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Assessment of a solar-driven cogeneration system for electricity and desalination

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Abstract

The goal of the present paper is the investigation of a solar desalination system with an organic Rankine cycle system for power and freshwater production. This system is an environmentally friendly technology that is able to utilize solar energy properly in a novel cogeneration application. A parabolic trough concentrator with a smooth and corrugated receiver was employed as the heat source of the desalination system. A humidifier–dehumidifier desalination technology was used for producing freshwater. The electricity is produced by an organic Rankine cycle which is fed both by the solar field and by the hot brine. The present analysis is performed by using a detailed numerical model which is validated by experimental literature data. Based on the final results, the corrugated tube has a maximum performance of 66.59%, and it is more efficient than the smooth tube with 63.11%. The average freshwater productions were estimated equal to 13.09 kg hr−1 and 12.71 kg hr−1 for the corrugated and smooth tubes, respectively. The maximum net work production is found at 7.57 kW with R113, while the less efficient working fluid is R134a. It was found that the application of the developed desalination system leads to the production of high amounts of fresh water and a significant reduction of the equivalent CO2 emissions.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area, m2

c 2 :

Constant used in the linear equation

c p :

Specific heat capacity, J kg−1K−1

d :

Receiver tube diameter, m

f r :

Friction factor

\(\dot{F}\) :

View factor

h :

Convection coefficient, W m−2K−1

\(h^{\prime}\) :

Internal heat transfer coefficient, Wm−2K−1

\(k\) :

Heat transfer coefficient

m 2 :

Slope of linear equation

\(\dot{m}\) :

Mass flow rate, kg s−1

Nu:

Nusselt number

Pr:

Prandtl number

\(\dot{Q}_{\text{net}}\) :

Net heat transfer rate, W

\(\dot{Q}^{*}\) :

Rate of available solar heat at the receiver cavity, W

\(\dot{Q}_{\text{loss}}\) :

Loss rate of heat from cavity receiver, W

R :

Thermal resistance, K/W

Re:

Reynolds number

T :

Temperature, K

T ∞ :

Ambient temperature, K

t :

Time, s

A,a :

Area, m2

b :

Breadth, m

a humid :

Surface area of humidifier packing per unit volume, m2 m−3

C f :

Conversion factor of the thermal power plant

c p :

Specific heat capacity, J kg−1 K−1

D :

Diameter, m

F :

Area ratio

F′ :

Flat plate collector efficiency

F R :

Flow rate factor

G :

Dry air mass flow rate, kg s−1

h :

Heat transfer coefficient, W m−2K−1

h fg :

Latent heat enthalpy of water vaporization, J kg−1

h p1 :

Penalty factor due to tedlar through glass, solar cell and EVA

h p2 :

Penalty factor due to the interface between tedlar and the working fluid

h T :

Heat transfer coefficient from back surface to air through tedlar, W m−2K−1

H :

Enthalpy, kJ kg−1

I(t):

Incident solar irradiation, W m−2

K :

Thermal conductivity, W m−1K−1

K humid :

Heat transfer coefficient, kg m−2 s−1

\(\dot{L}\) :

Length, m

L :

Sea water flow rate, kg s−1

m :

Mass flow rate, kg s−1

m fw :

Freshwater production

Nu:

Nusselt number, –

Pr:

Prandtl number,–

Q u :

Rate of useful energy transfer

Re:

Reynolds number,–

T :

Temperature, K

T a :

Ambient temperature, K

U :

Global heat transfer coefficient, Wm−2K−1

U b :

An overall heat transfer coefficient from water to ambient, W m−2 K−1

U L :

Overall heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to ambient through the back insulation, W/m2 K

U t :

Overall heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to ambient through glass cover, W m−2K−1

U T :

Conductive heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to water through tedlar, W m−2K−1

U tT :

Overall heat transfer coefficient from glass to tedlar through solar cell, W m−2K−1

U tw :

Overall heat transfer coefficient from glass to water through solar cell and tedlar, W m−2K−1

W :

Tube spacing, m

V :

Volume, m3

α :

Absorptivity

β :

Packing factor

ε :

Emissivity

η:

Efficiency

τ :

Transmittance

σ:

Stefan–Boltzmann constant, W m−2K−4

ω :

Specific humidity

0:

Glass to ambient

a:

Air

amb:

Ambient

Ave:

Average

bs:

Back surface of tedlar

cond:

Due to conduction, Condenser

conv:

Due to convection

c:

Solar cell

eff:

Effective

f:

Fluid

f out :

Outgoing fluid

fw:

Fresh water

G:

Glass

humd:

Humidifier

in:

Inlet

inlet, in:

At the inlet

ins, i:

Insulation

loss:

Energetic loss

n:

Tube section number

net:

Net

outer, out:

Outlet

rad:

Due to radiation

rec:

Receiver

r:

Reference

s:

Inner tube surface

T:

Tedlar

th:

Thermal

total:

Total

unit:

Unit of desalination

w:

Water

zero:

Initial condition in the inlet

∞:

Ambient

GOR:

Gain output ratio

HDD:

Humidification–dehumidification desalination

PV:

Photovoltaic

PVT:

Photovoltaic-thermal

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Funding

Dr. Najafi and Dr. Loni are grateful to the Tarbiat Modares University (http://www.modares.ac.ir) for the financial supports given under IG/39705 grant for Renewable Energies of Modares research group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Process Design Development Research Group, Center for Process Systems Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610, Seri Iskandar Perak, Malaysia

    Alireza Rafiei & Shuhaimi B. Mahadzir

  2. Department of Biosystems Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Reyhaneh Loni & Gholamhassan Najafi

  3. Thermal Department, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Evangelos Bellos

  4. Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Mohsen Sharifpur

  5. Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, 550000, Vietnam

    Mohsen Sharifpur

  6. Faculty of Bio Engineering and Technology, Advanced Material Cluster, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Mohamed Mazlan

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  1. Alireza Rafiei
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  2. Reyhaneh Loni
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  3. Gholamhassan Najafi
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  5. Evangelos Bellos
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Appendix A: Pressure drop

Appendix A: Pressure drop

Change of pressure drop with changing oil inlet temperature and oil volume flow rate for the smooth and corrugated tube at Ibeam = 800 W m−2 and VFoil = 50 mL s−1 is given in Fig. 22.

Fig. 22
figure 22

Change of pressure drop with changing oil inlet temperature, and oil volume flow rate for the smooth and corrugated tube at Ibeam = 800 W m−2, and VFoil = 50 mL s−1

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Rafiei, A., Loni, R., Najafi, G. et al. Assessment of a solar-driven cogeneration system for electricity and desalination. J Therm Anal Calorim 145, 1711–1731 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10525-0

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