Economic aspects of membrane processes

Care must be exercised, in predicting operating costs for membrane desalination systems for electricity, labor, chemicals, etc. The assumptions made in establishing unit costs can greatly affect the predicted operating cost and hence the ultimate investment decision. The use of data estimating the quantities of chemicals, power, etc., expected to be used per unit of production can assist in predicting costs, as then site-specific cost data can be used. The fact that 0.2 pounds of acid per kgal of permeate is required in a Florida RO plant is more useful for predicting operating costs of an RO plant on the Island of Anegata than is the fact that acid costs at the Florida plant are $0.03/kgal of water produced. Data based on units rather than costs are presented for seven RO facilities and one ED facility in this paper for use in this type of analysis.