Abstract :
Solar distillation of seawater can be economical on a large scale, combining the advantages of free solar energy with cost effective design. To do this, we have designed a large scale, solar unit topped by covers at two levels, the top resists the wind, creating a quiet space for more traditional covers which trap the solar energy and condense water vapor. These lower covers would arch over a large pool of brine built in a shallow sandy bay. The solar energy would be converted to heat beneath the brine to distill water vapor condensed on the cover. Air would flow over a brine pool, collecting vapor. In some pools, the air would then be blown through inflated plastic under the brine where the heat released by condensation of vapor would be passed back into the brine pool to create more vaporization. This system, Distributed Multieffect Distillation (DMD), offers improvements over the traditional solar energy system because it reuses the heat of condensation and over the usual MSF, MED, and LTV systems, which also reuse the heat, because it has much lower construction costs. To update these early assumptions, using todayʹs powerful low-cost computers, we can determine the economics and maximize the ability to compete against todayʹs best systems by modeling and optimizing, design and operation. Small-scale experiments, for data such as heat transfer coefficients, are essential for valid modeling.
