Experimental and Theoretical Study on Mechanical Performance of a Sustainable Method to Simultaneously Generate Power and Fresh Water
, Oranit Traisak 1, Matthew Ward 1, Eliza Rupakheti 1, Eric Hu 2 and Hamid Khayyam 1,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript entitled ‘Sustainable method to simultaneously generate power and fresh water’ is considered an interesting research due to the increasing need of freshwater nowadays. The manuscript is well organized, professionally written in English and the results are clearly presented. Kindly find below some comments concerning this paper:
1- Specify the method name in the title of the manuscript for more clarity
2- Include in a table the detailed characteristics of the water before and after desalination
3- Does the removed salt affect the operation efficiency after a period of time
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 1
The authors greatly appreciate the time and efforts that the anonymous reviewers have devoted to review our manuscript; “Sustainable method to simultaneously generate power and fresh water”, Manuscript ID: sustainability-1994478. The manuscript has been revised based on the comments of the reviewers and the requested changes have been implemented in the manuscript and highlighted in yellow. The authors’ response to each comment has been outlined in the attached file.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments to the Author
1. The abstract needs parameters and What are the main findings? Add to abstract by given numbers or percentage etc.
2. Present a more focussed survey on the specified topic. Also, at the end of the Introduction, clarify the novelty and gaps to be filled in the literature by the present attempt.
3. The authors need to explain that the numerical approach used in the research is one of the appropriate solutions in the context of the research problem. What are the achievements of previous studies based on a numerical basis? Also, describe what has not been achieved?
4. A comparison data for validation is important.
5. It is helpful to complete the description of how to collect data, data processing scenarios, and interpret the data collection.
6. The discussion seems inadequate, and this is too short for a reputable international journal. Many graphical presentations are similar; it is worth thinking about expressing with other graphics (if possible).
7. What is the convergence of the numerical method employed in this analysis should be explained in the numerical part?
8. What software is used for the simulations? Was the code for the implemented by the authors or a function already existing in the software was used? If the code for the numerical method was taken from another publication or is part of the software used, please cite the resource.
9. Enhance the quality of the figures.
10. The language and grammar of the text is fine overall. There are some typos needing care.
11. Use vector graphic images, and avoid serif fonts in figures (use sans-serif types).
12. It is helpful to complete the description of how to collect data, data processing scenarios, and interpret the data collection.
13. The conclusion must answer whether the proposed method can solve the research problem and achieve the objective. How can the numerical approach answer the existing issues? What is the most important result? What are the implications for science and technology development?
14. The writing of some references needs to be rechecked for accuracy
15. Which model has been adopted should be explained and why
16. The conditions and assumptions are not clear explain it in detail.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2
The authors greatly appreciate the time and efforts that the anonymous reviewers have devoted to review our manuscript; “Sustainable method to simultaneously generate power and fresh water”, Manuscript ID: sustainability-1994478. The manuscript has been revised based on the comments of the reviewers and the requested changes have been implemented in the manuscript and highlighted in yellow. The authors’ response to each comment has been outlined in the attached file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript titled "Sustainable method to simultaneously generate power and fresh water" developed a desalination system coupled with a thermoelectric-based simultaneous power generation module. The freshwater desalinated from saline water and power electric energy generated from TEGs were investigated. This study is of great significance for the desalination and power generation by using a low-grade heat source. To improve the quality of this manuscript, some suggestions are listed as follows:
(1) L55: Please add the detailed meaning for the abbreviation of 'TDS'.
(2) L179-182: This text can be subjected to the Equation (9) because these physical parameters were observed in Equation (9) instead of Equation (7).
(3) Figure 7: The initial temperature of TEG hot side spreader is much higher than that of the TEG cold side spreader in test1, which is quite different initial TEG temperatures in test2 and test3. Please reconfirm this initial temperature of the TEG hot side spreader.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3
The authors greatly appreciate the time and efforts that the anonymous reviewers have devoted to review our manuscript; “Sustainable method to simultaneously generate power and fresh water”, Manuscript ID: sustainability-1994478. The manuscript has been revised based on the comments of the reviewers and the requested changes have been implemented in the manuscript and highlighted in yellow. The authors’ response to each comment has been outlined in the attached file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The author has made edits to the work in response to the reviewer's comments. It is my opinion that the manuscript can be published in its current form.
