MIMO Modeling Approach for a Small Photovoltaic Reverse Osmosis Desalination System

The most widely used desalination processes are based on membrane separation via reverse osmosis (RO) which has become an important process for desalting seawater and cleaning brackish water. The use of these processes requires an efficient control system. Consequently, it is necessary to establish a dynamic model of the system with experimental validation. This paper deals with a new modelling approach of a small photovoltaic reverse osmosis (PV-RO) desalination unit. The proposed model considers the unit as a Multi Input Multi Output (MIMO) process. The relations between the output variables and the input variables are given by the use of empirical transfer matrix. A state model of the unit is also given. Some experimental results are presented to validate the proposed model. As result, the obtained unit model can be easily used for a process control loop implementation in order to assure an optimum operating condition and to reduce the water product cost.