4E analyses of integration of microbial desalination cell, humidification-dehumidification and reverse osmosis desalination to produce sustainable freshwater based on solar and wind energies

Abstract

Over time, the water shortage crisis will have irreparable effects on the lives of many organisms, including humans. As a small contribution to alleviate the problem, the present work presents an innovative cogeneration system based on solar and wind renewable energies for sustainable production of freshwater, power, and wastewater treatment. To produce freshwater and treat wastewater in this system, the integration of a Microbial Desalination Cell with a Humidification-Dehumidification and Reverse Osmosis water desalination unit has been used. These systems obtain the required heat from solar energy to produce freshwater, and when solar radiation is unable to provide this heat, a hydrogen internal combustion engine driven with wind energy is used. Excess heat from the internal combustion engine is fed into the organic Rankine cycle with the working fluid R141B to generate power, to reduce the system waste heat and to increase the efficiency. To check the performance of the proposed system, energy, exergy, exergeoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental (4E) analyses have been carried out. The results of the analysis of the integrated system show that this system can produce 720 kW of electricity and 5.36 m3/h of freshwater. The energy efficiency of the system is 22.09%, and its overall cost rate and overall environmental impact rate are 540.33 $/h and 17.37 Pts/h, respectively.