Investigation and comparison of the physical models performance of energy extraction from salinity gradient (PRO and RED) in Arvand river estuary

In recent years, scientists have considered the development and utilization of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy resources to replace fossil fuels. One of the newest topics of new energies is the extraction of energy from salinity gradients in seas and oceans. One of the practical methods of energy extraction from salinity gradient is reverse electrodialysis and delayed osmosis pressure. These methods result from mixing two types of water with different salinity concentrations, which are one of the best places to extract energy in the river estuary, where freshwater is naturally mixed with seawater. In this study, using physical parameters measured in 3 hydrometric stations located in Arvand River, achievable Gibbs energy and electrical energy from reverse electro dialysis method and delayed osmosis pressure as physical model setup were investigated. The amount of Gibbs energy obtained using delayed osmosis pressure method from data from three hydrometric stations in Arvand River shows that Khorramshahr station has the highest amount of extractable energy with 0.75 MJ. By calculating the voltage of two heads of each inverse electrodialysis cell in the three studied stations on the Arvand River, it was found that the highest potential difference with the amount of 80 mV was related to Khorramshahr station. Also, the efficiency of the two devices and the selection of the appropriate geographical location for its location were examined.