JAMR’s Non-Grid-Connected Wind Power Seawater Desalination System Receives BlueSky Award

The non-grid-connected wind power seawater desalination system developed by the Jiangsu Academy of Macroeconomic Research, in partnership with Jiangsu Fengsheng Seawater Desalination Technology, was announced as a winner at the sixth BlueSky Award ceremony, which was held from June 17^th to 18^th during the Shenzhen International Low Carbon City Forum.

The system is a result of the combination of wind power and a sea water desalination system. The choice of power supply mode can be flexible according to the capacity requirements of the seawater component, with options being solely wind power driven, a wind power-battery hybrid, a wind and grid-connected hybrid or a multi energy cooperative mode. The latest model is the fifth-generation version, the result of many years of optimization, which directly powers the integrated pressure boost and energy recovery device, a substitute for the high pressure pump and energy recovery device used in traditional seawater desalination systems, through a wind turbine. The fresh water is produced by pushing the pressurized seawater through a reverse osmosis module. The system increases the efficiency of wind energy utilization by 10 to 15 percent by means of mechanical energy transfer. The system is easy to install and maintain as it is placed in its entirety within the wind turbine tower, forming an integrated, complete set of devices and was found to enable a more than 80 percent decrease in footprint, a 60 percent reduction in failure rate, a 40 percent cut in investment and a 30 percent improvement in energy efficiency when compared with the traditional membrane desalination device. The system consumes 2.1 to 2.4 kWh of electricity for every ton of seawater being processed. The wind turbine emits no electromagnetic field radiation, and, as a result, does not in any way affect the migratory movements of bird populations or the growth of soil microbes.

The system has three advantages:

• Realizing localization of all production due to its independently developed technology;
• Integration of the wind turbine and the seawater desalination system (all devices are installed in the wind turbine tower and debugged at the factory);
• Small volume, high efficiency, low cost and easy maintenance due to the adoption of a new process that eliminates the need for the traditional high pressure pump and energy recovery device.

The BlueSky Award for Global Top Investment Scenarios to Apply New Technologies for Renewable Energy Utilization, an international event co-sponsored by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges under the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, the Chinese Renewable Energy Society and Shenzhen Energy Group Co., Ltd. and organized by the Shenzhen International Technology Promotion Centre for Sustainable Development (ITPC), was designed to provide guidance on large-scale applications of renewable energy in developing countries, in a move to ease conventional fossil energy supply shortages and mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on global climate.