This paper shows a possibility of the combination of renewable energy sources and water desalination in a selfcontained installation. There is a chance to combine both aspects to save our climate and to solve the problem of water shortage in many countries, especially in countries with a high sun radiation, like in Africa as well in northern industrial countries with less sun radiation. One option is to use solar thermal or biomass power plants to generate (waste) heat. In industrialised countries it is also possible to use biomass to produce energy and with the generated waste heat you can convert saltwater into freshwater. In countries with a high sun radiation it would be preferred to produce heat with solar power. One idea is to join all aspects to produce water and energy independent on the weather or the time of day. With this upcoming project it is also possible to get water and energy independently from each other. So this enhancement can improve the quality of life in countries with undersupply of water. Furthermore there is the idea to build a self-sustaining hotel which does not need in average any external power and / or freshwater supply. The following paper details how to solve these well known water and energy problems.
This paper is about the concept of the combination of renewable energy parks and water desalination. During the energy production a lot of waste heat is produced which is in the majority of cases unused. The needed (waste) heat for the water desalination unit can be generated with biomass power plants, geo thermal or solar power. So the idea is to use this unused energy to convert saltwater into freshwater. This water can be used to irrigate fields or to produce common products. The advantage is that the produced water and energy can be used independent from each other. The current project is about the optimization between the water desalination unit from the company Terrawater [5] and the produced waste heat from a renewable energy source. At first there will be coded a simulation programme for a physicalmathematical model. Furthermore a control programme will be written which works together with the simulation programme to control the heat flow volume from the power plant or heat generator to the desalination unit to get the best performance and a best amount of freshwater. During the simulation process a lot of different aspects have to be regarded and they have to be included in the control programme.
In the last years the demand on fresh water continuously increase worldwide and the future demand is difficult to estimate, but due to the growth of population and the increase of the worldwide demand on consumer goods the water demand will also rise in the close and far future. Furthermore more environmental neutral energy resources are needed to fulfill the needed energy requirements in the future. One option is to use solar thermal energy to produce (process) heat. This paper is about the modeling of a demonstration plant in the Egyptian Sunwater project. The energy from renewable energy source is used to operate a water desalination unit and to produce freshwater environmental friendly. The main heat generator for the water desalination unit are solar thermal panels. The produced freshwater is free of ingredients and it can be used, with the accumulation of trace elements, as normal drinking water. The water desalination module works with evaporation and the whole construction will be installed close to a hotel complex in Egypt as a demonstration plant. It is funded by the EU and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Egypt (RDI). This project is a feasibility study to show the possibility to combine solar thermal energy and a water desalination module working with evaporation. It could be an impulse for future research projects and for a freshwater supply not only in dry and hot countries like in Africa. For the installation of the components at the demonstration plant a system model and a simulation was done to combine the right components at the building site to a sustainable system.
Due to the increasing water shortages not only in sunny countries, but also in a lot of other states, the demand on freshwater will increase worldwide in the near future. Good examples are the newly industrializing countries. The freshwater demand increases with the wealth of the inhabitants. The so called virtual water must also be taken into account. This is water which is needed to produce products, but it is not included in the final commodity. During the Sunwater project a demonstration plant was planned, modeled, simulated and installed which uses renewable energies to desalinate freshwater with a very high quality. Solar thermal energy was used to convert saltwater from the Red Sea into freshwater. For this purpose an innovative evaporation desalination unit from Germany was used. The complete project was a feasibility study with partners from Germany, Egypt and UK. In this paper a few modifications and additional application possibilities are presented to use this demonstration plant. This includes e. g. other prospects for the heat storage tanks and the usage of the water desalination unit itself.
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