Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Investigation on solar humidification dehumidification water desalination

system using a closed-air cycle
A.S.A. Mohamed a, b, *, Abanob G. Shahdy c, M. Salem Ahmed a
a
Mechanical Department, Faculty of Technology and Education, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt
b
High Institute for Engineering and Technology, Sohag, Egypt
c
Industrial Secondary School, Sohag, Egypt

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Recently, many regions of the world have become in an urgent need of desalination systems. Humidification-
Water desalination dehumidification desalination plants are considered the most suitable choices for many countries. Many of the
Humidification-dehumidification previous studies have worked on the study of humidification-dehumidification desalination systems based on the
Experimental evaluation
open-air cycle. The current research presents a theoretical and experimental study of a solar humidification-
Modeling
Solar energy
dehumidification water desalination system based on a closed-air cycle. The impact of air flow-rate, water to
Productivity air mass ratio, and cooling water flow-rate on gain output ratio and water productivity has been investigated.
The results show that the productivity is enhanced with increasing air flow-rate, while the gain output ratio
decreases. The gain output ratio and productivity improve with raising the water temperature. The average value
of gain output ratio is 0.71, 0.74, 0.78, and 0.81, and the productivity reaches 1.46 kg/h, 2.59 kg/h, 4.40 kg/h,
and 6.99 kg/h at water temperatures of 40 ◦ C, 50 ◦ C, 60 ◦ C, and 70 ◦ C, respectively. The maximum gain output
ratio of 0.86 is recorded at water to air mass flow-rate ratio of 5. Increasing the cooling water flow-rate has a
positive effect on both productivity and gain output ratio. Moreover, the results indicate that the fresh water cost
is 0.012 $/L. Finally, a good agreement is noted between the theoretical and experimental results.

Evaporation-based desalination methods can be divided into two

1. Introduction
In addition to the traditional sources such as the Nile River and the
underground water, Egypt needs to find new sources of fresh water to
provide the increasing demand on the fresh water for drinking, agri­
culture, industry, and desert reclamation. The Nile River and the un­
derground water are not considered a suitable solution for providing
water to the Egyptian desert. This is because the Nile River needs
pipelines or channels and dams that must be implemented with high
capacity and accuracy. Meanwhile, the underground water that is ex­
pected to be enormous, needs to examine its sustainability capacity and
its suitability for different applications [1].
The essential geographical location of Egypt (as it overlooks distinct
water borders including: the Mediterranean and the Red Sea) is one of
the most important reasons that researchers think about desalination of
salt water (seawater) as a solution to obtain fresh water. Desalination is
the process of reducing the percentage of salts dissolved in seawater to
produce usable water. In general, seawater is desalinated by either
evaporating water or separating fresh water using a membrane.
types: methods suitable for large capacities such as multi-effect distil­
lation (MED) and multi-stage flash (MSF) and others for small capacities
such as humidification and dehumidification (HDH) [2]. Solar energy
can provide the energy needs of these systems for the evaporation
process.
Solar energy represented by parabolic trough collectors was used as
an energy source in MED and MSF system by Alsehli et al. [3,4]. The
MED system consists of 4 stages [3], while the MSF system includes 20
stages [4]. Both these systems used two tanks, where one tank is used for
solar charging while the other is used for feeding the system. The results
show that the maximum productivity of the MED system can reach to
2200 m3/day, while in MSF can reach to 2230 m3/day. The results also
show that the MED system and MSF system give average daily perfor­
mance ratio and average specific thermal energy consumption about 2,
6.8, and 1140, 363 kJ/ kg, respectively.
Garg et al. [5] made a comparison between using the nanofluid-
based direct absorption collector and parabolic trough collector in
MSF system. This comparison aimed to evaluate the thermal perfor­
mance of nanofluid-based direct absorption collector on MSF system.

* Corresponding author at: Mechanical Department, Faculty of Technology and Education, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt.
E-mail address: ahmedquse2000@yahoo.com (A.S.A. Mohamed).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.116621
Received 15 October 2020; Received in revised form 18 December 2020; Accepted 18 January 2021
Available online 5 February 2021
1359-4311/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

Nomenclature Greek symbols

δ Tube wall thickness, m
a Instrument accuracy η Efficiency
A Air- water exchange area, m2/m3 μ Dynamic viscosity, Ns/m2
Cp Specific heat, J/kg K ρ Water density, kg/m3
Dh1 Hydraulic diameter of air flow, m ω Absolute humidity of air, kg vapor/kg dry air
Dh2 Hydraulic diameter of water flow, m
g Gravitational acceleration, m/s2 Subscripts
G Gas mass velocity, kg/m2 s A Air
h Heat transfer coefficient at air water interface, W/m2 K Amb Ambient
hc Heat transfer coefficient of condensate film, W/m2 K Atm Atmosphere
he Heat transfer coefficient at water condenser inside wall C Condenser
interface, W/m2 K cw Cooling water
hfg Evaporation latent heat, J/kg dh Dehumidifier
H Enthalpy, kJ/kg Fw Fresh-water
k Thermal conductivity, W/m K H Humidifier
K Mass transfer cofficient at air water interface, kg/m2 s in Inlet
L Liquid mass velocity, kg/m2 s o Outlet
ṁ Mass flow-rate, kg/s P Packing
N Number of rows of horizontal tubes in the condenser, sat Saturation condition
dimensionless S Solar collector
P Pressure, pa w Water
Pt longitudinal pitch, m W Wall
Pl Transverse pitch, m Abbreviations
Pr Prandtl number GOR Gain output ratio
Q̇ Heat transfer rate, Kw HDH Humidification-dehumidification
Re Reynolds number MED Multi effect distillation
T Temperature, K MR Mass flow-rate ratio
Ti Temperature at air water interface, K MSF Multi stage flash
u Standard uncertainty PTSC Parabolic trough solar collector
U Condenser overall heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K
V Volume, m3

The results showed that the gain output ratio (GOR) of MSF system with
nanofluid-based direct absorption collector was higher by 11% than that
with parabolic trough collector.
Also, an evacuated tube solar collector was used to power the hybrid
system by Ghenai et al. [6]. This hybrid system consisted of integrating
the adsorption desalination technique with MED system. In this study,
they studied the effect of hybrid system compared with the conventional
MED system on the performance indices of the desalination process such
as; the mount of freshwater produced, energy consumption, and per­
formance ratio. The results show that the hybrid system is superior to the
conventional MED system in all performance indices; the productivity
and the performance ratio of the hybrid system are higher by 2.68 and
2.37 times, respectively than the conventional MED system. The energy
consumption in the conventional MED is higher by 57.78% than that in
the hybrid system.
HDH technique is appropriate for small scale desalination systems,
where it has many advantages that made it the subject of study in many
researches in the last period, such as the simplicity of construction,
energy use at low temperature, and low cost of construction and main­
tenance. HDH water desalination processes operate with atmospheric
pressure; so it consumes little of mechanical energy only for air and
water circulation [7,8].
Solar energy presented in different types of solar collectors is used for
heating water or air or both in HDH systems. For example, the water
heating using the solar collector (evacuated tube) is applied in two
different studies of HDH systems [9,10]. These systems were carried out
using open and closed cycles for water and air, respectively. Cellulous
papers were used in humidifier tower for increasing the direct contact
area between the air and the water. A special design of condenser was
used to make a heat exchange between liquid and gas in the
dehumidifier chamber. The results revealed that the fresh water pro­
ductivity is 23.6 L/h and 5.5 L/h for the first and second system,
respectively.
Al-Suliman et al. [11] used the solar energy represented by a para­
bolic trough solar collector (PTSC) to heat the air in their HDH study. In
this study, two air heating configurations based on the location of the air
heater were examined. In the first configuration, the air heater is
installed before the humidifier chamber, while it is installed before the
dehumidifier chamber in the second configuration. The results show
that the GOR in the second configuration is greater than that in the first
configuration by 3.2.
Two types of solar collectors are used by Nafey et al. [1,12] as a
heating source for air and water in their experimental investigations of
HDH system. First, a parabolic solar collector (concentrating collector) is
used as a reflector frame for heating the seawater. Second, a solar col­
lector (flat plate) covered by one layer of glass is used to heat the air.
They found that the freshwater productivity of the system is greatly
affected by the temperature of the hot water entering the humidifier, the
cooling water flow-rate in the dehumidifier, the air flow-rate, and the
solar irradiation. Moreover, the ambient temperature and wind speed
had a weak effect on the fresh water productivity. They also developed
the mathematical correlation to predict fresh water production with
different operating conditions. The mathematical correlation showed
acceptable results with an error ± 6%. They also found that the area of
solar water collector had a clear impact on the productivity of fresh
water compared to the area of the solar air collector.
The solar energy can be used for assisting some other energy sources
in HDH systems which called hybrid energy as used by Xu et al. [13].
They used solar energy for assisting heat pump cycle in their experi­
mental HDH system. The hybrid unit consists of heat pump cycle, in

2
A.S.A. Mohamed et al.
addition to humidifier chamber, fan and storage tank. The heat pump
cycle works with 134a as a working fluid, and a honeycomb packing
material is placed inside the humidifier. They found that the maximum
GOR of the system is 1.24, and the highest water productivity is 12.38
kg/kWh. The cost of productivity is 29.8 $/ton, assuming that 20 years is
the lifetime.
Furthermore, numerical investigations have been conducted to
evaluate the performance of the HDH system which powered by heat
pump [14]. They developed a mathematical model that relied on heat
and mass balance equations for each main component of this system.
The results indicate that the system gives an average value of each GOR
and the cost of fresh water produced around 2.532 and 0.0412 $/L,
respectively. In the same trend, Zhang et al. [15] developed a mathe­
matical model to simulate the performance of the hybrid system. This
hybrid system consisted of integrating the HDH system with heat pump
unit, which powered by electricity. The results show that the hybrid
system at optimum conditions gives maximum GOR and productivity
about 2.574 and 29.19 L/h and the minimum cost of fresh water pro­
duced is 0.03846 $/L.
In the previous studies [14,15], the heat pump unit works on
providing the necessary heating source to heat the water before spraying
it in the humidifier chamber, in addition to providing it with the
necessary cooling source to condense the hot humid air in the dehu­
midifier chamber. Also, two dehumidifiers were used to maximize the
condensation process to condense the hot moist air exiting the humid­
ifier chamber.
Many researchers have studied the HDH system theoretically and
some mathematical models are developed. For example, Yamali and
Solums [16] studied theoretically the performance of HDH system under
different operation conditions such as the use of different types of air
heaters. They developed a mathematical model that simulates the per­
formance of HDH system operating based on an open-air cycle. The
results show that the productivity of HDH system increases up to 8% by
using a double-pass flat plate solar air heater compared to single-pass
flat plate solar air heater, and decreases about 30% without double-
pass flat plate solar air heater under the same operating conditions.
In the same direction, Mohamed et al. [17] theoretically studied the
performance of HDH system that was operated based on an open-air
cycle. This system was powered by solar energy represented in heating
the water before entering the humidifier chamber using solar collector
(evacuated tube). They developed a mathematical model consisting of
the energy equations of each component to simulate the experimental
work. They found that the average fresh water productivity is about 2.45
L/h and the cost of producing one liter is about 0.047 US$. The results
showed a good agreement between the experimental results and theo­
retical values.
Open-air cycle is one of the most HDH cycles configurations that
previous research has focused heavily on it. In the open-air cycle, after
humidifying the air in the humidifier chamber, the hot and humid air
enters the dehumidifier chamber to be condensed and then expelled
outside the system. The air leaving the dehumidifier chamber is loaded
with some water vapor that the condenser could not condense in addi­
tion to its overheating.
In the open-air cycle, the air inlet to the humidifier chamber
(ambient air) has a lower temperature and humidity than that in the air
exiting the dehumidifier chamber, which causes cooling of the hot water
inside the humidifier chamber leading to increasing in the energy spent
in reheating the water and reducing the air’s ability to saturate with a
greater amount of water vapor. All these defects were avoided in the
current work (closed-air cycle).
The current work presents the experimental results of study for HDH
water desalination system using a closed-air cycle powered by solar
energy under operating conditions of Sohag, Egypt. These results show
the effect of the closed-air cycle on the performance indices of HDH
system such as productivity, GOR, and energy consumption. In this
study, a mathematical model of the system is developed including the
3
Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621
Dehumidifier Humidifier
Data logger
Rotameter
Temperature
controller
Fresh water
Hot water storage tank
Mass balance
Fig. 1. Photograph of experimental setup.
governing equations of heat and mass transfer in each component of the
system. Finally, the study presents an economic evaluation of water
production.
This paper is arranged as follows; Sections 2 and 3 present the
experimental setup and a comprehensive description of each component
of the system. In addition, the system performance indices are explained
in Section 4. Section 5 deals with the developed mathematical model
and a description of the heat and mass transfer equations for each
component of the system in the subsections of this section. Section 6
presents the experimental results and discussion, which are divided into
five sub-parts; the first three sections present the effect of air flow rate,
mass flow rate ratio (MR), and cooling water flow rate on the perfor­
mance indices. The fourth and fifth subsections show the validation of
the mathematical model and the economic evaluation of the system,
respectively.
2. Experimental-setup
2.1. System description
The current work presents an experimental evaluation for HDH
water desalination system using a closed cycle for air streams. The
system operates according to three cycles, air cycle, hot seawater cycle,
and cold water cycle. Figs. 1 and 2 showed a photograph and a schematic
diagram for the experimental-setup, respectively. HDH desalination
system consists of humidifier chamber, dehumidifier chamber, solar
water-collector, water pump, air fan, and auxiliary heater.
The air cycle begins as the air enters the humidifier from below to
exchange heat and moisture with hot seawater sprayed from the top.
Then, the hot and humid air comes out from the humidifier and goes to
the dehumidifier to be cooled in order to obtain the fresh water. Finally,
the dehumidified air returns to the humidifier to complete the cycle and
start a new cycle. For hot seawater cycle, seawater is heated by an
evacuated tube solar water-collector, then stored in an insulated tank
(40 cm × 50 cm × 90 cm), which include an auxiliary electric heater to
maintain a constant operating seawater temperature. Then, the hot
water is withdrawn from the tank by a pump (0.5 hp) to be sprayed over
the packing material in the humidifier. The brine water collected below
the humidifier chamber is returned back to the solar water-collector to
be reheated and used in a new cycle, as shown in Fig. 2. In cold water
cycle, the cooling water is passed in a condenser to make its surface
temperature less than the dew point temperature of hot and humid air,
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

Hot and humid air

Dehumidifier Humidifier
Solar

Water sprayers
Outlet cooling water

Condenser
Packing Rotameter
material
Inlet cooling water Hand valve

Outlet air Hot water storage

Inlet air tank

Auxiliary
heater
Fresh water
Brine
Metal stand Air blower Hot water pump Metal stand

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of experimental setup.

with the aim of starting the condensation process on the surface of the
condenser and thus collecting the fresh water at the bottom, as shown in Table 1
Standard uncertainty of the measurement devices.
Fig. 2.
The humidifier chamber is made from galvanized steel (thickness = Device Accuracy Amplitude Uncertainty
0.8 mm). Its height, length, and width are 120 cm, 40 cm, and 50 cm, Temperature (type-K) ±0.5 ◦ C 0–200 ◦ C 0.29 ◦ C
respectively. In the humidifier, cellulose paper with specific area of 300 Anemometer ±3% 0.4–30 m/s 1.73%
m2/m3 is used as an area of heat and mass transfer. To decrease the Rotameter ±4% 0.5–2 m3/h 2.31%
Solarimeter ±1 W/m2 0–5000 W/m2 0.58 W/m2
energy loss, the humidifier is insulated by 3 cm glass-wool layer (k = Mass balance 0.1 g 0–4000 g 0.05 g
0.036 W/m K). The dehumidifier is 100 cm high, 32 cm long, 32 cm
wide, and 1 mm thick. Finned tube heat exchanger is placed inside the
dehumidifier to be a medium for the exchange of heat and mass between 2.3. Experimental uncertainty analysis
the cooling water and the hot and humid air. The source of heating
energy for HDH water desalination system is represented by the solar The accuracy of the results in the experiments is extremely impor­
water-collector (evacuated tube). tant. Therefore, an uncertainty analysis of the experimental results and
the devices used in the experiments has been performed. The random
2.2. Measured data and systematic errors are the important factors, which affect the accu­
racy of measurement and thus the experimental results. The random
To investigate the performance of HDH desalination unit, several error varies depending on the skills and capabilities of the experimental
parameters are measured through the implementation of the experi­ work, while the systematic error depends on the limitation and the ac­
ments. The parameters include temperature of air before and after the curacy of the measurement devices. In this study, all the data collected
humidifier and dehumidifier chambers, and the temperature of water within the experimental work are taken from digital devices with known
before and after the humidifier and dehumidifier chambers. The mass accuracy. Subsequently, standard uncertainty is expressed and given in
flow-rates of air and hot seawater before the humidifier, and mass flow- Eq. (1) [18,19]. Finally, the standard uncertainty of the measurement
rate of cooling water before dehumidifier also have been recorded. Be­ devices is illustrated in Table 1.
sides, the solar intensity and freshwater produced have been recorded. a
The air/water temperature in HDH desalination system is measured u = √̅̅̅ (1)
3
by thermocouples (type-K) connected to a data logger unit (±0.5 ◦ C). To
determine the air flow-rate, the air-velocity is recorded using wireless Where u is standard uncertainty, a is accuracy of the instrument.
anemometer (0.4–30 m/s and accuracy of ± 3%). Two-rotameters The indirect uncertainty was calculated by Eq. (2) [20]. Applying the
(0.5–2 m3/h and accuracy of ± 4%) are used to measure the water Eq. (2) to different parameters including the system productivity and
flow-rates. The first one is used to measure the mass flow-rate of GOR, the propagation of the uncertainty is determined. The higher
seawater inlet to humidifier, and another used to record the mass flow- values of uncertainty are ± 3.55% for GOR and ± 0.52% for the system
rate of cooling-water inlet to dehumidifier. In addition, the solar in­ productivity.
tensity is measured by solarimeter with accuracy of ± 1 W/m2. Finally, {( )2 ( )2 ( )2 }0.5
the freshwater produced is measured by collecting during the experi­ ∂R ∂R ∂R
δR = δ1 + δ2 + ⋯ + δn (2)
ment time and then weighing the fresh water using a mass balance with ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂xn
accuracy of 0.1 g.
Where δR is the uncertainty of the measured variable (R).

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A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

Water-out Air-in Water-in Air-out ergy (Evacuated tube water-collector). Solar collector is single stream
heat exchanger. The governing equations of single stream solar collector
are reduced to Eq. (7).
( )
Q̇S = ṁw,in,h Cpw Tw,in,h − Tw,o,h (7)

Where Q̇S is the solar energy inlet to HDH desalination system; Cpw is
the specific heat of water; and Tw,in,h , Tw,o,h is temperature of water inlet
Dehumidifier Humidifier to and outlet from humidifier, respectively.
Property data for water and air have been obtained from the litera­
ture. The seawater and humid air properties are obtained by Sharqawy
[21] and Hyland [22], respectively. Engineering Equation Solver (EES)
is used to deal with the governing equations of heat and mass transfer
process.

Water-in Ai
Air-out Water-out Air-in
Fig. 3. Humidifier and dehumidifier control volumes.
3. Heat and mass balance for main components
Heat and mass balance has been applied for the main system com­
ponents such as humidifier, dehumidifier, and solar water-collector.
Assumptions for the components balance include; HDH desalination
system operates with steady state conditions; energy loss of HDH system
is negligible; the pressure drop within HDH system is neglected; and the
power of fan and pump is neglected compared with the solar heat
required to HDH system. The heat and mass balance equations for the
main components can be displayed as follows.
4. Performance indices
HDH system performance has been demonstrated by some important
parameters such as; productivity, gain output ratio (GOR), mass flow-
rate ratio (MR), humidifier efficiency (ηh ) and dehumidifier efficiency
(ηdh ). Therefore, each parameter has been defined to study, analyze, and
evaluate HDH desalination system performance.
a. Productivity
The freshwater productivity is defined as water vapor content
removed from air stream by the condenser in the dehumidifier chamber
and can be calculated using Eq. (5).
b. Gain output ratio (GOR)

3.1. Heat and mass balance for humidifier GOR is the ratio between evaporation latent heat of freshwater
produced and total energy required to operate the system, and given by
During the humidification process, heat and mass are exchanged Eq. (8) [17].
between hot water and air. Inlet and outlet flow directions for the air and
ṁFw × hfg
water at humidifier and dehumidifier chambers are illustrated in Fig. 3. GOR = (8)
Q̇S
Mass and energy balance Eq. (3) and Eq. (4) are obtained by applying the
laws of the thermodynamics. Wherehfg is latent heat of water vaporization.
ṁw,o,h = ṁw,in,h − ṁFw (3)
c. Mass flow-rate ratio (MR)
( )
ṁa Ha,o,h − Ha,in,h = ṁw,in,h Hw,in,h − ṁw,o,h Hw,o,h (4)
MR is the mass flow-rate ratio between seawater and air before the
Where ṁw,o,h is mass flow-rate of water outlet from humidifier; ṁw,in,h humidifier, as given by Eq. (9) [23].
is mass flow-rate of water inlet to humidifier; ṁFw is mass flow-rate of
ṁw,in,h
freshwater produced; ṁa is mass flow-rate of air; Ha,in,h , Ha,o,h is enthalpy MR = (9)
ṁa
of air before and after humidifier; andHw,in,h ,Hw,o,h is enthalpy of water
before and after humidifier, respectively.
d. Humidifier efficiency (ηh )
3.2. Heat and mass balance for dehumidifier
The humidifier efficiency is the ratio of actual changes in enthalpy/
The process of heat and mass exchange takes place simultaneously humidity ratio of the air to maximum change in enthalpy/humidity ratio
inside the dehumidifier, which is similar to that inside the humidifier. of the air at the saturated temperature of outlet air, as given by Eq. (10)
Mass and energy balances for the dehumidifier are given by Eqs. (5) and [24–26].
(6). { ( ) } { }
Ha,o,h − Ha,in,h (ω − ωa,in,h )
( ) ηh = ( ) or ( a,o,h ) (10)
ṁFw = ṁa ωa,in,dh − ωa,o,dh (5) Ha,o,h,sat − Ha,in,h ωa,o,h,sat − ωa,in,h
( ) ( )
ṁa Ha,in,dh − Ha,o,dh = ṁcw Hcw,o,c − Hcw,in,c + ṁFw HFw (6) WhereHa,o,h,sat is enthalpy of air outlet from humidifier at saturated
air; ωa,in,h , ωa,o,h is humidity ratio of air before and after humidifier; and
Where ωa,in,dh , ωa,o,dh , Ha,in,dh , Ha,o,dh are moisture content and enthalpy ωa,o,h,sat is the moisture content of air outlet from humidifier when the air
of air before and after dehumidifier, respectively; ṁcw is flow-rate of is fully saturated.
cooling-water; Hcw,in,c , Hcw,o,c is enthalpy of cooling-water inlet to and
outlet from condenser; andHFw is enthalpy of freshwater. e. Dehumidifier efficiency (ηdh )

3.3. Energy balance for solar water-collector The efficiency of dehumidifier is the ratio between the real heat
transfer rate and the maximum heat transfer rate taking place during the
The current HDH water desalination system is powerd by solar en­ dehumidification process, or the ratio of actual change in the moisture

5
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

Fig. 4. Air and water flow direction for humidifier and dehumidifier with height dx.

content of the air across dehumidifier to maximum possible change of ratio of the air leads to a decrease in the flow-rate of hot water, as shown
the moisture content in the air, which can be deduced from Eq. (11) in Eqs. (12), (13).
[26,27]:
dωa,h dLw
{ ( ) } { } Ga,h = (12)
Ha,in,dh − Ha,o,dh (ω − ωa,o,dh ) dx dx
ηdh = ( ) or ( a,in,dh ) (11)
Ha,in,dh − Ha,o,dh,sat ωa,in,dh − ωa,o,dh,sat dωa,h ( )
Ga,h = ka,h Ah ωsat,h − ωa,in,h (13)
Where Ha,o,dh,sat is the enthalpy of air outlet from dehumidifier when dx
air is fully saturated; and ωa,o,dh,sat is specific humidity of air outlet from Eq. (13) can be rewritten as:
dehumidifier when the air is fully saturated.
dωa,h Ka,h Ah (ωsat,h − ωa,in,h )
= (14)
dx Ga,h
5. Mathematical model
Where Ga,h is the air mass velocity (kg/m2s), Lw is the water mass
The mathematical simulation represents the behavior of HDH water velocity (kg/m2 s),Ka,h is water interface mass transfer coefficient (kg/
desalination system using the governing equations of heat and mass m2s), Ah is the air water exchange area (m2/m3),ωsat,h is saturation hu­
transfer in each component of the system. The mathematical description midity of air water interface (kgvapor/kgdry air) and ωa,in,h is the air hu­
of the main components of HDH water desalination system is shown midity ratio before the humidifier (kgvapor/kgdry air).
below. Water phase heat balance; the heat energy that water losses is equal
to the energy that is transferred to air water interface, as shown in Eq.
5.1. The humidifier (15).
( )
Air blower forces the air through the packing material below the Lw Cpw dTw = hw Ah Tw,in,h − Ti,h dx (15)
humidifier and hot seawater sprinkles on the packing material from the Eq. (15) can be rewritten as:
top. As a result, the heat and mass exchange occurs between the air and ( )
hot seawater. The mathematical model can be expressed by applying dTw hw Ah Tw,in,h − Ti,h
= (16)
heat and mass balances on control volume with height Δx, as shown in dx Lw Cpw
Fig. 4.
Where hw is the heat transfer coefficient of water at air water inter­
Some assumptions are taken into consideration:
face (W/m2K), Ti,h is the temperature at air water interface (K).
Air phase heat balance; heat received by water air interface is equal
1. Humidification process is operated under steady state conditions.
to heat transmitted toward the air flow, as shown in Eq. (17).
2. Hot water falling from the top is distributed regularly over the ( )
packing and hence, there is only a vertical gradient of temperature Ga,h Cpa,h dTa,h = ha,h Ah Ti,h − Ta,in,h dx (17)
and humidity.
Eq. (17) can be reformulated as:
3. A very thin layer of saturated air exists between the water and the air
( )
streams. dTa,h ha,h Ah Ti,h − Ta,in,h
4. The effect of the increasing brine salinity is ignored. = (18)
dx Ga,h Cpa,h

Pursuant to the principle of mass balance, increasing the humidity Where Cpa,h is specific heat of humid air (J/kgK), ha,h is heat transfer

6
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

coefficient of air at the water air interface (W/m2K). specific heat (J/kgK).
Air phase heat balance; the heat carried by the air is equal to sensible
dqw = dqa,sensible + dqa,latent (19)
heat transmitted toward air water interface plus latent heat resulting
( ) ( ) ( ) from water vapor condensation transmitted to air water interface.
Lw Ah Tw,in,h − Ti,h = ha,h Ah Ti,h − Ta,in,h + Ka,h Ah hfg ωsat,h − ωa,in,h (20) ( ) ( )
Ga,dh Cpa,dh dTa,dh = ha,dh Adh Ta,in,dh − Ti,dh dx + hfg ka,dh Adh ωa,in,dh − ωsat,dh dx
Eq. (20) can be reformulated as:
(29)
( ) ( )
ωsat,h =
Lw Ah Tw,in,h − Ti,h + ha,h Ah Ta,in,h − Ti,h
+ ωa,in,h (21) Eq. (29) writes in another way:
Ka,h Ah hfg [ ( ) ( )]
dTa,dh ha,dh Ta,in,dh − Ti,dh + hfg Ka,dh ωa,in,dh − ωsat,dh
The saturation humidity ratio of the air (ωsat,h ) also can be calculated = Adh (30)
dx Ga,dh Cpa,dh
by the terms of the saturation pressure of water vapor (Psat,h ), as shown in
Eq. (22). Where ha,dh is air film heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K), Ta,in,dh is
Psat,h temperature of hot humid air inlet to dehumidifier (K), Ka,dh is mass
ωsat,i,h = 0.62198 (22) transfer coefficient at the interface (kg/m2 s), Cpa,dh is the air specific
Patm − Psat,h
heat inside the dehumidifier (J/kg K).
The saturation pressure of water vapor in the humidifier (Psat,h ) Heat balance at vapor condensation interface; the cooling sensible
corresponding to a certain temperature can be calculated from [28]. heat of moist air received by vapor condensation interface plus latent
[
− 6096.938 heat liberated through condensation process at vapor condensate
Psat,h = Exp
Ti,h
+ 21.240964 − 2.71119 × 10− 2 Ti,h + 1.67395 interface is equal to the heat transmitted from vapor condensate inter­
] face to cooling water, expressed by Eq. (31).
( )
× 10− 5 T2i,h + 2.4335ln Ti,h (23) ( ) ( )
ha,dh Adh Ta,in,dh − Ti,dh dx + hfg Ka,dh Adh ωa,in,dh − ωsat,dh dx
( )
The mass transfer coefficient (Ka,h ) and heat transfer coefficient for = UAdh Ti,dh − Tcw,in,c dx (31)
air and water inside humidifier (ha,h , hw ) can be obtained from the Eq. (31) is written in another way:
following relationships which gives as a function of air mass velocity ( ) ( )
(Ga,h ), and water mass velocity (Lw ) [29]. ha,dh Ta,in,dh − Ti,dh + U Tcw,in,c − Ti,dh
ωsat,dh = + ωa,in,dh (32)
hfg Ka,dh
5900G0.5894 L0.169
(24)
a,h w
hw =
Ah The air saturation condition inside the dehumidifier (ωsat,dh ) can be
calculated using the equations that used in the humidifier, Eqs. (22),
2.09G0.11515 L0.45 (23).
(25)
a,h w
Ka,h =
Ah Mass balance at air condensate interface; the amount of water vapor
that is condensed can be expressed by Eq. (33).
ha,h = ka,h Cpa,h (26) ( )
Ka,dh Adh ωa,in,dh − ωsat,dh dx = Ga,dh dωa,dh (33)

Eq. (33) can be rewritten as:

5.2. The dehumidifier ( )
dωa,dh Ka,dh Adh ωa,in,dh − ωsat,dh
= (34)
In the dehumidifier, indirect contact occurs between the hot humid dx Ga,dh
air and the cooling water passing through condenser tubes. During The overall heat transfer coefficient (U) is computed from Eq. (35):
dehumidification process, the air is cooled and dehumidified. The
mathematical model can be formulated by applying the mass and heat U=
1
(35)
1
balances according to Fig. 4. ha,dh
+ h1c + kδW + h1e
Some assumptions are taken into consideration:
Air film heat transfer coefficient (ha,dh ) is calculated by Eq. (36)
[30,31].
1. Dehumidification process is operated under steady state conditions.
( )0.2
2. Corrugated condenser fins are simplified as flat fins. ka,dh Pt
3. Heat transfer between the medium and wall surface occurs only in ha,dh = 0.35 Re0.6 pr0.36 (36)
Dh1 Pl
radial direction.
4. Fouling resistance for inner and outer tube surfaces is neglected. The mass transfer coefficient (Ka,dh ) is determined using Lewis rela­
5. The fresh water is salts free. tion by Eq. (37) [28];
ha,dh
Water phase heat balance; the heat energy transferred from the air Ka,dh = (37)
Cpa,dh
water interface to the water-passing inside the condenser is equal to
energy transferred by the water, as shown in Eq. (27). The heat transfer coefficient of the condensate film (hc ) can be
( ) calculated by Nusselt relation in Eq. (38) [32];
UAdh Ti,dh − Tcw,in,c dx = Lcw Cpcw dTcw (27) [ ]0.25
ρ2Fw ghfg k3Fw
Eq. (27) can be rewritten as: hc = 0.729 ( ) (38)
( ) μFw NDh2 Ti,dh − TW
dTcw UAdh Ti,dh − Tcw,in,c
= (28) The heat transfer coefficient at interface of water condenser inside
dx Lcw Cpcw
wall (he ) is given by Eq. (39) [28]:
Where U is condenser overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K), Adh
is air water heat exchange area (m2/m3), Ti,dh is temperature at air water he =
kcw
0.032Re0.8 pr0.33 (39)
interface (K), Tcw,in,c is temperature of cooling water inlet to condenser Dh2
(K), Lcw is cooling water mass velocity (kg/m2s), Cpcw is cooling water

7
A.S.A. Mohamed et al.
Start
Read input data
Calculate: ( )
Solve the energy and mass balance equations
Calculate: (
Calculate: ( )
End
Fig. 5. Flow chart of the theoretical modeling.
The initial and boundary conditions are applied as follows:
Initial conditions:
Tw (x, t = 0) = Tamb , Ta,h (x, t = 0) = Tamb , ωh (x, t = 0) = ωamb
Tcw (x, t = 0) = Tamb , Ta,dh (x, t = 0) = Tamb 0, ωdh (x, t = 0) = ωamb
Boundary conditions:
Tw (x = Hh , t) = Tw,in,h (t), Ta,h (x = 0, t) = Ta,in,h (t), ωa,h (x = 0, t) = ωa,in,h (t)
Tcw (x = 0, t) = Tcw,in,c (t), Ta,dh (x = Hdh , t) = Ta,in,dh (t), ωa,dh (x = Hdh , t)
= ωa,in,dh (t)
5.3. Solution strategy of the mathematical model
The aforementioned mathematical model is designed to simulate and
validate the experimental results. The mathematical model begins by
using the inlet parameters, the physical properties, and the flow rates of
air, hot and cold water, in addition to the geometrical parameters of the
heat and mass transfer area in the humidifier and dehumidifier as pa­
rameters of known values. Through the previous step, and by applying
the heat and mass balance equations in the main components of the
system (Eqs. (14), (16), (18), (28), (30), and (34)(, the exit parameters
for each of the air, hot and cold water are calculated. Taking into ac­
count that the characteristics of the air leaving the humidifier are the
same as those of the air entering the dehumidifier and vice versa, where
the air passes in a closed cycle from the humidifier to the dehumidifier,
and vice versa. Engineering Equation Solver (EES) is used to solve the
equations to obtain the required values after humidifier and dehumid­
ifier chambers. Thus, it is possible to evaluate the performance indices of
HDH water desalination system such as productivity (ṁFw ), gain output
ratio (GOR) and thermal energy consumed (Q̇S ), as shown in Fig. 5.
6. Results and discussion
Several experiments have been conducted for HDH water desalina­
tion system using a closed-air cycle. Effect of different factors such as; air
flow-rate, MR, and cooling water flow-rate on the performance indices
has been studied. The performance indices include productivity, GOR,
and the efficiency of the humidifier and dehumidifier. The desalinated
water has been economically evaluated. Finally, the experimental re­
sults have been used to verify the theoretical values.
Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621
= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min
= 28
28°C
C
)
Fig. 6. Influence of mass flow-rate of air on the productivity.
= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min
= 28°C
Fig. 7. Influence of air flow-rate on GOR.
6.1. Effect of air flow-rate on the performance indices
Fig. 6 shows the effect of the air flow-rate on productivity at hu­
midifier water temperatures from 40 to 70 ◦ C. The productivity in­
creases with increasing the air flow-rate at all water temperatures.
Increasing the air flow-rate during humidification process increases the
rate of vaporization from hot seawater per unit time and thus increases
the fresh water condensation during the dehumidification process.
Increasing the water temperature increases significantly the productiv­
ity with an average value of 1.46 kg/h, 2.59 kg/h, 4.40 kg/h, and 6.99
kg/h at water temperatures of 40, 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C, respectively.
Increasing water temperature in humidifier makes air carry more water
vapor, thus increases the fresh water productivity in the dehumidifier.
Fig. 7 shows GOR variation with air flow-rate at water temperatures
from 40 to 70 ◦ C. GOR of HDH desalination system decreases with
increasing air flow-rate at all temperatures. Increasing mass flow-rate of
air decreases hot water temperature during humidification process.
Thus, water temperature difference before and after the humidifier in­
creases. Meanwhile, increasing energy input to HDH water desalination
system is required to reheat water outlet from humidifier. According to
Eq. (7), GOR of HDH system decreases with increasing air flow-rate. The
figure shows that GOR increases with increasing water temperature. The
average value of GOR is 0.71, 0.74, 0.78, and 0.81 at water temperatures
8
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

(a)
= 0.81 kg/min, = 4 kg/min
= 28
28°C
C

= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min

= 28
28°C
C

Fig. 10. Influence of the mass flow-rate ratio on the productivity.

(b)

= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min

= 0.81 kg/min, = 4 kg/min
= 28
28°C
C
= 28
28°C
C

Fig. 11. Influence of mass flow-rate ratio on GOR.

Fig. 8. Effect of mass flow-rate of air on (a) humidifier efficiency, and (b)
dehumidifier efficiency.
of 40, 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C, respectively. This shows that increasing the
water temperature by 10 ◦ C increases GOR by an average of 4.5%.
The influence of air flow-rate on efficiency of humidifier and dehu­
= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min midifier is shown in Fig. 8. Both of humidifier and dehumidifier effi­
= 28
28°C
C ciencies follow an equivalent approach under the influence of air flow-
rate, because increased air flow-rate decreases the efficiency of both
humidifier and dehumidifier. The increase of air flow-rate reduces the
contact time of air with the hot water within the humidifier and with the
cold surface of condenser within the dehumidifier. That results in
reducing the air temperature after humidifier and increasing the air
temperature after dehumidifier, which has a negative effect on the ef­
ficiency for both humidifier and dehumidifier.
Fig. 9 shows the influence of air flow-rate on energy input to HDH
desalination system at water temperatures from 40 to 70 ◦ C. The energy
consumption increases with increasing air flow-rate at all seawater
temperatures. Increasing air flow-rate reduces the water temperature
during the humidification process, and this requires an increase in the
energy needed to reheat the water outlet from humidifier to ensure the
continuity of humidification cycle. Fig. 9 illustrates that the energy input
to the system increases as the water temperature rises. The average
value of energy is 1.21 kW, 2.13 kW, 3.27 kW, and 5.03 kW at water
Fig. 9. Influence of air flow-rate on energy input to the desalination system. temperature 40, 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C, respectively. Increasing water tem­
perature increases the energy exchanged with the air, thus increasing

9
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

Table 2
Summary of the experimental results.
Performance Parameters Average value
indices effect
40 ◦ C 50 ◦ C 60 ◦ C 70 ◦ C

Productivity, (kg/ ṁa = 0.5–2.6 1.46 2.59 4.40 6.99

h) kg/min kg/h kg/h kg/h kg/h
Tw,in,h =
40–70 ◦ C
ṁw,in,h = 4.86
kg/min
ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
= 0.81 kg/min, = 70 °C, MR= 5 min
GOR, (-) ṁa = 0.5–2.6 0.71 0.74 0.78 0.81
= 28°C kg/min
Tw,in,h =
40–70 ◦ C
ṁw,in,h = 4.86
kg/min
ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
min
Fig. 12. Influence of cooling water flow-rate on productivity and GOR. Humidifier ṁa = 0.5–2.6 80% 77% 73% 70%
efficiency, % kg/min
Tw,in,h =
the thermal energy needed to reheat the water. 40–70 ◦ C
ṁw,in,h = 4.86
6.2. Effect of mass flow-rate ratio on the performance indices kg/min
ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
min
Productivity variation with MR at different water temperatures is
Dehumidifier ṁa = 0.5–2.6 89% 84% 79% 76%
shown in Fig. 10. At water temperature 40, 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C, fresh efficiency, % kg/min
water productivity clearly increases with increasing MR until the value Tw,in,h =
of MR = 5, then the productivity slightly increases. Fig. 10 is plotted 40–70 ◦ C
with air flow-rate of 0.81 kg/min, thus MR increases due to an increase ṁw,in,h = 4.86
kg/min
in water flow-rate, which leads to increasing the water vapor carried by ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
air inside the humidifier. As a result, the productivity increases during min
the dehumidification process. The figure shows also that increasing Energy input, (kW) ṁa = 0.5–2.6 1.21 2.13 3.27 5.03
water temperature leads to increasing the productivity by an average of kg/min kW kW kW kW
1.04, 1.83, 3.39, and 5.49 kg/h at water temperature 40, 50, 60, and Tw,in,h =
70 ◦ C, respectively. 40–70 ◦ C
ṁw,in,h = 4.86
Fig. 11 shows GOR variation with MR at water temperature 40, 50, kg/min
60, and 70 ◦ C. GOR increases with increasing MR until MR = 5, then the ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
GOR begins to decrease as MR develops. GOR increases with rising the min
seawater temperature by an average of 0.73, 0.76, 0.79, and 0.82 at Productivity, (kg/ MR = 2–8 1.04 1.83 3.39 5.49
water temperatures of 40, 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C, respectively. The results h) ṁa = 0.81 kg/ kg/h kg/h kg/h kg/h
min
show also that the optimum MR is recorded 5 which achieves the
Tw,in,h =
maximum GOR = 0.86 at water temperature of 70 ◦ C, as shown in 40–70 ◦ C
Fig. 11 and a good productivity, as shown in Fig. 10. In the present work, ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
at MR = 5, ṁa = 0.81 kg/min, andTw,in,h = 70 ◦ C, acceptable performance min
can be obtained from the HDH desalination system. GOR, (–) MR = 2–8 0.73 0.76 0.79 0.82
ṁa = 0.81 kg/
min
6.3. Effect of cooling water flow-rate on the performance indices Tw,in,h =
40–70 ◦ C
During dehumidification process, the influence of cooling water ṁw,in,c = 4 kg/
flow-rate on the system efficiency is extremely important. Fig. 12 shows min

the effect of the cooling water flow-rate on productivity and GOR. Productivity, (kg/ ṁw,in,c = 2–6 6.01 kg/h
h) kg/min
Increasing the flow-rate of cooling water leads to increasing the pro­
GOR, (-) MR = 5 0.86
ductivity and GOR. Increasing cooling water flow-rate decreases the ṁa = 0.81 kg/
condenser surface temperature inside dehumidifier, resulting in min
increasing water vapor condensation. Maximum productivity and GOR Tw,in,h = 70 ◦ C
values are 6.32 kg/h and 0.87 at cooling water flow-rate of 6 kg/min.
Minimum productivity and GOR values are 5.52 kg/h and 0.83 at
cooling water flow-rate 2 kg/min. Table 2 presents a summary of the inputs under specific conditions of the system under study. However, the
experimental results. model results may have different validity levels. The accuracy of the
values obtained from the theoretical model depends on its comparison
with the experimental values. The error is determined by Eq. (40)
6.4. Validation of the theoretical model
[33,34].
⃒ ⃒
Validation of theoretical model is an important process for demon­ k ⃒
100 ∑ Texp (i) − Tsim (i) ⃒
strating the convergence between the theoretical values and the exper­ εar (%) = (40)
k i=1 Texp (i)
imental results. The model is developed to obtain the results based on

10
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min

= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min
= 28
28°C
C
= 28°C

Fig. 13. Measured and theoretical temperatures of different places in desali­

nation system.
Fig. 15. Experimental and theoretical energy input to desalination system.

Table 3
The error percentage of model values.
Items Minimum error εmin Maximum error Average error εav = 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min
(%) εmax (%) (%)
= 28°C
Ta,in,h 0.36 13.5 7.2
Ta,in,dh 0.06 7.17 2.16
Tw,o,h 0.14 10.56 3.95
Tcw,o,c 0.34 6.57 2.81
Productivity 1.30 10.35 5.92
Gain output 0.15 9.53 2.54
ratio
Energy input 1.35 19.37 9.67

= 4.86 kg/min, = 4 kg/min

= 28°C

Fig. 16. Experimental and theoretical GOR of desalination system.

condenser (Tcw,o,c ), as illustrated in table 3. Based on the results, the

outputs of the theoretical model are compatible with the experimental
measurements. Fresh water productivity may be a performance index for
any seawater desalination system. Fig. 14 shows the mathematical and
experimental fresh water productivity. Average absolute difference is
found to be 5.92%. A good agreement is observed between calculated
and experimental values.
Solar thermal energy is the main driver of the HDH water desalina­
tion system. Fig. 15 shows calculated data and experimental values for
Fig. 14. Experimental and theoretical productivity of desalination system.
energy input to HDH water desalination system. Predicted energy has
acceptable agreement with the experimental values. As shown in Fig. 15,
Where: k is measurements number, Texp denotes the experimental
the average absolute difference is 9.67%. GOR is an important index for
data, andTsim the model prediction.
water desalination unit, as it is an indicator of equilibrium between the
In the current work, air and water temperature is recorded at many
productivity and the energy consumed. Fig. 16 shows a comparison
places within HDH desalination unit. Fig. 13 shows the temperatures for
between the predicted values and experimental results of GOR. The
the theoretical model and the experimental measurements. The average
figure reflects the great similarity between the theoretical and measured
absolute differences are 7.2%, 2.16%, 3.95% and 2.81% for the air
values at an average value of 2.54%.
temperature before and after humidifier (Ta,in,h , Ta,o,h ), water tempera­
ture after humidifier (Tw,o,h ) and temperature of water leaving the

11
A.S.A. Mohamed et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 188 (2021) 116621

Table 4
Approximate cost of the HDH devices. i(1 + i)n
CRF = (41)
(1 + i)n − 1
Devices The cost

Humidifier and dehumidifier chambers 92US$

Where: i is interest rate (%), and it can be assumed 12%, and n is life
Ducts 61US$ year’s number, where it can be assumed 10 years.
Storage tank 62US$ Eq. (42) is used to determine the fixed annual cost (FAC).
Heat exchanger 65US$
Metal stands 60US$ FAC = F × CRF (42)
Water pump 120 US$
Air fan 125US$ Sinking fund factor (SFF) is calculated using Eq. (43).
Evacuated tube collector 300US$
i
Structure packing 62US$ SFF = (43)
Insulation-materials 35US$ (1 + i)n − 1
Valves and pipelines 70US$
Total cost 1052US$ The salvage value of HDH desalination system (S) can be assumed
20% from the unit total cost, as written in Eq. (44):

7. Economic evaluation S = 0.2 × F (44)

Eq. (45) is used to calculate the annual salvage value (ASV).
The economic study is extremely important to calculate the cost of
producing fresh water and thus evaluate the desalination system. Many ASV = SFF × S (45)
researchers have conducted studies for calculating the cost of fresh The annual maintenance cost (AMC) can be assumed of 15% from the
water production [24,35,36]. Therefore, the current study has estimated fixed annual cost, as written in Eq. (46):
the cost of producing one liter of fresh water using the following steps;
The total fixed cost (F) for HDH desalination unit is estimated 1052 AMC = 0.15 × FAC (46)
US$. The details are illustrated in Table 4. Eq. (47) is used to calculate the total annual running cost (AC).
Eq. (41) is used to determine the capital recovery factor (CRF).
AC = FAC + AMC − ASV (47)

Table 5
Comparison of the current study with some previous works.
Reference Packing Productivity Cost (US$/L) Finding results
material (L/h)

Alsehli et al. [4] – 2230 m3/day 0.00272 ▪ The daily recovery ratio of the system ranges from 8.6% to 9.8%.
▪ The daily specific energy consumption of the system ranges from about 95 kJ/kg
to 660 kJ/kg.
Hamed et al. [10] Cellulose paper 5.5 L/h 0.0578 ▪ The system productivity increases with increasing water temperature resulting
from increasing solar radiation.
▪ The system gives the best performance when it works from 13 to 17 pm.
Xu et al. [13] Honeycomb 12.75 L/h 0.042 ▪ The system productivity decreases with increasing cooling water flow rate.
paper ▪ The system gives the maximum performance when it operates at optimum flow
rate of air of 450 m3/h.
▪ The closed-air cycle has higher performance indices than open-air cycle.
Zhang et al. [24] Polypropylene 22.26 L/h 0.051 ▪ System productivity is greatly affected by water temperature while air
temperature has a negligible effected.
▪ The heat pump cycle increases the fixed cost of the system while it decreases the
cost of the water production.
Faegh and Shafii [37] CF1200MA Cross 0.91 L/h 0.014 ▪ GOR of the system increases with increasing the humidifier efficiency, which
Fluted Film Fill increases by the height of humidifier.
Media ▪ GOR of the system increases with increasing the evaporator saturation
temperature, while it decreases with increasing the condenser saturation
temperature.
Dehghani et al. [38] Polypropylene 4.9 L/h – ▪ Increasing seawater salinity leads to increasing the recovery ratio and energy
consumption, while it leads to decreasing GOR.
▪ The system productivity decreases with increasing the seawater salinity.
Hermosillo et al. [39] Cellulose paper 1.45 L/h – ▪ This system has higher productivity than the solar still system by 50–70%.
▪ In this system, the ratio of water produced to input energy represented from 50%
to 84%.
Elminshawy et al. [40] – – 0.035 ▪ The cost of fresh water produced decreases with increasing the lifetime of the
system.
▪ The fresh water productivity cost decreases when using the solar energy in
operating the system components.
Rajaseenivasan and – 6.1 L/h 0.0133 ▪ The cost of fresh water produced decreases with increasing air flow rate.
Srithar [41] ▪ Heating the feed air decreases the amount of energy consumption and water
production cost.
Deniz and Çınar [42] Cellulose paper 1.12 L/h 0.0981 ▪ The maximum energy and exergy efficiencies are 31.54%, 1.87%, respectively.
▪ The environmental cost of the system is 2.4041 $/year.
Askari and Ameri [43] – 0.375 L/h 0.00163–0.00309 ▪ The cost of water production using the thermal storage system increases by about
42% and 65% for 6 h and 12 h of thermal storage, respectively.
▪ Increasing the solar thermal energy increases the water production costs.
Current study Cellulose paper 6.16 L/h 0.012 ▪ The system productivity increases with increasing air, hot and cooling water flow
rates, and water temperature.
▪ The humidifier and dehumidifier efficiency increases with decreasing air flow
rate.

12
A.S.A. Mohamed et al.
The cost of producing one liter of fresh water (CPL) can be deter­
mined by the ratio between total annual cost (AC) and total annual
productivity (M), as expressed in Eq. (48):
AC
CPL =
M 119212.
The annual productivity of HDH desalination system obtained at
water temperature of 70 ◦ C inside the humidifier is found to be 16744.32
L/year.The daily period of running the desalination system is 8 h/day;
(from 9 AM to 5 PM). HDH desalination system is assumed to operate
340 days/year as Egypt is characterized by the sunshine throughout the
year [10,17]. The cost of producing one liter of desalinated water by the
proposed system is 0.012 US$/L.
Table 5 illustrates a comparison of the current study with some
previous works. The table illustrates some of the important components
and results of the desalination system such as packing type, and pro­
ductivity. In addition, the table shows the production cost per liter of
desalinated water. Based on the available data by table 5, it can be
concluded that the proposed desalination system works effectively
compared to some of the previous works. Besides, the cost for producing
desalinated water is low, compared with previous researches.
8. Conclusions
In recent decades, the desalination process has become extremely
important for many regions. HDH water desalination system is a
promising solution for many areas. In this study, solar HDH water
desalination system based on a closed-air cycle is established and its
results are compared with calculated values. Effect of various parame­
ters on productivity, gain output ratio, humidifier efficiency, and
dehumidifier efficiency are investigated. The parameters include the air
flow-rate, mass flow-rate ratio, and cooling water flow-rate. Experi­
ments have been conducted at water temperature 40, 50, 60, and 70 ◦ C.
An economic evaluation of the desalinated water production has been
also conducted. The results show that increasing air flow-rate leads to
increasing water productivity, while it reduces GOR, humidifier effi­
ciency, and dehumidifier efficiency. In addition, increasing air flow-rate
requires increasing the energy needed to operate the desalination unit.
At water temperature range from 40 to 70 ◦ C, an increase in water
temperature by 10 ◦ C leads to increase of fresh water production with an
average 69%. GOR and productivity increase with increasing mass flow-
rate ratio. The results show also that the optimum MR is recorded 5
which achieves the maximum GOR = 0.86 at water temperature of
70 ◦ C. Further, increasing cooling water flow-rate increases both pro­
ductivity and GOR. Maximum productivity and GOR values are 6.32 kg/
h and 0.87 at cooling water flow-rate 6 kg/min. The cost of producing
one liter of potable water is 0.012US$. The results of theoretical model
are good compared to the experimental results.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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