Comprehensive study on capital and operational expenditures for different types of seawater desalting plants (RO, MVC, ME, ME-TVC, MSF) rated between 200 m3/d and 3,000 m3/d.

Abstract The following paper is concerned with calculating the capital and operating costs of seawater desalting plants. Formulae for calculating the capital expenditures are given, as are parameters for the operating cost calculation. MSF plants are not competitive in the selected performance range. Whether RO plants or thermic plants yield the lowest water prices depends on how the prices for electric power and heavy fuel are set. This points to the necessity of carrying out detailed calculations for each case.