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Desalination by solar-powered reverse osmosis in a remote area of the Sultanate of Oman

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  • Al Suleimani, Zaher
  • Nair, V. Rajendran

Abstract

The Ministry of Water Resources successfully conducted an experimental study on the use of solar power to desalinate brackish ground water at their Heelat ar Rakah camp, a remote location some 900 km south of Muscat, the capital of Oman. The system comprises components for pre-treatment of pumped well water to separate hydrogen sulphide, acid dosing to correct the pH, cartridge filtration, a solar powered reverse osmosis unit, and a reject-water evaporation pond. The solar powered system comprises a 23.2 m2 solar photovoltaic generator with a peak capacity of 3250 Wp, a boost charge battery of 200 Ah at 48 VDC, a charge controller, a sine-wave inverter of 3000 VA with an output of 230 V, 50 Hz, and necessary controls and instrumentation. The design water output of 5 m3/day during 5 h (of each day) was achieved, with the output sometimes exceeding 7.5 m3/day. The average cost of production is estimated at US$6.52/m3 over the 20-year lifetime of the equipment. The study has demonstrated that solar-powered reverse osmosis systems are particularly appropriate to remote locations that have limited or no access to supply services such as fuel, power or potable water.

Suggested Citation

  • Al Suleimani, Zaher & Nair, V. Rajendran, 2000. "Desalination by solar-powered reverse osmosis in a remote area of the Sultanate of Oman," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1-4), pages 367-380, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:65:y:2000:i:1-4:p:367-380
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bilton, Amy M. & Wiesman, Richard & Arif, A.F.M. & Zubair, Syed M. & Dubowsky, Steven, 2011. "On the feasibility of community-scale photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis desalination systems for remote locations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3246-3256.
    2. Haefner, Matthew W. & Haji, Maha N., 2023. "Integrated Pumped Hydro Reverse Osmosis System optimization featuring surrogate model development in Reverse Osmosis modeling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    3. Sadegh Modarresi, M. & Abada, Bilal & Sivaranjani, S. & Xie, Le & Chellam, Shankararaman, 2020. "Planning of survivable nano-grids through jointly optimized water and electricity: The case of Colonias at the Texas-Mexico border," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    4. Wen, Chiyu & Yang, Jing & Guo, Hongshuang & Li, Qingsi & Zhang, Xiangyu & Wang, Xiaodong & Cao, Moyuan & Zhang, Lei, 2022. "Zwitterionic functionalized catalytic evaporator enables simultaneous solar distillation and organic pollutant degradation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    5. Schäfer, Andrea I. & Hughes, Gordon & Richards, Bryce S., 2014. "Renewable energy powered membrane technology: A leapfrog approach to rural water treatment in developing countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 542-556.
    6. Chen, Yih-Hang & Li, Yu-Wei & Chang, Hsuan, 2012. "Optimal design and control of solar driven air gap membrane distillation desalination systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 193-204.
    7. Gude, Veera Gnaneswar, 2015. "Energy storage for desalination processes powered by renewable energy and waste heat sources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 877-898.
    8. Fernandez-Gonzalez, C. & Dominguez-Ramos, A. & Ibañez, R. & Irabien, A., 2015. "Sustainability assessment of electrodialysis powered by photovoltaic solar energy for freshwater production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 604-615.
    9. Kasaeian, Alibakhsh & Rajaee, Fatemeh & Yan, Wei-Mon, 2019. "Osmotic desalination by solar energy: A critical review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1473-1490.
    10. Carta, José A. & González, Jaime & Cabrera, Pedro & Subiela, Vicente J., 2015. "Preliminary experimental analysis of a small-scale prototype SWRO desalination plant, designed for continuous adjustment of its energy consumption to the widely varying power generated by a stand-alon," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 222-239.
    11. Wu, Jun W. & Hu, Eric J. & Biggs, Mark J., 2012. "Thermodynamic cycles of adsorption desalination system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 316-322.
    12. Alghoul, M.A. & Poovanaesvaran, P. & Mohammed, M.H. & Fadhil, A.M. & Muftah, A.F. & Alkilani, M.M. & Sopian, K., 2016. "Design and experimental performance of brackish water reverse osmosis desalination unit powered by 2 kW photovoltaic system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 101-114.
    13. Li, Sheying & Voigt, Achim & Schäfer, Andrea I. & Richards, Bryce S., 2020. "Renewable energy powered membrane technology: Energy buffering control system for improved resilience to periodic fluctuations of solar irradiance," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 877-889.
    14. Eltawil, Mohamed A. & Zhengming, Zhao & Yuan, Liqiang, 2009. "A review of renewable energy technologies integrated with desalination systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2245-2262, December.
    15. Zejli, Driss & Ouammi, Ahmed & Sacile, Roberto & Dagdougui, Hanane & Elmidaoui, Azzeddine, 2011. "An optimization model for a mechanical vapor compression desalination plant driven by a wind/PV hybrid system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(11), pages 4042-4054.
    16. AL-Yahyai, Sultan & Charabi, Yassine & Gastli, Adel & Al-Alawi, Saleh, 2010. "Assessment of wind energy potential locations in Oman using data from existing weather stations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 1428-1436, June.
    17. Gude, Veera Gnaneswar & Nirmalakhandan, Nagamany & Deng, Shuguang, 2010. "Renewable and sustainable approaches for desalination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 2641-2654, December.
    18. Fine, J.P. & Friedman, J. & Dworkin, S.B., 2015. "Transient analysis of a photovoltaic thermal heat input process with thermal storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 308-320.
    19. Hussein M. Maghrabie & Abdul Ghani Olabi & Ahmed Rezk & Ali Radwan & Abdul Hai Alami & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem, 2023. "Energy Storage for Water Desalination Systems Based on Renewable Energy Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-34, March.
    20. Sharon, H. & Reddy, K.S., 2015. "A review of solar energy driven desalination technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1080-1118.
    21. Ali, Muhammad Tauha & Fath, Hassan E.S. & Armstrong, Peter R., 2011. "A comprehensive techno-economical review of indirect solar desalination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 4187-4199.
    22. Lamei, A. & van der Zaag, P. & von Münch, E., 2008. "Impact of solar energy cost on water production cost of seawater desalination plants in Egypt," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1748-1756, May.
    23. Calise, Francesco & Cappiello, Francesco Liberato & Vanoli, Raffaele & Vicidomini, Maria, 2019. "Economic assessment of renewable energy systems integrating photovoltaic panels, seawater desalination and water storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    24. Ali, Aamer & Tufa, Ramato Ashu & Macedonio, Francesca & Curcio, Efrem & Drioli, Enrico, 2018. "Membrane technology in renewable-energy-driven desalination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1-21.

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