A humidification–dehumidification desalination system powered by low-grade waste heat energy (45 °C–70 °C) was experimentally investigated. The seawater directly utilized as coolant (25 °C) for the dehumidifier was preheated by latent heat recovery from the water vapor produced by the humidifier. The effect of key performance-contributing factors such as the mass flow rate and temperature of the air and feed at the inlets of the humidifier and dehumidifier were evaluated and optimized. For a constant volume, the effect of the humidifier's surface area was evaluated comparatively considering different novel packing materials such as tri-pack rings, pall rings (diameter = 16 mm and 25 mm), saddle rings, and snowflake rings. It was determined that compared to other factors, air-related and water-related parameters influenced the humidifier and dehumidifier performance respectively. Maximum freshwater productivity of 1398 mL/h was achieved with 16 mm pall ring humidifier, owing to its improved wet area (188,000 m²/m³) under optimal conditions of air flow rate, feed flow rate, humidifier air inlet temperature, humidifier, and dehumidifier water inlet temperatures of 3.5 kg/min, 0.9 L/min, 70 °C, 55 °C, and 25 °C, respectively, with a dual-fluid preheating mechanism. Detailed chemical analysis revealed that the generated freshwater is potable.

实验研究了由低品位废热能（45°C-70°C）驱动的加湿-除湿海水淡化系统。直接用作除湿器冷却剂的海水 (25 °C) 通过从加湿器产生的水蒸气中回收潜热进行预热。对关键性能影响因素的影响进行了评估和优化，例如质量流量和空气温度以及加湿器和除湿器入口处的进料温度。对于恒定体积，考虑到不同的新型包装材料，如三包环、鲍尔环（直径 = 16 毫米和 25 毫米）、马鞍环和雪花环，对加湿器表面积的影响进行了比较评估。据确定，与其他因素相比，空气相关参数和水相关参数分别影响加湿器和除湿器的性能。使用 16 毫米鲍尔环加湿器实现了 1398 毫升/小时的最大淡水生产率，这是由于其改进的湿面积（188,000 米² /m ³ ) 在空气流量、进料流量、加湿器进气温度、加湿器和除湿器进水温度为 3.5 kg/min、0.9 L/min、70 °C、55 °C 和 25 的最佳条件下°C，分别具有双流体预热机制。详细的化学分析表明，产生的淡水是可饮用的。