Experimental Study of Mobile Solar Reverse Osmosis for Remote Areas

Abstract

Reverse osmosis (RO) technique is one of most efficient methods to desalinate the salt water. An accurate and detailed experimental method was established to analyze the performance of the unpotable water RO process, which is the solution-diffusion and mass transfer theory. The RO is going to be operated using an alternative energy source, solar energy. The solar cells are utilized to run the RO unit with a single vertical membrane. DC current is produced by a solar panel which produces 18 maximum volt and 4.25 maximum DC current. The solar panel was utilized to run out the DC booster pump without using an inverter. The production of freshwater is the major studied parameter in this project with other parameters, such as the efficiency of the RO unit and the salt rejection percentage (610 max PPM). The experimental work provides a more detailed understanding of solar RO unit in order to be utilized in the remote areas.