubes Located in the upper part of the heat rejection
rejection section, heat recovery section and Brine heater sec- stages.
tion. Recycle operation, Cross flow evaporator design, at a Some chemicals are added to the feed water (anti-scale,
top brine temperature of 110 °C, Number of stages is 20 chlorine, and anti-foaming. Chlorination is added to the

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Performance test of a sea water 5

brine Concentration (TDS.ppm) is pumped to the heat recovery section. This brine mixture con-
74,000
73,000
tains approximately 30% fresh feed (makeup) and 70% recir-
72,000 culated brine. Then the brine enters a brine heater, where it is
TDS , ppm

71,000
70,000
heated to its maximum temperature, about 121 °C by steam
69,000 from a boiler. After that, from the heater, the brine passes
68,000
67,000
through a flow control valve into the first and hottest stage
66,000 of the MSF plant. Because this stage is kept at a vacuum pres-
65,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
sure, a small amount of the water in the brine flashes into
stage no vapor which condensed on tubes located in the upper part of
each stage, and collected in a tray as distillate water. This pro-
Fig. 7 Brine concentration (TDS) in stages at 100% load during cess is repeated in up to 20 stages until the brine leaves the last
summer (varies from 67,777 in the first stage up to: 73,158 PPM in and coldest heat rejection stage at about 32 °C.
the last stage). In the last stage evaporator, some of the brine is rejected
back to the sea as blowdown to prevent build up of salts; the
remainder is recycled. Noting that, the distillate product flows
from one tray to the next one. Finally, the distillate is pumped
pressure variation through stages
to storage tanks where it is chemically treated by chlorination
0.7
and adjustment of its pH value.
0.6
pressure, bar abs

0.5 2.5. Vacuum system

0.4
It is essential to use a vacuum system for removing the non-
0.3
condensible gases from the plant and to maintain the required
0.2 reduced pressures. A typical system is a two stage steam jet
0.1 ejector system with a barometric vent condenser, an inter-
condenser, and a final condenser.
0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
2.6. Heat rejection system
stage no

Fig. 8 Pressures variation in stages at 100% load during summer The heat rejection section (three stages) is designed to control
operation (varies from 0.61 bar abs. in the first stage down to 0.07 the temperature of the intake seawater and reject the excess
in the last stage). heat added by the brine heater. A part of the rejected cooling
seawater is returned back and mixed with the feed seawater.
This is useful to prevent the temperature reduction in the last
stage during winter operation, see Fig. 4.
seawater feed at the source to prevent bio-fouling inside the
condenser tubes.
3. Measuring techniques: temperature, pressure and flows
2.2. Cooling water and make-up water
The temperature is measured by calibrated resistance ther-
After heating the sea water feed in the condenser tubes of the mometers and thermocouples. Signals from sensors is mea-
heat rejection section, about 60% of this feed water is dis- sured by a calibrated digital ohmmeter/voltmeter connected
charged to the sea (known as cooling water) and the rest of to the data acquisition system.
feed water is supplied to the dearator (known as makeup Pressure is measured by calibrated transmitters and local
water). gauges. The transmitter signal is measured by a calibrated dig-
ital voltmeter connected to the data acquisition system.
2.3. Deareator (Fig. 3) The main brine flow and steam extraction to the vacuum
system is measured according to DIN 19205 by orifice meters
[65].
The feed water stream is pumped to a deaerator tower to Instrumentation, which includes thermocouples, a level sen-
decompose bicarbonates for separation of dissolved gases such sor and a conductivity meter, is placed in the first and last
as oxygen and nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Such gases have a flashing stages. Al measured data is used to control the process
negative effect on the heat transfer due to its low thermal con- and adjustments are made by the controllers to keep the
ductivity. In addition, the chemical corrosion in various loca- desired operating conditions.
tions of the plant caused by Carbon dioxide and oxygen.

2.4. Heat recovery section and brine heater 4. Data reduction

After the dearator, the treated feedwater (makeup) is mixed The steady state performance parameters of MSF plant can be
with concentrated brine from the last stage and the mixture calculated as follows:

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6 A.M.K. El-Ghonemy

temperature variation through the stages

90 vapor T, C
brine temp T, C
85 cooling water

80

75

70
Temperature, C

65

60 c

55

50

45

40

35

30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
stage no

Fig. 9 Temperature variation in stages at 100% load during summer operation (varies from 87.44 C, 86.2 C and 84 C in the first stage
down to 41.28 C, 39.55 C and 36.34 C in the last stage for brine, flash steam and cooling respectively).

distilate
heat rejection 11%
cooling
47%

Blowdown
28%

ejector cooling
14%

Fig. 10 Mass balance for the MSF plant under the study at 100% load during summer operation.

4.1. Salinity ratio or concentration ratio (CR) 4.2. Performance ratio PR or (GOR)

Measuring the salt concentration in both sea water and circu- Generally, thermal desalination systems are steam consumers.
lation water (as TDS), the concentration Ratio is obtained as So, how much steam required for heating section, to achieve
follows: the plant capacity of distillate is expressed as GOR and calcu-
Circulation brine water TDS lated as follows:
CR ¼
Sea water TDS

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Performance test of a sea water 7

12.9
14.0

12.0

10.0 7.8

8.0

6.0

4.0 1.5

2.0

0.0
Gain output ratio concetration ratio circulation
(GOR)Kg/kg rate/distilate

Fig. 11 Overall performance of the MSF plant under the study at 100% load during summer operation [Gain output ratio (GOR)
= 7.8 kg product/kg steam to brine heater, concentration ratio = 1.5, circulation flow rate/distillate flow rate = 12.9].

0.8 100% summer

100% winter
100% winter
100% summer
70% summer
70% winter
Pressure, bar absolute

0.6 70% winter

70% summer
90

80 0.4

70
Temperature, ºC

0.2
60

50
0
40
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
30 Stage number (1:20)

Fig. 13 Variation of stages pressure for the studied four cases.

20
1
3

9
5
7

11
13

19
15
17

Stage number (1:20) m_ seawater ¼ m_ cooling water þ m_ Deareator ð1Þ

Fig. 12 Variation of flash steam temperatures through stages for As explained, the brine mass flow rate at outlet from each
the studied four cases. stage is less than the inlet one due to flashing of some brine
inside the evaporator. This can be expressed as:
m_ brine in ¼ m_ brine out þ m_ flash ð2Þ
mass flow rate of product water
GOR ¼
mass flow rate of steam Similarly, at steady state operation, the sea water supply is dis-
tributed between blow down, main cooling, ejector cooling,
kg distillate product/kg steam.
and distillate.
4.3. Mass balance equations m_ seawater ¼ m_ cooling water þ m_ Ejector cooling water þ m_ Distilate
þ m_ Blow down ð3Þ
As discussed, the sea water supply (m_ seawater Þis firstly fed into
the heat rejection section, a major part is discharged to the Finally, it is more useful to get Blowdown, Cooling water, cir-
sea which is known as cooling water ðm_ cooling water ) and the rest culation water, and distillate flows as a percentage of seawater
is supplied to the dearator (m_ Deareator Þ, where: flow (total flow).

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8 A.M.K. El-Ghonemy

100% summer 100% summer

100% winter 100% winter
70% summer 70% summer
70% winter 70% winter
90 2,600,000

80
2,400,000
70
Temperature, ºC

Flow rate, Kg/hr

60
2,200,000
50

40 2,000,000

30

20 1,800,000

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
Stage number (1:20) Stage number (1:20)

Fig. 14 Variation of brine temperatures through stages for the Fig. 16 Variation of flash steam flow rates through stages for the
studied four cases. studied four cases.

100% summer 100% winter

100% winter 70% summer
70% summer 100% summer
70% winter 70% winter
90 12000

11000
80
10000
70
Flow rate, Kg/hr
Temperature, ºC

9000
60
8000
50 7000

40 6000

30 5000

4000
20
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
1
2
3

9
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
12

19
20
13

18
14
15
16
17

Stage number (1:20)

Stage number (1:20)
Fig. 17 Variation of brine flow rates through stages for the
Fig. 15 Variation of cooling temperatures through stages for the studied four cases.
studied four cases.

operation, a complete sample of results for the case of 100%

5. Results and discussion: load during summer operation is introduced first (part-1).
Then the results of the two cases are presented together for
The performance of the present large scale MSF plant are comparison at 70%, 100% capacity (Part-2).
studied at 70%, 100% capacity during both summer (case-1) Part-1: a-Temperatures and pressure variation through
and winter (case-2). To understand the process and plant stages (Figs. 8, 9):

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Performance test of a sea water 9

Distilate Distilate
16.7% Blowdown 11.1%
41.8% Blowdown
27.7%

Main
Ejector Main Ejector
cooling
cooling cooling cooling
20.1%
21.3% 47.1% 14.1%
100% winter 100% summer

Distilate Blowdown Blowdown

Distilate
13.2% 33.1% 19.4%
7.8%

Ejector
Main
Ejector Main cooling
cooling
cooling cooling 14.1%
29.7%
24.0% 58.7%
70% winter 70% summer
Fig. 18 Mass balance distribution for the studied four conditions.

As discussed, each stage of the MSF plant operates at a suc- d-mass balance distribution of the MSF plant (Fig. 10) the
cessively lower pressure (vacuum) to maximize water and mass balance is shown in Fig. 10. From this figure, it is
energy recovery, as plotted in Fig. 8. From this figure, the recorded that 47%, 28%, 14% and 11% for cooling water,
Stage pressure is reduced from 0.6 bar abs in first stage down blow down, ejector cooling water and distillate respectively.
to 0.1 in last stage (no. 20), A flashing process is repeated, e-Overall performance GOR: Gain output ratio, CR: con-
stage after stage. At the same time Vapor produced at each centration ratio, Recirculation rate/distillate rate from
stage passes through a demister, and condenses on the external Fig. 11: Gain output ratio (GOR = 7.8 kg/kg), concentration
Surface of the tube bundle. ratio = 1.5, circulation flow rate/distillate flow rate = 12.9.
On the other hand, from Fig. 8 the continuous temperature Part-2: Performance results of the studied two cases
decrease is normal in both of heat recovery and heat rejection The variation of flash steam temperature, stages pressure,
sections. Generally, the temperature drop Between one stage Brine temperature and cooling temperature through the stages
and the next is known as the flashing range, which is the driv- are plotted in Figs. 12–15 respectively for the studied two
ing force for heat transfer. Finally, the normal distillate outlet cases.
temperature is 40 C. Also, the flash steam and brine steam flow variation are
b-Brine water and vapor flow rates through stages (Figs. 5, 6). shown in Figs. 16 and 17 respectively.
Similarly, the Brine water flows decrease continuously in Now, to compare between the four studied two cases.
the stages due to flashing steam in each stage. A special notice Figs. 18, 19 has to be focused together. Generally, From
is that the minimum value is obtained from the stage no 18, Fig. 18, running the plant during summer requires a higher
as a result of brine flows from stage-1, 2, 3,. . .: 17 then flows cooling water than that of winter condition. As example, at full
from stage No. 20 to 19 and finally to stage18. capacity (100% load) the main cooling flow rate represents
c-brine concentration through the stages (TDS) (Fig. 7). 47.1%, 20.1% for summer and winter operation respectively.
As, depicted from Fig. 7, the maximum concentration ratio This means a high pumping power is needed for summer than
of salts inside the stages is 1.5. this figure cannot be exceeded to winter. In addition, the GOR is considered in the comparison
avoid scale formation on the heat transfer areas of tubes (see by the help of Fig. 19. Also, the sea water supply flow rate is
Fig. 10). compared in the same Fig. 19. Finally, it can summarized that

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10 A.M.K. El-Ghonemy

100% load
winter
7.61

100% load
summer
7.5

Sea water supply to the plant, kg /hr GOR , Kg product water/ kg steam

Fig. 19 Comparison between summer and winter operation at 100% load.

running the plant during winter is giving higher GOR and – Antiscalants cannot be avoided with the thermal distillation
requires a lower cooling flow than summer operation. The rea- methods. Therefore, the use of green antiscalants or agents
son is simply that the inlet seawater temperature to the plant is with good biodegradability is recommended in order to
32 °C, 15 C for summer and winter respectively. In addition, avoid the risk of salts accumulation.
the simultaneous evaporation (flashing) and condensation – Heat transfer materials: such as stainless steels are recom-
inside the plant stages should be considered when justifying mended to be used for MSF plants to replace the copper-
the results. nickel in order to eliminate copper discharges to the sea water.
– Discharge design optimization: using of multiport diffuser
5. Environmental Impacts of brine discharge and dilution enhancement.

MSF Desalination is accompanied by some negative effects on 7. Conclusion

the environment. Critical MSF pollutants are summarized
below: The performance test of a seawater multi-stage flash (MSF)
desalination plant is performed at (Al-Khafji operations plant
 Chlorine (very critical) can be avoided. located in KSA) at 100% load, 70% load during operation in
 Antiscalants (critical) can be slightly reduced. summer (case-1) and winter (case-2). It is concluded that:
 Residual antiscalants can be replaced by harmless
alternatives. 1. To understand the process and plant operation, the plant
 Copper discharge (critical) can be avoided. key operating parameters are presented for the tested two
 Impact area of temperature (critical), salinity (less critical). cases (number of stages, Top brine temperature (TBT),
temperature and pressure variation in the stages, and brine
and flash steam flows. Also, the plant overall performance
6. Recommendations indicators are presented for the studied two cases [perfor-
mance ratio (PR) or gain output ratio (GOR), and concen-
For MSF seawater desalination plants, the following technolo- tration ratio (CR).
gies are still under investigation: 2. The results showed that:
– For the same plant output at 100% capacity, the main cool-
– using Nano filtration (NF) as a pretreatment system. ing water is decreased from 47.1% to 20.1% for case-1
– Sponge ball technique: chlorine is rated as the most critical (summer) and case-2 (winter) respectively, which in turns
for environmental impact. Sponge ball cleaning is a cost- directly reduces the pumping power by the same ratio. Also,
efficient pretreatment technique that can replace chlorine The performance ration PR is increased from 7.5 to 7.61 for
addition. case-1 (summer) and case-2 (winter) respectively,

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Performance test of a sea water 11

– at 70% capacity, the main cooling water is decreased from [15] G. Heike, G. Klaus, Common Fundamentals and unit
58.7% to 29.7% for case-1 (summer) and case-2 (winter) Operations in Thermal Desalination Systems – Vol. I -
respectively, which in turns directly reduces the pumping Analysis, Approaches, and Models for the Release of Carbon
power by the same ratio. Dioxide, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Argon in Evaporators, Water
Resources, and Desalination.
[16] M. Yasumoto, S. Mitsugu, Common Fundamentals and unit
Consequently, running the thermal desalination MSF plant
Operations in Thermal Desalination Systems -Vol. III –
in cold regions is more economic than hot regions for energy Hygiene, Water Resources and Desalination.
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large scale plants. Thermal Desalination Systems – Vol. III - Rural and Urban
Water Supply and Sanitation, Water Resources, and
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desalination plant performance under cold weather loca- [18] El-Nashar, Thermal Desalination Processes – Vol. II - ‘‘The
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[19] O.J. Morin, Thermal Desalination Process, vol-1: Process
tion). This is to be considered in future plants and hybrid
Optimization - Cost Criteria, UNESCO, EOLSS.
desalination units.
[20] O.J. Morin, Thermal Desalination Process, Vol-2: Cost Aspects
– MSF, UNESCO, EOLSS.
[21] L. Heinz, Common Fundamentals and unit Operations in
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Please cite this article in press as: A.M.K. El-Ghonemy, Performance test of a sea water multi-stage flash distillation plant: Case study, Alexandria Eng. J. (2017),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2017.08.019