Energetic performance analysis of a solar-driven hybrid ejector cooling and humidification-dehumidification desalination system

Abstract

One technique for improving energy efficiency is combining two or more energy systems to form a hybrid one that utilizes a single energy source. The use of renewable energy, such as solar heat to power hybrid systems, is another advantage. This paper introduces a novel hybrid ejector cooling-desalination system driven by an evacuated tube solar collector. The ejector cooling cycle (ECC) is combined with a closed-air, open-water, water-heated humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination system. A thermodynamic model of the hybrid system has been developed, validated, evaluated, and presented in this paper, considering different refrigerants for the ejector cycle. The results indicate that the hybrid system achieved an energy utilization factor (EUF) of 1.4 with R600 as the ECC refrigerant. This represents the highest value (about 4–27%) than the other selected refrigerants. Hence, R600 is selected as the best refrigerant for the hybrid system. A case study of the hybrid system has been presented, considering several cities in Saudi Arabia using solar energy as the only source of energy. Results indicate about 15% energy input saving by the hybrid system for the specified outputs for Qassim city.