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Advanced Solar Evaporation: the last stage of ZELDA process

During the last week of November, an Advanced Solar Evaporation pilot plant was installed and started-up in Almeria seawater desalination facilities. The plant consists of two evaporation ponds: the first one is covered where the advanced evaporation technology is tested, the second one, uncovered, and it is used as a blank for a natural evaporation reference. In both ponds a wide range of variables is being monitored with several probes and an acquisition system that registers: water depth level, water surface temperature, surface air flow speed, inner and outer air temperature and humidity, and solar radiation. The objective of this pilot plant is to prove the evaporation ratio enhancement in the covered pond (intensified evaporation) versus the uncovered pond (natural evaporation). Intensification of the evaporation is pursued by the advanced design of the covered pond and the intelligent control system that operates air renewal and the brine input into the pond.