A study of the use of solar concentrating plants for the atmospheric water vapour extraction from ambient air in the Middle East and Northern Africa region

In this paper an insight of two different methods for the production of fresh water is given within the framework of the FP6 project “AQUASOLIS” aimed at exploring the use of solar concentrating plants in Mediterranean countries for the supply of renewable water. The method presented in this paper is the extraction of water from air by direct cooling of humid air below the dew point. The energy consumption of the system is calculated and the possibility to use the solar cooling system for supplying the required refrigerating power is explored. Quantitative calculations are carried out simulating different weather scenarios in the three target Mediterranean partner countries: Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco.