Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

Abstract

The Performance of an AGMD Unit Coupled with a Water Solar Collector the Experimental Validation for Desalination of Seawater

Mokhless Boukhriss and Habib Ben Bacha

Our work consists in presenting the results of an invention for a membrane distillation system coupled to an efficient and robust water solar collector which produces potable water with high quality and a small percentage of brackish discharge independent of salinity of the water source. The air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) model for the modules has been developed. This model is based on mathematical equations that describe the heat and mass transfer mechanisms of a single-stage AGMD process. It can simulate AGMD modules in regimes. The theoretical model was validated using in AGMD under different operating conditions and parameters. The predicted water vapor flux was compared to the flux measured at five different feed water temperatures, two different feed water salinities. The model was then used to study and analyze the parameters that have significant effect on scaling-up the AGMD process such as the effect of increasing the membrane length, and feed and coolant flow rates. The model was also used to analyze the maximum thermal efficiency of the AGMD process