Prospects of wind-powered reverse osmosis desalination systems in Adrar region (Southern Algeria)

The desalination of seawater and brackish groundwater to provide fresh drinking water is an established and thriving industry. A critical technical parameter of desalination applications is the way the system is powered. This decision is taken according to the selected method of desalination and the characteristics of the candidate area. Nowadays the method of reverse osmosis (RO) dominates globally; it requires only electricity, has a quite low specific energy demand, and can cooperate with technologies of renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind turbines and photovoltaics. Hence, renewable energy-powered RO systems are promising technologies for brackish water desalination in remote regions as they exhibit low energy consumption and can be designed according to the water supply, number of inhabitants and energy resource. This study explores the feasibility of wind-desalination concepts in potentially high-wind site in the southwest of Algeria namely Adrar, and evaluates their economic viability. A RO desalination system equipped with energy recovery device and powered by a stand-alone wind turbine of 1MW rated power is proposed to produce fresh water from wells located in this region. The modeling results show that at average wind speeds the amount of product water is sufficient to meet freshwater demand in the region. The effect of different operating and design conditions on the purified water production rate is investigated.