Utilizing the heat rejected from a solar dish Stirling engine in potable water production

In this paper, the potential of utilizing rejected heat from solar Stirling engines for water distillation is discussed. The proposed idea is to use the heat rejected from the cold chamber in the engine to evaporate water, and then condensing it on a cold surface continuously cooled by the ambient. A mathematical model for the proposed system has been put and performance simulation based on real weather data for six different days have been carried out. The weather data were provided by the energy center in Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid-Jordan. Finally, an economic analysis for four different scenarios has been carried out. Although the water production rate is variable during the day, yet the analysis shows that the amount of water is feasible and can increase the revenue, which affects the cost dynamics of solar the Stirling engine system. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.