Abstract
A solar-powered humidification–dehumidification desalination (HDD) system is a promising technique for small-scale freshwater production. This paper presents the theoretical investigation of a flat-plate solar water collector (FPSWC)-integrated HDD system located in Kozhikode, India. A zero-dimensional thermo-optical sub-model is employed to simulate the performance of FPSWC after due validation with outdoor experimental data and literature results. This sub-model is subsequently coupled with the main HDD model, which estimates heat and mass transfer, thereby simulating the performance of the FPSWC-HDD system. The influence of various parameters such as feed water-to-air mass flow rate ratio (MR), component effectiveness, collector feed water inlet temperature, and inlet air relative humidity on performance parameters including freshwater yield, gain output ratio (GOR), and recovery ratio (RR) is investigated. Results showed that freshwater yield is optimum at MR of 2, and the maximum freshwater yield can reach about 6.822 kg day−1 in March at MR of 2. The effectiveness of the dehumidifier has a more significant effect on freshwater yield, GOR, and RR than that of the humidifier. Collector feed water inlet temperature and inlet air relative humidity also influence the system performance. The estimated cost of freshwater production is about 0.075 $ L−1.
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Abbreviations
- \({A}_{\mathrm{c}}\) :
-
Collector area (m2)
- \({B}_{\mathrm{t}}\) :
-
Thickness of back insulation (m)
- 1/\({C}_{\mathrm{b}}\) :
-
Adhesive resistance (m2 K W−1)
- \({c}_{\mathrm{p}}\) :
-
Specific heat of water (J kg−1 K−1)
- D :
-
Absorber tube outside diameter (m)
- \({D}_{\mathrm{i}}\) :
-
Absorber tube inside diameter (m)
- \({E}_{\mathrm{t}}\) :
-
Edge thickness (m)
- F :
-
Standard fin efficiency factor
- \({F}_{\mathrm{R}}\) :
-
Collector heat removal factor
- \({F}^{\mathrm{^{\prime}}}\) :
-
Collector efficiency factor
- \(G\) :
-
Global solar radiation flux on a horizontal surface (W m−2)
- \({G}_{\mathrm{b}}\) :
-
Direct solar radiation flux (W m−2)
- \({G}_{\mathrm{d}}\) :
-
Diffused solar radiation flux (W m−2)
- \({G}_{\mathrm{T}}\) :
-
Global solar radiation on a tilted surface (W m−2)
- h :
-
Specific enthalpy (kJ kg−1)
- \(\Delta \dot{\mathrm{H}}\) :
-
Change in the enthalpy rate (kW)
- \({h}_{\mathrm{fg}}\) :
-
Latent heat of evaporation (kJ kg−1)
- \({h}_{\mathrm{w}}\) :
-
Wind heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)
- \({h}_{\mathrm{wt}}\) :
-
Convective heat transfer coefficient of water (W m−2 K−1)
- k :
-
Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)
- \({K}_{\mathrm{\tau \alpha }}\) :
-
Incident angle modifier
- \(\dot{m}\) :
-
Mass flow rate (kg s−1)
- n :
-
Number of years
- N :
-
Number of glass cover
- Nu:
-
Nusselt number
- P :
-
Perimeter (m)
- Pr:
-
Prandtl number
- \({P}_{\mathrm{atm}}\) :
-
Atmospheric pressure (kPa)
- \({P}_{\mathrm{sat}}\) :
-
Saturation pressure of water vapor (kPa)
- \({\dot{Q}}_{\mathrm{U}}\) :
-
Useful energy gain (W)
- R :
-
Transposition factor
- r :
-
Rate of interest
- Re:
-
Reynolds number
- Rh:
-
Relative humidity
- T :
-
Temperature (\(\mathrm{^\circ{\rm C} }\))
- \({T}_{\mathrm{m}}\) :
-
Mean temperature of feed water (\(\mathrm{^\circ{\rm C} }\))
- \({T}_{\mathrm{pm}}\) :
-
Absorber plate mean temperature (\(\mathrm{^\circ{\rm C} }\))
- \({T}_{\mathrm{r}}\) :
-
Reduced temperature difference (m2 K W−1)
- U :
-
Loss coefficient (W m−2 K−1)
- U L :
-
Overall heat loss coefficient (W m−2 K−1)
- \({V}_{\mathrm{w}}\) :
-
Wind speed (m s−1)
- W :
-
Tube spacing (m)
- \({\in }_{\mathrm{g}}\) :
-
Emissivity of glass
- \({\in }_{\mathrm{p}}\) :
-
Emissivity of absorber plate
- \({\delta }_{\mathrm{ab}}\) :
-
Absorber plate thickness (m)
- \(\rho\) :
-
Foreground albedo
- \(\theta\) :
-
Incident angle of solar rays (\(^\circ\))
- \(\delta\) :
-
Declination angle (\(^\circ\))
- \(\sigma\)::
-
Stefan–Boltzmann constant (W m−2 K−4)
- \(\tau \alpha\)::
-
Transmittance absorptance product
- Φ:
-
Latitude (\(^\circ\))
- \(\gamma\) :
-
Surface azimuth angle (\(^\circ\))
- \({\omega }_{\mathrm{h}}\) :
-
Hour angle (\(^\circ\))
- \({\theta }_{\mathrm{z}}\) :
-
Solar zenith angle (\(^\circ\))
- \(\varepsilon_{\mathrm{H}}\) :
-
Effectiveness of humidifier
- \(\varepsilon_{\mathrm{D}}\) :
-
Effectiveness of dehumidifier
- \(\eta\) :
-
Energy efficiency
- \(\beta\) :
-
Collector tilt angle (\(^\circ\))
- \(\omega\) :
-
Humidity ratio (\({\mathrm{kg}}_{\mathrm{v}} {{\mathrm{kg}}_{\mathrm{a}}}^{-1}\))
- a:
-
Air
- ab:
-
Absorber plate
- amb:
-
Ambient
- b:
-
Bottom
- br:
-
Brine
- cw:
-
Cooling water
- d:
-
Diffuse
- e:
-
Edge
- fw:
-
Freshwater
- ins:
-
Insulation
- r:
-
Reflection
- t:
-
Top
- w:
-
Feed water
- 1,2,3,….:
-
State points
- AC:
-
Annual cost
- AOC:
-
Annual operating cost
- ASV:
-
Annual salvage value
- AATC:
-
Actual annual total cost
- AFWP:
-
Annual freshwater production
- CRF:
-
Capital recovery factor
- FWC:
-
Freshwater cost
- FPC:
-
Flat-plate collector
- FPSWC:
-
Flat-plate solar water collector
- GOR:
-
Gain output ratio
- HDD:
-
Humidification–dehumidification desalination
- IC:
-
Investment cost
- MC:
-
Maintenance cost
- MR:
-
Mass flow rate ratio
- RR:
-
Recovery ratio
- SV:
-
Salvage value
- WHO:
-
World Health Organization
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Faculty Research Grant of National Institute of Technology Calicut (MED/FRG/SI/2020-21/01), which is gratefully acknowledged.
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Shaikh, J.S., Ismail, S. Theoretical investigation on humidification–dehumidification desalination employing flat-plate solar water collector. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 11835–11853 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12478-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12478-6