The alarming water and energy crisis in many regions of
the world can be eased by combining renewable energy with desalination
technologies. The ADIRA project funded by the EU looked for demonstrating the
feasibility of water desalination in areas around the Mediterranean
by installing a number of autonomous desalination systems (ADS) which are able
to convert brackish or seawater into potable water for the needs of small
communities. Within the activities of the ADIRA project a reverse osmosis unit
powered by photovoltaic electricity was installed in a village in the northern
part of Jordan
with a capacity of 0.5 m3/day.
The system was composed of a softener, reverse osmosis unit, PV panels (432 Wp)
and storage batteries. Residential type “OSMONICS” membrane (TFM-100) was utilized in the RO unit. Field tests were performed on
brackish water (1700 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS)). This paper sheds the
light on the process flow diagram, sizing of the system main components and
presents some of the results obtained.
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