A Dynamic Optimization Strategy for the Operation of Large Scale Seawater Reverses Osmosis System

In this work, an efficient strategy was proposed for efficient solution of the dynamic model of SWRO system. Since the dynamic model is formulated by a set of differential-algebraic equations, simultaneous strategies based on collocations on finite element were used to transform the DAOP into large scale nonlinear programming problem named Opt2. Then, simulation of RO process and storage tanks was carried element by element and step by step with fixed control variables. All the obtained values of these variables then were used as the initial value for the optimal solution of SWRO system. Finally, in order to accelerate the computing efficiency and at the same time to keep enough accuracy for the solution of Opt2, a simple but efficient finite element refinement rule was used to reduce the scale of Opt2. The proposed strategy was applied to a large scale SWRO system with 8 RO plants and 4 storage tanks as case study. Computing result shows that the proposed strategy is quite effective for optimal operation of the large scale SWRO system; the optimal problem can be successfully solved within decades of iterations and several minutes when load and other operating parameters fluctuate.