Abstract
This paper presents the preliminary field test data of a two-stage low temperature phase-change desalination process. The process under development operates at low temperatures and low pressures generated by local barometric head. A two-stage configuration of this process was developed and tested at a field site in the Puget Sound bay area of the State of Washington. The field test results proved that the two-stage desalination process has potential for standalone small to large scale applications in water and energy scarce rural areas with specific energy consumption of 1500 kJ/kg of freshwater. Economical analysis conducted on the desalination system results in desalination costs around $3/m 3 using a cheap waste heat source purchased at $0.5/GJ. Since, most small scale domestic desalination systems are designed in combination with a renewable energy source; when this desalination system is powered by a low grade flat plate solar collector heat source, the desalination costs are less than $7/m 3 which falls in acceptable range for small scale desalination systems of similar capacity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 192-198 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Energy Conversion and Management |
Volume | 56 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Energy recovery
- Low grade heat source
- Low temperature desalination
- Multi-stage operation
- Solar collectors
- Waste heat
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Nuclear Energy and Engineering
- Fuel Technology
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology