Dix, T.E.
December 1981
Desalination, vol 39, p. 169-170
A computer code has been developed as a tool to aid design work of wind-powered and solar-powered desalting plants. The code accommodates for various solar energy sources deliver systems and RO and ED processes. In this paper flow charts are presented with detailed description of the code, capability and limitations. The SOLAR DESAL program could also be used to simulate desalination units of RO and ED which employ diesel generators.
The program has been structured to allow the interchange, substitution, and elimination of major subsystems, a flexibility necessary for tradeoff analyses and parameter studies. Reliability considerations are included in the code calculations by the computation of times of failure and of repair. Program logic is based upon the availability of a particular component/ subsystem in addition to the usual temperatures, flow rates, etc.
The desalination code simulated the production of water from a wind energy conversion system powered reverse osmosis plant. The plant included pretreatment, battery storage, backup diesel generator, and water storage and demand simulations. This is in addition to solar thermal collectors, photo voltaics, a second desalination subsystem, heat engine, waste pond, recovery turbine, and various minor subsystems and components such as heat exchangers piping, pumps, chiller, etc. Program modifications include the TRNSYS 10.1 solar radiation processor to compliment the existing distribution functions, including Weibul, found in the code. Actual insolation data may be read in and patched directly into the solar radiation processor.
The code has the capability of two different types of solar thermal collectors, two different photovoltaic cells, and two different, or two similar, desalination stages. Solar energy calculations are made for basic units such as a row of thermal collectors connected together to provide the necessary temperature and mass flow, or photovoltaic modules connected in series and/or parallel to obtain sufficient voltage and current. The basic unit can be sized upwards by combining similar units to allow for virtual unlimited array size.
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