Performance of a greenhouse deslaination condenser: An experimental study

Irrigation water for onshore greenhouses may be produced using seawater in a humidification-dehumidification process. That is, greenhouse air may be humidified, and thus evaporatively cooled, using seawater sprayed at an evaporator placed at one side of the greenhouse and subsequently dehumidified by a condenser placed at the opposite side. Simple and inexpensive condenser designs are crucial for economical viability of greenhouse desalination. Innovative condenser design was created in this study consisting of a cooled plate surface upon which water vapor, carried by saturated air, condenses at its outer surface. The plates are made of plastic and are constantly cooled by coolant flowing through internal passages within the plate. Experimental tests were done to investigate condensate production rate per unit area. These results were then compared to conventional vertical fin-tube bank condenser designs used by other investigators. The comparison showed that a higher rate of condensate production (an increase of 16.4%) is achieved using the simpler and less expensive condenser developed in this work.