SYSTEMATIC DESIGN, ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF WATER-ENERGY NEXUS
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2019 Elsevier B.V. Responsible use of water and energy resources is critical for environmental sustainability while satisfying the increasing water, energy and fuel demands for end-use consumption. The interdependence of water and energy must be considered and quantified for developing efficient water-energy nexus systems. We first present a systematic and scalable method for the design and optimization of water-energy nexus (WEN). The method is based on a graph-theoretic representation of a nexus and a WEN diagram that enables us to identify potential redundancies in a nexus. We can also design systems with (i) minimum generation of water and energy, for specified grid demands, or (ii) maximum yield of water and energy to the grid supplies for specified generation limits. Next, we present a superstructure optimization-based approach to solve large-scale complex nexus problems. The superstructure encapsulates all plausible connections and phenomena between nexus entities, input-to-output conversions (water-for-water, energy-for-energy), intensities (water-for-energy, energy-for-water), contamination/purification levels, and location allocation and reuse features. Both methods are demonstrated using case studies on water-energy nexus systems focusing on power generation, seawater desalination, groundwater and surface water at regional and national scales.
