Long-term performance evaluation of hybrid solar thermal and desalination Systems: Heat transfer fluids and advanced configurations insights
This study presents a comprehensive year-long evaluation of a hybrid solar desalination and water heating system, employing parabolic trough collectors enhanced with single- and duble-pass twisted-tape absorber tubes. The investigation focuses on optimizing geometric configurations, heat transfer fl...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-09-01
|
| Series: | Case Studies in Thermal Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008615 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | This study presents a comprehensive year-long evaluation of a hybrid solar desalination and water heating system, employing parabolic trough collectors enhanced with single- and duble-pass twisted-tape absorber tubes. The investigation focuses on optimizing geometric configurations, heat transfer fluids, and climatic adaptations to maximize thermal and desalination efficiencies. Phase I experiments compared eight absorber tube setups, revealing that the double-tube configuration with an 8:1 twist ratio achieved a 23.4 % increase in thermal efficiency compared to the baseline. Phase II introduced high-stability oil as the heat transfer fluid, recording a significant improvement in temperature retention. The double-tube twisted tape design (II-8) demonstrated a temperature difference of 78.1 °C, nearly doubling the performance of water (38.3 °C) under similar conditions, yielding an overall enhancement of approximately 103.9 %. Annual performance evaluation (Phase III) highlighted the system's peak summer desalination capacity, producing 3.5 L/day of fresh water and maintaining hot water output at an average of 35 °C. Notably, the system exhibited remarkable adaptability, consistently delivering reliable performance across seasonal extremes. By tackling energy and water challenges simultaneously, the study provides critical insights for scaling sustainable solutions, particularly in arid regions. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2214-157X |