Abstract
The escalating global demand for freshwater necessitates the development of efficient and sustainable desalination technologies. This study presents an experimental and theoretical evaluation of a solar desalination pond enhanced with nano-ferric oxide (Fe2O3) plates and compares its performance with a conventional steel-based system. Incorporation of Fe2O3 significantly improved solar absorption and thermal conduction, resulting in a maximum brine temperature of 74 °C compared with 68 °C for the conventional configuration. The modified system achieved a maximum daily freshwater productivity of 6.5 L m−2 day−1, corresponding to an average improvement of 27–30% based on daily mean productivity over comparable operating days, while instantaneous hourly productivity gains reached up to 60% under peak summer solar irradiance conditions. Maximum thermal and exergy efficiencies increased from 0.41 to 0.53 and from 5.9% to 7.8%, respectively. The developed heat and mass transfer model exhibited strong agreement with experimental results (R2 ≈ 0.985, deviation < ± 3.1%). These findings demonstrate that nano-ferric oxide is a low-cost, environmentally benign, and scalable enhancement material capable of significantly improving the performance of solar desalination systems, offering a viable pathway for sustainable freshwater production in arid and resource-limited regions.
Data availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author (A. Shakeri) on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- A:
-
Collector surface area (m2)
- I:
-
Solar irradiance (incident flux) (W·m−2)
- Ta:
-
Ambient air temperature (°C or K)
- Tw:
-
Brine surface temperature (°C or K)
- Tb:
-
Bottom plate temperature (°C or K)
- Tg:
-
Glass cover temperature (°C or K)
- hc:
-
Convective heat transfer coefficient (brine–glass) (W·m−2·K−1)
- hr:
-
Radiative heat transfer coefficient (brine–glass) (W·m−2·K−1)
- he:
-
Evaporative heat transfer coefficient (W·m−2·K−1)
- Mev:
-
Evaporated water mass (kg)
- Lv:
-
Vaporization latent heat (J·kg−1)
- k:
-
Thermal conductivity of the pond base (W·m−1·K−1)
- d:
-
Base thickness (m)
- η:
-
Energy (thermal) efficiency (–)
- ψ:
-
Exergy efficiency (–)
- T0:
-
Ambient (dead-state) temperature (K)
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Farshad Farahbod: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft.Abuzar Shakeri: Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Resources.Seyede Nasrin Hosseinimotlagh: Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing – review & editing, Supervision.All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Farahbod, F., Shakeri, A. & Hosseinimotlagh, S.N. Experimental and theoretical investigation of industrial solar desalination ponds enhanced with nano-ferric oxide for sustainable freshwater production. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41095-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41095-0
