Evaluation of desalination technologies for small scale application
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30972/fac.3427797Keywords:
Water desalination, Solar energy, Humidification – DehumidificationAbstract
The growing demand for drinking water has led to the exploration of sustainable and efficient alternatives in the desalination process. Conventional methods, such as reverse osmosis, flash multistage evaporation and multiple effects distillation, face challenges in small-scale applicability, especially in rural areas with electricity access restrictions. This article focuses on comparing these technologies with the innovative air humidification-dehumidification (HDH) process for the production of 100 liters/hour of desalinated water. Mass and energy balances were used to evaluate the efficiency of each technology, specifically the amount of thermal energy needed per volume of desalinated water, and the area of solar collectors necessary for the process. Open and closed circuit configurations with and without regeneration were considered. Initial results reveal that in an open-loop configuration without regeneration, the thermal energy consumption in the HDH process is 3.6 and 5.5 times higher compared to the MSF and MED processes, respectively. In conclusion, despite higher thermal energy consumption, compared to MED and RO technologies, the HDH process presents significant advantages in terms of reduced initial and maintenance costs. Furthermore, the modularity of the system allows it to be adapted to various water demands, from small quantities to more significant volumes.
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