Abstract
Addressing water scarcity and elevated energy demand becomes imperative in arid regions like Kuwait and its fellow GCC nations. This study introduces a sophisticated system that synergistically pairs the Forward Osmosis (FO) with the Thermal Recovery (TR) desalination process with a Water-Lithium Bromide (H2O-LiBr) Vapor Absorption Cycle (VAC). This configuration propels the cooling cycle by leveraging low-grade thermal sources, including solar energy and excess heat from power generation infrastructure. Concurrently, the residual heat from the VAC facilitates the TR component of the FO process. This harmonized integration overcomes common challenges encountered in conventional desalination processes, including scaling, fouling, and precipitation, with optimal energy utilization. A thorough assessment of the system’s technical feasibility, performance indicators, and operating conditions was numerically estimated. The extracted results underscore the notable potential of the system. Such a coordinated approach yields significant strides in energy conservation, emphasizing the practicality of multifunctional solutions when facing extreme environmental challenges and water deficits. Single objective optimization reveals the system’s potential when optimized for a sole parameter, such as achieving maximum Qpw, which resulted in 4,450 m³/d. Conversely, when optimized for Qd, the energy demand drops significantly to 220 kW, suggesting a trade-off between water production and energy efficiency.
Keywords: Combined cooling and desalination; Forward osmosis with thermal recovery; Vapor absorption cycle; Multi-objective optimization; Genetic algorithm; Weighted sum; Aggregated objectives.
