Design and simulation of an IoT-based portable and solar desalination unit

Climate change is exacerbating pressure on drinking water resources, leading to an increasing reliance on unconventional water treatment technologies. In this context, desalination is emerging as a key global solution, particularly with mobile desalination units. These units extend the applicability of desalination beyond coastal areas, providing access to drinking water for isolated and remote communities. However, the design of compact, automated units capable of ensuring a reliable drinking water supply while adapting to variations in water quality remains an emerging research area. This study proposes the design of a portable, automated, solar-powered desalination unit equipped with IoT sensors for real-time monitoring and control. In addition, a dynamic system simulation, performed using MATLAB/Simulink, was adopted to model and analyze the unit's performance under various operating conditions. Overall, the results demonstrate the feasibility of a compact design for an automated, solar-powered desalination unit and the ability to simulate the unit's components. Preliminary results focus on the modeling and simulation of the electrocoagulation reactor, used as a pretreatment stage. This was achieved using mathematical equations derived from previous work applying Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In this case, the relevance of monitoring the reduction of target pollutants, namely hardness and total organic carbon (TOC) (the main sources of membrane fouling due to scaling), is carried out.