Behaviour of the asynchronous electric motors to reduction of energy consumption in reverse osmosis plants

Abstract

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a separation technique broadly used nowadays for membranes. Continuous development of membrane technology has expanded the technical and economic usefulness of the RO process. Theirmore extended application is the production of desalting water starting from brackish water or seawater. One of the most important requirements currently to optimize the energy demand of RO plants for the production of drinking water from seawater, is to reduce the operating costs, and consequently the price of desalted water. Recent technological innovations, such as pressure-exchange system (PE) and energy recovery turbine (ERT), are required on seawater and brackish water desalination plants to reduce and improve the energy consumption. In this paper we discuss electrical behaviour of the asynchronous motor coupled to high-pressure systems in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants, trying to get some relation to the reduction in energy consumption. Over a period of six months, different electrical measurements were obtained in Gran Canaria Island, from an analyzer of nets coupled to the electrical motor, for example, voltage, current, frequency, angle, power, etc. This was financed by a research project. Results and discussion are shown with a software tool for the simulation of an asynchronous machine