SOLAR DESALINATION
ALAA EL-DIN HISHAM MOHAMED NAGUIB ALI;
Abstract
6-1 OVERVIEW
This research studied the possibility of producing fresh water from seawater using low cost technique depending on solar rays concentrated by mirrors which previously checked by other researches.
A pilot plant was erected at Faculty of Engineering, Pilots Open Site, Ain Shams University’s, Cairo, Egypt.
The measured results were recorded on three months of work that covers the worst climatic period for such technique to measure the performance of the pilot plant.
The study results has been discussed to determine the main factors affecting the system success and the effect of the worst climatic condition on the system productivity, also the suitability of acrylic which have a longer life age than glass as to be the main face against the mirrors in the system. On the other hand the study covered the system suitability for water desalination as a low cost technique for such application.
6-2 CONCLUSIONS
Due to the discussion of the study results and from the conducted data we could conclude the following:
1. The rate of fresh water is directly proportional to the air temperature.
2. The choice of acrylic as a construction material greatly affected the rate of fresh water production compared to previous researches by [4] and [5], which is about 25% of their results due to low thermal conductivity of it compared to glass.
3. The studied system is stable in producing fresh water till the air temperature drop below 20°C due to acrylic effect.
4. The sunshine period affects the rate of fresh water, as the sunshine period increases the fresh water flow rate increases, but not as effective as air temperature.
5. Increasing the number of channels and their length increased the retention time in the pilot thus increasing the produced fresh water flow rate.
6. The reflecting mirrors surface area should be maximized to increase solar rays concentrated on the raw seawater channels and there orientation should be adjusted according to the sun position.
7. The resulted fresh water TDS varies from 20ppm to 40ppm which confirms the high efficiency of the system in TDS removal regardless to the influent TDS.
8. The stability of pH value of the resulted fresh water.
6-3 RECOMMENDATIONS
From the study of the new desalination system we can recommend the following:
1. Studying the proposed pilot plant if changing the construction material.
2. Applying this plant at coastal regions in Egypt and other warm countries.
3. The system can be used in rural desert areas with saline water wells.
6-4 FURTHER WORKS
The current research added more questions and suggestions need to be answered and studied by further research, the following items are suggested for further work:
1. Selection of the best appropriate materials for the plant.
2. Study the effective factors on system design at different seasons of the year specially autumn and winter.
3. Adding a vacuum pump to reduce the internal pressure of the pilot thus reducing the boiling point of water.
4. Using motorized mirrors in tracking the sun position to concentrate the solar rays on a specific channel.
5. Adding a photocell to produce electricity required for operating the pilots.
6. Study making another cycle with the effluent brine, thus taking advantage of the heated water.
This research studied the possibility of producing fresh water from seawater using low cost technique depending on solar rays concentrated by mirrors which previously checked by other researches.
A pilot plant was erected at Faculty of Engineering, Pilots Open Site, Ain Shams University’s, Cairo, Egypt.
The measured results were recorded on three months of work that covers the worst climatic period for such technique to measure the performance of the pilot plant.
The study results has been discussed to determine the main factors affecting the system success and the effect of the worst climatic condition on the system productivity, also the suitability of acrylic which have a longer life age than glass as to be the main face against the mirrors in the system. On the other hand the study covered the system suitability for water desalination as a low cost technique for such application.
6-2 CONCLUSIONS
Due to the discussion of the study results and from the conducted data we could conclude the following:
1. The rate of fresh water is directly proportional to the air temperature.
2. The choice of acrylic as a construction material greatly affected the rate of fresh water production compared to previous researches by [4] and [5], which is about 25% of their results due to low thermal conductivity of it compared to glass.
3. The studied system is stable in producing fresh water till the air temperature drop below 20°C due to acrylic effect.
4. The sunshine period affects the rate of fresh water, as the sunshine period increases the fresh water flow rate increases, but not as effective as air temperature.
5. Increasing the number of channels and their length increased the retention time in the pilot thus increasing the produced fresh water flow rate.
6. The reflecting mirrors surface area should be maximized to increase solar rays concentrated on the raw seawater channels and there orientation should be adjusted according to the sun position.
7. The resulted fresh water TDS varies from 20ppm to 40ppm which confirms the high efficiency of the system in TDS removal regardless to the influent TDS.
8. The stability of pH value of the resulted fresh water.
6-3 RECOMMENDATIONS
From the study of the new desalination system we can recommend the following:
1. Studying the proposed pilot plant if changing the construction material.
2. Applying this plant at coastal regions in Egypt and other warm countries.
3. The system can be used in rural desert areas with saline water wells.
6-4 FURTHER WORKS
The current research added more questions and suggestions need to be answered and studied by further research, the following items are suggested for further work:
1. Selection of the best appropriate materials for the plant.
2. Study the effective factors on system design at different seasons of the year specially autumn and winter.
3. Adding a vacuum pump to reduce the internal pressure of the pilot thus reducing the boiling point of water.
4. Using motorized mirrors in tracking the sun position to concentrate the solar rays on a specific channel.
5. Adding a photocell to produce electricity required for operating the pilots.
6. Study making another cycle with the effluent brine, thus taking advantage of the heated water.
Other data
| Title | SOLAR DESALINATION | Other Titles | التحلية بالطاقة الشمسية | Authors | ALAA EL-DIN HISHAM MOHAMED NAGUIB ALI | Issue Date | 2015 |
Recommend this item
Similar Items from Core Recommender Database
Items in Ain Shams Scholar are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.