Simulation and Optimal Design of Solar Pool for Subsurface Irrigation

Nowadays, according to the pollution and reduction of available water resources, accessing to fresh water for agricultural and drinking purposes are restricted. In this paper, the solar subsurface irrigation system, which is one of the most efficient ways of fresh water production has been simulated. This system consists of a pool as a humidification unit and pipes that are buried in the soil as a condenser unit. In this simulation eight parameters including relative humidity, water pool temperature, pressure, pipe temperature, inlet air cross section, air temperature, air velocity and pipe diameter have been considered in three levels and 27 tests to calculate the amount of fresh water were presented using Taguchi method. In order to maximum use of sunlight, the mirror was used. The results showed that the lower humidity, pipe temperature, velocity and inlet air cross section increase the amount of water production. In addition, the higher pipe diameter, water temperature and air temperature is directly proportional to the amount of produced water. The optimal pressure is 95 kPa. The optimal amount of fresh water obtained from Taguchi method is 5.15 kg/m.day which shows an error of 5.23% compared to simulation result.