Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) is an emerging method of power generation. It can be used for producing renewable energy from two streams of a different salinity. i-e It can be implemented at places where the river meets the sea. In principle, a PRO system would take in river water and seawater on either side of a semi-permeable membrane. Through osmosis, water from the less-salty stream would cross the membrane to a pre-pressurized saltier side, creating a flow that can be sent through a turbine to recover power. A team at MIT has now developed a model to evaluate the performance and optimal dimensions of large PRO systems. In general, the researchers found that the larger a system’s membrane, the more power can be produced — but only up to a point. Interestingly, 95 percent of a system’s maximum power output can be generated using only half or less of the maximum membrane area. A PRO system could potentially power a coastal wastewater-treatment plant by taking in seawater and combining it with treated wastewater to produce renewable energy.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 05:31:44 +0000
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