Trial success for world’s first first fully circular solar thermal desalination system
The UAE imports around 85% of its food, making it one of the world’s most food-import dependent nations. Despite critical water stress, the nation is working towards food independence as part of its National Food Security Strategy. Making agriculture sustainable will require innovative solutions, especially as traditional desalination relies heavily on fossil fuels and produces toxic brine.
Technology developer Desolenator has developed the world’s first fully circular solar thermal desalination system. Joining forces with agri-food tech company Silal, they put it to the test in the greenhouses of the UAE desert.
The aim was to turn saline groundwater into safe water for irrigation and cooling for greenhouses. The trial at the Al Ain solar plant showed off-grid desalination can reliably support desert agriculture without brine disposal challenges.
Ventajas del enfoque/la innovación
- Circular resource model: The system converts brine into useful salts, achieving zero liquid discharge and eliminating toxic waste associated with traditional desalination.
- Energy independence: Utilizing proprietary PV-T panels, the system operates off-grid with thermal storage, decoupling water production from fossil fuel reliance and price volatility.
- Agricultural resilience: Custom remineralisation of water optimises crop yield, while integrated cooling reduces greenhouse water consumption by significant margins.
Specialist Services Involved
- Trial design support: Evaluamos los planes de ensayos tecnológicos basándonos en los marcos de innovación de los usuarios. La reserva de ensayos aborda específicamente las preguntas clave a las que debe responder el ensayo.
- Validación de ensayos: Recibimos y evaluamos el informe final del ensayo del proveedor de tecnología. La dirección Depósitos de prueba aborda específicamente las preguntas clave a las que debe responder el juicio.
- Due diligence: Isle cuenta con un sólido proceso para ayudar a las partes interesadas a adoptar tecnologías innovadoras y garantizar su adecuación a los fines perseguidos.
- Repayable grant funding: Isle facilita la negociación con los desarrolladores de tecnología y los usuarios finales para acordar los factores críticos de éxito de los ensayos y los indicadores clave de rendimiento (KPI). A continuación, se conceden los préstamos a los desarrolladores tecnológicos.
- Zero risk trial: Si un ensayo no cumple sus indicadores clave de rendimiento, la empresa tecnológica no tiene obligación de devolver el préstamo. Del mismo modo, el usuario final no está obligado a realizar un pedido de compra; el depósito de pruebas asume el riesgo.
- Investor introductions: Isle utiliza su amplia red mundial para presentar a posibles inversores.
Resultados
- Water security: The pilot successfully delivered 25m³/day of distilled water from saline groundwater, proving a scalable model for food independence in arid regions.
- Sustainable cooling: The integrated cooling system reduced energy requirements for temperature regulation, delivering 500 kWh of cooling capacity for the greenhouses.
- Carbon reduction: The system demonstrated the ability to reduce emissions per m³ of water produced by up to 85% compared to fossil-powered reverse osmosis.
Key contact:
For enquiries and further information, please contact Dr Jo Burgess, Head of Trial Reservoir at [email protected].