Design and evaluation of a novel ultrasonic desalination system by response surface methodology

چکیده مقاله

Due to the lack of drinking water people have been forced to obtain fresh and renewable water sources. For this reason, desalination systems are being developed around the world. Ultrasound technology is one of the most recent technologies in the desalination industry which improves the evaporation and distillation processes by increasing the mass and heat transfer that causes a reduction in energy consumption. This technology can help to maintain the health and safety of people because of avoiding the use of chemical material. In this study, an ultrasonic desalting system was evaluated in terms of salinity and the amount of produced water through response surface methodology (RSM). It was found that the salinity of incoming water had the highest impact on the produced water salinity level. By raising the temperature of incoming hot air the level of salinity decreased while by increasing the power of ultrasound the amount of produced water increased. The value of optimal experimental variables was obtained by RSM for the desalination system’s operation for one hour, which yielded 200.737 ml water with a salinity level of 545 ppm. In addition to that, the economic analysis of this system was also investigated and it was proved that the operational and energy costs of this system were lower than those of the conventional methods such as RO and MSF. The salinity level in produced water by the desalination system was analyzed and the results matched with the WHO guidelines for drinking water quality. The results revealed that this system is practical and can be scaled up for testing industrial saline water desalination systems.