Water is one of humanity’s most fundamental needs. The demand for freshwater rises in tandem with population expansion. Only 0.01 percent of freshwater is available as surface water in lakes, wetlands, and rivers. As a result, the only choice is to extract water from the oceans. Desalination is an effective option for this. This study focused on the multi-objective design optimization, fabrication, and thermal evaluation of an integrated desalination system combining a solar still with a flat plate collector (SS-FPC). The study investigated the trade-off between two competing objectives: maximizing the efficiency of the SS-FPC system while minimizing its total cost. A numerical code is written in MATLAB to simulate the influence of changing design parameters (DPs) on the SS-FPC performances. The optimal SS-FPC design, offering low costs and a high thermal efficiency, was identified using the multi-objective colonial competitive algorithm (MOCCA). This design was subsequently fabricated and experimentally evaluated under the climatic conditions of Unaizah in Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The optimal numerical results were compared with both the literature values and experimental measurements. The comparison revealed strong agreement with the experimental data, with a maximum relative error of 4%. Moreover, the obtained results indicate that the optimized SS-FPC design is capable of achieving a 31% increase in efficiency and a 49% reduction in total cost relative to those reported in the literature.

Injection timing effects on combustion intensity redistribution and pressure-induced mechanical loading were evaluated for a turbocharged diesel engine using a calibrated Diesel-RK simulation model. Engine simulations were performed at multiple load conditions with systematic variation of injection timing. Advancing injection timing shifted combustion toward top dead center, accelerating pressure development and increasing the maximum pressure rise rate from approximately 1.2–1.6 bar/°CA to values exceeding 5 bar/°CA under advanced conditions. The maximum piston gas force increased from 55–70 kN to over 100 kN at high load. The results demonstrated that mechanical loading depended on both pressure magnitude and pressure-development rate, indicating a coupled combustion–pressure interaction rather than a single-parameter response. The results showed that mechanical loading depended on both pressure magnitude and pressure-rise behaviour rather than on a single pressure parameter. Increasing pressure-rise rate intensified piston gas-force response, particularly under advanced injection and high-load operation. The results also indicated that combustion-optimal injection timing did not necessarily correspond to mechanically favourable operating conditions.