Development of Solar Powered Membrane Desalination Unit

膜脱盐（MD）是一种热驱动的水净化过程，操作温度为40至80 ℃。太阳能MD不仅对水脱盐有吸引力，而且对食品工业，医疗领域以及环境应用（如从水中去除苯和重金属）也有吸引力。该提案旨在建立一个具有太阳能MD的水净化系统。这是一个独立的系统，它结合了浓缩光热（CPV/T）和合适的反渗透泵与智能控制器，以提供饮用水从盐水和/或苦咸水。该系统将被设计为在高达80 ℃的温度下运行，这比传统蒸馏技术的运行温度低。它还在比其他膜工艺更低的静水压力下操作。这将为偏远地区，特别是印度提供具有经济竞争力的技术。该项目的总体目标是开发和展示一种可靠、高效和具有成本效益的MD海水淡化系统，该系统基于集中式光伏和热能（CPV/T）收集器，综合电/热效率超过75%。海水淡化装置的目标效率提高预计在2%至4%之间。在实习期间将进行以下任务：任务1：对太阳能海水淡化技术进行最新文献综述（0-6个月）任务2：针对不同的颗粒组合及其稳定性进行纳米多孔膜的几个实验，如TiO 2，ZnO和Ag样品（0-12个月）任务3：改进现有的通过纳米多孔膜进行传热的集成模型（6-20个月）任务4：建立适用于各种天气条件的MD集成CPV系统实验基地（18-30个月），包括在Penryn Campus的太阳能实验室进行为期三个月的户外性能分析。任务5：数值和实验模型验证和参数分析（30-36个月）任务6：论文写作和博士学位在项目结束之前提交，万岁，并要求修改。

Membrane desalination (MD) is a thermally driven water purification process with an operating temperature of 40 to 80C. The solar-powered MD is attractive not only to water desalination but also to food industries, medical fields, and to environmental applications such as the removal of benzene and heavy metals from water. This proposal intends to build a system with a solar powered MD for water purification. This is a stand-alone system which is combining concentrated photovoltaics thermal (CPV/T) and a suitable reverse osmosis pump with the smart controller to provide potable water from salt water and/or brackish-water. The system will be designed to operate at a temperature of up to 80C which is a lower operating temperature than that of conventional distillation technologies. It also operates under a lower hydrostatic pressure than that of other membrane processes. This will give economically competitive technology in remote locations, especially in India. The overall aim of the project is to develop and demonstrate a reliable, highly efficient and cost-effective MD desalination system based on concentrated photovoltaic and thermal (CPV/T) energy collectors, with a combined electrical/thermal efficiency of over 75%. The targeted efficiency improvement for the desalination unit is predicted to be between 2% to 4%. Following tasks will be undertaken during the studentship:Task 1: Undertake state-of-the-art literature review for solar-powered desalination technologies (0-6 months)Task 2: Carryout several experiments of the nanoporous membrane for different particle combination and its stability, such as TiO2, ZnO, and Ag samples (0-12 months)Task 3: Improve the existing integrated model for heat transfer through the nanoporous membrane (6-20 months)Task 4: Setup an experimental base for MD integrated CPV system for a wide range of weather conditions (18-30 months), including outdoor performance analysis for three months at the Solar Lab, Penryn Campus.Task 5: Numerical and experimental model validation and parametric analysis (30-36 months)Task 6: Thesis writing and Ph.D. submission towards, viva and required amendments to be before the end of the project.