Life Cycle Assessment of Hybrid Nanofiltration Desalination Plants in the Persian Gulf

Abstract

Although emerging desalination technologies such as hybrid technologies are required to tackle water scarcity, the impacts of their application on the environment, resources, and human health, as prominent pillars of sustainability, should be evaluated in parallel. In the present study, the environmental footprint of five desalination plants, including multi-stage flash (MSF), hybrid reverse osmosis (RO)–MSF, hybrid nanofiltration (NF)–MSF, RO, and hybrid NF–RO, in the Persian Gulf region, have been analyzed using life cycle assessment (LCA) as an effective tool for policy making and opting sustainable technologies. The comparison was based on the impacts on climate change, ozone depletion, fossil depletion, human toxicity, and marine eutrophication. The LCA results revealed the superiority of the hybrid NF–RO plant in having the lowest environmental impact, although the RO process produces more desalinated water at the same feed and input flow rates. The hybrid NF–RO system achieves 1.74 kg CO2 equivalent, 1.24 × 10−7 kg CFC-11 equivalent, 1.28 × 10−4 kg nitrogenous compounds, 0.16 kg 1,4-DB equivalent, and 0.56 kg oil equivalent in the mentioned impact indicators, which are 7.9 to 22.2% lower than the single-pass RO case. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis showed the reliability of the results, which helps to provide an insight into the life cycle impacts of the desalination plants.

Selection of optimal draw solution recovery technology for forward osmosis desalination system using analytical hierarchy process

“…Additionally, the FO-NF system showed a promising result in its global warming impact, with 2.25 kg CO2eq compared to FO-RO 2.75 kg CO2ep. Bordbar et al (2022) used life cycle assessment (LCA) in an NF-RO process. This study compared five cases of desalination systems: recirculation multi-stage flash (R-MSF), hybrid RO/R-MSF, NF/R-MSF, single pass RO, and NF/RO system, respectively.…”

“…According to the results of the AHP, RO achieved the highest grade in terms of efficiency, gradually surpassing NF, which dropped to third position. Studies by Kim et al (2017) and Bordbar et al (2022) have noted that although NF offers advantages in environmental impact and maintenance cost, RO remains the most efficient technology.…”

Nanofiltration Membranes: Recent Advances and Environmental Applications

“…Bordbar et al [ 9 ] investigated and benchmarked hybrid NF desalination plants in terms of sustainability and the environmental footprint via LCA in the Persian Gulf region. The studied plants were multi-stage flash (MSF), hybrid RO-MSF, hybrid NF-MSF, RO, and hybrid NF-RO, and their impacts on climate change, ozone depletion, fossil depletion, human toxicity, and marine eutrophication were assessed.…”