Modelling and Simulation of Humidification-Dehumidification Process for Seawater Desalination Dual Powered by Biomass and Solar Energy

Abstract

The use of solar thermal energy for water desalination processes is increasing rapidly, particularly in areas where these resources are plentiful. However, solar energy plants are highly affected by the intermittency of day -night cycles and by low irradiation seasons. Although biomass fuel can be used as source of energy for thermal desalination processes, these resources are becoming increasingly scarce, expensive and seasonally available. Integration of solar-biomass technologies for water desalination process may provide the solution to these challenges. This work investigates design options of the Humidification-Dehumidification desalination system integration with the solar-biomass energies. The investigation is based on simulation of the process models in gPROMS platform. Results show that the solar-biomass integrated plant with a thermal storage system can save up to 57 % of the daily energy cost compared to conventional biomass plant. The integrated plant also cuts the CO2 emission by 59 %. Moreover, it has higher daily production capacity than conventional solar plants.