Kuwait enjoys abundance of coastal and inland areas with plenty of sunshine, but lacks natural fresh water supplies. Solar desalination of available seawater or brackish water is a logical solution to the problem of freshwater shortages in Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Hence, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) is proposing the realization of a solar desalination pilot plant to be designed, constructed, installed, and tested at the Water Research Center (WRC) site in order to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of desalting seawater using a hybrid desalination scheme that includes multiple technologies, e.g., multi-effect distillation (MED), reverse osmosis (RO), membrane distillation (MD), adsorption desalination (AD), and multi-humidification desalination (MHD). Solar energy is to be collected and stored for continuous operation 24/7 using a mix of technologies including concentrated solar thermal power (CSP), evacuated tube collectors (VT), photovoltaic (PV) cells, and thermal/energy storage. This pilot plant model shall take advantage of the latest technological advancements through collaboration with multinational partners from Europe and Asia. The solar desalination pilot plant shall be used for performance testing and optimization of the technologies involved under prevalent conditions in Kuwait.
The aim of this workshop was to present the mentioned technologies in front of an international team of experts and to provide a platform for the exchange of opinions and knowledge in order to discuss possible scenarios for the implementation and deployment of the envisaged pilot plant model.
Objectives
• Promote awareness among international academic and industrial communities, specialized in desalination and solar energies, of the urgent need for new technological breakthroughs in the area of seawater desalination using solar energy.
• Stimulate confidence in KISR’s future Research & Development plans by discussing, debating, challenging, and verifying current visions of research needs and priorities with respect to water desalination using solar energy.
• Gathering of specialized international experts to formulate the best possible scheme for solar desalination pilot plant model and action plan for implementation and deployment.
