A Feasibility Study of Utilizing Nuclear Energy for an Existing MED-TVC Desalination Plant

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript describes the feasibility study of utilizing nuclear energy for desalination plant. The topic is very interesting and will attract many readers. The study includes the simualtion analysis and cost elvulation. The results proves the conclusions of the study. The version now is acceptable. 

Author Response

Responses to Reviewer’s Comments

The manuscript describes the feasibility study of utilizing nuclear energy for desalination plant. The topic is very interesting and will attract many readers. The study includes the simualtion analysis and cost elvulation. The results proves the conclusions of the study. The version now is acceptable.

We would like to thank the reviewer for his understanding and appreciation of this research. We are very grateful for his kind words.

Reviewer 2 Report

This research article explores the desalination plant simulation on Aspen Plus, economic estimation and environmental considerations. As, research article is a path to offer the way for other researchers.  1. This article must offer the mathematical expressions of simulated plant. 2. Also, estimation method for economic estimation should be properly explained.  

Author Response

Responses to Reviewer’s Comments

This research article explores the desalination plant simulation on Aspen Plus, economic estimation and environmental considerations. As, research article is a path to offer the way for other researchers.  1. This article must offer the mathematical expressions of simulated plant. 2. Also, estimation method for economic estimation should be properly explained.  

 

Dear Distinguished Reviewer,

We appreciate your effort in reviewing the manuscript. The manuscript has been revised as per the insightful comments, and our responses to the comments are as follows:

Comment	Response
1.   Mathematical expressions	The mathematical expressions for the selected Aspen Plus evaporator model were added in section 3. (Please check page 4, line 153)
2.   Economic estimation method	At the beginning of section 4, we added a more detailed description of the economic estimation methodology used in DEEP. (Please check page 7, line 218).

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript (applsci-1887779), entitled "A Feasibility Study of Utilizing Nuclear Energy for an Existing MED-TVC Desalination Plant," aims to investigate the feasibility of using nuclear energy as the heat resource to replace the used fossil crude oil of an existing MED-TVC desalination plant. The conclusion showed that MED-TVC desalination using nuclear energy becomes competitive with crude oil only if Saudi Arabia considers increasing domestic oil prices to more than 15 USD/bbl or implementing a carbon tax policy of no less than 20 USD/t of GHC emissions. The author applied Aspen Plus software to simulate the production process of the desalination plant and used the DEEP program to calculate the economics of the two heat sources.

As overall, this manuscript appears to be a "paper" study that relies on the data of an existing desalination plant for the modeling parameters. The study is accepted for publication. Some minor comments are listed here:

1-    Table 2 shows the stream information of three effects and the thermal vapor compressor of the MED-TVC desalination plant. It is also better to show the overall mass and energy balances of the MED-TVC desalination plant in an additional table.

2-    Figure 4 should be redrawn to be clearer.

3-    Why was the tax rate calculated as 20%? Add a reference to this value.

Author Response

Responses to Reviewer’s Comments

The manuscript (applsci-1887779), entitled "A Feasibility Study of Utilizing Nuclear Energy for an Existing MED-TVC Desalination Plant," aims to investigate the feasibility of using nuclear energy as the heat resource to replace the used fossil crude oil of an existing MED-TVC desalination plant. The conclusion showed that MED-TVC desalination using nuclear energy becomes competitive with crude oil only if Saudi Arabia considers increasing domestic oil prices to more than 15 USD/bbl or implementing a carbon tax policy of no less than 20 USD/t of GHC emissions. The author applied Aspen Plus software to simulate the production process of the desalination plant and used the DEEP program to calculate the economics of the two heat sources.

As overall, this manuscript appears to be a "paper" study that relies on the data of an existing desalination plant for the modeling parameters. The study is accepted for publication. Some minor comments are listed here:

1-    Table 2 shows the stream information of three effects and the thermal vapor compressor of the MED-TVC desalination plant. It is also better to show the overall mass and energy balances of the MED-TVC desalination plant in an additional table.

2-    Figure 4 should be redrawn to be clearer.

3-    Why was the tax rate calculated as 20%? Add a reference to this value.

 

We would like to thank the reviewer for his insightful comments on this manuscript. The manuscript has been revised as per the comments given by the reviewer, and our responses to the comments are as follows:

Comment	Response
1- Table 2 shows the stream information of three effects and the thermal vapor compressor of the MED-TVC desalination plant. It is also better to show the overall mass and energy balances of the MED-TVC desalination plant in an additional table.	The comment has been considered in the revised manuscript. Table 3 shows the overall mass and enthalpy balances and operating conditions of the input and output materials (please check page 6, Table 3).
2- Figure 4 should be redrawn to be clearer.	The comment has been considered in the revised manuscript. Figure 4 was redrawn as shown on page 8.
3- Why was the tax rate calculated as 20%? Add a reference to this value.	The tax rate was calculated at 20% based on Saudi government regulations. A reference was added to support this. (Please check reference 20, page 10, line 285).

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf