Prefeasibility design with optimality criteria of a desalinator assisted exclusively by solar energy. Case: Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Climate change forced us to think about new and sustainable ways of drinking water production in the zones where water is scarce. Here a coupling between a parabolic trough solar collector with a multi-stage flash desalinator is proposed; which includes a storage tank, so that, the system can operate 24 hours a day without including an auxiliary heater fed by nonrenewable energy sources. As study case, Dharan city, Saudi Arabia, is analyzed. There are two main reasons for selecting it, one is the abundant solar energy it receives and the other one is its freshwater resource scarcity. Results obtained here are favourable and encouraging, because, for example, the estimated cost of cubic meter of potable water produced is in the range of its current costs for this region.