A hybrid solar desalination system of air humidification dehumidification and water flashing evaporation: A comparison among different configurations

• Different HDH–SSF system configurations were examined.
• The system productivity was found to be strongly affected by the system layout and solar intensity.
• The hybrid HDH–SSF with solar air heater resulted as the best economical one.

This work deals with comparison among different configurations of the hybrid solar powered desalination system. A hybrid desalination system based on air humidification and dehumidification–single stage flashing (HDH–SSF) has been investigated for different configurations. The main effective arrangement parameters and operating conditions that give minimum water cost and maximum performance are shown. The characteristics of this system in different layouts and working conditions are studied in order to evaluate four main parameters; water cost, water production, thermal performance and environmental impacts. Four configurations are analyzed for HDH–SSF desalination system including the conventional system, which is formed by HDH and SSF unit in standalone layout in addition to three different configurations of hybrid and standalone layouts. The present study covered one year of system operation, in summer and winter for typical climate conditions of the Tanta, Egypt. The most important parameters for the proposed system performance were the heat recovery by mixing tank and air preheating. The hybrid HDH–SSF with solar air heater resulted as the best economical configuration with daily water production up to 96 l in August and a production cost of 12.53 $/m3. The efficiency of the system is measured by the gained output ratio (GOR) with day time. The standalone HDH–SSF with heat recovery resulted as the best performing one with gained output ratio (GOR) about 10.2.