A SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC DRIVEN HEAT PUMP ASSISTED WATER DESALINATION SYSTEM: ENERGY, EXERGY, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL (4E) ANALYSIS

Waste heat energy recovery from heat pump unit is one of the potential heat sources for saline water purification. In this work waste heat from a solar photovoltaic driven heat pump unit was utilised in humidification dehumidification (HDH) based saline water treatment process. The highest clean water yield, PV efficiency, electrical output are 39.8 L/d, 9.42% and 1.20 kW respectively. The maximum recovery ratio, gained output ratio and plant energy utilization factor are 2.25, 4.33 and 0.57 respectively. The highest exergy efficiency of PV panel and desalination unit are 8.01% and 33.75% respectively. The lowest price of fresh water is 0.0034 $/L when interest rate and plant life are 5% and 15 years respectively