Distillation means:

This occurs naturally through evaporation or through very simple methods such as
boiling salty water and condensing the steam. Commercial desalination plants using
this process have been in operation for decades.

What is Multiple-effect distillation?

Multiple-effect distillation (MED) is a distillation process often used for sea

water desalination. It consists of multiple stages or "effects". In each stage the feed
water is heated by steam in tubes. Some of the water evaporates, and this steam flows
into the tubes of the next stage, heating and evaporating more water. Each stage
essentially reuses the energy from the previous stage.

Multiple-effect distillation, often called multistage-flash evaporation, is another

elaboration of simple distillation. This operation, used primarily by large commercial
desalting plants, does not require heating to convert a liquid into vapour. The liquid is
simply passed from a container under high atmospheric pressure to one under lower
pressure. The reduced pressure causes the liquid to vaporize rapidly; the resulting
vapour is then condensed into distillate.

Vacuum distillation:

A variation of the reduced-pressure process uses a vacuum pump to produce a very

high vacuum. This method, called vacuum distillation, is sometimes employed when
dealing with substances that normally boil at inconveniently high temperatures or that
decompose when boiling under atmospheric pressure.

Steam distillation:

Steam distillation is an alternative method of achieving distillation at temperatures lower

than the normal boiling point. It is applicable when the material to be distilled is
immiscible (incapable of mixing) and chemically nonreactive with water. Examples of
such materials include fatty acids and soybean oils. The usual procedure is to pass
steam into the liquid in the still to supply heat and cause evaporation of the liquid.

Schematic Explanation 1:

The schematic of a horizontal tube Multi-Effect MED unit is presented in Figure (IDE
schematic view, old Internet publication). The steam enters the plant and is used to
evaporate heated seawater. The secondary vapor produced is used to generate
tertiary steam at a lower pressure. This operation is repeated along the plant from stage
to stage. The primary steam condensate is returned to the boiler of the power station
since it is of extremely high quality that is needed for turbine steam production. The MED
technique is based on double-film heat transfer. Latent steam heat is transferred at
each stage by steam condensation through the heat transfer surfaces to the
evaporated falling film of seawater. The process is repeated up to 16 times or more in
existing plants between the upper possible temperature and the lower possible cooling
water, which depends on seawater temperature used for cooling the water. The
product water is the condensate that accumulates from stage to stage. A vacuum
pump/compressor is used to maintain the gradual pressure gradient inside the vessel by
removing the accumulated noncondensable gases together with the remaining water
vapor after the final condensation stage. The pressure gradient along the MED effects is
dictated by the saturation pressure of the feed stream and the saturation pressure of
the condensing steam exiting the last stage and is condensed by cooling with
seawater. Typical pressure gradients of 5-50 kPa across the system (less than 5
kPa/stage) are typical.

Schematic Explanation:

Schematic of a multiple effect desalination plant. The first stage is at the top. Pink areas
are vapor, lighter blue areas are liquid feed water. Stronger turquoise is condensate. It is
not shown how feed water enters other stages than the first. F - feed water in. S -
heating steam in. C - heating steam out. W - Fresh water (condensate) out. R - brine
out. O - coolant in. P - coolant out. VC is the last-stage cooler.

Advantages:

Low energy consumption compared to other thermal processes

Operates at low temperature (< 70 C) and at low concentration (< 1.5) to

avoid corrosion and scaling

Does not need pre-treatment of sea water and tolerates variations in sea water
conditions

Highly reliable and simple to operate

Low maintenance cost

24-hour-a-day continuous operation with minimum supervision

Can be adapted to any heat source, including hot water, waste heat from
power generation, industrial processes, or solar heating.

Multiple Effect Distillation of Seawater Using Solar Energy Of Abu Dhabi Solar
Desalination Plant
Some of the remote areas are blessed with abundant solar radiation which can be
used as an energy source for small desalination units to provide a reliable drinking water
supply for the inhabitants of the remote areas. Recently, considerable attention has
been given to the use of solar energy as an energy source for desalination because of
the high cost of fossil fuel in remote areas, difficulties in obtaining it, interest in reducing
air pollution and the lack of electrical power source in remote areas. Desalination of
seawater and brackish water is one of the ways for meeting future fresh water demand.
Conventional desalination technology is fairly well established, and some of the
processes may be considered quite mature although there is still considerable scope for
improvement and innovation. Conventional desalination processes are energy
intensive, and one of the major cost items in operating expenses of any conventional
desalination plant is the energy cost. Thus, one of the major concerns about using
desalination as a means of supplying fresh water to remote communities is the cost of
energy. Apart from energy cost implications, there are environmental concerns with
regard to the effects of using conventional energy sources. In recent years it has
become clear that environmental pollution caused by the release of green house
gases resulting from burning fossil fuels is responsible for ozone depletion and
atmospheric warming. The need to control atmospheric emissions of greenhouse and
other gases and substances will increasingly need to be based on growing reliance on
renewable sources of energy.

History of Abu Dhabi Solar Desalination Plant In July 1979, when Mr. Ezaki, the then
Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry, visited the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and discussed the utilization of solar energy utilization in the UAE with Dr. Mana
Saeed Al-Otaiba, the UAE Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, they agreed on
a joint project between the two countries to develop solar energy utilization for
desalination of seawater.

A solar-assisted desalination plant was designed, constructed and put into operation on
September 1984 as part of a cooperative research program between Japan and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) to test the technical and economic feasibility of using solar
energy for desalination of seawater [El-Nashar a,b,c (2000), El-Nashar (2001)]. The plant
(see Figure 1) has been in operation in a Umm Al Nar near Abu Dhabi City until the year
2002 when it was dismantled. This report describes the main features of the first year of
operation and compares its economics with conventional systems using the same
desalination technology.