Evaluación de la viabilidad y desarrollo de la innovación de sistemas energéticos híbridos para la desalinizaciónuna aplicación a las pequeñas y medianas empresas

Abstract

The energy sector has been, is and will be essential for the development of societies. In particular, renewable energy generation technologies become a key element for the sustainable design of these, and not only because they allow energy to be generated with less environmental impact than traditional technologies based on fossil primary energy sources. This Doctoral Thesis focuses on analyzing the feasibility of innovative hybrid systems in desalination plants, from a technical and economic point of view. Based on an analysis of the systems, the synergies between the sectors of water supply, food, and energy generation in systems that need desalination plants for water supply are studied. Given the large dimension of these sectors, an increase in the knowledge of their sustainable management will allow the design of systems with integrated resource management with less environmental impact. These include the definition of synergies, the evaluation of the main tools used for management and the accounting of these synergies. Thus, the main objective of the research work of this Thesis is to contribute to the knowledge on the integrated and sustainable development of these sectors through the analysis of a system with water scarcity. With this objective, the lines of research include both field work and laboratory tests, experimental and simulation processing and different computational tasks that allow to clarify the feasibility of the innovation proposed in this Thesis. From the initial identification of the variables that define synergies, efforts have been focused on an extensive review of the state of the art and field work. Subsequently, the experimental work has been reinforced by the use of computer tools and specific software that have allowed the completion of practical and theoretical studies. It is hoped that the conclusions drawn from the research presented in this thesis can contribute to the development of research on sustainability of sectors in the most optimal future. In conclusion, the Doctoral Thesis presented contains valuable information, which has been compiled through different scientific works, including all the know-how and experience acquired during the research stage.