 Project objectives:

This project aim to assess the performance of an HDH desalination system, techno-economic
study for solar water heater and PV electrical water heater.

 System description:

The main components of HDH system are:

1. Humidifier (evaporator).
2. Dehumidifier (condenser).
3. Heater (flat plate collector).

Figure (1): HDH system components

 Figure (2): Water heated (OWOA) HDH cycle

our system is (HDH system by using flat plate collector as a source of heating) Fig (2), the
seawater at low temperature enters the dehumidifier to condense the humid air, and comes out of
dehumidifier at higher temperature (preheated water), then it passes through a solar heater (flat
plate collector) and exit at high temperature, after that water is sprayed in the humidifier and exit
at lower temperature and high salinity (brine). The air enters the humidifier at the ambient
temperature, and then it is humidified through the direct interaction with the water that comes
from the solar collector. The air comes from the humidifier is preheated and humid air (air with
water vapor), this air enters the dehumidified (condenser), then the water vapor condenses by
losing its temperature and transform to a distilled water, and the air will exit from the
dehumidifier at a lower humidity.
  Mathematical modeling:
The useful energy gain in terms of the collector heat removal factor is given by:

𝑸𝒖 = 𝑨𝒄 𝑭𝑹 [𝑰𝑻 (𝝉𝜶) − 𝑼𝑳 (𝑻𝒇𝒊 − 𝑻𝒂 )]

Where:

𝐴𝑐 ≡ Collector area.

𝐹𝑅 ≡ The heat removal factor.

𝐼𝑇 ≡ Hourly solar radiation.

(𝜏𝛼) ≡ The transmittance absorptance product.

𝑈𝐿 ≡ Overall loss coefficient.

𝑇𝑓𝑖 ≡ The fluid inlet temperature.

𝑇𝑎 ≡ The ambient temperature.

−𝑭́𝑼
𝑳)
̇
𝒎 𝒄𝒑 (
𝑭𝑹 = (𝟏 − 𝒆 𝒎̇𝑪𝒑 )
𝑼𝑳

Where:

𝑚 ≡ The mass flow rate.

𝑐𝑝 ≡ Heat capacity.

𝐹́ ≡ The collector efficiency factor.

 𝟏
𝑼𝑳
𝑭́ =
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝑾( )+𝑪 +
𝑼𝑳 ∗ (𝑫 + (𝑾 − 𝑫) ∗ 𝑭 𝒃 𝝅 ∗ 𝒉𝒇𝒊 ∗ 𝑫

Where:

𝐷 ≡ Tube diameter.
W ≡ The tube spacing.

𝐶𝑏 ≡ Bond conductance.

ℎ𝑓𝑖 ≡ The heat transfer coefficient between the fluid and the tube wall.

𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐡[𝒎(𝑾−𝑫)/𝟐]
𝑭= [𝒎(𝑾−𝑫)/𝟐]

𝟏
𝑼𝑳 𝟐
𝒎=( )
𝒌𝒑 ∗𝜹𝒑

Where:

k p ≡ Thermal conductivity of absorber plate.

δp ≡ Thickness of absorber plate.

𝑵𝒖 𝐤𝐟
𝒉𝒇𝒊 =
𝑫

k f ≡ Thermal conductivity of fluid.

𝝉𝜶
(𝝉𝜶) =
𝟏−(𝟏−𝛂)𝝆𝒅

Where:

τ ≡ Transmission for cover and.

α ≡ Absorptance for absorber plate.
 𝑼𝑳 = 𝑼𝒕 + 𝑼𝒃 + 𝑼𝒆
Where:

Ut ≡ Top loss heat coefficient.

Ub ≡ Back loss heat coefficient.

Ue ≡ Edge loss heat coefficient.

 Modeling of the HDH system:

The useful energy gain in terms of the collector inlet and outlet temperatures is given by:

Qu= mCp (Tw3 – Tw2)

The energy balance equations for humidifier:

ma*(ha2 - ha1) = mw*hw3 – mb*hw4

Where:

ma ≡ The mass flow rate of air.

ha1 ≡ The enthalpy of air at the inlet of the humidifier.

ha2 ≡ The enthalpy of air at the exit of the humidifier.

mw ≡ The mass flow rate of seawater.

mb ≡ The mass flow rate of brine.

hw3 ≡ The enthalpy of brine at the inlet of the humidifier.

hw4 ≡ The enthalpy of brine at the exit of the humidifier.

The energy balance equations for dehumidifier:

ma*(ha2 - ha3) = mw*(hw2 – hw1) + md* hd

Where:

ha3 ≡ The enthalpy of air at the exit of the dehumidifier.

hw1 ≡ The enthalpy of seawater at the inlet of the dehumidifier.

hw2 ≡ The enthalpy of seawater at the exit of the dehumidifier.

mw ≡ The mass flow rate of distilled water.

hd ≡ The enthalpy of distilled water.

The effectiveness of humidifier for water:

(𝒉𝒘𝟑)−(𝒉𝒘𝟒)
ᵋ = (𝒉𝒘𝟑)−(𝒉𝒘𝟒)𝑰

The effectiveness of humidifier for air:

(𝒉𝒂𝟐)−(𝒉𝒂𝟏)
ᵋ = (𝒉𝒂𝟐)𝑰−(𝒉𝒂𝟏)

The effectiveness of dehumidifier for water:

(𝒉𝒘𝟐)−(𝒉𝒘𝟏)
ᵋ = (𝒉𝒘𝟐)𝑰−(𝒉𝒘𝟏)

The effectiveness of dehumidifier for air:

(𝒉𝒂𝟐)−(𝒉𝒂𝟏)
ᵋ = (𝒉𝒂𝟐)−(𝒉𝒂𝟏)𝑰

The Gain Output Ratio:

𝐦𝐝∗ 𝐡𝐟𝐠
GOR =
𝑸
  HDH Performance:
We used EES program to calculate system performance by using the previous equations and
some assumptions.

From RET screen program for Dhahran city we got the following results:

Air Relative
Month Daily solar radiation
temperature humidity

°C % kWh/m²/d
January 15.3 0.675 3.57
February 16.8 0.643 4.42
March 20.3 0.58 5.13
April 25.8 0.474 6.03
May 31.6 0.367 7.03
June 34.7 0.316 7.73
July 35.9 0.356 7.26
August 35.3 0.442 6.97
September 32.4 0.506 6.45
October 28.5 0.582 5.33
November 22.7 0.625 4
December 17.5 0.682 3.28

Daily solar radiation(Dhahran)

9
8
7
Daily solar radiation

6
5
4
1
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month
  EES program:

"==============Collector Data (Assumptions)==========="

A_c = 3 "collector area"
F_R = 0.8 "heat removal factor"
"I_T = 5" "daily solar radiation"
U_L = 2 "overall heat transfer coefficient"
"Month = 1"
Q = A_c*F_R*(I_T - U_L*(Tw[2] - Ta[1]))
Q_u = if (Q,0,0,0,Q) "useful energy gain"

============="Assumptions"===========
MR = m_w/m_a "mass flow rate of circulated dry air"
MR = 1.2
M_w = 0.05 "mass flow rate of circulated water"
T_min = 20 [C] "minimum water temperature in the cycle"

Q = m_w * 4.190 * (T_max-Tw[2])

eff_H = 0.80 "effectiveness of the humidifier"

eff_D = 0.80 "effectivness of the dehumidifier"

eff_H_a = (ha[2] - ha[1])/(Enthalpy(AirH2O,T=Tw[3],r=1,P=100)-ha[1]) "effectivness of the

humidifier for air"
eff_H_w = (hw[3] - hw[4])/(hw[3] - Enthalpy(Water,T=T_wb, P=100)) "effectivness of the
humidifier for water"

eff_H = max (eff_H_a,eff_H_w)

eff_D_a = (ha[2] - ha[3])/(ha[2]-Enthalpy(AirH2O,T=Tw[1],r=1,P=100 )) "effectivness of the
dehumidifier for air"
eff_D_w = (hw[2] - hw[1])/(Enthalpy(Water,T=Ta[2], P=100)-hw[1]) "effectivness of the
dehumidifier for water"
eff_D = max (eff_D_a,eff_D_w)

"====== =============Properties====================== ”
"Air"
"Ta[1] = 35” "ambient temperature"
phi[1] = 0.5
ha[1]=Enthalpy(AirH2O,T=Ta[1],r=phi[1],P=100)
omega[1]=HumRat(AirH2O,T=Ta[1],r=phi[1],P=100)
sa[1]=Entropy(AirH2O,T=Ta[1],r=phi[1],P=100)
rho_a[1]=Density(AirH2O,T=Ta[1],r=phi[1],P=100)
T_wb = WetBulb(AirH2O,T=Ta[1],r=phi[1],P=100)
Duplicate i=2,3
phi[i] = 0.9
ha[i]=Enthalpy(AirH2O,T=Ta[i],r=phi[i],P=100)
omega[i]=HumRat(AirH2O,T=Ta[i],r=phi[i],P=100)
sa[i]=Entropy(AirH2O,T=Ta[i],r=phi[i],P=100)
rho_a[i] = Density(AirH2O,T=Ta[i],r=phi[i],P=100)

"water"
Tw[1] = T_min
Tw[3] = T_max
Duplicate i=1,4
hw[i] = 4.1868 * Tw[i]
rho_w[i] = Density(Water,T=Tw[i], P=100)
End
====== =========Mass and Energy balances================
"Humidifier"
m_a*ha[2]-m_a*ha[1]=m_w*hw[3]-m_w*hw[4]
"Dehumidifier"
m_a*ha[2]-m_a*ha[3]=m_w*hw[2]-m_w*hw[1]+(m_fw*(hw[1]+hw[2])/2)

=== ==============Performance analysis============= ====

hfg = Enthalpy(Water,T=Tw[1],x=1) - Enthalpy(Water,T=Tw[1],x=0)
m_fw = m_a*(omega[2]-omega[3])
m_b = m_w - m_fw
m_d = if(m_fw,0,0,0,m_fw)
GOR_1 = (m_fw*hfg)/(Q)
GOR=if(m_fw,0,0,0,GOR_1)
Product = m_d*3600 "Fresh water in 1 hour"
LPM=(m_w/rho_w[1])*convert('m3/s','l/min')
CFM=(m_a/rho_a[3])*convert('m3/s','cfm')
After applying the radiation values on EES we got the following results:

5
Product [L/hr]

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Month
 1.4

1.2

0.8
GOR

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Month

60

50
Tw[3] [C]

40

30

20

10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Month