Modelling |
Right: Simple reverse osmosis water filter diagram. Enhanced modelling and optimisation will eventually aid in the large-scale adoption of Integrated Pumped Hydro Reverse Osmosis Systems
scenarios with higher sediment yields experience the most substantial loss of storage volume and the delta moves further downstream, resulting also in a decrease in trapping efficiency. Ultimately, the interdisciplinary model chain highlights that land use change outweighs climate change effects in Mediterranean regions. Therefore, localised management actions for land use change in the catchment, such as policy-enforced crop adaptations and afforestation, can reduce soil loss and sediment production. In addition, the long-term prediction strength of the model and the spatially explicit deposition patterns enable the implementation of targeted reservoir management strategies. In conclusion, the authors say that such a complex
References
Hydro-Economic Modelling of Water Resources Management Challenges: Current Applications and Future Directions by J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou, Mahesh Maskey, José M. Rodríguez- Flores, Josué Medellín-Azuara, Samuel Sandoval-Solis§, Tatiana Ermolieva, Zoe Kanavas, Reetik Kumar Sahu, Yoshihide Wada and Taher Kahil. Water Economics and Policy, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2023) 2340003. DOI: 10.1142/
S2382624X23400039
https://blog.ucsusa.org/ pablo-ortiz/we-reviewed- more-than-150-paper-on- water-management-heres- what-we-learned/
An interdisciplinary model chain quantifies the footprint of global change on reservoir sedimentation by Kilian Mouris, Sebastian Schwindt, María Herminia Pesci, Silke Wieprecht & Stefan Haun. Scientific Reports
(2023) 13:20160. https://doi. org/10.1038/s41598-023- 47501-1
Design models for small run- of-river hydropower plants: a review by David Tsuanyo, Boris Amougou, Abdoul Aziz, Bernadette Nka Nnomo, Davide Fioriti and Joseph Kenfack. Sustainable Energy Research (2023) 10:3
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40807- 023-00072-1 Integrated Pumped Hydro Reverse Osmosis System optimization featuring surrogate model development in Reverse Osmosis modelling by Matthew W. Haefner & Maha N. Haji.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j. apenergy.2023.121812
interdisciplinary and physics-informed model chain demonstrates the considerable impacts of hydro- climatic and land use changes on water availability, sediment production, and reservoir sedimentation in a Mediterranean region. Ultimately the model chain shows that global change leads to increased sediment yields and decreased river discharge, with seasonal shifts for most of the climate and land use change projections considered.
Modelling reverse osmosis Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants are viewed
as being one solution to the impending crisis where demand for fresh water is expected to grow by over 40% by 2050. Converting saline water, such as seawater, into drinking water will help increase freshwater supplies but, as Matthew Haefner and Maha Haji explain in a recent paper published in Applied Energy, the energy requirement for the RO process would only exacerbate the lack of fresh water due to the effects of global warming, if sourced from fossil fuels. In comparison to the treatment of surface water for drinking water, the treatment of seawater for drinking water requires significantly more energy. Thus the ability to incorporate renewable energy sources into the RO process would be ideal for eliminating such a trade-off between freshwater production from RO and carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. And this is where pumped hydro can play a role – the fact that RO desalination plants and pumped hydropower plants utilise and require elevated reservoirs, respectively, presents an opportunity for the co-location of these two systems as an Integrated Pumped Hydro Reverse Osmosis System (IPHROS). Combined with the fact that many drought-stricken coastal areas have nearby mountains at the necessary elevation for these upper reservoirs, a symbiotic relationship can be ascertained through the co-location of a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) system with a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system. The authors say that merging PSH and RO into one IPHROS instead of implementing each individually could result in a number of benefits, including reduced capital investment, lower maintenance costs, and a natural mechanism for diluting the highly saline brine discharge generated from the RO process. For this multi-objective optimisation, the authors
explain how a new reverse osmosis model was created that utilises a blend of empirical and fundamental equations based on the solution–diffusion model of membrane transport, and the boundary layer effects that naturally occur along reverse osmosis membranes.
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In their paper, Haefner and Haji say they take a much deeper dive into modelling the element-level performance of the RO system, considering factors such as the development of surrogate models for predicting membrane performance and including concentration polarisation. Developing a new RO model for the IPHROS model represents an initial venture into increasing the accuracy of the model in representing real-life phenomena. As the authors conclude, enhanced modelling and optimisation, as initiated in their paper, will eventually aid in IPHROS’ large-scale adoption into energy and freshwater infrastructure.
Design models According to Tsuanyo et al in their paper published
in Energy Research, run-of-river hydropower plants are often viewed as being more attractive than conventional hydroelectric plants from an economic and environmental point of view. However, their expected energy production pattern heavily depends on several construction variables that need an appropriate design using specific models. Here the authors analyse several existing models used for the calculation of penstock diameter and thickness and the optimal selection and implantation (admissible suction head) of a turbine, to estimate the energy produced and expected cost of small hydropower projects for grid-connected and off-grid/ micro-grid applications. They say their review can be used as a guide in the design and simulation of run-of-river hydropower plants, thus helping in the assessment of the economic feasibility of projects. It also proposes a classification of reviewed models that could be used as a reference by scholars and practitioners in the field. Furthermore, scholars and developers interested in developing run-of-river feasibility studies and further research activity, especially in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa could find the study to be of use, while study results could also be used to develop a tool for the preliminary studies of run-of-river hydropower projects.
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