Blog / Technical guide
How to compare energy bids for industrial SWRO
Use a common feed, recovery and power boundary to compare seawater desalination proposals.
HOSON WATER editorial ·
Convert power into a comparable specific energy figure
Specific energy consumption is energy consumed divided by the volume of delivered water during the same period. The public FSHB-320 specification lists 75 kW and a nominal 320 tons per day. Treating one ton as roughly one cubic meter and assuming continuous operation gives an illustrative quotient of about 5.6 kWh per cubic meter. This arithmetic combines catalog figures. A comparable acceptance metric requires measured power and net compliant product volume for the defined system boundary.
Ask where the power meter sits
Set one metering boundary for competing offers. Identify whether seawater abstraction, pretreatment, the RO skid, energy recovery, post-treatment, storage and final pumping are included. Set identical feed salinity, temperature, product quality and net output assumptions. Confirm how part-load operation and the power used during a flush or restart are handled in the reporting period.
Specify a test with an agreed duty point
Request the expected power and production at representative minimum and maximum feed conditions. Record the actual operating point during site acceptance and apply agreed normalization only where needed. Require the vendor to identify power measurements and instruments so procurement can distinguish installed motor capacity from operating electrical demand.