Cost Of Potable Water Research Articles

Reduction of effective cost for seawater desalination using floated solar energy in south of Jordan Aqaba Port

The major issue that prevails all over the world is potable water. Only 1% of all Earth’s water exists as liquid, whereas less than 3% as freshwater, mostly glaciers, and 97% as salt water. Desalination is the process of removing salt from sea water in order to obtain fresh water. Nowadays, scientists are exploring seawater desalination for potable water. Another key concern that exists in any country is clean energy. The energy crisis is due to overconsumption of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. Engineers try various sources of renewable energy. The cost of potable water and clean energy, say, the cost pertaining to capital, operation, maintenance, performance, and fuel, has increased year after year. The technologies for generating renewable energy, like solar and wind, do not have fuel costs. Modern desalination techniques incur a high initial investment and a higher maintenance cost. The life-cycle cost per litre of potable water generated by the solar stills is lower than that of conventional methods. The most cost-effective way to power desalination plants is with solar power. Seawater desalination with the use of solar power is employed in these regions as a viable alternative solution. Jordan is a country in western Asia. Water and energy sources are scarce in Jordan, with water availability in Jordan is estimated to be less than 100 m3 per year. Jordan imports 95% of its energy needs. Jordan plans to generate 14% of the country’s electricity by utilizing wind and solar energy. The use of solar stills in Jordan can reduce the dependency on oil and gas for power generation. The use of floating solar stills for seawater desalination represents a promising tool for Jordan. Solar stills work on the evaporation and condensation processes. They distil water by using the heat of the sun. Efficiency and productivity have been measured to quantify the performance of solar stills. Solar stills have the advantages of simplicity, low cost, ease of maintenance, and low environmental impact. In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the types, materials, components, design, performance, cost, benefits, advantages, and limitations of solar stills. The paper also discussed the reduction of the effective cost of seawater desalination using floated solar energy in Jordan's Aqaba Port.

Design and analysis of solar assisted mini desalination plant using waste humid air of energy tower suitable for small community

ABSTRACT The aim of this work is to design and analyze solar humidification and dehumidification desalination plant that is integrated with an energy tower. The proposed integrated water production plant (IWPP) utilizes the waste humid air of the energy tower for the production of potable water as an added benefit in bonus apart from the power production through energy tower. The layout of the proposed desalination plant has been presented which is configured with 100 solar humidification dehumidification desalination units and capable to fulfill potable water demand of 800 liters per day that may be sufficient for a small community of remote area. The seasonal and annual performance of the plant has been analyzed in the climatic condition of Jamnagar which is hot and humid city in western Indian state, Gujarat. The optimum values of air and water mass flow rate have been identified with the help of mathematical simulations in summer, rainy and winter season. The results showed that air mass flow rate 118–120 kg/hr through solar air heater is suitable for water production throughout the year. The water mass flow rate of 125–130 kg/hr in humidifier and 120 kg/hr−122 kg/hr in dehumidifier has been found optimum for potable water production. The seasonal variation in gain output ratio is 0.32−0.45 however it can be increased to 0.62 at optimized operating condition. Finally, the economic and environmental analysis of the proposed plant resulted Rs 0.93/kg (US $ 0.011/kg) cost of potable water, payback period of 0.49 year and 146.8 t/annum reduction in CO2 emission, respectively.

Integrated simple design wind tower and enhanced solar still for hot and arid climate

ABSTRACT The present work deals with a novel system in which a wind tower having evaporative cooling channel made of flat cotton ropes is integrated with solar still to fulfill the need of thermal comfort and potable water both. In proposed system, cooled water obtained in wind tower has been utilized for increasing the yield of solar still. Additionally, floating pieces of flat cotton rope are provided in still to enhance evaporation rate. The performance of proposed integrated unit has been analyzed mathematically for hot and dry climate of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan (India). The proposed wind tower has resulted average drop in air temperature of 12.5°C and increase in relative humidity of 45.5%, whereas air velocity is found to be in range of 1.2 m/s–1.8 m/s. The maximum reduction in temperature of water in basin of integrated solar still is about 21°C, whereas the same for glass temperature is about 34°C in summer. In winter season these reductions are about 20°C and 15°C, respectively. About 44%–49% additional yield has been found by proposed solar still compared to conventional when mass flow rate of water varies from 0.01 kg/s–0.08 kg/s. The proposed system resulted 45.5% more yield in summer and 40.1% in winter for constant 0.07 kg/s flow rate of water. The cost of potable water and payback period for the proposed system is US $ 0.036 /liter and 0.61 years, respectively.

Energy matrices, exergo-economic and enviro-economic analysis of an active single slope solar still integrated with a heat exchanger: A comparative study

This paper presents an analysis of energy matrices, production cost of water and electricity, exergo-economic and enviro-economic analyses of an active single slope solar still integrated with a heat exchanger under optimized conditions on the bases of energy and exergy. Analyses have been done considering four climatic conditions (a, b, c and d) for each month of year for three cases: (i) N – partially covered Photovoltaic Thermal Flat Plate Collectors Single Slope Solar Still (Partially – PVT – FPC – SS – SS), (ii) N – fully covered Photovoltaic Thermal Flat Plate Collectors Single Slope Solar Still (Fully – PVT – FPC – SS – SS) and (iii) N – Flat Plate Collector Single Slope Solar Still (FPC – SS – SS). We report that the cost of potable water is lowest for case (i) followed by case (iii) and then case (ii) at the interest rate of 2% and 5%. However, case (ii) performs better for electricity generation followed by case (i) and the computed kWh per unit cost (exergo-economic parameter) based on energy is highest for case (ii) i.e. 1.73 kWh/₹.

Utilization of waste heat of a high-capacity wind turbine in multi effect distillation desalination: Energy, exergy and thermoeconomic analysis

An integrated system in which the required steam of multi effect distillation (MED) desalination, used for producing potable water, is provided by using the waste heat of a high-capacity wind turbine (WT). This system is used in the areas with shortage of potable water supplies and high wind energy potential. In addition, energy, exergy and thermoeconomic analysis are performed. The results revealed that in the areas with average wind speed of 11 m/s, the waste heat in a 7580 kW WT is 231 kW at 140 °C. The produced steam at 100 °C and 101.3 kPa is enough to produce 45.069 m3/day potable water, which is sufficient for the daily use of 4507 people if each person consumes 10 L. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the maximum exergy destruction and exergy destruction cost are related to the second effect of MED desalination. Also, the cost of potable water is estimated as 16.676 $/m3. Using the waste heat of the WT increases the exergy efficiency of the integrated system 7.34%. Considering the cost of potable water, average rate of return and payback period are estimated as 6.76% and 6.33 years, respectively.

Integrating the Local Material of Adobe With Solar Distillation to Produce Affordable Drinking Water

It is estimated that nearly three billion people are living in water scarce conditions. This research uses modeling and field studies to assess the quantity, quality, and economics of distillate produced for drinking water from a brackish water source using two single-sloped, single-basin (SSSB) distillation reactors. The reactors were constructed from adobe and concrete in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and tested from August to October of 2011. The cost of one adobe reactor with an evaporative area of 0.72 m2 is 535 pesos, whereas the same size reactor made from concrete costs 770 pesos. Results show that desalination reactors made from adobe produce 848 (L m-2d-1) and reactors made from concrete produce 979 (L m-2d-1) of distillate, while similar reactors made from other materials are estimated to produce over 2100 (L m-2d-1) under similar meteorological conditions. These volumes represent approximately 10 percent of drinking water needs of a local family with typical water use habits, however, after five years of operation the unit cost of potable water would be reduced by 50%. Results also showed that the concentrations of total dissolved solids in the source water decreased from 1102 (mg L-1) to 40 (mg L-1) over the study’s duration for a removal of 96% which is comparable to current desalination systems (97%). Finally, the results were modeled using a regression analysis to estimate the distillate yield based upon ambient temperature and solar radiation. The model was then applied using historical global climate data estimate the appropriateness of the adobe SSSB globally.

Design and economics of RO seawater desalination

Large-scale seawater desalination is an attractive and viable alternative for the production of potable water in the absence of natural fresh water resources. Over the past two decades, the reverse osmosis (RO) process has allowed a tremendous reduction in the cost of potable water from seawater desalination. Indeed, cost studies conducted by various researchers have indicated that it is possible to obtain product water cost of about US$ 0.80/ m 3. This paper introduces a comprehensive, but tractable, means of modelling large-scale seawater RO desalination plants that can accommodate various flow configurations. The two most important considerations in RO plant modelling are the permeator performance characteristics and the permeator replacement scheme. In particular, the flux degradation of the permeator with operational age has to be accounted for. The RO model introduced here was used for extensive plant cost analysis. The cost studies indicate that the permeator cost makes up a large percentage (∼37%) of the total plant capital cost. This means that large-sized permeators, which offer smaller cost per unit membrane area, should be utilized in order to appreciate economies of scale. In terms of operating cost, the annual permeator replacement cost also forms the major portion. Interestingly, with the use of hydraulic energy recovery systems, the product water cost is relatively insensitive to energy price fluctuations. Also, cost comparisons conducted for a brine-stage RO plant configuration indicated that it is more costly than single-stage plants, especially for high concentration seawater.

The futuke of water supply to tripoli

The recent expansion of the city of Tripoli has resulted in an inadequate water supply for the present demand. Means of improvements are indicated. Presuming effective measures for conserving water, the peak day demand for municipality water is expected to increase from its present value of 0.26 Mm 3/d to 0.6 Mm 3/d in the year 2000. Schemes to meet future demands are surveyed. For all feasible schemes, the increase of irrigation water is not allowable except by re-use, the sea water desalting is inevitable, the capital investment for the next 5 years is more than $ 400 × 10 6 and the cost of potable water is unlikely to be less than $ 0.7/m 3 under careful management. Schemes and research projects for brighter conclusions are welcome.