Air humidification-dehumidification for a water desalination system using solar energy [An article from: Desalination]

This digital document is a journal article from Desalination, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This paper presents a theoretical study of a solar desalination system with humidification-dehumidification which is a promising technique of production of fresh water at small scale (few m^3/d). A general model based on heat and mass transfer balances in each component of the system was developed and used to optimize the system's non-dimensional characteristics. The daily production of fresh water depends on the ratio between the salt water and the air mass flow rates. It was shown that, if this ratio is continuously adjusted for optimum performance, it is possible to produce more than 40 L of fresh water daily per square meter of solar collector surface on a typical July day in Tunisia. Annual performances for open and closed air loop systems are also presented.