Optimization of mechanical vapour compression (MVC) desalination process by using mathematical programming

SERGIO MUSSATI; NICOLÁS SCENNA; ENRIQUE TARIFA; FRANCO SAMUEL; J. L. HERNANDEZ PEREZ

King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center, Dead Sea, Jordan

Conferencia; Euromed 2008: Desalination Cooperation among Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the MENA Region; 2008

In this paper a mathematical model for the optimization of Mechanical Vapor Compression (MVC) desalination process is presented. The mathematical model involves the real-physical constraints for the evaporation process. Nonlinear equations in terms of chemical-physical properties and design equations are used to model the process. The model has been implemented in a General Algebraic Modeling System GAMS [1]. The generalized reduced gradient algorithm CONOPT 2.041 [2] is used as NLP solver. The effects of some relevant process parameters such as the temperature difference between the saturated vapour and boiling brine on the system performance is investigated. The output results from the proposed model were successfully compared with literature.