A Computer Based Expert System for Conceptual Review and Cost Evaluation of Desalination Processes

The need for high-quality water significantly increased during the second half of the last century. Desalination is a feasible option that can cover the wide gap between the available capacity and the accelerating demands. Inefficient use of water, increasing water demands, costly seawater desalination methods and limited water resources conduct us to select an optimal desalination process. The decision to use the most appropriate desalination system depends on several parameters: site specific conditions, low investment, simple operation and a high reliability. This paper proposes an expert system for seawater desalination based on a decision tree and Economic evaluation and developed for a software package. The DED computer package includes conventional desalination Technology, multi stage flash distillation (MSF), multi effect desalination (MED), mechanical vapor compression (MVC), reverse osmosis (RO) which are currently under operation in Iran. Factors like conceptual design and economic evaluation determines the optimal selection of desalination technologies. The present work outlines the process selection parameters as well as the economic variables and limitations that influence the product cost. The optimum selection is based on a techno-economic decision, constrained with many social, economical and environmental parameters.

A Computer Based Expert System for Conceptual Review and Cost Evaluation of Desalination Processes Keywords:

Desalination , Expert System Algorithm , Decision Tree , Economic Evaluation