Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System
This paper details the development of a photovoltaic reverse osmosis water desalination system for a groundwater well in Bercy, Haiti. The well was constructed to provide potable drinking and agricultural water for the 300-person community. However, its water has a salinity level of 5,290 ppm, rende...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
ASME International
2019
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120773 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7383-6752 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-1835 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5993-6976 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4010-9310 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5683-4846 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0407-8684 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3687-188X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 |
| _version_ | 1811068426515382272 |
|---|---|
| author | Buresh, Christopher Vander Werff, Annie Bian, David W. Sokol, Julia Alexandrovna Yun, Janet Hongsun Mascarenhas, Craig Anthony Emeghara, Chinasa Watson, Sterling M. Wright, Natasha Catherine Winter, Amos G. |
| author2 | MIT-SUTD Collaboration |
| author_facet | MIT-SUTD Collaboration Buresh, Christopher Vander Werff, Annie Bian, David W. Sokol, Julia Alexandrovna Yun, Janet Hongsun Mascarenhas, Craig Anthony Emeghara, Chinasa Watson, Sterling M. Wright, Natasha Catherine Winter, Amos G. |
| author_sort | Buresh, Christopher |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This paper details the development of a photovoltaic reverse osmosis water desalination system for a groundwater well in Bercy, Haiti. The well was constructed to provide potable drinking and agricultural water for the 300-person community. However, its water has a salinity level of 5,290 ppm, rendering it harmful for both human consumption and soil fertility. This reverse osmosis system is designed to be low-cost and operational off-grid while providing 900 gallons per day of desalinated water for the community. The system is composed of a photovoltaic power system, a submersible solar pump, and three reverse osmosis membranes. The system is designed to have a material cost significantly below that of any commercially-available system of similar scale. Furthermore, it has an average water production cost of $1.21/m3 and an average specific energy of 1.2 kWh/m3. Its performance was tested in the laboratory by connecting the desalination module to a DC power supply, demonstrating good agreement with its modeled performance. The installation of the full system with the PV module will take place on-site in the summer of 2016. Following implementation, the system will be monitored and compared against predicted performance. The first attempt is meant to serve as a verification and validation of the system as a whole. However, successful operation within the given cost target could pave the way for wider use of off-grid reverse osmosis systems at many remote locations with limited freshwater access around the world. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:55:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/120773 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:55:49Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | ASME International |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1207732022-09-23T09:43:36Z Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System Buresh, Christopher Vander Werff, Annie Bian, David W. Sokol, Julia Alexandrovna Yun, Janet Hongsun Mascarenhas, Craig Anthony Emeghara, Chinasa Watson, Sterling M. Wright, Natasha Catherine Winter, Amos G. MIT-SUTD Collaboration Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Sloan School of Management Bian, David W. Sokol, Julia Alexandrovna Yun, Janet Hongsun Mascarenhas, Craig Anthony Emeghara, Chinasa Watson, Sterling M. Wright, Natasha Catherine Winter, Amos G. This paper details the development of a photovoltaic reverse osmosis water desalination system for a groundwater well in Bercy, Haiti. The well was constructed to provide potable drinking and agricultural water for the 300-person community. However, its water has a salinity level of 5,290 ppm, rendering it harmful for both human consumption and soil fertility. This reverse osmosis system is designed to be low-cost and operational off-grid while providing 900 gallons per day of desalinated water for the community. The system is composed of a photovoltaic power system, a submersible solar pump, and three reverse osmosis membranes. The system is designed to have a material cost significantly below that of any commercially-available system of similar scale. Furthermore, it has an average water production cost of $1.21/m3 and an average specific energy of 1.2 kWh/m3. Its performance was tested in the laboratory by connecting the desalination module to a DC power supply, demonstrating good agreement with its modeled performance. The installation of the full system with the PV module will take place on-site in the summer of 2016. Following implementation, the system will be monitored and compared against predicted performance. The first attempt is meant to serve as a verification and validation of the system as a whole. However, successful operation within the given cost target could pave the way for wider use of off-grid reverse osmosis systems at many remote locations with limited freshwater access around the world. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tata Center for Technology and Design 2019-03-07T13:24:59Z 2019-03-07T13:24:59Z 2016-08 2019-01-11T14:01:10Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper 978-0-7918-5010-7 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120773 Bian, David W., Julia A. Sokol, Janet H. Yun, Craig A. Mascarenhas, Chinasa Emeghara, Sterling M. Watson, Christopher Buresh, Annie Vander Werff, Natasha C. Wright, and Amos G. Winter. “Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System.” Volume 2A: 42nd Design Automation Conference (August 21, 2016). https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7383-6752 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-1835 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5993-6976 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4010-9310 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5683-4846 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0407-8684 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3687-188X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/DETC2016-59646 Volume 2A: 42nd Design Automation Conference Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf ASME International ASME |
| spellingShingle | Buresh, Christopher Vander Werff, Annie Bian, David W. Sokol, Julia Alexandrovna Yun, Janet Hongsun Mascarenhas, Craig Anthony Emeghara, Chinasa Watson, Sterling M. Wright, Natasha Catherine Winter, Amos G. Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System |
| title | Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System |
| title_full | Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System |
| title_fullStr | Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System |
| title_short | Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System |
| title_sort | development of a village scale solar powered reverse osmosis system |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120773 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7383-6752 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-1835 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5993-6976 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4010-9310 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5683-4846 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0407-8684 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3687-188X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4151-0889 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bureshchristopher developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT vanderwerffannie developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT biandavidw developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT sokoljuliaalexandrovna developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT yunjanethongsun developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT mascarenhascraiganthony developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT emegharachinasa developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT watsonsterlingm developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT wrightnatashacatherine developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem AT winteramosg developmentofavillagescalesolarpoweredreverseosmosissystem |