Endothermic Energy for Water Desalination

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the novel desalination system based on the use of ambient energy. The energy is collected from the environment using an innovative harvesting collector made of extruded aluminum, which forms part of a building structure. Feasibility work already carried out exhibits that when such ambient collection surfaces are linked with conventional flash evaporation equipment, it is possible to produce fresh water. The chapter describes the results of the an EC funded feasibility study carried out on a small-scale system based on the Isle of Wight and the potential of the system to produce fresh water at a commercial scale is also discussed. It is noted that the technology offers good potential for desalination in arid and semi-arid regions of the world where there is good solar and ambient energy for use in standard desalination equipment.