Performance Assessment of a Humidification-Dehumidification Desalination Unit Connected to Photovoltaic Thermal Collectors

Present paper has investigated the performance assessment of a humidificationdehumidification (HDH) desalination system connected to photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) collectors. The main components of the system include humidification, dehumidification and PV/T collectors. Problem governing equations are obtained by writing the energy balance for the system various components and solved numerically. The simulation results of the present study are in fair agreement with the experimental data of previous literatures. Paper results show that at least three PV/T collectors with total area 2.3 m2 is needed to supply the minimum solar energy for the startup of system. Also, there is a desired mass flow rate for brackish water and air which maximize the system energy efficiency. The desired values of mass flow rate of brackish water and air and the maximum energy efficiency are 0.025 kg/s, 0.03 kg/s and 65%, respectively. Furthermore, the increase of PV/T collectors number increases freshwater productivity and output electrical power and decreases the energy efficiency due to the increase of consumed pumping power. Due to the negative influence of the temperature increase of inlet brackish water on the performance of dehumidifier and PV/T collectors, it causes the decrease of freshwater productivity, electrical power and energy efficiency.