TDWT778216 7401..7411


New combination of solar chimney for power generation and
seawater desalination

Nayereh Niroomand, Majid Amidpour*

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Energy System Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of
Technology, Tehran, Iran
Tel. +98 2184063222; Fax: +98 2188674748; email: amidpour@kntu.ac.ir

Received 6 November 2012; Accepted 17 February 2013

A B S T R A C T

In this article, a new combination of solar chimney and Humidification–Dehumidification
desalination process is introduced. In this system, the air is humidified by injection of water
drops into the air flow. Then, the partial of vapors contained in the air is condensed on the
outer surface of the cold water tubes. Two mathematical models have been developed for a
one-dimensional flow in the solo solar chimney and the integrated system. The performance
of the integrated system including power and potable water production is estimated and the
results are discussed. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that increasing in the tempera-
ture and mass flow rate of humidifier inlet water would improve the performance of the
integrated system. It is found that the increase in water production would cause the decrease
in power output. Also, to produce more fresh water, the number of dehumidifier tubes
should be increased.

Keywords: Solar chimney; Power production; Seawater desalination; Humidifier; Dehumidifier

1. Introduction

Energy crisis and fresh water shortage are two
issues which humans confront especially in deserted
regions. Fossil fuels are the most common fuels which
are used to produce electricity and fresh water. As the
usage of fossil energies has induced negative effects
on the environment and nearly exhausted, a great
interest has been devoted to use of the renewable
energies to produce both power and fresh water.
Making use of solar energy as a clean energy, espe-
cially in a sunny region, and setting up a combined
model of solar chimney and desalination system can

be a good choice to overcome the aforementioned
problems to some extent.

Over 70% of the earth is covered by water but only
3% of all these sources are fresh water, and just less
than 1% of fresh water is accessible for human direct
use, so there is a great pressure on the fresh water
resources [1]. In recent years, human solved this
problem by desalinating of brackish water. There are
many methods for desalting salt water. In seawater
desalination systems, both fossil fuels and renewable
energies can be used [1]. Various studies have been
done on the utilization of the solar energy among the
renewable energies. Solar desalination by humidifica-
tion and dehumidification (HD) of air has been
received considerable attention lately. Several pilots of*Corresponding author.

1944-3994/1944-3986 � 2013 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

Desalination and Water Treatment
www.deswater.com

doi: 10.1080/19443994.2013.778216

51 (2013) 7401–7411

December