Simulation and Optimization of Renewable Energy-Powered Desalination: A Bibliometric Analysis and Highlights of Recent Research

Seawater desalination is emerging as one of the preferred systems for dealing with the problems of freshwater scarcity, which makes it necessary to redouble efforts to obtain an optimal and competent production process. For this reason, the coupling of water desalination and renewable energy systems is not surprising. This study applied a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the research trends on desalination systems and renewable energies from an engineering approach using optimizations or simulation techniques. The Scopus database was used for this study, selecting articles published between 2009 and 2022. A general analysis was carried out regarding trends in the number of articles produced, number of citations, subject area, journals, countries, institutes, and authors. Further, a more specific analysis was then performed in terms of renewable energy technologies used and preferred optimization/simulation methods and software used. The results also revealed that the field is growing, based on the number of articles published and the increase in citations. On the other hand, it was found that the most studied renewable energies, in coupling with desalination systems and from an optimization/simulation approach, are solar and wind.