Performance enhancement of a humidification–dehumidification desalination system A thermodynamic investigation Iskander Tlili 1,2 • M. Osman 3,4 • E. M. Barhoumi 5,6 • I. Alarifi 3 • Ahmed G. Abo-Khalil 7,8 • R. P. Praveen 7 • Khairy Sayed 9 Received: 11 July 2019 / Accepted: 30 August 2019 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2019 Abstract The purpose of the present work is to investigate humidification–dehumidification desalination system and to explore the effect of pertinent parameters on the overall performance of the process taking in account the irreversibilities and energy losses. The system has been inspected using first and second laws of thermodynamics, and an optimization of the performance along with design development has been performed based on mathematical calculation and modeling for the fundamental equations associated with mass, energy, exergy and salinity balance incorporating the effects of irre- versibilities and thermal losses which in turn helps in establishing an efficient desalination system by reducing these losses. The results show a good improvement compared to previous studies. The model target is to increase heat exchange in humidifier and dehumidifier compartment as well as augmenting pure water capacity and lessening energy consumption. Results expose that the inlet water temperature and flow rate represent the main factors affecting the system performance. It is found that the heater has the main part of exergy losses. Increasing the temperature of the water in the dehumidifier outlet allows minimizing the exergy losses in the dehumidifier. Keywords Humidification–dehumidification  Mathematical programming  Optimization  Irreversibilities  Performance  Design List of symbols A Area (m 2 ) a Specific area (m 2 /m 3 ) C p Specific heat at constant pressure (Jkg -1 K -1 ) C v Specific heat at constant volume (Jkg -1 K -1 ) H Enthalpy (kJ kg -1 ) & Ahmed G. Abo-Khalil a.abokhalil@mu.edu.sa 1 Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 3 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 4 Mechanical Design Department, Faculty of Engineering Mataria, Helwan University, Cairo El-Mataria 11724, Egypt 5 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman 6 Laboratoire Analyse, Conception et Commande des Syste `mes (LR11ES20), Ecole Nationale d’Inge ´nieurs de Tunis, Universite ´ de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia 7 Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Majmaah University, Almajmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia 8 Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Assuit University, Assuit 71515, Egypt 9 Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt 123 Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-08775-8