POTENTIAL USE OF SMALL-SCALE DESALINATION UNITS IN REMOTE ARID LOCALITIES

Abstract

Water and energy are the two most fundamental ingredients of modern civilization. As the world’s population grows innumber and affluence, the demands for both resources are increasing faster than ever. According to the World HealthOrganization, approximately 2.4 billion people live in highly water-stressed areas. Reports on the availability of potablewater in Africa have listed Algeria among 17 African countries affected by water shortage. In theory, the current wateravailability per capita in Algeria is 500 m3, down from 1, 500 m3 in 1962. It is projected that it will further reduce to 450m3in 2020. Algeria abounds with natural resources such as oil and gas. However, Algeria is lacking in one veryessential resource: water. The lack of fresh water in different remote parts of Algeria hinders the development of thecommunities in these areas. Fortunately, the solar potential of Algeria ranks among the highest in the world. The annualsunshine duration reaches 2000 hrs all over the territory and 3900 hrs in the Sahara. The received energy is 1700 kWh/m2/year in the north, 1900 kWh// m2/year in high plains and 3000 kWh// m2/year in the Sahara. This makes solardistillation a feasible solution to the problem in these areas. Several techniques for sea water (brackish water)desalination are now in use. But solar distillation remains the most economic and effective technique for plants withsmall capacities, having low investment and operation costs. Considerable attention has recently been given to the useof solar energy in sea and brackish water distillation. The work described below falls within an area of internationalinterest as it deals with the optimum use of renewable energies. This work provides studies dealing with smallscale distillation for low-density population areas using solar energy.