Exergo-Economic Evaluation of the Cost for Solar Thermal Depuration of Water

Nicola Dainelli, Giampaolo Manfrida, Karolina Petela and Federico Rossi
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Nicola Dainelli: School of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli studi di Firenze, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Giampaolo Manfrida: School of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli studi di Firenze, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Karolina Petela: Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Thermal Technology, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice 44-100, Poland
Federico Rossi: School of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli studi di Firenze, 50121 Firenze, Italy

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: A detailed assessment of the cumulative cost of clean water production by a natural circulation solar thermal system is presented. The system is designed and sized for sufficient residence time for pasteurisation, in a buoyancy-driven self-compensating circuit. Since it does not consume electricity, it is suitable for developing countries or emergency locations with safe drinking water issues. The principles for design and off-design simulations are explained and discussed. The simulations were performed for seven different locations, representing variable climate conditions in selected regions where there is an evident need for safe water. The results include an exergy and exergo-economic analysis. The production capacity reaches typically from 0.04 to 0.1 m 3 /day per m 2 of solar collector depending on the location. The annual cost of water production ranges between 2.2 and 6.8 €/m 3 making the proposed system fairly competitive; the energy- and price-performance of the system is compared to a reverse osmosis/photovoltaic system, representing a high-tech alternative for the purpose of water purification.

Keywords: pasteurisation; purified water; solar thermal; buoyancy; exergo-economic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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