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Thermal analysis of humidification–dehumidification desalination system based on evacuated tube solar air heater

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Abstract

Desalination, which converts saline water into freshwater, has been proposed as a possible alternative to address the worldwide freshwater scarcity problem. The humidification–dehumidification (H–DH) desalination technique can provide appropriate quantity of freshwater to the population residing in water-stressed regions. The aim of the current study is to investigate the solar H–DH desalination system performance which consists of a solar air heater based on double-ends open evacuated tube collector, a packed bed humidifier, and a dehumidifier. The packing material used in humidifier is aspen pads. The performance is assessed based on system overall efficacy, gained output ratio (GOR), yield, and efficacy of humidifier and dehumidifier at three distinct process air flow rates. The average overall system efficacy, yield, and GOR are 11.97%, 4.1 kg day-1, and 0.84, respectively, for open-loop system. The closed-loop system reports better performance at low mass flow rate. The average overall system efficiency, daily yield, and GOR at 100 kg h−1 are 32.48%, 11.9 kg day-1, and 2.44, respectively, for a closed-loop system.

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Abbreviations

ASC :

Overall collector area (m2)

I:

Solar flux (W m−2)

l:

Length of double-ends open evacuated tubes (m)

\(\dot{{m}_{{\text{sw}}}}\) :

Saline water flow rate (kg h−1)

N:

Number of double-ends open evacuated tubes

PP :

Power rating of pump (W)

QSE :

Total energy obtained from solar radiation (W)

TH,in :

Air temperature at inlet of humidifier (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TH,sat :

Saturated air DBT at humidifier outlet (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TDEC,out :

Air temperature at outlet of direct evaporative cooler (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TD,in :

Air temperature at dehumidifier inlet (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TD,in,ideal :

Air temperature at inlet of dehumidifier at ideal condition (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

\({\epsilon }_{{\text{H}}}\) :

Humidifier effectiveness

\({\epsilon }_{{\text{D}}}\) :

Dehumidifier effectiveness

D:

Diameter of double-ends open evacuated tubes (m)

L:

Water latent heat (kJ kg−1)

\(\dot{{m}_{{\text{a}}}}\) :

Process air flow rate (kg/h−1)

Mfw :

Mass of freshwater (kg)

PB :

Power rating of blower (W)

PEF :

Power rating of exhaust fan (W)

QEE :

Total electrical energy (W)

TH,out :

Air temperature at humidifier outlet (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TDEC,in :

Air temperature at inlet of direct evaporative cooler (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TDEC,out,ideal :

Air temperature at outlet of direct evaporative cooler at ideal condition (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

TD,out:

Air temperature at dehumidifier outlet (\(^\circ{\rm C}\))

\({\eta }_{\text{o}}\) :

Overall system efficacy (%)

\({\epsilon }_{{\text{DEC}}}\) :

Direct evaporative cooler effectiveness

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Funding

This work was funded by the Department of Science and Technology, India, DST/TMD/EWO/WTI/DM/2021/182.

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  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat, 395007, India

    Abhishek Tiwari & Amit Kumar

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  1. Abhishek Tiwari
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Abhishek Tiwari was involved in conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, writing—original manuscript, and writing—review and editing. Amit Kumar was involved in supervision, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition, and visualization.

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Correspondence to Abhishek Tiwari.

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Tiwari, A., Kumar, A. Thermal analysis of humidification–dehumidification desalination system based on evacuated tube solar air heater. J Therm Anal Calorim (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-13218-0

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