Enhancement of productivity of humidification-dehumidification desalination using modified air heater

Experimental investigation on humidification-dehumidification (HD) desalination system is carried out with half-perforated circular inserts incorporated in the air heater. These half-perforated circular inserts are provided with the orientation angle of 45, 90, and 180 degrees with two pitches, 114 and 152mm. Experiments are conducted in the HD desalination unit for various combinations of parameters in the air heater. The productivity of the HD desalination system is based on the mass flow rate, temperature of air and saline water, and also the pitch ratio and orientation angle of the circular inserts. Maximum productivity of 0.82kg/h is obtained for the orientation angle of 180 degrees, pitch ratio (pitch length/diameter of the pipe) of 3 and the air flow rate of 21kg/h. The economic analysis is also carried out and the payback period of such a system is found as 171 d.