International Journal of Engineering and Technology

This paper presents the experimental study of a flash evaporation based desalination system that can cater to the small-scale fresh water needs of coastal and arid areas. The proposed small-scale system consists of an evaporator, water-cooled condenser and a vacuum pump to produce the required vacuum in the evaporator. The effect of inlet brine water temperature at various flow rate and evaporator pressure on the fresh water yield is evaluated. A maximum fresh water yield of 4 l/h is obtained at an evaporator pressure of 0.08 bar and an inlet brine temperature of 56?C when the feed water is flashed at the rate of 3.6 l/min. The quality of the desalinated water is found to be within the acceptable standards. Thus the proposed system is found to be a promising and feasible solution for addressing the small-scale fresh water needs of coastal and arid regions.