This book essentially summarises the water shortage crisis in the world and its possible solution by using solar energy through solar stills. The world is facing an urgent problem. By 2015, 40 per cent of the world's population will be living in regions without adequate fresh water supply. Presently, almost all sea water desalination plans are electricity based and highly power intensive. With more than half the world likely to become dependent on sea water desalination such an energy-expensive scenario is clearly not sustainable.The aim of the book is to provide the most recent information on various practices, developments and improvements in water distillation, heat and mass transfer in solar distillation, thermal modelling and embedded energy of solar stills, and the applications of solar distillation in today's world. The concluding chapter also deals with economic analysis of solar distillation. To simplify the subject, figures, tables, solved examples and problems with hints are given at the end of each chapter, and there are appendices and a glossary of meaningful terms to assist the reader. The authors have written an outstanding academic work which carries weight and resonance beyond university courses and libraries, and which impacts on the global population.

This book is primarily intended to serve as a textbook and reference work for graduate and professional training coursework on solar desalination of water. The book begins with an introduction to the increasing demand for potable water, various types of water pollution and its impacts on human health, and goes on to cover basics of desalination technologies. It covers all aspects of solar-energy based distillation and desalination for producing potable water resources, including radiation and heat transfer concepts, a history of solar distillation systems, and background on solar collectors. The contents include thermal modeling and parametric study of solar distillation. Energy and exergy aspects are analyzed in detail, including energy matrices of solar distillation. A special chapter on exeroeconomics introduces fundamental equations which include the general balance equation, thermodynamic balance equations, and economic balance equations. A chapter on Economic Analysis of Solar Distillation completes the coverage. The book includes solved examples and end-of-chapter exercises in the form of both problems and objective-type questions. The contents of this book are useful to students, researchers, professionals, and policymakers looking for a comprehensive resource on solar desalination.

This book presents the latest developments and advances in solar desalination technology, including the concept, design, testing, modeling, economics and innovation. The chapters in this volume are contributed by leading international researchers and are based on original research material. The contents of this volume will be of interest to researchers, professionals, and policymakers alike.

Worldwide, many regions have a great potential to cover part of their pressing water needs by renewable energy powered water treatment processes using either thermal or membrane based technologies. Not only arid and semiarid regions are increasingly suffering from water shortage but also many other regions face a limitation of freshwater resources either by increasing contamination of surface water bodies or groundwater resources unsuitable for drinking and irrigation purposes either due to their high grade of mineralization or their contents of toxic components. In many areas without centralized water supply, treatment techniques using locally available renewable energy resources such as wind, solar and geothermal can provide an economical, social and environmentally sustainable option for clean water production from seawater and from highly mineralized or otherwise unsuitable ground- and surface water. This book provides an overview on possible cost-efficient techniques and application opportunities for different scales and shows why the implementation of these technologies faces numerous technological, economic and policy barriers and provides suggestions how they can be overcome. It serves as a synoptic compendium of the fundamentals of freshwater production using renewable energies, applicable to all types of water, ranging from brackish to marine water and also including industrial and communal residual water. The book is aimed at professionals, academics and decision makers worldwide, working in the areas of water resources, water supply,land planning, energy planning, greenhouse gases emission mitigation and rural development.

Sustainable technologies for water supply are urgently needed if water has to be supplied to billions of less fortunate people with inadequate access to water. These technologies must be simple, less expensive, less energy intensive, and easy to maintain for their adaptation among the poor masses. Four appropriate technologies are discussed here: solar pasteurization, membrane desalination, natural filtration (riverbank filtration), and solar distillation. Solar pasteurization can be a useful means of producing water at remote, but sunny locations where fuel may not be easily available for boiling water. Membrane desalination will remain as a viable means of drinking water production for individual households to large communities. Various membrane filtration techniques as well as the means to “democratize” membrane filtration have been presented. Riverbank filtration is a “natural” filtration technique where drinking water is produced by placing wells on the banks of rivers. The riverbed/bank material and the underlying aquifer act as natural filters to remove pollutants from river water. Solar distillation can be a viable method of drinking water production for individual households to small communities without the input of external energy. Sustainability framework and technology transfer are discussed through transdisciplinary analysis.

Renewable Energy Systems and Desalination is a component of Encyclopedia of Water Sciences, Engineering and Technology Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The two volumes present state-of-the art subject matter of various aspects of Renewable Energy Systems and Desalination such as: A Short Historical Review Of Renewable Energy; Renewable Energy Resources; Desalination With Renewable Energy - A Review; Renewable Energy And Desalination Systems; Why Use Renewable Energy For Desalination; Thermal Energy Storage; Electrical Energy Storage; Tidal Energy; Desalination Using Tidal Energy; Wave Energy; Availability Of Wind Energy And Its Estimation; The Use Of Geothermal Energy In Desalination; Solar Radiation Energy (Fundamentals); High Temperature Solar Concentrators; Medium Temperature Solar Concentrators (Parabolic-Troughs Collectors); Low Temperature Solar Collectors; Solar Photovoltaic Energy Conversion; Photovoltaics; Flat-Plate Collectors; Large Active Solar Systems: Load; Integration Of Solar Pond With Water Desalination; Large Active Solar Systems: Typical Economic Analysis; Evacuated Tube Collectors; Parabolic Trough Collectors; Central Receivers; Configuration, Theoretical Analysis And Performance Of Simple Solar Stills; Development In Simple Solar Stills; Multi-Effect Solar Stills; Materials For Construction Of Solar Stills; Reverse Osmosis By Solar Energy; Solar Distillation; Solar Photochemistry; Photochemical Conversion Of Solar Energy; Availability Of Solar Radiation And Its Estimation; Economics Of Small Solar-Assisted Multipleeffect Seawater Distillation Plants; A Solar-Assisted Sea Water Multiple Effect Distillation Plant 15 Years Of Operating Performance (1985-1999);Mathematical Simulation Of A Solar Desalination Plant; Mathematical Models Of Solar Energy Conversion Systems; Multiple Effect Distillation Of Seawater Using Solar Energy – The Case Of Abu Dhabi Solar Desalination Plant; Solar Irradiation Fundamentals; Water Desalination By Humidification And Dehumidification Of Air, Seawater Greenhouse Process. These volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy and Decision Makers