State of California Department of Water Resources Division ... · Horizontal Surface Typical Differences of Temperature Between Surface and Subsurface Sea Water. ... Geysers, Sonoma

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

DIVISION OF RESOURCES PLANNING

BULLETIN NO . 93

S E WATER DEM INERALIZATION

ENERGY IN THE

WATER PLAN

EDMUND G. BROWNGoooo oo Director ofWater Resources

December, 1 960

STATE OF CALIFORNIA


DIVISION OF RESOURCES PLANNING

BULLET IN NO . 93

SAL INE WATER DEM INERAL IZATION

AND NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE

CAL IFORNIA WATER PLAN

EDMUND G . BROWN HARVEY O . BAN"S

G Director ofWater ResourcesOOOO OO

December, 1 960L I B RA R 1

Courtesy Floor Corporat ionFro ntispiece

Mode l of the co nceptua l desig n of the one million ga llo n -per-da y demon

stra tion sea wa ter co n ve rsio n pla nt a t Sa n Diego .

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

ACKNOWLEDGMENT .

ORGANIZATION , DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

ORGANIZATION, CALIFORNIA WATER COMMISSION

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS .

SYNOPS IS .

GLOSSARY. 0 O 0 O O O 0 O O O O 0 0 O O O O O 0

CHAPTER I . DEVELOPMENT OF STATE INTEREST INWATER DEMINERALIZATION ANDNUCLEAR ENERGY

Pre fa ce

Hi s to ry

Ob j e ct ive s and A ct iv it ie s

Po s s ibl e Future Effe ct on theCal ifornia Water Plan

CHAPTER II . SALINE WATER DEMINERALIZATION

Hi stori cal Ba ckground

Pre s ent Statu s o f A ct ivity inSal ine Water Convers ion

Convers ion Plant s Now in Cal i fornia .

Inst itut ions Engaged in Re s earch on\Sal ine Water Convers ion .

Conference s and Sympo s i a

S ea Water and Bracki sh Water Chara cteri s t i c s .

S ea Water Characteri s t i c s .

Extract ion of Mineral s

Bracki sh Wat er

De s irabl e Water Qual ity .

Energy Re quirement s for S ea Wate r Convers ion .

Minimum Energy Re quirement s .

Cl a s s ifi cat ion of Pro ce s s Energy

Methods o f Converting S al ine Wat erto Fre sh Water .

Di s t il l at ion Pro ce s s e s

S impl e Di s t i ll at ion

Ne eds

Mult ipl e - e ffe ct Di s t il l at ion .

Fla sh Di s t ill ation .

Vacuum Fl ash Di s ti l l at ion

Super- crit i cal Di s t ill at ion

Vapor Compre s s ion Di s t il l at ion .

Sol ar Di s t il l at ion .

Free z ing Pro ce s s

Membrane Pro ce s s e s

El e ctrodialys i s

Revers e Osmo s i s

Other Convers ion Pro ce s s e s

Ion Exchange .

S eparat ion by Solvent s .

Pre c ipitat ion

Algae Experiment s

Department o f Water Re source s A ct iv it ie s .

Department o f Water Re source sOffi ce o f Sal ine Water Cooperat ion

Department of Wa ter Re source sUnivers ity o f Cal ifornia Cooperat ion

Enginee ring Study Contra ct s .

i i

4 C

Re s earch and Development Programs by theOffi c e o f Sal ine Water , Department o f theInterior .

S cal e and Corro s ion .

Long - Tube Vert i cal Di s t il l at ion .

Rotat ing S t il l

Dropwi s e Condensat ion Heat Trans fer .

Low Temperat ure Difference Fla sh Di st il l ation .

So lar S t il l .

Membrane Re s earch for Ele c t r odialys i sand Osmo s i s .

Free zing Pro ce s s

I on Ex ch a nge 0 0 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 O O o 0 0 0 0 0

Organi c So lvent .

Appl i cat ion to Nuc l ear Energy .

Demonstrat ion S ea Water Conv ers ion Pl ant s

Co s t

Long - Tube Vert i cal Di st il l at ion Plant - Texas

Mult i s tage Fla sh Evaporat ion Plant - Cal ifornia

El e ctrodialys i s Plant - South Dakota .

Vapor Compre s s ion Di s t il l at ion PlantNe“, I‘IeXi CO o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Free z ing Pro ce s s P 1 ant - North Caro l ina

E st imate s for S ea Water Conve rs ion

Es timated Pre s ent Co s t s o f Convert edSal ine Water

Predi ct ed Future Co s t o f Converted

s al ine ‘Nater 0 0 O O 0 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 Q 0

s um r y 0 Q Q 0 O 0 O O 0 O 0 O O 0 0 O O O 0 C 0 0

CHA PTER III . NUCLEAR ENERGY

Introduct ion and Hi s to ry .

Fundamental s of Nu cl ear

The Atom

I sotope s

Fi s s ion .

Fus ion

Energy . 0 o o o o o o o

O 0 O 0 0 O 0

O O O O 0 0 O O O O OO 0 0 O 0 C O O O O 0

Nucl e ar Rea ctor Con cept s .

General Cons ide rat ions

Pre s suri zed Wat er Rea cto r .

Bo il ing Wat er Reacto r .

Organi c Moderated Rea ctor .

Sodium Graphit e Rea cto r .

Ga s Coo l ed Reacto r 0 O 0 0 0 0 O O 0 O O O

Homogeneous Reactor .

Fas t Breeder Reacto r

Other Type s o f Rea ct o rs .

Nucl ear Power Co s t s

Pre s ent Co s t s .

Future Co st s

Capital Co st s .

Fuel Co s t s

Nuc l ear Energy for

I sotope Appl i cat ions .

0 0 0 0 0 O

O 0 O O O O 0 O O 0 0

0 O O O O O O O O 0 0

O O 0 O O O0 0 0 O 0 O 0 O 0

S al ine Water Convers ion

Ut il i zat ion of Radioact ive I so tope s .

Princ ipl e s o f So il Mo i s ture andDens ity Measuring Dev i ce s

Vegetat ive Water Us e S tudie s .

Land Sub s idence

Ground Wa te r Re charge

Compact ion Contro l .

Snow Measurement s

I so tope s a s Tracers .

S e epage Studie s

Flow S tudie s .

Po s s ibl e Us e of S tabl e I sotope s .

Po s s ibl e Us e s o f Underground Nucl earExpl o s ions 0 0 0 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 O 0 O 0 0 0

Summary

CHAPTER IV . NONCONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES .

Introduct ion .

So lar Energy .

Te chnique s for Solar Heat Ut il i zat ion .

Te chnique s for So lar Light Util i zat ion

Geothermal Energy

Wind Power .

Ut il i zat ion o f Wa s t e Heat

Marine Energy

Thermal Energy

Tidal Energy

Mis c e l l aneou s Energy Sourc e s .

sumrna'r y 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 0 O O O 0 0 O O O O O O O 0

TABLES

Ma j or S ea and Bracki sh Wat er Convers ionPlant s 0 0 O 0 O 0 O 0 O 0 0 Q 0 O 0 0

Countrie s Engaged in Sal ine Wate rDemineral i zat ion Re s earch .

Conference s and Sympo s ia ConcernedWith Sal ine Water Demineral i zat ionPro ce s s e s .

Concentrat ion of El ement s in S ea Wat er

Approximate Amount of Mineral s in OneCub i c Mil e o f S ea Water .

United Stat e s Publ i c Heal th S ervi ceDrinking Water S tandard s 1 946 .

Qual itat ive C l a s s ifi c at ion of Irrigat ionxqa te r s O 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 O O 0

Type o f Energy Re quired for VariousConvers ion Pro ce s s e s

C l as sifi cat ion of Convers ion Pro ce s s e sBas ed on the Variat ion o f EnergyRe quirement Wi th Init ial Sal inity .

Co s t s o f Converted Wat er Ba s ed on theOperat ion o f Exi s t ing Plant s

Es t imated Co s t o f Di st il l at ion - Typ e S eaWater Convers ion Pl ant s o f Variou sCapa cit ie s

Es t imated Co st s o f Demons trat ionConvers ion Plant s .

Repre s entat ive Es t imate s o f Pre s entBra cki sh Water Convers ion Co s t s byEle ctrodialys i s Pro ce s s .

Re lat ive Quant it ie s o f Energy Containedin One Pound o f Various Mat erial s .

General Data on Nucl ear Power Reacto rsin the Unit ed Stat e s and the Brit i shCommonweal th

Est imated Nuc l ear Power Co st s inAtomic Energy Commis s ion ' sI O- Year Program .

Average So lar Radiat ion on aHo ri zontal Surfa ce

Typi c al Di fference s o f TemperatureBetween Surfa ce and Sub surfa ceS ea Water .

Typi c al Tidal Ra nge s Along theCoa s t o f Cal ifornia .

FIGURES

Mode l o f the Conceptual De s ign o fthe One Mil l ion - Gal lon - Per- DayDemonstrat ion S ea Water Convers ionPlant at San Diego

S impl e Di st ill at ion .

S impl e Di s t il l at ion with Re - u s e o fHeat from Condens er and HeatExchanger .

Mul t ipl e - Effe ct Di st il l at ion

Two Stage Va cuum Flash Di s t ill at ion .

Mul t i s tage Fla sh Evaporat ion Pro ce s s

Mul t i s tage Fla sh Evaporation Pro ce s sPowered by a Nu c l ear Rea cto r

Southern Cal i fornia Edi son CompanySea Water Convers ion Unit atMandalay Bea ch

Experimental Va cuum Fla sh Di st il l at ionPlant at the Ri chmond Fie ld St at iono f the Univers ity o f Cal ifornia .

Super— crit i cal Pro ce s s

Vapor Compre s s ion Pro ce s s .

S O l a-r St il l 0 0 0 0 0 0 Q 0 O 0 O 0 0

Experiment a l So l ar Di s t il l at ionAp paratu s at the Ri chmond FieldStat ion o f the Univers ity o fCal ifornia

Free zing Pro ce s s

El e ctrodialys i s Pro ce s s .

The Bra cki sh Water Convers ion Pl antat Coal inga , Cal ifornia .

Atom and Mo l e cul e Mode l .

Fi s s ion Chain Rea ct ion

So il Mo i s ture Probe .

Geothermal S team Power Pl ant at theGeys ers , Sonoma County , Cal ifornia

vi i i

S TATE O F CAL I FO RN IA

Departmentof Mater fla tmates

S AC RAMENTO

De cember 30 , 1 96 0

Honora bl e Edmund G . Br own , Gove rnorand Member s of th e Legi s lature of theS tate of Cal ifornia

GentlemenI have the honor t o tran smit herewith Bul l et in

No . 93 of the State Department of Water Re s ource s ,ent itl ed

“Sal ine Water Demineral izat ion and Nucl ear Energy

in The Ca l ifornia Water Plan" .

The variou s pro ce s se s u sed in produc ing fre shwater from the o ce an s , and the pre s ent and predi cted futureco s t s for the mo s t promi s ing pro ce s s e s are de s cribed inthi s bul le t in . The po s s ibl e appl i cat ion of nuc l ear energyt o s e a water convers ion and to the ene rgy dema nd for pumpingwater suppl ie s de ve l oped by the State Water Fa c il it ie s aredi s cus s ed .

Although no s al ine wa ter demineral izat ion te chn ique ye t de ve l oped can compete with the co st s of l arges cal e de ve l opment of natural s ource s of wate r in Cal ifornia ,i t i s probable that s al ine water convers ion pl ant s wil l havea de finite pl a ce in the water program . The Department ofWate r Re s ource s wil l cont inue to take a definite and cont inuing intere st in tho s e area s of re search and de ve l opment tha tma y have promi se of e ventual ly produc ing l ow c o s t c onvertedwater .

The s tudy of the appl i cat ions of nu c l e ar energy tothe various a spe ct s of the problem of de ve l opment of apra ct i cal and e conomic wate r program i s of prime importanceto the wel fare of thi s State . The De partment of Water Re

s ource s wil l ma inta i n cont inued and de ta il ed surve il lance ofde ve l opment s in thi s field and the ir appl i cat ion to waterde ve l opment and di s tribut ion .

Honorable Edmund G . BrownGovernor , e t a l De cember 30 , 1 960

The i nforma t ion pre s ented i n th e report s h oulds e rve a s an orientat ion t o the comp lex problems of s e a waterconve rs ion and the appl i cat ion of nuc le ar ene rgy to Ca l if or n i a 's water need s .

HARVEY 0 .

Dir e ctor

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ORGANIZATION


Harvey 0 . Banks Dire cto r o f Water Re source sJame s F . W r ight . Deputy Dire cto r o f Water Re source sWil l iam L . Berry . Chie f Engineer ,

Div i s ion o f Re source s PlanningIrvin M . Ingerson . Chief , Engineering S ervi c e s BranchOswald Spe ir . . Chie f , Wat er Ut il i zat ion S e ct ion

Thi s report wa s prep aredunder the dire ct ion o f

Mauri ce B . Andrew Staff Hydro - Me chani cal Engineerand Supervi so r , Appl ied Nucl ear Engineering Unit

b y

Albert A . Ko ch . . Superv i s ing Hydraul i c Engineer

A s s i s t ance wa s furni sh ed by

Robert M . Bu ckwa l t er A s so c iat e Me chani cal EngineerIrving Goldbe r g A s so c iat e So il s Spe c ial i s t ( Radi o l og i c )Frank S . Davenport . . A s s is tant Hydraul i c Engineer

Port er A . Towner . Chief Couns elPaul L . Barne s . Chie f , Divi s ion o f Admini s trat ionI sabel C . Ne ss l er Coordinator o f Repo rt s

ORGANIZATION

CALIFORNIA WATER COMMISS ION

JAMES K . CARR,Ch a irman , S acra mento

WILLIAM H. JENNINGS , Vi ce Chairman , La Me sa

JOHN W . BRYANT , Rivers ide JOHN P . BUNKER,Gu st ine

IRA J . CHRISMAN ,Vi sal ia GEORGE C . FLEHARTY,

Redding

J . KING , Pet a luma VOLK,Lo s Angel e s

MARION Ventura

GEORGE B . GLEASONChie f Engineer

WILLIAM M . CARAHExe cut ive S e cretary

xiii

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

The Sub committ e e on Water Pro j e ct Us e s for Atomi c

Power o f the A s s embly Interim Commit te e on Cons ervat ion ,

Planning,and Publ i c Works ( As s emblyman Ja ck A . Beaver ,

Chairman ) , creat ed by Hous e Re so lut ion No . 88 , 1 957 , submi tt ed

a part ial repo rt to the 1 958 Se s s ion o f the Legi s l ature . The

sub committe e at the t ime re commended that

”l . The Department of Wat er Re source s give added

impetu s to it s program o f evaluat ion and s tudy o f nu cl earenergy in rel at ion to the pump l ift requirement s o f theFeather River Pro j e ct .

”

2 . The Department o f Water Re source s give ful lcons ideration to the impl i cat ions for Cal ifornia o f thesal ine water convers ion l egis l at ion before the Congre s sand be prepared to re commend an appropriat e cours e ofaction in thi s regard to the 1 959 S e s s ion o f theLegi s l ature .

"

3 . The Univers ity o f Cal ifornia , with due regardfo r it s educat ional and bas i c re s earch re spons i b il it i e s ,

att empt to conc entrat e it s effo rt s i n nucl ear and sal inewater convers ion re s earch into channel s mo s t l ikely tobe o f pra ct ic al u s e to the S tat e a s a whol e .

4. The Legi s l ature support reasonabl e augmentat ions to the programs o f the Department o f Water Re sourc e sand the Univers ity in the s e fi elds .

"

5 . The Committ e e shoul d cont inue to a ct ivelymonito r th e exi s t ing stat e programs in the s e fiel ds andcontinue it s study o f the be st pro cedure s to b e fol l owedby the S tate in it s approach to the s e problems .

"

Created by Hous e Re so lution No . 234, 1 957 , the

Sub committ ee on Water Pro j e ct Power o f the A s s embly Interim

Committ ee on Cons ervat ion Pl anning , and Publ i c Works

( As s emb l yman Ja ck A . Beaver , Chairman ) , carried on the wo rk

init iat ed by the prede ce s sor commi t t ee and submitt ed it s final

rep ort ( Vo lume 1 3 , Number 27 o f A s s embly Interim Committ ee

Report s 1 957 In that report , the committ e e re commended

xiv

"

1 . Cont inued l egi sl at ive support for the programso f the Department o f Wat er Re source s and the Univers ityo f Cal ifornia in the field s o f sal ine water convers ionand nu cl ear energy source s for water pro j e ct s .

"

2 . Immedia te financ ial part i c ipat ion by the S tat ein a jo int federal - s tat e program To r the construct ionand operat ion o f a demons trat ion plant for the convers iono f s ea water on the Cal ifo rnia coa st .

"

3 . Int ens ified effort on the part of the Department of Wa t er Re sourc e s and the Univers ity o f Cal iforniato p rovide t e chnolog i cal solutions to the probl ems po s edby the pot ent ial energy cri s i s .

"4. Cont inuat ion o f a l egi s l at ive commi tt ee a s asource o f information and o f coordinat ion o f the variou sa spe c t s o f the probl ems .

"

In support o f the fo rego ing re commendat ions , the

Legi s l ature appropriated funds to the Department o f Wa t er

Re sourc e s for inve st igat ions o f sal ine water convers ion and

po tent ial u s e s o f nuc l ear power source s a s fol lows

Studie s and

1 958 - 1 9 991

1 959 - 1 9601 960 - 1 96 1 21 7 ,A1 2

Appropriat ions to the Univers ity o f Cal i fornia for

re s ea rch in sal ine water convers ion have been a s fol l ow s :

F i s cal years 1 952 through 1 958

Fi s ca l year 1 959Fi s cal year 1 960

_l / For a cooperat ive federal - s tat e s ea water convers iondemonstra t ion pl ant : ( a ) Engineering studie s

( b ) Inve s t igat ion , pl anning , and constru ct ing convers ionpl ant 0 0 0 .

SYNOPSIS

This bul l et in de s cribe s the variou s phas e s o f the

Stat e 's int ere s t in nu cl ear energy and water demineral i zat ion

as init iat ed through the work o f two l egi s l at ive sub committ ee s

created by Hous e Re so lut ions No . 88 and No . 234 in 1 957 . The

Department o f Water Re source s commenc ed a l ong - range programin the fal l o f 1 957 fo r the s tudy and evaluat ion o f the prob

l ems of nucl ear ene rgy and s al ine water convers ion , as they

apply to the water probl ems o f Cal ifo rnia .

The hi s to ry , the princ ipal demineral i zat ion te chnique s ,

the pre s ent and probabl e future wat er co st s , and re s earch and

development programs , both federal and s tat e , are de s crib ed

and di s cus s ed .

The convers i on o f sal ine wat er has b een pro ved to

be te chni cal ly feas ibl e , through th e suc c e s s ful development of

a number of pro ce s s e s . The great e s t ob sta cl e to it s more

wide spread appl i cat ion to day i s it s rel at ively high co s t and

much effort i s b eing dire ct ed toward redu c ing co s t s . It i s

ant i c ipat ed that mo s t redu ct ions wil l be brought about by

gradual improvement s in effi c iency , mo re effe ct ive s cal e and

co rro s ion control , bett er heat t rans fer , and cheaper mat erial s

and fabric ation te chniques . Al so a breakthrough to lower

co st s may o c cur , perhap s a s the re sul t o f a pro ce s s no t yet

known or envi s ioned . However , convers ion o f s ea and bracki sh

water in the fo re s eeabl e future wil l no t b e abl e to compete

in co st with l arge - s cal e devel opment o f the Stat e 's natural

water re source s . The co s t s o f s ea water convers ion alone ,

exc luding transpo rtat ion to pl ac e s o f u s e , are e s t imat ed to

xvi

l ie in the range of two to five time s the currentl y e s t imat ed

co st s o f wat er suppl ie s made avail abl e by the Stat e Water

Fa c il it ie s .

The pre s ent statu s and future po s s ib il it ie s o f

nucl ear energy appl i cat ions are reviewed and di s cu s s ed and

the princ ipl e s o f fi s sion and fus ion rea ct ions are de s cribed .

It i s indic at ed that el e ctri cal and me chanical power produc ed

by nucl ear devi c e s wil l , within the coming 1 0 to 1 5 years ,

b e come e conomi cal ly comp et it ive with power produced by hydro

el e ctri c and fo s s il fuel generat ing pl ant s . Therefore , it

may be expe cted that nucl ear energy wil l have a marked e ffe ct

on the future development of the Cal i forn ia Wat er Plan ,

e spe c ial ly fo r el e ctri cal and me chani cal power for pumping .

The type s and po s s ibl e us e s o f s o - cal l ed"non conven

t i on a l source s o f energy are reviewed and di s cu s sed . It i s

not anti c ipated , however , that su ch source s o f energy wil l

have an important immediat e influence on the current program

fo r l arge— s cal e development of the Stat e 's wat er re sourc e s .

The future program of the Stat e in the devel opment

o f water demineral i zat ion and nu cl ear energy appl i cat ions i s

di s cus s ed . It i s concluded that , al though pre s ent wat er

demineral i zat ion te chnique s are no t yet compet it ive with the

e conomie s a chieved in the l arge - s cal e development o f natural

water re source s in Cal ifornia , it i s probabl e that sal ine

water convers ion pl ant s may have a definit e pl a c e in the future

wat er program . The Department of Wat er Re source s ha s a

definit e and continuing int ere s t in tho s e a spe ct s o f re s earch

and development that give promi s e o f produ cing fre sh wat er

xvi i

s upp l i e s .a t reasonabl e co s t . The Department o f Water Re source si s al s o increa s ingly involved in the s tudy of the appl i cat ion s

o f nucl ear ene rgy to the devel opment o f a pract i cal and

e conomical water program .

xvi ii


El e ctron Vo lt ( ev ) . The unit energy us ed in nu cl ear phys i c s .

T e energy a c quired by an el e ctron when ac c el erated

through a pot ent ial o f one vol t ? x Btu .

Fo s s il Fuel . A general name for tho s e fuel s ( for exampl e ,

Fuel C ell . A source o f energy by oxidat ion by el e ctro - chemi calmeans at mo re or l e s s ordinary t emperature s , as oppo s edto combust ion .

Gamma Rays . A product o f radioact ive di s int egration : highlypenetrat ing el e ctromagnet i c wave s o f s imil ar nature tox - rays , but o f short er wavel ength .

Heavy Wat er . Deut erium oxide . It s chemi cal propert ie s arenearl y the same as tho s e o f no rmal wat er , but it i s about1 0 percent den s er and has s l ightl y higher me lt ing andbo il ing po int s . It cons t itut e s about one part inof ordinary water .

Ion . An atom or group o f atoms el e ctri call y charged by thel o s s or gain of one or more el e ctron s . It s migrat ionthrough an el e ctrolyte or a gas cons t itut e s the transpo rto f el e ctri c ity . Each ion c arrie s one or more el e ct ri ccharge s e qual to it s chemi cal val en ce .

I sotope . A variety of an el ement whi ch has the s ame number0 el e ctrons and therefore the s ame chemi cal propert ie s ,

but a different ma s s .

Kilowatt . The usual unit of el e ctri cal power , be ing equal to0 0 watt s . A common s i ze e l e ctri c l ight bul b consume s

1 0 0 watt s or kil owatt .

Kilowatt - hour . The usual unit o f el e ctri cal energy . It i se amount o f energy consumed when one kil owatt i s u s ed

fo r one hour .

Ma s s Number . Th e number o f protons and neutron s in the nucl eu s0 an atom , ac count ing for almo s t the whol e o f the mas s o fthe atom .

Mev . One mil l ion ev .

mw. Megawatt , one mil l ion watt s .

Mill . One tenth of a cent .

Nu cl eus . The co re o f an atom about whi ch the el e ctrons revolve .

is co mpris ed of protons and neutron s and has a po s it ivecharge e qual to the number o f protons .

Neutron . A const ituent o f the atomi c nucl eus having the samema s s a s a pro ton , but no el e ctri c charge .

Proton . A cons t ituent o f the atomi c nu cl eu s having a po s it ivecharge e qual to that o f an el e ctron , but about t ime sgreater mas s .

S emi - conducto r . A material int ermediat e between metal s andnon - metal s , and capabl e o f pas s ing an el ectri c currentunder certain condit ion s .

S tage . For the purpo s e s o f thi s report , a stage i s a compartment or ve s s el in whi ch the s ea water i s evaporated andthe fre sh water i s condens ed in the same compartment .

S everal stage s conne cted in s erie s is t ermed mul t i stage .

Trit ium . An i sotope o f hydrogen having atomi c mas s 3 .

CHAPTER I . DEVELOPMENT OF STATE INTEREST INWATER DEMINERALIZATION ANDNUCLEAR ENERGY

Pre fac e

Within the pas t s everal de cade s , thoughtful indi

v i dua l s and group s throughout the wo rld have b een deepl y

concern ed with means o f meet ing , in arid and s emiarid regions ,

the ever- increas ing dema nds for fre sh water for muni c ipal it i e s ,

irrigation , and indust ry . The fea s ib il ity o f convert ing s ea

and bra cki sh wat er has , as a cons e quenc e , be en re ce iving mo re

and more at tent ion as a po s s ibl e medium for meet ing the s e

inc reas ing dema nds . In the Unit ed Stat e s development o f

e conomical convers ion pro c e s s e s i s b e ing v igorous ly pursued by

federal and s tat e agenc i e s and by privat e groups . Abro ad ,

methods of convers ion are b eing s tudied in at l eas t 1 5 countrie s

in Europe under the sponso rship o f the Organi zat ion of European

Coope rat ion , and in other regions o f the wo rld , l argely under

the encouragement of Unit ed Nations Educat ional , S c ient ifi c ,

and Cul tural Organi zat ion ( UNESCO ) , and by individual government s

and privat e int ere st s .

Thi s bul l et in outl ine s the hi s to ry and pre s ent s tatus

o f sal ine wat er convers ion and de s cribe s the act ivit ie s o f the

Department o f Water Re source s in thi s field and al s o in the

field o f nucl ear and o ther nonconvent ional power sourc e s required

for demineral i zat ion pro c e s s e s and for pumping o f l arge vol ume s o f

wat er . Other appl i cat ions o f nucl ear phenomena , su ch as radio

i sotope s and the po s s ibl e u s e of nucl ear explo s ive s , are al so

de s crib ed .

Hi sto ry

Both the Cal ifornia Legi sl ature and the Department o f

Wat er Re source s have , fo r a number o f years , ful ly real i zed the

impl i cat ions to the intere s t s o f the S tat e in the fiel d s o f

water demineral i zat ion and in the appl i cation o f nucl ear energy

to the solut ion o f wat er probl ems . The Legi sl ature has been

a ct ive in thi s fi el d , and the Sub committ ee on Wate r and Power

of the A s sembly Committ ee on Cons ervation , Pl anning , and Pub l i c

Works , unde r the chairmanship o f A s s emblyman Ja ck A . Beaver,

has conduct ed many po l i cy s tudie s on the s e sub j e ct s .

The department has ins t itut ed a cont inuing program

of cooperat ive a ct ivity with the Univers ity of Cal i fo rnia , the

Federal Government , and other o rgani zat ions , fo r the inve s t igat ion and study o f promi s ing l ine s o f re s earch and development

in the fiel ds o f sal ine water convers ion and nucl ear energy .

The department i s al so engaged in an apprai sal o f the po s s ibl e

impa ct o f s c ient ifi c advanc e s on the future pl anning of the

Stat e 's wat er development program . Bo th the department and the

Univers ity o f Cal ifornia , unde r a dire ct ive o f the Legi s l ature

and by it s appropriat ion of funds , have expanded and expedit ed

s tud i e s , a nd re s earch and development a ct ivit ie s in the s e fi el ds .

In 1 958 , the department consummat ed cooperat ive

agreement s with the Univers ity of Cal ifo rnia and with the

Federal Offi c e o f Sal ine Wat er . Both agreement s have ope rat ed

to the cons iderabl e mutual benefit o f the s c ient ifi c - t e chni calprograms .

With regard to the department 's cooperat ive agreement

with the Univers ity o f Cal ifo rnia , the ro l e o f the Univers ity

i s to give ma j or att ent ion to the l e s s wel l - devel oped methods

o f s al ine water convers ion , conduc t ing theo ret i cal and l abo ratory

re s earch and experimentat ion with small p ilot pl ant s where

deemed de s irabl e . The department , on the o ther hand , may carry

c erta in s eemingly promis ing pro ce s s e s into the eng ineering

development s tage when and if condit ions warrant .

Ob j e ct ive s and Act ivit i e s

The ob j e ct ive s and corre sponding ac t ivit i e s o f the

Department o f Wat er Re source s are dual in nature . They are be ing

dire ct ed to the determinat ion o f ( l ) feas ibl e and e conomi cal

development s in s al ine water convers ion pro c e s s e s , and ( 2 ) the

means by whi ch appl i cat ions o f nuc l ear and other more noncon

vent i ona l s ourc e s o f power ma y be empl oyed in the fo rm of heat

o r el e ctri c ity to supply the energy needed to creat e addit ional

suppl ie s o f fre sh water by demineral i zat ion from o c ean o r

bra cki sh wat er source s , o r as pumping power in the conveyance o f

l arge quant it ie s of natural fre sh wat ers .

To suc ce s s ful ly ac compl i sh the above ob j e c t ive s with

minimum co s t and t ime , mutual awarene s s o f the probl ems b etween

the s c ient i s t and eng ineer , and the c it i zens in general are

required , a s i s cl o s e , cont inuous , coordinat ed effo rt s o f both

group s . Thi s is a trend that has b e en increas ingly empl oyed

with suc c e s s in o ther compl ex te chnologi cal fiel ds by both the

Federal Government and privat e industry during the pa s t hal f

c entury .

Up to the pre s ent t ime , the ac t ivit i e s of the depart

ment in s al ine water convers ion have be en s ix - fold , vi z1 . To a cquire al l po s s ib l e knowl edge conc erning

exi s t ing and po tential pro c e s s e s .

To a s so c iat e and cooperat e with publ i c and

privat e agenci e s conduct ing re s earch and

devel opment .

To co l l e c t and anal yze te chni cal and co s t data

concerning convers ion pl ant s now in operat ion

or to be cons truct ed .

To inve s t igat e nucl ear energy and o ther power

source s su ch a s so l ar , wind , t idal , geo thermal ,

was t e indus trial heat and the l at ent therma l

energy o f the s ea .

To inve s t igat e and pl an in spe c ifi c area s fo r

the appl i cat ion o f s ea and bracki sh wat er demin

e r a l i za t i on pl ant s and nuc l ear energy fo r pumping

purpo s e s .

To cooperat e with the Federal Government in de s ign

and construct ion o f a demonst ration s ea water

convers ion plant at San Diego .

Ob j e ct ive s for the immediat e future include a s s i s tanc e

in the cons tru ct ion of the San Diego demonstrat ion s ea water

convers ion pl ant , cont inuat ion o f engineering s tudie s on one o r

more promis ing convers ion pro ce s s e s , a study on the appl i cat ion

of nu cl ear powe r to pumping in the Cal ifornia Aqueduc t Sys tem,

and inve s t igat ion of addit ional appl i cat ion s o f radio i s otope s

in department Operat ions .


The forms and po s s ibl e u s e s o f s e - cal l ed non conven

t i ona l source s o f en e r gy i l / indi cat e that u s eful appl i cat ion

to water development i s unl ikely . It i s not expe ct ed that the

u s e s o f the s e unu sual source s o f energy can have e ither an

unexpe cted o r an important infl uenc e on the cours e o f l arge

s cal e development of the Stat e ' s wat er re source s .

.1/ Energy derived from source s other than fo s s il fuel s o rnucl ear energy .

CHAPTER II . SALINE WATER DEMINERALI ZATION

Introduct ion

The rapid growth o f popul at ion and the paral l el

int ens ive indust rial i zat ion and urbani za t ion , c reat ing an

increa s ing need for agri cul tural produc t s in Cal ifornia and in

o ther area s o f the world , have generat ed a very act ive intere s t

in the po s s ib il it i e s o f e conomical ly d emi n e r a l i z i ngl / s ea and

bracki sh water .

Nature , in the fre sh water re covery phas e o f the

hydro logi c cycl e , rel ie s on so l ar energy to evapo rate eno rmous

q uant it ie s o f water from the o ceans and inl and s ea s . Un f o r

tun a t e l y , however , due to maldi s tribut ion of natural p r e ci p i

t a t i on and , in some pl ace s due to heavy popul at ion and rel at ed

urban and indus trial devel opment , many areas o f the globe are

defi c i ent o r are rapidly be coming de fi c ient in fre sh water

suppl ie s . Su ch i s the cas e in the s emiarid and arid regions

o f T Centr a l and Southern Cal i fornia .

The convers ion of sal ine wat er into wat er po tabl e to

man and us eful to agri cul ture and indust ry i s no t new , and a

number o f methods o f ac compl i shing convers ion have been

deve l oped . Of the s everal methods , di s t il l at ion i s the ol de s t

and i s l ikely the re sul t o f man ‘ s imitat ion o f nature ' s own

convers ion pro ce s s as repre s ented b y the hydro l ogi c cycl e .

_1/ In thi s bul l et in ,

"demineral i zat ion and convers ion are

u s ed interchangeably .

In thi s cycl e,radiant energy from the sun in the fo rm o f heat

evapo rat e s pure water from the surfac e o f the sal ty o cean s .

Subs e q uent meteorologi cal pro ce s s e s caus e the condensat ion and

pre c ipitat ion o f atmo spheri c mo i s ture onto the surface o f the

l and,foll owed by s eepage o f the water into the ground o r con

veya nce by streams and rivers into re s ervo irs , l ake s , o r o ceans .

Crude di s t il l at ion te chnique s fo r the purifi cat ion o f

chemical s probably antedat e writt en hi s to ry . However , spe c ifi c

appl ic a t ions to the product ion o f pure wat er , for ph a rma ceut i

cal purpo s e s , appear to hav e come at a mu ch l at er t ime . In

1 683 , an Engl i sh pat ent wa s i s sued to a man named Fit zgeral d

fo r a method of swe et ening sea water . Thereaft er , o c cas ional

referen ce s to di s t il l at ion of s ea water appear in the l it erature ,

unt il the advent of the s teamship in the ninete enth c entury

when dis t il l a t i on on shipboard be came fairl y common .

The ea rl ie s t and l arge s t di s t il l at ion pl ant e spe c ial ly

de s igned to p r oduce po tabl e wat er from bracki sh suppl ie s was

const ruct ed in the high Atac ama De s ert o i o r th e r n Chil e , at

La s Sal inas , in 1 872 . Ext en s ive s il ver mining operat ions were

t hen in progre s s and al l fre sh wat er , prior to that t ime , had

to be haul ed great di s t anc e s . The La s Sal inas pl ant wa s a

g l a s s covered sol ar s t i l l encompa s s ing an area of about

acre s . It produc ed a maximum O f gal l ons Of fre sh wat er

per day . On the bas i s Of pri c e s preval ent in tho s e days the

total capital co s t including the di s t il l er , windmil l s , pumps ,

piping , and tanks was report ed to be Thi s pl ant wa s

in cont inuous Operat ion for a period Of 30 years .

- 8

The u s e O f di st il l ed wat er on s teamship s , produced

by condens ing s t eam from the ve s s el ' s bo il ers , a l so date s back

to the l 88o 's and thi s method has been increa s ingl y empl oyed

at s ea during the pre s ent century to produce drinking and

boi l er make - up water . Di st il l at ion e q uipment on ship s ha

el iminated the ne ce s s ity of conveying fre sh wat er betwe en po rt s ,

and has re sul t ed in increa s ed cargo Spa ce . Al l l arge mode rn

ship s are e quipped with fre sh water di st il l at ion equipment .

Land bas ed sea water convers ion pl ant s in operation

or under construct ion throughout the world now have a to tal

fre sh wat er product ion capabil ity o f about 24 mil l ion gal l ons

p er day , o r roughly e quival ent to the fre sh wat er demands o f

an average Cal ifornia city having a populat ion O f aboutA de cade ago , the to tal inst al l ed capac ity wa s l e s s than two

mil l ion gal lons per day , which con s i st ed princ ipall y o f the

pl ant s l o cat ed in Curacao and Aruba . Pro ce s s e s o ther than di s

t i l l a t i on were studied during thi s early period , b ut l ittl e

pra cti cal appl i cation resul t ed .

The firs t pl ant s cons tru ct ed in the We s t Indie s , at

Aruba and Curacao , were to provide water fo r dome s ti c us e .

Pre c ipitat ion in the s e two i sl ands i s l imit ed in q uant ity and

o c curs only during a sho rt annual rainfal l period . The

topography i s su ch that l ittl e O f the runo ff i s ret ained on

the surfac e and the avail abl e ground wat er suppl ie s are s cant .

The only al t ernat ive source o f fre sh water wa s that import ed

by tankers operat ing from South Ameri can port s .

9

During World War II , portabl e water di s t il l ing unit s ,

both for purifying the s ea wat er and fo r the purifi cat ion of

bracki sh inl and waters , were vital ly needed by the armed s ervi ce s .

Thi s need wa s l argely met by the u s e o f the Kl e ins chmidt type

O f vapor compre s s ion di st il l at ion unit , whi ch wa s produced in

relat ively l arge numbers . The s e unit s , unfo rtunatel y , had

smal l capac iti e s and they produc ed water at extremely high co s t .

However , they were both compact and vers at il e . S ince 1 945 , the

s ame princ ipl e ha s been app l i ed at remote armed force s ba s e s

where no fre sh wat er i s obtainabl e exc ept by expen s ive s ea tran s

port . Exampl e s o f su ch l o cat ions are Gre enl and in the Nor th

Atl anti c , Wake I sl and in the Pac ifi c , and Turks I s l and in the

Bahama s . More re cently thi s type o f unit ha s b een ins tal l ed

on some off - shore o il dril l ing pl at forms ( Texas towers ) .

S everal years ago , when the She ikdom of Kuwait , on

the Arabian Gul f , undertook the devel opment o f ext ens ive o il

fields there aro s e a need fo r l arge suppl ie s o f fre sh wat er .

To supply thi s need , di s t il l ing pl ant s with an instal l ed capa

b i l i ty in exce s s O f mil l ion gal lons per day have be en con

s tru cted . The s el e c t ion Of the type o f pl ant con struct ed wa s

influenced by the avail ab il ity o f rel at ivel y inexpen s ive O i l a s

a fuel .

As another exampl e , in 1 955 the government O f Aruba ,

Netherl ands We st Indie s , was fac ed with the probl em O f a growing

popul at ion and increa s ed wat er and power needs . A compre

h en s i ve e conomic and engineering survey was made O f al l known

t e chni q ue s O f s ea wat er convers ion . After con s iderat ion o f the

_ 1 0 _

variou s al t ernat ive s , a combined s ea water convers ion and

e l e ctri c generat ing pl ant wa s s el e ct ed . With thi s comb inat ion ,

fre sh water and power could be pro duc ed from the one pl ant with

higher e conomy than with two separate pl ant s .

Pre s ent Statu s o f A ct ivity inSal ine Water Convers ion

In the years s inc e Worl d War II , the number Of l arge

l and bas ed s al ine water convers ion pl ant s ha s b een on the increa s e .

The l arge s t plant s were cons truct ed in arid areas where fre sh

wat er was s carce and fuel was pl ent iful . A s mo re experience

was gained in sal ine water convers ion , t e chni cal advanc e s made

po s s ibl e the reduct ion in co s t o f converted wat er . Many countrie s

began to act ively engage in sal ine wat er convers ion re s earch

programs with h Op e s of solv ing their water shortage probl ems .

In order to fa c il itat e the exchange o f informa t ion among

c ountrie s and among workers in the field , the Unit ed Nat ions

Educat ional , S c ient ifi c , and Cul tural Organi zat ion ( UNESCO ) con

ducted a number o f conference s , a s did pro fe s s ional and govern

mental agen cie s , part i cul arly i h the United Stat e s .

The number o f land b as ed sal ine wat er convers ion i h

s ta l l a t i on s in Operat ions i s growing rapidly . Fo r exampl e ,

pl ant s re cent ly have b e en o rdered o r compl eted in such widely

s eparated area s a s Ecuado r , Bermuda , S t . John , Virgin I sl ands ,

Kuwait,Aruba

,Curacao , and Pe ru . Tabl e 1 indi cat e s the ma j or

s ea and brac ki sh water convers ion pl ant s l o cat ed throughout the

wo rld .

- 1 1 _

TABLE 1

MAJOR S EA AND BRACKISH WATER CONVERSION PLANTs l /

( Exi s t ing o r under const ru ct ion )

Lo cat ion wat er de Pro ce s s : capa c ity ( gal l ons p er: mineral i z ed : day o f fre sh water

Kuwait ( Arabian 2Gul f ) e a a / Di st il l at ion

Aruba ( Netherl ands Ant il l e s ) Sea Di s t il l at ion

Curacao ( Netherl ands Ant ill e s ) S ea Di s t il l ation

Union of SouthAfri ca Bra cki sh El e ctrodialys i s

Nas sau , Bahamas S ea Di s t il l at ion

Cordon ,

Vene zuela S ea Di s t il l at ionEn iwetoc Sea Di s t il l at ion

Qatar Sea Di s t il l ation

I s l e o f Guernsey S ea Di st il l at ion

Las Piedra s ,

Vene zuel a S ea Di s t il l at ion

Mirafio ri , Italy S ea Di s t il l at ionMarcus Hook ,

Pennsylvania Bracki sh Di s t il l at ion

Iran ( Iranian0 1 1 C0 . ) Sea Di st il l at ion 3oo, ooo

Virgin I s l ands S ea Di st il l at ion

Kindl ey AFB ,

Bermuda S ea Di s t il l at ion 22 5 0 0 0

Dharan AFB ,

Arab ia S ea Di s t il l at ion

G ibral tar S ea Di s t il l at ion

1 2


TABLE 1 ( continued )

MAJOR SEA AND BRACKISH WATER CONVERSION PLANTs l /

( Exi s t ing or under constru ct ion )

Lo cat ion water de Pro ce s s : capac ity ( gal lons per: mineral i z ed : day of fre sh water

Sal tair , Utah Bracki sh El e c trodialys i s

New York ( Thruway Autho rity ) Bra cki sh El e ctrodialys i s

_1/ Exclude s numerous in stal l at ions on naval and commercial shipsand po rtabl e unit s us ed in remote Pa c ifi c I s l ands and in otherpart s o f the world .

.2/ Sal inity of Arab ian Gul f wat ers average s ppm comparedwith ppm for standard

"s ea wat er .

In addit ion to the pl ant s spe c ifi cal ly construct edfo r the purpo s e o f convert ing highly sal ine water s , many

companie s are engaged in the product ion of bottl ed drinking

water , us ing s imil ar pro ce s s e s , and produ ce a moderat e amountof di st il l ed water from ordinary potabl e water whi ch may contains everal hundred part s per mil l ion of di s sol ved sol ids . Plant s

with capac it ie s a s great a s gal l ons per day have b een

cons truct ed in Southern Cal ifornia . The wat er produc ed i s

sol d both commercial ly and dome st i cal ly to tho s e who , for one

reason or another , de s ire to have di s t il l ed water avail abl e .

Su ch treatment i s not re quired fo r dome s t i c us e s in Cal ifornia

except a s personal pre ferenc e di ctat e s , for the qual ity o f

norma l munic ipal suppl i e s ut il i z ed a s source wat er i s within

the s tandards permitt ed for such us e s .

The General Conferenc e o f Unit ed Nat ions Edu cat ional ,

S c ient ifi c , and Cul tural Organi zat ion ( UNESCO ) , at it s ninth

s e s s ion in De cember 1 956 , included in the Ma jor Pro j e ct on

S c ient ifi c Re s earch on Arid Lands a propo sal to e stabl i sh a

c entral s ervi c e to fa cil itat e the exchange o f informat ion between

the various ins t itut ions working on s al ine water convers ion .

Thi s wa s to form a cont inuat ion Of the coordinated exchange o f

info rmat ion whi ch had begun under the au spi c e s o f the Organi zat ion

fo r European Economic Cooperat ion ( OEEC ) . Under thi s program ,

s everal member stat e s O f OEEC had arrived at agreement s fo r

Cooperat ive re s earch on sal ine wat er convers ion , such as re s earch

on vapori zat ion conduct ed j o int ly by the Admiralty Mat erial s

Labo ratory ( United Kingdom) and the Central Te chni cal Ins t itute

( TNO) , Netherl ands . S imilar agreement s were made in the fiel d

o f el e ctrodialys i s and di s t il l at ion by means o f sol ar energy .

The UNESCO Advi so ry Committee on Arid Zone Re s earch ,

at it s 1 3th s e s s ion , re commended that the o rgani zat ion undertake

a survey Of in st itut ions and laborato rie s engaged in re s earch on

sal ine wat er convers ion . A que st ionnaire wa s prepared and

mail ed to int ere s t ed inst itut ions in the spring o f 1 958 . A

summary o f the re sul t s O f the survey , showing the countrie s and

type s o f re s earch act ivit ie s in water demineral i zat ion i s

indi cated in Tabl e 2 .

The a c c el erat ed intere s t in wat er demineral i zat ion

during the pas t de cade is indi cat ed by the numerous meet ings

_ 1 5_

that have be en hel d throughout the worl d to di s cus s various

phas e s Of th e probl em . Tabl e 3 summari z e s the more important

conference s and sympo s ia .

S ea Wat er and Bracki sh Water Chara ct eri st i c s

There exi s t s no cl ear- cut de finit ion in te rms o f

s al inity of s ea and bracki sh water . It i s arb it rarily e stab

l i s h ed in thi s bul l et in that water with to tal di s s ol ved so l ids

content b etween and about part s per mil l ion ( ppm)

i s t ermed bracki sh Wat er of sal inity from about ppm

to about ppm i s t ermed"s ea water

S ea Water Chara ct eri st i c s

S ea water i s an aqueous so lut ion o f dis so lved so l ids

and gas e s whi ch general l y contains , in addit ion , su spended

organi c and inorgani c material . There are about 50 chemi cal

el ement s known to be pre s ent in solut ion in s ea water , o f whi ch

40 of the mo s t common are given in Tabl e 4. The water in mo s t

o c eans o f the world contain s about percent o r ppm

to tal dis solved so l ids . Inl and s ea s and l ake s may contain wat er

o f much higher sal inity ( for e x amp l e , th e Arabian Gul f water

average s ppm) whil e other o cean coa s tal waters such as

bays and e stuarie s may be diluted by rivers to hal f o r even

l e s s O f no rmal s ea wat er sal inity . Typical variat ions o f the

sal inity o f o cean and s ea water are l i s t ed at th e top o f

p age 20 .

Average o f thePa c ifi c O cean ,

San DiegoBal t i c S eaBlack S eaWhit e S eaSal ton S eaArabian Gul fRed S ea

Average di s sol ved so l ids

about

TABLE 4

CONCENTRATION OF ELEMENTS IN SEA WATERL/

El ement ( part s permil l ion

ChlorineSodiumMagne s iumSulphur 884Cal c ium 40 0Potas s ium 380Bromine 65Carbon 28S tront ium 3BoronS il i conF luorineNitrogenA luminumRub idiumLithiumPho sphoru s - 0 . l

BariumIodine

Tra c e el ement s

Ars eni cIronMangane s eCopperZin cLeadS e l eniumCae s iumUraniumMolybdenumThoriumCeriumS ilverVanadiumLanthanumYttriumNi ckelS candiumMercuryGol dRadium

( part s per mil l ion tot al di s so lved so l ids )

( part s permi l l ion

- 3x 1 0“

_1/ Sverdrup , H . U . , and o thers ,

"The O ceans Chapt er VI ,

Tabl e 36 , p . 1 76 , New York , Prent i c e - Hal l In c . , 1 942 .

_ 20


TABLE 5

APPROXIMATE AMOUNT or MINERAL I N

ONE CUBIC MILE or SEA WATERL /

Sodium Chloride ( common sal t )

Magnes ium Chlo ride

Magnes ium Sulphate

Cal c ium Sulphat e

Pota s sium Sulphate

Cal c ium Carbonat e

Magnes ium Bromide

Bromi ne

S tront ium

Boron

Fluo rine

Barium 90 0

Iodine 1 0 0 to

Ars eni c 50 to 350

Rubidium 20 0

S il ver up to 45

Copper , Mangane s e , Zinc , Lead 1 0 to 30

Gold up to 25

Radium about ( ounce )

Uranium 7

.l / Smith , F . G . W. , The Sun , the S e a ,and Tomorrow ;

Potent ial Source s o f Food , Energy and Mineral s fromS ea

'

, Charl e s S cribners , New York, 1 954.

It i s unfortunat e that in many arid area s o f the wo rld

the only wat er l o cal l y ava il abl e i s from underground suppl ie s

whi ch are bra cki sh . In many area s the l o cal inhabitant s must

e ither tol erat e thi s water condit ion or import suppl emental

suppl ie s o f fre sh water for the ir u s e . In some ca s e s the ground

wat er supply i s adequat e in quant ity to meet the l o cal needs

but i s unus abl e due to it s bracki sh qual ity .

Cal ifo rnia has many area s where the qual i ty o f ground

wat er range s between to part s per mill ion total

d is so lved so l ids . There are a few area s in Cal i fornia that have

ground wat er with to over part s per mil l ion total

di s so lv ed so l ids .

I t i s po s s ibl e for a few wel l s , that are produc ing

a c c eptabl e qual ity water , to exi st ins ide an area de s ignat ed as

a bracki sh wat er area . Quit e o ft en the s e b ett er qual ity wel l s

degenerate with us e to eventual ly produ ce b racki sh water s imil ar

to that in the surrounding area .

Some rivers and streams have bracki sh wate r with

various amount s o f di s so lved so l ids depending on the s eas on O f

the year . For exampl e , the New and Alamo Rivers in Imperial

Val l ey , Cal ifornia , range from about to part s per

mil l ion . The Sal ton S ea , into whi ch the s e rivers flow , range s

from about to part s per mil l ion .

For water potabl e to man there are rather s trict

l imitat ions regarding the quant it ie s o f di s so lved sol ids

p ermi s s ibl e .

Criteria pre s ented in the fol l owing s e c t ions c an be

ut il i z ed in evaluat ing mineral qual ity of water rel at ive to

exis t ing or ant i c ipat ed benefi c ial u s e s . It should be not ed

that the s e criteria are merely guide s to the apprai sal o f

water qual ity . Tab l e 6 give s the l imit ing concentrat ions o f

mineral cons t ituent s fo r drinking water , as propo s ed by th e

Unit ed Stat e s Publ i c Heal th S ervi ce and adopted by the Stateo f Cal ifornia . Except for tho s e cons t ituent s whi ch are cons i de r ed toxi c to huma n be ing s , the s e crit eria should b e con

s i de r ed as sugge s ted l imit ing value s . A wat er whi ch exceeds

one or mo re of the s e l imiting value s need no t ne ce s sarily be

el iminat ed from cons iderat ion as a s ource o f supply, but it

should be care ful ly evaluated from the heal th s tandpo int before

be ing ac cepted fo r drinking .

TABLE 6

UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICEDRINKING WATER STANDARDS

1 946

Const ituent

LeadFluorideArsenicS e l eniumHexaval ent chromi um

Nonmandato ry , but

re commended l imit

CopperIron and mangane s e togetherMagne sium 1 25Zinc 1 5Chloride 250Sul fat e 250Phenol i c compounds in t erms phenolTot al so l ids de s irabl e 50 0

1 0 0 0

Crit eria for mineral qual ity of irrigat ion water have

b een devel oped at the Univers ity Of Cal ifornia at Davi s and at

the Rubidoux and Reg ional Sal inity Labo rato rie s O f the Unit ed

S tate s Department o f Agri cul ture . Be cau s e o f divers e cl imato

logi cal condit ions and the variat ion in crops and so il s in

Cal ifornia , only general l imit s o f qual ity for irrigat ion wat ers

c an be sugge s t ed . A s et o f criteria bas ed upon studie s by the

Univers ity i s given in Tabl e 7 .

TABLE 7

QUALITATIVE CLASSIFICATIONOF IRRIGATION WATERS

Chemi cal propert ie s Exc el l ent Good to Inj urious toto good : i n jur i ou s : un s a t i s f a cto r y

To tal di s solved s ol ids ,

in ppm Le s s than 70 0 70 0 - 20 0 0 Mo re than 20 0 0

Conductanc e , inmi cromho s at 25

°0 Le s s than 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 30 0 0 More than 30 0 0

Chlo ride s , in ppm Le s s than 1 75 1 75- 350 More than 350

Sodium , in perc ent O f

ba s e cons t ituent s Le s s than 60 60 - 75 Mo re than 75

Boron , in ppm Le s s than More than

The crit eria shown in Tabl e 7 have l imitations in

actual pra ct i c e . In ma ny instance s , a water ma y be whol ly

unsuitabl e for irrigat ion under certain condit ions o f us e , and

yet be compl etely sat i s fa ctory under other c ircumstanc e s . Con

s iderat ion al so shoul d be given to so il permeabil ity, drainage ,

temperature , humidity , rainfal l , and o ther condit ions that canal t er the re spons e o f a crop to a part i cul ar qual ity of water .

_ 25_

It can be re adily demons t rat ed , bas ed on e s tabl i shed

phys i cal and thermodynami c princ ipl e s , that a c ertain minimum

energy i s required to s epara t e the di s so l ved so l ids from s al ine

wat er . Although s al ine wat er i s in it s el f a rel at ivel y s impl e

system of dis sol ved s al t s , it i s , on the o ther hand , a sys tem

that po s se s s e s con s ide rabl e stab il ity . A s a cons equence ,

rel at ively large amount s o f ene rgy are needed to s eparate the

s al t s from the wat er .

The theoret i c al minimum energy required to convert

average s ea water i s approximately thre e kil owatt - hours per

gal lons , or 975 kilowatt - hours per acre - fo ot o f fre sh

wat er . The figure of 975 kilowatt s per acre - fo ot i s no t depen

dent upon the convers ion pro ce s s a s i t repre s ent s only the energy

needed to overcome the s tabil ity of s e a wat er syst ems . A ctual ly ,

Mur ph y l / and other inve st igato rs have shown that a pract i c al

minimum ene rgy requirement i s approxima tely four t ime s the

above figure and it i s improbabl e that any actual pro ce s s wil l

Operat e with l e s s than thi s l att er ene rgy requirement . TO thi s

must be added energy for pumping through the convers ion pl ant

( about one kilowatt - hour per gal lons ) . Thus , th e l e as t

fore s eeabl e energy requirement i s about 1 3 kilowatt - hours per

gal lons . A power co s t o f one cent per kilowatt - hour

would re sult in an energy co s t per gal lons O f or

_1/ Murphy , G . W''

The Minimum Energy Requirement fo r S ea Wat erConvers ion

"

, Re s earch and Development Progre s s Report NO . 9 ,

Offi c e O f Sal ine Water , April 1 956 .

26

about $42 per acre - foo t . Each one mil l change in the co s t O f

power would re sul t in a variat ion o f per acre - foot under

the s tat ed condit ions o f energy requirement s . Convers ion

pl ant s l o cated at s ea l evel would require addit ional energy

to pump the convert ed s ea wat er to po int s o f consumption and

to furni sh re quired s ervi ce pre s sure s .

Cla s s i fi cat ion o f Pro ce s s Energy Needs

Of the s everal methods fo r demineral i zing water ,

two c l a s s ifi cat ions are us e ful , the firs t rel at ing to type o f

energy required fo r variou s demineral i z ing pro c e s s e s and the

s e cond rel at ing to the variat ion O f the re quired energy with

the init ial s al inity o f the wat er . Tabl e 8 l i st s the type o f

energy required fo r various type s o f convers ion pro ce s s e s .

Tab l e 9 l i s t s the s ame pro ce s s e s a s appear in Tabl e 8 , divided

into two group s . The firs t group include s al l o f the pro c e s s e s

fo r whi ch the energy re quirement i s e s s ent ial ly independent o f

th e init ial sal inity of the wat er supply , and the s e cond group

include s the pro c e s s e s for whi ch the energy re quirement i s

strongly influenc ed by the init ial s al inity .

Tho s e demineral i zat ion te chniques depending on

s eparat ion o f wat er from the dis so l ved sol ids , su ch as di s t il

l at ion and free z ing , are almo s t ent irel y unaffe ct ed by the

compo s ition and the conc entrat ion o f so l ids pre s ent . Con s e

quently , al l conc entrat ions and type s o f mineral i zed wat er can

be purified with almo s t equal fac il ity by su ch pro ce s s e s . On

the other hand,t e chnique s that remove so l ids from the water ,

su ch as el e c trodialys i s , are markedly affe ct ed by the compo s i

t ion and concentrat ion o f the mineral s pre s ent . Cons equently,

TABLE 8

TYPE OF ENERGY REQUIRED FORVARIOUS CONVERSION PROCESSES

Heat

Me chani cal

TABLE 9

CLASSIFICATION OF CONVERSION PROCESSESBASED ON THE VARIATION OF ENERGYREQUIREMENT WITH INITIAL SALINITY

Pro ce s s e s in whi ch theenergy requirement i se s s ent ial ly independento f init ial sal inity .

Pro ce s s e s in which theenergy requirement dependson init ial sal inity

Mul t ipl e - e ffe ct di s t il l at ionMul t i stage fl a sh di s t il l at ionSupercrit i cal di s t il l at ionVa cuum fl a sh di s t il l ationSol ar di s t il l at ion

Vapor compre s s ion di s t il l at ionFre e zingRevers e o smo s i s

El e c tro lys i sEl e c trodialys i s

Ion exchangePre c ipitat ion

Mult ipl e - e ffe ct di s t il l at ionMul t i s tage fl a sh di s t il l at ionVapor compre s s ion di s t il l at ionSupercrit i cal di s t il l ationVacuum fl ash di stil l at ionSo l ar di s t il l at ionFree zingRevers e o smo s i s

El e ct rodialys i sIon exchangeChemi cal pre c ipitat ion


Economy in the ut il i zat ion of energy in di s t il l at ion

can be ac compl i shed by the r e — us e of he at a s i s shown in

Figure 2 . Mult ipl e r e —us e o f heat i s an e s s ent ial feature o f

the de s ign o f al l modern di s t il l at ion pl ant s and i s c al l ed

mul tipl e - e ffe ct o r mul t is tage , depending on the detail Of the

pro ce s s ing . The s e t e chnique s are de s c ribed in the fo l l owing

paragraphs .

di s t il l at ion , the princ ipal method us ed in l arge s ea water

conve rs ion pl ant s at the pre s ent t ime , i s shown in Figure 3 .

In the mul t ipl e - e ffe ct t e chnique , s t eam pro du c ed in the firs t

effe ct is condens ed in the fo l l owing effe ct . As a cons equenc e ,

it furni she s heat fo r evaporat ing more wat er from the l att er

effe ct . Each effe ct i s Operated at a l ower pre s sure than

the prev ious one and the pre s sure change s corre spond to the

t emperature di fferenc e s required to produce the flow O f heat

needed . Plant s now exi s t with various number o f effe ct s , the

mo st common being thre e . S ix effe ct s have b een empl oyed , which

nearly doubl e s the e conomy Of thre e e ffe ct s . The Ol de s t and

mo st advanced devel opment o f the mul t ipl e - effe ct di s t il l at ion

pro ce s s has been fo r marine appl i cations where high co s t s to

produc e fre sh wat er pro duct ion are jus t ified when spac e i s

s aved and increa s ed cargo earnings more than Offs et the co s t

o f the water pro ce s s ing . The firs t l arge l and - bas ed di s t il l ing

plant s fol l owed marine pract i c e cl o s ely . However,re cent

de s igns for l arge l and pl ant s have t ended to depart markedly

from marine pract i c e be caus e o f re cent advance s in te chnol ogy

_ 30 _

and the fact that equipment space requirement s on l and are

no t as re stri c t ive a s aboard ship .

Concerning the probabl e ul t ima t e co s t o f wat er

p ro duc ed by l arge mul t ipl e - e ffe ct pl ant s , Sond e rma n l / has

rec ently concl uded that $ 1 per gal l ons per acre

f e e t ) i s a reasonabl e minimum to be expe cted fo r thi s type

o f pl ant . Thi s conclu s ion i s ba s ed on experience gained in

the cons truct ion of the mil l ion gal lons per day s ix - e ffe ct

pl ant at Aruba , Netherl ands We s t Indie s . The capital co s t

Of the Aruba pl ant , whi ch produ ce s el e ctri c power a s wel l a s

po tabl e water , i s about $4 per gal lon per day of capac ity .

The fre sh water at thi s new pl ant was e st imat ed during de s ign

to co s t P e r gal lons per acre - fo ot ) o f whi ch

fuel was maintenanc e and Operat ion and capit al

charge s per thous and gal l ons . Re cent advance s in equip

ment de s ign and the increas ed s al e O f b y- pro duct power may

redu ce co st s to $ 1 per gal lons in the future fo r l arge

instal l at ions o f thi s type .

An experimental pl ant de s igned and buil t by

Profe s sor LeRoy A . Broml ey at the Univers ity of Cal ifo rnia

ut il i ze s 30 e ffe ct s , and make s u s e O f rotat ing heat trans fer

surfac e s . The s e ro tat ing surfac e s render the trans fer o f heat

mo re effe ct ive and make po s s ibl e the immediate pas sage o f

s team from evaporat ing surfa ce to condens ing surface without

the extens ive piping us ed in pre s ent pl ant s . Me chani cal energy

must be suppl ied to rotate the heat t rans fer surface s , whi ch

_1/ Sonderman , G . E Today ' s Pri c e for Fre sh Water from theS ea "

, Consul t ing Engineer , February 1 958 .

_ 31 _

adds to th e co s t O f the product water . Thi s type o f equipment

may find appl i cat ion to sma l l er capac ity pl ant s .

Fl a sh Di s t il l at ion . Fla sh di s t il l ation i s s chemat i

cal ly indi cated in Figure 4 whi ch repre s ent s a two - s tage pl ant .

In thi s pro ce s s heated s ea wat er i s rel e as ed into a cl o s ed

ve s s el that i s maintained at a lower pre s sure than the vapo r

pre s sure Of the heated s ea wat e r . A s a re sul t , a port ion Of

the s ea water fl ashe s into vapo r whi ch in turn i s condens ed to

fo rm fre sh water . At th e pre s ent t ime ( 1 960 ) from 1 2 to 30st age s are us ed in l arge ins tal l at ions . Economy i s expe ct ed

to be bett er with the mul t i s tage fl a sh pl ant than with conven

t i ona l pl ant s o f the mul t ipl e— e ffe ct type ( s ee Glo s sary fo r

definit ions o f"s tage

" and In Figure 5 i s shown

1 0 s tage s in one ve s s el . Th e combining o f s everal s tage s in

one ve s s el pe rmi t s a saving in bo th material and l abo r co s t s .

Th e Cal ifornia experimental demonstrat ion pl ant whi ch i s tobe buil t at Po int Loma , San Diego , wil l have 36 s tage s , with

as many as 8 st age s in one v e s s el . Figure 6 il lus trat e s how

a nucl ear reactor can be ut il i zed as a heat source with a

mult i s tage fl a sh evapo rator to convert s ea wat er . Figure 7

shows the re c ently compl eted 26 - s t age , gal l ons per day

s ea water convers ion pl ant at Mandalay Bea ch , near Oxnard , for

the Southern Cal i fo rnia Edi son Company .

Va cuum Flash Di s t i ll ation . The vacuum fl a sh di s t il

l at ion pro ce s s ma ke s us e o f two exi s t ing wat er suppl ie s Of

different t emperature s , such as exi st s b etwe en the surfac e and


Courte sy Southe rn Ca l iforn ia Ed ison CompanyFigure 7

The Souther n Ca liforn ia Ediso n Compa ny sea wa te r co n versio n un it a t

Manda la y Bea ch, loca ted a dja ce nt to the power p la nt fa cility. The 26- stage

e vapora tion co n vers io n p la nt ha s a ca pa city of ga llo n s of fresh

wa ter per da y.


syst em known as super - c rit i cal di s t il l at ion . Thi s sys t em

ut il i ze s the fa ct that the heat re quired to vapori ze wat erin it s crit ical s tat e i s z ero ( and i s . al so very smal l , j us t

below this pre s sure and tempe rature ) . The crit i c al pre s sure

for water i s about pounds per s quare inch ab so l ut e , and

the crit i cal temperature i s about 705°F . In thi s t e chnique ,

s ea water i s pumped through a heat exchanger at super- crit i cal

pre s sure . The fre sh water produc ed runs through the same heatexchanger , in the oppo s it e dire ct ion , a s doe s al s o the wa st e

conc entrated brine . When the hot s ea wat er l eave s the heat

exchanger , it i s pa s s ed into a s eparatel y heat ed ve s s el where

only a smal l amount o f addit ional heat i s re quired to caus e

part ial vapo ri zat ion . At this po int , the vapo r i s s eparated

from the brine and i s returned to one o f the pas sages in the

heat exchanger , whil e the brine i s fed into ano ther return

pas sage in the s ame heat exchanger .

S everal s erious probl ems O f de s ign and Operation areyet to be so lved , inc luding

1 . S el e ct ion o f suit abl e ma t erial s fo r the heat

t rans fer surfac e that can re s i s t the extremely co rro s ive

propert ie s of the very hot s ea wat er .

2 . Means for prevent ing or reduc ing the rapid

depo s ition o f s cal e .

3 . The de s ign o f e ffi c ient hydraul i c turbine s and

pumps to effe ct ively handl e s ea water and brine at the t empera

ture s and pre s sure s us ed in thi s syst em .

34

Photograph by DWRFigure 8

Ex pe rimenta l va cuum fla sh distilla tio n p la nt a t the Richmo nd fie ld sta tio n

of the Un ive rsity of Ca lifor n ia .

Up to the pre s ent t ime , a compl ete s ol ut ion o f thes e te chni cal

diffi cul t ie s has not be en Obtained and l ittl e pract i cal a pp l i

cat ion O f thi s pro c e s s has re sul t ed .

di s t il l at ion i s il l us trated in Figure 1 0 . Thi s pro c e s s make s

us e o f the wel l - e s tabl i shed phys i c al princ ipl e that when a

vapo r i s compre s sed it s t emperature i s rai s ed . Cons iderabl e

e conomy O f energy i s a chieved by thi s t e chnique o f increa s ing

t emperature by compre s s ion of the gas . The ho t s t eam i s then

condens ed in the heat ing s e ct ion O f the evaporato r where the

rel ea s ed heat i s u s ed to produce more s team and as a con s e

q uen ce , the e conomy o f operat ion i s rel at ively high . There i s ,

however , a smal l amount O f auxil iary heat required to make up

for the l o s se s in the syst em . A di s advantage o f the vapor

compre s sion di s t il l at ion te chnique i s that the pl ant s are

compl icat ed , parti cul arly the l arge s i ze , and the capital co s t s

are co rre spondingly high . Commerc ial unit s a s l arge a s

gal l ons per day capa ci ty of fre sh wate r have been cons truct ed

and operated . A new rotat ing devi c e for increas ing the trans

fer Of heat in the vapor compre s s ion syst em has been invented

by Dr . Kenneth C . D . Hi ckma n,a nd thi s invent ion give s promis e

O f markedly reduc ing the co s t s o f unit s o f rel at ively smal l

s i ze .

S ol ar Di st il l at ion . Di s t il l ation by sol ar heat ing

has been p ra ct i c ed fo r many years . A so lar s t il l o f the

greenhous e type i s s chema t i cal ly il lus trated in Figure 1 1 , and

variou s type s o f experimental sol ar di s til l ation apparatus at

Ri chmond Fie ld s tat ion , Univers i ty of Cal i fornia , are shown in

Figure 1 2 . A s can be s een in Figure 1 1 , the rays o f the sun

pas s through a gl a zing o f gl as s o r pl as t i c and heat the sal ine

water in the bottom insul at ed tray . Vapori z ed water i s conveyed

by conve ct ion and conden s e s on the inner gl a zing surfac e and

run s down into co l l e ct ing troughs . An Obvious advantage to

s ol ar di s t i l l at ion i s tha t the energy ( inso l at ion ) i s free , and

in warm arid cl imate s the sourc e during dayl ight hours i s fairly

cons tant . A di sadvantage i s the l ow effi c iency O f the sys tem,

the l arge amo unt o f l and needed to produce s i zeabl e quant it i e s

O f fresh wat er , and the corre spondingly high capital co s t s . A

s erie s o f expe riment s with various fo rms O f so l ar di s t il l ation

equipment have be en conduct ed at the Univers ity of Ca l ifornia

during the past s even o r e ight years . In addit ion , t e s t work

under the auspi c e s Of th e Offi ce o f Sal ine Wat er , Unit ed

S tate s Department O f the Inte rio r , has been conduc ted by

variou s ins t itut ions such as the New Yo rk Univers ity and the

B j o r k s ten Laboratorie s , Na d i s on , Wi s cons in . The Offi ce o f

Sal ine Water al s o operat e s a t e st fac il ity at Po rt Orange ,

Florida . Experiment s have be en carried out on s imil ar unit s

by inve s t igators in Algeria , Aus tral ia , Cyprus , Italy , and in

the Virgin I s l ands . Several s emi - commerc ial pl ant s have be en

buil t in Algeria and Aus tral ia . Up to the pre s ent t ime , no

large— s cal e commercial ins tal l at ions hav e be en cons tru ct ed .

The l arge s t so l ar pl ant known wa s the pl ant buil t and Operated

in South Ameri ca in the l 87o's , whi ch was de s cribed previou s ly

on page 8 .


SU NS RAYS

G LASS ENC LOS E DGREENHOUS E

C O N D EN S E DTER DROPLETS

FRE SHWATERCOLL ECT I N G TROUGHSEA WATER PAN

DER PAN

F ig ure 1 1

SO LAR STI LLOpera t ion The sun ’s ra ys pa ss th ro ugh the g la ss a nd hea t the sea wa te r i n the pa n to a h ighertempe ra tu re t ha n the outs ide a ir. The mo is tu re from the hea ted sea wa ter conde nse s

on the coo le r g la ss top a nd tr ickle s into the fre sh wa te r co llect i ng trough .

Photograph by DWRFigure 12

Ex perimenta l sola r distilla tio n a ppa ra tus a t the Richmo nd fie ld sta tio n of

the Un ive rsity of Ca liforn ia .

Re s earch has indi c at ed that , on a year - around ba s i s

only about one - hal f o f the so l ar energy striking a ho ri zontal

surface i s ab sorbe d as heat by the fre sh wat er produc ed in

s impl e sol ar s t il l s . Thi s re sul t s in produ ct ion rat e s , for

Cal ifornia lat itude s , o f approximately one gal lon per day fo r

ea ch eight s quare fe et o f hori zontal co l l e cto r surfa c e . Th i s

would amount to about four acre— feet per year fo r each acre o f

so l ar s til l s . The cons truct ion co s t o f s impl e sol ar s t il l s

i s about $ 1 0 per gal l on per day o f capac ity at the pre s ent t ime

whi ch contribut e s to an exce s s ivel y high product wat er co s t .

Fre e z ing , as a method o f wat er demineral i z ing , has

b een fre quently sugge s t ed s inc e when s ea water i s sol idifi ed

only the pure water fo rms crystal s whil e the di s sol ved mineral s

remain in sol ut ion as brine . The energy requirement s are al s o

attract ive , as the l at ent heat o f fus ion i s only about one

s eventh that required for vapo ri zation . One type of free zing

te chnique is il lus trat ed by Figure 1 3 . A ma j o r probl em ham

pering the commercial development o f thi s t e chnique i s the

diffi cul ty encount ered in s eparat ing the brine from the ic e

crystal s s inc e sma l l amount s o f brine are trapped betwe en

c rys tal s as the i ce i s fo rmed . Syst ems for s eparat ing the i c e

from the brine invol ve one o f the fol l owing , vi z

1 . Compre s s ion o f the i c e so that the brine i s

forced out .

2 . C entrifuging and washing the i c e .

3 .The migrat ion of po cket s o f brine to the ends

of so l id i c e cyl inders induc ed by the movement o f a heat ed zone

along the cyl inder .

4. Counter- current fl ow o f re cycl ed fre sh water

through a wash column .

Effo rt s t o s eparate the i c e and brine by centrifuging have been

conduct ed by a number o f experimenters . Up to the pre s ent t ime ,

re sult s have no t been encouraging as only about 20 percent o f

the s ea water ha s been re co vered as fre sh wate r , the remainderof the water be ing needed for washing . The Carrier Corpo rat ion ,

under the auspi c e s o f the Offi c e of Sal ine Water , United S tat e s

Department o f the Interior , has cons truct ed and t e s t ed a smal l

unit empl oying a free z e - evaporat ion pro ce s s . In thi s t e chni que ,

a su spens ion o f i ce in brine i s fo rmed when co l d s ea wat er i s

sprayed into a va cuum chamber . The suspens ion i s then pumped out

o f this vacuum chamber into the bot tom o f a washing column where

fre sh water added fo r washing flows downward agains t the i c e

part icl e s whi ch are ri s ing be caus e o f the ir buoyancy . Brine ,

diluted with wash wat er , i s then removed from the bo ttom of the

washing column and fre sh water i s obtained from the mel t ed i c e .

Membrane Pro ce s s e s

i s , as a pract i cal means o f demineral i z ing , a fairly re cent

devel opment . This pro c e s s , diagrammati cal l y shown in Figure 14,

make s u s e o f the el e c tri cal characteri s t i c s o f the mineral con

s t i tuent s o f bracki sh or s ea wat er . For exampl e , common sal t

( Na Cl ) when di s so lved in wate r di s so c iat e s into ch arged atoms


C URRE N T SOU RC E

CO N C E N TRAT E DBRHNE

6) s oonum ION ( Posm vs ) C AT I O N9 CHILORINE ION ( N EG AT IVE ) A N I ON

F ig ure 14ELECTRODIALYS IS PROCESS

Ope ra t ion As bra ckish wa te r flow s th rough ea ch pa ssa ge be twee n membra ne s, a n

e lectr lc current a ttra cts the nega t ive or a n ion s to the r ight a nd the posntiveor ca t ions to the left. The ca t ion pe rmea b le membra ne a llows on lypos i t ive ions s uch a s sod i um to pa ss th rough a nd on ly in the one di rect ion .The a n ion pe rmea b le memb ra ne a llows on ly nega t ive ions such a s ch lo r ineto pa ss th roug h a nd on ly in the one directlon . As a net re su lt fre sh wa te r ts

fo rmed in a lte rna te pa ssa ge s .

cal l ed ions , one type be ing sodium ions ( t ermed"cat ions

ea ch o f whi ch carrie s a po s it ive el e c tri cal charge , and the

other type be ing chlo rine ions ( termed each o f which

carrie s a negat ive el e c trical charge . If a flow o f dire ct

el e c tri cal current i s made to pass through the mineral i zed

solut ion between two pl at e s ( known as el e ctrode s , one pl ate

being el e ctri cal ly po s it ive whil e the other i s el e c tri cal ly

negat ive ) , then the po s it ive s odium ions ( cat ions ) wil l be

attracted to the negat ive el e c trode ( cathode ) and the negat ive

chl o rine ions ( anions ) wil l be att ract ed to the po s it ive el e c

trode ( anode ) . By this t e chnique , employing a suitabl e trapping

devi ce , mo s t o f the sodium and chl o rine can be removed , l eaving

as a produc t wat er greatl y reduced in di s solved so l ids . Suc ce s

s ive s tage s o r repet it ions o f th e above bas i c pro ce s s ing permit

demineral i zat ion to any extent required . In the actual pro ce s s ,

s tacks o f pl a s t i c membrane s are us ed whi ch are s el e ctive to

ei ther po s it ive o r negat ive ions , thu s al l owing only sodium ions

or only chl orine ions to pas s through into o ther compartment s .

The s e two type s o f“ion s el e ct ive

"membrane s are al t ernated

throughout a membrane s ta ck .

El e ctrodialys i s e q uipment i s s t il l in a rel at ively

early stage o f devel opment and extens ive operat ing experienc e

on large pl ant s i s l imit ed . An ele c trodialys i s pl ant l o cat ed

at Bahre in in the Middl e Ea s t has the longe s t period o f opera

t ion , having been ins tal l ed in 1 955 and enl arged to a to tal

daily capac ity o f gal l ons i n 1 957 . A plant with a

capa c ity o f about gal lons per day o f po tabl e water

i s be ing construct ed in South Afri ca , to re cl aim s al ine water

encountered in gol d mine s .

In 1 959 ,a plant wa s cons tructed and pl aced in Opera

t ion by Ioni c s , Inc . , o f Cambridge , Mas sachus ett s , at Coal inga ,

Cal i fornia,having a capac ity o f gal l ons per day .

Figure 1 5 shows the ins ide o f the Coal inga pl ant . Ioni c s ha s

engaged in development o f thi s pro c e s s fo r a number o f years and

the to tal capac ity o f al l e l e ctrodial ys i s pl ant s , cons truct ed

by the firm now ( 1 96 0 ) approximat e s about gal l ons per

day .

At pre s ent , membrane repl ac ement co s t s are exce s s ive ,

be ing very nearly 50 percent o f the operat ing co s t s . Undoubtedly ,

cont inued development o f rel iabl e membrane s wil l l ead to reduced

init ial co s t s a s wel l as increa s ed l ife , with the re sul t that

future co s t s wil l be l e s s . El e ctro dialys i s has an ad vantage

over di s til l ation te chnique s in that the energy required i s

proport ional to the we ight o f di s so l ved mineral s removed rather

than be ing propo rt ional to the we ight o f wat er pro duc ed . A s a

cons equence , el e ctrodialys i s i s wel l adapted to the d emi n e r a l i

za t i on o f mo st bra cki sh wat er where the amount of mineral s to

be removed i s rel at ively smal l , with the cons equent smal l energy

requirement s . In some area s thi s pro c e s s may eventual ly compete

with the co s t o f importat ion o f natural water . Cons iderabl e

us e wil l probably be made o f the t e chnique o f "bl ending"with

high qual ity water suppl ie s to improve the overal l qual ity o f

wate r suppl ie s from bracki sh sourc e s .

Courte sy C i ty of Coa l ingaFigure 15

The bra ckish wa ter co nve rsio n p la nt a t Coa linga ,Ca lifor n ia . This p la nt is

of the e lectrodia lysis type a nd ha s a ca pa city of ga llo n s per da y.


the granul e s are forc ed to exchange the"A”ions fo r the

”

B"

ions be cau s e o f the high concentrat ion o f the l atter . The

regenerat ion cycl e can be repeat ed many t ime s . The main facto r

inhibit ing the us e o f thi s method fo r s ea water conve rs ion i s

the high co s t o f ion exchange ma t erial s .

In the ca s e o f the home water so ftener , cal c ium ions

in the entering hard water are exchanged fo r sodium ions in

the softener o r ion exchanger . The sodium ions in the produ ct

wate r are not so detrimental and permi t the fo rmation of soap

suds ; hence , the wat er i s cons ide red as b e ing softened . When

the home water so ft ener i s depl eted , i t can be regenerated with

a concentrat ed solut ion o f common s al t ( sodium chloride ) .

Indus trial ion exchangers operat e on the s ame

princ ipl e , but u s e various type s o f ion exchange material s in

order to obtain the type o f produc t water required . In some

cas e s , indus trie s ( st eam generat ing pl ant s in part i cul ar ) us e

thi s pro ce s s to compl etely d emd ne r a l i ze wat er fo r the ir u s e .

The Univers ity of Cal i fo rnia has experimented in the

u s e o f sal t s o f vol at il e material s fo r the repl ac ement ions ,

fol lowed by the re covery o f the vol at il e component s from the

pro duct water as ga s e s and the ir r e - us e a s gas e s in the

regenerating pro c e s s . So far , the work has ut il i zed ammonium

bi carbonate , yielding ammonia and carbon dioxide gas e s when

heated . The s e gas e s are then di s so l ved and us ed in the regen

e r a t i ng s olut ion . The general conclus ion i s that the p a r t i c

ul ar syst em s tudied require s an exc e s sive amount o f heat energy

for the l ibe rat ion o f the ga s e s . However , s inc e thi s high heat

requirement i s due to the nature o f the ammonium bi carbonate ,

a s earch is b eing made for material s requiring l e s s heat energy

fo r the l iberat ion o f the gas e s .

S eparat ion by So lvent s . The s eparat ion o f fre sh water

from s ea o r bracki sh wat er by so lvent s is an intere s t ing concept

that depends on the ab il ity of a l iquid to ab sorb l arge

t it ie s o f water from a sal ine so lution . By thi s means ,

theo re t i cal ly po s s ibl e to add sol vent s to s al ine water ,

di s solving a po rt ion o f the wat er and concentrat ing the

in the remaining brine . The organi c solvent containing

quan

i t i s

thus

mineral s

wat er i s

s eparated from the brine and the fre sh water i s then s eparated

from the organic so lvent . To be effe ct ive , a sol vent i s needed

that exhib it s sharp so lubil ity change s with temperature ,

has a high s el e ct ivity for water ove r sal t .

and

chemi cal s which when mixed with s ea water would pre c ipitat e the

sal t s into an insolubl e fo rm . The s e inso lubl e s al t s coul d

then be removed by s edimentat ion or fil trat ion . The high co s t

o f chemi cal s whi ch have be en us ed in labo ratory trial s for th i s

pro ce s s indi ca te s that the pro ce s s i s too expens ive to p roduce

large quant it ie s o f fre sh wat er e conomi cally . If a l e s s co s tly

re covery pro ce s s can be dis co vered to re cl aim the expens ive

chemical s fo r r e —us e , thi s pro ce s s coul d be very promi s ing .

algae ab so rb the unwanted sal t s from s ea water . This sugge s t s

s everal po s s ibl e s cheme s fo r demineral i zing s ea water .

_ 43 _

Experiment s at the Univers ity o f Cal i fo rnia at Lo s Angel e s are

b eing conducted with algae grown in a combinat ion o f s ewage

e ffluent and s ea water , and are prima rily conc erned with

measurement s o f the capa c ity o f the algae to ab sorb the mineral s

from s ea water . Favo rabl e re sul t s would l ead to the ins tal l a

t ion of a smal l pil ot pl ant . Al so , other s tudie s at Ri chmond ,

Cal ifo rnia , have grown out o f the very extens ive work done

there on s ewage treatment by algae . Re sourc e s Re s earch , Inc . ,

has s tudied s everal spe c ie s o f algae wh i ch concentrat e s odium .

One spe c ie s was ab l e to maint ain an internal concentrat ion o f

sodium whi ch was twi c e that o f the medium . The medium in thi s

c as e was about 1 0 percent s ea wat er .

In o rder to keep abrea s t o f rapid development s in

the s ea water convers ion and nu cl ear energy fiel d and to apply

the s e t e chnique s to water re sourc e s development s , a l egi s l at ive

sub committee in 1 958 , re commended that the Legi sl ature suppo rt

s tudie s on the appl i cat ion of s al ine wat er convers ion and

nuc l ear energy to water pro j e c t s under the Department of Wat e rRe source s . At that t ime , a unit known a s the Appl ied Nuc l earEngineering Unit wa s e stabl i shed in the department to engage in

a ctivitie s in both the sal ine water convers ion and the nucl ea r

energy fiel d . Th e various phas e s o f the s e a c t ivit ie s in the

f ield o f s al ine water convers ion are de s cribed bel ow .

Department o f Wate r Re source s

By virtue o f a provi s ion in the Sal ine Water A ct

( Publ i c Law 448 , July 3 , 1 952 ) permi tt ing the Offi c e o f Sal ine

- uu_


a convent ional bo il er,us ing data devel oped in the s tudy for

the l arger pl ant . The co s t o f the s e s tudie s was about

o f whi ch the Department o f Water Re source s contribut ed

in th e bel ie f that much promi s e in the s ea wat er convers ion

field lay in nucl ear energy a s a heat sourc e and in the mult i

s tage fl ash sys tem a s a di s t il l at ion pro c e s s .

Department o f Water Re sourc e s

The Department o f Wate r Re source s and the Univers ity

o f Cal ifo rnia have a common intere s t in a chieving demi n e r a l i za

t ion of s al ine water at a co s t suffi c i ently l ow to be us eful

for agri cul ture , muni c ipal , and indus trial purpo s e s in Cal ifornia .

In order to co o rdinate the convers ion ac t ivit ie s o f the s e s tat e

agenci e s to produc e maximum benefit s , a cooperat ive agre ement

between the department and the Univers ity was entered into

early in 1 958 . Under thi s agreement , cl o s e l iai son and coopera

t ion have been ma intained be tween the Univer s ity and the depart

ment . The Univers ity ' s re s earch and devel opment facil i t ie s are

l o cated at the Ri chmond Fiel d s tat ion near the Berkel ey campu s ,

and al so at the Lo s Angel e s campus . O c cas ional s taff meet ing s

are hel d at the Ri chmond Fiel d s tat ion , whi ch repre s entat ive s o f

the department are invited to att end . Al so , o c cas ional meet ings

involving the re s earch group at the Lo s Angel e s campus are

at tended . The rol e o f the Univers ity i s to g ive ma j or att ent ion

to the l e s s wel l - devel oped methods , conduc t ing re s earch and

experimentat ion with smal l pil o t pl ant s where deemed de s irabl e .

The department , through it s s tatutory re spons ib il ity for wat er

re source s pl anning , conc erns it s el f with appl i cat ions o f sal ine

46

water conve rs ion as a suppl ement to convent ional water develop

ment pro j e ct s .

The re s earch program o f the Univers ity o f Cal ifo rnia

has be en unde r way continuous ly s ince 1 951 . I t s purpo s e i s to

s earch fo r methods o f demineral i z ing l arge volume s o f s ea water

at a low co st . Low co st"i s interpreted as meaning co s t s com

p et i t i ve with no rmal water suppl ie s , fo r which maximum pri c e s

in Cal ifo rnia are about $ 1 25 per acre - foo t for munic ipal u s e s

and about $40 per acre— foo t for irrigat ion purpo s e s . The

Univers ity ' s program has invol ved extens ive inve s t igat ive and

experimental work on many different pro ce s se s , re sul t ing in

valuabl e contribut ions to the field of s al ine water convers ion .

It s work through the years has incl uded analyti cal s tudie s ,

laborato ry experimentat ion , and some pilot pl ant cons truct ion

and operat ion . Ob j e ct ive s are both the improvement o f exi st ing

methods and the devel opment of new pro ce s s e s .

Among the ma j or pro j e ct s now under way i s the te s t ing

of a 28 - effe ct ro tat ing di s t il l at ion pl ant , 4 feet in

diameter,which was re c ently const ructed at the Ri chmond Fiel d

stat ion o f the Unive rs ity o f Cal i fo rnia . Prel iminary te s t s

have been made u s ing both city wat er and water from the San

Franci s co Bay . Water o f high q ual ity ( l e s s than 5 ppm ) has

b een obtained from the te s t s .

Experimentat ion is cont inuing on the va cuum fla sh

di s t il l at ion pro c e s s ut il i zing low temperature diffe rence s .

A pilo t pl ant at the Ri chmond Fiel d s tat ion with a capac ity

o f gal l ons per day i s be ing us ed fo r thi s pro j e c t ( s ee

Figure Stud ie s are being conduct ed on the phenomenon o f

fog fo rmat ion during evapo rat ion and the effe c t on heat t rans fer

fa ctors o f the pre s en c e o f air in the s team formed by the

fl ashing of the warm s ea water .

Equipment i s pre s ently be ing as sembl ed at the Ri chmond

Field s tat ion to te s t the po s s ib il it ie s o f an immi s c ibl e fluid

heat trans fe r cyc l e . Thi s pro ce s s would al l ow a high rat e o f

heat to be trans ferred by dire ct conta ct from an immi s c ibl e

fluid to s ea water . Thi s s cheme would el imi nat e the expens ive

tub ing required in convent ional heat exchangers and the atten

dant probl em of s cal ing of met al l i c surfa ce s .

The Univers ity of Cal ifornia at Lo s Angel e s has

c arried on extens ive re s earch with the reve rs e o smo s i s pro c e s s ,

and has b een suc c e s s ful in developing a membrane whi ch can

fil ter out potabl e wa ter a hundred t ime s fa s ter than previou s

commercial films . A pre s sure o f pounds per s quare inch

wa s required in experiment s to effe ct ivel y s eparat e po tabl e

water from the sea water . The Univers ity has re c entl y de s igned

a 50 0 gal lon per day pl ant whi ch wil l aid in gathering des ign

and co st info rmat ion fo r the de s ign o f a gal lon per day

pl ant .

Other pha s e s o f res earch in sal ine wat er convers ion

c arried on by the Univers ity o f Cal ifo rnia are mentioned in

o ther s e ct ions of thi s chapt er .

S everal contra ct s have be en awarded by the Department

o f Water Re source s to private firms for s tudie s on s ea water

convers ion . Stanford Re s earch Ins t itut e , fo r exampl e , was

_ 48 _


fo rmation o f su ch cryst al s . The idea s eems promi s ing and

further wo rk on thi s appro a ch i s b e ing cons idered .

Kais er Engineers , Divi s ion of Henry J . Kai s er Company ,

compl eted fo r the department an engineering survey o f wa st e

heat avail ab il ity for s al ine wat er convers ion i n Cal ifo rnia .

Thi s survey inve s t igated wa ste h eat given o ff by indus trie s

and ut il it ie s within five mil e s o f the coas t l ine . Thi s survey

i s covered in more detail in Chapt er IV unde r the s e ct ion on

"Ut il i zat ion o f Wa st e Heat

".

The Fluor Co rporat ion has compl eted an inve s t igat ion

of a mul t i s tage fl a sh evaporat ion pl ant u s ing so l ar heat asthe s ourc e o f energy . Thi s s cheme showed some promi s e in a

prel imi nary inve s t igat ion s inc e the sol ar heat was r e - us ed in

a number o f s tage s . However , the final repo rt concluded that

it would not be e conomi c all y fea s ibl e to produc e wat er by thi s

means . Thi s study was init iated by th e Department o f Water

Re source s , but the Offi c e o f Sal ine Wat er contributed a po rt ion

o f the co s t .

The Appl ied Nuc l ear Engineering Unit in the Department

o f Water Re source s has ma de us e o f material from other t e chni cal

spe c ial i s t s in the Department o f Water Re sourc e s that pertained

to s al ine water convers ion . One su ch inve s t igat ion wa s an

inventory of the princ ipal s al ine wat er s ource s in the Stat e ,

and a cons iderat ion o f the e conomi c s o f re cl aiming such waters

for agri cul ture or dome s t i c us e . Another study carried on by

the department was the gathering o f data on winds to de termine

whether there was any po s sib il ity o f harne s s ing thi s power fo r

50

appl i cat ion to sal ine water convers ion . No s it e wa s l o cated

in Cal ifornia suffi c ient ly favo rabl e to jus t ify an engineering

study o f a wind power generato r .

A great many s cheme s have been submitted to the

Department o f Water Re sourc e s by the intere s ted publ i c , d e s cr i b

ing pro ce s s e s fo r convert ing s ea water to fre sh water , o r

tapping energy from some unconvent ional source . Ea ch s cheme

has b een dil igently rev iewed by the engineers in the department ,

and in s everal cas e s , the s cheme has been referred to the s ea

water re s earch group at the Univers ity o f Cal ifornia for furthe r

s tudy . No propo s ed s cheme yet re ce ived has been suffi c i entl y

novel o r pract i cal to jus t ify devel opment .

Re s earch and Deve l ment Pr rams b theOffi e r i o r

Notewo rthy s t imulus wa s given to e ffort s to inve s t i

gat e means o f deve l oping improved demineral i zat ion te chnique s

by the e s tabl i shment , in 1 952 , o f a program by the Department

o f the Interior to encourage privat e s c ient i fi c intere s t and

a ct ivity in de s al t ing o f s ea water . The Offi ce o f Sal ine Wat er

wa s o rgani zed to dire ct thi s a ct iv ity and was given l imit ed

funds to suppo rt convers ion re s earch and devel opment . Three

years lat er,the authority for the program was enl arged and

provi s ion wa s added fo r devo t ing part o f the fund to the suppo rt

of pro ce s s re s earch in other nations .

The ac t creat ing the Offi c e o f Sal ine Water , Publ i c

Law 448 - 82nd Congres s , 1 952 , proved to be a powerful s c ient ifi c

and te chni cal st imulu s . One resul t o f it s effort s wa s the

re inforcement o f t e chni cal ac t ivity abroad as wel l as in the

51

Unit ed S tat e s , bringing about a valuabl e international exchange

o f info rmat ion on sal ine water convers ion .

The Offi ce o f Sal ine Water , upon it s e s tabl i shment ,

undertook an extens ive survey o f s ci ent ifi c and te chni c al know

l edge and pro ce s se s . Inc luded in the s ur vey l / were various

phys i cal , chemi cal , and e l e ctri cal phenomena adaptabl e to con

vers ion , as wel l a s s everal modifi cations o f the conventional

di s til l ation pro c e s s , de s igned to increa s e the pro duc t ivity

and reduce the s i ze and co s t o f the ne c e s sary e quipment .

Some 30 potent ial convers ion pro ce s s e s , ac tual and

potent ial , were original ly del ineated in thi s survey , al though

they were ul t imately reduced to 1 6 pro c e s s e s deemed worthy of

further s tudy . The s e , in turn , were s egregated into four bas i c

pro ce s s group s : ( 1 ) di s til l at ion ; ( 2 ) membrane pro ce s s e s ;

( 3 ) free z ing ; and ( 4) o thers . The l a s t group include s su ch

t e chnique s and phenomena as chemical , so l vent extrac t ion , and

biologi cal pro ce s s e s .

Some important re s earch act ivit ie s carried on by the

Offi ce of Sal ine Water are out l ined in the ne xt s e ct ion .

S cal e and Co rro s ion

Although there are s everal different type s o f di s t il

l at ion e quipment and cycl e s , al l are pre s ently sub j e ct to the

same general l imitat ions due to the depo s it ion of s cal e and

corro s ion . S cal e forming cons tituent s , principal l y cal c ium

_1/ United S tate s Department of the Interio r ,

"Demineral i zat iono f Sal ine Waters

'. A compendium of exi s t ing and po t ent ial

s eparat ion pro c e s s e s , phenomena , and energy source s withdi s cus s ion and l it erature reference s , O ctober 1 952 .


empl oyed in the pulp indu stry , was propo s ed by Dr . W . L . Badger .

In thi s t e chnique , s ea water i s pas s ed through a s e rie s o f

evapo rato rs under reduced pre s sure and temperature , ut il i z ing

heat e ither appl ied dire ctly from a st eam generato r o r re covered

from the exhaus t o f a st eam turbine in conne ct ion with el e ctri c

power generato rs . A pil ot pl an t has been ere c ted at Wright svil l e

Beach in North Caro l ina and te s t s have be en made on s cal e

prevent ion , metal corro s ion , and heat trans fe r rate s , al l of

which have an impo rtant influenc e on the perfo rmance o f a dis

t i l l a t i on plant .

Improved evapo rators , in whi ch greatly increas ed

rate s o f heat trans fer are a chieved , give promi s e o f redu cing

c apital as well as operat ing co s t s . In one su ch deve lopment ,

the heat transfer co e ffi c i ent i s greatly increas ed over that

obtained with conventional e quipment .

*

I n thi s pro ce s s , invent ed

by Dr . Kenneth C . D . Hi ckman o f Ro che s t er , New York , the heat

t rans fer area i s in the shape o f coni cal surface s and i s rotat ed ,

thereby caus ing the feed wat er to spread ove r the surfac e s in

thin films , under the act ion o f c entrifugal force . S everal

experimental model s have be en const ru ct ed ranging in s i ze from

hous eho ld s i z e s ( 30 0 gal lons per day ) to much larger unit s

gal l ons per day ) . The s e are be ing te s ted on bracki sh ,

as wel l a s on s ea wat ers .

Ano ther heat trans fer syst em is under development

by Drs . B . F . Dodge and A . M . Es h ay a of New Haven , Conne ct i cut .

Te st s were run on l aborato ry equipment at Yal e Univers ity which

demonstrat ed that high heat t ran s fer co effi c ient s coul d be

maintained in a syst em ut il i zing forc ed circul ation and dropwi s e

condens at ion ( condensation in the form of dropl et s on the con

d en s i ng surfa ce ) in vapor compre s sion di s t il l at ion pro ce s s e s .

S imi l ar and compl ementary re s earch was conduct ed by the Brit i sh

Admiral ty under the European Cooperat ion Program . S everal

privat e o rgani zat ions in the Unit ed Stat e s and Europe are

experiment ing with dropwi s e promo t ers for variou s type s o f

heat exchanger surfac e s .

For l o cat ions where wast e heat is avail abl e or where

o cean temperature difference s are suffi c ient to induce fl ash

evapo rat ion , thi s pro c e s s may prove to be fea s ibl e . Thi s

probl em was re centl y s tudied by Gri s com- Rus s e l l Company ,

Ma s s i l on ,Ohio , for the Offi c e o f Sal ine Water , us ing the

energy of a s tream o f warm wast e wat er from the power stat ion

o f an indus trial pl ant , o r wa rm. wa te r from natural source s .

Est imat e s indi cat e that , with a t emperature difference o f 30° F .

b etwe en the warm and col d wate r , pl ant s o f and

gal lons per day output capaci ty woul d produc e fre sh water from

s ea water at overal l co s t s o f and per gall ons ,

re spe ct ively .

S olar S til l

Re s earch on sol ar s t il l s , with the ob j e ct ive o f

reduc ing co s t o f equipment and increas ing effi c iency i s be ing

carried out by the Offi c e o f Sal ine Water and o ther as so c iat ed

_ 55_

groups,su ch a s the Univers ity o f Cal ifo rnia and the Univers ity

of Florida . Both gl as s and pl as t i c membrane s have found app l i

cat ion as transparent covers fo r so lar s t il l s , and equipment

co st s are be ing reduced .

The O ffi ce o f Sal ine Water ha s init iat ed a comp r eh en

s ive devel opment program on sol ar s t il l s through contract with

Batt el l e Memo rial Ins t i tut e o f Columbus , Ohio . Proto type s o f

various exi st ing and improved de s igns have be en ins tal l ed and

are be ing te s t ed at a s easho re t e s t s tat ion near Po rt Orange ,

Florida .

The Offic e o f Sal ine Water expe ct s that the So larDi st il l at ion Cent er , in Flo rida , wil l pro duc e enginee ring de s igns

and spec ifi cat ions fo r prac t i cal future so l ar di s t il l at ion

pl ant s .

Convers ion pro c e s s e s ut il i zing membrane s have be en

developed during the pas t few years to the po int where s everalare known to be t e chni cal ly fea s ibl e . One pro ce s s , el e ct ro

dialys is , al so appears to b e e conomi cal ly feas ibl e for the

t reatment of b racki sh water unde r certain condit ions .

Spe c ifi cal l y, the membrane pro ce s s e s showing promi s eare ( l ) e l e ctrodialys i s , where an el e ctromo tive fo rce i s

appl i ed to a cel l cons i s t ing o f ion s el e c t ive membrane s ,

( 2 )"o smi on i c

"

, where the conc entrat ion gradient between the

so lut ion suppl ie s the po t ent ial to drive ions through ion

s el e ct ive membrane s , and ( 3 ) revers e o smo s i s , where suffi c ient

pre s sure i s appl ied to the so lut ion to forc e water through an

ion re s training membrane into the fre sh wat er s ide .

56


b etween a brine and the water to b e demineral i zed . The powe r

supply ,therefore , might be obtained from sal t depo s it s ,

b rine wel l s,o r by ponding sal ine wate r and al l owing the sun

to concentrate the wat er .

Revers e o smo s i s invo lve s the pas sage o f water through

a membrane from a concentrated so lut ion to a more dilut e one .

If enough pre s sure i s appl i ed to the mo re concentrat ed solut ion

( more than 370 pounds per s quare inch pre s sure fo r s ea wat er ) ,

the o smo t i c fl ow can be revers ed and pure water wil l b e forced

through th e membrane . Thi s t e chnique i s known as revers e

o smo s i s . Re sul t s o f re s earch sponsored by the Offi c e o f Sal ineWater have demons trat ed that around 97 pe rcent o f the s al ts o f

s ea water can be removed in one pas s through a membrane , such

a s c el lul o s e ac etat e , at a sl ow rat e o f fl ow . Inve s t igat ionaimed at increa s ing the durab il ity and fl ow rat e o f membrane s

i s cont inuing .

A promis ing approach to the ut il i zat ion of fre e z ing

as a means o f sal ine water convers ion and el iminat ion o f the

brine from the crys tal s i s a combinat ion of free zing and

evapo rat ion be ing inve s t igat ed by the Carrier Co rpo rat ion ,

Syracus e , New York , fo r the O ffi c e o f S al ine Water . Ex p e r i

mental apparatus and washing te chnique s have been devel oped

so that it i s now po s s ibl e to cont inuous ly produce pra ct ic al ly

s al t - free i c e from s ea water . In thi s pro ce s s chil l ed sal ine

wat er i s admitt ed to a chamber unde r high va cuum . At thi s

l ow pre s sure , about one - s eventh o f the water fla she s to vapo r ,

58

further chil l ing the rema inder , whi ch free ze s to an i ce—brine

s lurry . The s lurry then fl ows through a s eparat ion c olumn for

c ounter - current wa shing . The vapor formed in the free z ing

operat ion i s compre s s ed and condens e s on the i c e . The me l ted

i c e be come s the fre sh wat er product . Part o f the product i s

in turn us ed fo r washing the i c e .

The experimental program on thi s pro ce s s ut il i zing

a smal l shop - s i z e pilot pl ant , has no t appeared to di s cl o s e

any t e chni cal probl ems that would render the pro ce s s i mp r a c

t i cal . Operat ion o f the equipment is cont inuing and a l arger

pil ot pl ant o f about gal lons per day o f fre sh water

has been cons truct ed and i s b eing te s ted .

In another approach to the u s e o f free zing for

demi neral i z ing s al in e wat er an immi s c ibl e re frigerant , such

as i sobutane , i s vapori zed in dire ct conta ct with the s al ine

s o lut ion . The development o f thi s princ ipl e i s being s tudied

at Cornell Univers ity , Ithaca , New York , for the Offi c e o f

Sal ine Wate r . A pil o t pl ant i s b eing cons truct ed at St . Pet ers

burg,Flo rida

,by Blaw Knox Company as a continuat ion o f thi s

program . Be caus e mo s t e quipment nec e s sary for thi s pro ce s scould be o f comparat ively s impl e de s ign , it may be adaptabl e

t o l arge - s cal e ins tal l at ions .

The phenomenon o f ion exchange was firs t inve s t igat ed

about 1 850 ,but it i s onl y within the pas t 20 years that thi s

princ ipl e has been extens ively devel oped commerc ial l y fo r

treat ing water o f l ow sal inity and for removal o f hardne s s .

59

S al t ions can be removed from s al ine water by pas s ing the

water through a bed o f ion exchange mat erial . The exchangematerial soon be come s saturat ed and mus t be regenerated by us e

o f rel at ively expens ive ac ids and bas e s . Among e ffort s dire cted

toward redu ct ion o f regenerat ion co s t s wa s some experimentat ionat the Univers ity of Cal i fornia in whi ch ammonium b i carbonatewa s us ed as a regenerant . When sal ine wat er i s pa s s ed through

such a bed , it i s demineral i zed and the effluent cons is t s of

water containing only ammonium bi carbonat e . Heat ing the s olut ionremove s the chemical as carbon dioxide and ammonia gas e s whi ch

are col l e cted and us ed again to regenerat e the exchange re s ins

in the bed . Thus , the co s tly chemi cal s us ed for regenerat ion

are repl ac ed by the act ion o f heat . However , the amount o f heat

required to operate thi s pro ce s s approa che s that re quired fora di s t il l at ion pro ce s s . The pro ce s s , though te chni cal ly

feas ibl e , i s too expens ive to be pr a ct i ca l , a nd re s earch i s now

b eing dire cted toward part ial ly so ft ening s ea wat er by d emi n e r

a l i za ti on a s a pretreatment fo r the feed wat er to a di s til l at ion

pl ant .

The extract ion of wat er from sal ine so lut ion by an

o rgani c solvent , to be re covered l ater from the extra ct ed mix

ture o f wat er and sol vent , by t emperature change , ha s b een found

suffi c iently promi s ing for further re s earch . The pro ce s s i s

under development by Texas Agri cul tural and Me chani cal Re s earch

Foundat ion , Co l l ege S tat ion , Texas , fo r the Offi c e o f Sal ineWater . Sat i s fa cto ry l aboratory equipment has indi cat ed the

de s irab il ity o f the init iat ion o f pilo t pl ant devel opment .


The init ial ins tal l at ion to be buil t under Publ i c

Law 85- 883 wil l produc e gal l ons per day o f fre sh

water and wil l b e buil t at Freeport , Texas . The plant wil l

be a 1 2 - effe ct l ong - tube vert i cal di s t il l at ion type , s imil ar

to tho s e us ed in the pul p indus t ry for concentrat ion of spent

sul fit e l iquo r . The construct ion contra c t fo r wa s

awarded to Chi cago Bridge and Iron Company in June 1 960 .

Ground- breaking c eremonie s were hel d in S eptember 1 960 . The

contra ct cal l s for cons tru ct ion and s tart - up Operat ions to be

compl eted within 330 days .

The s e cond demons tration pl ant to be buil t under the

program i s a mul ti s tage fl ash evaporat ion type o f

gal lons per day capac ity . The cons truct ion contra ct fo r thi s

pl ant , in the amount of was awarded to We s t inghous e

El e ct ri c Corporat ion in November 1 960 . The Cal ifornia Department

of Water Re sourc e s a s s i s ted in the s it e s el e c t ion for the pl ant

and conducted a detail ed survey of 1 8 propo s ed co as tal l o cat ionsfrom San Franc i s co to San Diego . The princ ipal criteria us ed

in eval uat ing the various s it e s refl e cted te chni cal and e conomi c

re quirement s a s so c iat ed with both the typ e o f pl ant and the

impac t on the lo cal ity . The evaluat ion dat a and re commendat ions

were forwarded to the Di re cto r , Offi ce o f Sa l ine Wat er , who

made the final cho i c e with the a s s i s tance o f a thre e - man s it e

s el e c t ion bo ard . The announcement o f s el e ct ion o f the Po int

Loma s it e in San Diego wa s made by S e cretary of the Interio r

S eaton on O ctober 6 , 1 959 .

The Fluor Co rporat ion of Lo s Angel e s was awarded acontract by the Offi ce o f Sal ine Water for the final de s ign

and spe c ifi cat ion o f the di st il l ation plant . Thi s de s ign wa s

ba s ed on a prel iminary de s ign study perfo rmed by the s ame

firm, the co s t o f whi ch was shared by the Federal Government

and the S tat e o f Cal ifornia . The S tate wil l al so share

e qual ly with th e Fede ral Government in the co s t o f the final

de s ign and cons truction .

The Stat e ' s co l l aborat ion in the demonstrat ion pl ant

program wil l provide us eful knowl edge fo r the de s ign , con

s truct ion , and operat ion of this type o f s ea water di st il l at ionpl ant . The Cal ifornia Department o f Water Re source s wil l l ike

wi s e ma intain act ive l iai son with the te chni cal programs o f

the demons trat ion pl ant s l o cated in other stat e s .

The third demons trat ion pl ant to b e cons tru ct ed under

Publ i c Law 85- 883 i s to be of the el e ctrodialys i s type and wil l

be us ed to convert bra ckish to fre sh wate r . I t wil l be lo cated

at Web s te r , South Dakota , and wil l have a fre sh wat er capacity

of gal lons per day . A contra ct for de s ign . and con

st ruct ion o f thi s pl ant , in the amount of wa s awarded

to A sahi Chemical Indus tri e s Company o f Japan in cooperat ionwith the Au st in Company of C level and Ohio , in November 1 960 .

The fourth demons trat ion plant to be cons truct ed

under Publ i c Law 85 - 883 i s to employ the forced - c irculat ion

vapo r compres s ion di s t il l at ion pro c e s s , and wil l conve rt

b ra cki sh wat er to fre sh wat er at a rat e o f to

gal lons per day . The pl ant i s to be l o cat ed at Ro swel l ,

New Mexi co .

The fifth pro c e s s to b e u s ed in the demons trat ion

pl ant program wil l us e th e fre e zing method . Th e type of

free z ing pro c e s s has no t been announ ced ( De cember but the

lo cat ion o f the pl ant i s Wright svil l e Beach , North Caro l ina .

Co s t Es t imate s for Sea Water Convers ion

Unfortunat ely , al though the aggregat e capa ci ty o f

convers ion pl ant s throughout the wo rld amount s to many mil l ion

gall ons per day , very l itt l e informat ion is avail abl e on wat er

co s t s ba s ed on actual pl ant operat ion . .The fact that mo s t of

the l arge di s t il l at ion pl ant s are lo cat ed o vers ea s adds to the

diffi cul ty o f s e curing co s t dat a and even tho s e obta ined cannot

b e readily appl ied to Unit ed State s condit ions b e caus e o f

differenc e s in labo r , mat erial , and fuel co s t s . Therefo re , at

the pre s ent t ime we are l argely dependent upon enginee ring

e s t imate s fo r convers ion co s t s and it must b e re cogni zed that

the s e can never be as rel iabl e as co s t s e stabl i shed by s everal

years o f operat ion o f ful l — s i z e pl ant s . One valuabl e re sul t o f

the federal convers ion pl ant program wil l b e the det erminat ion

o f a c curate co st s o f product ion of medium- s i z e pl ant s under

Unit ed Stat e s condit ions .


TABLE 1 0

COSTS OF CONVERTED WATER BASED ON

THE OPERATION OF EXISTING PLANTS

Pro c e s s Plant capa c ity , in water wat er pe r

Mul t ipl e— e ffe ctDi s t i ll at ion Aruba S ea

Mul t i stage fl ashDi s t il lat ion Kuwait S ea

Vapor Compre s s ionDi s ti ll at ion S ea

Mul t ipl e - e ffe ctDi st ill ation S ea .

Ele ctrodialys i s Bra cki sh

ppm)

_1/ Sonderman , G . E Con sul t ing Eng ineer , February 1 958 . Thi s i sa combinat ion water and power p l a nt fl

Co st o f wat er i s somewhatl e s s i f al l owance i s made for the s al e o f power .

Hearing s be fore the Sub committ ee on Irrigat ion and Re cl amat iono f the Committee on Interio r and Insul ar A ffa irs , Unit ed S tat e sS enat e , 85th Congre s s , s e cond s e s s ion on S . J . Re so lut ion 1 35and S . 3370 , March 20 and 2 1 , 1 958 , p . 1 33 .

Union Cal endar NO . 1 0 69 , Hous e Report No . 2551 . 85th Cong re s s ,

s e cond s e s s ion , Sal ine Wat er Program, thirty— first report by thecommitt ee on Government 0 e r a t i on s , Augu s t 1 3 , 1 958 , p . 20 .

( Pl ant l o cat ion not g iven?Bruce , A . W. ,

"Five Year Experience Making Fre sh Water from

S ea Water at Morro Bay Power Pl ant , Co l l oquium on De sal t ing

ga te r

6He l d at Cal ifornia In s t itut e o f Te chno logy

"

, May 5 and1 9 0 .

"

C ity Orders Sal ine Wat er Plant"

, Engineering News - Re cord ,

June 5 , 1 958 .

“Q

Q

‘5

M

The pl ant at Aruba , Netherl ands We s t Indie s , i s a

go od exampl e o f a modern s ea water convers ion pl ant o f the

mul t ipl e - e ffe ct type , for whi ch some Operat ing experienc e has

b een gained . The Aruba pl ant i s de s igned to produc e mil l ion

gal l ons o f di s t il l ed wat er dail y . In addit ion , it can generate

66

kilowatt s O f el e ctri cal energy from kilowatt s

ins tal l ed capa c ity . The capital co st o f thi s pl ant i s e s t ima ted

to be mil l ion . The capital co s t per daily gal l on o f

ins tal l ed wat er capa c ity at Aruba i s , therefo re , approximat ely

$4. However , the e l e c tri cal generat ing e quipment repre s ent s a

sub stant ial part o f the to tal inve stment and i f it were no t

required , $3 to per daily gal l on o f water capac ity woul d

be a reasonabl e e s t imat e o f the capital inve s tment for the

water and . s te am pl ant s alone . A s i s shown in Tab l e 1 0 , the

re sul t ing total water co st i s e st imated to be per

gal l ons o r $ 570 per acre - foot without all owanc e fo r the s al e o f

power . I f power were sol d at norma l whol e sal e rate s and pro fit s

appl ied to the co s t o f water , the wat er co s t might drop to about

per thousand ga l l on sL/ .

At the reque s t o f the Department o f Water Re source s,

s everal manufacturers o f di st il l ation - typ e s ea wat er convers ion

pl ant s were reque s ted to submit e s t imate s o f to tal water co s t s

invol ved in the u s e o f the ir equipment . The returns from this

survey are shown in Tabl e 1 1 . Est i mat e s varied from to

per gall ons or from about $ 1 96 to $375 per acre - foot .

The fre sh water pl ant capa c it ie s range from to

gal lons per day , the unit co st s be ing l ea st for the l arge s t

pl ant .

_1/ Sonderman , G . E . ,

"Sea Water Di st il l ation With By

- ProductPower at Aruba "

, pre s ent ed at s emi - annual convention o fASME , June 1 959


o f part s per mil l ion and 2QOOO part s per mil l ion wil l

b e and per thous and gal l ons , r e s p e ct i ve l yl / .

NO indi cat ion exi s t s o f a"breakthrough

"to greatl y

reduced convers ion co s t s by any pro ce s s known today . It may

be that some t e chnique ent irely unsu spe ct ed at the pre s ent

t ime may Offer the key to real ly cheap converted sal ine wate r .

During the pas t de cade the means o f produ c ing , from

s ea and bracki sh source s , water potabl e to man and us abl e fo r

agri cul tural and industrial purpo s e s , ha s be en under int ens ive

inve s t igat ion in the Unit ed S tat e s and abroad . Plant s toa c compl i sh such demineral i zat ion now aggregat e , worldwide ,

a daily capa c ity o f about gal l ons o f fre sh wat er

( s ee Tabl e

Pro c e s s e s for the convers ion of s ea wat er are at the

pre s ent time l argely l imit ed to dis t il l at ion te chnique s , su ch

as mul ti s tage fl ash , vapor compre s s ion , o r mul t ipl e - effe ct

submerged co il , al l o f whi ch produc e wat er at co s t s s everal

t ime s tho s e a s so c iated with no rmal development o f natural

wat er re source s . Adding to the normal co s t s , mo s t di s t il l ation

pl ant s are pl agued with probl ems o f s cal e fo rmation on heat ing

surfa c e s expo s ed to sal ine wat er . To thi s factor al one , 1 0 to

20 pe rc ent Of optimum produ ct ion is l o s t in many instal l at ions .

Thi s s cal ing probl em i s re ce iving wide and extens ive s tudy by

many intere st ed agenc ie s .

l /’

Gi l l am, W . Sherman ,

"The Co s t O f Converted Wat er Meet ing of

Ameri can Institut e of Mining , Metal lurgi cal and Pe tr oe l umEngineers , Inc . , New York , February

_ 72_


The federal demons trat ion pl ant at Po int Loma , San

Diego,Cal i fo rnia , should provide a us e ful fund of knowl edge

concerning the de s ign , cons tru ct ion , and operat ion o f a moderndi s t il l at ion pl ant . It i s not expe c ted that the Po int Loma

fac il ity wil l produc e convert ed s ea water at co s t s c ompet it ive

with fre sh water re source s devel oped and made avail abl e in

San Diego by convent ional methods .

Further re s earch effo rt s in l e s s er known demi n e r a l

i za t i on methods , such as ion exchange , fre e z ing , hydrate ,

revers e o smo s i s , and o ther more e so teri c te chnique s wil l

undoubtedly contribut e valuabl e data pert aining to future

water demineral i zat ion .

I t appears rea sonabl e to as sume that a breakthrough

to l ower to tal sal ine convers ion co s t s , if it o c curs , wil l be the

re sul t o f a vigo rous and cont inuous program o f re s earch and

devel opment . Su ch improvement may wel l invol ve a pro ce s s no t

yet known o r envi s ioned . Thi s wil l be be s t a c compl i shed by

mutual awarene s s o f the prob l ems to be s ol ved by s c ient i s t s

and engineers and wil l require the ir cl o s e and cont inuouscoo rdinated effort s .

CHAPTER III . NUCLEAR ENERGY

The harne s s ing of the world ' s natural re source s into

us eful tool s fo r t e chni c al and e conomi c development has b een

one o f hi s to ry 's mo s t s ignifi cant chal l enge s,outwe ighed only

by man ' s att empt to l ive with hi s fel l ow human b eing s . Nuc l ear

energy and it s t ransl at ion into a us eful tool i s only one

fa cet o f thi s cont inuous chal l enge , b ut the po t ent ial o f thi s

re sourc e appears so l arge that many l eaders Of s c ience and

government predi ct from it a new era O f world pro sperity andt e chni cal deve l opment .

The development of nu cl ear energy has progre s s ed at

a rapid rate , primaril y through the impetus o f World War II

and the int ens e worldwide s c ient ifi c compet it ion fol l owing

thi s war . Perhaps no industry heretofo re known has experienced

as rapid a growth as that invol ving the appl i c at ion of nucl earenergy to the bet t erment of ma nkind . In the Unit ed S tat e s

al one , thi s growth has been repre s ented by an increa s e in

employment from a handful of re s earch and l aborato ry workers in

1 940 to a l evel , in 1 960 , of wel l over peopl e . A s one

autho r has propo s ed , the e conomi c impact o f nucl ear energy i s

probably surmounted only by the indus trial revolut ion .

In spit e o f thi s unpre c edented advancement , the

s c ienc e of the atom is a s o ld as s c i ence it s el f . In fact ,

early atomi c ideas can be tra ced as far back as Demo critus and

the anc ient Gre eks . Whil e the s e cre t o f the atom took nearly

years to compl etely unfo l d , the early format ion of such

fundamental atomi c conc ept s a s tho s e propo s ed by Dal ton , Boyl e ,

Avogadro,Mendel eev , Bo l tzma n , Planck , and o thers , mus t b e

re cogni z ed .

The compl et e Opening of the fiel d of atomi c nucl e i

s tudy ,now cal l ed nuc l ear phys i c s , o c curred in the l at e nine

te enth c entury with wo rk perfo rmed by Hert z and Maxwell on

el e c tromagnet i c radiat ion , by Ro entgen on x - rays , and Be cquerel

on the natural radioac t ivity o f uranium mineral s . S oon aft er

the s e dis coverie s , man 's c onc ept ion o f the atom took a giant

s t ep fo rward with Bohr 's att empt to comb ine Newton ' s me chani c s

with Planck ' s quantum theo ry and to arrive at the so l ar sys t em

atom mode l . Thi s mode l was l at er fo l l owed by a more s oph i s t i

ca ted vers ion through the wo rk o f He i s enb erg , S chrodinger ,

Paul i , and o thers .

In 1 90 5 , Alb ert Einst e in introduc ed hi s now famous

theo ry o f rel at iv ity a theo ry which fo rms the very bas i s o f

nuc l ear energy . With the advent o f thi s conc ept , int ere s t in

nucl ear physi c s reached a new high . Po s it ive ident ifi cat ion o f

atomic s tructure and the component s o f the atom was ma de and a

wide vari ety o f new concept s was fo r mul at ed . Intens e l abo ra to ry

expe r iment s wer e init iat ed to further study the a tom mod el .

At fi rst , extreme diffi cul t i e s were encounte r e d , s in c e

too l s o f the same s i ze as the atom it s el f were ne c e s s ary for

ac curate s tudy . A s one s c i ent i s t phras ed the pro bl em,

"You

c an 't study the anatomy o f a fly with an el ephant 's fo ot .

"

The so lut ion to thi s probl em c ent ered on the s o - cal l ed

part i cl e a c c el erators , o f whi ch one o f the mo s t su c c e s s ful wa s

76


In spit e o f the publ i c ' s awarene s s o f the s e many

advanc e s and in spit e o f our l eaders 'Opt imi s t i c predi ct ions

o f the worldwide benefit s to be obtained from nucl ear ene rgy ,

one might s t il l que s t ion the need for devel opment o f thi s

re sourc e and more spe c ifi cal ly it s pot ent ial appl i cat ions to

the Cal ifornia Water Plan . Even by re cogni zing that p r a ct i

cal ly al l advanc e s in any te chni cal fi el d re sul t from man ' s

att empt s to re sol ve the unknown , and that nucl ear ene rgy has

further be en expl o ited through it s mi l itary impl i cat ions and

co l d war psycho logi cal advantage s , the que s t ion Of benefit s

t o ma nkind st ill ari s e s . Th e answer to thi s que st ion exi s t s

in re cent att empt s to take invento ry o f the world ' s fo s s il

fuel energy re source s . Whil e the s e att empt s have l ed to much

con j e cture , it has been e s t imat ed that the to tal fo s s il fuel

energy re s erve s in the wo rl d that c an be re covered at co s t s no

higher than twi c e 1 950 co s t s amount to about 2705/ ( 1 0 1 01 8

Btu , e quival ent to 40 b il l ion tons o f co al ) . S imil arly it hasbeen e s t imated that man 's pre s ent u s e o f energy amount s to

approximately O. 1 Q per year . Thus , with no increas e in the rate

o f consumpt ion the worl d ' s fo s s il energy re s erve s would be

suffi c ient fo r about 270 years .

However , the worl d ' s popul at ion i s increa s ing rapidly ,

and with this increa s e the s tandard o f l iving i s progre s s ing

at an ac c el erat ed rate . Cons equently , any attempt to extrapol ate

today 's rat e o f energy consumption into the di st ant future

mus t al l ow fo r a cont inuing annual increa s e . A logi c al approach

was pre s ent ed in a paper by Profe s so r E . S . Mason , o f Harvard

1 7”Energy i n the Future

"

, by Palmer Co s s l e tt Putnam

78

Univers ity , at the 1 955 Geneva Conferenc e on Peace ful Us e s o f

Nucl ear Ene rgy . In thi s paper Mason sugges t s that an annual

rat e o f increa s e in world ene rgy consumption o f three to four

percent per year i s probabl e , a rat e whi ch re sul t s in the

doubl ing o f ene rgy con sumpt ion by about the year 1 980 , and a

th r e e f o l d \to f ivefold increas e by the year 20 0 0 . By as suming

that this rat e o f increas e i s repre s entat ive , the wo rld 's

fo s s il fuel energy re source s wil l be depl eted in about 1 0 0

years .

Whil e the pre s ent analys i s doe s no t ne ce s sarily fo re

cas t a wo rldwide shortage o f energy re s erve s and whil e it i s

true that new re s erve s wil l be di s covered and new pro ce s se s

invented to e conomi cal ly mine l e s s attract ive fo s s il energy

re sourc e s,the pi cture i s cl ear that the addit ion o f a new

energy re sourc e i s a ne ce s s i ty to man ' s cont inued progre s s .

When appl ied to spec ifi c countrie s thi s nec e s s ity be come s even

more - evident,

cons idering that many o f the s e countrie s impo rt

the ir fo s s il fuel s from vast d i s tan ce s h Thi s condit ion i s

part i cul arly true in the We st ern Eur po e a n countrie s who s e com

pl a te indus t rial e conomy depends heavily upon the s e import s .

The s ituat ion was ably emphas i z ed in February 1 955

in the s o - cal l ed Brit i sh”White Paper

"

, ent itl ed"

A Programme

o f Nu cl ear Power pre s ent ed to the Brit i sh Parl iament by the

Lo rd Pre s ident o f the Counc il and the Mini s t er Of Fuel and

Power . Thi s paper concl uded that

" Our c ivil i zat ion i s bas ed on power ; improvedl iving standards

,both in advanced indust rial countri es

l ike our own and in the vast underdevel oped countrie sovers eas

,can only come about through the increas ed

79

u se o f power . The rat e o f increas e required i s sogreat that it wil l tax the exi st ing re source s o f energyto the utmo s t . What eve r the immediat e uncertaint ie s ,

nu c l ear energy wil l in t ime be capabl e o f produc ingpower e conomical ly . Moreover , it provide s a sourc eo f energy potent ial ly much great er than exi st s now .

The coming of nucl ear powe r ma rks the b eginning o f

a new era .

"

To il lu s trat e how nucl ear energy ma y a s s i st tho s e

count rie s su ch as Great Britain in the ir cont inued e conomi cgrowth

,s everal compari sons ma y be made . Of primary s i gn i f i

c an ce i s the fa ct that ma ny o f tho s e countrie s l a cking mineral

fuel re sourc e s have a l arge abundanc e o f nu cl ear fuel re source s .

Obvious ly the development of e conomi c nucl ear power woul d as s i s t

cons iderably in the growth o f the s e countrie s . But even tho s e

countrie s with neither nu cl ear nor mineral fuel re source s may

gain a cons ide rabl e advant age from the devel opment o f nuc l ear

power , s ince the u s eful energy content per unit weight of

nuc l ear fuel s i s pract i cal ly a mil l ion t ime s th at o f coal . The

e conomi c advantage in transpo rt ing nucl ear fuel s rather than

fo s s il fuel s would be cons ide rabl e .

But perhap s the mo s t s ign ifi c ant advantage re s t s in

the avail ab il ity Of future nuc l ear energy re s erve s . Whil e nofirm e s t imate s o f this avail ab il ity exi s t , the known re s erve s

o f uranium o re amount to a two or thre e hundred years ' energy

supply ; tho s e o f thorium ore appear even l arger ; and the

suppl ie s o f deut erium o r"heavy hydrogen the is otope fo rming

the bas is o f the fus ion react ion,are almo s t unl imi t ed .

Whil e the above argument s il l us trat e the po t ent ial

advantage s to the wo rl d o f devel op ing a new energy re source ,

they are not ne ce s s arily pert inent to the Cal i fornia Wat er Plan .

80


de finabl e,but whateve r the ir nature the energy requirement s

wil l be cons iderabl e . A s such , nu c l ear energy may be a s i gn i f i

cant contributo r to the s e requirement s , not only be cau s e o f it s

prev ious ly mentioned advantage s , b ut be caus e o f the fact that

a nucl ear heat energy sys t em has c ertain e conomi c advantage s

when appl ied to a dis t il l at ion pro c e s s , the mo s t widely u s ed

c onvers ion t e chnique employed today .

Fundamental s o f Nu cl ear Energy

Whil e this bul l et in i s not intended to b e a th eo r et i

c al expl anat ion Of the field o f nucl ear energy , the under

st anding o f c ertain fundamental nucl ear conc ept s and t erminol ogy

i s ne ce s sary fo r compl ete comprehens ion o f material pre s ented

el s ewhere in the report . Thi s s e c t ion wil l att empt to pre s ent

the s e concept s .

The Atom

The ba si c cons t ituent of al l ma t ter i s the atom ;hence , the t ermino logy o f atomi c phys i c s , atom bomb , atomi c

power , et c i However , the atom it s e l f i s compo s ed of s everal

subatomic part i cl e s , the arrangement and quant ity o f whi ch

dete rmine th e bas i c phys i c al and chemical propert ie s o f the

spe c ifi c atom .

The primary subatomi c part i cl e s invol ved in atomic

s tructure ar e the el e ctron , pro ton , and neutron . The arrange

ment o f the s e part i c l e s i s o ft en repre s ented by the sol ar

sys tem atom model , in which part i cl e s o f smal l ma s s ro tat e in

orb it s at a rel at ively l arge di st anc e and velo c i ty about a

c entral part ic l e o r conc ent rat ed group o f part i c l e s o f l arge

mas s as shown in Figure 1 6 .

9 E lec t ron

i tI

MOLECULE OF CARBON DIOXIDE

P roton

F ig ure 1 6

ATOM AND MO LECULE MODEL

N eut ron


The ma s s number ( A ) o f an atom i s e quival ent to the

number o f protons and neutrons cont ained in the atom ' s nu cl eus .

Thus , an atom with a ma s s numbe r o f 5 contains a to tal of five

pro tons and neutrons , and one of a ma s s number 235 , contains a

total Of 235 pro tons and neut rons . By knowing the atomi cnumber ( Z ) and ma s s number ( A ) o f an atom , it i s ea sy to det er

mine the number o f neut rons ( N ) in the atom ' s nucl eus s inc e

N z A - Z o

I sotope s

It i s int ere s ting to not e that by definit ion o f an

e l ement , any change in the numbe r o f pro tons in the nuc l eus

would mean the creat ion o f a different el ement . Fo r ins tanc e ,

i f we added one pro ton to the nucl eu s of an atom o f uranium,

atomic number 92 , we woul d have an atom of atomi c number 93

call ed neptunium . On the other hand , i f we added three neutrons

to an atom Of uranium, o f ma s s number 235 , we would s t il l have

an atom of uranium, b ut with ma s s number 238 . The atoms o f an

el ement having dif ferent - ma s s . numb e r s are cal l ed i sotope s , andthe s e i so tope s are usual ly expre s s ed by abbreviat ions s imil ar

to U- 235 ( a uranium atom with a ma s s number of o r U- 238

( a uranium atom with a mas s number o fIt i s po s sibl e to have ma ny different i sotope s o f a

g iven el ement . Certain i sotope s are s tabl e whil e others can

exi s t only fo r very sho rt periods O f t ime . Th e rea son fo r

this i s that th e comb inat ions O f fo rc e s within the atom 's

nucl eu s al l ows only c ertain pro ton—neutron comb i na t i on s .

/

Any

att empt to al t er the s e combinat ions by adding neutrons pl ac e s

the nucl eus in an exc it ed and unstabl e s tate . Once thi s

exc ited s tat e i s reached , the atom may exhib it any one o f

s everal phys i cal propert ie s . The u sual event is for the atomto emit some so rt o f atomic radiat ion in the fo rm of alpha ,

b et a , o r gamma rays . The s e radiat ions are a re sul t o f the

de compo s it ion o f one or more o f the nuc l eus part i cl e s . In

the cours e o f this de compo s ition , the atom wil l usual l y be come

a more s tabl e i s otope o f the same el ement or o f a different

e l ement . The l ength of t ime fo r thi s de compo s it ion to o c cur

i s expre s s ed in terms o f hal f - l ive s , whi ch i s the t ime required

for hal f o f a g iven ma s s o f an el ement to de cay into a

s e condary i sotope . Hal f- l ive s vary from a few mil l ionths O f a

s e cond to mil l ions o f years .

Be cau s e atomi c radiat ions can be measured with a pp r op

riate ins trument s , the u s e Of radioac t ive i so tope s has gained

increa s ing prominenc e in a wide variety of s c ient ifi c fiel ds .

Indi cat ion of a ctual and po s sibl e u se s of isotope s by the

Depar tment of Water Re source s i s pre s ent ed in the s e ct ion

ent it l ed I so tope Appl i cat ions"

.

Fi s s ion

A se cond po s s ib il ity o f the exc it ed nucl eus i s it s

di s int egrat ion into many subatomic part i cl e s and s e condary

i so tope s Of varying mas s and atomi c number . Thi s event i s

t ermed " fis s ion Of nearly 250 natural ly o c curring i sotope s

found in the earth ' s surface , only one , uranium- 235 , wil l

undergo fi s s ion . However , the i so tope s thorium—232 and

uranium- 238 ,both of whi ch are found in abundance , may ab sorb

neutrons to b e come the radioa ct ive i so tope s , tho rium— 233 and

85

uranium- 239 . The s e i so tope s in turn wil l de cay into the

fi s s ionabl e spe c ie s , uranium- 233 and plutonium— 239 .

In the cours e o f fi s sion some o f the mas s o f the

o rig inal atom i s converted into energy in ac co rdanc e with

Einst e in ' s famous ma s s - energy e quat ion , E mc2 , which s tat e s

that ma s s can be trans formed into energy . In addit ion ,

neutrons are emitted , thus enabl ing the fi s s ion to progre s s

into a chain react ion . Fo r ins tanc e , in the fi s s ion o f

uranium~ 235 be tween two and thre e neut rons on the average areemitt ed , thereby making po s s ibl e two to three s e cond generat ion

fi s s ions for each o riginal fi s s ion . Thi s i s exa ctly what

happens in an atomi c fi s s ion bomb , a rapidly diverging fi s s ion

chain react ion o c curring almo s t inst antaneou s ly with a corre s

ponding l arge rel ea s e o f energy as il lus t rat ed in Figure 1 7 .

Fus ion

One phenomenon o f nu cl ear energy i s fi s sion ; but

atomic theory shows u s that there i s ano ther source o f nuc l ear

energy cal l ed fu s ion . Fus ion i s the comb inat ion o f atoms o f

one el ement into s tabl e i sotope s o f ano ther el ement .

To i l lu s trat e , hydrogen , atomi c number 1 , i s known

t o hav e three isotope s o f ma s s numbers 1 , 2 , and 3 . The i so

tope with ma s s number 2 i s cal l ed deut erium or heavy hydrogen

and is found in pract i cal l y every source o f wat e r . It contains

one proton and one neutron in it s nu cl eus . The i so tope with

ma s s number 3 , containing one pro ton and two neutrons , i s

c all ed trit ium . Hel ium, atomi c number 2 , has a ma s s numb er of

4, thus having two pro tons and two neutrons in it s nucl eu s .

- 86 _


Theore t i c al ly, it should be po s s ibl e to fus e two atoms of

deuterium into one atom o f hel ium . I f thi s coul d be done , a

l arge energy rel eas e would o c cur be caus e the ma s s o f one

hel ium atom i s somewhat l e s s than that of two deut erium atoms .

Other fus ion react ions invol ving i sotope s o f hydrogen and

hel ium and rel ea s ing l arge amount s o f energy are al so th eo r e

t i c al ly po s s ibl e .

Unfortunat ely , there are many fo rc e s preventing

fus ion o f hydrogen atoms , s ince hydroge n phys i cal ly i s a very

stabl e el ement and offers cons ide rabl e re s i s tanc e to change in

i t s atomi c s tru cture . The only apparent means to overcome

thi s re s i s tanc e s eems to b e through ul t ra—high temperature s ,

perhaps a s high as s everal hundred mil l ion degree s Fahrenheit .

Whil e it i s pre sumed that the s e temperature s are reached in

the detonat ion of fus ion bomb s by the explo s ion o f fi s s ion

devi c e s , the anal ogy i s hardly appl i cabl e to peace ful us e s o f

fu s ion energy . To date , al l attempt s to c reate fu s ion energy

in the l abo ratory have fail ed and the pro spe ct for su c c e s s

s eems many years away .

Be caus e o f the many diffi cul t probl ems remaining to

b e so lved fo r pract i cal us e o f fu s ion energy , our intere st in

thi s bul l et in wil l b e confined to fis sion energy . Neverthel e s s ,

it should be re cogni zed that fus ion repre s ent s a tremendous

energy source,and may eventual ly be come a mo s t impo rtant

facto r in supplying energy to meet the world ' s needs .

Re l at ive amount s o f energy rel eas ed from various

type s of react ions involving one pound of various material s ,

as compared to coal , are shown in Tabl e 14.

- 87

TABLE 14

RELATIVE QUANTITIES OF ENERGYCONTAINED IN ONE POUND OF VARIOUS MATERIALS

Combus t ion o f co al

Combus t ion o f o il

Fi s s ion of uranium

Fusion , deuterium to hel ium- 3

Fus ion , trit ium to hel ium- 4

Fu s ion , hydrogen to hel ium- 4

Annihilat ion of any matt er

Nu cl ear energy wil l no t dire ctly operat e el e ctri c

l ight s , propel ship s , o r convert s ea water to fre sh water .

Inst ead , energy in the form of either heat , mot ion , o r el e c

t r i ci ty i s re quired . Heat i s the bas i c energy fo rm derived

from nucl ear fi s s ion and the machine devi s ed fo r trans ferring

thi s heat to a c ircul at ing fluid , such as water o r gas , i s

c al l ed a reactor . A variety of rea ctor type s has b een con

ce i ved and the purpo s e o f thi s s e ct ion wil l b e to expl ain tho s e

react o r concept s whi ch have pro ven to be pract i c al o r appear

to b e mo st feas ibl e , and to indi c at e the inherent advantage s

and di sadvantage s o f each type .

( average )

lb s o f co alBtu tons

o f co al

Btu tonso f coal

Btu tonsof coal

Btu = l l , 5OO tonsof co al

Btu

tons o f co al


The fuel cycl e i s a mo st important parameter in

rea cto r con cept s , s ince many o f the predi ct ed e conomi c a dvan

tage s o f nucl ear energy wil l o c cur through the devel opment o f

unique fuel cycl e s . In View o f the s everal po s s ibl e fuel com

b i na t i on s ,many reac tor conc ept s with different fuel cycl e s

have be en propo s ed .

It wil l b e re cal l ed that there are th r e e _ f i s s i ona b l e

i sotope s , U- 235 ( uranium ) , Pu - 239 ( plutonium ) , and U- 233 , o f

whi ch only U—235 i s found natural l y . Unfortunat ely , natural

uranium i s compo s ed of only percent o f U—235 , the rema in

ing metal be ing U—238 . Th e pro ce s s by which U- 235 i s s eparated

from U- 238 i s very expens ive , thus making the co s t s o f a

rel at ivel y pure U- 235 fuel exc e s s ively high . However , it i s

po s s ibl e to de s ign a reacto r fo r us e o f e ither natural uranium

or enriched uranium ( uranium in whi ch the conc ent ration o f

U- 235 i s increas ed by varying percentage s above the natural conc entrat ion ) . The advantage s of natural uranium as a fuel are

twofo ld .

The firs t advantage i s that the o rig inal co s t o f

fuel i s much lower than that o f pure o r enri ched U- 235 . The

s e cond advantage depends on the fact that U- 238 i s a fert il e

i so tope ( fert il e means that the i s o tope may be converted to a

fi s s ionabl e spe c ie ) s inc e the U—238 atoms wil l ab so rb some o f

the neutrons creat ed in the U- 235 fi s s ion react ion and be con

verted to Pu - 239 atoms , whi ch are fi s s ionabl e . The s e cond

advantage therefo re i s due to the fact that addit ional fuel i s

c reat ed , adding to the heat energy that ma y be extrac ted from

the fuel e l ement s or inc reas ing the amount o f fi s s ionabl e

90

mate rial that may be obtained ( together with un f i s s i oned U- 235 )

by s eparat ion from the irradiat ed fuel removed from the reacto r .

A s imil ar s ituat ion o c curs with reacto rs de s igned to us e U- 233

as fuel , with thorium a s the fert il e ma terial . Diagram o f a

typi c al rea ctor fuel cycl e i s shown bel ow

Pu - 2

Reactors whi ch generate fuel a s they produc e power

are cal l ed"regenerators There are two spe c ial ca s e s o f

regenerato rs , de s ignat ed breeders"and

"converters " . In a

"

breeder"rea ctor , the consumed and produ ced spe cie s are

ident i cal , su ch a s Pu - 239 produ cing new atoms o f Pu - 239 from

U- 238 . In a"converter a different spe c ie s i s produc ed than

that consumed , a s when Pu - 239 i s produ ced from U- 238 . Regenera

t ion offers the exc it ing pro spect O f increa s ing by manyfol d

exi s t ing supply of fi s s ionabl e ma t erial , as sugge st ed by the

fact that natural uranium contains 140 atoms o f fert il e material

( U- 238 ) to each atom of fi s s ionabl e material ( U

A s previou sly ment ioned , nucl ear energy must be

converted to a more us eful form , e ither as heat , mot ion , or

el e ctri c ity . All pre s ently pra ct ical reactor type s ac compl ish

thi s trans format ion through the s teps shown in the fo l l owing

diagram

The po s s ib il it ie s o f convert ing nuc l ear energy

dire ct ly into el e ctri c energy , o r heat energy dire ct ly into

e l e ctri cal,are pre s ently be ing inve s t igat ed , but to dat e no

e conomic al s cheme has evo l ved . Therefo re , the firs t s t ep in

making us e o f nucl ear energy in a pract i cal ma chine i s to

trans fo rm it into heat energy . This convers ion is a rel at ively

s impl e pro ce s s , s in ce the nuc l ear energy i s repre s ented mainly

by the velo c ity of the fis s ion fragment s and the sl owing down

of the s e fragment s , as o c curs in the fuel , t rans fo rms thi s

energy into heat . The hea t is remo ved by a c ircul at ing fluid ,

e ither l iquid o r gas , which fl ows through th e reacto r and thence

through a heat exchanger fo r the generat ion o f steam , o r , as in

the bo il ing water type of reacto r , dire ct ly to a turb ine . I n

either cas e , the heat ene rgy in th e st eam is converted to

mechanical power in the turb ine , wh i ch i n turn - drive s a genera

to r for furth er convers ion to e l e ctr i ca l energy ;

S tructural material s a r e very i mportant in nuc l ear

reac to r t e chno logy . In fact , nuc l ear reactors have required

the development o f a wide variety o f new s tructura l meta l s and

al l oys . Fo r ins tanc e , the fue l el ement c l adding ( in some

rea cto r types the fue l i s in rod or pl ate fo rm and mus t b e en

c as ed fo r protect ion ) and the reac tor co re s t ructure mus t not

only Offer unique s tructural propert i e s , but they mus t al so b e

co rro s ion re s i sta nt and mus t b e re s is tant to the ab sorpt ion o f

neutrons . On the other hand , the rea c tor shielding and contro l

material s mus t have the ab il ity to ab sorb the vari ous type s O f

nuc l ea r radiat i ons .


t o generat e s t eam fo r a turbine . To prevent bo il ing and s t il l

Obtain the temperature s required for effi c ient turbine

generators,the reacto r i s operat ed at high pre s sure s , in the

range of pounds per s quare inch - hence the name pre s sur

i zed water reacto r .

The fuel el ement s in the PWR are u sual ly enri ched

uranium rods or pl ate s cl ad in zi rconium o r stainl e s s ste el ,

al though aluminum ha s b een sugge s ted fo r low - temperature

appl i cat ions . The s e el ement s are arranged in a l att i c e - typ e

configurat ion . S imil arly , the rea cto r core i s usual ly made o f

s tainl e s s s t eel with carbon s t e el be ing sugge s t ed fo r po s s ibl e

l ow - temperature appl i cat ions . Cont rol i s u sual ly maintained

through the ins ert ion and withdrawal o f boron s tainl e s s st e el

rods , bo ron be ing a high neutron ab sorber .

The advantage s O f the PWR are it s rea sonabl e fuel

e conomy , high conve rs ion rat io , us e o f rel at ively cheap water ,

and the ext ens ive experienc e gained with it . Di sadvantage s

inc lude the high pre s sure re quirement s , the corro s ivene s s o f

ho t wat er , the high co s t o f fuel fabri cat ion , and the need for

additional heat exchange equipment fo r the product ion o f s t eam .

To ove rcome some o f the di sadvantage s o f the PWR ,

the bo il ing water rea cto r ( BWR ) was conce ived and i s rapidly

be ing devel oped . It s charact eri s t i c s are very s imil ar to the

PWR with the except ion that bo il ing i s al l owed in the core .

By all owing bo il ing , the requirement s o f higher pre s sure s and

addit ional heat exchange equipment are removed . Hence , the

. 94.

BWR require s lower capital inve s tment than the pre s suri zed

water reacto r .

Othe r advantage s o f the BWR include the lower

c o rro s ivene s s Of st eam . Di sadvantage s are repre s ented by higher

fuel co s t s , radioact ive contaminat ion o f the st eam turbine , and

diffi cul ty in contro l . A further di sadvantage , shared by the

PWR , i s that pre s ent de s igns do not generate superheated s t eam,

a fac to r whi ch l imit s turbine effi c ienc ie s . Future de s igns may

a l l eviat e thi s condition by r e — cycl ing the st eam through the

cent er o f the rea cto r core o r by o ther means .

There are c ertain advantage s to the u s e o f heavy

water versu s l ight wat er in both the pre s suri zed and the bo il ing

reacto r type s and cons iderabl e devel opmental work i s be ing done

with heavy water a s a coo l ant and moderato r . Heavy water i s

c ompo s ed o f deut erium ( hydrogen i sotope o f ma s s number and

although it s propert ie s as a moderato r are not quit e as good

as l ight water , it s neutron e conomy i s cons iderably bett er .

Be caus e o f thi s e conomy , fuel co s t saving s in heavy wat er

reacto rs are extremely l ikely . On the other hand , heavy wat er ,

whi ch i s produc ed by s eparat ion from normal water , where it

exi s t s in the rat io O f 1 60 part s per mill ion , i s pri c ed at $28

per pound by the Atomic Energy Commi s s ion . Therefore , a

reacto r whi ch us e s heavy wat er woul d require higher capital

inve stment,both in the co st o f the heavy water it s el f and in

the ne ce s sary re finement s in equipment required to prevent

l eakage .

Of further intere s t i s the fac t that the mo st advanc ed

de s igns o f the PWR al low some bo il ing within the reac to r core ,

whil e tho s e o f the BWR tend to re s t ri ct bo il ing . It i s

ext remely po s s ibl e that the s e two concept s are po int ing toward

the s ame goal and that mere l y a”

wat er rea ctor wil l evo l ve .

OgganicModerated Re actor

It h a s b ee n po inte d out that th e PWR re q uire s high

pres s ur e to pr ev ent b oi l ing, wh i l e th e BWR pr e s ents d i fficul ty

in pr ovi di ng s uper h e a t , To ove r come the s e prob l ems , i t-was

prop os ed to us e cool ants wh os e bo i l i ng po i nt s a r e we l l above

the tempe r a tur e s r eq u i red to s uper h ea t s team. From the s e

-

p ropos a l s s ever a l rea ctor conce pts ha ve evo lved .

One of the s e i s th e o r ga ni c mode r ated r eactor ( OMR) ,

a r eactor type wh i ch now i s o f f e r ing economic compe t i tion to

th e wate r type s y s tems .'Th i s r eactor us e s any o f s e ve r a l

organi c sub stance s , s uch a s d i ph eny l , a s bo th a mod era to r and

coo l ant . The s e s ub s tances o f f e r r ea sona bl e mode r a to r and

neutr on economy pr ope r ti es , a l though th e i r h ea t tr ans f er ch ar

a cte r i sti cs a r e l e s s fa vor abl e than water . Fu el in pre s ent OMR

de s igns i s compo s ed o f uran ium al loyed with mol ybdenum and i s

i n p late f orm .

The advantage s o f th e OMR conc ept inc lude the po s s i

b i l i ty o f superheat ed s team pr oduct ion , l ow capital co s t ,

neg l igibl e corro s ivene s s , and excel l ent safety chara ct eri s t i c sunder proper de s ign condit ions . Di s advantage s include high

fuel fabri cat ion co s t , po s s ibl e de compo s it ion of organi c

mode rato r , and le s s effi c i ent heat trans fer


A ll the rea ctor conc ept s prev iou sly de s c ribed are

of heterogeneous type , that i s , the fuel and coo lant are

s eparate . It i s reasonabl e to suppo s e that certain e conomie s

may be gained by comb ining fuel , coo l ant , and mode rato r into

one medium . This syst em has evol ved into the homogeneous

reacto r .

The advantage s o f thi s conc ept are many , o f whi ch

the el imi nat ion o f fuel fabri cat ion co s t s , cont inuous fuel

pro ce s s ing , good ove ral l heat t rans fer charact eri s t i c s , and

po s s ib il it ie s o f s el f - contro l are the mo s t important . But

with today ' s t e chnology , the probl ems yet to be re solved in

the homogeneous rea cto r are cons iderabl e . Such cons ide rat ions

a s co rro s ion , containment o f radioa ct ivity, equipment forcoupl ing nucl ear , h yd r odyn ami c, a nd me chani cal syst ems , and

maintenanc e are s t il l in the re s earch s tage . Unt i l the s e

prob l ems are re so lved , a ful l evaluat ion of the homogeneous

rea cto r c annot be made .

Fa st Breeder Reacto r

An advanced conc ept i s embodied in the fas t breeder

rea cto r . Thi s reactor has a doubl e purpo s e - to produ ce powe r

and to breed fuel .

In fast breeder rea cto rs , no mode rato r i s required

s ince the reacto r ut il i ze s fa st neutrons . Thi s re sul t s in

an advantage in the convers ion o f the fert il e mat erial s ince

higher neutron e conomies prevail in the fas t neutron range .

In experiment s with fas t b reeder rea cto rs , l iquid sodium has

b een us ed a s a coo lant .

Le p u s s i p i o u e l n g mo r e s o a n i s c o n s ume

reacto r co re s i ze , and good heat removal charact eri s t i c s .

Di s advantage s include the diffi cul t ie s in handl ing l iquid

s odium , fas t - act ing control sys tem requirement , and fuel hand

l ing probl ems .

There are other type s o f reactors whi ch offer even

more novel appro aches than the fas t breeder reactor to the

probl em o f convert ing nucl ear energy to us abl e energy . Su ch

c onc ept s include the mol ten s al t , pebbl e bed , bo il ing sulphur ,

fl uidi zed fuel , therma l breeder , and dus t fuel ed reacto rs .

The pot ent ial o f the s e concept s i s unknown , but with future

deve lopment the e conomi c and te chni cal promis e o f any o f

the s e type s may compl etely outmode the bett er known concept s

o f today .

Nuc l ear Power Co s t s

The e conomic s of nuc l ear power are pre sently sub j e c t

to muc h c onj e c ture and supported with very l itt le experienc e in

operating plant s s inc e tho se reac tors now under c ons truc tion or

in ac tual operation are produc t s o f the firs t genera t ion of

nuc l ear powe r . Sinc e firs t generat ion produc t s of any te c hnic alinnovation inc lude large re s earc h and devel opment c o s t s , i t i s

obvious th at the s e reac tors pre s ent an ina dequa te me a sure of the

pre sent and future ec onomi c po tent ial of nuc l ear power . Pre sent

c o st e s timate s of nuc l ear power mus t perforc e be la rge ly derive d

from de s ign s tudie s , experimentat ion , a nd a s sumptions .

Pre s ent Co s t s

C o st s of the fi rs t ful l - s c a l e c ivi l ian power reac torbui l t in th e United State s ( at Shippingport , Pennsylvania ) arean exc e l lent example o f the opera tion o f thi s princ iple . When

re search and deve l opment c o s t s are a dded to th o s e of de s ign andc onstruc tion of the Shippingport reac tor , powe r c o s t s exc e ed

fi ve c ent s per ki l owatt - hour , a c o s t s e veral time s of c onventionaltherma l power plant s and a s muc h a s 1 0 time s the pre dic te d ul t i

mate c o s t s of nuc l ear power .

Ac curate co s t e s tima t ing i s fur ther handic apped by

the fac t that the Shippingport reac tor i s the only rea c tor

in the United State s from which a f air amount of ope rat ing

experienc e u seful for e c onomi c analysi s ha s be en gained . Thi s

s ituation wil l gradual ly be c lari fie d , however , with the sta rt - up

1 0 0


intere s t rate s,taxe s , insuranc e , the power output of th e

p l ant ,pl ant fac tor , and the expe c te d l ife time of the e quipment

and struc tural c omponent s of the pl a nt .

Fue l cyc l e c o s t s are simply the c o st of fue l for the

plant . They are analogou s to th e c o s t o f ga s or o i l , f or the

conventional power pl ant .

Inventory ch arge s are th e c arrying charge s appl ied

to fuel kept on h and for reac tor refue l ing or in the s tage of

reproc e s sing . Be cau se of th e h eavy inve stment in thi s fue l ,

c a rrying charge s mu s t be appl ie d . In heavy water reac tors , an

additional inventory charge i s a ppl ied to the heavy wate r it se l f

in view of it s la rge c o st .

Operat ion and maintenanc e c o st s , a s th e name s imply ,

inc lude supervi s ion and a dmi ni stration, ope rat ion and maintena nc elabor , and ma t erial s and suppl ie s .

Be c aus e c a pita l c o st s are th e mo s t importa nt fac torsin th e fixed ch arge cat egory , i t i s u s eful to i l lu s tra te the

c a pital c o st s of nuc l ear power pl ant s pre sently opera ble , being

cons truc ted , and planne d . Tabl e 1 5 l i st s c apital c o s t s of a

number of repre sentative plant s , of wh ic h al l are advanc e e st i

ma te s exc ept for Shippingport and Dre sden .

C ertain trends are noti c e abl e from thi s tabl e . Among

the s e i s the general rul e th at the l a rge r the reac tor , the

sma l l er the unit c apital c o s t per ki l owatt . Thi s charac teri s ti c

i s true in conventional power pl ant s , but i s even more

1 0 2

TABLE 1 5

GENERAL DATA ON NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS

I N THE UNI TED STATES AND THE BRI TI SH COMMONWEAL

Locat i on Re a ctor

Penn syl van i a

New York

I nd i an Point New York

Wi s cons i n

Ca l i f orni a

South Dakota

Oh i o

Enr i co

Hi nkl ey Engl and

1 Cos t s of Nucl ea r Powe r ,Jul y 1 959

_ 1 03_

Status :capa ci ty , i n zdol l a r s pe r

b ui l t

Be i ng

b ui l t

Be i ng

b ui l t

Be i ng

b ui l t

Be i ng

b ui l t

Of f i ce of Techn i ca l Se r vi ce s ,

pronounc ed i n nuc l ea r power plant s . For thi s rea son , we ma y

ant i c ipate that nuc l ear power plant s o f the future wi l l be

fairly large in c apac i ty .

A se c ond trend in th e c apital c o s t of nuc l e ar power

plant s , th ough not r e adily appar ent from the tabl e , i s the down

ward uni t cap i ta l c o s t with each new propo s al . The first nuc l earpowe r p l ants re qui re d th e deve lopment of new ma terial s and

equi pment , f abr i cation and a s sembly to rigid spec ifi c at ions ,

elabor ate i ns trumentation , and extreme pr ovi sions f or safe ty .

Wi th i ndu s tr y now h aving gaine d experienc e with new ma terial sand te chni que s , c o s t s dependent upon th e se fac tors are de c rea s ing .

In addi t i on , nuc lear powe r i s be c oming an indu s try - supporte d

produc t , and th e s piri t of Ameri can ente rpri s e ha s c reated

c ompet it i on among the indus trie s produc ing di f ferent reac t ortype s , ine vitably l e ading to lower c o s t s .

Future Co s t s

There se ems to be general agre ement among workersin the fie l d of atomi c ene rgy that atomic power in the Uni ted

State s wi l l be c ome c ompe t itive with c onventional power , at l ea s t

in high - c o s t energy area s , by about 1 970 . To make thi s po s sibl e ,

s trong e ffort s mus t be made to s impl ify de sign , to inc rea seth ermal effi c i enc ie s , to de c rea se c ons tru c t ion c o st s , to ge t

maximum energy out of the fue l , and to minimi z e operation and

maintenanc e c o st s . The goal o f c ompet i tive atomic power c annot

be reached with the c ons truc tion of a few experimental and


to be about se ven mi l l s pe r ki lowatt - hour for a 30 0 megawatt

s ingle - unit s tat ion , operating a t an 80 perc ent load fac tor , wi th

1 4 perc ent fixed charge rate on an e s timated c api tal c o s t of $ 1 66

per kilowatt . Competi t ive nuc l ear power i s c onsi dered t o be

ac hieve d when uti l i t ie s are a ble to bui l d and Operate nuc l ear

power plant s on th e ba si s of the ir e c onomic adva ntage . Prima ry

empha si s in the program wa s pla c ed on l a rge power reac tors of 30 0

megawatt c a pac i ty , s inc e i t i s in th e l arger s i z e s that the

nuc l ear plant wil l mo s t qui ckly prove e c onomic .

Capi tal C o st s

A s the ba s i s of i t s l o- year program, the Atomi c Energy

Commi s s ion evaluated e ight ma j or reac tor c onc ept s currently under

deve lopment in the c ivi l ian reac tor deve lopment program, e s tabl i shedth e pre sent e c onomic and te chno logic a l statu s of eac h c onc ept ,

de l ineated the spe c i fi c te chni c al improvement s that c oul d be fore

seen for eac h , and made e st ima te s of the impac t the se improvement swoul d h ave on the c o s t of nuc l ear power . The c ommi s si on al sooutl ined the deve lopment program , inc luding c o s t e stimate s , thatwou l d be nee de d to real i ze the improvement s . The c o s t datadeve lope d during th i s study are tabulated in Tabl e 1 6 . I t wi l l

be noted that , in a number of ca s e s , the c apital c o s t s of future

plant s are only s l ightly above $20 0 per ki lowatt , and the re sul t

ing powe r c o st s are be twe en seven and e ight mi l l s per kil owatt

hour . Al so , in one c a se ( organi c ) , the c apital and power c o s t s

are we l l bel ow $20 0 per ki lowatt and seven mi l l s per kil owatt - hour ,

re spe c tive ly .

- 1 0 6

An enc ouraging de ve l opment , tending to support the

Atomi c Energy Commi s s ion f orec a s t s , i s th e seriou s c onsiderat ion

being given by two l eading uti l i ti e s in Cal ifornia - the Pac ifi c

Ga s and Ele c tri c C ompany and th e Southe rn Cal i fornia Edi son

Company - to th e c ons truc t ion of a large nuc l e ar power pl ant in

each of their re spe c tive syst ems . South ern Cal ifornia Edi son

Company ha s rec ently c onc luded negotiations with We st inghous e

and Bec hte l C orporation for the de s ign and c onstruc tion of a

375 megawatt pre s suri ze d wate r reac tor power plant to be l o c ated

in th e Southern Cal i fornia area . Studi e s ma de by the c ompany

have indi c ated that suc h a plant woul d be e c onomi c al ly c ompet itive

with c onventional fue l pl ant s , when c onsidered for the duration

of the plant ' s operat ing l ife . Th e e s t imated capital c o s t

approache s 78 mil l ion dol lars , about $208 per kil owatt , and thus

i s somewhat lowe r th an the future predic t ed c o st of'

a largepre s suri zed water pl ant in the Atomic Energy C ommi s s ion program,

a s l i s ted in Table 1 6 .

Another rec ent C al ifornia de vel opment i s the ac c eptanc e

by the Atomic Energy Commi s s ion of a j o int propo sal from the

C itie s of Lo s Ange le s and Pa sadena , to bui l d a ki l owatt

boil ing wat er reac tor power pl ant . The c i ti e s wi l l provide the

s ite and the tur b ogene r a t i ng e quipment , whil e th e Atomi c Energy

Commi s s ion wil l procure and own th e reac tor porti on . The s el e c te d

s ite i s near the town of Saugu s about 25 mi l e s northwe st of Lo s

Angel e s .

- l o8


bec ome increa singly fa vorable a s new unit s are added to ma tch

the wa ter demand bui l dup through the yea rs . Stanford Re se arch

Inst itute predic t ed th at c api tal c o s t s of la rge nuc l ear power

plant s wi l l de c l ine to a l e ve l of about 20 perc ent above tha t

of c onventional power plant s by 1 970 , a nd wi l l rea ch e qual itywith c onventiona l plant s by 20 20 .

The Atomi c Energy Commi s s ion predi c tions of c apitalc o s t trends , a s s hown in Tabl e 1 6 , a r e more c ons ervative , a t

l ea st for th e latter part of thi s de c ade , th a n tho se of the

Stanford Re search Inst i tute . Ca pital c o s t s wi l l be reduc ed a smore experienc e i s gaine d in manufac turing the ma ny items of

spe c ial equipment re quire d for a nuc l ear power plant . Al s o ,experienc e with operating pl ant s may reveal th a t c hea per ma teria l s ,

l e s s rigid fabri c ation te chnique s , fewer spe c ial c omponent s , l e s s

e laborate ins trumenta ti on , simple r refue l ing equipment , and l e s s

extensive provi s ions for safe ty wi l l be ac c epta b l e . Th e se fa c tors

shoul d tend to materia l ly re duc e c api tal c o s t s in future plant s .

Fue l Co s t s

Sinc e c apital c o s t s wi l l remain high for the fore s eeabl e

future , c o s t s o f nuc l e ar fue l mu s t be proportiona t ely l ower tha n

that for fo s s i l fue l s in order for nuc l ear power to be c ompetitivewi th c onventional power .

The Stanford Re s earch Inst i tute fee l s tha t nuc l ear fue l

c o st s wil l de c l ine to about four mi l l s per kil owat t - h our in 1 970 ,

to two mil l s by 1 995, and to mi l l by 20 20 .

- 1 1 0

Some o f the means by which reduct ions in fuel co s t s

wil l be gained are as fol lows

1 . In creas e in the amount o f heat energy extract ed

from a unit we ight o f fuel , through longer

expo sure in the core and better heat transfer .

2 . Increa s e in demand for fuel el ement s,l eading

to e conomie s in fabri cat ion and pro ce s s ing

te chnique s .

3 . Reductions in s to rage and chemical repro ce s s ing

charge s .

No t e chni cal breakthroughs l eading to drama t i c rat e s

o f improvement in the s e a spe ct s are expe ct ed to o c cur ; rather,

i t i s l ikely that small gains in ea ch wil l be effe ct ed from

year to year , produ cing a gradual downward co s t t rend .

Be caus e o f the comparat ively high capital co st s of

nu cl ear powe r pl ant s , and the po tent i al ly low fuel co s t s , it

i s safe to as sume that nu cl ear pl ant s wil l usual l y fo rm the

bas e load o f any power sys t em . Thi s charact eri s t i c has

unusual s ignifi canc e when appl ied to the pumping requirement s

o f the Stat e Water Fac il it ie s . In the event that pumping

energy re quirement s were maintained at a cons tant rate , a

nucl ear power pl ant within the sys t em could be operated at

a high capa c ity facto r , a definit e e conomic advantage .

In addit ion to appl i cat ion o f nucl ear energy to the

generat ion o f el e ctri c al power , it may al so be us ed in the

form o f heat for appl i cat ion to the convers ion o f sal t water

1 1 1

to fre sh . All l arge capa c ity s ea water convers ion pl ant s in

u s e today are o f the dis t il l at ion type and thus u s e heat ,

usuall y in the form o f low - pre s sure s t eam , a s an energy sourc e .

Certain e conomie s , such as in fuel fabri cat ion , can be real i zedin reacto rs that produc e low t emperature s t eam . Nucl ear

energy , therefore , has encourag ing potential advantage when

u s ed in di s til l at ion pro ce s s e s. Studie s hav e shown that heat

from l arge s i z e rea cto rs in the future may b e cheaper than

that from fo s s il fuel s , b ut even when combined with the mo s t

effic ient di s t il l at ion pl ant now avail abl e , the co s t o f the

product water i s not compet it ive with no rma l natural fre sh

water sourc e s .

I so tope Appl i cat ionsIn addit ion to nucl ear power , the Department o f

Water Re source s ha s a dire ct int ere s t in ut il i zation o f s everalother aspe ct s o f nucl ear phenomena . The s e may have an immediat eor po tent ial appl i cat ion to wat er devel opment probl ems .

Radio i s otope s , for instance , are being us ed in a number o f ways .

Re cent development s in the quant itat ive det e rmi nation o f c ertains tabl e i s otope s may have great pot ent ial benefit in hydro logy .

The us e o f nuc l ear explo s ive s fo r improvement o f ground wat e r

re sourc e s al so has b een s tudied , but dire ct b ene fit from thi s

a ct iv ity s eems qu it e remot e at the pre s ent t ime . S tudie s by

the department conne ct ed with the s e pro ce s s e s are de s cribed

b elow .

—1 1 2


o f it s o ther chemi c al o r phys i cal prope rt ie s . In so il s water

i s the princ ipal contributor o f hydrogen atoms .

A de te cto r whi ch i s s ens it ive only to s low neutrons

i s pl aced c l o s e to the fa s t neutron source , and enc l o s ed in a

dev ic e cal l ed a neutron probe . When thi s probe i s pl ac ed in

the s o il , pul s e s due to s low neutrons wil l regi s t er on suitab l e

counting equipment . The count rat e ma y then be rel at ed to the

so il mo is ture in the v i c inity o f the apparatus by means o f a

prio r cal ibrat ion o f the ins t rument .

By appl i cat ion o f somewhat s imi l ar princ ipl e s

through the u s e o f a source o f gamma radiat ion and a gammadete ctor in a dens ity probe , the el e ctron dens ity o f the atoms

compo s ing the surrounding so il may be det ermined . Count rat e sre sul t ing from thi s mea surement may then be rel ated to the

bulk dens ity o f the medium in whi ch the devi c e i s pl a c ed .

The Department o f Wat er Re sourc e s i s now us ing

po rtabl e ins tr ument s whi ch conta in radioact i ve source s tose cure fiel d data and to provide val uabl e info rmat ion fo r us e

in water re source development act ivit i e s .

o f the consumptive us e o f wat er i s e s s ent ial in wat er devel op

ment pl anning . One o f the methods whereby wat er us e by

vegetat ion ( evapotranspirat ion ) may be evaluat ed i s by

ac curate field measurement o f the depl et ion o f mo i s ture from

the so il .

In det ermining wat er us e by a s el e ct ed crop , a

neutron probe i s lowered into the so il through a ca s ed bo re

- 1 14

hol e in the field in which the crop i s being rais ed to depths

up to 25 feet . Moi sture reading s are made at s el e c ted depths

in the so il , no rmally at l o f oot interval s . The s e measurement s

are made pe riodi cal ly during the growing s eason . By thi s

p ro c edure , it i s po s s ibl e to determine wat er content change s

in the root zone of the so il , and with knowl edge of the

quant ity o f water appl ied , wate r depl et ion for the crop i s

de termined . The s e measurement s are be ing made at s everal key

s tat ions throughout the S tat e . Areas in which neutron probe s

are b e ing us ed by the department fo r evap otranspirat ion

s tudie s in clude Ke rn County near Bakers fi eld,We stern San

Lui s Obi spo , and Santa Barbara Count ie s , the Sacramento - San

Joaquin Del ta area , the foothil l area s o f Pla c er and Nevada

Count ie s , and Shasta County . Figure 1 8 depi ct s the equipment

in operat ion at one o f the s e fiel d s it e s .

Land Sub s idence . So il mo i sture and so i l dens i ty

probes are be ing us ed at t e s t s ite s l o cat ed in sub s idence areas

on the we s t s ide o f the San Jo aquin Vall ey . The intere st o f

the Department of Water Re source s in the s e areas ari s e s from the

the fact that the propo s ed route o f the Cal ifo rnia Aqueduct

travers e s the areas . Data obtained from thi s inve s t igat ion

yi eld the rate and amount o f penetrat ion o f wat er through

the so il from the surfac e to a depth o f 20 0 fe et . By thi s

method,valuabl e info rmat ion on sub surfac e condit ions , whi ch

should material ly as s i s t in the de s ign and cons truct ion o f

the a q ueduc t i s being col l e cted .

_ 1 1 5_

Re source s i s currently cooperat ing with the Unit ed S tat e s

Department of Agri cul ture , Agri cul tural Re s earch S ervi ce , in

s tudie s o f the movement o f ground wat er . Fo r this purpo s e ,

neutron probe s are be ing ut il i zed fo r so il mo i s ture mea surement s .

Field studie s are be ing condu cted i n the San Joaquin Val l ey ,

i n conn e ct ion with a program to inve s t igat e ground wa t er

re cha rge .

Compa c t i on Con tro l . Rap id , nonde s t ru ct i ve s o il t e s t

i ng methods , Wh i ch are p rovide d by the u s e of devi c e s containing

ra dioa ct iv e s our ce s , a r e part i cul arly us eful in many areas o f

e arth wo rk cons t ru ct ion . I ns t rumen t s have b een de vel oped whi ch

a r e de s igned to ope rat e on th e so i l surfa c e , and to indi c at e

i ts mo is ture a nd dens ity to a depth o f ab out 1 foo t . The

De partment of Wa t er Re s ource s has made e val uat ion s tudie s with

the s e de vi ce s on s everal emb ankment pro j e ct s in conne ct ion

with it s cons truc t ion ac t ivit ie s . C l o s e l iai son i s b e ing

maintained with the Stat e Divis ion of Highways , whi ch has

s everal o f the s e ins trument s in us e .

Snow Mea surement s . Ra pid and ac curat e det erminat ion

o f t h e water content and dens ity o f snowpacks i s impo rtant in

predi ct ion o f to tal wat er in storage in wat ershed areas .

S tudie s o f the po s s ibl e appl i cat ion o f radioac t ive probe s to

thi s purpo s e are be ing made by the Unit ed Stat e s Fo re s t

S ervi ce , in cooperat ion with the Department o f Wate r Re source s .

Thi s wo rk i s b e ing conduct ed at the Central S ierra Snow

Laborato ry , near Soda Springs .

- 1 1 6


There is a real need in hydrologi c s tudie s for

tracers which wil l permit the ident ifi cat ion o f flow paths

and cal cul at i ons o f fl ow velo cit ie s in various type s o f

water bodie s . Radioact ive tracers , whi ch may be dete ct ed

ac curat ely and pre c i s ely even in very low concentrat ions

appear to fil l thi s need ideal ly .

At pre s ent the Department o f Water Re source s i s

part i c ipat ing in su ch s tudie s to the ext ent of maintaining

c lo s e l iai son with members o f other agenc ie s , who are con

duct ing a few studie s o f this nature , as de s cribed below .

us ed in a pro j e ct to determine the magnitude and extent o f

s eepage o f wat er from canal s . Personnel o f the Unit ed State s

Bureau of Re cl amat ion and the Univers ity o f Cal ifornia ,

Department o f Engineering , have conduct ed s eepage s tudie s on

a te s t s e c t ion o f the Madera Canal .

Flow Studie s . Stream flow and s il t trans fer

studie s ut il i z ing radioa ct ive tracers are be ing conduct ed by

the Univers ity o f Cal i fornia , Department of Engineering . Thi s

work promi s e s to provide info rmation whi ch shoul d find many

dire ct appl i cat ions in departmental hydro logi c a ct ivit ie s .

Re cent s tudie s have indicat ed that cons iderabl e

informa t ion regarding the source and his to ry o f surface and

ground wate rs ma y be obtained by anal ys e s fo r the s tabl e

_ 1 1 7 _

i s otope s o f hydrogen and oxygen no rmal l y pre s ent in such

wate rs . The s e i so tope s in clude hydrogen— l and hydrogen— 2

( deut erium ) , and oxygen- 1 6 , oxygen - 1 7 , and oxyg en- 1 8 . Be cau s e

o f differenc e s in vol at il ity cau s ed by the no rmal d i s t r i b u

t ion of the s e i so tope s in water , there i s a t endency to enri ch

waters which are sub j e c t to free evaporation , in the he avier

of th e s e i s o topi c sp e c i e s . S imil ar phenomena gove rn th e con

densation o f wate r vapo r which fall s a s pre cip i tat ion . Thus ,

by a carefu l s tudy of i sotop ic ra ti o s in wa ters , much . i n f o r >

ma t ion o f con s i de r a b l e . impo r tance* to ' h yd r o l ogy may b e obt a i ned .

The dep artment i s a ct ive l y purs ui ng an inve st iga tion to det er

mine tne fea s ib i l i ty o f‘

f b r th e r’

s tud i e s in thi s a r e a . towa r d

th e s olut ion of s ome . ma j o r'

h yd r e l ogi c pr obl ems .

va l ue . to th e S tate of Ga l iforni a i s th e po s sib le benefi cial

r e s u l t sw from a wat e r supp l y'

s tandpe i nt , to b e a chieved from

conne i vab i y‘

a f f ect a gr oundt wate r’

a qui fier’

SO‘

a s to fa c i l i tatere cha rge

,increas e s to rage cap a ci ty , incre a se rock p erme ab il ity ;

or break th rough a ba rr i er in o r de r to int e rconne ct ad j a c ent

aqu ifers . An under ground explos i on might al so produce a gre at

amount of re coverabl e hea t at moderate co s t . The heat coul d

po s s ibly b e rel ea s ed a t'

a cont r ol l ed . r a te by us e o f a tran sf er

agent , su ch a s wate r o r ga s , an d us ed fo r the product i on of

power o r in the form o f he at f er the convers i on o f s a l t water"

to fre sh .


invol ved in a pro j e ct o f thi s nature , but the further unfavo r

abl e fa ct exi s t s that a period o f many years mus t el aps e aft er

the firing before the ro ck cool s to a po int where the heat can

b e extra cted .

The pra ct i cab il ity of underground nucl ear expl o s ions

to al t er ground water condit ions , or to furni sh heat fo r

s al t wate r convers ion or power , appears quit e remot e at the

pres ent t ime and shoul d only be cons idered to be a theo ret i c al

po s sib il i ty unt il ext ens iv e further experimentat ion has b een

performed .

Summary

The util i zat ion o f nucl ear energy in development o f

Cal i fornia ' s wat er re source s may t ake two fo rms - as l ow

tempe rature s t eam fo r a sal ine water convers ion pro ce s s , and

as a s team produc er for power generat ion . Whil e pre s ent co s t so f nuc l ear energy are high there i s growing as surance that

thi s energy source ( converted to e ither heat or el e c tri c ity )

wil l ul t imat ely co s t l e s s than energy from conventional

source s . Thi s means an increa s ing share o f future powe r

demands wil l b e shifted to atomi c pl ant s , a t rend fo s t ered

al so by dwindl ing fo s s i l fuel re s erve s . It i s not l ikely that

a nu cl ear - powered convers ion pl ant wil l b e bui l t in the S tat e

fo r many years . Howeve r , s tudie s have shown that nucl ear

energy wil l be e conomical l y preferabl e and convent ional in

supplying the ma jor pumping power requirement s fo r the S tat e

'

Wat er Fac il it ie s i f th e power generat ing pl ant s are buil t by

the Stat e . Studie s o f al ternat ive power source s are b eing

- 1 20

made , however , and a de c i s ion as to the source o f power has

no t be en made at thi s t ime .

With re spe ct to radio i sotope s , tangibl e benefit s

have ac crued from the ir us e a s a tool in fac i l itat ing the

measurement o f l and and water u se e ffi c ienc ie s . It i s ant i

ci p a t ed that further us e s wil l be devi s ed as experimentat ion

i s cont inued and te chnique s improved .


unconventional ene rgy source s , e sp e c ial ly in the arid ands emi - arid regions o f the wo rl d . As a part o f it s regul ar

s c ient ifi c act ivit i e s it ha s undertaken a broad review o f

current re s earch in various countrie s . In 1 954, UNES CO

organi z ed an int ernat ional s ympo s i uml / held in India , on

wind and sol ar energy . In 1 955 , UNESCO gave financ ial support

to a Worl d Sympo s ium on Appl i ed Sol ar Ene r gyg/, hel d at

Pho enix , Ari zona . More re cent ly, UNESCO a s s i st ed the Depart

ment of Economi c and So c ial A ffairs o f the Unit ed Nat ions in

a comprehens ive s tudyi/ of many type s o f nonconventional

energy source s .

At the pre s ent time , UNESCO and the World Met eoro

logi cal Organi zation are undertaking the firs t wo rldwide survey

of so l ar radiat ion di s t ribut ion , mapping the dail y and annual

variat ions , dependence on al t itude , and rel ated factors . The

s tudy i s b e ing conduct ed in cooperat ion with a spe c ial i zed

sol ar ob s ervato ry and make s u s e o f ob s erved data gathered

during the re cent Int ernat ional Geophys i cal Year . At the

pre s ent t ime there exi s t s no s impl e and inexpens iv e instrument

for measuring so l ar radiat ion , u s eful in the det erminat ion o f

s ite s mo s t suitabl e fo r so lar energy development . UNES CO i

providing financ ial a s s i s tanc e to developing such an ins trument

as wel l a s fo r t e st ing other so l ar energy apparatus .

UNES CO ,

"Wind and So l ar Energy ; Pro ceedings o f the New

Delhi Sympo s ium"

, Paris , 1 956 .

St anford Re s earch In s t itut e ,

" Pro ceedings o f the Wo rldSympo s ium on Appl ied So l ar Energy , Pho enix , Ari zona ,

November 1 - 5 , Menlo Park , Cal ifornia , 1 956 .

Unit ed Nat ions ,

"

New Source s o f Energy and EconomicDevel opment

"

, E/2997 Department of Economi c and So c ialA ffairs , New York , 1 957 .

- 1 24

A comprehens ive s ympo s i uml / on al l pha s e s o f the

ut il i zat ion of sol ar energy was he l d at Madi son,Wi s cons in

,

in 1 953 . I t was sponso red by the Unit ed S tate s National

S c ienc e Foundat ion and the Univers ity o f Cal ifornia.

The

purpo s e o f the meet ing was to di s cu s s the po s s ib il it ie s o f

so l ar energy ut il i zat ion and to determine the areas where

re s earch should be encouraged .

In 1 958 , the French National Center o f S c ient ifi c

Re s earch conduct ed , at Montl oui s , a sympo s ium oh the appl i ca

tions o f so l ar energy in the modern world . Sub j e ct s di s cus s ed

ranged from small cooking devi c e s , wat er and hous e heaters,to

s o l ar power devi c e s in space vehi cl e s .

So l ar radiation has l ong been us ed to increas e the

rat e o f pl ant growth , to l engthen the growing s ea son by the

u s e o f gre enhous e s , and to evapo rate s al ine water in the sal t

indust ry . Mode rn sol ar energy appl i cat ions are st il l largely

in the re s earch s tage , varying from ob s ervations of sol ar

radiation to advanced experimentat ion on a worldwide bas i s in

su ch countrie s as A lgeria , Aus tral ia , the Congo , Burma , Egypt ,

Franc e , French We s t Afri ca , India , I srael , Italy, Japan , the

Union of South Afri ca , Rus s ia , th e United Kingdom, and the

Unit ed S tat e s .

_l / Daniel s, F . ,

and Duffie , J . A . ,

"So lar Energy Re s earch

The Univers ity of Wi s cons in Pre s s , Madison , 1 955 .

_ 1 25

The quant ity o f energy radiat ing from the sun is

very nearly cons tant . Out s ide the atmo sphere o f the earth ,

and on a surfa ce perpendi cu l ar to the rays o f the sun , thi s

radiant energy i s about Btu per square fo o t per minut e .

Due to l o s s e s su s tained in pas s ing through the upper atmo sphere ,

and through cl ouds in the lewer atmo sphere , radiant energy o f

the sun is greatly depl et ed and extremely variabl e i n i nten

s i ty when it rea che s the earth ' s surfa ce . At Fre sno ,

Cal ifornia , fo r exampl e , the maximum radiat ion rate o c curs in

July , at a l it tl e pas t mid - day , and e qual s about 5 Btu per

s quare foo t per minut e . The minimum radiat ion o c curs in

De cemb er and fo r a compara bl e t ime o f day e qual s about 2 Btu

per s quare foo t per minut e . Cl oudin e s s would , of cours e ,

reduce the energy re ce ived to a l e s s er value .

The average daily energy on a ho ri zontal surfac e in

a sunny cl imat e , su ch a s the southwe st ern United Stat e s , i s

from 1 80 0 to 20 0 0 Btu p e r s quare foo t per day . Typi cal ob s e r

va t i on s in areas where sol ar int ens ity i s rel at ively high are

g iven in Tabl e 1 7 .

Ba s i c t e chnique s ut il i z ed to convert the radiat ion

of the sun into us abl e energy are cl a s s ified into two groups .

1 . Pro ce s s e s ut il i zing so l ar heat .

2 . Pro c e s s e s ut il i zing l ight from the s un .

In addit ion , there are be ing devel oped means fo r the dire ct

conversion of heat into el e ctri c ity , whether th e-

heat b e

derived from the sun o r from other thermal source s .f Th e s e

proc e s s e s wil l b e de s crib ed l at er in thi s chapt er . The s o

call ed so l ar batt ery i s al so b riefly di s cus s ed in thi s s e c t ion .

1 26


Lens e s or refl e ct ing mirro rs are needed to create

t emperature s higher than a few hundred degre e s . A s the s e l ens e s

o r mirro rs capture on l y . th e dire ct rays o f the sun , they must

b e cont inual ly rotat ed so as t o keep the sun ' s rays in fo cu s .

The heat captured and the t emperature created are dependent on

the qual ity o f the mirro r surfa ce and the ac curat e shaping o f

the parabol i c col l e cto rs . A s a cons equenc e , different iat ion

i s frequently made between medium temperature devi c e s and

h igh temperature furna c e s . The heat in the fo rmer , bel ow about

F . , may be us ed dire ctly in low - t emperature furna ce s

and in sol ar cookers , or may b e trans fe rred through l i quid o r

gas eous media to operat e engine s o f various type s . High

t emperature furnac e s to F . ) are chiefly us ed in

industrial and re s earch appl i cat ions to t reat refractory and

metal l i c mat erial s , to indu ce chemi c al rea ct ion s , and to creat e

s t eam o f high temperature and pre s sure .

For certain remot e area s o f Cal ifo rnia , the us e o f

sol ar energy fo r dire ct di s t il l at ion of sal ine water o r for

product ion of power fo r pump ing and dome st i c el e ctri cal us e

may prove fea s ibl e . For su ch regions , Dr . Vannevar Bu sh has

re c ently propo s ed the us e o f s low—moving sol ar heat engine s

”

employing air heated b y lth e sun in fl at pl ate col l e c to rs a s

an energy source

Hi stori cally , Cal ifornia has been the l o cal e fo r

s everal so l ar s t eam engine s buil t and Operated early in the

pre s ent c entury . One was buil t in 1 90 1 in Pa sadena , and

during the same year another , develop ing 1 1 hors epower , was

- 1 28

cons tru ct ed and operated at the Os tri ch Farm in South Pasadena.

In 1 90 5 and 1 90 8 , two so l ar - me cha nic al devi c e s ( 1 5 and 20

ho rs epower , re spect ively ) were cons tru ct ed and operat ed at

Needl e s , Cal i fornia

So l ar radiat ion in the form of l ight may be converted

to u s eful fo rms of energy by employing various photo chemi cal

and photo el e ctri c pro ce s se s .

The bas i c concept in photo chemi cal pro ce s s e s i s th at

a number of chemical react ions may be a ct ivat ed by sunl ight in

which the reac tant s thems elve s , o r a pho to catalyst mixed with

the photo chemical , ab sorb sol ar energy . Of the s everal photo

chemi cal pro c e s s e s , photo synthe s i s i s the mo s t us eful . Re

s earch wo rk oh thi s pro ce s s i s conc erned not so much with the

effi c iency o f chemi cal convers ion as it i s with obtaining means

o f ut il i zing and s toring the great e s t po s s ibl e quant ity o f

s o l ar energy by means o f pl ant l ife . Thi s invol ve s the proper

s el e ct ion o f pl ant s and the creation o f Optimum condit ions fo r

the ir growth . Int ere s t is e spe c ial ly being centered on s ingl e

cel l ed algae that c an grow and mul t iply in water .

Photo el e ctri c convers ions are of much int ere s t i n

dire ct ut il i zat ion of so l ar energy . One devi ce i s the photo

vo l tai c c el l ut il i zed in pho tographi c expo sure mete rs . An

el e ctri c current i s produced when sol ar rays strike a l ight

s ens it ive mat erial,such as s el enium . Modern cel l s , developed

as a re sul t o f re s earch in s emi— conductors , empl oy s il i con and

are cal l ed sol ar batt erie s . Minut e amount s'

o f ars eni c ,

_ 1 29_

me i t e d ;Wi t h l s i l i con of high purity , produ c e nega t ive - type

s i l i cb n .h r Th e mat erial i s p rodu ced in the fo rm o f thin wafers

wh i ch ' a r ew s ub s e quentl y cove red with bo ron to produ c e a thin

top l ayer o f po s it ive - typ e s il i con . A s a re sul t o f th e

juxtapo s it ion of negative - typ e and po s it ive - typ e s i l i con , an

el e ctri c vol tage i s generated when l ight s trike s the junct ion

o f the l ayers . At th e pre s ent t ime , the effi c iency of the

so l ar batt ery is l ow . It i s anti c ipat ed , however , that con

t i nu i ng re s earch wil l eventual ly produce a devi c e o f rel at ively

high effi c iency for the dire ct convers ion of sol ar rays into

el e ct ri c ity .

Probably prehi s to ri c man knew and us ed hot wat er and

s t eam p r o duc ed in th e int erio r of the earth . Howeve r , the .~

actual produ ct ion o f me chani c al and el e ct ri c al power from

s t eam or h ot .wa te r o rig inat ing in subterranean sourc e s o f

h e a tg d a te s :b a ck only to 1 904, al though i nve s t igat ions o f su ch

sour ce s o f energy cover a .p e r i od o f almo s t a c entury

Regions o f the earth where readily ob s ervabl e sourc e s

o f geothermal energy are avail abl e are extremely l imit ed .

Princ ipal sourc e s are l o cat ed in I taly , I ce land , New Zealand ,

Al aska , and in the We s t ern United S t at e s . In Cal ifo rnia ,

s uch ss our ce s are l o cat ed in Sonoma County , Las s en Nat ional Park ,

andn i n _ th e . l mp e r i a 1 Vall ey

f w l '

,Pr act i ca l .ut i l i za ti on o f geothermal energy for th e

generation o f el e c tri c ity i s wel l e s tabl i shed in Ital y, where

powe r fa c il i t ie s h a d attained a to tal capac ity o f


Th eo r e t i ca l l y ,r geoth e r ma l energy i s o f almo s t

unl imit ed ext ent o rig inat ing in the heat o f the interior O f

the earth it s el f . Over mo s t o f the earth ' s crus t , the

Ob s erv ed increas e o f temperature with depth i s remarkably

unifo rm, averag ing about 10 F . with every 60 feet o f depth

( increas e o f t emperature with depth i s cal l ed t emperature

gradient ) . Vi s ibl e manife s tat ion s o f int ernal heat o c cur as

vol cani c a ct ion at high t emperature s and as springs o f hot

wat er o r o f st eam . The heat in some mine s , where ma s se s o f

ro ck have b een cool ing fo r thousands o f years , caus e s t em

p e r a tur e s above tho s e in whi ch miners c an wo rk for more than

very sho rt periods . In O i l explo rat ions at depths of nearlyfeet , tempe rature s exc eeding the maximum for which wel l

l ogging machinery i s -in sul at ed have been encount e red .

In al l o f the pre s ent us e s o f geothermal energy,

s t eam or hot water al ready pre s ent in the earth i s put to us e ,

and if it were ne ce s sary to confine the ut il i zat ion o f geo

thermal energy to area s where such subte rranean water o r

st eam al ready exi s t s , the us e o f that re sourc e woul d b e quit e

l imit ed . However , it has b een sugge s t ed that s inc e the tem

p e r a tur e o f the earth i s known to increas e a s great er depths

are reached , it might be po s s ibl e to cons tru ct boring s o r

shaft s into whi ch water o r some other l iquid heat trans fer

medium coul d be introdu ced , and , r etur n ed to the surface at

high t emperature for us e a s a heat sour ce fo r any purpo s e .

That it woul d be phys i cal ly po s s ibl e to make u s e o f this

energy there i s no doubt , nor i s there doubt that the us e

- 1 32


: t e uBa tte b Le s tudla us h owe d cth a t i a s [a ds our ce s of mi b ru o o

ene r gy cofirwi d e s pr e a d fgeogr aph i c d i s t r i b uti on; dgeoth e rma l oene r gy s~

wa s f not sgén e r a l kyép r a ct i ca l jfio r os a l ine gwa te r wconver s i on 9 3 h a ve n "

co iTh e csouth Dakota i s oh od l vo f Mi n es eRe sea nch a nd ton i s q e HT

s p e ci f i cz i nve s t i gat i ongéj o f nce r ta i n a s pect s eo f fgeoth e rma l co :

ene rgy d t i n cl ud i ngs a nueva l u ati on r ofis neg i on s of cons ide rab l e vj fv . j

geoth e rma l fl en e r gy i n l Ca I i flo r n i a swi dent i f ted aas cth gs éfia r ea S fioo mo"

abounding in ho t spring s , geyse rs , st eam wel l s , and umud ovo l d ngi d

cano e s zi rTh e i nmé s t i ga tfion ( wa S ep a r ti cuh a r l y conce r n ed nfii th

the prob l ems go f s th e dava i l a b i l s tyfio f age oth e rma l aene r gy fire b a ted [ El i

to th e séa r th b s ztemp e r atur e agr ad i ent , sand th e ava i l a b i b i ty .d§ tfl a i

geoth erma l s energymf romzh ot l s p r i ngs aa nd ns te amdwe l fls a s oTh ews oq q s d”

f o l l owingq e x t r act J f rom th e Of f i ce q ofii sa l i ne Wa te r ; uent i t l ed d3 s o?

S a l iné ( Wate r Conve r s i oa epor t : f d n i l 9BZu b briefly coVe ns th e l s ffi

f i nd i ngs Gdf i th émi nves t i ga t i ons 3 0 9 I e ~ «doub omo - vd a l d s j oAq sm r d s d j

"The pre s entl y ava i l ab l e dge q th ermab b d a ta adoanot os b a oub

indi cate that Ca l i fo rni a p o s se s s e s any area s o f un

us ua f by i h i gh Jtemperdtufie igra d i eh t s Idut S i d e .tfié£l ocat ions o f hot springs , st eam wel l s , geys ers , and the

GS Ti kc i h MTh e Ta r ge s t r épo r ted sgr a d i ént i s on l y l twi de d 0 1 vh uj

the mean value fo r the earth ' s c ru s t . Therefo re , noeconomi damfiuti I i za ti on dof Lth é i a va i b ab l e Jge dth e rma l v

e vq ua 0 3

ene rgy from the thermal gradient fo r a demineral i zing

p r o ce s s 9 i s p r act i ca b I e Ja t ath i s dt i me . a i anfiqms s uo ifims o ddi w

~ m0 0fi“fIQtUSp r i ng s ,fJ i n e f f e ct rea f f or d ra l fif r e e nh ol efli [ r mod fma b

for the extract ion o f geothermal energy . Report edda tafiomay i emd s and s t emp e r a tu r e s i nd i cate s th a tvgen e r a l l ya a a s q

mad ame I s mq afif c e Lo v3i l i ua x i i s vs I s i dna d oq ad j : i av i s ns

I n s t i tute , a t Ava i l a b ml i ty ao f oGeoth e rma l n b h a s

Energy for th e Demin era l i zat i on o f Sal ine Wat er '

Offi c e

o f Sal ine Water , Re s earch and Deve lopment Pr ogr e s s . Repor t New

No . 27 , July 1 959 .

_g/ South Dako ta S choo l o f Mine s Re s earch and DevelopmentA s so c iat ion ,

"Inve s t igat ion o f the Avail ab il ity o f Geo

thermal Energy fo r the Demineral i zat ion o f Sal ine Wat er"

Offi ce o f Sal ine Water , Re s e a r ch f a nd Development Progre s sReport No . 28 , July 1 959 .

_ 1 34_

th e i h a tural f l ows 7

a reUtOO”

sma l l “or f th e?temper ature an : >r

l evel s too low to ut il i ze them in sal ine wat er pl ant sthat wou l d Tb e C p r a cti cab l e 0 r

" ”

cOnomi ea l i - ~ Th e éO St C ' C'U

of fre sh water would.

s t il l be prohib it ively high byI p r é s ent

c S tand a r d s'

y} ; Z‘ 9 1 1 P F. L j fi‘J I e

” 0 WEITs ’ o f f érj th e 7 h éarES t approa éh efio i év ifii~ a f ~

‘

geothermal source re sul t ing in a pra ct i cabl e deminr I e r a l i 'Za t i ém o f Sa l i ne v wa te r l s Th e? hi gher temperaturesre sul t ing with thi s natural s t eam whi ch apparentlyhas b e en

’o ota i n edoup to 275 psi ob r l s o ; o i ncr e a s e s the w

“m

31 5 .1

-1 1 3 5 5: fl a 9 1 : b e s i r T

”One l imitat ion of such source s i s that they

a r e unique a nd o ccur“ofil y '

i nUCér tai n I 6 cal i t i e s , whi ch 3'

i s al so true o f hot springs . Thus , one has to coni d

'

eer their‘

f e a s i b i l i tye 1 a r e l a t i on l to

“th e l s our ce o f i 1 ~

sal ine wate r and area of demand for fre sh wat er .

0

"Limited nd rather old informat ion on steam

wel l s q at"Th e e y o e r s ” I i n

Q

S onoma J Coun ty kwa s

a bas i s fo r e s t imat ing that fre sh water might be produced fo r $ 1 . 0 0 or po s s ibly l e s s i f

in thi s lo cal i ty .

Wind Power

Q 3L Th eQe a r l i e s t date when man empl oyed the force of the

windi tofl as éi st Him1mh 1 s 5 ta sk s i s Unot knowfi.OEBoth th e :

mil l ing grain,and it is re corded that , in the S eventeenth

I s Jo u e fl J‘

I ?a 1 e q ans 5 f 1 .

r n j'i r i ‘

5 a t“~ s 1

Century B . C . ,the Babylonian empero r Hammurab i planned an

I

ambitiou s irrigat ion sys tem us ing windmil l s for pumping .

da 1 en a

a 1 o {J i f'u f aa oa a ¢ n

_ i 1 5 : n " c x n i i fl fl

In We s t ern Europe and in Ru s sia , windmill s were in

c ommon us e after the middl e age s , e spe c ial l y in tho s e regionsne v r t b - b n i

'

3 3 5 o f : I 5 1

[

e x P a os rze

where fo s s il fuel and water power resource s were negl igibl e ,

i s n d onH a s r b fir q a i s D9 35 1 >oo ha s b eafioa q n cs ’

co £ 1 e fio

su ch a s Denmark and Ho ll and .

In pre s ent - day Rus s ia , where power i s required for

numerous agri cul tural communit ie s , a C entral Wind Power‘

s J : a a » 1 uc ? . 1 1 9 n3'

. . A 3 3 0 1 ~ s ob b ra k . ;

I n s t itute h 'wa s a e s tab l i s h edfii a l tHeWP920 - 30 decade ? 1 The wor k °

sf

- e x

)

1 35

the ins t itut e re sul ted in the cons t ru ct ion , in 1 931 , o f a

1 0 0 - kilowatt el e ctri cal generat ing windmil l near Bala cl ava

in the C rimea a s wel l as the cons tru ct ion of numerous smal l

wind - driven generato rs . Re c ent e s t imat e s give the number of

wind power pl ant s in Rus s ia , at about unit s , with an

aggregat e capa city of approxima tely hors epower .

In the Unit ed S tat e s , th e sma l l farm and ranch

windmil l was a common ne ce s s ity in almo s t al l part s o f the

country unt il the advent o f the s tat ionary internal comb u s

t ion engine and the rural el e ctrifi c at ion sys t ems . A c co rding

to Ayre s and S ca r l o tt l /, the type s ( in 1 950 ) were app r o x i

mately as fol l ows

Number in Average Instal l ed Annual power

Pumping hp hp 250 mil l ion ho rs epower - hours

Wind char ers 2 kw kw 1 50 mil l ion kilo

( el e ct . watt - hours

The total annual power produ c tion by wind i s about 450 mil l ion

ho rs epower - hours , a rather ins ignifi cant part o f the tot al

Unit ed Stat e s power produc t ion .

During World War II , the po s s ib il ity o f generat ing

el e ct ri cal power on a l arge s cal e from the ene rgy o f the wind

was studied extens ively , and a - kilowatt wind - driven

generato r was cons tru ct ed and op erat ed at Grandpa ' s Knob near

Rut l and , Vermont .

_1/ Ayre s , E . , and S ca r l ott , C . A Energy Source s ; theWealth o f the World

"

, McGr aw- Hil l Book Company ,

'

New York ,

1 952 .

- 1 36


i h —th e cwi nd i“A c tual ly ; howemen ; a l o s s e s a i n th e r otor p q i n the

g ea r imggcand i n cth e s e l e ctr i ca l sys tem reduce th e oovgr ab l j e f f i g i j

c i en cy to l es s i th anq l o p er centg w e ?" em to {Gav-

351 yd

vTh e awi nd er a r eLy blows flar eany ocons i de r a b l e : pe r i od

o f t ime . at 3a con s tanui s pe ed r e rHQwever , s i n s co a s tah or mounta i n onTa r e a s y nbo ca t i on s i can Sb e df ound cwh e r e i t rb l ows :mo r e i f r e quentl y c r f x

and con sta ntl yfith an i n l oth en ea r ea S no Ex tend ed emounta i n a none

r ange s oa f f e ct - th e- gene r a l j f l OM‘

o f i ai nuover th es e gbanni e r s cand

tend to i ncr e a s e hWi nd b spe ed s ca s at h e, a l ti tude ei ncnea s e s ,

Th er e for e ; ; th e Qb e s t i te sl f or wi nd ipowe r ar ewl i ke l y dtO CQe x ooe ta

.c vfirfit ep r e s ent: th er efla ppe a rs ato r b e anO ts i te gi n cCa l i f or n i a

wh e r e i wi nd : powe r n can rb e j e conomi ca l l y j deve l op ed l andmuti l i zed t o OI

Util izat ion o f Wa ste HeatThe amount of heat was ted by indu strial pro c e s s ing

in Cal ifornia , of possibl e u s e in sal ine wat er convers ion wasnot known , even approximately, unt il re cently . To a s c ertainth e

k

app r o x ima te q uantity of such was te heat , a survey wa s madeof it s lo cat ion , amount , and probabl e co s t .

The ob j e ct ive o f th i s prel iminary survey, condu ctedby "ai s er Engineers under contra ct to the Department of Wat erRe source s , wa s to a s c ertain the lo cat ion , avail abl e q uantit ie s ,and co s t o f wa st e heat energy from various coas tal source swithin the Stat e . Thes e source s includedprivate andmpub l i c ,ut i l i t i e sM andnmuni d i p a b aQS tate y and d a e ifi”

. 3 Q E I q YFTh efltypes I of~wa stéi h eatfii nves ti ga ted? en comp a s s ed

3 3 cm: 3Ga s e s ; Osuch fl a S Nth e upr oduct S ? of h combust i on and~ a e i q wid d i w s h igh ctemp er atur eJéf f l uentuga s e s aflr om chemi cal ,

a d o i d eme b i a ameta l mungi ca t ; ae l ect r i ci powe r ngen e r a t i on ,

a e oz wc a J s mun i ci pa l i r e f us e, and OSewageMd i s po s aTTop e r a t i on s .

o i l f j m I E 2 9 1 Ei qui d s jt

such a s the product s a f r omd r ef i ne r i e sy '

$ 1 5fiimi l e f fle 1 e ctr i c

l i q flfifif l fici afiand omuni di pa I Vr e f us edand i s éwage d i s po s a l sme J l o

4. Sol ids , s uch c a s t i n th efls tee b j f a l Umi num, 3cér ami o ,

and cement industrie s , and from muni c ipalrefu s e and s ewage di spo sal Operations .

The survey wa s l imited to the following areas , heat

q uant it ie s , and heat source s1 . The Pac ifi c Coastal area , including the lowerSa cramento River - San Franc i s co Bay region,ext ending from Napa on the no rth to the Mexi canborder on the south , and within 5 mil e s of thecoa st l ine .

2 . Tho s e blo cks of wa s te heat , in a given area ,capabl e of produc ing at l eas t 1 mi l l ion gal lonsper day of potabl e water empl oying the vacuumfl a sh evaporat ion pro ce s s or te ch ni gg e s cfm m .

l o d oi a cna a x a eéqu1Vamefifir h eat aecg nomy . .y 6£pprox imate l y

a rm 1 0 V'

g‘

rz n e

re q uired for a l mil l ion - gall on - per—day plant ,depending on the t emperature of the was te heat . )

3 . Heat source s at tempera ture s o f at l ea s t 75° F .4. Heat source s whi ch are ex trac tabl e within p r a ct i cal enginee ring and e conomi c cons iderat ions .

The survey dis clo s ed s everal wa s te heat sourc e swhi ch would be po s sibl e to u s e a s a heat supply for a 1 mi ll iongal lon - per- day sal ine water convers ion pl ant . Prel iminarye s t imat e s o f the co s t of us e o f the was t e heat indi cated ,however , that only the very be s t source s , from the standpo into f temperature , proximity to an availabl e convers ion pl ant s it eand to the supply of s ea wat er , would be comparabl e to the co s to f u s ing a convent ional heat source .

Marine EnergyEnergy e x i s t s in the o c eans in two different forms

heat and mot ion . The heat energy e x i st ing in the warm surfac ewater , su ch a s ex i s t s off the coa s t of Southern Cal ifornia , ma ybe put to pra ct i cal u s e if a heat s ink can be provided . Thi smay be done by tapping the cold ma s s of water lying b eneaththe surfac e at depths in the range of 500 to feet ordeeper . The energy of mot ion i s pre s ent in tide s and wave s ,but there appear to b e no pro spe ct s along the Cal i fornia coa s tl ine where e ither o f the se source s o f energy can be e conomical ly harne s s ed .

Therma l EnergyHi stori cal ly , the cons iderat ion of the extra ct ion of“

thermal energy from the almo s t l imitl e s s latent energy o f the

- 140


u s i ngfiafil ongl i n s ul ated i Steel Upipe S to obtainJédl d q s éa PWa térfl ( a P C

at a <depth l of fabout5 2§OOOWf éetf and warm a t er from9 the seab o WOT}

s ur f a ce efidTh éffiéth od cape satéa 580 f i ydduefificflai fr acui ti e sfii n?“swa b

l a y ingf avpi pe i e r a depth f suf f i ci entdtéfiob tai noefiou“h teapéra- vas q

ture d i f f er ence 3to l we r k IWi tt a i r Oef f i"

i 8ncy¥ 9 3HOWéver? thee

f e a s i b i l i tyOof x th é I p r oée s s wasbdéf ifii terystfeved .fi@ 9 fl

fia vw Annumb e rfio f fdeep l canyon s Sex i st3of rnoa r i forfli a? s” Ht

coa s t,which offer po tent ial source s of cold water . An ' 3 9 1 3H I

e x amp l emi s“Monte r eyf s ubmari n efiCafiyonJ in3M6ntér éy Bay?9Wh i ch

i s compa f a b r emifif ma x imumédestnoand cr agg l s eéfii ofifitb the af afidfis n e

the S a i ifia '

Ri ve r b a t amoS s sand i ngvemrne Eposs iui i i tyééXi éfis a o x ofld

i ndu str i al fh eatEGOUTd cb e u sedfito ma ter i ai iy Tficr éa SéUtemp eraj fifij a

ture d i f f erent i aI s QGSA t SUBdanyon 9of fiMdfitéfiey f danydfimi s Carmel j

Canyon , whi ch heads in th e amodth fld f fth e QGarmél QRi ver fm Con

s i d e r a b l e Dd epth sfiex i s tYdfld s e tGWSh dr e i O no i i ua , [ i j

'

A

th e d ea stT

and Outer US anfiéUBa r b ara ECh dnfieLHto Gth e3Wé s tW9 3And th e r l i b

i s th é SS d r i pp § ’ S ubmar i ne i Canfidnfil oca téd rel at i very ( cl os e uto i v t i fl u

deep s e a TWatenfltemp efiatur e d i f f er enti a l s vinQSOuth e rn Sca l ifio rd i a GO

coa s tal waters are shown in Tab l e 1 8 .

SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE SEA WATERSouthern Cal ifornia Coa stal Waters

in feet

Surfa cet

The a l i ca t i on of this energy source to d emi n e r a l i

za t i on of sal t wat er doe s not appear promi s ing due to the co s to f obtaining the co ld water and the great vo lume s of waterthat must b e handl ed be caus e of the rel at ively sma l l temperature difference availabl e . ( T GWWUB

The me chanical energy of t ide s may be harnes sedand trans formed into el e ctri city . I n princ ipl e , the convers ion

pro ce s s is analogous to convent ional hydro el e ctri c poweri d i a a oami e x o i o f

.

f e a . J: on ; no ; Unggi :J a l o c a r : a

instal lat ions ut il izing the energy of fall ing water . A storage

b as in i s fil l ed during high t ide and i s clo s ed by gat e s whenthe t ide re cede s , so that a difference in water l evel on ebbtide i s creat ed , or vi ce versa . The t r a pp ed . wa te r i s thenal lowed to flow from the high s ide to the low s ide througha hydraul i c turbine whi ch may be coupl ed to a generator toprodu c e el e ctri c power . Thi s mode o f power generat ion do e snot appear to b e fea s ibl e along the we st co a s t o f the Unit edS tat es , ex c ept perhap s at Cook ' s I nl et in A la ska . Tabl e 1 9pre s ent s typi cal t idal range s along the coas t o f Ca l i fornia ,all of whi ch are wel l b elow the l o- foo t minimum general lycons idered pract i cal and e conomi c for power generation .

Mi s ce l l an eous‘

Ene r gy Source sOther energy source s , l e s s well deve loped , may

eventual ly a s sume some importanc e in supplying energy req uirement s o f the future . The s e in clude the fuel cel l and variousdev i c e s for dire ct convers ion o f heat to el e c tri cal energy ,including heat from nucl ear fi s s ion . None of the s e i s suff i ci ent l y advan ced at the pre s ent t ime , however , to permitrel iabl e predi ct ions o f the ir pot ent ial impac t on the energyneeds o f Cal ifornia .

SummaryOf the s everal source s of energy termed non conven

t i ona l rel at ively few appear to o ffer any po s s ib il ity offuture appl i cation in thi s Stat e to wat er demineral izat ionpro c e s s ing and power produc t ion . Some are , a s yet , in theembryoni c s tage o f inve stigat ion and it i s there fore impo s s ib l e


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