Freshwater production through multi effect desalination integrated with parabolic trough collectors

• Integrating solar systems with desalination units can increase efficiency. • In order to increase the solar efficiency, the design parameters can be improved. • Investigation about the opportunities of intelligent use of solar desalination units was done. • The use of multi-generational systems can reduce additional costs and achieve useful outputs. Today, due to the increase in industrial activities and the increase in the world’s population, the human need for fresh water has increased. About 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, but about 15% of people suffer from lack of access to fresh water, which will increase by 40% by 2025. As a result, the use of seawater desalination units can solve the above basic problem. The use of fossil fuels is no longer a suitable solution for providing energy for desalination of sea water due to the increase in the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. On the other hand, the use of solar energy, due to its availability and cleanliness, is a promising solution for desalination of sea water. Integration of renewable systems with desalination units can solve the shortage of fresh water in the world and make the systems sustainable. The most important desalination processes include membrane desalination (for example, reverse osmosis (RO)) and thermal desalination (for example, multistage flash (MSF) and multi effect distillation (MED)). In this review article, the integration of parabolic trough collectors (PTC) with MED desalination units is investigated. And the advantages and disadvantages of each of these systems have been examined. Finally, increasing knowledge in the field of fresh water production using parabolic solar collectors has been significantly emphasized.