Action research for the development of a solar desalination device: A case study in Majuro atoll, the Republic of the Marshall Islands
2018
Koda, K. (International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (Japan))
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an islet country consisting of 29 atolls and five islands. Its climate is classified as marine tropical. It has neither rivers nor lakes, and depends on rainfall and groundwater for its water resources. Atoll islands often cover small areas with narrow widths, and low and flat elevation of a few meters. Among islands countries, their water resources are particularly fragile. During drought the Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane desalination system is used. The author conducted an action research in this country to advance a smooth social implementation of desalination solar-powered device, which can contribute to solving its water problems and at the same time, can also be used in various applications. Consequently, this action research was able to throw light on the necessity for a solar desalination device and on the problems emerging from its use during the desalination process. Feeding back these problems has resulted in the dramatic improvement of the device. The results revealed that 1) this solar desalination device should be used in combination with the RO membrane desalination system, and that 2) since this device has a simple structure that uses a particle carbide as heat absorber and only sunlight as energy source, freshwater can be produced at a low cost.
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