ELSEVIER Desalination 165 (2004) 269-279 DESALINATION www.elsevier.com/locate/desal Performance evaluation of a small size TVC desalination plant Walid E1-Mudir*, Mohamed E1-Bousiffi, Salah A1-Hengari Petroleum Research Centre, P O. Box 6413, Tripoli, Libya Tel. +218 (21) 4836821/23; Fax +218 (21) 4830031; email: walid elmudir@yahoo.com Received 17 February 2004; accepted 26 February 2004 Abstract This paper is concerning the performance evaluation of small size thermal vapour compression (TVC) desalination units. The plant consists of two identical vapour compression units, each of a nominal capacity of 375 m3/d of distillate water. Despite the fact that these units are fairly new (two years in operation at time of evaluation), some operating problems were experienced. In this study, some important design factors and operating conditions are reviewed and the plant operating data were used to evaluate the unit performance. Conclusions derived from this evaluation are presented with emphasis on plant economy. Keywords: Plant evaluation; TVC; Performance factors I. Introduction 1.1. Unit equipment description It is a skid mounted package unit supplied to be ready for connection to main utilities. The unit consists mainly of the following parts. 1.1.1. The evaporator body The evaporator body is a cylindrical shell of stainless steel closed at each by flanges, including the cells separated by tube plates. The cell is equipped with one tube bundle; the tubes are made of stainless steel (type 316L). The spraying devices are stainless steel perforated plates. Between each cell and at the thermocompressor admission on the vapour circuit, a stainless steel (woven metal) demister is mounted in order to reduce entertainment of seawater droplets, which contaminate the distilled water produced. *Corresponding author. Presented at the EuroMed 2004 conference on Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries: Cooperation between Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the Southern Rim of the Mediterranean. Sponsored by the European Desalination Society and Office National de l'Eau Potable, Marrakech, Morocco, 30 May-2 June, 2004. doi; 10.1016/j.desa1.2004.06.031