Effect of Temperature on Energy Consumption and Polarization in Reverse Osmosis Desalination Using a Spray-Cooled Photovoltaic System

María Magdalena Armendáriz-Ontiveros, Germán Eduardo Dévora-Isiordia (), Jorge Rodríguez-López, Reyna Guadalupe Sánchez-Duarte, Jesús Álvarez-Sánchez, Yedidia Villegas-Peralta and María del Rosario Martínez-Macias
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María Magdalena Armendáriz-Ontiveros: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico
Germán Eduardo Dévora-Isiordia: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico
Jorge Rodríguez-López: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico
Reyna Guadalupe Sánchez-Duarte: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico
Jesús Álvarez-Sánchez: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico
Yedidia Villegas-Peralta: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico
María del Rosario Martínez-Macias: Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, 5 de Febrero 818 Sur, Ciudad Obregón 85000, Sonora, Mexico

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination is considered a viable alternative to reduce water scarcity; however, its energy consumption is high. Photovoltaic (PV) energy in desalination processes has gained popularity in recent years. The temperature is identified as a variable that directly affects the behavior of different parameters of the RO process and energy production in PV panels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of temperature on energy consumption and polarization factor in desalination processes at 20, 23, 26 and 30 °C. Tests were conducted on a RO desalination plant driven by a fixed 24-module PV system that received spray cooling in the winter, spring and summer seasons. The specific energy consumption was lower with increasing process feed temperature, being 4.4, 4.3, 3.9 and 3.5 kWh m −3 for temperatures of 20, 23, 26 and 30 °C, respectively. The water temperature affected the polarization factor, being lower as the temperature increased. The values obtained were within the limits established as optimal to prevent the formation of scaling on the membrane surface. The spray cooling system was able to decrease the temperature of the solar cells by about 6.2, 13.3 and 11.5 °C for the winter, spring and summer seasons, respectively. The increase in energy production efficiency was 7.96–14.25%, demonstrating that solar cell temperature control is a viable alternative to improve power generation in solar panel systems.

Keywords: desalination; photovoltaic systems; concentration polarization; temperature (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: 2022
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