Solar thermal in Desalination plants
In desalination plants often located in coastal areas with high solar radiation solar heat becomes a viable and renewable alternative to a fossil fuel-driven system. In countries with a high salinity of water, thermal desalination is preferably combined with solar desalination.
This makes solar thermal a win-win solution, to reduce fossil fuel costs and emissions of desalination plants while providing freshwater to a growing population.
SWCC Industrial Case
To meet the huge demand for energy in desalination industries the most common raw material being used is oil.
To produce 1.000 m3 freshwater per day, 10.000 tons of oil per year is required, about 27 tons of oil per day.
With the help of Absolicon technology, the energy required can be supplied with lower greenhouse gas emissions.
As major desalination companies around the world aim for energy-efficient, heat supply options, Absolicon is providing turnkey solutions using solar collectors, heat recovery tanks, and smart controls.
In particular, excellence in desalination industry Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), the largest desalination company in the world, has announced its choice of Absolicon as a partner to begin the journey towards decreasing emissions and green technologies.
The company is a Saudi Government Corporation responsible for the desalination of seawater in the Kingdom, producing 4.6 million cubic meters per day.
Technical Specifications
SWCC has placed an order for a pilot solar collector field. The purpose is to evaluate the patented Absolicon T160 Solar collector for seawater desalination.
Although the high solar insolation of Saudi Arabia makes it perfect for the use of solar thermal to run desalination processes, until now, industrial-scale solar thermal systems have never been implemented for desalination in the region.
The installation and evaluation of the pilot solar collector field is a cost-shared project and includes the installation of a 44 m2 solar collector field.
The ordered pilot will be operated by Desalination Technologies & Research Institute owned by SWCC and the institute will evaluate the performance of the solar thermal field of Absolicon T160 Solar collector in desalination processes, in particular under the exposure to soiling and sand. The performance of the field will be evaluated over 12 months.
SWCC desalination plants aim primarily at supplying areas of the region suffering from water scarcity with freshwater through purification and desalination of seawater.
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