Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews: Sciencedirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 113 (2019) 109268
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser
Saline alkali water desalination project in Southern Xinjiang of China: A T

review of desalination planning, desalination schemes and economic
analysis
Shibiao Fanga,b,∗, Wenrong Tuc, Lin Mua,b, Zhilin Sunc,d, Qiuyue Hud, Yang Yangd
a
Shenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen 518057, China
b
College of Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, China
c
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
d
Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Keywords: Solar desalination technology develops slowly in Southern Xinjiang, and salt-leaching method is the most
Saline alkali water popular measure for improving salinization land, failing to make full use of the local rich solar energy. Therefore,
Southern Xinjiang government of China plans to exploit the solar energy for driving the desalination process in Southern Xinjiang
Desalination planning to solve the issue of water scarcity and salinization. Firstly, this paper reviews the existing status of salinization,
Solar still
and elaborates traditional treatment measures of salinization in Southern Xinjiang. Secondly, a saline alkali
Cost analysis
water desalination planning in Southern Xinjiang is demonstrated with detailed explication, showing the ne-
cessities and feasible strategy of the desalination project in Southern Xinjiang. Thirdly, a combination of reverse
osmosis membrane and solar still is proposed for the desalination project, and current research states and
progresses of membrane treatment technology and solar desalination are analysed, pointing out the possible
solutions for research challenges in Southern Xinjiang. Finally, the technology of modifications of single basin
solar still is studied, and several solar still configurations are selected from reference to conduct the cost analysis
using local market price to figure out the optimal type suitable for Southern Xinjiang. Once this desalination
project is implemented successfully, remedied saline lands in Xinjiang will become backup land resources to
secure the local socio-economic and agricultural development, improving the ecological environment and soil
fertility. Other prospective regions in China, such as eastern coastal saline soil, salted soil in North China Plain
and Northeast Plain, can benefit from this research.
1. Introduction suffering from domestic water shortage, and there is insufficient water
supply for the basic sanitation facilities for 2.6 billion people [3].
Although 70.8% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, fresh Moreover, the growing population and the sustained development of
water resources are extremely limited. 97.5% of all the water resources agriculture and industry put forward higher requirements for the
are saline water and can’t be directly consumed by human beings [1]. In quantity and quality of fresh water, especially in water-stressed coun-
addition, 87% of the rest 2.5% fresh water is not accessible, locked in tries. Then a rapid development of urbanization has given rise to a
icecaps, glaciers and permafrost zone. The available fresh water for greater pollution of groundwater and rivers, further reducing the
people is in a part of rivers, lakes and groundwater, accounting for only available water sources. Global fresh water shortage is becoming the
about 0.25% of the total amount of water of the earth with uneven most serious problem influencing the social and economic development
distribution [2]. About 65% of the water resources are centralized in in many countries [1]. The best way to solve the fresh water shortage
less than 10 countries, and over 80 countries and regions with 40% of issue is to desalinate salt water from oceans, rivers, or lakes, because
the world’s total population are seriously short of water. According to many of arid regions own a large amount of available brackish water for
statistics released by the United Nations, about 1.1 billion people are desalination.
Corresponding author. Shenzhen Research Institute, China University of Geosciences, Shenzhen 518057, China; College of Marine Science and Technology, China
∗
University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, China.

E-mail addresses: wuyibiaobiao@163.com (S. Fang), Twy8718@163.com (W. Tu), moulin1977@hotmail.com (L. Mu), oceanszl@163.com (Z. Sun),
2913108004@qq.com (Q. Hu), 605129410@qq.com (Y. Yang).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109268
Received 2 April 2017; Received in revised form 4 April 2019; Accepted 10 July 2019
Available online 06 August 2019
1364-0321/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Fang, et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 113 (2019) 109268
Many plants of seawater desalination and wastewater treatment are an area of 1.02 × 106 km2, is the largest continental river basin in
already in the operation for producing clean water, but they are ex- Southern Xinjiang of China. It has an extreme desert climate with an
pensive because many plants are based on conventional desalination average annual temperature of 10–11.5 °C. There is a great unevenness
processes. Due to the thermal power distillation in conventional desa- of precipitation distribution within a year. The overall sketch map
lination plants, massive energy will be consumed to release large showing the Xinjiang and Tarim River Basin is in Fig. 2.
greenhouse gases causing global warming [4]. Therefore, many coun- According to the monitoring data from Akesu meteorological station
tries are changing the way the desalination technology develops with in Fig. 3, there exists 5505 MJ/m2 solar radiation per year in Southern
emphasis on the environment-friendly process of water treatment such Xinjiang on average. Owning so abundant solar resources, Southern
as desalination driven by solar energy. Solar desalination is one of the Xinjiang is an extremely arid region in China, which has an annual
water treatment technologies based on renewable energy, and it is rainfall less than 100 mm [13], with problems of poor water resources
updated and promoted by researchers throughout the world [5]. Among and serious land salinization and desertification. Besides, surface water
the various solar desalination technologies, solar distillation techniques is vitally limited there, mainly coming from snowmelt and rainfall.
or simply solar stills produce fresh water by taking the solar energy as According to the distribution of annual precipitation in Xinjiang, shown
the only power source. Solar distillation owns the advantages such as in Fig. 4, it is evident that most of precipitation happens in northern
easy operation, low cost, high quality, no pollution, and it can be a Xinjiang, and the precipitation in the southern region is extremely
solution to the shortage of drinking water, especially in remote rural small. Tarim Basin has the minimum precipitation of 23 mm. By the
areas [6]. confluence of Yarkand River, Hotan River and Aksu River, Tarim River
There are about 128,000 remote villages in China, where there are in southern Xinjiang becomes the longest inland river in China [13]. As
more than 7 billion people living in poverty without average power the drinking water source however, the Tarim River runoff decreases
level for lighting [7]. Even in some isolated rural areas, power plants sharply in recent years and even appears cutoff in partial areas.
often suspend supplying electricity because of unstable electric loads or Meanwhile, the vast water surface evaporation caused by high tem-
high power transmission cost, and the interruption duration may be last perature results in a severe water shortage in southern Xinjiang region,
up to 18–24 h a day [8]. So the electricity in these areas is precious, and leading to soil salinization, low crop survival rate, and slow develop-
it is extravagant to use electricity or fossil fuel as the driving force for ment of local agriculture. Furthermore, salt and alkali in saline farm-
water treatment, unaccepted by the local people. In many regions of land will dissolve in fresh water when rainfall, normal irrigation or
these remote areas however, there is a plenty amount of solar energy, flooding irrigation for salt leaching is conducted, thus salt and alkali
and also the local government has taken full advantage of the solar will be carried into groundwater and drainage water causing serious
energy resources with high quality for the heat and light applications to inorganic salt pollution, and the content of chlorides, sulfates, salinity
meet daily needs of residents [9]. and fluorides are all severely overweight. Then massive farmland
With the COP21 in Paris in December 2015, India has launched an wastewater with high salinity drains into Tarim River, deteriorating
international solar alliance with 121 countries, and China is one of the water quality. Given the above, water scarcity coupled with pollution-
121 countries who joined the agreement for efficient exploitation of induced water shortage becomes a constraint to sustainable economic
solar energy to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels [10]. China is development of Southern Xinjiang region.
blessed with a large amount of solar energy, and there are more than As such, fresh water is playing a significant role in improving the
2000 h of sunshine a year in over 2/3 total territory area of China. native biodiversity and agricultural sustainability of Southern Xinjiang.
Annual radiation amount in China is above 5000 MJ/m2, and China’s Solar energy is clean and renewable, which is available abundantly for
land area receives 3.3 × 103–8.4 × 103 MJ/m2 solar radiation per year, driving desalination process in Xinjiang with low cost and mature
equivalent to the reserves of 2.4 × 103 billion tons of standard coal technology. Solar energy utilization in the domain of seawater desali-
according to statistical data analysis [11]. nation is also suitable for purification of saline alkali water. Moreover,
According to the solar energy assessment of China’s National Bureau excessive use of underground water is not allowed because it will cause
of Meteorology Center, China’s solar energy resources are divided into the decline of groundwater level and the rise of fluoride contain
the following four categories. First class area’s annual radiation is be- [14,15]. Thus it is better to utilize the surface water from Tarim River
tween 6700 and 8370 MJ/m2, including Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and drainage ditches for the desalination purpose, and it will become a
northern Gansu, northern Ningxia, southern Xinjiang, northwestern source of fresh water in the whole area of Xinjiang.
Hebei, northern Shanxi, southern Inner Mongolia, southern Ningxia, This paper reviews the existing status of salinization in Southern
central Gansu, Eastern Qinghai, southeastern Tibet. Second class area’s Xinjiang in Section 2 as a background of the desalination project, and
annual radiation is between 5400 and 6700 MJ/m2, including the traditional treatment measures for salinization in Southern Xinjiang
Shandong, Henan, southeastern Hebei, southern Shanxi, northern are also elaborated. Saline alkali water desalination planning in
Xinjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Yunnan, northern Shaanxi, southeastern Southern Xinjiang is demonstrated in Section 3 with detailed explica-
Gansu, southern Guangdong, southern Fujian, Jiangsu and north of tion, and this part presents the necessities and feasible strategy of de-
Anhui. Third class area’s annual radiation is between 4200 and salination project in Southern Xinjiang. The combination of reverse
5400 MJ/m2, mainly in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, osmosis membrane and solar still is proposed for desalination project,
Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong. Fourth class area’s annual radiation is and the current research states and progresses of membrane process and
below 4200 MJ/m2. Sichuan and Guizhou is the area with the least solar still are analysed in Section 4. Also an innovative solar still with
solar energy resources in China. A diagrammatic presentation is shown lenses and mirror is figured out, enhancing the heating effect of sun-
in Fig. 1, which is the solar energy resource assessment by China’s light. Section 5 focuses on the key technology of solar still, and several
National Bureau of Meteorology Center [12]. solar still configurations are selected from reference to conduct the cost
Xinjiang is located in the west of China, with abundant solar energy analysis using local price in Xinjiang. With the discussion of healthy
resources. Total solar radiation in Xinjiang is 5000–6400 MJ/m2 a year, development of solar still in future, the feasibility of solar desalination
ranking first in China. Southeast of Xinjiang is blessed with more than in Xinjiang and the socioeconomic benefits are analysed in Section 6.
6000 MJ/m2/year radiation, higher than that in northwest (below This paper aims to bring in more attention about the development
5800 MJ/m2). The total solar radiation in the northern region of footprints of solar utilization for desalination, and to share experiences
Xinjiang is between 5200 and 5600 MJ/m2, in which, there are Yili to other energy renovation projects.
Valley, Bortala Valley, Tacheng basin and Erqis River Valley. Then the
total solar radiation in the middle of Junggar basin is below 5200 MJ/
m2, which is the lowest in Xinjiang plain [11]. Tarim River Basin, with
2
Fig. 1. Diagrammatic presentation of solar energy resources distribution [12].
Fig. 2. Sketch map of Tarim River Basin in Southern Xinjiang (adapted from Ref. [13]).
2. Literature review Southern Xinjiang, the ascending water flow movement in the soil is
dominant, which is stronger than the process of leaching and desalting.
2.1. Salinization survey in Southern Xinjiang In initial stage of reclamation of Tarim Basin, salt content in soil was in
a high level, and generally the salt content of the soil layer in depth of
Salinization in dry lands can occur when the groundwater level 0–30 cm was 50–300 mg/kg, and the peak value could be 600–800 mg/
ranges from 2 m to 3 m below the surface of the soil [16]. The soluble kg in the surface soil layer. Chlorides, sulfates and nitrates were the
salts from the groundwater are raised by capillary action to the surface main components of salt in Southern Xinjiang. According to survey
of the soil. Then the salts accumulate in 0–100 cm soil layers after water [18], Xinjiang has completed about 3.4 million hectares reclamation of
evaporation. The region of Southern Xinjiang used to be a part of an- saline wasteland in the past 50 years, however only 1.87 million hec-
cient Mediterrane about one hundred million years ago [17], and most tares could be used as arable lands. Namely, around 45% of the re-
of the salts have been retained in the region since then. Because of the claimed area was abandoned because of secondary salinization. Soil
conditions of extreme drought and high temperature evaporation in salinization has caused about 720 million kilograms grain reduction in
3
Fig. 3. Annual variation of solar radiation from 2001 to 2017 in Akesu meteorological station.
Fig. 4. Distribution of annual precipitation in Xinjiang.
Xinjiang annually accounting for 8.6% of annual total grain output, and and salt dissolving, salt content in groundwater always grow. As such,
cotton production is cut by 130.5 thousand kilograms accounting for once saline groundwater flows and ascends in other area, secondary
about 9% of total annual cotton production. Given the above, crop salinization of soil occurs, and the diagram is shown in Fig. 7. In sum,
reduction caused by land salinization has resulted in economic losses of excess irrigation leads to aggravation of soil secondary salinization,
about 3.5 billion yuan (Chinese currency). overall deterioration of groundwater environment, massive waste of
In practice, Southern Xinjiang has been applying salt leaching to surface water resources and deterioration of soil conditions, which has
avoid soil salinization. A large amount of irrigation water used will seriously restricted the sustainable development of local agricultural
infiltrate into the soil, taking away the salts in veneer of soil, so the salt production.
content in soil decreases sharply in a short term. Salt leaching refers to Due to the deficit of fresh water for salt leaching caused by scarce
the practice of applying an amount of excess irrigation to avoid soil rainfall in southern areas of Xinjiang, drainage ditch is commonly used
salinization (salinity control). Where this is practiced, drainage must to reduce the groundwater level, cutting off the contact between saline
also usually be employed to carry away the excess water. Fig. 5 is a alkali water and groundwater, to alleviate a series of ecological en-
schematic diagram of horizontal drainage ditches. Drainage ditches vironment destruction. Drainage ditch is not only an effective way for
adjacent to the irrigated lands discharge saline water (return water after mitigation of groundwater pollution, but also a source of saline-alka-
land irrigation), controlling the groundwater level, reducing the eva- lization invading into Tarim River.
poration of groundwater, and avoiding secondary salinization pollu- Because Tarim River is located in the northwest margin of Tarim
tion. The process of salt leaching is shown in Fig. 6. basin with the lowest altitude, various runoffs in this area are all col-
Because the excess irrigation will cause the groundwater level rising lected into it. As such, water discharged from irrigated area can enter
4
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of horizontal drainage ditches.
into Tarim River through drainage ditches at all levels, and salts from and quality. Saline water from farmland in Southern Xinjiang can’t be
irrigated farmland also enter into Tarim River and mixes with the river directly used for irrigation generally, so it is necessary to reduce the
water, causing the increase of mineralization degree of water body. It salinity of drainage water through more scientific and reasonable
can be confirmed that the mineralization degree and PH value of water techniques, eliminating the influence of saline water on the soil en-
are all increasing in recent years according to field survey. In 1958 and vironment and water quality of Tarim River. It will be an effective way
1959, salinity of water in the mainstream of Tarim River was less than to solve salinization problem that how to completely remove the salt
1.0 g/L. While influenced by the drainage with the mineralization de- and alkali in soil (desalination) before the drainage water flowing into
gree as high as 6–13 g/L from irrigated area, the river mineralization the whole ecosystem, rather than simply salt-leaching.
degree of midstream and downstream segments are as high as 5 g/L at
present. Using the water drained from upstream to irrigate downstream 2.2. Treatment measures for salinization in Xinjiang
farmland, salt pollution is circulated between farmlands. Mineralization
degree of main drainage ditches in Tarim Irrigated Area during 2.2.1. Traditional treatment measures used by local peasants of Xinjiang
2008–2011 is shown in Table 1. It is found that the minimum miner- People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, since then,
alization degree is 3.47 g/L, and the maximum value is up to 14 g/L, Xinjiang began to reclaim lands in a large area. Due to unsound drai-
and the average value is 6.58 g/L, which reflects that there will be a big nage system, salinization was becoming more and more serious in ir-
threat for the water quality situation. If the problem of soil salinization rigated lands. As such, from the beginning of 1956, Xinjiang Production
is not fundamentally resolved, the water quality of Tarim River will and Construction Corps carried out the experimental study on im-
continue to deteriorate. Sampling points in Table 1 are illustrated in provement of saline alkali soil [19]. Based on previous research, de-
Fig. 8. velopment stages of saline alkali land improvement in Xinjiang in the
To date, local agricultural administrations are changing the way the past 50 years have been concluded in Table 2.
irrigation mode is developing, with emphasis on recycling use of saline
alkali water in order to narrow the gap between water demand and 2.2.2. Current states and progress of salinization research in Xinjiang
water supply coping with drought stress. About 50% of saline water in Numerical simulation method, physical and chemical analysis
Southern Xinjiang had been reused for the crop growth to alleviate the method, and aerial and satellite monitoring method were applied to the
water shortage in the region in 2015. However, due to lack of effective related research about prevention and improvement of saline alkaline
treatment technologies, reuse of saline water in the irrigation area land. At present, prevention and control of soil salinization in Xinjiang
caused severely secondary pollution, adversely impacting on crop yield has made great progress, and the details about measurements are
Fig. 6. Process of salt leaching.
5
Fig. 7. Vicious circle caused by salt leaching.
Table 1
Monthly mineralization degree in main drainage ditches of Tarim Irrigation Area in four-year average from 2008 to 2011 (g/L).
Sampling points March April May June July August September October
B1–B2 drainage ditch of Shengli reservoir 4.04 4.72 4.19 3.88 3.89 3.79 3.47 3.59
B3–B4 drainage ditch of Shengli reservoir 4.84 5.24 4.61 4.49 5.28 3.56 3.68 4.20
Main drainage ditch of Shengli reservoir (M1) 5.29 5.28 3.99 5.11 5.75 3.91 3.63 3.91
Flood interception ditch (C1–C2) 8.89 9.06 12.64 10.16 6.34 4.55 7.35 7.80
North Tarim drainage ditch (A1-A2) 7.92 12.17 14.00 5.81 7.49 7.53 13.67 8.76
Fig. 8. Tarim Basin and sampling point illustration.
6
Table 2
Development stages of saline alkali land improvement in Xinjiang.
Stages Periods Major method Research field
Salt-leaching with no drainage In 1950s–1960s Rice cultivating Physical and chemical properties of soil/Law of
salt movement
Salt-leaching using drainage system In mid-1960s to early Hydraulic engineering projects Interdisciplinary research
1970s
Flood irrigation In the early 1980s Pipe drainage & Vertical drainage by wells Raising groundwater level
Biological improvement In the late 1970s–1980s Crop breeding (wheat, corn, cotton et al. with salt Planting Science
resistant)
Comprehensive treatment In 1980s–1990s Automatic control and prediction for soil secondary Whole process management of the basin
salinization [20]
Ecological protection From 1990s to 21st Water-saving irrigation, drainage system renovation, Ecological restoration and protection
Century chemical improvement [21–23]
Table 3
Details about measurements of prevention and control of soil salinization in Xinjiang.
Measures Methods Specific implementation in Xinjiang Performance
Irrigation engineering Establishment of well-run irrigation In Tarim basin, people built reservoirs, irrigation Six years drainage test was conducted by Xinjiang
project system and modern drainage system channels and drainage channel networks for salt Agricultural Second Division concluding that
removal through transporting. Pipe drainage was the desalination rate reached 32.6% by drainage ditch,
main form of horizontal drainage ditch, and digging and the rate was 48.2% by subsurface drainage [26].
wells was the major method for vertical drainage.
Biological measures Afforestation & planting grass and Salt tolerant plants can reduce underground water In Xinjiang Fukang ecological station of Chinese
breeding salt tolerant plants level and increase surface coverage to decrease the Academy of Sciences, salt-tolerance gramineous
surface evaporation, preventing the salt accumulation forage grass was cultivated for about two years, and
on surface area of soil. In addition, salt tolerant plants the desalinization rate reached 67.3% in 0–40 cm soil
can regulate the ground soil temperature through layer [28]. Through the test of 15 years continuous
improving the soil structure to enhance soil fertility. cultivation of Halophytes under salt water irrigation,
profiles in 100 cm soil layer were all completely
desalted, and the desalinization rate was up to 80%
[29].
Agricultural improvement Increasing the soil organic matter & Salinity rose again in some rice paddy farmlands after Salt-leaching by cultivating rice is not a fundamental
measures planting with grooves and desalination in 1–3 years; Underground water level way to improve saline lands, and it will waste
cultivating rice [32] raised around rice paddy farmland, intensifying soil massive irrigation water.
salinization process; A large amount of water
excretion with high salinity deteriorate water quality.
Chemical improvement Adding chemical substances in saline The application of gypsum and other chemical In 2009, Xinjiang Oil Field Company had applied
measures soil such as gypsum, phosphoric acid, additives was to increase the soluble calcium (Ca2+) coal-fired flue gas desulfurization gypsum for saline
slag and other modifiers [33,34]. in soil, substituting sodium (Na+) through ion alkali soil improvement, successfully reducing PH
substitution effect. value and total salt content in soil. As a result, tree
survival rate was increased by 41% after soil
treatment by chemical improvement measures
[35,36]
elaborated in Table 3 [24–36]. ecological cropland-conversion, adjustment of agricultural industrial

To sum up, irrigation engineering projects have been widely used in structure, natural disasters, and environmental pollution. By the end of
the practice of saline farmland improvement in Xinjiang, and chemical 2012, China’s total arable land area was 135.1 million hectares, which
improvement measures and biological improvement measures are the is far from enough [37]. As such, reservation of land resources is ne-
focus of current research. Moreover, irrigation engineering project is cessary for improving grain yield, which is also required by the national
not suitable for dealing with the large-area soil salinization. Biological strategy planning. Because land resources of forests, grasslands and
improvement measures can reduce the salt content, but can’t com- wetlands are precious, the government of China chooses saline and
pletely eradicate salinized soil. Chemical improvement measure is easy alkaline lands as the backup cultivated land. There are more than 100
to introduce new ions, causing secondary pollution. The practice has million hectares saline lands in China, which is of great significance to
shown the above methods are not good at preventing the soil salini- guarantee the national food security and ecological protection once
zation in a large area. Hence salt-leaching method is still in the domi- saline alkali land treatment is successful. Moreover, restoration of
nant position in Xinjiang. saline alkali land possesses strategic meanings such as grassland func-
tion recovery, ecological protection, carbon sink.
3. Saline alkali water desalination planning in Southern Xinjiang Ministry of Land and Resources of People’s Republic of China (MLR)
has implemented ‘National land remediation plan’ from 2011 to 2015,
3.1. Necessities of desalination project in Southern Xinjiang applying the traditional draining ditch excavation to eliminate the ef-
fect of salinization in arid and semi-arid lands in Northwest China.
Mining the grain potential yield is a significant strategy for sus- About 66.70 thousand hectares of saline alkali lands have been turned
tainable development of China’s agriculture in the future. The way to into fertile fields after this project. In addition, MLR paid high attention
increase the yield of food is enhancing the grain production efficiency to innovation of science and technology for the development of saline
or improving the arable land. In the case of the limited productivity of alkali soil utilization, undertaking ‘Saline treatment by underground
cultivated land currently, the boost of total amount of food mainly re- pipe and ecological restoration technology development and demon-
lies on the increase of cultivated land area. However, China’s arable stration’ in ‘11th Five-Year’. Then MLR successfully developed a first set
land is in a downward trend because of degeneration of cultivated land, of pipe desalting equipment in 2013, breaking the overseas
7
Fig. 9. Integration flowchart of the desalination project in Xinjiang.
monopolization. Such projects play an important role in science and mu in winter and spring (mu is China measurement unit of farmland
technology demonstration for water-saving and land-saving, offering area, one mu equals to 0.0667 ha). It is calculated that saltness reaches
modern engineering technology for the exploitation and utilization of 2.8–5.6 t/mu according to the soil bulk density of 1.4 g/cm3.
saline alkali land resources. Calculation equation: (0.5% ∼ 1%) × 400 m3 × 1400 kg/m3 =
In Southern Xinjiang, water is a kind of scarce resource, which is the (0.5% ∼ 1%) × 5.6 × 105 kg = 2.8 t ∼ 5.6 t. As such, if soil salt con-
most important factor for the sustainable development of Xinjiang’s tent percentage is declined by 0.1%, the saltness can be reduced by
society. ‘National long-term science and technology development plan 0.56 t/mu after the process of saline water desalinating and recycling.
(2006–2020)’ has listed the water-saving agriculture and water-saving To sum up, this project has an important effect to improve the
irrigation as the priority themes, and ‘Outline of medium and long term ecological environment in the region of Southern Xinjiang. It can alle-
scientific and technological development plan of Corps (2006–2020)’ viate the water shortage situation in Southern Xinjiang and curb the
has pointed out that the development of recycling use of water re- saline-alkali soil effectively. On the other hand, the desalting water
sources and saline-alkali soils is the core technology of Xinjiang con- project is feasible and it can cover the cost. Moreover, commercializa-
struction. tion of purified water resources and crystallized salts will be an im-
Therefore, a saline alkali water desalination project has been pro- portant support to the local economy. Therefore, this project can pro-
posed by the government of China in Southern Xinjiang. Once im- mote the regional economic development in Southern Xinjiang,
plemented successfully, the remedied saline lands in Xinjiang will be- improving saline-alkali land and agricultural development. Also it is
come the backup land resources to secure the local economic beneficial to the propelling of desalting devices.
development, contributing to the increase of China’s food production.
Moreover, restoration of saline alkali land will promote the develop- 3.3. Integration flowchart of the desalination project in Xinjiang
ment of animal husbandry, alleviating the poverty situation in Xinjiang.
An integration flowchart of the desalination project in Xinjiang is
3.2. Objectives of saline alkali water desalination project proposed and shown in Fig. 9. The flowchart of desalination project can
be expressed through 3 steps: (1) Through the salinity monitoring in
3.2.1. Saline water recycling and reuse salt draining ditch, saline water will be preliminarily classified into two
Because the desalination standard is that 80% saline water in kinds. One kind is with high salinity, and the other one is with low
Southern Xinjiang must be purified, and the irrigation standard is that salinity. (2) For the saline water with high salinity, membrane process
mineralization of water must be declined to under 2 g/L, saline water and solar desalination will be applied to take the alkaline substance and
will be recycled 1.25 × 108 m3 every year. Calculation criteria can be salts out, retaining the distilled water. Then the saline water with low
seen in the following. salinity (a small portion of freshwater) will be used for irrigation or
Shengli ditch is the biggest drainage ditch in Xinjiang, of which the municipal water supply to guarantee the water use demand of animal
flow rate is 4.95 m3/s. So the discharge of saline water equals to husbandry, agricultural development and environmental protection. (3)
4.95 m3/s × 1 year × 365 days/year × 24 h/day × 60 min/ Using solar pond to achieve crystallized salts, extracted salts can be
hour × 60 s/minute = 1.56 × 108 m3, and the purified water amount processed into industrial salts, even edible salts. Salts extracted by the
equals to 1.56 × 108 m3 × 80% = 1.25 × 108 m3 every year. solar pond have a few impurities, meaning that they can meet the
standard of industrial salts. Even they can be further extracted and
3.2.2. Saline alkali extraction purified to meet the requirements of edible salts.
Average mineralization of water in Shengli ditch is 9.9 g/L, which
means that per cubic meter of water contains 9.9 kg salt. So the salt 3.4. Membrane technology
discharge amount per year equals to 1.56 × 108 m3 × 9.9 kg/
m3 = 1.544 × 106 t. If there is 20% alkali concentration in the drainage Membrane filtration for water purification has been increasingly
water, average mineralization of water should be 7.9 g/L, and emphasized in the past decades due to its high quality and low cost.
1.232 × 106 t salt can be extracted. This method is a separation process that it uses a semipermeable
membrane to divide the feed stream into a desirable stream passing
3.2.3. Soil desalting through the membrane and a retentate stream containing high con-
On the basis of salinization degree investigation of Xinjiang Desert centration of rejected species [38–41].
Bureau, salt content percentage in Southern Xinjiang is 0.5–1% The type of desalination membranes depends on composition of
meaning that per kilogram soil contains 5–10 g salt. Soil depth in membranes, filtration mechanism and pore size, driving force, geo-
Southern Xinjiang is about 600 mm/mu, and irrigative quota is 400 m3/ metry and configuration [42]. On the basis of pore size, desalination
8
Table 4
Water treatment membranes related parameters.
Application Materials Configurations Research field
Desalination Polymer Hollow fiber & Spiral wound Durability/degradation evaluation

Wastewater treatment Ceramic Plate and frame Diagnosing performance
Drinking water treatment Metal Tubular Membrane design
Table 5 continuous convective cycle, heat travels from the bottom to the surface
Cost comparison (in RMB) of major desalination technologies constantly. The solar pond area of 3000 m2 has been installed near the
(RMB = US $0.145). Dead Sea, producing an annual average production of 4.3 L/min of
Desalination technologies Cost distilled water [46].
Electrodialysis 4-5 RMB/m3

Photoelectric desalination 7-8 RMB/m3 4. Methodology of saline alkali water desalination project in
Reverse osmosis membrane 3.8–4 RMB/m3 Southern Xinjiang
Distillation 1-2 RMB/m3
The shortage of freshwater resources has become a severe problem
in many countries. For the agricultural irrigation in Southern Xinjiang,
membranes can be classified as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration the seawater desalination technology has been applied as a reference to
(UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Then realize the purification of brackish water considering the commercia-
among all the membranes, RO membrane has the minimum pore size so lization of isolated fresh water and salts. There are many researches on
that it can effectively remove a wide range of ions from liquids. The seawater desalination technology in the world, including distillation
highest differential pressure for RO membrane is 30–60 bar. Due to [47], reverse osmosis membrane (RO) [48] and nanofiltration (NF)
extreme small pore size, RO has low permeate flux and is considered as separation method [49], electrodialysis [50], ion exchange and ad-
the most energy-efficient water treatment technology (e.g. seawater sorption [51], etc. Because of the high cost of seawater desalination
desalination), dominating about 45% of total global desalination tech- technology, it is not economically feasible to completely copy and im-
nology [43,44]. Applications, materials and configurations of water plement seawater desalination technology in so vast saline land area in
treatment membranes are in Table 4. Southern Xinjiang. Moreover, the concentrated brine discharge after
desalination will cause horrible damage to the soil. Table 5 is the cost
3.5. Solar still comparison of major desalination technologies, summarized by the
authors in this paper.
Solar distillation technique has many advantages such as zero In accordance with the experiences in seawater desalination, there
emission and zero fuel consumption, eco-friendly device, and low were some challenges the desalination project encountered in Southern
maintenance cost. However, it also has some disadvantages, including Xinjiang and the corresponding measures are shown in the following
low performance due to slow distillation process, occupying a large aspects:
space and higher requirement for solar radiation intensity. For the last
decades, efforts are continuously being made to make this technology (1) Considering the amount of brackish water is huge and the land area
more efficient, economical and faster. Delyannis [45] extensively re- is vast in Southern Xinjiang, which made the management complex,
viewed different desalination processes using renewable energy re- the government of China has been dedicated to establishing spe-
sources. The first reported solar distillation plant was fabricated by a cialized management organizations and measures to reduce appli-
Swedish engineer, Carlos Wilson in Las Salinas, Chile in 1872 for sup- cation procedures of desalination projects. The fund and appro-
plying fresh water to a nitrate mining community. That plant produced priation were accelerated to ensure the punctual completion of
potable water for about 40 years until mines were exhausted. desalination projects. As such, several state funds have been dis-
Southern Xinjiang owns the most abundant solar energy resources bursed, such as the National Key Research and Development
and the vast lands (most of lands are unmanned area) in China. Thus, Program of China (No. 2018YFC0309601) and the Major Science
selecting the solar still as the solar desalination device is extremely and Technology Project of the Xinjiang Production and
feasible, main reasons are: (1) Local governments don’t have to worry Construction Corps (No. 2018AA003).
about the placement of solar stills, and they don’t need to pay the land (2) The existing membrane treatment technology and equipment fail to
lease fee because there are many wastelands. (2) There are strong solar match the present water quality demand and ecological protection
radiation and high ambient temperature in Southern Xinjiang, meeting demand in Xinjiang. Thus, in order to renovate the desalination
the working conditions of solar stills. Besides, local solar energy with equipment effectively and take different water quality conditions
high quality enhances the device’s distilling efficiency. (3) Eco-friendly into account, it is proposed that the reverse osmosis membrane
features are favored by the local residents and Chinese governments, (RO) and solar still are united together to deal with saline water. RO
and the successful implementation of this project could enhance local has been introduced and applied in Southern Xinjiang, and the solar
employment rate, realizing poverty alleviation. still types, performance standards and innovative points are dis-
cussed in this paper to figure out the feasible configurations in
3.6. Solar pond Southern Xinjiang. Through the cost analysis of several solar stills,
the optimal type of solar still has been proposed, and the running
A solar pond owns a distinct advantage to collect and store solar performance of various solar stills in the next 10 years in Southern
energy as thermal batteries, and it can run for months even during Xinjiang has been summarized.
cloudy season. When the sun’s heat energy radiates to the bottom of
solar pond, water will be heated. Then the heated water layer become 4.1. Application of reverse osmosis membrane (RO) in Southern Xinjiang
lighter than other layers and it rises to the surface of the pond. This
motion will always exist and create convective heat transfer subse- In saline alkaline water of Southern Xinjiang, the salinity is typically
quently. At last, heat losses to the atmosphere. Because of this in the range of 1–3 g/L, far below the salinity of sea water of about
9
diffusion, making the process dependent on pressure, flow rate, and

other conditions [52]. Reverse osmosis is most commonly known for its
use in drinking water purification from seawater, removing the salt and
other effluent materials from the water molecules.
The reverse osmosis membrane can intercept more than 0.0001 μm
of material, while allowing water molecules to pass through. As such,
reverse osmosis can remove most of the inorganic ions such as sodium
ions, bacteria and other harmful substances in the water, followed by
disinfection can be directly obtained for the human body to drink pure
water. Hence we have applied the advanced reverse osmosis to deal
with a large amount of saline alkaline water, and the treated water is
suitable for irrigation.
However, the retained brine water with high salinity is unable to
handle because the brine water is frequently discharged into the cul-
tivated lands or Tarim River, which could cause the secondary pollu-
tion. So we propose that the membrane process and solar desalination
Fig. 10. Fiber filter device diagram. can be united together to take the alkaline substance and salts out from
them, retaining the distilled water. Finally, there will be no pollution in
Southern Xinjiang, and the saline land will be gradually improved.
30 g/L, but the content of sulfate is relatively high. Therefore, we have
adopted the integrated treatment process of coagulation sedimentation,
filtration, ultrafiltration and two stage reverse osmosis firstly to elim- 4.2. Innovative solar still
inate sulfate and other substances in saline alkaline water of Southern
Xinjiang. Coagulation sedimentation is a method mainly removing There is sufficient sunshine in Southern Xinjiang, and how to use
suspended matter, sulfate, colloidal macromolecules and other im- solar thermal energy to effectively separate the salt and the fresh water
purities in saline alkali water through flocculation. Then the saline in the brine water will be an important significance to relieve the
water without sulfate will come through fiber filter to filter out most of shortage of water resources, improving the saline alkali soil. It is not
the suspended particulate impurities and colloidal impurities to reduce only a major research topic facing water conservancy and agricultural
its turbidity ensuring the quality of filtered water. The fiber filter science, but also an important strategic significance to protect the
equipment in Southern Xinjiang is shown in Fig. 10. ecological environment in Southern Xinjiang. A general idea for desa-
Furthermore, membrane has been used to remove ions, molecules, lination project in Southern Xinjiang is adopting the solar still to
and larger particles from filtered water to make water production’s achieve purified water after membrane treatment. RO membrane can
quality meet the standard of drinking or irrigation. Reverse osmosis treat 80% of the brackish water getting low salinity water (this part is
membrane is a semipermeable membrane introduced in the solution in used for irrigation), then the retained 20% brackish water (high salinity
Fig. 11, and it is driven by an applied pressure to cause chemical po- water) will be introduced to the solar still, getting salts and purified
tential differences of the solvent. The result is that the solute is retained water. Requirements for solar desalination: (1) Xinjiang is rich in solar
on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is allowed energy resources, but its regional economic conditions are poor, so the
to pass to the other side. This membrane should not allow large mo- water production cost of solar equipment must be low. (2) The purified
lecules or ions through the pores (holes), but should allow smaller water must meet the demand of drinking water, so additives can’t be
components of the solution (such as solvent molecules) to pass freely. added to the brackish water. (3) Metallic materials are not allowed in
In the normal osmosis process, the solvent naturally moves from an the basin area of solar still, because the metal is vulnerable to salt water
area of low solute concentration (high water potential), through a corrosion which will cause secondary pollution, also it will harm hu-
membrane, to an area of high solute concentration (low water poten- man’s health.
tial). The driving force for the movement of the solvent is the reduction After literature research, it is concluded that there is only one way
in the free energy of the system when the difference in solvent con- available for the entrance of sunlight in a traditional solar still. In ad-
centration on either side of a membrane is reduced, generating osmotic dition, the traditional solar still is not easy to adjust according to the
pressure due to the solvent moving into the more concentrated solution. position of sun. Therefore, in order to overcome the shortcomings of the
Applying an external pressure to reverse the natural flow of pure sol- traditional solar still, this paper proposes a lens type solar still, which
vent, thus, is reverse osmosis. The process is similar to other membrane can greatly improve the working efficiency of the evaporator, but also
technology applications. The predominant removal mechanism in can freely adjust the incident direction of the sunrays.
membrane filtration is straining, or size exclusion, so the process can Design concept of the innovative solar still in our research: The
theoretically achieve perfect efficiency regardless of parameters such as incident sunrays were transmitted through the inclined glass, and re-
the solution's pressure and concentration. Reverse osmosis also involves fracted by convex lenses or reflected by the mirror onto the blackened
Fig. 11. Reverse osmosis membrane working mechanism.
10
Fig. 14. Schematic diagram of a designed single basin solar still (adapted from
Ref. [54]).
Fig. 12. A simple exhibition of the new designed solar still.

collector, the time for reaching the same situation of brackish water was
60 min. It was obvious that the adding of lenses and mirror reduced the
heating time by 5/6, owning a stronger sunlight concentration function.
5. Cost analysis of different solar still configurations in Xinjiang
Several solar still configurations are selected from reference to

conduct the cost analysis using local price in Xinjiang, thus the optimal
solar equipment could be figured out to meet the demand in Southern
Xinjiang according to the water production cost analysis results.
5.1. Several solar still configurations suitable for Southern Xinjiang
Arun Kumar et al. [54] presented the experimental analysis of a

conventional and a modified single basin single slope solar stills, which
is shown in Fig. 14. Efficiency of the still was 27.17% for the yield of
0.595 kg/day. Condensate yield of the simple solar still is 2.38 kg/m2/
day.
Saeedi et al. [55] carried out the optimization of a PV/T (photo-
voltaic/thermal) active solar still. Fig. 15 shows the control volume of
PV/T active solar still and the various components of energy rate in the
control volume. The value of 0.044 kg/s is the optimum value of mass
Fig. 13. The optical path configuration of the experimental apparatus.
flow rate for the given design parameters.
El-Sebaii [56] investigated the thermal performance of a finned
liner of the solar still so that the blackened liner absorbed more sunrays
than that of traditional solar still. Then the steam pressure and tem-
perature in the evaporator cavity were greater than the outside, hence
the steam was condensed or squeezed into a collecting bottle to gen-
erate freshwater. The outer surfaces of the evaporator were painted
black to prevent escaping lights, and moreover, the painted walls can
absorb the refracted lights and diffuse lights. A simple exhibition of the
new design is shown in Fig. 12, and the optical path configuration of the
experimental apparatus is displayed in Fig. 13.
The body of the solar still was made up of fiber reinforced plastic
with 5 mm thickness. The base dimensions of the basin were
1.0 × 1.0 m2, and the inclination of the glass cover (1 × 1.06 m2) was
40° from the horizontal which is approximately equal to the latitude of
Xinjiang (40°) as suggested by Ref. [53].
Under the condition of high concentration of sunlight, the maximum
temperature of the brackish water in the innovative solar still can reach
80.25 °C, which is higher by 25.95 °C in comparison with the traditional
solar still. In the range of the testing time, the water temperature in the
innovative solar still was 10 °C higher than that of the traditional solar
still on average. In the traditional solar still, the brackish water needed
360 min to heat up from the initial temperature to the temperature of Fig. 15. Control volume of a PV/T active solar still and various components of
50 °C, while in the innovative solar still with the concentrating solar energy rate in the control volume (adapted from Ref. [55]).
11
Fig. 16. A schematic diagram of the finned-basin liner still (FBLS) (adapted
from Ref. [56]). Fig. 18. Photograph of the PCST-TSS testing [58].
single basin solar still. Seven black painted fins (made of copper) were experiments.
attached to the flat plate basin liner (also made of a black painted Arunkumar et al. [62] presented a new design of solar still with a
copper sheet of 0.001 m thick) of the still as shown in Fig. 16. Prices of hemispherical top cover for water desalination with and without
1 L of fresh water equal 0.28 and 0.31 LE (Egyptian Pound) respectively flowing water over the cover. Cross sectional view of the hemi spherical
for the still with and without copper fins. For finned basin liner made of solar still is shown in Fig. 22. Fresh water production performance of
glass and mica, it was found that the prices of 1 (L) of fresh water were this new still was observed in Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya
0.21 and 0.20 (LE), respectively [56]. College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore (11° North, 77° East), India.
Badran and Tahaineh [57] carried out the effect of coupling a flat- The efficiency was 34%, and increased to 42% with the top cover
plate solar collector on the productivity of solar still (Fig. 17). It was cooling effect.
found that coupling of a solar collector with a still has increased the A sun tracking system was deployed for enhancing the solar still
productivity by 36%. productivity in Ref. [63]. The use of sun tracking increased the pro-
Elashmawy [58] described the performance of a tubular solar still ductivity for around 22%, due to the increase of overall efficiency by
(TSS) integrated with a parabolic concentrator-solar tracking system 2%.
(PCST-TSS) in Saudi Arabia, shown in Fig. 18. The PCST-TSS yield was Abdallah et al. [64] studied the performance of a traditional single-
increased by 676% with 45.5% cost reduction per liter (CPL). slope solar still through three design modifications of internal reflecting
Single and double basin double slope solar stills of same basin area mirrors on all interior sides of still, using a step-wise water basin in-
were fabricated using glasses to enhance the productivity of the solar stead of the flat basin, and coupling the solar still with a sun-tracking
still [59] (Fig. 19). According to the results, the production of single system (Fig. 23). The inclusion of internal mirrors improved the sys-
basin is more than double basin during the heating period, and double tem’s thermal performance up to 30%, while step-wise basin enhanced
basin is more during the cooling period. At 1 cm water depth, double the performance up to 180% and finally the coupling of the step-wise
basin insulated and un-insulated stills gave 17.38% and 8.12% higher basin with sun tracking system gave the highest thermal performance
production than the single basin still. with an average of 380%.
Badran et al. [60] studied the performance of a solar still augmented Comparative study of energy and exergy performance of two weir
with a flat-plate collector (Fig. 20). After analysis, the mass of distilled type cascade solar stills with and without PCM storage in sunny and
water production increased by 231% in the case of tap water as a feed semi-cloudy days was carried out in Ref. [66]. Schematic view of a
and by 52% in the case of salt water as a feed. cascade solar still is shown in Fig. 24. Maximum values of the energy
An experimental investigation on the performance of solar still and exergy efficiencies of the solar still without PCM on a typical sunny
augmented with pin-finned wick evaporation surface was conducted in day were 76.69% and 6.53%, respectively. While, the maximum energy
Ref. [61]. Experimental system involves two identical solar stills, and and exergy efficiencies of the solar still with PCM on a semi cloudy day
one of the stills is conventional and the other has an evaporation pin- were 74.35% and 8.59%, respectively [66,67].
finned wick surface, shown in Fig. 21. System efficiency of about 55% is In shallow reservoir solar pond integrated with storage tank and
recorded when the pin-finned wick is used. An enhancement in the still solar still (Fig. 25), a spiral tube solar pond is connected to the heat
productivity of more than 23% is recorded during this set of exchanger, and with the help of pump, water is forced into a storage
Fig. 17. A schematic diagram of the arrangement of still-collector systems (adapted from Ref. [57]).
12
Fig. 19. Schematic diagram of a double basin double slope glass based solar still (adapted from Ref. [59]).
tank [68]. The heat energy extracted from the spiral tube solar pond is of salt deposited and maintenance of DC pump (active solar stills). The
utilized in the storage tank for increasing the temperature of inlet water higher the depth of water, the less frequent will be for the filling of
into the solar still. Daily productivities of the active single basin solar water in the basin. As the system life passes on, the maintenance on it
still (ASBS) were found to be 5.740 and 1.830 (kg/m2 day) with and also increases. Therefore, 10% of net present cost has been considered
without the shallow reservoir solar pond (SSP), respectively [68]. as maintenance cost [72]. Finally, CPL (cost of distilled water per liter)
Bhardwaj et al. [69] showed the effect of adding a plastic channel as can be calculated by dividing the annual cost of the system (AC) by
the passive condenser on an inflatable solar still. The production of annual yield of solar still (M). The above mentioned calculation para-
water achieved from the still at a water temperature of 73 °C was meters can be expressed as [70]:
0.75 L/h. Furthermore, the production of water increased to more than i
0.95 L/h with use of air flow over the passive condenser to mimic wind SFF =
(1 + i )n 1 (1)
or with use of wet tissue on the passive condenser to mimic evaporation
cooling. CRF=(SFF) × (1 + i) n (2)
Given the above, previous works have made some improvements on
the performance of single-slope solar still including external condenser, FAC = P× (CRF) (3)
photovoltaic/thermal, finned basin, flat plate collector, parabolic con- S= 0.2 × P (4)
centrator solar tracking system, double basin and double slope, pin-
finned wick, transportable hemispherical stepped, internal mirrors, ASV = (SFF) × S (5)
weir type cascade, shallow solar pond and passive condenser. Table 6 AMC = 0.15 × FAC (6)
presents the different types and sizes of solar stills in the review, as well
as countries and sunshine duration. AC = FAC + AMC ASV (7)
AC
CPL =
M (8)
5.2. Economic analysis based on local price level in Southern Xinjiang
where P is the present capital cost of solar still or modified solar still; i is
5.2.1. Calculation parameters in the economic analysis the interest per year, which is always assumed as 12%; n is the number
Economic analysis of water desalination unit has been given by Fath of life years, which is assumed as 10 years in this paper. Prices of raw
et al. [70], Kumar and Tiwari [71], and Govind and Tiwari [72]. CRF materials are all according to Southern Xinjiang material market in this
(capital recovery factor), FAC (fixed annual cost), SFF (sinking fund study.
factor), ASV (annual salvage value), average annual productivity (M)
and AC (annual cost) are the main calculation parameters used in the 5.2.2. Cost comparison of different solar stills after economic analysis
cost analysis of the desalination unit. AMC (annual maintenance op- Table 8 shows the cost comparison of different solar stills. Economic
erational cost) of solar still is required for regular filling of brackish indicators of present capital cost of solar still (p), CRF, FAC, SFF, ASV,
water, collecting the distilled water, cleaning the glass cover, removal AMC, AC, average annual productivity (M) and CPL are presented in
Fig. 20. A schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the still-collector systems (adapted from Ref. [60]).
13
Fig. 21. Schematic of solar still augmented with pin-finned wick (adapted from Ref. [61]).
Fig. 22. Cross sectional view of a hemi spherical solar still (adapted from Ref. [62]).
Table 7. and 0.486 RMB/l, respectively.

Average daily productivity and solar radiation of different solar
stills are shown in Fig. 26. The figure indicates the maximum solar
radiation occurs in pyramid with collector [60] where the solar radia- 6. Discussion
tion is about 980 W/m2. However, the maximum average daily pro-
ductivity occurs in weir type cascade with PCM [67] and still with 6.1. Recommended solar stills in Southern Xinjiang
passive condenser [69], where the solar radiation is about 800 and
700 W/m2 respectively. Through the literature research and economic analysis of the dif-
Fig. 27 shows the average annual productivity for different types of ferent methods and modifications used to improve the productivity of
solar stills. The results obtained show that higher average annual pro- solar stills, the following conclusions could be drawn: (1) The best
ductivities for a solar still are 1833 and 1976 L/m2 using [67,69], re- average daily productivities are from solar stills of weir type cascade
spectively. The minimum average annual productivity is 618.8 L/m2 by with PCM and with passive condenser where the solar radiation is about
simple solar still [54]. 800 and 700 W/m2 respectively. (2) The higher average annual pro-
Fig. 28 shows the annual cost of solar system according to the re- ductivities for a solar still are 1833 and 1976 L/m2 using weir type
ference. The average costs of distilled water for different types of solar cascade with PCM and still with passive condenser. The minimum
stills are presented in Fig. 29. The results show that the best water average annual productivity is 618.8 L/m2 by simple solar still. (3) The
production costs for a solar still are around 0.2 RMB/l and 0.224 RMB/l best water production costs for a solar still are around 0.2 RMB/l and
using hemispherical [62] and weir type cascade with PCM [67], re- 0.224 RMB/l using hemispherical and weir type cascade with PCM,
spectively. Still with solar collector [57], pyramid with collector [60], respectively. Pyramid with collector, still with solar collector, still with
still with sun tracking [63], stepped still with sun tracking [64], still sun tracking, stepped still with sun tracking, still with passive con-
with passive condenser [69] have the higher water production cost, and denser have the higher water production cost. Whereas forced circu-
they are around 0.551 RMB/l, 0.48 RMB/l, 0.495 RMB/l, 0.485 RMB/l lation of water using pump in the desalination system gives higher yield
than thermosyphon circulation. As such, it is recommended to adopt
14
decrease of fresh water production. For the innovative solar still, the
blackened liner basin quickly obtains high heat energy in the period of
high solar radiation intensity, and then the heat is transferred to the
glass cover through radiation, convection and evaporation heat
transfer. The temperature difference between the water vapor and the
glass cover will make the indoor moist air flow annularly. Heat transfer
and mass transfer occur in the case of natural convection. Because of
the larger difference in temperature between inside and outside of the
innovative solar still, the steam condenses easily into fresh water.
Through continuous collection of fresh water, there will always be new
room for additional steam, so as to improve the utilization efficiency of
heat energy.
6.3. Other prospective regions that could benefit from this research
6.3.1. Eastern coastal saline soil in China

It is estimated that there is 14 million ha coastal saline soil land in
shallow sea and beach in the 15 m depth line. The coastal saline soil
area of Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin and Liaoning in north of the
Yangtze River Estuary reaches 1.0 million ha. Coastal saline soil is
characterized by high salinity in the whole soil, and the main compo-
sition of salt is chloride.
Fig. 23. Isometric view of the step-wise water basin and three-dimensional
view of the sun-tracking distiller, base, motor and bearing [64,65]. 6.3.2. Salted soil in North China plain
According to the satellite data, there is about 1.33 million ha salted
hybrid with energy storage for the desalination system, which can re- soil land in North China Plain. After a long period of treatment and
duce the payback time. Also it will be operated with free of cost for improvement, the salted soil area has been greatly reduced. 1–2 cm
5–10 years which is more than any conventional system. thick salt crust is formed in the surface of soil, with salt content over
1%, and the salt content in the soil layer below the crust has been de-
creased to about 0.1%.
6.2. Operation mechanism of innovative solar still
6.3.3. Salted soil in Northeast Plain of China

Heating effect of the traditional solar still is low, which makes the
There is 3.20 million ha land of saline soil and alkaline soil, among
temperature difference between the inside and outside of the glass
which, the developed and utilized land area is 1.4 million ha. The saline
cover hard to meet the conditions of condensation of water vapor, so
soil in Northeast Plain contains sodium carbonate and sodium bi-
the production of fresh water is limited. The innovative solar still
carbonate, and its pH value is very high. But the saline soil and alkaline
proposed in this paper improves this issue. A good optical concentration
soil are rich in organic matter, and the fertilizer conservation perfor-
of sunlight increases the temperature difference, accelerating the speed
mance is good. Once developed and utilized this area, the crop yield
of water vapor condensation, so more water vapor can be collected in
will be very high.
the form of liquid. In the period of high solar radiation intensity, the
traditional solar still absorbs the heat, and the evaporator is full of
water vapor, but the vapor is not condensed. In the period of low solar 6.3.4. Extreme arid saline soil in China
radiation intensity, heat losses, and the water vapor condenses in the Tarim Basin, Turpan basin and Qaidam Basin contain tens of mil-
traditional solar still. Under the fixed volume, the gas volume inside the lions of acres of saline alkali soil. The soil has high salt content, and the
traditional solar still is limited, so in the process of absorbing heat, it is surface forms thick and hard salt crusts. Salinity of the whole soil
very easy to cause heat loss and water vapor leakage, resulting in the profile is very high.
Fig. 24. Schematic view of a cascade solar still (adapted from Refs. [66,67]).
15
Fig. 25. Schematic diagram of shallow reservoir solar pond integrated with storage tank and solar still (adapted from Ref. [68]).
Table 6
Different types, sizes, countries and sunshine duration of solar stills in the review.
No. Ref. Type of solar still Basin area, m2 Country Sunshine duration, hours/day
Arun Kumar et al. [54] Single slope 0.25 India 9–17

Saeedi et al. [55] With photovoltaic concentrator 1.0 Iran 8–16
El-Sebaii and El-Naggar [56] With fin type 1.0 Egypt 8–18
Badran and Tahaineh [57] With solar collector 1.0 Jordan 8–18
Elashmawy [58] With solar tracking system 0.47 Saudi Arabia 8–18
Elango and Kalidasa Murugavel [59] With double basin and double slope 0.81 India 9–17
Badran et al. [60] Pyramid with collector 0.922 Jordan 8–18
Alaian et al. [61] With pin-finned wick 1.0 Egypt 6–17
Arunkumar et al. [62] With hemispherical 1.21 India 9–17
Abdallaha and Badran [63] With sun tracking 1.0 Jordan 7–18
Abdallah et al. [64] Stepped with sun tracking 0.48 Jordan 8–18
Sarhaddi et al. [66,67] Weir type cascade with PCM 1.0 Iran 8–16
El-Sebaii et al. [68] With a shallow solar pond 1.0 Egypt 8–18
Bhardwaj et al. [69] With passive condenser 1.8 Netherlands 8–14
Table 7
Cost (in RMB) comparison of different solar stills (RMB = US $0.145).
No. Ref. P SFF CRF FAC S ASV AMC AC M CPL
Arun Kumar et al. [54] 1335 0.057 0.177 236.30 267 15.22 35.44 256.52 618.8 0.415
Saeedi et al. [55] 1585 0.057 0.177 280.55 317 18.07 42.08 304.56 676 0.451
El-Sebaii and El-Naggar [56] 1635 0.057 0.177 289.40 327 18.64 43.41 314.17 1316.9 0.239
Badran and Tahaineh [57] 2311.2 0.057 0.177 409.08 462.24 26.35 61.36 444.10 806 0.551
Elashmawy [58] 1372.7 0.057 0.177 242.97 274.54 15.65 36.45 263.76 917.8 0.287
Elango and Kalidasa Murugavel [59] 1835 0.057 0.177 324.80 367 20.92 48.72 352.60 1144.26 0.308
Badran et al. [60] 2102.8 0.057 0.177 372.20 420.56 23.97 55.83 404.05 842.4 0.480
Alaian et al. [61] 1835 0.057 0.177 324.80 367 20.92 48.72 352.60 1266.2 0.278
Arunkumar et al. [62] 1137 0.057 0.177 201.25 227.4 12.96 30.19 218.47 1092 0.200
Abdallaha and Badran [63] 1943 0.057 0.177 343.91 388.6 22.15 51.59 373.35 754.936 0.495
Abdallah et al. [64] 2412.55 0.057 0.177 427.02 482.51 27.50 64.05 463.57 956.8 0.485
Sarhaddi et al. [67] 2135 0.057 0.177 377.90 427 24.34 56.68 410.24 1833 0.224
El-Sebaii et al. [68] 2435 0.057 0.177 431.00 487 27.76 64.65 467.89 1375.4 0.340
Bhardwaj et al. [69] 5000 0.057 0.177 885.00 1000 57.00 132.75 960.75 1976 0.486
6.3.5. Prospective regions at international level shortage (water resources per capita < 1000 m3), and extreme shortage
There are many regions with scarce water resources outside China, of water (water resources per capita < 500 m3) [73].
and several countries where potable water is extremely scarce are
shown in Table 8. The same situation is that they are all located in arid 6.4. Suggestions of incentives and policies for solar desalination
or semi-arid climatic regions receiving less precipitation. There is a
large amount of salt water for desalination in these countries, and they The sunshine hours in Xinjiang can reach 2550–3500 h/year, and
are changing the way the desalination technology develops with em- the total annual radiation can reach 5430–6670 MJ/m2. Compared with
phasis on the environment-friendly process of water treatment such as other regions in China at the same latitude, Xinjiang’s average annual
desalination driven by solar energy. As such, the research of this paper illumination is 10%–15% higher. The total amount is 15%–25% higher
has a significant reference value for them. The internationally re- than the total radiation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze
cognized standard of water shortage is divided into four grades: Mild River. From “Xinjiang 12th Five-Year Energy Development Plan” to
water shortage (water resources per capita < 3000 m3), moderate “Xinjiang 13th Five-Year Energy Development Plan”, Xinjiang has made
water shortage (water resources per capita < 2000 m3), severe water remarkable achievements in the development and utilization of solar
16
energy, mainly in the following aspects: solar water heaters, solar
Singapore’s land area is too small to store rainwater, and its population density is too large, resulting in low water
Sunshine duration of South Africa is long. The distribution of water resources is uneven. It relies on sewage reuse,
Yemen is one of the most serious water shortage areas in the world, where water is more expensive than oil. It is
capita water resource share is one of the least in the world. The desalinated water accounts for about 50% of the
Desalination of sea water has developed rapidly in Israel. By 2013, the water supply capacity of desalination had
Malta is the country with the largest population density in Europe. Its water resources are very poor, and its per
building heating systems, solar thermal power generation technology,
It is one of the most water scarce countries in the world. Scarce precipitation and intense evaporation caused
Due to the arid and semi-arid climate, available water resources are limited. There are two major sources for
solar desalination technology, solar drying, solar greenhouses, solar
Most aquifers have been overexploited. The desalinated seawater is an important source of water resources.
The overexploitation rate of groundwater in Tunisia is 120%, and the salinity has been increased by 20%.
Located in northeastern Africa with abundant solar energy. Water resources are scarce and the salinity of
desalination: the brackish water available throughout the country and the seawater at the Gulf of Aqaba.
cookers, etc. Among them, the Xinjiang government is particularly fond
of solar desalination technology and proposes corresponding subsidy
support policies. Once the solar desalination is industrialized in
Xinjiang area, the local people's livelihood can be improved, and the
renewable energy industry can be popularized to improve solar policies
implementation. Suggestions of incentives and policies for solar desa-
lination are in the following.
extremely urgent to develop seawater desalination and sewage treatment projects.

(1) Establishing solar desalination industry development support funds
for cultivating and developing strategic emerging industries in the
autonomous region. These funds are used for supporting the tech-
nological innovation of solar desalination industry, the promotion
and application of solar desalination products, and the construction
of key laboratories and solar desalination demonstration project.
desalination and artificial rain to increase water supply.
(2) Implementing various preferential policies such as taxation, fi-

Desalination is the main measure for water saving.
nance, government procurement and land use. For key equipment

required for solar desalination enterprises' research and develop-
ment, tariffs shall be reduced or exempted according to national
regulations. For high-tech enterprises of solar desalination that
increased to 600 million m3 per year.
need to be supported by the state, it is determined that the en-

total amount of water resources.
underground water is very high.
desertification and salinization.
terprise income tax can be levied at a reduced rate of 15%. It is

strictly forbidden to occupy cultivated land. For the construction of
Gobi deserted beach for large-scale solar desalination stations, it
Water resources status
can be implemented according to the newly introduced preferential

resource per capita.
policies for land use by the state and the autonomous region.
(3) Increasing the introduction of strategic investment and promoting
Other prospective regions at international level where potable water are extremely scarce (Perennial mean data) [74,75].
the innovation and entrepreneurship. The government should make

full use of location advantages and innovate investment methods to
focus on strengthening technical cooperation and intellectual in-
troduction in and outside the region, and guiding and encouraging
Severe water shortage
large domestic and foreign large enterprises to establish solar de-

Extreme shortage of
Extreme shortage of
Extreme shortage of
shortage of
shortage of
shortage of
shortage of
Extreme shortage of
Extreme shortage of
Water scarcity level
salination product research, development and service centers in

Xinjiang. The government will make a corresponding full purchase
of distilled water.
Extreme
Extreme
Extreme
Extreme
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
7. Conclusion
The Southern Xinjiang region is rich in sunlight-thermal and land

Freshwater resources per capita
resources, suitable for planting high-quality agricultural products with

great development potential. However, the issue of soil salinization
caused by improper utilization of land and water resources has hin-
dered the development of local agriculture. A large amount of brackish
water produced every year due to the treatment of saline-alkali land is
(m3/person)
discharged into the Tarim River directly, which not only causes the
waste of resources, but also causes the secondary pollution. Selecting
the desalination technology feasible for the southern Xinjiang region is
375
353
193
639
410
179
191
143
237
33
the key to making the saline and alkali water resources available. In
view of the environmental characteristics in Southern Xinjiang, this
paper proposes a new method of obtaining the fresh water from
Total freshwater resources
brackish water by solar photothermal method, which combines mem-

brane processing equipment and evaporator. The key findings are in the
following:
(million m3)
(1) Due to the abundant solar energy resources in Xinjiang, the low-
31738
temperature membrane distillation technology is used to heat and

4170
4100
1670
323
300
890
150
880
78
filter the brackish water into a drinkable distilled water. The solar
energy replaces the electric energy for distillation and desalination,
United Arab Emirates
which greatly reduces the operation and maintenance cost of the

system. Desalinated water provided by the suitable technologies
South Africa
such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis is gradually becoming

Singapore
the major source for agricultural water use, but at a cost that is
Djibouti
Country
Tunisia
Cyprus
Jordan
Table 8
Yemen
Malta
Israel
currently more expensive than that generally used for agricultural

purposes. As such, the combination of reverse osmosis membrane
17
Fig. 26. The average daily productivity under the specified solar radiation of different types of solar stills.
Fig. 27. The average annual productivity for different types of solar stills.
Fig. 28. The annual cost of the solar system for different types of solar stills.
and solar desalination to supply water for agriculture can be cost brackish water desalination technology in China, and is also at the
effective; especially when applied to high value crops. The pro- leading level in the world. Then this project is beneficial to the
posed technology in this paper has filled the gap about the new development of solar energy application and is propelled for the
18
Fig. 29. The costs of distilled water for different types of solar stills.
desalination equipment industrialization in the future. Acknowledgements

(2) It is estimated to be above 100 billion cubic meters of brackish
water with salt content greater than 2 g/L in Xinjiang, and these This work was supported by the National Key Research and
brackish water resources cannot be directly used as industrial and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFC0309601), the Discipline
domestic water. Once these brackish water resources are exploited Layout Project for Basic Research of Shenzhen Science and Technology
fully producing the distilled water for irrigation or medical con- Innovation Committee (No. 20170418), the Guangdong Special Fund
sumption and extracting the salts for industrial application, the Program for Marine Economy Development (No. GDME-2018E001), the
local residents' agricultural income and health care conditions can Major Science and Technology Project of the Xinjiang Production and
be improved. In the techno-socio-economic aspects, the sharply Construction Corps (No. 2018AA003), the Major science and tech-
promotion of solar energy technology development will be realized nology project of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region (Grant No.
in Xinjiang. The local people will be deeply aware of the sig- 2016A03008-02), the Project supported by the Major Research plan of
nificance of water saving and energy saving because of this project’s the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
function of propaganda and education. The project in this paper 91647209).
aims to provide a rational and technically feasible set of physical
methods for the utilization of saline-alkali water, so that harmful References
components in the saline-alkali water will be converted into en-
vironmentally friendly substances. [1] Shannon MA, Bohn PW, Elimelech Menachem, Georgiadis JG, Mariñas BJ, Mayes
(3) While Xinjiang attaches great importance to the development and AM. Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades. Nature
2008;452:187–200.
utilization of solar energy resources, the ecological environment [2] Kang GD, Cao YM. Development of antifouling reverse osmosis membranes for
and agricultural water use issues have also become the main con- water treatment: a review. Water Res 2012;46:584–600.
cern of Xinjiang. Due to the situation of the saline water resource [3] Encyclopedia of China. World water resources. http://www.chinabaike.com/z/
shenghuo/kp/2016/0509/4798643.html, Accessed date: 22 December 2016.
availability in Xinjiang, this paper combines the application of solar [4] Elimelech M, Phillip WA. The future of seawater desalination: energy, technology,
energy technology with the improvement of the ecological en- and the environment. Science 2011;333:712–7.
vironment and agricultural water issues based on the analysis of the [5] Sharon H, Reddy K. A review of solar energy driven desalination technologies.
Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2015;41:1080–118.
advantages of the various heat collecting devices. Through the lit-
[6] Sandeep Sudhir Kumar, Dwivedi VK. Experimental study on modified single slope
erature research, it is found that the performance of solar stills can single basin active solar still. Desalination 2015;367:69–75.
be enhanced by integrating with flat plate collectors, evacuated [7] People’s Daily. How many poor villages are there in China? How to remove the poor
source? http://xjz.k618.cn/zx/201510/t20151022_6163582.html, Accessed date:
heat pipes and sun tracking system. Then a lens type solar still with
22 December 2016.
three lenses and one mirror for aggregating the surrounding sunrays [8] Desalination & water purification technologies. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,
is proposed to promote the development of salt water desalination http://barc.gov.in/publications/eb/desalination.pdf; [accessed 23.12.2016].
device and the innovation of solar energy application technology in [9] Chandrashekara M, Yadav Avadhesh. Water desalination system using solar heat: a
review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2017;67:1308–30.
Xinjiang. [10] Prospective countries. International solar alliance, http://www.intsolaralliance.
(4) Other prospective regions in China could benefit from this research org/index.html; [accessed 23.12.2016].
such as Eastern coastal saline soil, salted soil in North China Plain [11] Ma Y. Distribution of solar energy resources in China. http://www.solarbe.com/
topnews/201404/09/1321.html, Accessed date: 23 December 2016.
and salted soil in Northeast Plain. In addition, the government of [12] China Meterological Administration. Wind and solar energy resources distribution.
China will formulate the following policies for solar desalination in http://cwera.cma.gov.cn/Website/index.php?ChannelID=121&NewsID=1988,
Xinjiang: establishing solar desalination industry development Accessed date: 23 December 2016.
[13] Chen Yaning, et al. Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the
support funds; implementing various preferential policies such as Tarim Basin, China. Hydrol Process 2006;20:2207–16.
taxation, finance, government procurement and land use; in- [14] Dawadi S, Ahmad S. Evaluating the impact of demand-side management on water
creasing the introduction of strategic investment and promoting the resources under changing climatic conditions and increasing population. J Environ
Manag 2013;114:261–75.
innovation and entrepreneurship.
[15] Cao X, Wu P, Wang Y, Zhao X. Assessing blue and green water utilization in wheat
production of China from the perspectives of water footprint and total water use.
Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Discuss 2014;18:3165–78.
19
[16] Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Soil salinity, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_ Energy 2003;75:357–66.
salinity; [accessed 28.12.2016]. [46] Saleh A, Qudeiri J, Al-Nimr M. Performance investigation of a salt gradient solar
[17] Chen YN, Li WH, Chen YP, Zhang HF. Water resources and ecological problems in pond coupled with desalination facility near the dead sea. Energy
Tarim River basin, Xinjiang, China. In: Wilderer PA, Zhu J, Schwarzenbeck N, 2011;36(2):922–31.
editors. Water and environmental management. London: IWA Publishing; 2003. p. [47] Yang RJ, Liu CC, Wang YN, Hou HH, Fu LM. A comprehensive review of micro-
3–12. distillation methods. Chem Eng J 2017;313:1509–20.
[18] Chen YN, Zhang XL, Li WH, Zhang YM. Analysis on the ecological benefits of the [48] Wang Kui, et al. Mechanical properties of water desalination and wastewater
stream water conveyance to the dried-up river of the lower reaches of Tarim River, treatment membranes. Desalination 2017;401:190–205.
China. Science in China (D) 2004;47(11):1053–64. [49] Peeva LG, Marchetti P, Livingston AG. Nanofiltration operations in nonaqueous
[19] Qiao M, Tian CY, Wang XP. Soil salinization and improving –governance model in systems, reference module in chemistry. Molecular Sciences and Chemical
Xinjiang irrigation area [M] 17–30. Urumqi: Xinjiang Science and Technology Engineering; 2017.
Press; 2008. p. 95–6. (in Chinese). [50] Luo Fabao, et al. A power free electrodialysis (PFED) for desalination. Desalination
[20] Jiang HF, Dong XG, Guo XW, et al. A model of water and salt balance for Yanqi 2017;404:138–46.
basin in Xinjiang. Irrig Drain 2000;19:78–80. (in Chinese). [51] Moghbeli MR, Khajeh A, Alikhani M. Nanosilica reinforced ion-exchange polyHIPE
[21] Luo TB, Ren W, Xie CH. Necessity and feasibility of biotic improving the saline and type membrane for removal of nickel ions: preparation, characterization and ad-
alkaline land in Xinjiang. Arid Zone Res 2001;3:46–7. (in Chinese). sorption studies. Chem Eng J 2017;309:552–62.
[22] Dong XG, Zhong RS, Liu F. Differentiation of water salt interaction in Bostan lake [52] Wikipedia, The free encyclopedia. Reverse osmosis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
and peacock river in recent fifty years. Sci Technol Rev 2006;24:66–70. (in Reverse_osmosis; [accessed 12.1.2017].
Chinese). [53] Jabbar Abdul, Khalifa N. On the effect of cover tilt angle of the simple solar still on
[23] Xi JB, Zhang FS, Mao DR, et al. Saline-soil distribution and halophyte resources in its productivity in different seasons and latitudes. Energy Convers Manag
Xinjiang. Chinese Journal of Soil Science 2005;36:299–303. (in Chinese). 2011;52(1):431–6.
[24] Kang Q, Zhang ZX, Wang CY, et al. Application of remote sensing technique for land [54] Arun Kumar R, Esakkimuthu G, Kalidasa Murugavel K. Performance enhancement
use changes and soil salinization in agricultural area of Oasis. Transactions of the of a single basin single slope solar still using agitation effect and external condenser.
CSAE 2006;22:73–8. (in Chinese). Desalination 2016;399:198–202.
[25] Kang Q, Zhang ZX, Zhao XL, et al. Remote sensing application to rapid survey of [55] Saeedi F, Sarhaddi* F, Behzadmehr A. Optimization of a PV/T (photovoltaic/
land salinization based on multi-source images. J Arid Land Resour Environ thermal) active solar still. Energy 2015;87:142–52.
2006;20:144–8. (in Chinese). [56] El-Sebaii AA, El-Naggar M. Year round performance and cost analysis of a finned
[26] Liu ZY. Application of subsurface drainage in arid severe salinity region in Xinjiang. single basin solar still. Appl Therm Eng 2017;110:787–94.
Xinjiang Water Resources 1993;3:11–9. (in Chinese). [57] Badran OO, Al-Tahaineh HA. The effect of coupling a flat-plate collector on the
[27] Ning HS, Ji XM, Liang JY, et al. Adaptation of forage plants to saliferous soil and solar still productivity. Desalination 2005;183:137–42.
improvement of these forage plants for saliferous soil in the irrigation region of [58] Elashmawy Mohamed. An experimental investigation of a parabolic concentrator
upper reaches of the Tarim river. Pratacult Sci 2010;27(11):71–6. (in Chinese). solar tracking system integrated with a tubular solar still. Desalination
[28] Ren W, Luo TB, Wang BJ, et al. Biological improvement of saline and alkaline land 2017;411:1–8.
in Xinjiang. Agric Res Arid Areas 2004;22(4):211–4. (in Chinese). [59] Elango T, Kalidasa Murugavel K. The effect of the water depth on the productivity
[29] Luo TB, Ren W, Li Y. Salinity changes for long term irrigation of saline water in for single and double basin double slope glass solar stills. Desalination
saline soil in Xinjiang. Journal of Irrigation and Erainage 2004;23(5):36–40. (in 2015;359:82–91.
Chinese). [60] Badran AA, Al-Hallaq AA, Eyal Salman IA, Odat MZ. A solar still augmented with a
[30] Zhao CY, Wang YC, Song YD, et al. Biological drainage characteristics of alkalized flat-plate collector. Desalination 2005;172:227–34.
desert soils in north western China. J Arid Environ 2004;56(1):1–9. [61] Alaian WM, Elnegiry EA, Hamed Ahmed M. Experimental investigation on the
[31] Muhtar T, Munira A, Yasushi N, et al. Distribution and characteristics of salinized performance of solar still augmented with pin-finned wick. Desalination
soil in the south region of Xinjiang. Environ Sci Technol 2008;31(4):22–6. (in 2016;379:10–5.
Chinese). [62] Arunkumar T, Jayaprakash R, Denkenberger D, Ahsan Amimul, et al. An experi-
[32] Mao GX, Liu JB. Causes of secondary salinization and improvement methods of soil mental study on a hemispherical solar still. Desalination 2012;286:342–8.
in the second agricultural division of Xinjiang production & construction corps. [63] Abdallah S, Badran O. Sun tracking system for productivity enhancement of solar
Xinjiang Farm Research of Science and Technology 1999;2:37–8. (in Chinese). still. Desalination 2008;220(13):669–76.
[33] Sadiq M, Hassan G, Mehdi SM, et al. Amelioration of saline-sodic with tillage im- [64] Abdallah S, Badran OO, Abu-Khaderc MM. Performance evaluation of a modified
plements and sulfuric acid application. Pedosphere 2007;17(2):182–90. design of a single slope solar still. Desalination 2008;219:222–30.
[34] Chen H, Wang SJ, Chen CH, et al. The application and effect of desulphurized waste [65] Kabeel AE, Hamed AM, El-Agouz SA. Cost analysis of different solar still config-
of flue gas in improving alkali soil. Agric Res Arid Areas 2005;4. urations. Desalination 2010;35:2901–8.
[35] Zhang JH, Bai YG, Zhang SJ, et al. Effect of two kinds of soil ameliorant on saline [66] Sarhaddi Faramarz, Farshad Farshchi Tabrizi, Halimeh Aghaei Zoori, Seyed Amir
soil improvement and cotton growth. Arid Zone Res 2011;28(3):384–8. (in Hossein Seyed Mousavi. Comparative study of two weir type cascade solar stills
Chinese). with and without PCM storage using energy and exergy analysis. Energy Convers
[36] Wang XP, Zhao CY, Jia ZL, et al. Influence of different soil amendments on physic- Manag 2017;133:97–109.
chemical properties of saline-alkail soil in Xinjiang. Journal of Irrigation and [67] Dashtban M, Tabrizi FF. Thermal analysis of a weir-type cascade solar still in-
Drainage 2010;29(4):133–5. (in Chinese). tegrated with PCM storage. Desalination 2011;279:415–22.
[37] Ministry of Land and Resources of the People’s Republic of China. China land and [68] El-Sebaii AA, Aboul-Enein S, Ramadan MRI, Khallaf AM. Thermal performance of
resources bulletin. 2013http://www.mlr.gov.cn/sjpd/gtzygb/, Accessed date: 8 an active single basin solar still (ASBS) coupled to shallow solar pond (SSP).
January 2017. Desalination 2011;280(1):183–90.
[38] Pendergast MM, Hoek EMV. A review of water treatment membrane nano- [69] Bhardwaj R, ten Kortenaar MV, Mudde RF. Inflatable plastic solar still with passive
technologies. Energy Environ Sci 2011;4:1946–71. condenser for single family use. Desalination 2016;398:151–6.
[39] Misdan N, Lau WJ, Ismail AF. Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination by [70] Fath HES, El-Samanoudy M, Fahmy K, Hassabou A. Thermal-economic analysis and
thin-film composite membrane—current development, challenges and future pro- comparison between pyramid shaped and single-slope solar still configurations.
spects. Desalination 2012;287:228–37. Desalination 2003;159:69–79.
[40] Nicolaisen B. Developments in membrane technology for water treatment. [71] Kumar S, Tiwari G. Life cycle cost analysis of single slope hybrid (pv/t) active solar
Desalination 2003;153:355–60. still. Appl Energy 2009;86(10):1995–2004.
[41] Huang H, Schwab K, Jacangelo JG. Pretreatment for low pressure membranes in [72] Govind J, Tiwari GN. Economic analysis of some solar energy systems. Energy
water treatment: a review. Environ Sci Technol 2009;43:3011–9. Convers Manag 1984;24:131–5.
[42] Zhou H, Smith DW. Advanced technologies in water and wastewater treatment. J [73] Raskin P, Gleick P, Kirshen P, Pontius G, Strzepek K. Water futures: assessment of
Environ Eng Sci 2002;1:247–64. long-range patterns and prospects. Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm Environment
[43] Elimelech M, Phillip WA. The future of seawater desalination: energy, technology, Institute; 1997.
and the environment. Science 2011;333:712–7. [74] National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. China statistical
[44] Fu F, Wang Q. Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters: a review. J Environ yearbook, http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/; [accessed 20.6.2018].
Manag 2011;92:407–18. [75] Hadadin Nidal, Maher Qaqish, Akawwi Emad, Ahmed Bdour. Water shortage in
[45] Delyannis E. Historic background of desalination and renewable energies. Sol Jordan - sustainable solutions. Desalination 2010;250:197–202.
20

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews: Sciencedirect

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews: Sciencedirect

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews: Sciencedirect

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 113 (2019) 109268

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Saline alkali water desalination project in Southern Xinjiang of China: A T

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, China.

Fig. 1. Diagrammatic presentation of solar energy resources distribution [12].

Fig. 4. Distribution of annual precipitation in Xinjiang.

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of horizontal drainage ditches.

Fig. 6. Process of salt leaching.

Fig. 7. Vicious circle caused by salt leaching.

Fig. 8. Tarim Basin and sampling point illustration.

elaborated in Table 3 [24–36]. ecological cropland-conversion, adjustment of agricultural industrial

Fig. 9. Integration flowchart of the desalination project in Xinjiang.

Desalination Polymer Hollow fiber & Spiral wound Durability/degradation evaluation

Electrodialysis 4-5 RMB/m3

diffusion, making the process dependent on pressure, flow rate, and

Fig. 11. Reverse osmosis membrane working mechanism.

Fig. 12. A simple exhibition of the new designed solar still.

5. Cost analysis of different solar still configurations in Xinjiang

Several solar still configurations are selected from reference to

5.1. Several solar still configurations suitable for Southern Xinjiang

Arun Kumar et al. [54] presented the experimental analysis of a

Table 7. and 0.486 RMB/l, respectively.

6.3.1. Eastern coastal saline soil in China

6.3.3. Salted soil in Northeast Plain of China

Arun Kumar et al. [54] Single slope 0.25 India 9–17

energy, mainly in the following aspects: solar water heaters, solar

extremely urgent to develop seawater desalination and sewage treatment projects.

(2) Implementing various preferential policies such as taxation, fi-

nance, government procurement and land use. For key equipment

need to be supported by the state, it is determined that the en-

desertification and salinization.

terprise income tax can be levied at a reduced rate of 15%. It is

can be implemented according to the newly introduced preferential

the innovation and entrepreneurship. The government should make

large domestic and foreign large enterprises to establish solar de-

salination product research, development and service centers in

The Southern Xinjiang region is rich in sunlight-thermal and land

resources, suitable for planting high-quality agricultural products with

brackish water by solar photothermal method, which combines mem-

temperature membrane distillation technology is used to heat and

which greatly reduces the operation and maintenance cost of the

such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis is gradually becoming

currently more expensive than that generally used for agricultural

desalination equipment industrialization in the future. Acknowledgements

You might also like