Work

Multi-effect distillation for water desalination in an offshore PEM electrolyser system

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We study the integration of Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) desalination systems with Proton Exchange Membrane electrolysers (PEMEL) for large-scale offshore hydrogen production. The focus is on utilising the waste heat generated by PEMEL to drive the MED process. The developed quasi-steady-state model shows that MED can consistently meet the water demands of a 1GW PEM electrolyser, except for electrolyser input power below 5% of the nominal load. We find that at full load, a large part of the excess heat (up to 94.12 MW) remains uncollected, highlighting a need for further thermal management solutions. For the optimal MED design, we calculate a Gain Output Ratio (GOR) of 3.69, Specific Heat Consumption (SHC) of 631.54 kJ/kg, and a Specific Heat Transfer Area (area per kg/s distillate) of 155.12 m²/kg/s. For this configuration, MED is estimated to occupy a footprint of 129.94 m² in a horizontal arrangement, while the 1GW PEMEL occupies approximately 12000 m².

Source: Energy Reports

DOI: 10.1016/j.egyr.2025.07.031

Authors: M. Haqiqi, S. Dussi, J. Garcia-Navarro

Institutions: Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Utrecht University

Language: English

Topic: Membrane Separation Technologies

Subfield: Water Science and Technology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Affordable and clean energy, Clean water and sanitation, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,040