Experimental study of a solar desalination system based on humidification–dehumidification process Original Research Article

In this paper, an experimental investigation of a 1000 L/day solar humidification–dehumidification system was presented. The system has been designed and constructed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and HIMIN Solar Co., Ltd, based on a series of researches since the year 2007. This system was composed of a 100 m2 solar air heater field, a 12 m2 solar water collector, a humidifier–dehumidifier unit, a pre-treatment and post-treatment system and other subsystems. Performance of the solar air heater field and the humidifier was investigated by experimental tests and analyses. Water production tests were carried out on several typical days, and the results showed that water production of the system could reach 1200 L/day, when the average intensity of solar radiation got to 550 W/m2.