Project title:

Development of a mobile stand-alone solar driven reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant
for sustainable development in Shalateen, Southeast of Egypt
Project description (500 words):
This project focuses on the integration of saline water/seawater RO desalination and solar
photovoltaic (PV) technology. Solar-driven reverse osmosis desalination can potentially break
the dependence of conventional desalination on fossil fuels, reduce operational costs, and
improve environmental sustainability. A small mobile PV driven modular RO desalination plant
prototype without batteries is designed, built and field-tested. To maximize the energy yield of
the renewable system a simple tracking system for the PV unit is developed. Shalateen represent
the candidate areas suggested for field application for our prototype. RO plant is be designed so
as to produce up to 20 m3/day of potable water. Mobility of the system is served to provide a
safe and stable drinking water source for many isolated areas in Shalateen.

Impact on climate change:

Replacing conventional means of energy generation also known as fossil fuel-based energy
generation can lead to a great impact on climate change. A typical kwh of energy can range
anywhere from 0.4L to 0.89L of fuel. This unit consumes about 7 KWh/m3, so by converting to
solar energy you can save from 2.1L to 6.3L of fuel per hour. This not only saves the money
needed to buy the required fuel, but saves on transportation costs of fuel, maintenance costs of
parts damaged by fossil fuels and reduces carbon emissions. Carbon emissions is the main
driver for the aim of sustainability. Carbon emissions equivalent is the amount of carbon
released into the environment per KWh of electricity generated by burning fuels that contain
carbon. Carbon emissions equivalent can be summarized as :
600 g CO2=1 KWh Electricity produced
so this unit saves about 4 .2 Kg CO2 for every m3 desalinated water. By achieving this goal we
can aim for a greener and more positive impact on the climate.

High resolution images (5 to 10 images):