Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Thermal analysis of a hybrid solar desalination system using various shapes T

of cavity receiver: Cubical, cylindrical, and hemispherical
⁎ ⁎
Alireza Rafieia, Ali Sulaiman Alsagrib, , Shuhaimi Mahadzira,e, , Reyhaneh Lonic,
Gholamhassan Najafic, Alibakhsh Kasaeiand
a
Process Design Development Research Group, Center for Process Systems Engineering, Institute of Autonomous Systems, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar,
Perak, Malaysia
b
Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering - Unaizah, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
c
Department of Biosystem Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
d
Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
e
Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this research paper, a hybrid solar desalination system has been employed. The hybrid solar desalination
Solar hybrid desalination system includes photovoltaic thermal panels, solar dish concentrator, and humidification-dehumidification de-
Focal point concentrator salination unit. The humidification-dehumidification desalination unit comprises a closed-air open-water flow
Cavity receiver configuration, and the solar dish concentrators are utilized for water heating. Examination of three different
Photovoltaic
shapes of cavity receiver including cylindrical, cubical and hemispherical, as the solar dish absorbers, was
Humidification dehumidification
carried out. Thermal oil was considered as the solar working fluid. The absorbed solar heat was transferred to the
desalination unit using a heat exchanger. In the hybrid solar desalination, photovoltaic panels were used to
generate the required power. Water flow was considered at the back of the photovoltaic panels for preheating
and improving the photovoltaic efficiency. The principal aim of the current study is to propose hybrid solar
desalination system to generate power, and produce freshwater. The solar desalination's performance was ex-
amined in terms of various solar dish parameters and different humidification-dehumidification desalination
parameters. Examination of various solar dish parameters, including the solar working fluid's inlet temperature
and the cavity shapes, was carried out. Also, some humidification-dehumidification desalination parameters,
including the water to air flow ratio and the water flow rate, were considered. The effects of these four para-
meters were investigated on the water production and the gain output ratio. Based on the results, it was found
that there was an increase in the production of freshwater by raising the water flow rate, decreasing the solar
working fluid inlet temperature and increasing the air flow rate. Besides, there was an increase in the gain output
ratio by increasing the water flow rate, increasing the inlet temperature, and increasing the air flow rate. Finally,
the highest freshwater production and lowest gain output ratio were resulted by the hemispherical cavity re-
ceiver.

1. Introduction
Based on the global environmental and developmental plan for
sustainability, water and energy are two critical resources, since both
are inseparably linked to each other. Power could be harnessed from
water to perform processes like extracting, cooling, and refining.
Likewise, extraction of water is done by making use of energy in pro-
cesses such as capturing, pumping and treating of wastewater, dis-
tribution of water, and desalination. Thus, there is an interconnection
between energy and water on a global scale. A deficiency or
development in any one of the two sectors could cast indirect or direct
impacts on the other one, as well as on the economic development of
societies.
Moreover, considering the alarm by global climate change, it has
become crucial to effectively use renewable sources to produce energy
without damaging the environment further [1]. There are different
kinds of renewable energies such as wind, solar, biomass, etc [2].
Though it has been forecasted that the issue of water scarcity will likely
grow further in majority of the countries by 2025, it is also important to
note that there is abundant solar energy available worldwide [3]. Thus,

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: a.alsagri@qu.edu.sa (A.S. Alsagri), shuham@utp.edu.my (S. Mahadzir).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.111861
Received 14 November 2018; Received in revised form 18 July 2019; Accepted 19 July 2019
0196-8904/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

Nomenclature through the back insulation, W/m2 K

Ut Overall heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to ambient
Solar Modeling through glass cover, W/m2 K
UT Conductive heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to
A Area, m2 water through tedlar, W/m2 K
c2 Constant used in linear equation UtT Overall heat transfer coefficient from glass to tedlar
cp Specific heat capacity, J/kgK through solar cell, W/m2 K
d Receiver tube diameter, m Utw Overall heat transfer coefficient from glass to water
fr Friction factor through solar cell and tedlar, W/m2 K
Ḟ View factor W Tube spacing, m
h Convection coefficient, W/m2K V Volume, m3
h′ Internal heat transfer coefficient, W/m2K
k Heat transfer coefficient Greek symbols
m2 Slope of linear equation
.
m Mass flow rate, kg/s α Absorptivity
Nu Nusselt number β Packing factor
Pr Prandtl number ε Emissivity
Qnet ̇ Net heat transfer rate, W η Efficiency
∗
Q̇ Rate of available solar heat at receiver cavity, W τ Transmissivity
̇
Qloss Loss rate of heat from cavity receiver, W σ Stefan–Boltzmann constant, W/m2 K2
R Thermal resistance, K/W ω Specific humidity
Re Reynolds number
T Temperature, K Subscripts
T∞ Ambient temperature, K
t Time, s 0 glass to ambient
a Air
PV-HDH Desalination Modeling amb Ambient
Ave Average
A ,a Area, m2 bs Back surface of tedlar
b Breadth, m cond Condenser
ahumid surface area of humidifier packing per unit volume, m2/ conduc Due to conduction
m3 conv Due to convection
Cf Conversion factor of the thermal power plant c Solar cell
cp Specific heat capacity, J/kg K eff Effective
D Diameter, m f Fluid
F Area ratio fout Outgoing fluid
F′ Flat plate collector efficiency fw Freshwater
FR Flow rate factor G glass
G Dry air mass flow rate, kg/s humd Humidifier
h Heat transfer coefficient, W/m2K in Inlet
hfg Latent heat enthalpy of water vaporization, J/kg Inlet, in at the inlet
hp1 Penalty factor due to tedlar through glass, solar cell and ins , i insulation
EVA loss Energetic loss
hp2 Penalty factor due to the interface between tedlar and the n Tube section number
working fluid net Net
hT Heat transfer coefficient from back surface to air through outer , out outlet
tedlar, W/m2K rad Due to radiation
H Enthalpy, kJ/kg rec Receiver
I(t) Incident solar irradiation, W/m2 r Reference
K Thermal conductivity, W/m.K s Inner tube surface
Khumid Heat transfer coefficient, kg/m2s T Tedlar
L̇ Length, m th Thermal
L Seawater flow rate, kg/s total Total
m Mass flow rate, kg/s unit Unit of desalination
mfw Freshwater production w Water
Nu Nusselt number, – zero Initial condition in the inlet
Pr Prandtl number,– ∞ Ambient
Qu Rate of useful energy transfer
Re Reynolds number,– Abbreviations
T Temperature, K
Ta Ambient temperature, K HDH Humidification dehumidification
U Global heat transfer coefficient, W/(m2K) PV Photovoltaic
Ub an overall heat transfer coefficient from water to ambient, PVT Photovoltaic-thermal
W/m2 K GOR Gain output ratio
UL Overall heat transfer coefficient from solar cell to ambient

2
A. Rafiei, et al.
to address the global water crisis, employing the desalination techni-
ques, powered by solar energy, could be a promising alternative method
to produce local freshwater [4]. Amongst other effective desalination
technologies in the past decade, the humidification-dehumidification
desalination process has been employed to overcome the water defi-
ciency, because of its advantages in the construction, operation and
maintenance. Considering several desalination technologies, the hu-
midification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination process, using car-
rier gas to desalinate the saline water, has attracted much interest. The
design and operation of the HDH desalination process is simple, and
involves moderate operational and maintenance costs. The HDH desa-
lination process offers flexible capacity for the production of small-scale
dispersed and medium-scale drinking water. Also, solar energy could be
utilized, when the HDH is operated [5].
For the analysis of the solar-HDH desalination properties, the pro-
duction of freshwater is highly related to the water-air flow ratio, the
inlet water temperature, the inlet water flow rate, and the solar ra-
diation. A general mathematical model was proposed by Nafey et al.
[6], and validated experimentally. Based on the results, it was seen that
there was a strong effect on the productivity by the cooling water flow
rate, the air flow rate, and the total solar energy incident through the
day. Negligible impact on the system productivity was observed when
the wind speed and ambient temperature varied. Lavasani et al. [7]
studied the HDH by performing experimental works. The efficiencies of
the condenser, humidifier and solar collector were enhanced by in-
creasing the water flow rate. However, a decrease in the operating
temperature resulted in a negative effect on the performance. Thus, the
saline water's flow rate was kept at a pre-set limit to enhance the per-
formance. Kloppers and Kröger [8] evaluated an HDH water-heated
desalination unit via natural draft air circulation, and found that the
production rate to be highly dependent on the ratio of water-to-air flow
rate. Zubair [9] optimized the solar collector area by linking the water-
to-air flow rate ratio with GOR. Thus, it could be said that the optimum
water-to-air flow rate ratio could be considered as a crucial parameter.
Based on a careful review, it was found that the humidification-
dehumidification units with solar energy have not received the de-
served attention. Yıldırım and Solmus [10] theoretically examined the
performance of a solar-powered humidification-dehumidification de-
salination process by considering several operating units and the design
parameters for the climatic conditions of Antalya, Turkey. A positive
impact was seen during the production of clean water, due to increasing
the feed water mass flow rate and the air mass flow rate. Rajaseeni-
vasan and Srithar [11] experimentally examined a packed-bed humi-
dification-dehumidification, which was combined with a dual-purpose
solar collector. Some semi-circular turbulators, in concave and convex
shapes, were used along with the dual-purpose solar collector to gen-
erate turbulence. Nada et al. [12] examined the performance of an
HDH, and the effects of the altering operating parameters like the
supply air temperature, the mass ratio, and the ambient air wet bulb
temperature were studied. The refrigeration capacity, the production
rate of freshwater, the compressor's power requirement, and the power
savings were the key outputs. A counter-flow heat exchanger was in-
vestigated with a nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector
(DASC). It was utilized as the heat source for the closed air open water
(CAOW) version of humidification-dehumidification desalination. The
system performance was measured via the gained output ratio (GOR),
and it was resulted that the gained output ratio possessed the maximum
value, which relied on the collector outlet temperature [13]. Ghalavand
et al. [14] examined the operational properties of humidifier in a solar-
driven humidification-dehumidification desalination unit, and com-
pression was applied for dehumidification. They also derived a math-
ematical model by examining the impact of the operating conditions of
the humidifier. The study was performed to determine the effect of the
water-to-air mass flow ratio on the performance by altering the water
flow rate along with a constant air flow rate.
Nowadays, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are widely used for
3
Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861
electricity generation [15]. The PV panel could be cooled down to re-
cover the collected heat and enhance the efficiency, by employing a
cooling medium like air or water [16]. The recovered heat could also be
used as a driver for desalination processes, which provides an excellent
choice contributing to a sustainable environment. Thermal energy and
electricity could be co-generated by the hybrid photovoltaic-thermal
units (PV/T). Wang et al. [17] combined cooled photovoltaic modules
with the HDH technology to examine the impact of the process tem-
perature and the convection mode on the level of clean water produc-
tion. Later, Giwa et al. [18] investigated the environmental effect of the
PV-HDH technology. Gabrielli et al. [19] examined the design and
operation of an HDH process, which was combined with PVT modules,
and allowed generating electricity and clean water, simultaneously. The
production of freshwater via a humidification-dehumidification desa-
lination process was enhanced when a concentrating solar collector
(CSP) was used [20].
Currently, four CSP technologies are available as the solar power
tower (SPT), parabolic trough collector (PTC), parabolic dish systems
(PDS), and linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) [21]. A solar dish concentrator
could be defined as a high-temperature device, which allows generating
thermal energy by converting solar energy. A solar dish concentrator
has the benefits of less required area and high efficiency. In general,
two major types of dish absorbers could be identified, as the cavity
receiver and external receiver. Some researchers have taken experi-
mental and numerical approaches to examine the cavity receivers [22].
Loni et al. [23] made use of cylindrical and cubical cavity receivers to
optimize a solar dish concentrator numerically. In their work, optimi-
zation of the cavity‘s structural parameters such as the height, the inner
tube diameter, the aperture area, and the operational parameters was
carried out. A work was performed on a dish concentrator, which in-
cluded a hemispherical cavity receiver, exposed to a windy condition
[24]. In that research, the Nusselt number equations were suggested to
predict the convection heat losses. With regards to the exergy analysis
by Pavlovic et al. [25], numerical investigation of a dish concentrator
with a spiral receiver was conducted. Smooth and corrugated tubes
were considered for the spiral receiver, and they found a higher per-
formance with the corrugated tube. Stefanovic et al. [26] performed a
parameter-based analysis by considering a solar dish concentrator,
which included a spiral receiver. An experimental study was performed
by Pavlovic et al. [27] for a dish concentrator with a spiral receiver. At
the first stage, they utilized water as the solar working fluid in their
setup, to verify the proposed numerical modelling. Then, mathematical
modelling was developed for different solar heat transfer fluids. They
found water to be the best-selected fluid for a low-temperature appli-
cation, while thermal oil was the best for the high-temperature appli-
cation. Loni et al. [28] experimentally and mathematically examined a
dish concentrator by using cylindrical and cubical receivers. The
building of the cavity receivers was carried out with regards to their
optimized obtained dimensions. In another work, Loni et al. [29] in-
vestigated the performance of the solar dish concentrator with cavity
receivers, and oil-based nanofluid was used as the working fluid. They
assessed various nanofluids like silica/oil, alumina/oil and CNT/oil
nanofluids. Using nanofluids has been reported as an effective way for
increasing the performance by many researchers [30].
A solar desalination unit was built by Prado et al. [31] by taking a
dish concentrator as the heat source. For the mentioned dish, an ex-
ternal receiver was installed, and the potential energy was predicted via
a numerical model. The measured experimental data were employed to
validate the numerical model. Chandrashekara and Yadav [32] used a
Scheffler dish, as a desalination heat source. For the absorber case in
the dish concentrator, an external receiver was applied. On the absorber
plate, they used the exfoliated graphite coating, which increased the
thermal stability and efficiency. Alsagri et al. [1] carried out a thermo-
economic calculation breakdown of a solar power-driven supercritical
carbon-dioxide recompression Brayton cycle. Optimization of the
system identified the capacity factor and levelized cost as the decision
A. Rafiei, et al.
variables to obtain the maximum energy production per unit cost.
Mehrpooya et al. [33] designed a hybrid solar desalination unit, which
consisted of a dish concentrator and a multi-effect desalination process.
The overall energy efficiency was found to be 66.05%. In another study,
a solar desalination was assessed by Srithar et al. [34], by using a dish
concentrator as the heat source. The adjustment of the dish con-
centrator was conducted manually in one direction. In other work, a
multi-generation system was evaluated by Javidmehr et al. [35] for
power generation and production of heat and freshwater. A dish con-
centrator was used as the heat source for the desalination process, and
an organic Rankine cycle was used for power generation. Omara and
Eltawil [36] investigated a new solar desalination unit including a dish
concentrator. They experimentally built and assessed the solar desali-
nation system, and found that the performance was enhanced via pre-
heating. Also, Prado et al. [31] made use of solar energy in the desa-
lination of saline water for domestic use.
Based on the literature, one can see that HDH desalination is op-
timal and promising for the production of small-scale, decentralized
Fig. 1. (a) A schematic of the hybrid system, (b) a cross-sectional view of the components of the integrated thermal system.
4
Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861
freshwater [37]. According to the aforementioned literature review,
there is no report, related to the application of dish concentrator with
cavity receiver for desalination. Cavity receivers are introduced as ef-
ficient receivers for achieving higher thermal performance; so, there is a
gap in the literature, related to coupling desalination with cavity re-
ceivers. Therefore, cavity receivers were applied as the heat source of
desalination, as a novel and interesting subject in the current research.
Also, in the current study, the examination of hybrid solar desalination
was carried out. The hybrid solar desalination included photovoltaic-
thermal modules, dish collectors and humidification-dehumidification
desalination units. Dish concentrators with various shapes of cavity
receivers were used to improve the desalination performance. Three
shapes of cavity receivers, as cylindrical, cubical and hemispherical
were used. In the hybrid solar desalination unit, the requested elec-
tricity was provided by the PV panels. The current study's key aim was
the thermal investigation of the hybrid solar desalination to yield the
highest efficiency. The solar desalination's performance was evaluated
by altering different solar dish parameters and PV-HDH parameters.
A. Rafiei, et al.
2. Methods
In this section, a description of the examined system is presented.
Also, the mathematical formulation of the developed model is pre-
sented in detail.
2.1. General description
In this study, a hybrid solar desalination containing dish collectors,
PV panel, and HDH was considered. Three shapes of cavity receivers
were analyzed, and PV panels were used for providing the requested
electricity in the hybrid solar desalination. Fig. 1 displays a schematic
for the hybrid solar-HDH system. In the hybrid solar desalination plant,
two key components are being employed. The first one refers to the
solar heating loop, which involves a heat exchanger and a dish con-
centrator. The second one refers to the desalination module, which uses
an air HDH distillation to convert the saline water into freshwater. The
feeding of the seawater is preheated in the PV panel, and a heat ex-
changer is used to transfer the absorbed heat by the solar system to the
seawater. A humidifier is used for spraying the heated seawater. To-
wards the dehumidifier shell, flow of the moisture-saturated humidifier
outlet air occurs. In the dehumidifier unit, seawater was used for
cooling the humid air to a saturation point. This makes sure that the
saturated vapour in the air is available for partial condensation for the
production of freshwater. The dehumidified air is recycled in the hu-
midifier to continue the cycle. The descriptions of the unit‘s main
components are presented as followings:
• The components of the HDH unit (see Fig. 1) have been sized, while
the optimum specifications of the solar collectors are shown in
Table 1. The water production is varied from 12 kg/h to 19 kg/h,
which covers the range of seawater flow rate changed in the range of
0.14–0.42 kg/s. Therefore, the capacity of this unit is in the range of
12–19 kg/h for the cross-section of the desalination unit with a
squared area of 1.0 × 1.0 m2.
• In order to efficiently use the latent heat of water condensation, the
condenser area must be large; so, a finned heat exchanger was
chosen. The dimensions of the condensation tower are 3.75 m
height, 1 m length, and 1 m width. A fin pitch of 5 mm (pitchfin), a fin
thickness of 0.5 mm (thickfin), an external diameter of the tubes as
7 mm (do), an internal diameter of the tubes as 5 mm (di), and a tube
pitch of 20 mm (pitchz, pitchy) were chosen. The total heat exchange
area of the condenser is 150 m2, and the condenser is crossed by cold
water and hot humid air stream. The incoming feed water cools the
hot humid air. On the other side, condensing the hot humid air
occurs on the surfaces of the heat exchanger.
• Another component of the desalination unit is the humidifying
tower. Its dimensions are 1.5 m height, 1 m length, and 1 m width.
The humidifier is a typical cooling tower with wooden slats packing:
a wooden sheet with the thickness of 2 mm (thicksheet), and a sheet
pitch of 50 mm (pitchx, pitchz) were chosen. The total heat exchange
area of humidifier is 30 m2. In the humidifier, energy and mass
exchanges take place at the same time. The wooden sheets are
wetted by seawater. A counter flow cold air stream is blown inside
the fill, allowing the air to rise the temperature and evaporate water
from the wooden packing.
• A 187 W pump is used for the cooling water, and a 45 W fan is used
to circulate the air through the HDH desalination system. The en-
ergy requirements for the mechanical equipment are considered to
be obtained from the energy, generated by the PV. The cooling effect
of the moving water would ensure the removal of thermal energy
from the PV. The thermal energy, recovered from the PV panel,
would provide the removal of up to 78 W/m2 of heat available to the
PV at the solar irradiance of 800 W/m2. This recovery means that
significant heat could be captured as preheating seawater in the PV.
Therefore, the thermal energy for water preheating in the PV-HDH
5
Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861
for 3.162 m2 of PV was obtained as 1280 W from the technical
modelling. While an electric power production of 274 W could be
achieved. Also, a total electrical power 232 W, required by the
system for flowing water and air, was obtained. Therefore, a net
positive electrical power production of 42 W could be achieved by
the system.
• A concentrator dish with a diameter of 1.8 m, reflectance of 84%,
and three shapes of cavity receiver including cylindrical, cubical,
and hemispherical were considered for this investigation. The heat
input to the water is varied in the range 30–15 kW, which is pro-
vided by using 20 cavity receivers for the solar irradiance of 800 W/
m2. Optimum dimensions of the cavity receivers were used for the
simulation, as reported in Table 2. A schematic diagram of the hy-
brid PVT system is shown in Fig. 1b, which consists a PV/T and an
insulated storage tank. The storage tank is connected to the PV
module through insulated pipes. A water pump with a controller is
provided between the PV/T system and the storage tank to circulate
the water.
It should be mentioned if the water temperature in the storage tank
Tw becomes higher than Tin, the photovoltaic/thermal system could
have a negative effect on the solar energy absorption (see Fig. 1b).
Under this condition, the pump should be shut down. In a conventional
forced-circulation solar hot water system, a DT (differential-tempera-
ture) controller controls the pump by sensing the temperature differ-
ence between the tank and the exit of the collector. The DC pump was
directly controlled by a DT controller (setting 7 °C ON and 3 °C OFF),
using a PC for the experiment.
The current research was conducted in five steps as following:
- In the first step, the thermal model of the cavity receivers was de-
veloped based on the energy balance equations and thermal heat
losses. The calculated heat fluxes, by the SolTrace software, were
used as the input of the thermal model.
- The thermal performance of the solar system with cavity receivers
was estimated by solving the developed energy balance equation
and the working fluid internal heat transfer.
- The calculated heat gain for each cavity shape was used as the heat
source of the desalination unit.
- The photovoltaic system was simulated for producing electrical
energy, and preheating the outlet water of the dehumidifier unit.
- The mathematical models of the heat and mass exchange equations
were solved for humidification and dehumidification processes in
the HDH desalination system.
A flowchart of the calculation process is presented in Fig. 2.
2.2. Specifications of the cavity receivers
In the current study, a solar dish concentrator with three different
shapes of cavity receiver was numerically evaluated. The schematics of
the three cavity-receivers shapes, i.e. hemispherical, cubical, and cy-
lindrical are illustrated in Fig. 3a-c, respectively. Note that the nu-
merical methodology for using pure thermal oil in the cylindrical, cu-
bical, and hemispherical cavity receivers have been optimized in Refs.
[23,39,24], respectively. In this research, the optimized cubical, cy-
lindrical, and hemispherical cavity receivers are examined as the heat
Table 1
The parameters of condenser and humidifier, taken from Franchini and
Perdichizzi [38]
Heat exchange Surface (m2) Depth (m) Width (m) Height (m)
Humidifier 300 1.0 1.0 1.5
Condenser 1500 1.0 1.0 3.75
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

Table 2 cavity receivers. The energy balance equation was developed based on
The specifications of the cavity receivers. the heat flux, received at the cavity walls, and the thermal heat losses.
Shapes Three kinds of heat losses including convection, conduction, and ra-
diation were assumed. Fig. 3 depicts different heat losses, which are
Hemispherical Cubical Cylindrical assumed during the cavity‘s thermal modelling. The energy balance
equation could be presented as followings [40]:
Concentrator diameter (m) 1.8 1.8 1.8
Focal distance (m) 1.351 1.351 1.351 ∗
̇ = Q̇ − Qloss
̇ , rad − Qloss
̇ , conv − Qloss
̇ , conduc
Qnet (1)
Paraboloid rim angle 36.84° 36.84° 36.84°
∗
Total aperture area (m2) 2.545 2.545 2.545 In this equation, Q̇ (W ) is the received heat flux by the cavity walls,
Outer diameter of the cavity tube (mm) 10 10 10
which was calculated by the SolTrace software. As it is seen in Fig. 3,
Inner diameter of the cavity tube (mm) 9 9 9 ̇ , conduc (W ) , as the conduction heat loss, is a summation of the con-
Qloss
Tube coils in the cavity 10 12 14
Inner diameter of the cavity, Din (m) 0.140 – 0.140 duction heat losses from the insulation of the cavity and the convection
Outer diameter of the cavity, Dout (m) 0.160 – 0.160 heat losses from the outer side of the cavity. Mineral wool with a
Outer length of the cubical cavity – 0.145 – thickness of 2 cm was applied in this simulation [41]. The conduction
aperture, aout (m)
heat losses can be calculated as [40]:
Inner length of the cubical – 0.125 –
cavityaperture, ain (m) ̇ , conduc = Arec (Ts, ave − T∞)/ Rtotal
Qloss
Cavity depth, h (m) 0.07 0.125 0.14
= (Ts, ave − T∞)/(1/ houter Arec + tins / kins Arec ) (2)

sources of the desalination unit. In other words, performance of the The convection heat losses from the inner side of the cavity re-
̇ , conv ) were calculated by Eq. (3) [40]:
ceivers (Qloss
desalination system with three shapes of cavity receivers is compared
together. ̇ , conv = htotal Arec (Ts − T∞)
Qloss (3)

where htotal is the heat transfer coefficient of the inner side of the cavity
2.3. Optical modelling of the cavity receivers receivers. The radiation heat loss from the inner side of the cavity re-
ceivers is expressed as [42]:
The methodology of optical simulation of the cavity receivers is
discussed in this section. The cavity receivers are optically investigated ̇ , rad = hrad Arec (Ts − T∞)
Qloss (4)
with a ray-tracing software, SolTrace. The sun-shape is assumed as a
where hrad is the heat transfer coefficient of the inner side of the cavity
pillbox in SolTrace. Also, the dish‘s optical error and the tracking error
receivers.
of the investigated system are considered as 10 mrad and 1°, respec-
In the current simulation, the cavity inner tube was divided into
tively. The absorptivity of the cavity receiver tube and the dish re-
smaller lengths as different elements. Consequently, an energy balance
flectivity are also accounted by the SolTrace. Note that each coil of the
equation was developed for each element along the cavity tubes, as
receiver has been defined separately in the optical analysis for the heat
followings [43]:
flux distribution of the hemispherical cavity receiver (see Fig. 4). As it is
N
shown in Fig. 4, the heat flux distribution of the solar irradiance is
higher on one side of the hemispherical cavity receiver. This is due to
̇ , n = Qṅ − An εn σ (Ts, n 4 ) + An
Qnet ∑ Fṅ −j εj σ (Ts,n 4) − An εn σFṅ −∞ T∞4 − An
j=1
the assumed tracking error of 1° in the optical simulation of the
An
hemispherical cavity receiver in SolTrace. Similar distributions are (m2 Ts, n + c2) − (Ts, n − T∞)
R cond (5)
found for the cubical and cylindrical cavity receivers [17–18].
where
2.4. Thermal modelling of the cavity receivers N
̇ , rad, n = An εn σ (Ts, n 4 ) + An
Qloss ∑ Fṅ −j εj σ (Ts,n 4) − An εn σFṅ −∞ T∞4
An energy balance equation was used for thermal modelling of the j=1 (6)

• Thermal modeling of the cavity receivers was developed based on the

1 energy balance equation, and thermal heat losses.

• Thermal performance of the solar system with cavity receivers was

estimated by solving the developed energy balance equation, and the
2 working fluid`s internal heat transfer equation.

• The calculated heat gain for each cavity shape was used as the heat
3 source of the desalination system.

• The photovoltaic system was simulated for producing electrical energy,

4 and preheating the outlet water of the dehumidifier unit.

• The HDH desalination model was solved to investigate the effect of the
working conditions of the system on the water production and the gain
5 output ratio of the system.

Fig. 2. A flowchart of the calculation process.

6
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

Fig. 3. Schematic of three investigated cavities including a) hemispherical, b) cubical, and c) cylindrical [39].

On the other side, the internal convection in the solar working fluid
could be evaluated as followings [40]:
̇ , n = h·An (Ts, n − Tf , n )
Qnet (9)

where temperature of the solar working fluid could be calculated by

[40]:

Tout , n − Tin, n ̇ ,n
Qnet
Tf , n = Tin, n + = Tin, n +
2 2·cp,0 (10)

By using Eqs. (9) and (10), the internal convection of the solar
working fluid could be calculated as followings [40]:

⎛Ts, n − ∑
̇ ,n = ⎝
Qnet
i=1
n−1
( ̇ ,i
Qnet
ṁ nf cp, nf )−T inlet ,0 ⎞
⎠

( 1
hinner An
+
1
)
2ṁ f cp, f (11)

where hinner is the heat transfer coefficient, which is calculated ac-

cording to Eq. (12) [40]:
Nuinner knf
hinner =
dtube (12)

Also, the Nusselt number could be estimated as [40]:

Nuinner =
( ). Re. Pr
fr
8
fr
Fig. 4. Optical analysis of the hemispherical cavity receiver (for the dish dia- 1 + 12.8. . (Pr 0.68 − 1) (13)
8
meter of 1.9 m and dish rim angle of 50.82°) [39].
The friction factor ( fr ) of the copper tube, as the cavity tube, is
̇ , conv, n = An (m2 Ts, n + c2)
Qloss determined by Eq. (14) [40]:
(7)
fr = (0.79lnRe − 1.64)−2 (14)
̇ , conduc, n An
Qloss = (Ts, n − T∞) ̇ , n ) and the cavity surface temperature
Finally, the heat gain (Qnet
R cond (8)
(Ts, n ) of each element could be calculated by solving Eqs. (5) and (11)
In these equations, An is the element area, εn is the element emis- by the Newton–Raphson Method. The environmental condition, which
sivity, σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, Fȧ − b is the view factor of was assumed during the thermal analysis of the solar system, is pre-
element a to b, Ts, n is the element surface temperature, T∞ is the ambient sented in Table 3.
temperature, m2 andc2 are constant parameters related to the internal
convection coefficient, and R cond is the thermal resistance of the ex- 2.5. Photovoltaic panel cooling (water heater)
ternal convection and conduction heat losses of each element. It should
∗
be noted that Qṅ is the received heat flux of each element tube, which The PV panel components and the water flow at the back side of the
was calculated by the SolTrace software. PV panel are shown in Fig. 5. The gap of water behind the PV module

7
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

Table 3 and the heat exchanger. The second one is the desalination module
Thermal modelling parameters. using an air HDH distillation to generate freshwater from saline water.
Parameter Value The seawater, leaving the dehumidifier, is fed to the PV panel for
preheating. The absorbed solar energy by the dish collectors is trans-
Wind speed (m/s) 2.0 ferred to the preheated seawater using a heat exchanger. Subsequently,
Solar beam irradiance (W/m2) 800
the water exiting from the heat exchanger, is sprayed onto the humi-
Ambient temperature (°C) 20.0
difier. The moisture-saturated humidifier outlet air flows to the dehu-
midifier shell. This air is dehumidified by cooling down to the satura-
tion point, using the cooling water (seawater) which flows through the
tubes in the dehumidifier. This process ensures the partial condensation
of the saturated vapor in the air to produce freshwater. The cycle can be
continued by the recirculation of the dehumidified air to the humidifier.
The performance parameters, the detailed models of the main compo-
nents, and the solution methods of the HDH are discussed here. The two
main performance parameters of the desalination system, including
water production and gain output ratio, are defined below in details:

i Freshwater production

The freshwater production can be given as [44]:

Fig. 5. Components of PV panel for recovery of the thermal energy. mfw = G. (ω2 − ω1) (21)

where ω2 (kgvapor/kgdry air) represents the absolute humidity of the air at

was used for flowing the seawater to cool down the PV panel, by taking the dehumidifier inlet and ω1(kgvapor/kgdry air) represents the absolute
the heat from the PV panel in the water gap. humidity of the air at the dehumidifier outlet.
Eqs. (15), (16) and (18) give the temperatures of various PV panel
parts as followings: ii Gain output ratio [44]

(i) The temperature of the black absorber plate under the glass-glass PV The HDH efficacy, known as the GOR, is defined as followings:
module is given as [12]:
mfw hfg
Tbs =
hp1 (ατ )eff I (t ) + UtT Ta + hT Tw GOR =
UtT + hT (15) Qu (22)

where hfg (J/kg) indicates the latent heat enthalpy of water vaporiza-
(ii) The temperature of the PV panel (glass-glass) could be given as [9]: tion.
τG [α c βc + αT (1 − βc )] I (t ) − ηc I (t ) βc + Ut Ta + UT Tbs The models for the key parameters in the HDH are shown in this
Tc = section. Also, the following five equations are used to describe the heat
Ut + UT (16)
balance and the rate of heat transfer in the humidifier and dehumidifier
The PV module’s temperature-dependent electrical efficiency could [38].
be obtained as followings:
T5 + T6
ηc = η0 [1 − 0.0045(Tc − 25)] (17) LCpw (T2 − T1) + 0.5Uloss Aunit ⎛ + Tamb⎞ = G (H6 − H5)
⎝ 2 ⎠ (23)

(iii) The temperature of water flowing through the pipe under the glass- ⎛ (T − T2) − (T5 − T1) ⎞
glass PV module can be calculated using [9]: LCpw (T2 − T1) = Ucond Acond ⎜ 6
⎜ T −T
ln T6 − T2 ⎟⎟
⎝ 5 1 ⎠ (24)
Tw _out
hp1 hp2 (ατ )eff I (t ) ⎡ F ′Ac UL ⎞ ⎤ T5 + T6
=⎡ + Ta ⎤ ⎢1 − exp ⎜⎛− LCpw (T3 − T4 ) + 0.5Uloss Aunit ⎛ + Tamb⎞ = G (H6 − H5)
⎢ UL ⎥
⎟
⎥ + Tw _in ⎝ 2 ⎠ (25)
⎣ ⎦⎣ ⎝ mCp ⎠ ⎦
It should be mentioned that position of all of the number subscripts
F ′Ac UL ⎞
exp ⎜⎛− ⎟ were determined in Fig. 1a. According to the model of the humidifier, a
⎝ mCp ⎠ (18 mass transfer coefficient must be measured, and the wetting capability
where Tw _out shows the water temperature at the PV module outlet. The must be preserved. The coefficient of mass transfer, k, gives the hu-
absorbed heat by the PV module could be defined as followings: midification rate based on the balance Eq. (25), and the average k value
is associated with the inlet and outlet properties.
Qu = mCp (Tw _out − Tw _in ) (19)
After substituting the expression for Tw _out from Eq. (18): ⎡ (H − H6) − (H4 − H5) ⎤
G (H6 − H5) = KaV ⎢ 3 H −H ⎥
Qu = Ac FR {hp1 hp2 (ατ )eff I (t ) − UL (Tw _in − Ta)} ⎢ ln H3 − H6 ⎥
(20) ⎣ 4 5 ⎦ (26)

where (ατ )eff = τG {βc+αT (1 − βc ) − ηc βc }
Some other relations for the presented equations are given in the
Appendix.
2.6. Modelling of solar humidification-dehumidification desalination
Two main sub-systems are used in the hybrid solar desalination
plant. The first is the solar heating loop, including the dish concentrator
where a is the surface area per unit volume of the humidification
column, V is the volume of the humidification column, and H is the
enthalpy of the fluid at presented point in Fig. 1. Nawayseh et al. [45]
introduced the concept of the geometry of humidifier. The value of
k = 0.021 kg/m2s is obtained from the literature [38], and the humi-
difier packing surface area is 300 m2.
The Dittus-Boelter equation could be applied for the water side to
measure the heat transfer coefficient (h) in the condenser:

8
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

4 0.7500
Nu = 0.023. Re w5 .Pr0.4
w (27)

For the air side, the following correlation is used [38]: 0.7000

Thermal Efficiency
0.29. ka 1
ha = . Re0.633
a .Pra3 . F −0.17 0.6500
d (28)

where d is the heat exchanger tubes’ external diameter, and F is the area 0.6000
ratio between the air side and the water side.
0.5500 Experimental Results
Numerical Results
3. Validation with experimental results
0.5000
09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:15 11:45 12:30 13:00 13:30 13:45 14:00 14:30
In order to ensure the accuracy of the obtained numerical model, Time (hh:mm)
the developed numerical model was validated by the existing data.
Fig. 6. Comparison between the experimental (29th September 2016, Tehran,
Iran) and numerical results of the thermal efficiency for the hemispherical
3.1. Solar modeling cavity receiver.

The experimental data of a hemispherical cavity receiver on a dish

14.00%
concentrator was used for validation of the model. The results of the

(ηth,Ex-ηth,Num)/ηth,Ex
experiment, conducted on 29th September 2016 [30], are compared the 12.00%
numerical results in Table 4. For numerical modelling, the real ambient
10.00%
conditions were used. The deviation of thermal efficiency ranges be-
tween 0.01% and 11.60% with a mean deviation of 3.34%, which 8.00%
shows the validity of the developed model. It could be seen that the
6.00%
average of the deviation was accepted for an accuracy model. The ex-
perimental and numerical results of the thermal efficiency of the 4.00%
hemispherical are compared in Fig. 6. The deviation variation during
2.00%
the day is depicted in Fig. 7. The cavity receiver was experimentally
tested using thermal oil as the solar working fluid. At noon, when the 0.00%
09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:15 11:45 12:30 13:00 13:30 13:45 14:00 14:30
cavity receiver is at steady-state, the deviation is more acceptable. In
Time (hh:mm)
this modelling, it was assumed that the solar system was under steady-
state condition, too. Consequently, the validation of the solar system Fig. 7. Variation of the deviation between experimental and numerical results
based on the reported experimental data could be acceptable. It should of the thermal efficiency.
be mentioned that the validation was conducted based on the reported
experimental data. On the other side, the experimental parameters were 3.3. Humidification-dehumidification desalination modeling
measured at the time steps of 15 to 30 min. Consequently, the valida-
tion was done based on these time steps, as well. The current simulation of the HDH system has been validated
through a comparison with Franchini and Perdichizzi [38] who in-
vestigated a solar-driven HD desalination. Fig. 9 shows the comparison
3.2. Photovoltaic modeling
of the freshwater production versus the seawater temperature (°C) be-
tween the calculated results and the reported results of [38]. It could be
The validation of the present simulation results has been done with
observed from Fig. 9 that there is a good agreement between the cal-
Tiwari and Sodha [9]. The data such as the design parameters, solar
culated results and the reported results by Franchini and Perdichizzi
radiation, and the ambient temperature are considered to be same as
[38].
[9]. The design data of Table 5 have been used to evaluate the PV cell
temperature (Tc). The temperature of the PV module, Tc, was calculated
by Eq. (16). Furthermore, the validation results are presented in Fig. 8, 4. Results and discussion
which are very close to the results available in the literature [9], with
1.78% deviation. In this section, the thermal performance of the dish concentrator is

Table 4
Validation of the developed thermal model with experimental results.
Time (hh:mm) Tin (°C) Tout (°C) Isun (W/m2) Ts, top (°C) Ts, side (°C) Tamb (°C) Vwind (m/s) V (ml/s) Experimental Numerical Deviation
ηth ηth

9:30 41.10 118.10 752.82 150.00 101.00 26.90 1.20 10.00 0.6259 0.6793 7.87%
10:00 40.00 120.40 774.27 151.00 124.00 27.80 0.50 10.00 0.6357 0.6802 6.54%
10:30 51.23 135.89 790.79 160.00 127.00 28.00 1.30 10.00 0.6600 0.6764 2.43%
11:00 46.38 133.82 805.02 160.00 106.00 29.00 0.80 10.00 0.6707 0.6779 1.05%
11:15 47.35 137.06 824.22 170.00 112.00 29.00 1.20 10.00 0.6708 0.6768 0.89%
11:45 43.77 137.26 849.04 199.00 131.00 31.30 1.00 10.00 0.6807 0.6774 0.48%
12:30 42.27 137.75 859.22 226.00 123.00 31.60 1.60 10.00 0.6801 0.6770 0.47%
13:00 43.20 135.43 841.63 273.00 160.00 31.50 1.40 10.00 0.6773 0.6773 0.01%
13:30 46.10 136.73 833.46 283.00 177.00 31.00 0.50 10.00 0.6738 0.6779 0.61%
13:45 47.86 135.65 810.56 276.00 202.00 31.00 2.10 10.00 0.6714 0.6764 0.74%
14:00 56.00 134.30 774.60 292.00 220.90 30.00 0.60 10.00 0.6267 0.6766 7.38%
14:30 46.80 118.00 728.86 278.00 199.00 30.00 2.20 10.00 0.5992 0.6778 11.60%

9
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

Table 5 Hemispherical Cylindrical Cubical

1500
Design parameters of PV/T collector for validation [9].
Parameter Value Parameter Value 1300

Cavity Heat Gain (W)

2
Ac (m ) 0.516 Li (m) 0.05
Average mass flow rate (kg/s) 0.016 LT (m) 0.0005 1100
b 0.467 Mw (kg) 45
Cw (J/kg K) 4190 Ub (W/m2 K) 0.62
900
hi (W/m2 K) 5.8 Ut (W/m2 K) 9.24
hp1 0.8772 UT (W/m2 K) 66
hp2 0.9841 UtT (W/m2 K) 8.1028 700
hT (W/m2 K) 500 (UA)T (W/m2 K) 0.44
Kc (W/m K) 0.039 V (m/s) 1
500
KG (W/m K) 1.0 αc 0.85
313.15
Ki (W/m K) 0.035 αT 0.50
Inlet Temperature (K)
KT (W/m K) 0.033 βc 0.90
L (m) 1.105 ηc 0.09 Fig. 10. Variation of cavity heat gain versus the inlet temperature of oil for
Lc (m) 0.0003 τG 0.95
hemispherical, cylindrical, and cubical cavity receivers.
LG (m) 0.003

0.7
Hemispherical Cylindrical Cubical
0.65

0.6

Thermal Efficiency
0.55

0.5

0.45

0.4

0.35

0.3
313.15
Inlet Temperature (K)

Fig. 11. Variation of thermal efficiency versus the inlet temperature of oil for
hemispherical, cylindrical, and cubical cavity receivers.

desalination performance is reported.

Fig. 8. Comparison of the hourly variation of solar cell temperature between
the calculated and the reported results by Tiwari.
4.1. Solar dish concentrator
Figs. 10 and 11 demonstrate the cavity heat gain variation as well as
the thermal efficiency versus variation of oil’s inlet temperature for
three kinds of the cavity receivers. As confirmed based on Figs. 10 and
11, the hemispherical cavity receiver's heat gain as well as its thermal
efficiency demonstrated the highest amounts, compared to the two
other cavity shapes. Higher thermal performance was found with the
cubical cavity receiver, compared to the cylindrical cavity receiver.

4.2. Photovoltaic-humidification-dehumidification desalination

In this part, the performance of the desalination system, including

freshwater, and gain output ratio under variation of water flow rate and
the ratio of water to air flow rate will be reported.

4.2.1. Freshwater production

Fig. 9. Comparison of freshwater production versus seawater temperature be-
tween the calculated results and the reported results by Franchini and
Perdichizzi [38]
presented. Then, the performance of the desalination system, including
the freshwater production, and the gain output ratio are presented.
Finally, the influence of different shapes of cavity receiver on the
Fig. 12 demonstrates the change in the freshwater production with
varying the water flow rate by employing various ratios of the water to
air flow rate. The dish concentrator with hemispherical cavity receiver
was used as the desalination heat source. Thermal oil with the inlet
temperature of 313.2 K was considered as the solar heat transfer fluid.
By considering the solar beam radiation of 800 W/m2 , evaluation of the
hybrid desalination system was carried out. As it is observed in Fig. 12,
higher production of freshwater was achieved with decreasing the flow
rate of water, and increasing the air flow rate. This issue is because of
increasing the water flow rate leads to a difference between the dry and
wet-bulb temperatures of the exiting air. Besides, the water to air flow
rate ratio was decreased to improve the production of freshwater.

10
A. Rafiei, et al.
20
19
Freshwater Production (kg/h)
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
L(kg/s)
L/G=1.5 L/G=1.25 L/G=1
Fig. 12. Variation of freshwater production under the variation of water flow
rate, for different L/G at the oil inlet temperature of 313.2 K.
Similarly, an increase in the flow rate of the air resulted in increasing
the freshwater production at a constant flow rate of water. This result
could be attributed to the fact that the air transports a larger quantity of
vapour to the dehumidifier. Also, other researchers have demonstrated
similar results [46,47]. It is concluded that the highest freshwater
production, equal to 19 kg/h, is observed by the water flow rate of
0.42 kg/s, and the ratios of the water to air flow rate as 0.5.
Fig. 13 presents the freshwater production versus the variation of
solar working fluid inlet temperature for different amounts of water
flow rate. The ratio of water to air flow rate was assumed as 1.5. Also,
the dish concentrator with hemispherical cavity receiver was used as
the desalination heat source. Solar beam radiation of 800 W/m2 was
considered for the analysis. As it is seen, there was is decrease in the
production of freshwater with increasing the oil’s inlet temperature.
This result could be attributed to the decrease in the cavity heat gain
with increasing the oil’s inlet temperature (see Fig. 10). With this re-
gard, other researchers have demonstrated similar results [10,48,49].
Based on the calculated results, the highest amount of freshwater, equal
to 15.64 kg/h, was produced for the inlet temperature of thermal oil
equal to 313 K, and the water flow rate equal to 0.42 kg/s.
4.2.2. Gain output ratio
Fig. 14 shows the changes in the desalination’s GOR with different
water flow rates (L) for L/Gs. Thermal oil with the inlet temperature of
313.2 K was used as the solar working fluid. As it is observed in Fig. 14,
a raise in the GOR is seen with increasing the water flow rate. Also,
based on Fig. 14, an increase in the GOR of desalination is observed
with decreasing the ratio of L/G. Thus, higher amounts of GOR could be
achieved by increasing the amount of the air flow rate. Due to this
matter, higher heat and mass transfer was resulted. Similar results have
been reported by other researches [50]. As concluded by Fig. 14, the
highest gain output ratio, equal to 0.904, was calculated with the water
flow rate of 0.42 kg/s and the ratio of water to air flow rate of 0.5.
Fig. 15 demonstrates the changes in the gain output ratio versus the
variation of the fluid inlet temperature for different amounts of water
flow rate. The ratio of water to air flow rate was assumed as 1.5. As it is
seen in Fig. 15, there was an increase in the gain output ratio with
raising the working fluid’s inlet temperature. Moreover, gain output
ratio improved with increasing the water flow rate. Other researchers
have also presented similar results. The highest amount of the gain
output ratio as 0.820 was concluded under the inlet temperature of
573.15 K, and the water flow rate of 0.42, for the hemispherical cavity
receiver.
4.3. Comparison of different cavity receivers
In this section, performance of the desalination system including
freshwater, and gain output ratio are presented. Different shapes of the
Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861
cavity receiver including hemispherical, cylindrical, and cubical were
investigated as the desalination heat source.
4.3.1. Freshwater production
Fig. 16 shows the change in the freshwater production versus the
variation of water flow rate, L, with a constant water to air flow ratio as
0.5. The effect of three cavity receivers was examined in terms of
freshwater production, at the working fluid's inlet temperature of
313.2 K. As it is seen in Fig. 16, the hemispherical cavity receiver
generated the highest amount of freshwater. Also, the cubical cavity
receiver presented the highest freshwater production. A higher cavity
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
heat gain was associated with the hemispherical cavity receiver, com-
pared to the cubical and cylindrical receivers (see Fig. 10). Besides, the
L/G=0.75 L/G=0.5 highest cavity heat gain was achieved by the cubical cavity receiver. On
the other side, increasing the water flow rate resulted in a higher
freshwater production. This issue is due to the higher amount of va-
porization rate with increasing water flow rate within the humidifier,
which resulted in a higher amount of freshwater production. Other
studies, like [51], have also reported similar results. Based on the
presented results in Fig. 16, the highest amount of freshwater, equal to
19 kg/h, was achieved for the hemispherical cavity receiver at the
water flow rate of 0.42 kg/s.
Fig. 17 shows the variation of freshwater production versus the
changes in the solar working fluid inlet temperature for various shapes
of cavity receiver. The ratio of water to air flow rate was assumed as
0.5, and the water flow rate was considered constant at 0.42. As it is
presented in Fig. 17, for all the evaluated cavity receivers, there was a
decrease in the production of freshwater with increasing the inlet
temperature of the working fluid. For all the examined cavity receivers,
the reason could be the reduction of the cavity heat gain due to in-
creasing the inlet temperature of the working fluid (see Fig. 10). As a
result, the highest amount of freshwater, equal to 19 kg/h, was
achieved for the hemispherical cavity receiver at the oil inlet tem-
perature of 313 K.
4.3.2. Gain output ratio
Fig. 18 shows the variation of the desalination’s gain output ratio
under the changes in the water flow rate (L), for various forms of the
cavity receivers at a constant ratio of L/G = 0.5. Thermal oil was used
as the working fluid, with the inlet temperature of 313.2 K. As Fig. 18
shows, the desalination's gain output ratio presented the highest
amount for the cylindrical cavity receiver. Furthermore, the solar de-
salination system resulted in the lowest gain output ratio when the
hemispherical cavity receiver was the solar absorber. The reason is that
the highest absorbed heat was calculated using the hemispherical cavity
16.5
16
Freshwater Production (kg/h)
15.5
15
14.5
14
13.5
13
12.5
12
300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Oil Inlet Temperature (ºC)
L=0.14 L=0.21 L=0.28 L=0.35 L=0.42
Fig. 13. Variation of freshwater production under the variation of the working
fluid inlet temperature for different water flow rates at L/G = 1.5.
11
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

950 20
900 19

Freshwater production (kg/h)

850 18
Gain output ratio*10-3

800
17
750
16
700
15
650
14
600
13
550
12
500
300 350 400 450 500 550 600
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
L(kg/s)
Oil Inlet Temperature (ºC)

L/G=1.5 L/G=1.25 L/G=1 L/G=0.75 L/G=0.5 Hemispherical Cylindrical Cubical

Fig. 14. Variation of the gain output ratio of desalination under the variation of Fig. 17. Variation of freshwater production under the variation of the working
desalination water flow rate (L), for different ratios of L/G, at the oil inlet fluid inlet temperature for different cavity receivers at L = 0.42 and G/L = 0.5.
temperature of 313.2 K.
1000
850 950

900

Gain output ratio*10-3

800
850
750
Gain output ratio*10-3

800

700 750

700
650
650
600 600
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
550 L(kg/s)

500 Hemispherical Cylindrical Cubical

300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Fig. 18. Variation of the gain output ratio under the variation of water flow rate
Oil Inlet Temperature (ºC)
(L), for different cavity receivers at the oil inlet temperature of 313.2 K, and L/
G = 0.5.
L=0.14 L=0.21 L=0.28 L=0.35 L=0.42

Fig. 15. Variation of the gain output ratio under the variation of the working 1300
fluid inlet temperature for different desalination water flow rates (L(kg/s)) at 1250
G/L = 1.5.
1200
Gain output ratio*10-3

1150
20
1100
19
1050
Freshwater Production (kg/h)

18 1000
17 950
16 900
850
15
800
14 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
13 Oil Inlet Temperature (ºC)
12
Hemispherical Cylindrical Cubical
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
L(kg/s) Fig. 19. Variation of the gain output ratio under the variation of the working
fluid inlet temperature for different cavity receivers at L = 0.42 and G/L = 0.5.
Hemispherical Cylindrical Cubical

Fig. 16. Variation of freshwater production under the variation of water flow should be stated that the lowest gain output ratio was achieved by
rate (L) for different cavity receivers at the oil inlet temperature of 313.2 K, and utilizing the hemispherical cavity receiver.
L/G = 0.5. Lastly, Fig. 19 shows the variations of the gain output ratio under
variation of the working fluid‘s inlet temperature at L/G = 0.5 and the
receiver as the dish absorber. One can conclude from Fig. 18 that the water flow rate of 0.42. Various shapes of cavity receivers were used as
desalination’s gain output ratio is improved by increasing the water the desalination heat source. As it is presented in Fig. 19, amount of the
flow rate. Higher amounts of water flow rate result in higher amounts of gain output ratio was decreased with decreasing oil inlet temperature
the gain output ratio. Similar results were reported by [51]. As result, it using the hemispherical cavity receiver as the desalination heat source.

12
A. Rafiei, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 198 (2019) 111861

This is because of the fact that the highest cavity heat gain was calcu-
lated for the hemispherical cavity receiver. Similar results were re-
ported by other studies such as Ref. [52]. It shall be noted that the
hybrid desalination system generated the lowest gain output ratio with
the hemispherical cavity receiver as the desalination heat source.
5. Conclusion
In the present work, a hybrid solar desalination comprising a PV
panel, a dish collector, and an HDH system was taken into account. The
desalination system's performance was assessed by utilizing three cavity
shapes as cylindrical, cubical, and hemispherical. Thermal oil was used
as the working fluid. The absorbed solar heat was transferred to the
desalination system, by a heat exchanger. The key findings are reported
as below:
• The thermal efficiency and cavity heat gain of the hemispherical
receiver showed the highest amount among all shapes of cavities.
Furthermore, the cubical cavity receiver’s thermal performance ex-
hibited a higher amount, in comparison to the cylindrical cavity
receiver.
• The freshwater generation was increased by increasing the water
flow rate, increasing the air flow rate, and decreasing the solar
working fluid‘s inlet temperature.
• The gain output ratio was increased by increasing the water flow
rate, increasing the air flow rate in the desalination, and increasing
the inlet temperature of the working fluid.
• The hemispherical cavity receiver yielded the highest freshwater
generation and lowest gain output ratio. Also, the cubical cavity
receiver demonstrated a higher freshwater generation and lower
gain output ratio, compared to the cylindrical cavity receiver.
• The highest amount of freshwater, equal to 19 kg/h, was resulted by
applying the lowest oil inlet temperature equal to 313 K, highest
water flow rate of 0.42 kg/s, and using the hemispherical cavity
receiver as the desalination heat source.
Acknowledgement
Shuhaimi Mahadzir would like to thank the Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS (http://www.utp.edu.my) for providing the facilities to
undertake this study. Gholamhassan Najafi and Reyhaneh Loni also
acknowledge the support by Tarbiat Modares University (http://www.
modares.ac.ir) under grant number IG/39705 for Renewable Energies
of Modares research group.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A

Ac = bL̇ (A-1)

̇ f
mC ⎡ F 'Ac UL ⎞ ⎤
FR = 1 − exp ⎛⎜−
'⎢ ⎟
Ac UL F ⎣ ⎝ mC ̇ p ⎠⎥ (A-2)
⎦
1
F' = WUL WUL WUL
Dh
+ K + D + (W − D) F
δ (A-3)
W−D
tanhm 2
F= W−D
m 2 (A-4)
UL
m2 =
Kδ (A-5)
UL = Utw + Ub (A-6)
−1
L 1⎤
Ut = ⎡ G +
⎢
⎣ KG h0 ⎥
⎦ (A-7)
KT
UT =
LT (A-8)

hT UtT
Utw =
UtT + hT (A-9)
−1
L 1
Ub = ⎡ i + ⎤
⎢ Ki
⎣ ⎥
hi ⎦ (A-10)

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