Predicting potential of pressure retarded osmosis power for different estuaries in Turkey

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an alternative renewable energy source recovered from the salinity gradient between the fresh water (feed solution) and salty water (draw solution). In order to implement osmotic power, the site-specific characteristics including the river and sea salinity, annual flow rates, ecological restrictions were taken into account. This study revealed a comprehensive analysis for a theoretical potential of PRO process for different estuaries in Turkey. In this study, the power potential prediction of PRO process for the Ceyhan, Sakarya, and Meric Rivers were analyzed via Gibbs free energy calculations. The net annual energy production is projected to be 167, 164, and 208 GWh/y for Ceyhan, Sakarya, and Meric Rivers, respectively. Meric River has the highest energy production of 208 GWh/yr with 186 m(3)/s mean flow rate and 245 mg/L salinity. These results clearly show that Turkey's rivers having high salinity and flow rate are feasible and applicable for making the osmotic power plant economically. Thereby, it is providing essential direction to the improvement of its design, installation, and operation. The developed methodology for the evaluation of the osmotic power potential of other rivers can be considered as a basis to assess the whole potential on a worldwide level. (c) 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13085, 2019