Development of a steady-state mathematical model for MEE-TVC desalination plants

Multi-effect evaporation with thermal vapor compression (MEE-TVC) is one of the most effective desalination method. It plays a vital role in the production of fresh water in many regions of the world especially in the Arabian countries. A steady-state mathematical model of MEE-TVC system and its solution procedure are developed based on the basic laws of material balance, energy balance and heat transfer equations with correlations for physical properties estimation. The influence of important design and operating variables on the performance of the plant is investigated. These parameters include number of evaporation effects, motive steam pressure, top brine temperature, temperature difference across effects and feed water temperature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical model of the MEE-TVC systems and compare the results with the existing plants. A MATLAB program is also used to solve the model equations. The model validity is examined against some commercial MEE-TVC systems. Good agreement is obtained between data of these systems and model predictions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.