A review of potential desalination technologies: Opportunities and challenges.

The objective of this study is to observe the possible future desalination techniques. Currently, the different types of technologies are proposed by the desalination industry. The number of RO applied worldwide increased over other desalination methods. In PLN, RO represents 39% of the total installed capacity, about 31% is provided by MSF, and MED units produce 30%. Therefore, this paper discussed the opportunities and challenges of desalination plants by reviewing the published papers and based on application experience in PLN. The traditional review method is used by summarizing previously published on-topic, further elaborating with PLN research in 2017 according to the context of this study. The results reveal that membrane, corrosion, and fouling are common problems in applying RO globally and based on practice in PLN. Meanwhile, the significant issues in thermal processes are problems with the instrument, pumps, and electrical systems. Optimization in material use, the mechanical design of evaporator systems, and performance rates are the main areas of improvement in thermal. These improvements are expected to reduce the energy demand of thermal processes due to the consumption of energy for thermal is higher than RO. Emerging trends in desalination innovation are also described in this paper. Since climate change has urged the energy transition worldwide by increasing the adoption of renewable energy for both electricity supply and direct use, renewable energy with desalination for future purposes has become a significant choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]