Energy and exergy analyses of seawater desalination system based on absorption heat transformer driven by solar energy
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Abstract
The absorption heat transformer (AHT) can raise the temperature of low-temperature thermal energy. In this study, a seawater desalination system was developed based on the AHT driven by solar energy, where AHT was used to raise the temperature of the solar collector heat source to heat and evaporate the seawater and then condense the steam to obtain fresh water while preheating the seawater. Through energy and exergy analyses of each component in the system, changes in system performance with time were obtained. Comparisons were conducted between the effects of condenser preheating or its absence on system performance. The results show that the seawater preheated by the condenser can increase the average thermal efficiency of the system by 12.9%, the average efficiency by 16.2%, and the average freshwater production by 29.2%.
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