Hybrid thermal desalination systems for sustainable development – A critical review

• Published in: Solar energy Vol. 270; p. 112364
• Main Authors: Rajesh, S., Chiranjeevi, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2024
• Subjects: Affordable energy; Freshwater; Hybrid systems; Hybrid thermal desalination; Renewable energy; Hybrid systems; Hybrid thermal desalination; Affordable energy; Renewable energy; Freshwater
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2024.112364

•Reviewed hybrid thermal desalination technologies for producing fresh water with electricity, space heating or cooling.•Renewable energy and waste heat recovery-based systems showed mutually beneficial advantages and financial feasibility.•Sustainable alternatives to traditional water desalination systems due to their low cost.•Future research focuses hybrid thermal desalination with renewables and waste heat usage, energy storage, and brine reuse. Accessing economic, clean drinking water, and affordable clean energy should be achieved without compromising climate action, is a target of the United Nations agenda for 2030 sustainable development. Earth covers 70% of the water, of which fresh water is only 3%, and two-thirds of that amount is not readily usable; hence, it is exceedingly scarce for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use. Low yield and low efficiency are the key issues that standalone thermal desalination systems are facing, and numerous studies have been conducted to improve them same. Advanced technologies encourage low-cost clean water production along with any other effects like electricity, cooling, and heating with hybrid desalination systems using renewable energy or waste heat recovery. However, energy demand is escalating daily for human comfort, and around 300 crores of the population still use fossil fuels, causing a majority share of global greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of this article is to consolidate the scattered literature on various hybrid thermal desalination systems and contrast the desalination yield, efficiency, and production costs. The first section provides a brief introduction to different thermal desalination techniques and their working principles. The following section consolidates the reported literature on the potential integration of solar photovoltaics, cooling, and heating systems with various thermal desalination techniques, including solar stills, humidification-dehumidification desalination, greenhouse desalination, membrane distillation, multi-stage flash distillation, and multi-effect distillation and thermal vapor compression. The gained output ratio (GOR), recovery ratio (RR), freshwater yield, coefficient of performance (COP), thermal efficiencies, and energy utilization of integrated systems are some of the many performance parameters summarized. The key findings from the literature review are summarized and suggested permutations of the hybrid systems are highlighted. The recommendations for future research areas. The novelty of the present review is to consolidate the scattered literature on all thermal desalination techniques and suggest the future scope of research.