Eyad S. Hrayshat

A Wind-Powered System for Water Desalination

A wind-powered reverse osmosis desalination system is proposed in order to assess the potential of the development of water desalination in Jordan. A simulation model for the prediction of the power delivered for a given value of wind speed is adopted. Based on the average wind speed data and salinity of the feed water, the amount of water that can be produced at eight different sites is calculated. According to the annual amount of water produced, the selected sites can be divided into three different categories. The first one, which includes Hofa and RasMuneef, is considered to be “adequate” for wind-powered reverse osmosis desalination. Its annual amount of water output forms about 57% of all water produced at all the eight sites combined. The second category, which includes Safawy, Twaneh, and Tafila, is considered to be “promising”. Its water output adds up to about 30% of all water produced at all sites. The third category, which includes Jurf AlDaraweesh, Aqaba, and Shoubak, is considered to be “poor”. Only about 13% of the water produced from all sites combined can be obtained from these three sites.