국내 적용을 위한 해수 담수화 경제성 분석

An Economic Analysis of Desalination for Potential Application in Korea

Korea becomes one of the countries which suffer from water shortage. It is expected that its water shortage in the early 2000's will be more than 10% of the annual demand. The shortage problem is more serious in the coastal areas where many industry complex locate. To solve the shortage problem, seawater desalination gets more attention as an alternative water supply source since Korea is surrounded by sea on its three sides. For potential application of seawater desalination in Korea, an economic analysis was conducted using cost data for the plants in the Middle Ease areas, The United states and others. The study is to provide a basis for the government to establish a strategy for promoting seawater desalination in Korea. It is discussed that the Reverse Osmosis (RO) process gets cheaper over times than the thermal processes of Multi-stage Flash Distillation (MSF) and Multi Effect Distillation (ME), especially in case where the capacity is less than about 50,000 ton/day. The unit cost of RO seawater is analyzed about US$1.35/ton in 1990 price. Since the Desalination plant can be operated regardless of weather conditions, industries in Korea's coastal areas which suffer from frequent droughts and water shortages are recommended to look into this option with more attention.