The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2024) | Viewed by 12768

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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus de Tafira s/n, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Interests: energy-water; smart energy systems; intelligent control
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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus de Tafira S/N, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Interests: water–energy nexus; energy efficiency; microgrids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Given the significant water-energy issues associated with many remote and arid regions worldwide, desalination technologies powered by renewable energy are seeing increased usage in research, projects, and developments in freshwater production plants. This Special Issue aims to publish the most exciting research regarding the use of renewables to drive water desalination. The Special Issue will provide a rapid turnaround time for review and publication and will disseminate the articles freely for the purposes of research, teaching, and reference.

Desalination can be performed using various technologies, but the process involves relatively high energy consumption and therefore high production costs, although recent technological advances have managed to reduce specific energy consumption. Fossil fuels are currently the most used energy source for powering various industrial-scale desalination technologies, but their rising price trends and associated air pollution issues have necessitated the use of alternative or complementary energy sources. Numerous authors have highlighted the benefits derived from desalination using hybrid (conventional renewables) and fully renewable energy sources, stressing that the latter are clean, cheap, and inexhaustible.

We are seeking high-quality papers directly related to various aspects of water-energy issues. Novel study techniques are encouraged.

Dr. Pedro Jesús Cabrera Santana
Dr. Enrique Rosales Asensio
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • renewable system-powered desalination plants
  • new management strategies and techniques
  • behavior and modelling
  • case studies
  • potentialities and future scalability

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2226 KiB  
Article
Optimal Arrangements of Renewable Energy Systems for Promoting the Decarbonization of Desalination Plants
by Deivis Avila Prats, Felipe San Luis Gutiérrez, Ángela Hernández López and Graciliano Nicolás Marichal Plasencia
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(7), 1193; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12071193 - 16 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 903
Abstract
In this research, a renewable energy hybrid system (PV-Wind) is modeled to compare different design options based on their economic and technical features. The energy requirements of a Reversible Osmosis desalination plant located on the island of Tenerife with a water production capacity [...] Read more.
In this research, a renewable energy hybrid system (PV-Wind) is modeled to compare different design options based on their economic and technical features. The energy requirements of a Reversible Osmosis desalination plant located on the island of Tenerife with a water production capacity of up to 20,000 m3/day was considered. The system is connected to the electricity grid. The HOMER software, version 2.75 was used to produce optimum strategies for renewable energy. The assumptions input into the model were: the technical specifications of the devices, electricity demand of the desalination plant, as well as the solar radiation and the wind speed potentials. Numerous arrangements were considered by the software, version 2.75. The optimal results were obtained based on the use of renewable energy. The data used in the study were recorded in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The experience of this research could be transferred to other Atlantic islands with similar renewable energy sources (specifically the wind) and water scarce conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination)
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20 pages, 3026 KiB  
Article
Desalination in Spain and the Role of Solar Photovoltaic Energy
by Miquel Àngel Martínez-Medina, Miguel Ángel Pérez-Martín and Teodoro Estrela
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(6), 859; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12060859 - 22 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1569
Abstract
Water scarcity will increase in the world in the coming decades due to climate change, especially in areas that currently already have water scarcity, such as the Mediterranean area. In these areas, to guarantee water resources, systems’ sustainability is necessary to improve demand [...] Read more.
Water scarcity will increase in the world in the coming decades due to climate change, especially in areas that currently already have water scarcity, such as the Mediterranean area. In these areas, to guarantee water resources, systems’ sustainability is necessary to improve demand management and the development of non-conventional resources, such as treated wastewater reuse or seawater desalination. These non-conventional resources are highly energy-consuming; so, reducing energy costs is a key element in developing their use in different sectors, including agriculture. Combining photovoltaic solar energy with seawater desalination by reverse osmosis will reduce the cost of producing water to below 0.36 EUR/m3; so, this resource can be attractive for agriculture, as demonstrated in this work. The arrangement of bifacial solar modules in horizontal single-axis tracking systems increases the energy amount generated from the sun in one hour or more, improving the facility’s efficiency and reducing the desalinated water cost. The greater distance between the solar module lines, with a ground coverage ratio (GCR) = 0.3, makes for a better environmental integration of the facility and allows the development of agrovoltaic strategies, such as native flora planting and pollinator colonization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination)
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24 pages, 3354 KiB  
Article
A Novel Configuration of Hybrid Reverse Osmosis, Humidification–Dehumidification, and Solar Photovoltaic Systems: Modeling and Exergy Analysis
by Ahmed E. Tourab, Ana María Blanco-Marigorta, Aly M. Elharidi and María José Suárez-López
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse12010019 - 20 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1396
Abstract
The pressing demand for clean water worldwide has increased attention to developing innovative desalination processes. In this work, the second law of thermodynamics is used to examine and assess two coupled desalination systems: a separation-based reverse osmosis (RO) system and a thermal desalination-based [...] Read more.
The pressing demand for clean water worldwide has increased attention to developing innovative desalination processes. In this work, the second law of thermodynamics is used to examine and assess two coupled desalination systems: a separation-based reverse osmosis (RO) system and a thermal desalination-based humidification–dehumidification (HDH) system. The HDH unit configuration used here is based on the working principle of the heat pump, where the process is open-air, open-water, and air-heated. The RO system is equipped with a pressure exchanger (PX) and has been examined under various operating circumstances, such as different feed water pressures, salinities, and flow rates. To improve the system’s sustainability, a solar photovoltaic system (PV) was integrated. An exergy model was used to precisely evaluate the system components and the hybrid systems by employing a proper exergy efficiency definition. The evaluation of the second law of thermodynamics for the RO–HDH–PX and RO–HDH–PX–PV systems indicated maximum efficiencies of 23% and 23.25%, respectively. A cost analysis was also performed on the hybrid RO–HDH–PX–PV desalination system using two approaches: the first included a battery storage system, whereas, in the second, the battery was not considered. When a battery storage system is included, the cost per cubic meter varies from USD 3.22 to USD 5.10. In contrast, it varies from USD 3.96 to USD 7.12 without a battery storage system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination)
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21 pages, 5578 KiB  
Article
Desalination Plant for Irrigation Purposes Driven by an Inland Floating Photovoltaic System
by B. Del Rio-Gamero, Edgar Rodríguez-López and Julieta Schallenberg-Rodríguez
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(5), 905; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11050905 - 23 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2725
Abstract
In places where water and land are scarce it is vital to look for innovative solutions that can ensure water production for agricultural purposes. This study considers the treatment of water using desalination processes to meet the quality requirements needed for irrigation purposes [...] Read more.
In places where water and land are scarce it is vital to look for innovative solutions that can ensure water production for agricultural purposes. This study considers the treatment of water using desalination processes to meet the quality requirements needed for irrigation purposes in agriculture. As the water is stored in a pond, an inland floating photovoltaic (FPV) system is proposed to meet the desalination energy demand. This system would enable energy production without using additional land that could otherwise be used for agricultural purposes. The use of FPV technology also reduces water evaporation, thus avoiding unnecessary energy consumption. To generate enough electricity to treat 12,000 m3/day of water, using an electrodialysis reversal desalination plant, a 1.85 MWp FPV farm is proposed. The results indicate that this FPV farm would generate 3,005,828 kWh per year while avoiding the emission of 58,300 tons of CO2 and the evaporation of 159,950 m3 of water during its 25-year lifetime. Such systems allow higher renewable penetration in the energy mix and preserve the original use of the land. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination)
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29 pages, 3542 KiB  
Article
Integration of a Geothermal Plant in a System with High Renewable Energy Penetration for Desalination Plant Self-Consumption
by Fernando Montesdeoca-Martínez and Sergio Velázquez-Medina
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(2), 353; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020353 - 5 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2079
Abstract
The scarcity of water resources on the island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) is such that 88% of the water supply for human consumption comes from seawater desalination plants. This type of process has a high specific energy consumption. Gran Canaria has [...] Read more.
The scarcity of water resources on the island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) is such that 88% of the water supply for human consumption comes from seawater desalination plants. This type of process has a high specific energy consumption. Gran Canaria has an isolated electrical system of low robustness. In this paper, a geothermal plant is designed and integrated into a system that already has non-dispatchable renewable generation (wind and photovoltaic) in order to meet, based on a self-consumption regime, the energy demand of a high-capacity desalination plant. The aim is for the diversified renewable system to improve the stability and management of renewable electrical energy generation. Geothermal plant production can adapt to the energy balance between demand and non-dispatchable renewable generation. The geothermal plant’s design is based on an organic Rankine cycle and its resulting power is 4.16 MW. Its integration in the renewable generation system significantly improves the contribution of renewables in meeting the desalination plant’s energy demand and therefore reducing its dependency on the island’s electrical system. The mean cost of electrical energy generation with the diversified renewable system is 57.37 EUR/MWh, considerably lower than the mean cost of conventional generation on Gran Canaria of 153.9 EUR/MWh. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination)
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30 pages, 32626 KiB  
Article
A New Control Algorithm to Increase the Stability of Wind–Hydro Power Plants in Isolated Systems: El Hierro as a Case Study
by Agustín Marrero, Jaime González, José A. Carta and Pedro Cabrera
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11(2), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11020335 - 3 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2425
Abstract
The present paper proposes the implementation of a new algorithm for the control of the speed regulators of Pelton wheel turbines, used in many of the pumped hydroelectric energy storage systems that operate in isolated electrical systems with high renewable energy participation. This [...] Read more.
The present paper proposes the implementation of a new algorithm for the control of the speed regulators of Pelton wheel turbines, used in many of the pumped hydroelectric energy storage systems that operate in isolated electrical systems with high renewable energy participation. This algorithm differs substantially from the standard developments which use PID or PI governors in that, in addition to acting on the nozzle needles and deflectors, it incorporates a new inner-loop pressure stabilization circuit to improve frequency regulation and dampen the effects of the pressure waves that are generated when regulating needle position. The proposed algorithm has been implemented in the Gorona del Viento wind–hydro power plant, an installation which supplies the primary energy needs of the island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain). Although, as well as its wind and hydro generation systems, the plant also has a diesel engine based generation system, the validation of the results of the study presented here focuses on situations in which frequency control is provided exclusively by the hydroelectric plant. It is shown that implementation of the proposed algorithm, which replaces the previous control system based on a classical PI governor, is able to damp the pressure wave that originates in the long penstock of the plant in the face of variations in non-dispatchable renewable generation, a situation which occurred with a high degree of relative frequency in the case study. The damper has enabled a substantial reduction in the cumulative time and the number of times that frequency exceeded different safety margins. Damper incorporation also reduced the number of under-frequency pump unit load shedding events by 93%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Use of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Water Desalination)
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