SEAWATER DESALINATION POWERED BY THE

MOTION OF THE OCEAN

If we could produce fresh water from salt water at a low cost, that would
indeed be a great service to humanity, and would
dwarf any other scientific accomplishment.
-President John F. Kennedy, 1962

THE NEED FOR DESALINATED

WATER

FRESH WATER DEMAND IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY

DUE TO POPULATION GROWTH, IMPROVED LIFESYLES
AND THE SPREAD OF INDUSTRIALISATION
MANY PARTS OF WORLD WHERE WATER IS SCARCE ARE
CLOSE TO THE SEA
MANY SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES (SIDS)
ESPECIALLY SUFFER FROM WATER SCARCITY
OVER PUMPING OF AQUIFIERS RESULTS IN SEAWATER
INGRESS
SEAWATER INGRESS TO AQUIFIERS WILL BE WORSENED
WITH SEA LEVEL RISE
WATER SCARCITY IS PRESENTLY CONCENTRATED IN
THE MID LATITUDES BUT THIS MAY SPREAD NORTH AND
SOUTH WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

EXISTING DESALINATION
TECHNOLOGIES
PRESIDENT KENNEDY HIGHLIGHTED 'LOW COST' AS A PREREQUISITE
AND VARIOUS DESALINATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN
DEVELOPED WITH THIS IN MIND.
EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE BROKEN DOWN AS
THERMAL DISTILLATION
MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGIES
THE FORMER REQUIRES LARGE AMOUNTS OF HEAT ENERGY AND IS
GENERALLY ONLY VIABLE WHERE WASTE HEAT IS AVAILABLE e.g.
POWER STATIONS.
THE LATTER USES LESS ENERGY BUT THIS IS NORMALLY IN THE
FORM OF ELECTRICITY TO DRIVE HIGH PRESSURE PUMPS.
BOTH TECHNOLOGIES ARE VERY ENERGY INTENSIVE AND HENCE
EXPENSIVE

REVERSE OSMOSIS (RO)

RO IS THE MOST COMMON MEMBRANE PROCESS FOR
SEAWATER DESALINATION. RO PLANTS EXIST ALL
AROUND THE WORLD AND IN MANY CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
RO PROCESS USES ELECTRICITY TO DRIVE HIGH
PRESSURE PUMPS WHICH EFFECTIVELY DRIVE
SEAWATER THROUGH A VERY FINE FILTER (MEMBRANE)
TO REMOVE THE SALT
ELECTRICITY TO DRIVE THE PUMPS AMOUNTS TO 45
80% OF THE COST OF DESALINATION (DEPENDING ON
LOCAL ELECTRICITY COST)
CARIBBEAN ELECTRICITY COSTS ARE VERY HIGH

THE SOLUTION TO THE

PROBLEM OF HIGH COST

REMOVE THE NEED FOR ELECTRICITY IN

THE RO PROCESS
USE HYDRAULIC WAVE ENERGY CONVERTERS
TO DIRECTLY SUPPLY FILTERED AND
PRESSURISED SEAWATER TO AN RO PLANT

THE SEATRICITY SOLUTION

FEATURES
NO FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY REQUIRED
FEASIBLE FOR REMOTE AREAS EVEN WITHOUT GRID
CONNECTION
ELECTRICITY IS PRODUCED AS A BYPRODUCT OF THE
DESALINATION PROCESS WHICH CAN BE USED
LOCALLY, FED INTO THE GRID OR USED FOR PUMPING
THE PRODUCED FRESH WATER INLAND
IF LOCAL GEOGRAPHY PERMITS THE SEAWATER CAN BE
PUMPED TO A HIGH ELEVATION RESERVOIR FOR
ENERGY STORAGE PURPOSES
VERY LOW ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

TECHNICAL BENEFITS (RO)

SEAWATER IS HARVESTED OFFSHORE WHERE WATER IS
RELATIVELY CLEAN WHICH REDUCES PREFILTRATION
REQUIREMENTS
UNNECCESSARY TO OPTIMISE SYSTEM FOR MINIMUM
ENERGY USAGE WHICH ENABLES LOWER MEMBRANE
RECOVERY RATES AND HENCE MINIMUM FILTRATION
REQUIREMENTS
NO PRETREATMENT CHEMICALS REQUIRED
REDUCED SALINITY OF BRINE DISCHARGE
VERY HIGH QUALITY FRESH WATER ABOVE W.H.O
STANDARDS

SEATRICITY OCEANUS PUMPS

PROTOTYPE OCEANUS DEVICE, ANTIGUA

OCEANUS 1 DEVICES, EMEC, ORKNEY, UK

SEATRICITY PROJECTS
SEATRICITY HAVE NOW COMPLETED OUR PROGRAM OF
SEA TRIALS IN ANTIGUA AND AT EMEC IN SCOTLAND
PRESENTLY WE ARE ENGAGED IN DEVELOPING A 10MW
ELECTRICITY GENERATION PROJECT AT THE WAVE
HUB, CORNWALL, UK
WE ARE ALSO SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE
CARIBBEAN TO DEPLOY A DESALINATION PROJECT
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST
Bob Tillotson
SEATRICITY

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