At a glance

Seawater desalination plants – whether on land or as a floating solution on a barge – involve high investment costs and complex technical requirements. Regardless of whether they work using heat (MSF, MED, MEH) or membrane technology (RO, reverse osmosis), their profitability depends on maximum availability, a long service life for the core components, as well as low energy and chemical consumption.

Thermal seawater desalination plants that operate according to the multi-stage flash (MSF) or multi-effect distillation (MED) principle play a key role in the supply of drinking water. These methods are characterized by a multi-stage distillation process in which the number of evaporator effects is a key factor determining the energy use and thus the profitability of the plant.

In many arid regions of the world, the scarcity of water is getting worse. At the same time, these areas often do not have the infrastructure for a continuous supply of drinking water. However, where there is sunshine and industrial waste heat in abundant supply, local seawater and brackish water desalination opens the door to securing the drinking water supply independently and in the long term.