ANALYSIS OF A PHOTOVOLTAIC POWERED REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER DESALINATION SYSTEM.

Water desalination using the reverse osmosis (RO) technique has the advantage of proportionality between the salt content and the energy demand of the process. Thus the RO technique is attractive for desalination of brackish water. The basic principles as well as the energy requirements of the RO system are discussed. A simplified approach to optimize the system parameters, so that the energy consumption per m**3 of desalinated water be a minimum, is given. Because of the high cost of PV energy, a recovery unit is recommended, and it is shown that considerable energy can be economized using that unit. A proposed design for the recovery unit is discussed. The characteristics of a PV powered RO system are studied for tropical climate conditions where many consecutive cloudy days are unlikely to occur (the climatic conditions of Egypt have been considered). The system is assumed to work during daytime hours only to minimize the required battery storage size. Such a concept has proven to be the most economical solution for the system in tropical areas.