Abstract
The subject of this paper is to optimize the operating parameters of an actual solar desalination plant in operation and maximize its annual water production. The plant is located in Abu Dhabi, UAE, it consists of a field of evacuated tube collectors, a heat accumulator of the thermallystratified type and a multiple-effect seawater (MES) evaporator of the vertical stack type. A simulation program “SOLDES” was used to find the influence of each of the selected operating parameters on plant production. Solar radiation and other weather data for Abu Dhabi were used in the simulation runs. The results of the program were validated against the actual plant data and the agreement was found to be good. The selected plant operating parameters found to have an effect on plant water production were the heating water flow to the evaporator, the collector bypass valve open temperature and the frequency of monthly collector cleanings. The aim is to maximize monthly water production by setting these operating parameters to their optimum values. For this purpose monthly correlation equations were established by running the program at different values of each parameter and using the least square technique. The resulting monthly second-degree polynomial were optimized using the steepest ascent method.
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References
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EL-NASHAR, A.M. (2007). USING A SIMULATION PROGRAM TO OPTIMIZE THE OPERATING CONDITIONS OF A SOLAR DESALINATION PLANT FOR MAXIMUM PRODUCTION. In: Rizzuti, L., Ettouney, H.M., Cipollina, A. (eds) Solar Desalination for the 21st Century. NATO Security through Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5508-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5508-9_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5506-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5508-9
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