Desalination is a tried-and-true method for obtaining clean water from the ocean's brackish waters and recycling and reusing water. It requires a fair amount of energy, so it is necessary to create sustainable energy systems to lessen energy use and environmental impact. For thermal desalination procedures, thermal sources can be great heat sources. This paper's research focuses on thermoeconomically optimized multi-effect distillation and geothermal desalination systems. Collecting hot water from subsurface reservoirs is a well-established method of generating electricity through geothermal sources. Low-temperature geothermal sources, which have a temperature of less than 130 °C, can be utilized for thermal desalination systems, for example, multi-effect distillation (MED). Geothermal desalination is affordable, and it is possible to produce power simultaneously. Because it only uses clean, renewable energy and produces no greenhouse gasses or other pollutants, it is also safe for the environment. The viability of any geothermal desalination plant will be influenced by the location of the geothermal resource, feed water supply, cooling water source, water market, and concentrate disposal site. Geothermal energy can directly supply heat for a thermal desalination system or indirectly give electrical power to reverse the osmosis (RO) membrane-based desalination plant.
Keywords: Desalination; Freshwater; Geothermal energy; Renewable energy; Seawater.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.