Energy consumption modelling - ADU-RES

1 Introduction
Many demonstration ADU-RES systems have been constructed and operated
in recent years. In all cases, the quantity of water produced is modest in
relation to the size of the solar collectors, wind-turbines or other renewableenergy
collection equipment. Ultimately, this makes the water expensive and
is the main factor constraining the commercial uptake of ADU-RES.
The problem is largely due to energy losses in each of the individual
components that make up ADU-RES systems. In fairness, similar losses are
also prevalent in small-scale fossil-fuelled desalination systems, but often go
unnoticed because the capital costs of internal combustion engines (or
alternatives) are relatively low.
This report presents modelling of energy flows in a selection of ADU-RES
systems. The aim is to quantify the energy losses in the various components
and thus indicate where attention should be focused in order to reduce those
losses in future system designs.
The selected systems include solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power; they
are all based on reverse osmosis (RO).
ADU–RES WP6 Deliverable 6.1 Page 4 of 69