Experimental investigation of a solar still equipped with an external heat storage system using phase change materials and heat pipes

Abstract

In this study, a novel idea of storing the latent heat of condensing vapor in solar stills by means of phase change materials (PCMs) as a thermal storage is experimentally investigated. During the daytime, the generated water vapor by the solar energy, is conducted to an external condenser filled with PCM to be condensed. The wasted latent heat is absorbed by PCM and thereby stored. It is worth noting that there is no direct contact between the saline water and the PCM, therefore, the solar energy is not directly stored in the PCM. In the evening, the energy stored in the PCM is transferred as heat to the saline water by heat pipes and enables the desalination process to continue. Several tests were run to investigate the performance of the system. The results revealed that the presence of an external condenser filled with PCM and equipped with heat pipes in a solar still with evacuated tube collectors, makes the desalination process continue after the sunset without causing a decrease in the yield during the daytime. The yield increases by 86% as compared to the yield of the system without PCM and reaches to 6.555 kg/m 2 day with the efficiency of 50%.

Energy and exergy analysis of solar stills with micro/nano particles: A comparative study

“…Due to low yield of the SSs, many investigators introduced several scrupulous designs to enhance the output by enhance the evaporation rate of water. Researchers suggested different designs to improve the SSs' performance, such as double slope [3], stepped SS [4,5], SS with phase change materials (PCMs) [6][7][8][9] wick SS [ 10 -12 ] , hybrid SS [13][14][15], stepped SS with continual water circulation [ 3 ] , wind speed [16], SS with storage materials [17,18], SS with nanoparticles [19], SS with PV/T [20][21][22] , and SS with vertical ripple surface [23].…”

Solar Still Efficiency Enhancement by Using Graphene Oxide/Paraffin Nano-PCM

“…Over the latest decades, phase-change materials (PCMs) have been employed in the heat transfer systems like solar stills [1][2][3]. As is clear from Figure 1, phase-change materials are categorized as Eutectic, inorganic, and organic [4].…”

A review on solar‐assisted gas turbines

“…10 Solar energy is one of the most popular renewable energies [11][12][13] which is evolving noticeably in recent years due to its availability and ease of exploitation. [14][15][16] Solar energy are applied for different purposes such as heating, 17 desalination 18 and electricity generation as shown in Figure 1. 19,20 This kind of renewable energy is used directly and indirectly for electricity generation.…”