Modeling and computer simulation of a reverse osmosis desalination plant—case study of Bousfer plant—Algeria

ABSTRACT

This work aims to verify the effects of the retentate and the permeate flow pattern and the concentration polarization phenomenon on the performances of a reverse osmosis desalination plant. The two types of flow circulation studied in this work are the co-current and counter-current flow patterns. Two mathematical models were developed. They are both based on the solution diffusion model. The first mathematical model is formed of a set of non-linear equations. The second one is formed of a set of ordinary differential equations. The numerical resolution of the second mathematical model is subjected to the split boundary value problem. A robust and efficient iterative procedure was developed to solve this problem. It consists in combining the orthogonal collocation and the finite elements method. The non-linear coupled system of differential equations is transformed to an uncoupled linear system by an iterative technique. This linearization allows more stability. The real case of reverse osmosis desalination plant of Bousfer, in the west of Algeria, is used to verify the accuracy of the developed mathematical models. The results obtained by simulations show a good adequacy between the experimental values and those obtained by the numerical resolution of the developed models.

Keywords:

• Bousfer plant
• Reverse osmosis
• Computer simulation
• Flow pattern
• Orthogonal collocation
• Finite elements method