ABSTRACT
W a te r i s a v a i la b le in abundant quantities in nature; however, there is a shortage of potable water in many countries in the world. In the Arabian Gulf countries and many others, the nonrenewable energy from oil and natural gas is used to produce desalinated water from seawater in multi-effect evaporators. It is also common to use electricity to run reverse osmosis units for water desalination. In the first method, a large quantity of heat is required to vaporize the water, while the second method requires the use of electricity, a high-quality energy, for the high pressure pumping through the membrane, especially when used with seawater. Both these methods consume a large amount of energy and require high-skill operation. Up to this date, these two methods may be considered as the most practical way of desalinating seawater since the Gulf countries, known for their shortage of drinking water, are also known for the availability of oil as a source of cheap energy However, the price of oil is expected to rise in the future as it is consumed and then such energy-consuming processes would be ex pensive.
