Performance investigation of a salt gradient solar pond coupled with desalination facility near the Dead Sea

Solar ponds provide the most convenient and least expensive option for heat storage for daily and seasonal cycles. This is particularly important for a desalination facility, if steady and constant water production is required. If, in addition to high storage capacity, other favorable conditions exist, the salt gradient solar ponds (SGSPs) are expected to be able to carry the entire load of a large-scale flash desalination plants without dependence upon supplementary sources. This paper presents a performance investigation of a SGSP coupled with desalination plant under Jordanian climatic conditions. This is particularly convenient in the Dead Sea region characterized by high solar radiation intensities, high ambient temperature most of the year, and by the availability of high concentration brine. It was found that a 3000 m2 solar pond installed near the Dead Sea is able to provide an annual average production rate of 4.3 L min−1 distilled water compared with 3.3 L min−1 that would be produced by El Paso solar pond, which has the same surface area. Based on this study, solar ponds appear to be a feasible and an appropriate technology for water desalination near the Dead Sea in Jordan.

Research highlights
► A performance investigation of a solar pond coupled with desalination plant.
► Dead Sea area is characterized by availability of high solar radiation and brine.
► The Dead Sea solar pond can provide production rate of 4.3 L min−1.
► El Paso solar pond has production rate of 3.32 L min−1. The improvement is about 30%.
► The solar pond with desalination investigated showed to be a feasible technology.