| Abstract |
Baja California, on the northwest part of Mexico and close to the border with the largest economy of the world, has shown a rapid and continued growing of its industrial and touristy activity triggered for real state demand, since thousands of retired Canadian and American people are moving south searching for nice ocean view places and warmer weather along the Mexican coast. This baby-boomers phenomena is producing a strong increase of goods and services in the region but, specifically on the fresh water demand, in a zone where this resource is highly stressed and not easy to access or supply. On the other hand, this though and arid region with extreme temperatures, 0ºC in winter up to 50ºC during summer, has been blessed with abundant renewable energy sources. Solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, hydrothermal vents, and other resources are widely spread along the 1,200 miles through the Baja Peninsula. That is why the National University of Mexico (UNAM) formed three years ago a professional-multidisciplinary research group –IMPULSA IV- in order to promote and implemented technological solutions to desalinate sea water through the use of renewable energy sources, Alcocer, et al (2008). It is well known that in a traditional thermal desalination plant, the main component of the cost of the desalinated water comes from steam extracted from a power generating plant or power taken from the grid. In the case of Baja California, geothermal heat that rises from geological faults has already increased temperature of water near to the boiling point. In IMPULSA project a combined analysis of multiple effect distillation plant (MED) and a multi stage flash plant (MSF) was performed in order to be able to desalinate sea water using the hot geothermal fluid instead of the traditional steam supply from a thermal plant. |