Water desalination plant powered by solid oxide fuel cell technology in Egypt

The unique location of Egypt makes it very promising for obtaining freshwater from the sea. After applying suitable desalination techniques integrated with solar radiation photovoltaics (PVs), freshwater can be easily produced. Integrated desalination, including solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), PVs, and a reverse osmosis (RO) system is proposed in this work. To demonstrate the advantages and better improve the efficiency of the integrated system, a mathematical model was established for evaluation. In this work, the model was applied in two different locations with high intensity solar radiation (El-Zafrana and El-Arish). The RO system was applied and integrated with SOFC technology then simulated and modeled using MATLAB Simulink. Results demonstrate the ability to obtain 2000 t/d freshwater production capacity with consideration of SOFC devices. The expected annual income from this plant is 750,000 USD after its sixth year of construction. In addition, the desalination process is proposed for non-stop use, over an entire day, of the used seawater. The simulation results provided in this work will help further future commercialization of such a project.