Search

Water scarcity poses significant challenges in arid regions like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) due to constant population growth, considering the effects of climate change and water management aspects. The desalination technologies face problems like high energy consumption, high investment costs, and significant environmental impacts by brine discharge. This paper researches the relationships among water scarcity, energy-intensive desalination, and the development of renewable energy in MENA, with a particular focus on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It examines innovations in solar-powered desalination, considering both solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technologies, in combination with traditional thermal desalination methods such as multi-effect distillation (MED) and multi-stage flash (MSF). The environmental impacts associated with desalination by brine discharge are also discussed, analyzing innovative technological solutions and avoidance strategies. Utilizing bibliometrics, this report provides a comprehensive analysis of scientific literature for the assessment of the research landscape in order to recognize trends in desalination technologies in the MENA region, providing valuable insights into emerging technologies and research priorities. Despite challenges such as high initial investment costs, technical complexities, and limited funding for research and development, the convergence of water scarcity and renewable energy presents significant opportunities for integrated desalination systems in GCC countries. Summarizing, this paper emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and international collaboration by addressing the complex challenges of water scarcity and energy sustainability in the MENA region. By leveraging renewable energy sources and advancing desalination technologies, the region can achieve water security while mitigating environmental impacts and promoting economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal desalination systems like multi-effect distillation and multi-stage flush have gone through a strong development process to increase energy efficiency and to improve energy recovery. While these improvements have led to lowered energy consumption, different concepts could be necessary to adapt the thermal desalination systems to renewable energy sources. A specially designed low-temperature desalination driven by low-grade waste heat can be used to desalinate seawater and to clean polluted water with a higher conversion ratio than existing systems. The reason for this improvement is a drastically improved heat transfer of this system, using spray systems for evaporation, and condensation. It was tested in a demonstration plant in El Gouna, Egypt, in cogeneration with diesel generators which used 7 MWthto desalinate 500 m³/d. This paper introduces a model of the low-temperature desalination process, which is derived from experimental data and technical specifications. It required the development of energy, mass, and material balances of the media streams with respect to the measured data from the demonstration plant. The model is implemented using the energy process simulation software “Ebsilon Professional” and combined with a 10-MWthconcentrating solar power (CSP) plant. The results show the cogeneration of 2.2 MWelpower in the CSP plant and 520 m³/d fresh water in the desalination. Furthermore, the output depends on various process parameters like cogeneration fraction, temperature levels, and input salinity, which are analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Untargeted metabolomics is a powerful tool that provides strategies for gaining a systematic understanding of quantitative changes in the levels of metabolites, especially when combining different metabolomic platforms. Vanilla is one of the world's most popular flavors originating from cured pods of the orchid Vanilla planifolia. However, only a few studies have investigated the metabolome of V. planifolia, and no LC-MS or GC-MS metabolomics studies with respect to leaves have been performed., Objective: The aim of the study was to comprehensively characterize the metabolome of different organs (leaves, internodes, and aerial roots) of V. planifolia., Material and Methods: Characterization of the metabolome was achieved using two complementary platforms (GC × GC-MS, LC-QToF-MS), and metabolite identification was based on a comparison with in-house databases or curated external spectral libraries., Results: In total, 127 metabolites could be identified with high certainty (confidence level 1 or 2) including sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, organic acids, and amines/amides but also secondary metabolites such as vanillin-related metabolites, flavonoids, and terpenoids. Ninty-eight metabolites showed significantly different intensities between the plant organs. Most strikingly, aglycons of flavonoids and vanillin-related metabolites were elevated in aerial roots, whereas its O-glycoside forms tended to be higher in leaves and/or internodes. This suggests that the more bioactive aglycones may accumulate where preferably needed, e.g. for defense against pathogens., Conclusion: The results derived from the study substantially expand the knowledge regarding the vanilla metabolome forming a valuable basis for more targeted investigations in future studies, e.g. towards an optimization of vanilla plant cultivation., (© 2024 The Author(s). Phytochemical Analysis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)