Simulating two Algerian cities' desalination plants coupled with solar energy systems using TRNSYS

The Bouzareah in northern Algeria's province and Ghardaia in southern Algeria's province are particularly vulnerable to drought and water scarcity, even if apparent differences in climatic conditions mark each region. Though it may seem counterintuitive, Ghardaia has considerable water resources that could be tapped for agriculture. Our study aimed to design a prototype of a desalination unit coupled with a solar collector for these two provinces using the TRNSYS 16. The desalination unit is composed of vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) coupled with a solar collector, and the photovoltaic has been designed according to the climatic conditions of each region. In this work, the approach adopted is to integrate a model developed in the literature into a simulation environment (TRNSYS) coupled with the CODE-BLOCKS compiler and FORTRAN programming language to create a new component (i.e., VMD process). The permeation flux and the power to load reached their maximum values with the charge of solar irradiation 48 kg/h m2 and 6,300 kJ/h, respectively, for Ghardaia at the sun irradiation value 800 W/m2 and temperature of 34 degrees C. Results showed that Ghardaia had a higher GOR value than Bouzareah over the year (10.947 vs. 8.3389).

Automated summary

The provinces of Bouzareah and Ghardaia in Algeria are facing water scarcity and drought, despite differences in climatic conditions. This study aimed to design a desalination unit combined with a solar collector to meet the water needs of these provinces. By integrating a model developed in the literature into the simulation environment (TRNSYS), a new component (VMD process) was created. Results showed that Ghardaia had a higher performance in desalination compared to Bouzareah.