Solar Water Desalination System Research Articles

Functional and financial analysis of an inclined step solar desalination using phase change nanomaterials.

Recent decades have seen a shortage of water, which has led scientists to concentrate on solar desalination technologies. The present study examines the solar water desalination system with inclined steps, while considering various phase change materials (PCMs). The findings suggest that the incorporation of PCM generally enhances the productivity of the solar desalination system. Additionally, the combination of nanoparticles has been used to PCM, which is a popular technique utilized nowadays to improve the efficiency of these systems. The current investigation involves the transient modeling of a solar water desalination system, utilizing energy conservation equations. The equations were solved using the Runge-Kutta technique of the ODE23s order. The temperatures of the salt water, the absorbent plate of the glass cover, and the PCM were calculated at each time. Without a phase changer, the rate at which fresh water is produced is around 5.15 kg/m2·h. The corresponding mass flow rates of paraffin, n-PCM I, n-PCM III, n-PCM II, and stearic acid are 22.9, 28.9, 5.9, 11.9, and 73 kg/m2·h. PCMs, with the exception of stearic acid, exhibit similar energy efficiency up to an ambient temperature of around 29°. However, at temperatures over 29°, n-PCM II outperforms other PCM.

Energetic, exergetic, exergoeconomic, and enviroeconomic analysis of solar dish-integrated water desalination system with various nanofluids

Global demand for freshwater is increasing due to population growth and water scarcity. Traditional desalination systems are characterized by their high energy consumption, resulting in low efficiency and elevated costs. It is crucial to explore sustainable and eco-friendly desalination system to address these problems. Present study explores the impact of Al2O3 and ZnO nanofluids on a solar dish integrated water desalination system (SWDS). Performance evaluation includes energy, exergy, economic, exergoeconomic, and enviroeconomic perspectives. Compared to SWDS with water, annual freshwater productivity increased by 20.13% (Al2O3) and 12.56% (ZnO). SWDS with Al2O3 nanofluid exhibited the highest energy and exergy efficiency of 20.76% and 4.32%, respectively. Energetic parameters revealed a minimum energy payback time of 0.91 years and a maximum energy production factor of 27.18 for SWDS with Al2O3 nanofluid. The lowest cost per liter (CPL) was US$0.050 for Al2O3 nanofluids, while the highest CPL was US$0.0547 for ZnO nanofluid. The maximum exergoeconomic parameter was 2.50 kWh/US$ for SWDS with Al2O3 nanofluid. SWDS with Al2O3 nanofluid demonstrated the highest net CO2 mitigation of 72.54 tonne, with corresponding carbon credits of US$2124.08 (energy) and US$423.92 (exergy). The Al2O3 nanofluid-based SWDS demonstrated superior performance in energy and exergy perspective. Furthermore, Al2O3 nanofluid-based SWDS showed enhanced cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability when compared to water-based SWDS.

Highly efficient 3D-screen printed interfacial solar water desalination system

Interfacial solar steam generation (ISSG) using floating devices is one of the most efficient and simple methods of purifying saline water. In this work, multi-layered solar steam generation systems are fabricated using 3D-screen printing. The printed devices with a uniform layer-by-layer structure contain light-harvesting, thermal insulation, thermal conduction, and water-transfer layers. The graphite (Gr) photothermal layer as an absorber layer is screen printed on the felt substrate with three different 3D patterns, which is isolated by transparent hydrophobic silica aerogel (SA) as a light scattering agent to provide efficient photon capturing and heat localization. Furthermore, to transfer the generated heat to the water proficiently, a copper (Cu) layer is coated on the downside of the absorber layer. The devices with the best performances are introduced by evaluating the effect of the fabricated layers thickness and different configurations. The multi-layered device containing a photothermal layer with SP1-3rd pattern and different thicknesses of SA 32 μm (under Cu), Cu 16 μm, Gr 32 μm, and SA 32 μm (on top of the Gr) shows a steam generation efficiency of 97 %, and water evaporation flux of 1.43 kg.m−2.h−1, which are 86 % higher than the performance of the reference system.

Optimal design and economic analysis of a stand-alone integrated solar hydrogen water desalination system case study agriculture farm in Kairouan Tunisia

In the contemporary global discourse on environmental and developmental issues, the dual challenges of sustainable green energy and water supply stand paramount. These elements are vitally intertwined with the socio-economic vitality of the world. Notably, regions plagued by freshwater scarcity are increasingly turning to desalination which consists of a reliable and unconventional water source. The intersection of renewable energy with desalination and water purification processes presents a compelling synergy. This approach is particularly pertinent in areas where freshwater shortages coexist with abundant solar energy availability. Additionally, these technologies boast the advantage of low operational and maintenance costs. This paper delves into the design, optimization and financial analysis of a novel, standalone hybrid energy system, integrating photovoltaic and fuel cell technologies, for an agriculture farm situated in Kairouan, Tunisia. Unlike conventional systems, this model foregoes battery storage in favour of hydrogen storage, generated through water electrolysis powered by solar energy. This system harnesses solar energy for direct electrical power generation and hydrogen gas production. A segment of the generated electricity is allocated to electrolysis for green hydrogen production. In times of solar unavailability, the stored hydrogen is reconverted to electricity via a fuel cell. An intriguing aspect of this system is the utilization of saline well water, which, due to its high salt content, necessitates purification through desalination to prevent damage to the electrolysis unit and to render it suitable for agricultural irrigation.

Investigation of numerical phase transition of nano-enhanced SiC/paraffin wax PCM in solar-assisted water desalination system

Adding nanoparticles in phase change material (PCM) is a new trend for enhancing their thermal energy-storing ability as well as thermal conductivity. From this point of view, a numerical study is carried out to examine the addition of silicon carbide nanoparticles in paraffin wax PCM, used as heat energy storing material in a semi-cylindrical solar water desalination system. The PCM temperature is maintained at 52 °C and the semi-cylindrical tubular section has a wall temperature of 85 °C. The top plane section of the tubular solar collector is made up of graphite material. A semi-circular cross-section is selected for numerical analysis. A finite volume solver is used for solving thermal and fluid flow governing equations. A pressure staggering option algorithm is applied for pressure–velocity coupling. The temporal parameters like temperature, velocity contours, melting fraction, enthalpy, and entropy of nano silicon embedded paraffin wax PCM are widely discussed. The results clearly show that the phase transition of solid PCM to fluid PCM is greatly influenced by nanoparticle addition and enhances the rate of heat transfer. Initially for the first 60 min the melting fraction and temperature of PCM remain uniform as the time step increases above 60 min the behavior of PCM changes abruptly which clearly indicates the random distribution of nanoparticles within the PCM. A critical time and temperature limit exists for nanoparticles-based PCM beyond which, the thermal efficiency of the solar water desalination system gets influenced.

Salt-resistant solar water desalination system via surface modification and configuration engineering

Floating solar water desalination systems have received a lot of attention since they are portable, low cost, environmentally friendly, and highly efficient. However, salt accumulation on the evaporation surface and water transfer channels is one of the main obstacle to the development of these systems. In this work, two strategies of surface modification and configuration engineering are focused on to make the devices salt-resistant. First, the system becomes salt-resistant by formation of a hydration layer on the water manager and light absorber surface through cross-linking of polyethylene glycol diacrylate. Remarkably, the surface-modified device shows a water evaporation rate of 1.34 kg.m−2.h−1 and a conversion efficiency of 91.75 % in artificial seawater. There is no salt accumulation on the evaporation surface of surface-modified devices after desalination in the simulated seawater. In the second strategy, the water transferring to the evaporation surface and water evaporation rate are balanced by tuning the number of water transport channels and location. The engineered device shows an evaporation rate of 0.98 kg.m−2.h−1 and an efficiency of 75.5 % in a high saline solution (20 wt% NaCl). Simultaneous surface modification and configuration engineering improve the salt resistivity, showing that the configuration should be engineered according to the water salinity.

Technical and economical design and optimization of a solar-biodiesel collector system to supply electricity and drink water in AbuMusa Island

A hybrid renewable energy system including microalgae cultivation ponds to produce biodiesel. The necessary heat for the biodiesel production system is provided by microalgae through a solar parabolic linear collector, and the water temperature of the ponds, which is supplied from the sea, is provided by a geothermal system. Additionally, the linear collector is utilized to supply the necessary heat for the solar water desalination system. All the simulations of the mentioned renewable systems, except for the solar collector, were carried out separately in ASPEN HYSYS software, and the solar collector was simulated in Fortran software. The results were utilized in the ASPEN HYSYS. The simulation results show that to supply 225 kW of power through a diesel generator, 492 microalgae cultivation ponds are needed and the share of biofuel in the power supply is 5 %. The biodiesel reactor produces fuel at a cost of 1.45 $/L and has an efficiency of 79.8 %. Also, by simulating the solar collector in the Fortran and using its results in solar water desalination, the minimum and maximum produced drinking water are 358 l/h in August and 609 l/h in October, respectively. The price of water produced is 3.45 $/m3.

Modelling solar water desalination system using natural convection

In recent times, solar energy has emerged as one of the most promising energy sources. Numerous scholars and researchers are exploring various applications of solar energy. This presented work focused on solar water desalination system to evaluate its thermal performance in natural convection mode. Three-dimensional Computational fluid dynamics CFD model is built in Comsol Multiphysics 6.1. Numerical model simulations have been carried out by using Heat transfer in Solid &Fluid and Laminar flow interfaces. The surface temperature varies between 19.5℃ and 102℃ while the velocity magnitude was between 0.05 m/s and 0.5 m/s. Variations of the surface temperature, velocity magnitude, pressure, convective and conductive heat flux magnitudes in Solar water desalination system are presented in the discussion section of the article.

Novel solar still design using transparent waste bottles

With increasing pressure on the global climate under the high worm gases emissions of fossil fuel, the necessity of using renewable energy is rapidly increasing. This study proposed a new solar water desalination system using waste transparent bottles for freshwater production. Two concentric transparent bottles were used. The inner bottle was cut longitudinally and horizontally placed with upward cut direction and filled with black cotton wick saturated by saline water. The outer transparent tube was cut radially to insert the inner smaller bottle inside and then reassembled using a transparent tap. The proposed device was exposed to the sunrays that reached the black wick and the energy absorbed and transferred to the saline water. After a short time, the water evaporation appears and started to condensate on the inner surface of the outer transparent bottle and collected at the bottom of the bottle by gravity. The proposed device showed moderate performance with 30.28% thermal efficiency and 2.95 L/m2day freshwater productivity under August climatic conditions of Cairo city in Egypt. The proposed device reduced the freshwater cost per liter by almost 66.2%, reaching a very competitive level of $0.0042/L. The proposed device can cover the essential freshwater needs for one person/year with not only a reduction of 21.3 tons/year of CO2 emissions but also with a reuse of 117 kg/year of plastic waste bottles.

Analysis of solar water desalination using hybrid nanofluids: An experimental study

The performance characteristics of a novel solar water desalination system has been inves-tigated experimentally. The desalination unit consisted of a square basin-pyramid solar still coupled with a solar heater. Different DI water based mono and hybrid nanofluids were pre-pared using CuO and GO nanoparticles following the two-step method. DI water when em-ployed as the heat transfer fluid in the system, improved the distillate water yield by about 28.80% relative to the conventional solar still. Out of all the considered CuO mono-nano-fluids, the 1.0 wt.% concentration resulted in the maximum increment of about 78.80% in the distillate water yield followed by 1.5 wt.% (62.05%) and 0.5 wt.% (53.30%) respectively. Utilizing the CuO+GO hybrid nanofluid, resulted in maximum increment of about 127.46% at 25:75 nanoparticle proportion followed by, 50:50 (101.33%) and 75:25 (89.30%) respectively, while employing the 1.0 wt.% GO mono-nanofluid, resulted in an increment of about 54.93% in the distillate water yield. The pumping power of the prepared nanofluids was found to be the function of their concentration. Hence, the performance index was evaluated for all the tested heat transfer fluids followed by an economic analysis of all the considered cases. The pu-rity of the produced distilled water was also assessed by comparing with the Bureau of Indian Standards. Finally, the study proposed the best suitable heat transfer fluid for the investigated system and suggested the possible futuristic research objectives.

An effective solar assisted semi-cylindrical saline water desalination system with direct atomizer and energy storage materials for domestic use: an experimental investigation.

Solar still is the easiest method to purifying the saline water for domestic usage, but this method needs much improvement for better performance since it has lower productivity. In this paper, an experimental investigation is completed to analyse the semi cylindrical solar productivity still. The semi-cylindrical still is incorporated with direct atomizer and scrap used as an energy storage medium. Experiments are carried out during March 2020 in Kovilpatti, the southern part of India, with a depth of 2 and 4 cm saline water. Comparative performance analysis is made for conventional semi-cylindrical still, semi-cylindrical still with an atomizer, and semi-cylindrical still with atomizer and storage materials. The experimental study shows that the productivity of still increases while decreasing the water depth. Compared with 2-cm and 4-cm depth, solar still with 2-cm depth gives promising distillate productivity. The solar productivity still having 4-cm depth of water without atomizer gives only 2670 ml; on the other side, 2-cm water depth without atomizer gives 3100-ml productivity. The maximum productivity of solar still is found on a semi-cylindrical solar still combined with atomizer and energy storage medium having 2-cm water depth. Results revealed a higher freshwater production rate of 3610 ml found while incorporating atomizer and energy storage with the solar still. The system efficiency improved up to 35.20% compared to conventional semi-cylindrical still with 4 cm of saline water depth.

Experimental investigation of performance of cascade solar water desalination system equipped with internal reflector and concave steps

BackgroundProduction of fresh water with desalination techniques has become one of the most important issues in the world. MethodsIn this paper, the efficiency of the concave stepped solar water desalination device equipped with the internal reflector is investigated experimentally. Two solar desalination devices are fabricated, which are the same in terms of dimensions, number of steps, and working and environmental conditions. The only difference between them is the shape of the steps. In one device, steps with a flat bottom with an internal reflector are used and in another device, steps with a concave bottom and an internal reflector are used. Two solar desalination devices are tested simultaneously to evaluate the effect of the shape of the steps on the efficiency of the desalination device. All tests were carried out in Semnan city with geographical coordinates N 33.35, E 53.230, located in Iran. Significant findingsThe results indicated that the amount of fresh water generated by the cascade solar water desalination systems with the flat steps and the modified concave steps are 466 and 621 cc/m2, respectively. The highest performance of solar desalination system occurs at 14:00. In addition, the modified cascade solar desalination system with the concave steps has about 25% higher efficiency as compared to that with the flat steps. The economic analysis is also done for both desalination systems. The cost analysis shows that the production costs for the devices with the flat steps and modified concave steps are 0.03 and 0.028 $/l/m2, respectively.

Performance Assessment of Coupled Concentrated Photovoltaic-Thermal and Vacuum Membrane Distillation (CPVT-VMD) System for Water Desalination

Numerical simulations were carried out to assess the technical and economic feasibility of a solar water desalination system that has a novel hybrid Concentrating Photovoltaic Thermal (CPVT) collector coupled with a Vacuum Membrane Distillation (VMD) process. A special characteristic of this CPVT is its triangular receiver with PV cells facing the reflecting surface. This type of receiver has the advantage of generating more electricity with less PV surface area and great potential to be used to hybridize conventional parabolic thermal collectors. TRNSYS was employed to analyze the annual performance of the CPVT-VMD system evaluating parameters such as solar fraction, specific permeate production and specific energy production for different coastal cities. In the dynamic simulations, local annual weather data and specific information about the characteristics and operating conditions of a real CPVT collector and a VMD module were considered. From the parametric analysis the optimal surface area of collectors and the input temperature of the VDM module were determined. A maximum specific permeate of 218.410 m 3/m2VMD for Acapulco, MX, and a minimum of 170.365 m 3/m2VMD for Singapore, SG, were achieved for the proposed CPVT-VMD system of four solar collectors with an operating set temperature of 55 °C. An economic profit was found after 7 years for Acapulco city, which showed great potential to use solar energy from hybrid CPVT collectors for a VMD process to provide freshwater in coastal cities.

Effect of different aluminium oxide based nanofluid concentrations on the efficiency of solar water desalination system

In this study, the effect of different concentration of the Aluminium oxide-based nanofluid on the performance of Solar Desalination system was discussed. The Aluminium Oxide was used in different concentrations 1%, 2% and 6% on weight basis. The flow rate was also varied and its effect on the system efficiency was discussed. The nanofluid was compared with the water and there was improvement occurred in the efficiency during variation of incident radiation. With an increase in the concentration of Aluminium oxide nanoparticles, improvement in the efficiency was attained. More efficiency was attained at 6% nanoparticles addition with compared to 1% and 2%. With an increase in mass flow rate of the fluid, the nanofluid also showed better performance in terms of improvement in the efficiency.

Experimental study on solar water desalination system with acoustic technology

Experimental study on solar water desalination system with acoustic technology

Modeling and analysis of hybrid solar water desalination system for different scenarios in Indonesia

Clean water demand has significantly increased due to the rise in the global population. However, most water on the Earth has high saline content that cannot be consumed directly; only about one over forty of the total water source is freshwater. Desalinated water is one of the potential solutions to meet the growing demand for freshwater, which is highly energy intensive. This paper analyses the energy, economic and environmental performance of a 5 m3/day PV (photovoltaic) powered reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system. Three scenarios of PV-RO with and without battery storage and diesel generator hybrid systems have been analyzed and investigated for the annual estimate load, net present value, and payback period of the water and electricity production costs. Also, the CO2 avoidance over the lifetime operation of all scearios is evaluated. This study shows that the PV-RO system without battery with 6.3 kW PV panels installed and with a 2-days water storage tank system is the most profitable economically f. For this scenario, the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Levelized Cost of Water (LCOW), and Payback Period (PBP) are found to be $0.154/kWh, $0.627/m3, and five years, respectively. In addition, for this scenario, the CO2 emissions avoidance was the maximum (111,690 kg.CO2eq per year) compared to other scenarios.

A holistic study on geothermal and solar water desalination system for sustainable development.

This paper shows the comparison of the various conventional technologies used for desalination and the advantages of using renewable energy such as solar and geothermal in place of them. The comparative analyses of the various techniques using geothermal and solar have been included. The efficiency, productivity rate, cost, etc. have been compared. Productivity of multi-effect distillation-thermal vapor compression (MED-TVC) is 75-80 m3/h of freshwater. In comparison to other techniques, electricity generation is high in multi-effect distillation-thermal vapor compression (MED-TVC). It has been observed that renewable energy gives the cheapest solution to the water desalination problems. Despite of having many flaws, RO is considered to be one of the efficient technologies for the seawater desalination. The study shows that solar still is relatively cheaper and more efficient than all the other techniques used. The efficiency of the solar still ranges between 22 and 34%, and in the best conditions, the efficiency also reaches 40% producing 5-7 l/m2/day. The knowledge of the various technologies discussed can be studied, and then further study on the renewable desalination technologies can be carried out. In the future, this technology is going to play an important role as many researches are going on in this field. The geothermal future is going to play an important role in energy production. The efficiency of the desalination system using solar and geothermal energy has higher efficiency and productivity rate than other older techniques and which can be further increased by modification in the system.

STUDY OF A NEW PASSIVE SOLAR DESALINATION DESIGN WITH A HEAT RECYCLING SYSTEM

This study presents a new and innovative suggestion to design a solar water desalination system by the direct passive method, with the aim of raising productivity by recycling the energy lost during the desalination process and raising the efficiency of condensation. In this study, the innovative design was evaluated to demonstrate its ability to increase the productivity of direct passive solar desalination while maintaining simplicity of installation and ease of operation. A prototype of the design was built to make a detailed study on the efficiency of the design and its ability to raise productivity under several different operational and climatic conditions in the city of Aden - Yemen, where several experiments were made to desalinate seawater taken from the city's coasts and the water of semi-salty wells in the city of Aden to compare the readings different. The results prove that the innovative design can raise productivity up to 80% higher than normal. The effect of pond water depth and salinity on productivity was studied. The results show that the higher the water depth in the evaporation basin, the higher the production capacity, and the higher the water salinity, the lower the production capacity of inactive direct solar desalination systems. This study also provides an assessment of the quality of the water produced by the innovative design by carrying out several chemical tests and making a comparison with the water quality before desalination to ensure that the design is capable of desalinating seawater or semi-salty well water to produce potable water. The results were confirmed for the quality of the produced water, which confirms the ability of the design to produce potable water in accordance with local and international standards, as the amount of total dissolved salts in sea water before desalination was 41340 mg/L and in well water 1300 mg/L, while after desalination by innovative design The total dissolved salts in treated sea water was 210 mg/L and in treated well water was 34 mg/L.

A review on evaporation improvement of solar still desalination using porous material

Recently, many studies have focused on desalination systems using solar energy sources due to low energy costs, the feasibility of usage in most weathers and no use of fossil fuels. Different materials have been proposed to enhance the temperature gradient and to gain better water productivity of the system such as porous materials, nanoparticles and phase change materials. Due to the uneven and porous surface, the porous materials raise the solar intensity absorption and the water temperature. This present review article assists to study the implementation of porous materials in evaporation enhancement of solar water desalination systems. All previous studies have demonstrated that the use of porous materials has a significant influence on the evaporation rate in solar desalination systems. Eventually, a summary of comparison in previous publications was presented and discussed in detail to assist researchers and engineers with a better design of solar still desalination systems. The achieved outcomes indicated that the energy efficiency of the solar desalination using activated carbon as a porous media was enhanced by 94.14%. Moreover, the productivity of the solar still desalination by aluminium fins and black steel wool fiber as a porous material was increased by about 42.3% and 20.9%, respectively.

Advancements in solar technologies for sustainable development of agricultural sector in India: a comprehensive review on challenges and opportunities.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the majority of people in India. The majority of the population in India is dependent (directly or indirectly) on agriculture as an occupation. The agriculture sector requires more freshwater and power for better yield in the current scenario. Nevertheless, the ever-increasing rate of energy consumption, limited fossil fuels, and rising pollution have made the expansion of renewable resources essential. Due to the suitable solar potential available in India, the deployment of solar energy has been more as compared to other renewable resources. The current study aims to discuss the various technologies, initiatives and policies of solar energy usage in agriculture. This work delivers an assessment of the advancement of solar energy vis-à-vis agricultural applications through the greenhouse concept and photovoltaic approach in India. Various agricultural applications of solar energy, such as solar water desalination system, solar water pumping system, solar crop dryer system for food safety, etc. are discussed as a means to promote solar-based technology. It also highlights the scenario of solar energy in India with important accomplishments, developmental approaches, and future potential. In-depth studies of various policies and government initiatives including those in research and development are also discussed. The current survey on solar technologies will be an aid to agribusiness frameworks to comprehend the statuses, obstructions, and extent of advancement. Finally, some future recommendations for further developments in this approach are discussed. This work sheds light on varied areas of solar energy-assisted agricultural systems as a potentially sustainable and eco-friendly pathway.