Optimization of power-water cogeneration in thermal power plants

In recent years, due to the overuse of natural water resources and increase in the demand of water, various methods of water desalination have attracted enormous interest. In order to supply drinking and industrial water, seawater desalination process can be used as a suitable method. Thermal power plants are one of the major water consumer industries that a lot of them are located in the coastal areas; therefore, power and water can be simultaneously generated using cogeneration technique, and consequently increase the efficiency of the existing power plants. In this paper, cogeneration of power (in an existing thermal power plant) and water (using the steam extraction turbine outlet of the existing power plant) has been investigated. According to the obtained results, it was understood that desalinated water production by a combination of reverse osmosis and thermal desalination (multi-stage flash distillation (MSF)) at flow rates higher than 800 m3/h is economically feasible.