Solar-driven Desalination by Humidification-dehumidification (Prototype Fabrication)

World-wide water scarcity, especially in the developing world, indicates a pressing need to develop inexpensive, decentralized small-scale desalination technologies which use renewable resources of energy. However, conventional desalination technologies are usually large-scale, technology intensive systems most suitable for the energy rich and economically advanced regions of the world. They also cause environmental hazards because they are fossil-fuel driven and also because of the problem of brine disposal. Solar desalination with a humidification and dehumidification process has proven to be an efficient means of utilizing solar energy for the production of fresh water from saline or sea water. This technique presents several advantages such as flexibility in capacity, moderate installation and operating costs, simplicity, and possibility of using low temperature energy such as geothermal and solar. In this project, the objective is to experimentally fabricate solar desalination prototype applies humidification and humidification principle with minimum low cost of fresh water production and also simplicity in terms of the technology applied. Thus, through this studies and prototype fabrication, the author hope it will be a platform to drive the commercialization of a solar desalination based on humidification and dehumidification principle due to incoming short fresh water supply in future especially for small quantities in remote areas.