Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2011
Department or program for which this work was completed
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Renewable and Clean Energy Program
Name of faculty member who selected this work
Eric Lang
Abstract
Project report required by the Master of Science Degree in Renewable and Clean Energy.
Abstract:
The region of La Guajira, located in the north of Colombia, has a lot of potential for wind power with annual average wind speeds up to 11 m/s at 10 m height in some locations, according to the national wind map. Most of the wind potential is located in Upper Guajira, where 90% of the population is indigenous Wayuu people (among the country’s poorest population) and it is also characterized with low precipitation, 500 mm/yr, high evapotranspiration, 1500 mm/yr, and low humidity. All this creates water scarcity and drought conditions in the area. Upper Guajira is also considered as non-interconnected zone, which means that most of its territory is not connected to a reliable electric grid, and when electricity is needed, most of the time it is generated with diesel power.
This project was developed to determine the potential of wind power generation to produce potable water in La Guajira through reverse osmosis, which has proved to be a low energy consumption process for water production (1-10 kWh/m3). The project also performed technical and economic analysis.
In order to do this, the project contain a description and analysis for 9 water plants; first evaluating the wind resource, defining three different wind turbines and defining operation conditions for the systems and cost analysis for different cases. Also, NREL software HOMER helped to simulate hybrid systems and determine optimum cases and sensitivity analysis of some variables.
The results obtained show that hybrid systems have to be considered as an option for ROD systems powered by diesel in off grid locations. For systems supplied by grid electricity, they should be considered if the mean wind speed is greater than 6 m/s. Also, feasibility was improved by modeling the systems with deferrable loads.
Disciplines
Energy Systems | Mechanical Engineering | Natural Resources and Conservation | Sustainability
eCommons Citation
Martinez-Smit, Carlos, "Wind Energy Potential for Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants in La Guajira, Colombia" (2011). Faculty-Selected Student Works. 4.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stu_facselected/4
Included in
Energy Systems Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Sustainability Commons
