DESALINATION

ELSEVIER Desalination 113 (1997) 5 l-63

A method of obtaining fresh water from the humid atmosphere

H.I. Abualhamayel*, P. Gandhidasan

Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd Universily of Petroleum and Minerals,
Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Tel. +966 (3) 860-2500; Fax +966 (3) 860-2345

Received 22 March 1997; accepted 13 June 1997

Abstract
This paper proposes to use a suitable liquid desiccant to extract 6esh water from the humid atmosphere. The
night-time moisture absorption and the day-time moisture desorption take place in the same unit. It consists of a flat,
blackened, tilted surface and is covered with a single glazing. During the night, the strong absorbent flows down as
a thin film over the glass cover in contact with the humid ambient air. Due to absorption of moisture from the ambient
air at night, the absorbent becomes diluted. In order to recover the fresh water from the weak absorbent, it flows
down as a thin film over the absorber during the day and is heated by solar energy. The water that evaporates from
the absorbent rises to the glass cover by convection where it is condensed on the underside of the glass cover. The
absorbent leaving the unit becomes strong and ready for moisture absorption at night. The performance of the unit
was computed analytically for typical summer climatic data for the month of August in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, by
solving the energy balance equations. It is shown that for the given operating conditions it is possible to obtain about
1.92 kg of water per m2 of the unit. The influence of absorbent concentration and its flow rate on the performance
of the system are briefly discussed in the paper.

Keywords: Fresh water; Atmosphere; Saudi Arabia; Liquid desiccant; Absorption; Desorption

1. Introduction and much of the underground water is not

recommended for drinking since it is hard. About
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies an
3.5 million m3 of fresh water demands for daily
area of about 2.25 x 1O6 km2 and draws its water
urban use are satisfied by big desalination plants
supply requirements from two main sources,
built by the seaside, but the desalination is very
namely desalination plants and water tables.
expensive. For example, Riyadh is fed with water
Farms rely heavily on fast depleting water tables,
from a desalination plant about 5OOkm away in
*Corresponding author. Jubail on the Arabian Gulf, using 1.5 m diameter

001 l-9164/97/$09.50 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

PZZ 001 l-9164(97)001 14-8
52 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan /. Desalination 113 (1997) 51-63
double pipelines. However, salt water or in other
words, seawater, is needed for desalination plants
and the seawater always has the tendency for
scale formation and fouling problems due to
dissolved salts and finely suspended solids.
Hence, a low cost and renewable method is
required for areas where no salt water is
available.
The ambient atmosphere contains a large
quantity of water in varying amounts since water
continuously rises into the air in the form of
vapor, not only from bodies of water but also
from the surfaces of plains, fields, mountains, and
hills. A vast amount of water also exists under the
ground in certain areas. In recent years the
problem of obtaining fresh water from the
atmosphere has received more attention and this
endless source of fresh water can be recovered for
general domestic use.
Dhahran (26.32”N, 50.13 ‘E) is situated just
north of the Tropic of Cancer on the eastern
coastal plain of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
is nearly 10 km inland from the Arabian Gulf.
Total annual precipitation is about SO mm in
Dhahran. The typical summer climatic conditions
in Dhahran for the month of August indicate high
, _. _ Wind v~locily
10 30.0 I I
1 0 9 10
pm
Fig. 1. Night-time climatic data for Dhahran.
humidity and temperature as illustrated in Figs. 1
and 2. Hence, an attempt is made to obtain fresh
water from the atmosphere, and this paper
presents some of the preliminary analytical
results obtained from a cost effective system to
extract fresh water from the atmosphere.
2. Obtaining fresh water from the earth
Although this paper deals with the problem of
obtaining fresh water from the atmosphere, some
thoughts were given to obtain fresh water from
the earth also. Kobayashi [ 1] reported an
experimental method of obtaining fresh water
from the earth in arid lands as well as in desert
areas. Since Saudi Arabia is a desert country,
attention was focussed on obtaining water from
the earth in desert areas.
Deserts can be broadly divided into two
categories. One type is mostly composed of
coarse sand lies heaped in mounds. The other
type has extremely dry ground with a sparse
scattering of short grass that manages to exist in
spite of the insignificant rain. In general, these
two types combine to form a desert. It is expected
Ambientirmpw~turr
I f 1 I I 1 I 1.5
11 12 1 2 3 1 5 6
I
C%k time
 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination I13 (1997) 51-63 53

---
_..
-.-
-
Insolation
Ambient lamp.
Whd velOCity
iwollw humidity
95

90

I I

, 3 10 11 12 _I55 1 2 3
p5m
NOOtY

Clock time

Fig. 2. Day-time climatic data for Dhahran.

that underground water could exist in the second

type of desert. The earth-water collector as
proposed by Kobayashi is shown in Fig. 3. The
earth essentially consists of three layers. When
the sun shines brightly, the surface of the earth
becomes dry, creating a dry layer. The depth of
the dry layer varies according to the type of soil,
amount of rainfall, depth of the capillary layer,
etc. Under the dry layer there lies a moist layer
that remains wet through capillary action as it is
in contact with the underground water. By
capillary action, this water is sucked upto the
surface of the earth through tiny crevices in the
soil. When the ground surface is heated by the Fig. 3. Principle of earth-water collector.
sun, this water dissipates in aqueous vapor. To
collect this vapor in the form of droplets, a This system was operated very well in arid
quadrilateral frame with a glazing at a slope, areas both at night as well as during the day.
called as earth-water collector, is used. When the However, the system performed fairly well in
earth surface is heated by solar energy, the water desert areas only at night. During the day, the
vapor that evaporates from the surface rises to the temperature of the glazing was higher than that of
glazing by convection and it is condensed on the the earth surface (in other words, underground
underside of the glazing. The condensate flows moisture), and the vapor did not condense on the
along the glazing by gravity into condensate underside of the glazing. It is reported that the
troughs. yield in arid areas was about 1.10 L/m2 during the
54 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination I13 (1997) 51-63

day and 0.20L/m2 at night. In desert areas, the

yield varied from 0.07 to 0.40 L/m2 at night only.
This system has some advantages: it is simple
to operate and does not require any energy other
than solar energy. Further, it can be erected easily
where underground water is available. But the
yield is less and does not operate in desert areas
when bright sunshine is available. These
drawbacks make this system less attractive for
Saudi Arabia.

3. Obtaining fresh water from humid

atmospheric air

For climatic conditions with high humidity

and temperatures such as in Dhahran, the process
of obtaining fresh water from the atmosphere
seems to be very attractive since the ambient
atmosphere contains water in the form of vapor in
varying amounts, ranging at saturation tempera-
tures between 10-4O”C from between 9.6 and 51 I I 1 1
5 10 20 temperok 40
55.3 g per m3 of dry air as shown in Fig. 4. Dew point ,‘C
The extraction of water from the humid
atmospheric air can be accomplished by different Fig. 4. Water content in moist air.
methods. Some of the methods are:

3.2. ReJFigeration method

?? Mechanical method
?? Refrigeration method: 3.2.1 Absorption
(1) absorption
In hot, humid climates the possibility of
(2) vapor compression
obtaining fresh water as a by-product of an
?? Adsorption method
absorption cooling machine is reported by Aly
?? Absorption method
[2]. This is achieved by using a LiBr-H,O
absorption cooler with an open absorber where
3. I Mechanical method the outside humid air is dehumidified by being in
direct contact with the strong absorbent solution.
In this method the fresh water is obtained from
It is to be noted that in Saudi Arabia the cooling
the atmosphere by the compression of humid air.
is almost entirely provided by a vapor compres-
When humid air is compressed, the partial
sion air conditioning system; an absorption refrig-
pressure of the water vapor in the water-air
eration system is not familiar.
mixture is raised to the point where moisture can
be condensed from the air at a higher
3.2.2 Vapor compression
temperature. However, the cost of the com-
pressor, high power requirements, and the cooling In this method, fresh water is obtained by
water requirement make this system impractical. lowering the humid air temperature below its dew
 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination 113 (1997) 51-63
point temperature. Nebbia [3] has reported
experiments on the condensation of moisture
from the air using conventional fuel-driven vapor
compression refrigeration machinery. The air
entering the unit flows over the elements of the
cooling system and the water condensing on the
evaporator coil is collected as the fresh water. It
is also reported that the energy consumption was
high due to low heat exchange process. Since the
amount of water collected was low with small
units, this method was suggested for emergency
use only.
A similar study was recently conducted
analytically [4] for the climatic conditions of
UAE coastal regions, and it was reported that the
quantity of fresh water obtained depends on the
properties of humid air, air velocity, cooling coil
surface area, and the heat exchange arrangement.
It is to be noted that this system uses chlorinated
fluorocarbon compounds (CFCs) identified as
contributors to depletion of the ozone layer.
3.3 Adsorption method
One of the methods which has also been
considered for obtaining fresh water from the
humid air is adsorption. In this method, humid air
is passed over a hot adsorbing material where
water can be adsorbed while cooling the
adsorbing material. In the regeneration process,
the adsorber material is heated while its water is
adsorbed by an air stream that then flows on a
colder condenser to condense the carried water.
Bulang [5] has proposed a method with silica gel
using this principle and found that about 30g of
water can be adsorbed by 100 g of silica gel in
equilibrium in air having a relative humidity of
60% or more.
Sofrata [6] conducted experiments at Riyadh
with a unit developed on open cycle for water
collection based on this adsorption-desorption
phenomena. The cycle consists of three
processes. In the first process, the ambient air is
introduced into the adsorption chamber and in
contact with the desiccant bed. The second
55
process is heating the air to about 300°C using
gasoline burner and circulated with fan through
the bed. It evaporates the captured water in the
desorption process. Finally, the hot water vapor is
condensed and cooled in the third process using
air-cooled condenser. The water production and
fuel consumption are reported for various
climatic conditions. A similar system using
composite material for extraction of water from
the air is reported by Alayli et al. [7], but the
evaporation was accomplished by solar energy
and about 1 1 of water per square meter of the
composite material was produced.
It is to be noted that this system can operate at
lower temperatures but requires large volumes of
desiccant and also entails significant operating
costs for the parasitic systems of blowers required
to circulate air streams. Further, as time
progresses, the efficiency of the desiccant bed
will be reduced due to dust and foreign matter
deposited in the pores. To avoid this, additional
air filtering can be added but only at the cost of
additional air pressure drops through the system.
3.4 Absorption method
The absorption method was chosen for the
proposed research due to various advantages over
the adsorption method such as:
1. the absorbent (desiccant) can be readily
circulated by means of a small pump;
2. the requirement of low regeneration
temperature (50-65 “C); and
3. the absorbent can be used as a heat transfer
medium in a heat exchanger and hence, it could
be precooled or preheated when required.
A cycle using liquid desiccants in the
production of fresh water from the atmosphere
was proposed by Hall [S]. A simple vertical
plane, such as a sheet of plywood, was considered
as the absorber and the strong absorbent namely
ethylene glycol was flowing as a thin liquid film,
making contact with and while absorbing water
from the air. The weak desiccant was then
56 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination I13 (1997) 51-63
transferred by suitable tubing to the entrance of
the conventional roof-type solar still to separate
the product water from the absorbent. A
composition-psychrometric chart was constructed
and used to demonstrate how water recovered can
be changed with change in different operating
conditions. In fact, Hollands [9] investigated the
regeneration of a liquid desiccant in a roof-type
solar still. It is reported that when the still was
acting as a desalinator for producing potable
water from brackish water, the efficiency was
56% and when it was used for regenerating the
weak desiccant, the efficiency was in the range of
5-20% depending upon the insolation and the
concentration of the desiccant. The reduction in
efficiency is attributed to the lower partial
pressure of the desiccant compared with saline
water at a given temperature.
An analytical procedure for calculating the
mass of water absorbed by a desiccant from the
atmosphere in a slanted absorber is reported by
the authors [lo]. In this paper, a method is
proposed to absorb moisture from the atmosphere
and to drive off the moisture and condense the
vapor stream in the same unit.
4. Absorbent characteristics
For designing a unit to produce fresh water
from the atmosphere by absorption with subse-
quent recovery using solar energy, a number of
factors have to be taken into account. They
include climatic variables such as insolation,
wind velocity, ambient temperature and humidity,
concentration of the absorbent, initial temperature
and the flow rate of the absorbent. Two processes
are required to extract fresh water from the
atmosphere by the absorption method. They are:
(1) the absorption process and (2) the
evaporation-condensation process. In order to
make the system attractive and cost effective,
both processes must be conducted in the same
unit. The absorption process will be carried out at
night and the evaporation-condensation process
will be carried out during the day in the same
unit.
The desired absorbent characteristics for this
research are:
high solubility and low vapor pressure at
absorbing conditions
low viscosity and low heat of absorption
under operating conditions
high thermal conductivity and stability against
thermal decomposition
low density and low freezing point
low toxicity and low corrosivity
low cost and should be readily available.
Since calcium chloride satisfies most of the
requirements, the same is chosen as the absorbent
for this research.
5. Description of the proposed unit
The schematic of the proposed unit is shown
in Fig. 5. It consists of a flat, blackened, tilted
surface and is covered by a single glazing with an
air gap of about 45 cm. The bottom of the unit is
well insulated. At night, the strong absorbent
flows down as a thin film over the glass cover in
contact with the ambient air. If the vapor pressure
of the strong desiccant is less than the vapor
pressure of water in the atmospheric air, mass
transfer takes place from the atmosphere to the
absorbent. Due to absorption of moisture from the
ambient air during the night, the absorbent
becomes diluted. The water-rich absorbent must
be heated during the day to recover the water
from the weak absorbent. Therefore, during the
day, the weak desiccant flows down as a thin film
over the absorber surface. The weak absorbent is
heated by solar energy, and the water that
evaporates from the solution rises to the glass
cover by convection where it is condensed on the
underside of the glass cover and the absorbent
leaving the unit becomes strong. The performance
of the unit at night depends on the potential for
mass transfer, which is the difference in water
vapor pressure between the ambient air and the
 H. I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan /Desalination
Night-Time Operation
Fig. 5. Schematic of the proposed unit.
absorbent film on the glass cover, whereas the
performance of the unit during day-time
operation depends on the difference in water
vapor pressure between the absorbent film and
glass cover. The vapor pressure of water to be
condensed on the glass cover is a function of the
glass temperature, and hence it must be kept
minimum. For this purpose, the glass must be
placed away from the absorber surface.
As an alternative to the proposed arrangement,
the absorbent solution can be permitted to flow as
a thin film over the absorber surface during the
night-time operation by removing the glass cover.
6. Mathematical model
In this paper, an analysis has been carried out
for predicting the performance of the unit. By
making use of energy balance equations, the rate
of absorption at night and the rate of desorption at
day-time intervals of 1 h have been computed.
Any change in the pattern of climatic conditions
being about a change in the performance of the
unit. The variation of the desiccant temperature
and the rate of water absorption as well as water
I I3 (1997) 51-63 57
Day-time operation
desorption rate per unit area have been
determined for different flow rates of desiccant.
They have been computed for the climatic data
pertaining to Dhahran for the month of August as
shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
When the absorbent flows over the glass cover
at night and on the absorber surface in the day-
time, its temperature, concentration, and hence its
vapor pressure vary along the flow length of the
unit. However in the present analysis, the
arithmetic mean of these values between inlet and
outlet of the unit are used. Further, it is assumed
that the areas of the glass cover and absorber
surface are equal, and steady-state conditions
prevail in the unit. The back and edge losses are
assumed to be small. The following energy
balance equation for a unit absorber area can be
written for the day-time operation:
(1)
- 2 GS CS (tS- t,,i) - m hfg = 0
When the absorbent flows down on the glass
58 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination 113 (1997) 51-63

cover in the night-time, the energy balance night-time operation, the constants were:
equation becomes a=-31.26, b=0.629, and c=lOOl.S.
An approximate equation which relates the
rate of desorption, solution flow rate, initial and
(2) average value of concentration of absorbent
solution is given by

Notice that U,, hfg, and hfg, are taken to be

constant with respect to temperature and (7)
concentration of the absorbent solution
encountered in the system. For the night-time
operation, U, is assumed to be a function of the To relate the rate of absorption at night, the above
wind velocity only. For day-time operation, U, is expression is modified as
given by

-1
(8)
(3)

The mass of water evaporated from the absorbent By combining Eqs. (2), (5), (6), and (S), an
during the day-time operation is given by expression for the mass of water absorbed by the
absorbent solution from the atmosphere at night
(4) can be obtained and is given by

The mass of water absorbed by the absorbent

from the ambient air during the night-time
operation is given by m, = (9)

ml = Pl(k-ps) (5)

The vapor pressure of the absorbent solution is

where
directly proportional to its temperature and
inversely proportional to its concentration. The
A = (UL + 2VS)
relationship between vapor pressure, temperature,
and concentration of the absorbent solution is
given by

(6)

where a, b, and c are empirical constants based on

the operating conditions. For the day-time In order to obtain the rate of desorption, an
operation, the constants were found to be: energy balance on the glass cover must be written
a=-463.2, b=4.52, and c=10941.3; for the as
 H. I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination I I3 (I 997) 51-63
(10)
For the expected range of glass temperature, the
vapor pressure of water to be condensed on the
glass cover can be related by an approximate
relationship as given in [l 11. The various heat
transfer coefficients are calculated as given in
[ 121. The analogy between heat and mass transfer
is used to calculate the convective mass transfer
coefficients p and PI. By combining Eqs. (4), (6),
(7), and (lo), the glass cover temperature can be
computed. Using the glass cover temperature, the
mass of fresh water collected can be calculated by
combining Eqs. (l), (4), and (6) and is given by
a+bR+z +74.13 - +?/ (hS_gR+ Q-t-)
[s,i
m=
(11)
where
R = ‘(‘-p)(aT)+D
A absorbent flow rate on the mass of water
H = [hs-g
+hg-_)
7. Results and discussion
Treating the climatic variables given in Figs. 1
and 2 as input data, calculations were made to
determine the rate of absorption and the rate of
desorption, respectively. The hourly variation of
rate of absorption and the temperature of the
absorbent solution from 7 pm to 6 am were
computed from the energy balance equations.
Based on preliminary calculations, for a wind
velocity of 5m/s, U, = 14.4 W/m2”C was assumed
for night-time operation. The following reference
values are used for the calculations: G,=
5kg/hm2, t,,=3O”C, and tSi=35% CaCl, and the
59
results are shown in Fig. 6. It can be seen that
about 2.75 kg of water is absorbed per unit area
by the absorbent solution during this operation.
The rate of absorption varies from 0.2 to
0.252 kg/hm2.
Calculations have also been made to deter-
mine the variation of absorbent temperature, glass
cover temperature, and the rate of desorption
from 8 am to 5 pm, and the results are shown in
Fig. 7. At a solution flow rate of 5 kg/hm2 for a
35% calcium chloride solution having an initial
temperature of 3O”C, it is possible to obtain
1.92 kg of fresh water per unit area, and a
maximum desorption of about 0.3 15 kg/hm2
occurs at noon. It is to be noted that from 5-7 pm
and 6-8 am, no desorption took place. During
these periods, the unit can be used either for
absorption purposes or maintenance work can be
carried out.
In order to improve the performance of the
system, that is, to increase the rate of absorption
as well as the rate of desorption, no one has any
control over the climatic variables, but the
absorbent properties can influence the
performance. Fig. 8 shows the effect of the
absorbed for different concentrations of the
absorbent solution using the climatic variables at
8 pm. It is clear that as the flow rate of the
absorbent solution increases the rate of absorption
also increases. This is due to the fact that more
solution is exposed to the atmosphere and hence
the absorption rate is higher. Further, for a
particular flow rate, as the absorbent concen-
tration increases, the rate of absorption also
increases due to increase in the potential for mass
transfer.
Fig. 9 shows the effect of absorbent flow rate
on the water desorption rate for different
concentrations for the climatic data at 12 noon. It
is interesting to note that as the absorbent flow
rate increases, the rate of desorption decreases as
against the rate of absorption. This is due to the
fact that due to high flow rates, the absorbent
solution is exposed to the solar radiation for short
60 HI. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan /Desalination I13 (1997) 51-63

0.26 r
I
- Desiccanl
iemp.

0.23 -

0.22 -

0.2t -

0.2 -

0.19 ' I I I 40.0

7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5
an &
Pm
Clock time

Fig. 6. Night-time performance characteristics.

--- Llesiccont temp.

0.35 G,= 5kg/hmz

Gloss cover temp.

Moss of waler _ 70
collected

_ 65

0 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5

am Noon Pm
Clock time

Fig. 7. Day-time performance characteristics.

 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination 113 (I 997) 51-63 61

L5X cq
_.-

35x

30%

0 1 5 10 15 20 25

Desiccant flow rate, kg/ hm’

Fig. 8. Effect of desiccant flow rate on the water absorption rate.

I I

5 10 1s 20 25

Desiccant flow rate, kg/hm’

Fig. 9. Effect of desiccant flow rate on the water desorption rate.

62 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan /Desalination I13 (1997) 51-63

0.6

G, = IOkgIhm’

Ambient temperature ,OC

Fig. 10. Effect of ambient temperature and humidity on the water absorption rate.

period of time and hence, the rate of desorption is summer climatic conditions of Dhahran, Saudi
less. Further, as the absorbent concentration Arabia, the diurnal variation of rate of absorption
decreases, the rate of desorption increases due to of water at night and the water desorption rate
increase in potential for mass transfer. during the day were calculated using the energy
The study was extended to analyze the effect balance equations. It was found that the increase
of ambient temperature and humidity on the in absorbent solution flow rate increases the rate
system peformance for the desiccant concen- of absorption of water from the atmosphere but
tration of 35% calcium chloride solution at a flow decreases the desorption rate of water during day-
rate of 10 kg/hm2, and the results are shown in time operation. Experimental studies are in
Fig. 10. For any particular condition of humidity, progress, and economic study is needed to
as the ambient temperature increases the rate of determine its feasibility.
absorption of water also increases during the
night due to the high potential for mass transfer,
which is the difference between the partial
9. Symbols
pressure of water vapor in the atmospheric air and
the desiccant film. As the ambient humidity c - specific heat, kJ/kg “’
decreases, the mass of water absorbed by the G - mass flow rate, kg/hm2
desiccant also decreases due to low potential for h - total (convection and radiation) heat
mass transfer. transfer coefficient, W/m2 “’
hfg -
atent heat of vaporization, kJ/kg
hfgl
- latent heat of condensation, kJ/kg
8. Conclusions
I - incident solar flux, kJ/hm2
A method has been proposed to extract fresh m - mass of water evaporated, kg/hm2
water from the humid atmosphere. For typical ml - mass of water absorbed, kg/hm2
 H.I. Abualhamayel, P. Gandhidasan / Desalination 1 I3 (I 997) 51-63 63

P - average vapor pressure of water, mm Acknowledgements

Hg The authors are grateful for the financial
RH - relative humidity, %
support and facilities provided by the King Fahd
t - average temperature, “C
University of Petroleum and Minerals. One of the
UL - overall heat loss coefficient, W/m2 “’
authors (HIA) wishes to express his sincere
v - wind velocity, m/s
thanks to the Mechanical Engineering Depart-
ment of the University of Reading, UK, and the
Greek British Council for providing the facilities and
support to conduct this research during the
(ra> - effective transmittance-absorptance
summer of 1996.
product
P - mass transfer coefficient between the
absorbent film and the glass cover, References
kg/mmHg hm2
mass transfer coefficient between the PI M. Kobayashi, Solar Energy, 7 (1963) 93.
PI -
ambient air and the absorbent film, PI SE. Aly, Desalination, 73 (1989) 139.
[31 G. Nebbia, Proc. of the Conf. on Solar and Aeolian
kg/mmHg hm2 Energy, 5 (1961) 33.
4 - concentration of the absorbent solu- [41 A. Khalil, Desalination, 93 (1993) 587.
tion by weight, % l.51 W.G. Bulang, Solar Energy International Progress,
P - reflectance of absorbent solution for 3 (1978) 1526.
solar radiation [61 H. Sofrata, Proc. of Solar Desalination Workshop,
2 (1981) 71.
[71 Y. Alayli et al., Desalination, 67 (1987) 227.
PI R.C. Hall, Solar Energy, 10 (1966) 41.
Subscripts
[91 K.G.T. Hollands, Solar Energy, 7 (1963) 39.
g - glass cover DOI P. Gandhidasanand H.I. Abualhamayel, Renewable
- glass to ambient Energy, 9 (1996) 745.
g-m
i illI P. Gandhidasan and H.I. Abualhamayel, Desalina-
- beginning of the unit tion, 99 (1994) 137.
s - absorbent solution [I21 J.A. Duffle and W.A. Beckman, Solar Engineering
s-g - absorbent solution to glass cover of Thermal Processes, 2nd ed., Wiley, New York,
co - ambient 1991.