Joren De Wachter, Toon Vandamme, Patrick Steenacker

Desalination for the Environment: Clean Water and Energy 20–23 June 2022, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

LP 342

Sea-based desalination with renewable energy: turning challenges into solutions. A practical approach

Joren De Wachter*, Toon Vandamme, Patrick Steenacker

Barinthus Technologies BV, Rubensstraat 46, B-1030 Brussels, Belgium *Corresponding author and presenter: joren@barinthus-technologies.com

When islands want to construct desalination plants they are confronted with a significant number of challenges and risks. Land is scarce and expensive, and energy needs to be imported.

In addition the construction of desalination plants involves several risks including the construction of the plant infrastructure and the network of pipes transporting the feedwater to the plant over land, which may impact environmentally sensitive areas, and which becomes expensive if the plant location is remote. Also, handling the brine generated by land-based plants creates significant additional challenges.

Barinthus Technologies has developed a novel, patent pending, approach to desalination for island and coastal communities.

The concept, currently in functioning prototype modus, consists of using the sea not just as the provider of the water to be desalinated, but as the very place where the desalination takes place. • Using a (nearshore) anchored barge allows for the desalination process to be much more flexible. • It can be done near any coast without requiring space on land. • It can be moved quickly at any time in case of emergencies to other locations, or other islands. • It allows for use of only renewable energy, thereby massively increasing self-sufficiency of island communities, while actively combatting climate change. • It allows for a non-standard and less invasive way of dealing with brine. • It has much shorter lead times to production than any land-based facility.

Even so, this maritime approach creates unique technical challenges, which are addressed in the presentation.

Keywords: Self-sufficiency; Renewable; Zero CO2 emission; Desalination; Floating; Barge; Flexible;

Nopollution; Fast