Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a PCM-Supported ...

1.3.3 Coupling desalination plants with power plants
Since thermal desalination technologies utilize heat energy as the main driving force,
co-location with power plants is an attractive option for cogeneration of water and
power at competitive economies. Co-location of power plants and thermal
desalination plants has been considered the most desirable setup since it provides
many advantages over the displaced plants:
better overall thermal efficiency due to recovery and utilization of latent heat
of condensation in the power plant as an energy source for the desalination
plant
cost saving through common use of infrastructure for both plants (e.g. the
intake and outfall, and using the power plant condenser as a brine heater of
the desalination plant)
minimizes energy transportation losses and costs, better land use, and less
man power is required for operation and maintenance of both plants
Moreover, conventional electrical power production requires a sustainable source of
water, while desalination technology requires a substantial power supply. This
mutual interdependency implies that the sustainable solutions should be found in the
autonomous systems which simultaneously produce both electrical power and
desalinated water within the same scheme.
1.3.4 Coupling renewable energies with desalination technologies
Renewable energy (RE) technologies such as solar thermal, photovoltaic (PV), wind
energy, and biomass have reached a level of maturity that makes them reliable
sources of energy for driving desalination processes. It is agreed that the economic
feasibility of the desalination industry will depend greatly on technology development
of renewable energies [73]. Recently, considerable attention has been given to the
use of renewable energies for desalination plants, especially in remote areas and
islands.
Coupling renewable energy systems with the desalination technologies takes place
at an interface between both of them, where the energy generated by the RE system
is utilized by the desalination plant. This energy can be in different forms such as
thermal energy, electricity or shaft power. Owing to the variety of desalination
processes and required form of power, there are a number of coupling schemes with
power generation systems. Plausible couplings are depicted in the form of a tree in
figure (1.4).
However, the two common features which characterize RE sources are the
intermittence and continuous variation in intensity over time. In other words, RE
systems are characterized by a transient behaviour and time mismatch between the
demand and availability of energy supply. These handicaps require either some form
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