ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden

Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

ADVANCED SOLAR DRYER FOR SALT RECOVERY FROM

BRINE EFFLUENT OF DESALINATION MED PLANT

Manuel Collares-Pereira, João Farinha Mendes, Pedro Horta

Departamento de Energias Renováveis, INETI – Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia e Engenharia Industrial,
Estrada do Paço do Lumiar, 22, 1649-038 Lisboa, Portugal,
Phone Number: + 351 217 127 182, Fax Number: + 351 217 127 195, e-mail address: collares.pereira@ineti.pt

Abstract – Water desalination is an important idea to alleviate potable water scarcity all around the
World and there are already many commercial solutions. An important challenge still persists if one
wants to use solar energy as the energy input to the system , thereby taking advantage of the fact that
often this problem arises in areas of the world with abundant sunshine and little other energy resources.
The recently started AQUASOL-Enhanced Zero Discharge Seawater Desalination using Hybrid Solar
Technology (EVK1-CT2001-00102) project is one more attempt at putting solar energy to use in this
context, with the objective of improving the economical and environmental performance of a MED
desalination plant. Within this project, reported here, an advanced solar dryer is being studied, allowing
for brine concentration and/or ultimate salt recovery from the MED brine effluent. The idea is to add
economical value to the investment in a MED plant, by providing one more product – salt - using the fact
that the effluent of the MED plant has a higher salt concentration already and that the whole system might
be integrated in a classical Saltworks, as one more step in the process. Taking into account the
specificities of salt production in a classical Saltworks, the undergoing study seeks an optimised design,
allowing an improved system able to deal with a constant brine flow, based on a passive approach,
increasing not only the evaporation rates but also extending the operation period throughout the year.

1. INTRODUCTION energy and environmental performances, promoting the

In recent decades, an increasing exploitation of water
resources has lead to several forms of water shortage in
many European regions, a problem assuming more
alarming levels especially in semi-arid climate areas,
where human and agricultural water consumptions are not
being satisfied under the scope of availability or quality
criteria.
Often in the South Mediterranean regions underground
aquifers constitute the main water resource. Over drawing
from them enhances the probability of saline intrusions,
soil contamination, desertification or accelerated soil
erosion problems.
Given the abundance, in such regions, of sea water and
solar irradiation resources, water desalination may very
well become the main medium-term sustainable process
for potable water production, in turn associated with the
development of energy and environmental efficient
technologies.
Taking into account the proximity of sensible
ecosystems such as marine/tidal ecosystems, eventual
negative impacts related with desalination effluent
discharges must be considered. Also important is a
rational energy use, regardless of the fact that solar
energy is the main energy contributor, to minimize other
environmental impacts, and to have an overall economic
viability.
Considering the arguments above, the recently started
AQUASOL-Enhanced Zero Discharge Seawater
Desalination using Hybrid Solar Technology (EVK1-
CT2001-00102) project aims first at the development of a
lower cost MED desalination technology with improved
use of solar energy both in the desalination and in the
effluent treatment processes.
The reduction of energy consumptions in the MED
process, together with the exploitation of NaCl as a sub-
product resulting from the effluent treatment process
through brine concentration in a solar passive dryer, are
the means to accomplish a lower water cost objective.
This will hopefully increase the competitiveness of MED
technology when compared with the more common
Reverse Osmosis process.
The present paper addresses the effluent treatment issue,
taking into account the specificities of NaCl production.
It develops a new concept of a passive solar dryer,
designed to provide a brine evaporation rate increase,
over the one in conventional Saltworks, without
compromising the commercial year-round operation
cycle. The paper is organized as follows. In 2. a
description of a conventional saltworks is made. In 3. a
mathematical model for solar saltworks is presented. In 4.
a description of the proposed prototype of a passive solar
dryer is presented as well as the corresponding
mathematical model. In 5. a simulation of yearly results is
presented. In 6 a brief idea of further developments is
given and in 7. there will be a set of conclusions.
ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

2. SALT PRODUCTION IN TRADITIONAL SOLAR Preipitation of dissolved salts vs. Brine concentration
SALTWORKS
100%

In a solar Saltworks, water evaporation is promoted in a 80%

natural way, depending on the characteristics of the

% precipitated salts
surrounding atmosphere (air temperature, air velocity, 60%

moisture and solar irradiation), as well as on the brine

conditions (temperature, density and salt concentration). 40%

Among the dissolved ions that we find in seawater, 20%

NaCl is, by far, the most abundant, corresponding to
85.65% of all the dissolved salts (mass). 0%
The crystallization of the salts dissolved in seawater 3.5 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31

occurs at different concentration levels. Brine ºBe

concentration, promoted by the evaporation of its water CaCO3 CaSO4 MgSOx NaCl
MgClx NaBr KCl
content, results on the successive precipitation of the least
soluble salts, CaCO3 e CaSO4, followed by the
production of NaCl and finally Mg and K salts. Fig. 1 – Precipitation of salts dissolved in seawater
The objective of a solar Saltworks, the extraction of (adapted from [4])
NaCl, is achieved forcing the brine to flow through a
series of connected evaporation ponds, in a path that is Water evaporation in a solar Saltworks follows this five
controlled by the brine concentration in each pond. The distinct periods. The ponds corresponding to the three
completion of this path allows the precipitation of least first stages are called evaporators. The ponds
soluble undesired salts, prior to the last evaporation pond, corresponding to the fourth stage are called the heaters
the crystallizer, where NaCl is finally extracted. and the ponds corresponding to the fifth and last
The concentration scale used in salt production is the evaporation stage are called the crystallizers, where NaCl
Baumé scale (ºBe), based on the brine specific density, is obtained.
determined after the following expression (in [5]),
suitable for fluids heavier than water and reported to a
temperature of 60 ºF, 15.5 ºC:

Specific density = 145/(145 - °Be) (1)

where specific density stands for the ratio between the

density of the solution and to the density of water at the
same temperature.
According to [4], five distinct concentration periods can
be defined in salt production:
1 – 3.5 ºBe to 7 ºBe, inexistence of important salt
precipitations, being the initial brine volume reduced by
46%.
2 – 7º Be to 12 ºBe, precipitation of 55% of calcium
carbonate (CaCO3), as well as of all the iron oxides, Fig. 2 – Salt crystallizers in traditional solar Saltworks
being the initial brine volume reduced by 18%.
3 – 12 ºBe to 20 ºBe, precipitation of the totality of
calcium carbonate up to 16 ºBe, and beginning of calcium
sulfate (CaSO4) precipitation by 15 ºBe, achieving 60%
of its total precipitation by the end of the stage. Reduction
of 14.6% of the initial brine volume.
4 - 20 ºBe to 25 ºBe, precipitation of 25% calcium sulfate
and evaporation of 4.3% of the initial brine volume.
5 – 25 ºBe a 28.5 ºBe, precipitation of the last 15% of
calcium sulfate and precipitation of 75% sodium chloride
(NaCl). Evaporation of 5.4% of the initial brine volume.
Between 25 ºBe and 26 ºBe starts the precipitation of Mg
salts and sodium bromide, although in small amounts
insufficient to compromise the quality of the NaCl
obtained.
ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

3. NUMERICAL MODEL FOR EVAPORATION IN air flow velocity, by ways of the adopted convection
A SOLAR SALTWORK coefficient:

3.1 Brine layer energy balance q c = hc (Tbrine − Tair ) [W/m2] (3)

Adopting the mathematical model presented in [3], the
evaporation energy balance in a solar Saltworks can be
represented according to the following figure: According to [3], this coefficient is given by:

qe - evaporation losses Hh - solar irradiation hc = 2.8 + 3.0v [W/m2K] (4)

qc - convection losses
qr - radiation where v stands for the air flow velocity in [m/s].

3.4 Evaporation losses

d BRINE The calculation of the evaporation losses is given by the
following expression:
qb - conduction losses
q e = 0.0163hc (Ps ,Tbrine − φPs ,Tair ) [W/m2] (5)
Fig. 3 – Energy balance of a brine layer in a solar
Saltworks
where hc is the convection coefficient adopted in the
The energy balance can be represented by a time and convection losses calculation, and Ps is the saturation
temperature dependent complex equation which, after pressure at brine temperature (Tbrine) and air temperature
numeric modelling, becomes the following finite (Tair).
differences equation:
3.5 Radiative losses
Radiative losses are calculated by the expression below:
(Tbrine − Tinitialbrine ) = F H
dρbrineCpbrine
∆t
s h − qe − qc − qr − qb (2) 4
(
q r = εσ Tbrine − Tsky
4
)
[W/m2] (6)

Given the characteristic high surface to depth ratios in

solar Saltworks’ brine layers, this is a one-dimensional 3.6 Conduction losses to the soil
model, not considering horizontal variations. This model Conduction losses to the soil are given by the following
does not consider, as well, temperature variations along expression:
the brine layer thickness.
According to [3], and taking into account the low air
heat conductivity, losses by conduction to air are qb =
k
l
(
Tbrine − Tsoil ) [W/m2] (7)
negligible compared to the other thermal flows.

3.2 Solar irradiation absorption in the brine layer
The term Fs stands for the fraction of solar energy
absorbed by the brine layer, while Hh stands for the
global irradiation in the horizontal plane.
Accurately, the solar irradiation that reaches the bottom
of the pond is reflected towards the surface, where part of
it is re-reflected back to the interior of the brine layer and
the rest leaves the pond.
By simplification of the model adopted in [3], we
assume, for the present purposes, that all the irradiation
reaching the brine layer and not reflected, direct or
diffuse, will be absorbed, so that the fraction of solar
energy will be affected only by the reflectivity of the
solution, that takes the value of 6%, according to [3].
3.3 Convection losses
Convection losses depend directly on the temperature
difference between the air and the brine, as well as on the
where k stands for the total soil conductivity, in [W/mºC],
and l for the total thickness, in [m].
3.7 Evaporated water mass
The calculation of the energy balance equation for a
given time interval or step, allows the determination of
the final temperature of the brine layer. According to the
model, and since that within the considered time gap the
brine temperature varies, a recalculation of the
evaporation losses should be made, considering that the
brine layer remains at the average temperature between
the beginning and the end of the time step.
This calculation undergoes several iterations so that the
error between the final temperature obtained afterwards
and the one obtained in the previous iteration is not larger
than a set value.
ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

By the end of this iterative calculation, it is possible to which would counter the occurrence of the desired
determine the mass of evaporated water, taking into evaporation.
account that brine evaporation depends also on the saline
concentration:

q e ∆t
m= C evap [kg/m2] (8)
Cl

where Cl stands for the water vaporization latent heat (at

the average brine temperature in the considered time
interval) and Cevap for an evaporation coefficient
depending on the brine saline concentration and referred
to distilled after evaporation, assuming values under 1.
This evaporated water mass is responsible for a
reduction of the brine layer thickness, which is the input
for the next time step calculation. The calculation of the
layer thickness reduction is based on the water properties
at the average brine temperature in each given time
interval.

4. ADVANCED SOLAR DRYER DESIGN

According to the numerical model described in the

previous point, evaporation is promoted, essentially, by
the difference in saturated vapour pressure in the brine Fig. 4 – Advanced Solar Dryer design
and in the air temperature so that, for a given time step,
an increase of the evaporation rate can be achieved by: Such a design implies the need of a storage tank for the
• an increase of the saturated vapour pressure at brine effluent of the MED plant, to help the management of a
temperature, i.e., heating the brine, which also promotes a yearly operation cycle.
decrease of the latent heat of vaporization; The treated brine output can be fed into a traditional
• an increase of the convection coefficient, through higher Saltworks evaporator, following the common practice of
air flow velocities in the air/brine contact layer; storage for the next evaporation campaign. This practice
• a reduction of relative humidity implies a directly aims at the storage of already concentrated brine by the
proportional increase of the saturated vapour pressure, end of a campaign (September), in a single evaporation
through the heating of air. pond, reducing the relation surface/volume in order to
minimize brine dilution due to precipitation in the period
4.1 Solar passive dryer design between salt production campaigns.
The idea behind the work presented in this project is to
imagine that the MED plant would be placed side by side 4.2 Physical mechanisms present
with a conventional Saltworks, and feed into it the In such a configuration, air circulation is promoted by
produced effluent, while adding means to promote a more the pressure difference between the cold atmospheric air
efficient concentration of the brine, as compared with the and the heated air inside the solar chimney, which will be
conventional production technique. the driving force for the flow to occur.
This addition, the proposed prototype, consists of a Regarding only the thermal convection greenhouse,
thermal convection multi-sectorial greenhouse, provided airflow is promoted according to the following scheme:
with a single centred solar chimney, according to the
scheme of Fig.4.
This design takes into account the following
constraints:
• to achieve brine evaporation coming from the MED
plant until it reaches the conditions to fully precipitate
CaCO3 (16 º Be), eliminating the necessity of separated
evaporation ponds in the conventional Saltworks;
• elimination of brine dilution by the action of rain fall in
the ponds;
• to promote air circulation, by natural convection,
avoiding moisture concentration near the brine surface,
ISES Solar World Congress 2003
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future
Fig. 5 – Physical mechanisms in a thermal convection
dryer
Air inside the greenhouse is heated by means of solar
irradiation absorption, leading to a temperature increase
and consequent density reduction. Air heating inside the
greenhouse depends on its solar collector characteristics.
Inside the solar chimney, with more effective solar
collector behaviour, air is further heated, becoming even
lighter. The driving force for the airflow is, then, the
pressure difference between the inlet and outlet,
originated by the density difference related to air heating,
according to [2]:
∆P = ( ρ in − ρ out )gh [Pa] (9)
Airflow occurs whenever the driving force exceeds the
head losses, which means that this is an auto-regulated
system, just as a thermosyphon.
When a brine layer is placed inside the greenhouse,
brine heating will occur due to solar irradiation
absorption, and evaporation will take place, implying an
adiabatic cooling of the airflow.
The psychometric evolution of the airflow in the
greenhouse is, then, a combination between heating at
constant specific humidity and adiabatic cooling. In the
solar chimney, the psychometric evolution passes through
the air heating at constant specific humidity.
Fig. 6 – Psychometric evolution of the airflow
Göteborg, Sweden
June, 14-19, 2003
4.3 Coupling of dryer design and the evaporation
numerical model
The coupling between the brine evaporation model
described in chapter 3 with the proposed dryer design
must reflect the changed boundary conditions which
derive from the placement of a brine layer inside the solar
passive dryer.
Beyond the changes introduced in the brine layer
surroundings, namely in reference temperatures for
radiative and conductive losses, determination of air
speed and temperature must now come trough an iterative
process, which converges to a stable flow condition in
which the leading force given by the density gradient
matches the head loss in the system.
Considering a given section of the dryer/greenhouse the
calculation of air and brine conditions for a given time
step is done according to:
1 – assumption of a certain airflow velocity throughout
the considered section;
2 – determination of inlet air density (depending on the
initial temperature), volumetric and mass flow
(depending on the velocity and section area);
3 – determination of air temperature rise due to solar
absorption: according to the solar collector characteristics
of that greenhouse section, F’τα and F’UL; assuming that
the air temperature will be raised by a given ∆T, it is
possible to determine the solar collector efficiency by:
∆T
η = F ' (τα ) − F 'U L × (10)
I
where I stands for solar irradiation in [W/m2].
Is possible, then, to determine the increase in
temperature of the airflow passing through the considered
section, taking into account that the time step regards the
time that an air particle needs to pass through the section
length at the assumed airflow velocity:
Q = m& C P ∆T = IAcaptη col (11)
where Acapt stands for the solar capture area of the
considered greenhouse section. The specific heat for the
air is considered at the average temperature. The obtained
value must be equal to the assumed value for efficiency
calculation, which establishes an iterative calculation.
4 – determination of the evaporated water mass:
according to the mathematical model of brine evaporation
in a traditional Saltworks, the evaporated water mass is
given by equation (8), where air properties are assumed at
average temperature and brine properties at initial brine
temperature.
5 – adiabatic cooling: given the evaporated water mass, it
is possible to determine the amount of heat spent by the
airflow for this purpose, which will determine the cooling
of the flowing air, taking into account the heating by
ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

means of solar irradiation; this will establish the final properties of common use in greenhouse construction,
temperature at the section outlet: namely plastics, cement, thermal insulation, etc.
Effluent parameters are in accordance with
Qevap = C l mevap = mair C Pair ∆Tair (12) experimental data in a MED plant, reported in [1]. The
volumetric flow rate corresponds to the AQUASOL
objective of a 10 kg/day NaCl production.
6 – final airflow conditions will result from the
psychometric relations, and will be input for the initial
airflow conditions to the next section.
7 – head loss calculation: after determination of the
airflow conditions throughout the whole system
(considering that in the solar chimney the solar collector
characteristics will be different and there will not be an
adiabatic cooling), it is possible to determine the total
head loss on the system, which must equal the total
leading force, given by equation (9). The value assumed
for airflow velocity at the inlet of the greenhouse is then
changed, in order that the head loss equals the leading
force, which starts again another iteration.
8 – brine conditions: after air evolution is determined for
a certain time step, it is possible, then, to determine the
final brine temperature, which will be used in the next
time step, according to equation (2).

4.4 Brine surrounding conditions

The placement of the brine layer inside the solar passive
dryer, affects the energy balance according to:

1 – solar irradiation absorption by he brine layer, the term

Fs becomes further multiplied by the greenhouse
transmissivity;
2 – radiative losses, the reference temperature termed Table 1 – Advanced Solar Dryer thermal parameters
Tsky in equation (6) reflects now the greenhouse cover
temperature, whose calculation depends on ambient air Regarding the dryer design under study, the geometric
temperature and solar irradiation values, according to: parameters take into account a dryer construction cost
minimization, as well as an optimal space distribution.
5 The evaporation area reflects already an optimization for
Tcov er = Tair ,amb − 5 + I gH [ºC] (13) the fixed effluent rate from the MED plant, in such a way
400
that all the effluent is treated within a yearly campaign.
3 – conductive losses to soil, the reference soil
temperature in equation (7) is calculated according to the
average atmospheric air temperature of the 30 day period
centred on the considered hour.

5. YEARLY SIMULATION RESULTS

The calculation algorithm described in chapter 4,

allowed the construction of dryer simulation software,
whose output reflects a yearly campaign for the dryer
design under study.
The results presented above concern Lisbon’s climatic Table 2 – Advanced Solar Dryer geometric parameters
data.

5.1 Advanced Solar Dryer thermal and geometric

parameters
Advanced Solar Dryer thermal properties are in
accordance with typical values for the prescribed
ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

5.2 Simulation results

The performance simulation obtained is shown in
Figs.7, 8.

Fig. 9 – Evaporated water mass (Winter/Summer daily

evolutions)

The optimum system has an evaporation area of 65 m2.

That implies the following results for effluent stored
volume and for treated brine volume (for an equivalent
Fig. 7 – Brine energy balance (Winter daily evolution) average daily production of 10 kg NaCl) shown in the
graph of Fig.10:

Fig. 8 – Brine energy balance (Summer daily evolution)

Fig. 10 – MED effluent storage volume and treated
effluent volume
As can be seen, the major thermal losses are due to
evaporation. Since this item is directly connected with the
• accordingly an initial effluent storage of about 16 m3 is
water mass evaporation, this is in fact the item to
needed and a maximum storage capacity of 35 m3 should
maximize. Regarding other thermal losses, which will
be previewed;
result in reduced evaporation, radiation and convection
• a total production of treated brine (at 16 ºBe, or 181 g/l)
losses are the most significant.
of about 38 m3 is achieved.
The evaporated water mass daily evolution can be
seen in Fig.9:
5.3 Comparative analysis with conventional saltwork
In order to compare the results obtained with this design
with those of a conventional saltworks, a simulation was
performed for an yearly campaign of a traditional
Saltworks, assuming that brine layer is covered in rainy
days, preventing brine dilution, and that it is in open air
for the remaining days.
In this simulation, all the evaporation pond properties
remained unchanged, except that it is no longer inside the
ISES Solar World Congress 2003 Göteborg, Sweden
Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future June, 14-19, 2003

greenhouse. Protection from rain is achieved by a [3] – Joyce, António Luis Moura (1992) A interface Lago
transparent plastic with the same properties as considered Solar – Exterior (The interface Solar Pond – Exterior) In
for the greenhouse above, but it is simply laid over the Lagos Solares – Contribuição para o Desenvolvimento
water. de uma Tecnologia (Solar Ponds – Contribution to the
The simulation establishes that the equivalent pond Development of a Technology), PhD Thesis by UNL-
would be of 618 m2, for the same total production of FCT, Lisbon
treated brine (at 16 ºBe, or 181 g/l) of about 38 m3.
[4] – Querejeta, Felipe San Pedro (?) La obtención del
6. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS Cloruro Sodico en las Salinas Maritimas (Sodium
Chloride obtencion from marine waters), Necton -
The work reported here will have the following Companhia Portuguesa de Culturas Marinhas, SA,
developments: Portugal
• a study of a better chimney, using non imaging optics to
enhance solar energy collection; [5] – http://antoine.frostburg.edu/
• introduction of a convection mass transfer model into
the evaporated water mass calculations;
• a study of the effects of an intermediate non loaded
greenhouse section for airflow relative humidity
reduction;
• a study of the effects of an air pre-heater;
• a study of the aerodynamic effects associated with inlet
directed airflow velocities.
A prototype of the Advanced Solar Dryer will be built
and tested and thus fine tuning of the models described
and used above will be possible.

7. CONCLUSIONS

From the simulation results obtained and presented in

the previous chapter, the following conclusions can be
drawn:
• the model seems to reproduce all the expected
qualitative features of the system;
• the simulation of the proposed Advanced Solar Dryer
results in an optimized evaporation area about 9.5x
smaller than the one which would be required for a
conventional rain protected Saltworks, with the same
performance.
A prototype will be built and tested, thereby allowing
for eventual refinements of the model.
It is clear that this device can also have other
applications in the solar drying of food stuffs or other
materials, and these will also be explored in the future.

REFERENCES

[1] – Blanco J. et al. (2002) Advanced Multi-Effect Solar

Desalination Technology: The PSA Experience, 11th Int.
Symposium on Concentrated Solar Power and Chemical
Energy Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland
[2] – Corvalan, R. et al (1992) Circulacion de Aire In
Ingeneria del secado solar (Solar Drying Technology),
Subprograma VI: Nuevas Fuentes y Conservación de la
Energia, CYTED-D Programa de Ciencia y Tecnologia
Para el Desarrollo V Centenario