Term 252

Solar-Powered Membrane Distillation Station for Off-Grid Remote Areas

Project Type: Self-Initiated

Project Description

This project presents the design, fabrication, and experimental validation of SolarFlux — a portable, fully off-grid solar-powered membrane distillation (MD) desalination station targeting remote and resource-limited communities in Saudi Arabia. The integrated system unifies five engineering disciplines into a compact 50×45×67 cm, 37.8 kg station that converts brackish groundwater (~4,000 ppm TDS) and seawater (~40,000 ppm TDS) into potable water compliant with WHO and SASO drinking-water standards. The prototype incorporates a three-stage chemical pretreatment unit (5 μm filtration, cation exchange softening, and multi-media adsorption), a PVDF flat-sheet membrane with SiO2 nanoparticle surface coating (water contact angle 154°, pore size 0.50 μm), and an air-gap membrane distillation (AGMD) module operating at 60–75°C feed and 20–25°C cold-side temperatures. Experimental results confirm salt rejection exceeding 97% and permeate TDS below 250 mg/L — well within the 500 mg/L limit. The measured water production rate of 0.6 L/h yields approximately 3.6 L/day over six hours of solar operation, exceeding the ≥1 L/day requirement. The system operates at an average power of 145.86 W (≤150 W target), sustained by a 200 W monocrystalline PV panel and a 12.8 V / 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery enabling 6.2 hours of autonomous daily operation. Loop pressure peaked at 0.104 bar (≤0.5 bar limit), and heat recovery efficiency was measured at 57% (≥30% target).