Abstract
Seawater or brackish water desalination is largely powered by fossil fuels, raising concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the arid Middle East region. Many steps have been taken to implement solar resources to this issue; however, all attempts for all processing were concentrated on solar to electric conversion. To address these challenges, a small-scale reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination system that is in part powered by hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) solar collectors appropriate for a remote community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was designed and its power requirements calculated. This system provides both electricity to the pumps and low-temperature thermal energy to pre-heat the feedwater to reduce its viscosity, and thus to reduce the required pumping energy for the RO process and for transporting the feedwater. Results show that both thermal and electrical energy storage, along with conventional backup power, is necessary to operate the RO continuously and utilize all of the renewable energy collected by the PVT. A cost-optimal sizing of the PVT system is developed. It displays for a specific case that the hybrid PVT RO system employs 70% renewable energy while delivering desalinized water for a cost that is 18% less than the annual cost for driving the plant with 100% conventional electricity and no pre-heating of the feedwater. The design allows for the sizing of the components to achieve minimum cost at any desired level of renewable energy penetration.
Highlights
As global demand for freshwater increases, desalination technology becomes indispensable because natural supplies of fresh water are limited
PVT could be appropriate for desalination applications in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), where high ambient and operating temperatures reduce the efficiency of PV systems
The non-linear cost objective function was minimized with constraints on the renewThe non-linear cost objective function was minimized with constraints on the renewable energy penetration, which allows for identifying the level of penetration that able energy penetration, which allows for identifying the level of penetration thatproproduces duces the lowest cost, and it allows for a comparison of extreme cases
Summary
As global demand for freshwater increases, desalination technology becomes indispensable because natural supplies of fresh water are limited. PVT is very attractive to numerous applications because it is flexible in terms of thermal versus electric energy outputs. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, x FOR PEER REVIEW applications because it is flexible in terms of thermal versus electric energy of outInt. J. PVT could be appropriate for desalination applications in KSA, where high ambient and operating temperatures reduce the efficiency of PV systems. The PVT thermal output can raise the feedwater temperature, reducing the viscosity power required for pumping, improving RO performance, and the PVT electrical output and the power required for pumping, improving RO performance, and the PVT electrical provides some of the RO power needs.
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