Abstract
In this paper, the design of a system providing electricity by coupling photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) collectors and a wind turbine (WT), sanitary hot water (SHW) coming from the PVT and evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) and fresh water (FW) produced in two seawater desalting facilities (membrane distillation, MD, and reverse osmosis, RO), has been carefully analyzed by means of a dynamic model developed in TRNSYS®. This analysis is compulsory to operate a lab-scale pilot plant that is being erected at Zaragoza, Spain. A new model-type has been included in TRNSYS® in order to include the MD unit in the scheme. A sensitivity analysis of some free-design variables, such that the ETC surface, PVT and ETC tilt, water storage tank, batteries capacities, and mass flow rates delivered to the SHW service and/or feeding the MD unit has been performed in order to propose the definite design of the scheme. The proposed base case was able to produce up to 15,311 L per year in the MD system and cover an electric energy demand of 1890 kWh. Coverage of SHW, water (including RO and MD) and power is respectively 99.3%, 100% and 70%. However, daily and yearly assessment of FW, SHW and power produced with the optimized design gave a better coverage of water and energy demands for a typical single family home. The improved and definite design was able to increase its MD production in 35% and the electric energy in 7% compared with base case.
Highlights
IntroductionThe need of safe-clean energy and water, especially in isolated areas in which power and water networks incur extra economic and environmental costs, is one of the challenges of the 21st century
The need of safe-clean energy and water, especially in isolated areas in which power and water networks incur extra economic and environmental costs, is one of the challenges of the 21st century.The search for innovative and sustainable solutions to provide secure energy and water in isolated areas by integrating existing technologies is a reliable solution that should be explored
Regarding the flow operating in the Membrane distillation (MD), the results obtained completely agree with the results presented in [21] under steady conditions in the range of 25–80 ◦ C for 90 min
Summary
The need of safe-clean energy and water, especially in isolated areas in which power and water networks incur extra economic and environmental costs, is one of the challenges of the 21st century. Aside from the coincidence between water shortage and solar irradiation, and considering that MD is appropriate to be fed by solar energy for small capacities and isolated areas [16,22,23,24,25], distillation techniques have usually higher energy consumptions than membrane techniques like reverse osmosis (RO) or electrodialysis (ED, for brackish waters), which only consume power. This paper presents the design analysis of a double hybrid scheme (wind/solar + MD/RO) which allows for providing power, SHW and FW at a much reduced demand scale in isolated areas. This hybridization is a technically possible solution and its profitability will depend on alternative costs to provide water and energy by a network or local transport. Water and an electrical resistance could supply the remaining demands
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