Design and Analysis of Photovoltaic Powered Reverse Osmosis Desalination System
The need for Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination has increased extensively in light of water shortages throughout the world. Due to the global challenge of rising global warming, the focus has shifted to renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) or wind energy to drive the RO plant on a
2025-06-28 16:26:09 - Adil Khan
Design and Analysis of Photovoltaic Powered Reverse Osmosis Desalination System
Project Area of Specialization Mechanical EngineeringProject SummaryThe need for Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination has increased extensively in light of water shortages throughout the world. Due to the global challenge of rising global warming, the focus has shifted to renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) or wind energy to drive the RO plant on a small scale. Precise calculations of the energy of the PVRO system are required to match the system’s available power load. The proposed work will present a design and fabrication methodology for the PV Powered RO system. The steps involved are PV-RO modeling, fabrication and feasibility analysis of the system will be carried out for the different cities of Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore, and KPK).
Project ObjectivesKeeping water scarcity in mind and the UN 6th goal of sustainability which is clean water and sanitation and also to help meet the demand for fresh water around the country, our project’s aim is
- Model and Analysis of Reverse Osmosis Desalination process running on Renewable Energy (photovoltaic solar energy).
- Fabrication Photovoltaic Reverse Osmosis System
- Feasibility study of PV-RO for different cities of Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore, and KPK)
The project is designed, simulated, and fabricated based on a community scale purpose. This project will only deal with reverse osmosis desalination, and experimental work will be carried out. The project runs solely on renewable energy photovoltaic (PV) and will be a portable device for domestic use and also will cover feasibility analysis for different cities in Pakistan. The input parameter which we select are permeate flow rate, permeate concentration, feed concentration, membrane area, and membrane recovery. and the output we get specific energy consumption and total energy.
Benefits of the Project- It will be a portable device
- Using a renewable energy system with minimum energy demand
- Will provide water to those areas which are having water scarcity.
- User friendly and easy to operate
Overcome osmotic pressure using a pump to desalt high salt content water. A high-pressure pump is used to pass high salinity water through the membrane to desalt into freshwater with low salinity. Renewable energy (solar energy) is used to operate high pressure pumps to meet energy demands. Pressure gauges are used to control the pressure at the feed side. Tds meters are used to calculate the output and input salinity of the water. The maximum permeate flow rate will be 7.9 m^3/day and maximum feed concentration would be 3000ppm and permeate concentration will be within the range of 150ppm-300ppm. the solar panel requirement will depend on the maximum requirement permeate flow rate. Power can be calculated by using the feed flow rate and feed pressure which help us to calculate the specific energy consumption. The permeate flow rate and specific energy consumption will give us the total energy required for the system after calculating the total energy we will know the required solar panel needed for our system and this way we will fabricate our product accordingly.
Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry Energy Other Industries Food , Health Core Technology Clean TechOther Technologies Artificial Intelligence(AI)Sustainable Development Goals Clean Water and SanitationRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 69500 | |||
| Water Storage Tank | Equipment | 2 | 1000 | 2000 |
| TDS meter 0-3000ppm | Equipment | 1 | 2000 | 2000 |
| Charge Controller 50 Amp | Equipment | 1 | 3500 | 3500 |
| Axtron Membrane AX-1812-100G | Equipment | 1 | 4000 | 4000 |
| Battery 50 Amp | Equipment | 1 | 4500 | 4500 |
| Pressure Guage | Equipment | 2 | 2500 | 5000 |
| Booster Pump 75GPD | Equipment | 1 | 6000 | 6000 |
| 5 stage filtration System | Equipment | 1 | 7000 | 7000 |
| Flow Meter | Equipment | 3 | 4500 | 13500 |
| 330 Watts Solar Panel | Equipment | 1 | 22000 | 22000 |