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Conceptual Design and Numerical Analysis of a Novel Floating Desalination Plant Powered by Marine Renewable Energy for Egypt

Authors:
Islam Amin at University of Strathclyde
Islam Amin
Mohamed E. A Ali at Desert Research Center
Mohamed E. A Ali
Seif Bayoumi at Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport
Seif Bayoumi
Selda Oterkus at University of Strathclyde
Selda Oterkus
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Abstract and Figures

The supply of freshwater has become a worldwide interest, due to serious water shortages in many countries. Due to rapid increases in the population, poor water management, and limitations of freshwater resources, Egypt is currently below the water scarcity limit. Since Egypt has approximately 3000 km of coastlines on both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, seawater desalination powered by marine renewable energy could be a sustainable alternative solution, especially for remote coastal cities which are located far from the national water grid. The objective of this research work is to evaluate the feasibility of a floating desalination plant (FDP) concept powered by marine renewable energy for Egypt. A novel design of the FDP concept is developed as an innovative solution to overcome the freshwater shortage of remote coastal cities in Egypt. A mobile floating platform supported by reverse osmosis (RO) membrane powered by marine renewable power technology is proposed. Based on the abundant solar irradiation and sufficient wind density, Ras Ghareb was selected to be the base site location for the proposed FDP concept. According to the collected data from the selected location, a hybrid solar–wind system was designed to power the FDP concept under a maximum power load condition. A numerical tool, the DNV-GL Sesam software package, was used for static stability, hydrodynamic performance, and dynamic response evaluation. Moreover, WAVE software was used to design and simulate the operation of the RO desalination system and calculate the power consumption for the proposed FDP concept. The results show that the proposed mobile FDP concept is highly suitable for being implemented in remote coastal areas in Egypt, without the need for infrastructure or connection to the national grid for both water and power.
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J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,95;doi:10.3390/jmse8020095www.mdpi.com/journal/jmse
Article
ConceptualDesignandNumericalAnalysis
ofaNovelFloatingDesalinationPlantPowered
byMarineRenewableEnergyforEgypt
IslamAmin
1
,MohamedE.A.Ali
2
,SeifBayoumi
3
,SeldaOterkus
4
,HosamShawky
5

andErkanOterkus
6,
*
1
DepartmentofNavalArchitectureandMarineEngineering,PortSaidUniversity,PortSaid42511,Egypt;
dr.islamamin@yahoo.com
2
EgyptDesalinationResearchCenterpfExcellence(EDRC)andHydrogeochemistryDepartment,
DesertResearchCentre,Cairo11753,Egypt;m7983ali@gmail.com
3
ArabAcademyforScience,TechnologyandMaritimeTransport,Alexandria1029,Egypt;
seif.bayoumi@aast.edu
4
NavalArchitecture,OceanandMarineEngineering,UniversityofStrathclyde,GlasgowG40LZ,UK;
selda.oterkus@strath.ac.uk
5
EgyptDesalinationResearchCenterpfExcellence(EDRC)andHydrogeochemistryDepartment,
DesertResearchCentre,Cairo11753,Egypt;shawkydrc@hotmail.com
6
NavalArchitecture,OceanandMarineEngineering,UniversityofStrathclyde,GlasgowG40LZ,UK
*Correspondence:erkan.oterkus@strath.ac.uk;Tel.:+44‐141‐548‐3876
Received:20December2019;Accepted:2February2020;Published:4February2020
Abstract:Thesupplyoffreshwaterhasbecomeaworldwideinterest,duetoseriouswatershortages
inmanycountries.Duetorapidincreasesinthepopulation,poorwatermanagement,and
limitationsoffreshwaterresources,Egyptiscurrentlybelowthewaterscarcitylimit.SinceEgypt
hasapproximately3000kmofcoastlinesonboththeRedSeaandtheMediterraneanSea,seawater
desalinationpoweredbymarinerenewableenergycouldbeasustainablealternativesolution,
especiallyforremotecoastalcitieswhicharelocatedfarfromthenationalwatergrid.Theobjective
ofthisresearchworkistoevaluatethefeasibilityofafloatingdesalinationplant(FDP)concept
poweredbymarinerenewableenergyforEgypt.AnoveldesignoftheFDPconceptisdeveloped
asaninnovativesolutiontoovercomethefreshwatershortageofremotecoastalcitiesinEgypt.A
mobilefloatingplatformsupportedbyreverseosmosis(RO)membranepoweredbymarine
renewablepowertechnologyisproposed.Basedontheabundantsolarirradiationandsufficient
winddensity,RasGharebwasselectedtobethebasesitelocationfortheproposedFDPconcept.
Accordingtothecollecteddatafromtheselectedlocation,ahybridsolar–windsystemwasdesigned
topowertheFDPconceptunderamaximumpowerloadcondition.Anumericaltool,theDNV‐GL
Sesamsoftwarepackage,wasusedforstaticstability,hydrodynamicperformance,anddynamic
responseevaluation.Moreover,WAVEsoftwarewasusedtodesignandsimulatetheoperationof
theROdesalinationsystemandcalculatethepowerconsumptionfortheproposedFDPconcept.
TheresultsshowthattheproposedmobileFDPconceptishighlysuitableforbeingimplementedin
remotecoastalareasinEgypt,withouttheneedforinfrastructureorconnectiontothenationalgrid
forbothwaterandpower.
Keywords:desalination;floatingdesalinationplant;hybridrenewableenergysystems;marine
renewableenergy;offshoremarineplatform
1.Introduction
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,952of24
Morethantwo‐thirdsoftheearth’ssurfaceiscoveredwithwater.AccordingtotheEuropean
EnvironmentalAgency(EEA),approximately97%ofthewaterissaltwaterintheformofoceans,
seas,andbays.Ontheotherhand,only3%ofthetotalofwaterisfreshwaterintheformofice,
groundwater,rivers,andlakes,whichisnotenoughforthehumandemand[1].Increasesin
populationsandsubsequentrisesindemandsforconsumablewaterhavebeencitedasthebiggest
problemsthathumanitywillfaceinthefuture.Thedesalinationofseawaterisconsideredoneofthe
promisingalternativeswhichcansolvetheworld’sfreshwatershortageandhelpmeettheglobal
waterdemand[2].Thesefactsdrovetheglobaldesalinationmarkettoaccelerateatarateof9%from
2018to2022,with74%ofthegrowthcomingfromEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica(EMEA)region
[3].EgypthasmainlydependedontheNileRiverwaterforalongtime,withashareof55billion
cubicmetersperyear[4].Currently,duetotherapidincreaseinpopulationandpoorwater
management,Egyptisunderthewaterscarcitylimit,whichhasurgedtheEgyptianGovernmentto
initiateprogramsforthedesalinationofwatertoovercomethelackofdrinkingwater,especiallyin
remoteareas[5].
Generally,desalinationprocessescanbedividedintotwomaintechnologytypes:Thermal
distillationandmembraneprocesses.Inrecentyears,membranetechnologyhastakenover73%of
theglobaldesalinationinstallationcapacity[6].Manystudieshaveshownthattherenewableenergy‐
poweredROdesalinationsystemismorereliableandsustainablethanotherenergysources,dueto
itslowoperationcostandenvironmentalimpacts.OmerandMoussa[7]discussedseveralfactors
whichshouldbeconsideredbeforeselectingrenewableenergy,suchasthefeedandproductwater
salinity,feedpressure,plantlocation,windspeedandsolarradiationatthesite,plantsize,andcost
ofproductwater.Thesefactorsplayavitalroleinestimatingthetotalpowerconsumption.Recently,
photovoltaics(PV)panelshavebeenintroducedindesalinationsystems,buttheyhavelowefficiency
andneedalargesettlementarea.SinceEgypthasabout3000kmofshorelinesonboththeRedSea
andtheMediterraneanSea,desalinationcanbeusedasasustainablewaterresourcefordomesticuse
inmanycoastalareas[8].Atallahetal.[9]providedacomparisonofaland‐basedconventionalRO
desalinationplantandanunconventionalonepoweredbyahybridrenewableenergysystemin
Egypt.
Currently,theROprocessiswidelyusedtodesalinatewaterinEgypt,especiallyfortouristic
coastalareas,sincetheseremoteareasarelocatedfarfromnationalwaterandpowergrids.WhileRO
requiresahighamountofenergy,energyismostlygeneratedusingfossilfuels,whichimpactsthe
environmentinthisarea[10].Moreover,mostofEgypt’scoastalareashaveashortageoflandarea
and/orareexpensiveintermsoftheconstructionofPVpanelsystems.Forthisreason,renewable
energy‐poweredfloatingdesalinationplantsareemergingasanefficientsolutionaroundcoastal
areas.
Manypreviousstudieshavedealtwiththedesignofconventionalland‐baseddesalination
plants,aswellastheirpowersupplyandoperatingsystems,whereasfewstudieshavediscussedthe
floatingdesalinationplant(FDP)concept.Floatingdesalinationplantsarerelativelyyoung
technologyifcomparedwithland‐baseddesalinationsolutions,whereanumberofexistingunits
drivenbyfossilfuelandnuclearpowerhavebeenestablishedandsuccessfullytestedincommercial
projectsindifferentcountries.Chouski[11]proposedafloatingdesalinationshipforthewestern
MediterraneanSea.Theproposedplantispoweredbyliquefiednaturalgas(LNG)andprovided
withwaterstoragetanks.Later,healsodescribedtheconstructionandoperationofshipboard
desalinationplantsinanotherstudy[12].ThesameconceptwasinvestigatedbyFadeletal.[13].He
discussedtheconceptofFDPandcomparedtheapplicationofsuchplantswithconventionalland‐
basedinstallations.ThestudypresentedafullyseagoingdesalinationvesselcalledRUMAITH
servicedinAbuDhabiandthevesselcarriedtwo1250m3/dayMulti‐stageflash(MSF)distillersand
wascompletedwithapowergeneratingplantandfullmarineandnavigationfacilities.Thepower
neededfordesalinationprocesswasgeneratedbythemainvesselengineandtwodieselgenerators.
TheFDPconceptpoweredbyanuclearpowersourcehasbeendiscussedindifferentresearch
works.ThedesignoftwobargescomprisingtwodesalinationplantswasstudiedbyVasjukovetal.
[14].Anuclearsteamsupplysystem,steamturbineplantforthepreparationofpotablewater,and
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,953of24
auxiliaryandshipsupportsystemwerepresentedinhisstudy.Anotherstate‐of‐the‐artofexisting
designandanalyticalproceduresoffloatingnuclearplantshasbeenpresentedbyBabuandReddy
[15].Thestudysuggestedthatfloatingbargeconfigurationsaremuchbetter,duetotechnicaland
economicreasons.Ontheotherhand,theFDPconceptwasofferedasanalternativesolutionfor
conventionaldesalinationsystemsintheMiddleEastandtheArabGulfbyAl‐Othman[16].He
concludedthatthefloatingconceptoffersseveralsafetyfeatures,whichmakesthisconfiguration
moresuitableandwell‐preparedfortsunamisandearthquakes.Ahigh‐capacityfloatingdesalination
islandpoweredbymultirenewableresourceswasproposedbyStuyfzandandKappelhoP[17].His
preliminarycalculationsindicatedthattheproductioncostsforfreshwaterfromseawaterby
desalinationonhugefloatingislandsthroughrenewablemulti‐energysupplyarelowandcloseto
priceswhenusingfossilfuels,withoutenvironmentaleffects.Inanotherunconventionalconceptof
FDP,DavisdevelopedanovelfloatingmembranelessPV‐electrodesystemforhydrogenandwater
production[18].Thesystemwascarriedonaplatformwhichusedsunlighttogeneratethesolarfuel
andproduceelectricitythatwassenttodurablemembranelesselectrolyzersthatsplitwaterinto
oxygenandhydrogen.TheYdriadaMUPplatformlocatedinGreeceistheperfectprototypeofa
smallunconventionalconceptofanoffshoreFPDunitdrivenbywindturbine‐delivereddesalination
watertoagridviaapipeata70m3/daymaximumcapacity[19].Theplantcontainssmallvertical
cylinderpontoonsconnectedtoeachother,andthecenterpontoonsupportssmalldesalinationunit
andwindturbinewith35kW.
TheFDPconceptgenerallyconsistsofamarinefloatingplatform,desalinationplant,andpower
system.Lampeetal.[20]presentedadesalinationshipexampleinhisstudy.Hisproposalconcept
usedROtechnologyandwascapableofstoringfreshwaterinfivetanks,eachwithacapacityof
18,000m3.JohansonandClelland[21]alsoproposedasinglemobilefloatingdesalinationplantwith
ashipshapetoserveislandsandaridcoastlinecommunities.Hisproposedunitsupportsmultistage
flashdistillation(MFD)fordesalinationandcanhaveaproductioncapacityof909m3/day.
Desalinationbargeshaveoperatedsince2008tomeetthehighseasonaldemandforpotablewater
alongtheRedSeacoastofSaudiArabia.In2010,thelargestfloatingdesalinationplantintheworld,
withaproductioncapacityof25,000m3/day(9millionm3/year),waslaunchedonabargeinYanbu
[22].Thedesalinationplantandequipmentrequired,suchaspumps,theproportionalfeedingunit,
pipes,chemicaltanks,andcontrolunits,shouldbearrangedbelowthemaindeckinsidethehullof
thevessel[23].
BasedonourunderstandingofEgypt’sfreshwaterproblemandpreviousliterature,theobjective
ofthisresearchworkistoevaluatethefeasibilityofanovelFDPconceptpoweredbymarine
renewableenergyasaneffectivesolutiontohelpEgyptovercomeitswaterscarcityanddevelop
remotecoastalareas.AnoveldesignofafloatingROdesalinationplantpoweredbyahybridsolar‐
offshorewindturbinesystemisshowninFigure1.AnFDPconceptwithacapacityof10,000m3/day
freshwaterisnumericallydesignedbasedonenvironmentaldatacollectedforRasGharebcity.The
proposedFDPconcepthasamobilityoptioninordertoprovidefreshwaterfordifferentcoastalcities
inEgypt,dependingonthefreshwaterdemand.
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,954of24
Figure1.Proposedfloatingdesalinationplant(FDP)concept.
2.ProposedConceptualDesignProcedureforFDP
Basedontheliteraturereviewdiscussedintheprevioussection,aprocedurewasdevelopedto
designanovelFDPconcept.Theprocedurebeginswithagapanalysisandsiteselectionstepinorder
todeterminethemostsuitablelocationtolocatetheFDPconcept.Therearesomefactorsand
constraintsthatshouldbedeterminedfortheavailablesites.Eachfactorshouldberanked,andthe
locationswhichdonotmeettheconstraintsshouldbeextracted.Themostimportantconstraintsare
relatedtolocationrestrictions,suchasthedraftorwidth,orotherindustrialactivities.Thenextstage
istodesignthedesalinationsystemanditsrenewableenergy‐supportedpowersystem.Collectionof
alltechnicaldataofthewholesystemandlocationrestrictionsareavailabletoanalyseandselecta
suitableplatformforhostingthesystems.Thefollowingstageistochecktheintegrityofthewhole
systemanditsplatformasoneunit.Hydrodynamicsandstructuralsatisfactionarethefirsttobe
checked,followedbyeconomicandenvironmentalsatisfaction.Theproposeddesignprocedureis
showninFigure2.
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,955of24
Figure2.DesignprocedurefortheFDPconceptpoweredbymarinerenewableenergy.
3.FeasibilityofFPDforEgypt
AnFPDconceptpoweredbyawindturbineisarathernewandunexploredconceptfor
freshwaterandenergyproduction.Duetotheuniquemasspopulationdistributionandavailability
ofmarinerenewableenergyresourcesinEgypt,theFDPconceptisproposedtoovercomethe
freshwatershortageandsupportthedevelopmentofremotecoastalcitiesinEgypt.Inthissection,
theconceptualdesignprocedurewhichwaspresentedintheprevioussectionisappliedforEgypt
andanovelFPDconceptisdevelopedtoserveRasGharebcity.
3.1.Site
Siteselection:Egypthasapproximately3000kmofcoastalzonessituatedontheMediterraneanSea
andtheRedSea.Approximately1150kmofthecoastislocatedontheMediterraneanSea,while1200
kmisborderedbytheRedSea,with650kmofcoastlocatedontheGulfofSuezandAqaba[24].The
RedSearegionhasthebestwindresources,withameanpowerdensityata50mheightintherange
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,956of24
of300–900W/m2[24].Thisfactmeansthatwindpowercanbeselectedasthemainpowersourcefor
theFPDconcept.TheRedSeacoastlineisconsideredremotefromtheNileRiversupply,andthe
Egyptiangovernmenthaspaidattentiontodevelopingthisareainits2030visionplan,duetoits
importanttouristicvalue[25].Inanunpublishedstudy,aseparatesiteselectionstudywas
performed.TheresultshaveshownthatRasGharebcityhasthehighestrankfortheFDPconceptin
Egypt.Thecityliesatalatitudeof28.33°N,longitudeof33°E,andaltitudeof56m.Theheightof
theanemometeris24.5mabovetheground[26].
RasGharebisoneofthebiggestcitiesintheGulfofSuezintheRedSea.Thetotalpopulationof
RasGharebisabout60,000people,accordingtotheRedSeaGovernorwebsite.Thecityhasthree
majorcharacteristics:Ahighwaterdemandforcivilandindustrialreasons,amediumshallowwater
depth,andaveryhighwindenergypotential.ThesitelocationisshowninFigure3.TheFDPconcept
issuitableforoperationinRasGharebasabasepointandtransferbetweentheGulfofSuezandRed
SeaZonetoserveremotecitiesinthisarea,dependingontheirwaterdemands.Thelocationisan
importantfactorwhendeterminingtheenvironmentalloadswhichtheplatformwillfaceinthe
selectedlocation.
Figure3.RasGharebcitylocation
Waterdepth:TheFDPplantwillbelocatedneartoRasGharebportterminal.Theaveragedraftis50
mintheselectedarea[26]
Distancefromtheshore:Maintainingabufferzoneofa2kmdistancefromthecoastlinehasbeen
consideredfarfromanyanchoringareaoroilindustryinstallation,andotheractivities.
Environmentalloads:Basedonthedatabaseandhistoricalweatherinformation,significantwave
heightandwaveperiodweredeterminedfora1‐yearreturnperiodinthisarea,producingvaluesof
2.15mforthewaveheightand5.08sforthewaveperiod[27].Moreover,themaximumwaveheight
andtimeperiodforoneyearare5.18mand6.5sandfora100‐yearreturnperiod,are7.92mand8
s,respectively.Thetideheightfora1‐yearreturnperiodis0.91mandthatfora100‐yearreturn
periodis1.52m[28].Themax.currentspeedis0.6m/s,andmostofthewindcomesfromnorthand
northwestdirections[29].
Thewavespectrumisoneofthemostimportantparametersinthehydrodynamicanalysisof
floatingoffshorestructures.OneparameterspectrumwasusedtocalculateRasGhareb’swave
spectrum,accordingtotheDNV‐GLrule[30],asshowninEquation(1).Theresultsshowthatthe
wavespectrumbandbeginsfrom0.5rad/sinthisarea,ascanbeseeninFigure4.TheproposedFDP
conceptshouldbeoutofthewavebandrangetoavoidlargedynamicresponses[31].
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,957of24
𝑆󰇛𝜔󰇜.
.𝑒𝑥𝑝𝛽󰇡
.󰇢,(1)
with
𝜔2𝜋𝑓,(2)
where
𝛼8.1 ∗10,
𝛽0.74,
𝑔8.1 𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑐,and
𝑈isthewindspeedinm/s.
Figure4.Wavespectrumoftheselectedlocationbasedonthewindspeed.
Renewableenergydensity:Theavailableoffshorewindpotentialcanbequantitativelyexpressed
throughthemeanwindvelocity50mabovethemeanwaterlevelforEgyptiancoastalcities.Marine
areaswithameanwindvelocitysmallerthan6m/sareconsideredunsuitableforoffshorefloating
windturbines,accordingtoseveralstudies[32].AccordingtoEgypt’swindatlas,showninFigure5,
theaveragewindspeedovertheyearis9.8m/sata24.5mheight.ThesolarradiationatlasofEgypt,
whichisshowninFigure6,showsthatthisareahasanannualaveragedirectsolarradiationof7.81–
8.3kWh/m2/day.Inhisstudy,Shimy[33]showedthatRasGharebcityhasanaveragesunshine
durationof12.125hoursandannualaverageairtemperatureof20°C.Acomparativestudyhas
shownthatRasGarebhasahighpotentialfortheuseofwindturbinescomparedwithotherEgyptian
cities[34].TheRedSearegion,ingeneral,hasthebestwindresourcesinEgypt,withameanpower
densityata50mheightintherangeof300–900W/m2.RasGharebhasthesecond‐highestwind
densityafterGabalElzeet,accordingtostatisticalstudies[4],withawindclassof7andanaverage
windspeedequalto9.9m/s[35].
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
00.511.52
S(w)
Feq.[rad/sec]
S(w)(7m/s)
S(w)(8m/s)
S(w)(9m/s)
S(w)(10m/s)
S(w)(11m/s)
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,958of24
Figure5.AveragewindspeedintheSuezGulfzonefromWindAtlasofEgypt.
Figure6.TheschematicofsolarradiationfromtheAtlasofEgypt,1991.
3.2.DesalinationCriteria
Selectionofdesalinationtechnology:Basically,acompletedesalinationprocessincludes3–4steps:
Feedpumpingwaterfromthesea;pre‐treatmentofpumpedwater(filtrationandchemicaladdition);
adesalinationprocess;andfinally,apost‐treatment,ifnecessary[36].Therearedifferentwaysto
producefreshwaterwithdesalinationtechnologies.Morecommontechnologiesarereverseosmosis
(RO),themulti‐stageflashprocess(MFP),andmulti‐effectdistillation(MED).IntheFDPconcept
poweredbydieselfuel,MFPisthemostcommon.Manyexampleshavebeenpresentedforship‐
shapeddesalinationplantsandbargeplantsintheMideastarea[11–12],andallofthemusedMFP.
Manyfactorsplayavitalroleintheselectionofdesalinationtechnology,suchasrawwater
properties,location,andtypeofpowersupplier.
DesalinationsystemsemployingROarewidelyusedinEgyptindifferentsectors.Therapid
developmentintechnology,especiallyinmembranemanufacturing,hasledtoamarkeddecreasein
costandoperatingpressure,whichhasenabledROtocompetewithothersystems[37].TheRedSea
zoneisconsideredashavinghighsalinityseawater,withavalueequaltoTDS45,000,whichpresents
ahigherlimitforusingROtechnology.
Desalinationsystem:TheFDPconceptcontainssixdesalinationmodules.Eachonehasacapacityof
2000cubicmetersofdesalinatedwater.Fiveunitscanmeettherequireddesalinationcapacityofthe
plant(10,000m3/day),whilethesixthoneisallocatedasabackupunit.Thesystemisdesignedto
operatefor24h.
TheWaterApplicationValueEngine(WAVE)softwareprogram,version12.5,wasusedto
designandmodeltheROdesalinationsysteminthisstudy.TheROmoduleisshowninFigure7,
andthedesignparametersforeachunitoftheROmodulearegiveninTable1.
Figure7.Thereverseosmosis(RO)moduleCADdesign.
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,959of24
Table1.DesignparametersforeachunitoftheROmodule.
Parameter‐Specification
FeedwaterspecificationisRedSeawaterwith
TDS
45,000(mg/L)
Unitcapacity 2000m3/daySWRODESALINATION
PLANT
TSS<15ppm
Operatingtemperature(oC)15–32
Designtemperature(oC)25
Specificenergy(kWh/m3)5.69(atT‐25oC)
Recoveryrate40%
Feedwaterflowrate215(m³/h)
Numberofvessels26
Numberofelements156
MembranemoduletypeFILMTECSW30HRLE‐440
Feedpressure65(bar)
Permeateflow85.0(m³/h)
Overallfootprint(m)12.34length–7.54width–3.11height
Averageflux13.9(LMH)
PermeateTDS217.0(mg/L)
AverageNDP20.5(bar)
Foulingfactor0.85
pH8.1
ROdesalinationtechnologywasselectedfortheFDPconcept,duetoitslightweightequipment
anditssuitabilityforhybridrenewableenergy.Acompletedesalinationprocesscanbesummarized
infourmainsteps:
Thefirststepistotakeinseawaterbyafeedpumpthroughsea‐chestsatthelowerlevelofthe
platformandpassitthroughaspeciallydesignedmetalscreenwithasizeof1mmtostoreitin
therawwaterseawatertank.Theproposedconceptplacedthistankatthecenteroftheplatform
toeliminatepipelinelossesandcosts.Theseawatersupplypumpstoelevatethepressureofthe
seawatersufficientlytopassitthroughthepre‐treatmentprocess.Thesuspendedsolids,which
causefoulingoftheROmembranes,areremovedbyinlinecoagulationandfiltration.Theintake
intertankisusedastheseawatertank,andcanstoreupto6000m3offeedseawater.Theinner
sidesofthetankshouldbecoatedwithanti‐corrosionpainttopreventcorrosionofthesurfaces
thatareincontactwithseawater;
Thesecondstepisthepre‐treatmentofseawaterbypumpedwaterusingfiltrationandchemical
doses.Acoagulantisaddedtotheacidifiedseawater,whichiseffectivelymixedandthen
immediatelypassedthroughadual‐mediafiltertoremovethemicroflocswhichhaveformed.
Polyelectrolytescanbeusedinadditiontocoagulantstosupporttheformationofstable,filterable
flocs.Adisinfectantisinjectedintotheseawatertopreventmicrobiologicalactivitiesinthepipes
andfilters.AcidisrequiredtopreventcarbonatescalingontheROmembranesandisalsoadded
upstreamofthedual‐mediafilter.Thedual‐mediafiltershavetoberegularlybackwashedwith
filtrateorbrineandscourairfromthebottomtothetop.Therejectedwaterisdischargedinto
thesea.Thepowerconsumptionofthefilterfeedpumpanddischargepumpwereestimatedto
be40kWhand226m3/hat5bar,respectively.Aself‐cleaningfilter,whichisresponsiblefor
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9510of24
removingsuspendedparticleswithasizeofmorethan20micron,isaddedtothesystem.A
cartridgefilterwithanominal5micronmeshsizeisalsousedintheore‐treatmentprocess;
ThethirdstepistheROdesalinationprocess,includinghigh‐pressurepumpsandamultistage
centrifugalpumpwithaconsumptionpowerof200kWhanddischargeof86m3/hat65bar.RO
skidscontain26vessels,witheachhavingsixmembranemodulesoftheFILMTECSW30HRLE‐
440type.Desaltedwateristransferredtoproductwatertanks.Theplantcontainsadosing
system,includingdosingpumpsandchemicaltanksforfilteraid,antiscalant,postpH
adjustment,andpostdisinfection.Cleaningandflushingsystemsarealsoincluded.Chemical
cleaningoftheROmembranesisperformedregularlyinordertore‐establishtheinitialplant
performance;
Thefourthstepistodischargethebrinefarfromtheplant.Dischargeoutfallsarelocatedatthe
aftoftheplanttodissipatehighsalinityrejectedbrineinthedirectionofacurrentstreamtoa
distance300mfromtheplantintosurfacebodiesofsea.Feedwaterintakeislocatedatthelower
pointofthebottomoftheplanttodecreasetheeffectofdischargedbrine.FDPhastheadvantage
ofdischargingbrinefarfromthecoastline,whichhelpstoeliminatetheenvironmentalimpact
onmarinelifecomparedwiththedischargingprocessofland‐basedplants.
Thelaststepincludespost‐treatmentandtransferstoashorefacility.Thefiltrateispolishedby
meansoffinefiltersforthefinalprotectionoftheROmembranesfromsuspendedparticles.A
dechlorinationagentisinjectedintothefeedwaterstreamtoeliminatetheresidualdisinfectant.
Thefeedwaterispumpedthroughthemembraneswithsufficientpressure.Intotal,40%ofthe
feedwaterisconvertedintopermeate,andtheconcentrateispassedthroughanenergyrecovery
turbineandthenpartiallytransferredtothebackwashtankandmainlydischargedoverboard.
Bypassingtheconcentratethroughtheenergyrecoveryturbine,theconsumptionofelectric
energyiscutby35%.TheproposeddesalinationsystemispresentedinFigure8.
Figure8.Theproposeddesalinationsystem.
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9511of24
3.3.PowerSystem
Manystudieshaveshownthatarenewableenergy‐poweredROdesalinationsystemismore
reliableandsustainablethanothers,duetodifferentfactors,suchasitslowoperationcost;lowcarbon
dioxideemissions;cleanenergysystem;andusageofnaturalresources,whicharepermanent[38].
However,manyfactorsshouldbetakenintoconsiderationbeforechoosingrenewableenergy,such
asthefeedandproductwatersalinity,feedpressure,plantlocation,windspeedandsolarradiance
atthesite,plantsize,andcostofproductwater[39,40].Thesefactorsplayavitalroleindetermining
theelectricalenergyrequiredandtherateofpropersources.
TheproposedFDPconceptpoweredbyasolar–windintegratedsystemisastand‐alone,mobile,
andhybridoff‐gridsystem.Therefore,itisaself‐sustainablesystem.Thesystemconsistsoftwomajor
componentsorsubsystems:Asolar‐PVsystemandoffshorewindturbinesystem.Thesecomponents
areintegratedinto,orinterconnectedwith,theROdesalinationsystem,asshowninFigure9.
Controlandintegrationofthesolar–windsystemareperformedbypowerinverters,anda
controllingsystemgovernsthesolar‐PVandwindturbinesystems.Thehybridsystemhereisdefined
asanoff‐gridenergygenerationsystemintheformofelectricityandfreshwater.Bothproductsare
generatedbyharvestingrenewableresourcesfromthesun,wind,andsea.Themanagementof
pumpingfreshwatertoashorefacilityisaccomplishedbypressurepumpslocatedatthetopofeach
storagetank.
Figure9.Blockdiagramoftheintegratedsolar–wind‐drivendesalinationsystemusedintheFDP
concept.
ThetotalpowerconsumptionofeachROmodulewasestimatedusingtheWAVEsimulation
program.ThetotalpowerforallROmoduleswasestimatedtobe1591.2kWh,asshowninTable2.
Thepeakpowerofeachmodulewithoutapowerrecoverysystemwasestimatedtobe483.9kW.For
marineoperationandtheaccommodationofpowerloads,themaximumpowerconsumptionwas
estimatedforotheroperatingpumps,lighting,andcontrolandoutfittingdevicestobe1660kWh,as
showninTable3.
Table2.PowerconsumptionofeachROmoduleperhour.
No ITEMFlowrate
(m3/h)
Head
(bar)
Efficiency
(%)
ABSORBED
POWER
(KW)
QTY
TOTALABSORBED
POWER
(KW)
01Filterfeedpumps226578406240
02highpressurepumps8665.57820061200
03Highpressureboosterpumps12837814684
04cleaningandflushingpumps21047830260
05Coagulant0.361.8
06Antiscalant0.361.8
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9512of24
07PostpHadjustment 0.361.8
08Postchlorination 0.361.8
Total1591.2
Table3.Powerconsumptionofmarineserviceunitsperhour.
No ITEMFlowrate
(m3/h)
Head
(bar)
Efficiency
(%)
ABSORBED
POWER
(KW)
QTY
TOTALABSORBED
POWER
(KW)
01Ballasttankspumps 10005781006600
02dischargepumps 22610781006600
03Firefightingpumps5007078502100
04superstructureservicepumps21047830260
05transportationpumps 4165781001100
06Lightingandaircondition 1001100
07controlandoutfitting    1001100
Total1660
ThetotalmaximumpowerloadfortheproposedFDPconceptis3.2512MWh(78.029MW/day).
ThispowerwillbesuppliedbyaV112‐3MWturbinelocatedatthecenteroftheplatformandPV
panelswillbedistributedoverthesundeckoftheplatform.Thehybridpowersystemwillcoverthe
plantpowerconsumptionwithaproductionof79.2MW/day.
3.3.1.OffshoreWindturbine
Asmentionedearlier,theRasGharebareainEgypthasaveryhighpotentialforusingoffshore
windturbines.Thehourlywindspeedfortheselectedsiteisthefirstdatarequiredforthedesignof
awindturbine.ThedatawascollectedfromtheEgyptianMetrologicalAuthorityofRas‐Ghareb[41].
RasGharebhasanaveragewindspeedequalto9.8m/sata24.5mheightfromthegroundand12.5
m/sata100mheight[41].TheaveragemonthlywindspeedisshowninFigure10forbothheights
of24.5and100m.TheFDPconceptshouldbeadaptedtothesitethatitisdesignedfor.Thethree
megawattVestaswindturbinewasselectedfortheproposedFDPconcept.Theturbineratingspeed
is12m,andtheheightoftherotorcenterfromthesealevelisapproximately100mfromthesealevel,
whichmakesthisturbinesuitablefortheaveragewindspeedintheRasGharebarea.Theturbine
specificationsarepresentedinTable4.Equation(3)wasusedtoestimatethemaximumthrustforce
generatedbytheturbineinordertoevaluatethestaticstabilityduringturbineoperation.Thethrust
forceisafunctionofthewindspeed,rotorsweptarea,airdensity,andturbinethrustcoefficient[42].
TheresultsareshowninTable5andFigure11.Theresultsrevealthatthemaximumthrustis483.8
kNandoccursatawindspeedequalto10m/s.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
V(H=24.5m) 7.5 7.8 9.3 9.7 10.3 12 11.1 11.7 11.4 10 7.8 7.7
V(H=100m) 9.7 10 12 12.5 13.3 15.5 14.7 15.1 14.7 12.9 10 9.9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
MeanWindSpeed[m/sec]
V(H=24.5m) V(H=100m)
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9513of24
Figure10.MeasuredmeanmonthlywindspeedsofRasGharebstationat24.5and100m.
Table4.V112‐3MWturbinespecification.
Parameter‐Specification
TypeV‐1123.0MWIECclassIIA
Rotordiameter(m)112
Sweptarea9852m2
Nominaloutput 3.0MW
Windspeedrating(m/s)12
Numberofblades 3
Towerheight(m)86
𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 1
2𝐶𝜌𝐴𝑈(3)
whereρistheairdensity(1.225kg/m3),Aistheturbinesweptarea,Uisthewindvelocity,andCtis
thethrustcoefficient.
Table5.V112‐3MWturbinethrustforceandthrustcoefficientcalculation.
windspeedCtT[kN]
30.91651.16867
40.85484.80939
50.838130.032
60.808180.5427
70.84255.4709
80.833330.8957
90.799401.6964
100.707438.8191
110.543407.8038
120.391349.4663
130.295309.4388
140.232282.2345
150.186259.7536
160.153243.107
170.127227.8073
180.107215.1765
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9514of24
a) Turbinethrustcoefficientandforce. b)Turbinepoweroutput.
Figure11.V112‐3MWturbinethrustforce,thrustcoefficient,andpoweroutput.
Basedonthewinddataandturbineperformancecurve,showninFigure12,theminimum
annualaveragewindspeedinRasGharebis9.8m/s.Theturbinecangenerate2.7MWhatthiswind
speed,whereasatthemaximumannualaveragewindspeedof15.5m/s,theturbinecangenerateits
maximumpowerof3MWh.MostofthewindinRasGharebcomesfromanorthwestdirection(77%),
asshowninthewindrosediagraminFigure12,andthemaximumfrequencyofoccurrenceisfrom
theNorthWestsector(330
o
)[43].
Figure12.WindrosediagramfortheRasGharebzoneata24.5meterheight.
3.3.2.PhotovoltaicSolarSystem
ThecomponentsofanysolarsystemconsistofPVpanelsorcollectors,achargercontroller,
batteries(iftheenergyneedstobestored),andaninvertertoconvertDCintoAC.ThePVoutput
powerisaffectedbymanydifferentfactors,suchassolarPVcellefficiency,solarradiation,ambient
temperature,andwindspeed[44].HofierkaandKuanuk[44]havesuggestedaformulafor
estimatingthetotalannualelectricityoutputforasystem:
𝐸

𝐴
𝐸
𝐺

,(4)
where𝐸

istheannualelectricityinkWh,𝐴
isthetotalsurfaceareaofsolarcellsinsquare
meters,𝐸
istheannualmeanpowerconversionefficiencycoefficientforPVtechnology,and𝐺

istheannualtotalglobalirradiation(kWh/m
2
).AccordingtotheSolarAtlasofEgypt,theaverage
0
100
200
300
400
500
0 5 10 15 20 25
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Thrust[kN]
WindSpeed[m/sec]
ThrustCoeff.
V112‐3MWThrust
Ct
T[kN]
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 5 10 15 20 25
PowerOutput[MW]
WindSpeed[m/sec]
V112‐3MWPowerOutput
P
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
15 30
45
60
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180
195
210
225
240
255
270
285
300
315
330 345
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9515of24
monthlymeansolarenergyforthePVsystemfortheRasGharebzoneisrecordedinFigure13.The
totalglobalirradiationis2327kWh/m2andtheaveragemonthlyglobalirradiationovertheyearis
194kWh/m2(8.08kWh/m2/day).Thetotalareaavailableonthesundeckis6000m2.Themodern
commercialsolarcellstypicallyhavea20%peakefficiency.Basedonthisdata,thePVsystemcan
produce2,792,400kW/year(7,650kW/day).Theaveragenumberofpeaksunlighthoursperdayis
assumedtobe6hours.Then,thePVsystemsupportstheplantpowersystemwith1.275MW/hfor6
hoursperday.AccordingtoJacobson’sdatabase[45],thePVoptimaltiltangleforEgyptis24degrees.
Themarginfactor(𝐹)of20%isconsidered,duetoarrayspacing,thetemperaturecorrectionfactor,
theshadoweffect,andtheoff‐peakperformance.AccordingtoEquation(5),
𝐸 𝐸
.𝐹,(5)
wherethetotalPVpowerproductionis6.12MW/day.
Figure13.MonthlymeansolarenergyforthePVsystemfortheRasGharebzone.
Mono‐crystallinesiliconPVsolarpanelmodulesareusedinthisstudy.ThePVpowerratingis
200Wpermetersquare(20%efficiency),andthedimensionsarea1.64mlength,0.992mwidth,and
0.05mheight.EachPVmodulehasa19kgweightandisexpectedtohavealifespantimebetween
20to25years[46].Thepanelareais1.63m2.ThePVarraysaremountedonthesundeckofthe
platform.InRasGhareb,a24°anglegenerallyleadstoanincreaseof10%inthearea,duetofree‐
standingPVfromshading[47].ThetotalnumberofPVpanelsis3300panels,andthelayoutofthe
PVarrayisshowninFigure14,whereListhedeckwidthof87.5m,Wisthepanellengthof1.64m,
disthedistanceofthearrayequalto1.8m,βisthetiltedangleof24°[48],andWcosβequals1.5m.
Figure14.PVtiledsystemlayoutoption‐basedfree‐standingfromshadingconcept.
3.3.3.PowerManagementPlan
Thehybridpowersystemshouldhaveapowermanagementplan.Thesystemshouldincludea
chargercontrollerorregulatortosavethesystemfromoverchargingandregulatethepoweroutput
alonetodayhours.Moreover,thePVsystemalsoneedsdeep‐cyclebatteriestocontrolPVusage
duringthedayandnight.Thewindturbinecansupportthepowersystematanannualaverage
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
PV(kWh/m2) 125 139 197 220 249 258 261 244 208 174 134 118
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
SolarEnergyforPV
[kWh/m2]
PV(kWh/m2)
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9516of24
minimumwindspeedinRasGharebwith64.8MW/day,whilethePVsystemcanproduce7.65
MW/day.TheminimumandmaximumwindspeedscenariosareshowninFigure15.Inthe
minimumwindspeedscenario,thePVsystemhasashareof9%ofthetotalpowersystemproduct,
whilethewindturbinehasashareof91%.Inthemaximumwindspeedscenario,thePVsystemhas
ashareof8%only,whilethewindturbinehasashareof92%oftotalpowerproduction.
a) Minimumpowergenerated.b)Maximampowergenerated.
Figure15.Minimumandmaximumpowergeneratedinahybridsystem.
3.4.PlatformCriteria
FDPcapacity:Intheearlydesignstage,itisimportanttoestimatetheoverallsystemweighttoselect
asuitableplatformforcarryingthesystem.Thetotaldesalination,hullsteel,auxiliariesandoutfitting
equipment,storage,andpowersystemweightwascalculatedtodeterminetheoverallplatformsize
andvolume.ThetotalweightofthewholeFDPconceptwasestimatedtobe86,708ton
(approximately84,593m3volumeofdisplacement),asshowninTable6.
Table6.Weightestimationforthewholesystem.
ComponentMass(ton)
Nacelle150
Blades+hub70
Tower190
RO‐uniteno.1133
RO‐uniteno.2133
RO‐uniteno.3133
RO‐uniteno.4133
RO‐uniteno.5133
RO‐uniteno.6133
Storagecapacity(ton)60,000
Assumedstructureweightandoutfitting,includingPVsystemweight25,000
HullConfigurationandDimensions:Basedonthedesigncriteriaforafloatingplatformtypeand
configuration,thecylindricalhullbargewasselectedtomeettheEgyptiancasecondition.The
cylindricalbargehullisbetterthanthesemisubmersibleandsparsfortechnicalreasons.Firstly,the
tensionlegplatform(TLP)andSparconfigurationsdonotmeetthemobilityfunctionfortheunit,
Turbine
output
91%
PV
output
9%
Minwindspeed
Turbineoutput PVoutput
Turbine
output
92%
PV
output
8%
max.windspeed
Turbineoutput PVoutput
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9517of24
duetoitsmooringcomplexityandlargedraft,respectively[49,50,51,52].Moreover,the
semisubmersibleislessfavorableforEgyptianshipyardsbecauseofitscomplexstructure[53,54].In
addition,thesemisubmersible’suncertaintyintermsofthestabilityofthestructurewithawind
turbineinoperationandduringthetowingprocesswasconsideredadisadvantage[55].The
cylindricalbargehasasmallerdraughtthantheotherconceptsandis,therefore,moreversatilein
thesensethatitcanbedeployedatawiderrangeofsites,evenatsiteswithshallowwaterdepth.
Becauseofitsshallowdraughtandstabilityinthefree‐floatingconditionwiththeturbineinstalled,
thisconceptisexpectedtobewell‐suitedformanufacturingatEgyptianshipyards,aswellas
allowingmajorrepairsandmaintenancetobeperformedoffsite[56].Becauseofitssimplemooring
system,installationcostsofthestructureareexpectedtobesmallcomparedtothoseofother
concepts.
Toallowthestructuretopassthroughrestrictedplacesonthewaytothesitelocationsandfit
thesizeofproductionandliftingfacilities,theshallowdraftwasselectedtobeamax.of20mina
fullloadcondition(SuezCanalandmostEgyptianlargeportshavea24mdraft).Thisdraftissuitable
formostSuezGulfcoastlinecities,includingshallowareas.Basedonthetotaldisplacement,
maximumallowabledraft,andcylindricalhullshape,thehulloveralldimensionscouldbeestimated,
asshowninTable7.Thedeckareaisextendedoverthehullwidthinordertoincreasethearea
availableforthePVarray.
Table7.MaindimensionsoftheFDPconcept.
PropertiesDimension
Mainhulldiameter70m
Deckdiameter87.5m
Columnheight27m
Platformfullloaddraft20m
Platformdepth32m
Thisnoveldesignisconsideredtobedifferentinconfigurationandarrangementwhen
comparedwithotherconventionalFDPconcepts.Theproposedplantismobile,hasastorage
capacity,andiscompletelydrivenwithzeroemissionsandanoff‐gridmode.Theestimatedarea
requiredforPVonthedeckofaplantisapproximately6000m2.Thelayoutofthesystemcanbeseen
inFigure1.
ArrangementandStorageTanks:TheFPDconceptcanbeconsideredanoffshoremarineunitbased
onitsshapeandconfiguration.Theplatformconfigurationwasinspiredbyoilandgasindustry
platforms.TheFDPplatformcanbemooredneartotheshorelineofanyselectedcoastalcityinEgypt.
Theconcepthasmobilitycapabilityandcanbetowedbetweentwoormorelocationsifneeded.The
FDPconceptsupportstheusualdesalinationequipment,windturbine,PVpanelsonthedeck,and
freshwaterstoragetanks.Thesidesofplatformsareusedasballasttanks.Theinnercentertankis
usedastheseawaterintaketankandpre‐treatmenttankthatcanstoreupto6000m3feedwater
(IntakeSWT).Therearesixfreshwatertanks(FWT)insidetheplatformhullthatcanstoreupto60,000
m3ofdesalinatedwaterandsixballastwatertanks(BWT),asshowninFigure16.
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9518of24
Figure16.Tankarrangement.
Theplanthaslarge‐volumestoragetanksforfreshwater.Thisstoragecapacitycansupply
freshwateratthesameamountforsixdaysinthecaseofacut‐offoftheenergysupplyfromwindor
solarresources,duetoweatherconditionsoranyotheremergency.Therearetwooptionsfor
supplyingtheshorewithfreshwater.Iftheplantiscloseenoughtotheshoretoextendafloating
marinehose,theproducedwatercancontinuallybeconveyedtotheshorethroughthehose;
otherwise,thewaterisdesalinatedbeforetransferringittoshore,andwaterisstoredinsidethe
platformtanksandthenconveyedthroughanaqua‐tankershuttleservice.Theproposedplatformis
designedtocarrysix2000m3/dayROdesalinationsystemsandisequipped,asshowninFigure17.
Figure17.Desalinationsystemarrangement.
3.5.StabilityCriteria
NaturalFrequency:ThenaturalperiodsoftheFDPconceptrepresentanimportantparameterthat
definesthedynamicbehavioramongwaves.Aroundnaturalfrequencies,themotionandload
responsesareaugmented.Hence,theFDPconceptshouldbedesignedtohavenaturalfrequencies
outsideofthewavespectrumbandrange.Naturalfrequencyisafunctionofmassinertia,restoring
thecoefficientandaddedmassofthestructure,asshowninEquation(6).Table8presentsthenatural
periodsandfrequenciesoftheproposedFDPconceptinheave,roll,andpitchmodes.Thisnatural
periodcanbeconsideredacceptableastheyareoutsideofthewavespectrum(lessthan0.5rad/s),as
isrecommendedbytheDetNorskeVeritas(DNV)standardforfloatingwindturbinesDNV‐OS‐J103
(2013)[30].
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9519of24
𝜔
,(6)
whereKisthestiffness(K=ρgA),Misthemass,andMaddistheaddedmass.
Table8.Naturalperiodsandfrequencies.
ComponentPeriod(s)Frequency(rad/s)
Heave15.320.41
Roll20.260.31
Pitch20.360.31
Dynamicstability
Inthissection,thewave‐inducedmotionsandinternalresponsesoftheFDPconceptsupported
bythewindturbineareinvestigated.Wave‐inducedresponseamplitudeoperators(RAOs)ofmotion
werecalculatedatthecenterofgravity(CoG)oftheFDPconcept.Thepresentedresultswere
obtainedfromfrequency‐domainsimulationsusingDNV‐GLSesamsoftwarepackage,HydroD
version4.9‐02.Themotionresponseandhydrodynamicperformanceatsixdegreesoffreedomwere
evaluatedtoensurethatthemotionwasrestrictedwithintheallowablelimitsforEgyptian
environmentalloadingconditions,andtheresultsarepresentedinFigure18.
Themotionoftheplatformisanimportantconcernbecauseitisexpectedthattheplatformdoes
notexperiencelargeamplitudeofmotionduringoperations.TheRAOsaredependentonnotonly
thewavefrequency,butalsothewavedirection.Inthepresentcase,allwavedirectionsarethesame,
duetotheplatformsymmetry.Figures18a–fpresentstheheave,pitch,roll,surge,sway,andyaw
motionsofRAOs,respectively.Figure18ashowsthattheRAOpeakoftheheavemotionoccursat
0.41rad/s,verifyingthevalueofthenaturalfrequencyof0.41rad/sgiveninTable7.Figure18bshows
thepitchRAOsoftheFDPconcept,wherethepeakofthepitchmotionoccursat0.31rad/s,verifying
thenaturalpitchfrequencyinTable7.AllRAOpeaksareoutofthewavespectrumrangeoftheRas
Gharebarea.
(a)(b)
(c)(d)
0
2
4
6
8
00.511.52
RAO
Feq.[rad/s]
HeaveRAO
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
00.511.52
RAO
Feq.[rad/s]
PitchRAO
0
0.0001
0.0002
0.0003
00.511.52
RAO
Feq.[rad/s]
RollRAO
0
2
4
6
00.511.52
RAO
Feq.[rad/s]
SurgeRAO
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9520of24
(e)(f)
Figure18.ThemotionresponseatsixdegreesoffreedomfortheFDPconcept.a)HeaveRAO;b)
PitchRAO;c)RollRAO;d)SurgeRAO;e)SwayRAO;f)YawRAO.
StaticStability
AstabilitystudywasperformedusingtheDNV‐GLSesamsoftwarepackage,HydroDversion
4.9‐02.ThemaximumthrustforceproducedbytheVestasV‐112turbineattheratedspeedwas
estimatedasthestaticforceactingonthetopoftheturbinetower.Themaximumwindoverturning
momentwascalculatedbytheproductofthemaximumthrustandthearmofthemoment(fromthe
centeroftherotortotheCoGequivalentto100m).Thetotalwindoverturningmomentwas
calculatedas43.88MNm,andthisvaluewasusedinthestabilityanalyses.Themaximumthrustload
experiencedbytheV112‐3MWturbineattheratedwindspeedwasequalto438.8kN.Theheeling
momentactingontheFDPconceptwasplottedwiththerightingmomentarm(GZ),asshownin
Figure19.
TheHydroDsoftwarestabilitywizardwasusedtoperformthestabilityanalysis.Theanalysis
wassetupforarangeofanglesfrom0to180°,assumingthattheFDPwasinanintactcondition,and
themaximumwindoverturningmomentwascalculatedtobe43.88MNm.Instabilitycalculations,
thewindforcewasappliedatzerodegrees.ThesecalculationswereperformedinHydroDby
definingawetsurfaceandemployingafinemeshwitharectangularelementsizeof0.1m.The
interceptionanglesbetweentherightingandthewindoverturningmomentcurveswerearound3°
foralldirections,duetoshapesymmetry.Theinclinationduringtheoperationwassatisfiedasit
remainedsmallerthan6°withwindoverturningmoment.
StabilityanalysesfulfiltheOffshoreStandardDNV‐OS‐J103(2013)forfloatingoffshore
structures,wheretheareaoftherightingmomentcurveisgreaterthanthewindoverturningmoment
curvebymorethan130%forallwinddirections.Anotherstandardthatismetisthestabilitycurve,
whichispositivefortheentiretestanglerange.ThestabilityresultsshowthattheFDPconcept
supportedbyawindturbinehasacceptablerestoringcapacitiesagainstthewindloadinallwind
directions.
0
0.0005
0.001
0.0015
0.002
0.0025
00.511.52
RAO
Feq.[rad/s]
SwayRAO
0.00E+00
1.00E‐08
2.00E‐08
3.00E‐08
4.00E‐08
00.511.52
RAO
Feq.[rad/s]
Yaw RAO
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9521of24
Figure19.Rightingmomentarm(GZ)curvefortheFDPconcept.
3.6.FDPMobilityConcept
TheproposedFDPconceptwasdesignedtoservedifferentcoastalcitiesinEgypt.Accordingto
thepowermanagementplan,showninFigure15,windpowerprovidesabout91%oftheplant’s
overallpowerconsumption.Therefore,itisnecessarytogiveprioritytochoosingasuitablelocation
accordingtothewindpotentialinEgypt.BasedontheWindAtlasofEgypt,showninFigure5,the
bestcitieswhicharesuitablearelocatedintheGulfofSuezandGulfofAqbaareasinEgypt.The
averagewindspeedofbetween8and12m/sshowsthehighpotentialfortheuseofwindpower
sourcesintheseareas.ThemobilityoptionoftheplatformwillhelpEgypttorespondtovariable
waterdemandsintheseareas,withouttheneedtobuildnewland‐basedconventionaldesalination
plants.FDPcanbetowedbytowingtugsorliftedaboardabargeorshipliftertotransportittoits
newlocation.
4.Conclusions
WaterscarcityinEgyptisexpectedtoincrease,duetotherapidlyincreasingpopulationand
adverseagriculturalpolicies.Thedesalinationofseawaterbyrenewableenergyisanalternative
solutionforovercomingthefreshwatershortage,particularlyinremotecoastalcities,inEgypt.
AlthoughEgypthasahighpotentialformarinerenewableenergy,thishasnotyetbeenexplored.
Therefore,thefeasibilityoftheFDPconceptpoweredbyoffshorerenewableenergyhasbeen
evaluatedforEgyptasaninnovativesolutionforcoastalcities.Adesignprocedurewasdeveloped
fortheFDPconcept.AnovelFDPconceptpoweredbyahybridsolar–windsystemwasnumerically
evaluatedusingtheDNV‐GLSesamsoftwarepackageforstaticanddynamicconditions,andthe
WAVEprogramwasusedforROdesalinationsystemdesignandpowerconsumptionprediction.
Sincethesystemonlyutilizesoffshorerenewablesolarandwindenergies,RasGharebcitywas
selectedfortheFDPconcept,duetoitsabundanthighsolarirradiationandhighwinddensity.The
resultsshowthattheproposedFDPconceptisafeasibledesignthatcanmeetstabilitycriteriaand
performefficientlyinEgypt’senvironmentalconditions.Therefore,theproposedFDPconceptcan
contributetosocio‐economicaspectsofEgyptandpavethewayfordevelopingremoteareas.Dueto
itsportability,theconceptcanalsobedeployedindifferentlocations,dependingonthewater
demand.
AuthorContributions:Conceptualization,I.A.,S.B.,M.E.,H.S.,S.O.,andE.O.;methodology,I.A.,M.E.,H.S.,
andE.O.;writing—originaldraftpreparation,I.A.;writing—reviewandediting,I.A.,E.O.,M.E.,andH.S.;
visualization,I.A.;projectadministration,E.O.andM.E.Allauthorshavereadandagreedtothepublished
versionofthemanuscript.
‐6
‐4
‐2
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 50 100 150 200
GZ[m]
RotationAngle[Deg]
GZ[m] turbineheelingmoment
J.Mar.Sci.Eng.2020,8,9522of24
Funding:TheauthorsacknowledgetheBritishCouncilandScienceandTechnologicalDevelopmentFund
(STDF)forsupportingtheprojectNO.30707(MobileReverseOsmosisFloatingDesalinationPlatformPowered
byHybridRenewableEnergy).
Acknowledgments:TheauthorsacknowledgetheUniversityofStrathclyde’sDepartmentofNaval
Architecture,OceanandMarineEngineeringandDesertResearchCentre,forthetechnicalexpertiseandsupport
providedduringtheperiodofresearch.
ConflictsofInterest:Theauthorsdeclarenoconflictsofinterest.
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©2020bytheauthors.LicenseeMDPI,Basel,Switzerland.Thisarticleisanopenaccess
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(CCBY)license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
... Amin et al. [158] designed and analyzed a novel floating desalination plant (FDP) driven by a PV system and an offshore wind turbine operated completely, off-grid as illustrated in Fig. 26. The FDP used RO as the desalination technology due to its availability in the country and low prices compared to other desalination technologies, considering the high salinity of the feedwater. ...
... Proposed design of the floating desalination plant powered by wind and PV[158]. (Open access). ...
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... Currently, the reverse osmosis process is widely used for desalination in Egypt, especially for coastal areas, as these remote areas are far from the national water and electricity networks. While the RO needs a large amount of energy, power is mostly generated using fossil fuels, which affects the environment in this area [AMIN et al. 2020;EL KOMY 2019;EMBAB 2004;IRENA 2013;METWALLY, ABDALLA 2006]. Therefore, unconventional RO technology plays a vital role for fresh water resources in coastal areas in Egypt. ...
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Energy and water are the core of sustainable development pathway for any remote community. Moreover, clean energy powered water desalination is essential for climate resilience. Combination of solar chimney power plant with seawater desalination system is proposed to overcome both clean energy and clean water resource challenges for remote areas. In this work, a novel solar-powered hybrid generator of power and sea water desalination is proposed, where solar power system has been combined with liquid desiccant system to simultaneously produce power and fresh water. Numerical and experimental investigation on the proposed system is conducted to prove the concept. It was concluded that using this technology and under daily averages of solar irradiance of 500 W/m2 and atmospheric air humidity ratio of 0.019 (kg water vapour/kg dry air), a combination of power generation capacity higher than 50 MW could economically produce power and fresh water. Furthermore, an average of 5.6 l/h of fresh water could be produced per 1 kg/s of Solar Chimney Power Plant (SCPP) working air.
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... But recently, desalination techniques have been developed to reduce its cost, so the use of desalination has expanded to include the agricultural sector (El-Fakharany et al., 2020). Since the cost of energy is one of the main reasons for the high cost of desalination (Bhojwani et al., 2019a), the use of solar energy in desalination is an effective solution in the remote lands of Egypt due to its low negative environmental impacts and cost (Amin et al., 2020). In Egypt, most desalination-based plants for irrigation purposes are small plants that based only on reverse osmosis without adequate study of their systems and effectiveness. ...
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Full-text available
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A Comparison of Fatigue Life Improvement Methods for an Existing Offshore Jacket Platform Structure
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Most offshore Jacket platforms are installed in shallow water, less than 300 meters for drilling and production of oil or gas. They are normally fixed to seabed and constructed as three dimensional frameworks with tubular members as structural elements. The surrounding environment around offshore platform is affected by various environmental loads that comprise of wind, waves, currents and earthquake. The major load in such structures is wave loading, repetitive in nature which causes time varying stresses that results global and or local fatigue damage on the offshore steel structure. This study includes fatigue assessment of a selected jacket structure using ANSYS software. This study concentrates mainly on the stress reduction at joints by various methods under the applied cyclic loading. The various methods considered in this study are providing: joint cans with branch stubs, grouted connections, FRP wrappings, stiffeners at the joint section. A comparison of various methods for reducing the hotspot stresses which increases fatigue life are studied and the most effective one is recommended.
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Photovoltaic Power Systems Optimization Research Status: A Review of Criteria, Constrains, Models, Techniques, and Software Tools
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Full-text available
  • Sep 2018
The photovoltaic (PV) generating system has high potential, since the system is clean, environmental friendly and has secure energy sources. There are two types of PV system, which are grid connected and standalone systems. In the grid connected photovoltaic system (GCPV), PV generator supplies power to the grid, whether or not the whole or a portion of the generated energy will be used to supply load demands. Meanwhile, the standalone photovoltaic system (SAPV) is used to fulfil a load demand that close to its point of use. These days, many researchers study in term of optimization sizing of photovoltaic system, in order to select optimum number of PV modules, inverter, battery storage capacity, and tilt angle. Based on that, this review aims to give explanations on approaches done by previous researchers in order to find ultimate combinations for design parameters. Moreover, the paper discusses on modelling of PV system components, which includes PV panels’ output power estimation and battery system. Finally, simulation softwares that used as sizing tools in previous studies are reviewed and studied.
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Operation of conventional and unconventional energy sources to drive a reverse osmosis desalination plant in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
Article
  • Jun 2019
  • RENEW ENERG
Desalination process is an essential demand to overcome the lack of drinking water in remote areas in Egypt. Hybrid energy system drives desalination techniques to provide potable water for islands and coastal zones where there is no electrical grid. This paper analyzes the technical configuration, sizing and economic optimization of off-grid hybrid energy system powered reverse osmosis plant. The hybrid system consists of wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, converters, storage batteries, and a diesel generator. The objective of this study is to satisfy the electrical energy demand of the reverse osmosis (RO) plant with a freshwater capacity of 100m3/day for use at Nakhl, North Sinai, Egypt. This simulation studied eleven different configurations of energy sources to select the optimal case at the proposed location. Homer package is used to select the cost-effective, sustainable and socially accepted system. The simulation is based on calculating the net present cost (NPC), excess system electricity, cost of energy (COE) and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). Through the study, the optimal configuration consists of 160 kW photo-voltaic (PV) panels, 19 strings of lead-acid batteries and a 50 kW diesel generator system. The optimal case achieves the lowest cost of energy ($0.107/kWh) and net present cost ($502,662).
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Nuclear Desalination: A State-of-the-Art Review
Article
  • May 2019
  • DESALINATION
Thermal desalination is an energy intensive process that satisfies its requirement from conventional fossil fuel sources. Current research efforts aim at finding alternatives for fossil fuels to power thermal desalination. Nuclear energy offers a feasible option for power cogeneration and production of fresh water due to the significant amount of recovered useful heat. The heat is exploited to produce steam and generate electricity on-site to power thermal and membrane desalination facilities. Large or small/medium nuclear reactors (SMR) can be used. This paper reviews the various aspects of nuclear desalination, the different nuclear reactors that have been coupled with desalination processes, and the hybrid desalination systems coupled with nuclear reactors. It also discusses the safety and public acceptance for the nuclear desalination practices as well as the latest economic studies and assessments for on –site nuclear desalination power plants. Ten main projects around the world are primarily operated as nuclear desalination plants. The major desalination processes coupled with nuclear SMRs are MSF, MED and RO. The cost of water production using nuclear desalination was estimated to range from 0.4 $/m3 to 1.8 $/m3 depending on the type of reactor and the desalination process used.
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Solar powered desalination – Technology, energy and future outlook
Article
  • Dec 2018
  • DESALINATION
Growing water demands have led to rapidly increasing desalination installation capacity worldwide. In an attempt to lower carbon footprint resulting from high-energy consuming desalination processes, attention has shifted to using renewable energy sources to power desalination. With solar irradiation ample in regions that heavily rely on desalination, solar powered desalination provides a sustainable solution to meeting water needs. The compatibility of each desalination process with the solar technology is driven by whether the kind of energy needed is thermal or electrical, as well as its availability. With rapid advances in solar energy technologies – both photovoltaic and solar thermal, there has also been growing interest in coupling solar energy with desalination, with a focus on improving energy efficiency. In this review, the most recent developments in photovoltaic powered reverse osmosis (PV-RO), solar thermal powered reverse osmosis (ST-RO) are discussed with respect to membrane materials, process configuration, energy recovery devices and energy storage. In addition, advances in new materials for solar powered membrane distillation (MD) and solar stills in the past two years have also been reviewed. Future outlook considers the use of hybrid renewable energy systems as well as solar powered forward osmosis and dewvaporation. Solar powered desalination systems have been analysed with emphasis on technological and energy consumption aspects.
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Effects of heave plates on the global performance of a multi-unit floating offshore wind turbine
Article
  • Apr 2019
  • RENEW ENERG
This paper aims to investigate the heave-plate effects on the behavior of a multi-unit floating offshore wind turbine (MUFOWT). The global performance of the large-scale, square-shape, semi-submersible floating platform equipped with 4 wind turbines at each corner, and 24 wave energy converters on frames along near-waterline is numerically simulated in time domain by using the in-house turbine-floater-mooring fully-coupled dynamic analysis program, MUFOWT. Cases with and without heave plates are systematically compared to identify the role of heave plates. For verification, an independent 1/50-scaled experiment was conducted by authors in the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering's (KRISO) 3D wave basin. The numerical results with heave plates are extensively compared against the physical model-test results. Finally, the global performance results under survival-storm conditions, in which the WECs and blades of wind turbines are fixed, with and without heave plates are systematically investigated. The findings indicate that the heave plates are effective in reducing heave and pitch motions, and shift their natural frequencies with a minimal increase of mass.
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