An innovative unit for water desalination based on humidification dehumidification technique

An innovative humidification - dehumidification (H-D) system, consisting of two primary components, a humidifier, and a condenser, was designed and built, together with its various accessories, to generate desalinated water from seawater simply and cost-effectively. The experimental work was split into two parts. The first was concerned with the humidification of ambient air in a specifically designed and developed humidifier. The influence of significant factors on the % relative humidity of the humidified air, as well as the temperatures of the exiting air and water, was examined using the natural draft and air-blown forced convection. The second part pertained to combined H - D of air to produce desalinated water. The findings revealed the presence of a hydrophilic plant (Loofa Egyptiaca) as packing that has never been utilized previously, is branching and mimics structured packing to a large extent. The presence of four stages, each with just a shallow Loofa bed height, was enough to create exit air with 100 % relative humidity. The unit's daily productivity was highest (133.72 kg water per total volume of packed section) at high water flow rates and temperatures (60 degrees C), as well as when using cold water in the condenser, with a condensation efficiency of 93.5 % without the need for more complicated and expensive coil-type or finned tube-copper condensers. Furthermore, completely desalinated water was produced, which was superior to potable water. (c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

An innovative humidification-dehumidification system was developed to generate desalinated water from seawater. The system utilized a specially designed humidifier and condenser, as well as a unique hydrophilic plant as packing material. The experimental results showed that the system achieved high productivity and desalination efficiency without the need for complex and expensive condensers.