The center for Solar Energy Research and Studies (CSERS) has a good experience in operating and evaluating the thermal performance of small scale 5 m 3 /day Multi-Stage Flashing (MSF) desalination plant connected to solar pond according to the local weather conditions of Tajoura area. However, new project has been suggested to run the desalination plant with vacuum tubes solar thermal collectors utilizing available technology and experience.In this study an attempt were made to make the best use of readily available components to operate the MSF desalination unit with field of solar thermal collectors. Several configurations of collectors and tank arrangements are designed and examined through the use of simulation software, TRNSYS. The study has shown that the layout-3 (two 500 litres storage tanks each of them connected with 9x5 vacuum tube collectors) gives the best performance with an annual solar fraction over 77% at load temperature of 70 °C with flow rate of 2500 lit/hr, and over 68% at load temperature of 80 °C for working condition of 8 hours daily.The study has also shown that Running the desalination plant for 24 hours a day reduces the solar fraction of the solar collector field to 25%
A solar powered desalination unit which working on a humidification –dehumidification technique (HDH) is one of the most important techniques used in brackish and seawater desalination especially in remote and rural areas. In the present study, a test-rig was designed and constructed for conducting a set of experiments on a solar assisted desalination unit working on a HDH principle under the prevailing conditions of Tajoura-Libya. Experiments were carried out on specified days in March, 2019 at the laboratories of Center for Solar Energy Research and Studies (CSERS) at Tajoura. The effect of different design parameters and operating conditions on the performance of the unit and its productivity is closely investigated and interpreted. Results show that the productivity of the HDH unit decreases by increasing the process air mass flow rate. A significant improvement in the productivity of the unit is noticed when the feed water mass flow rate to the humidifier is increased. Furthermore, initial water temperature inside the tank has a remarked effect on the productivity of the unit. In order to obtain a reasonable amount of fresh water, the temperature of the water inside the tank should be increased. Increasing the cooling water mass flow rate to the dehumidifier leads to a corresponding decrease in the surface temperature of the cooling coil and hence the productivity of the unit is improved. The Productivity of the unit is varying from its lower value of (0.903 kg/m2.day) to a higher value of (6.47 kg/m2.day). These values are obtained for one meter square of solar air heater area. Gained Output Ratio (GOR) values range from a minimum of (0.082) to a maximum of (0.572). It is reasonable when compared to ones in literature for the water-heated HDH units.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.