SOLAR DISTILLATION - DESALINATION

The Laboratory presents long-lasting experience in this field, as the first activities have taken place as early as the decade of '70, resulting to its international recognition in the field of solar distillation and desalination. In recent years, the research performed in this field concentrates on:

• The development and experimental validation of models, describing the mass and energy transfer processes in solar stills, as well as the elaboration of tools for the estimation of the expected output in distilled water.
• The design and development of new types for stills, connected to solar collectors.
• The exploitation of the potentials provided by the hybrid character of the installations, especially regarding the combination of the production of desalinated water and hot water for use.
• The implementation of large and small integrated installations of solar desalination, through the framework of pilot-demonstration actions, aiming at the evaluation of technologies on actual operation conditions.

In the upcoming future, emphasis will be given on the design of new, more efficient stills, based on the technologies of Humidification-Dehumidification and distillation through the use of micro-permeable membranes (Membrane Distillation), in combination with the further exploitation of the hybrid character of the installations and the use of new materials.