Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

The proposed approach incorporates solar preheating and reheating techniques to improve the system’s cooling performance and freshwater production. This study investigates the application of solar preheating to elevate the brackish feedwater temperature before it enters the humidifier, along with solar reheating of the regeneration air. These thermal enhancements are intended to intensify evaporation in the humidifier, thereby improving overall water production efficiency. Two system configurations were experimentally evaluated under actual environmental conditions: a conventional desiccant air-conditioning system coupled with a humidification-dehumidification (HDH) cycle, and an enhanced configuration incorporating solar thermal components for preheating and reheating. The experimental results demonstrated that integrating solar thermal processes significantly improved system performance, as evidenced by increased cooling efficiency and freshwater output. These findings highlight the potential of solar thermal integration to enhance the performance of combined air-conditioning and desalination systems.

Keywords: hybrid desiccant A/C, HDH desalination unit, solar preheating technique, solar reheating