| Primary Operating Principle | Mechanical Pressure / Membrane Separation | Thermal Evaporation & Phase-Change Condensation |
| Typical Application Scale | Marine Vessels, Offshore Rigs, Municipal Plants | Industrial Co-generation Plants, Refineries |
| Feedwater Salinity Tolerance ($\text{TDS}$) | Up to $45,000\text{ mg/L}$ (Typical Seawater Baseline) | Virtually unlimited ($\ge 50,000\text{ mg/L}$ Brine Highs) |
| Product Water Purity ($\text{TDS}$) | $\le 200 \text{ to } 500\text{ ppm}$ | $\le 5 \text{ to } 10\text{ ppm}$ (Boiler Feed Quality) |
| Specific Energy Consumption ($\text{SEC}$) | $3.0 \text{ to } 4.5\text{ kWh/m}^3$ (Electrical) | $1.5 \text{ to } 2.5\text{ kWh/m}^3$ (Electrical) + Low-grade Thermal Heat |
| Core Structural Components | High-Pressure Pumps, Energy Recovery Devices (ERD), Semi-Permeable Membrane Elements | Evaporator Vessels, Heat Exchangers, Vacuum Ejectors, Condensers |
| Operating Pressure Range | $5.5\text{ MPa}$ to $8.0\text{ MPa}$ ($55 \text{ to } 80\text{ bar}$) | Negative Pressure / Vacuum environment ($\approx 5 \text{ to } 20\text{ kPa}$) |
| Pre-treatment Dependency | High (Requires strict multi-media filtering, ultrafiltration, and anti-scalants) | Low-to-Medium (Requires basic de-aeration, anti-foaming, and scale inhibition) |
| Recovery Ratio Framework ($Y$) | $35\% \text{ to } 45\%$ | $20\% \text{ to } 40\%$ (Dependent on thermal stages/effects) |