Discussion Committee:
Dr. Abdelrahim Abusafa - Supervisor
Dr. Afif Hasan- External Examiner
Dr. Imad Ibrik- Internal Examiner
Authors:
Raed Waked Assad Al Qutub
Abstract:
In addition to shortage of fresh water resources, Palestine is suffering from shortages in recoverable commercial energy sources such as crude oil and natural gas. The limited energy sources in Palestine makes renewable energy options such as solar power very attractive, especially for remote areas. This will be extremely important for small-scale applications. Due to prevailing tough conditions, such as low water quality and shortage in supplies, there is a large demand for small water treatment units to obtain drinkable water for life support. In this thesis, an experimental study was conducted to investigate the potential to develop a small water treatment unit using photovoltaic powered reverse osmosis system in Palestine. A testing rig was built, where a reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment system driven by photovoltaic power is used. The RO unit consists of a five-micron sediment filter that is made of polypropylene, two active carbon filters with 1 2 micrometer hole diameter, and one polyamide TFC membrane. The system is mechanically powered, One PV arrays panel (55 p W) which tilted a 45 to the south directly coupling to a DC motor (Diaphragm), that can give pressure up to 1.2 bar and average flow rate 34.68 L/d by using water from Shraish spring located in Nablus city in West Bank The system was operated at variable flow, enabling it to make efficient use of the naturally varying solar resource, with no need of batteries. Different operating conditions of solar radiation pump pressure, feed water temperature, total dissolved solid, trans-membrane pressure, and flow rates were studied. In order to study the affect on permeate flow rate and water quality. It was found that increasing the solar radiation, pump pressure, and feed water temperature has enhanced the permeate flux. Increasing the TDS has reduced the permeate flux, and the water quality was within the international standard to be safe drinking water, on the other hand, A pronounced effect on the permeate water quality occurred when the recovery increased, the fecal was observed for the first time when the recovery changed . Based on the calculations, the estimated cost of water produced by the system is $17/m³.The Price of water produced from a solar-powered system for water treatment cannot be economically viable, only in remote areas and far from conventional energy sources or during catastrophes where drinkable water is not available..