Improving the water production of a solar still by adding an internal condensation chamber: A theoretical study

Abstract

In this article, the validity of a numerical simulation of a basin solar still coupled with a condensation chamber was analyzed, before being cooled through a cooling water system. The system contained a serpentine pipe combined with a rectangular sheet of galvanized steel. The model was validated by comparing calculated and then experimental results mentioned in previous research for a typical day in the month of June 2013, the comparison of results showed a good agreement between the experimental and numerical tests. The model was developed to evaluate the performance of the system with optimum mass flow and compared throughout the typical day of each month of the year with that of a solar still without cooling. The model was investigated numerically according to meteorological data of the Algerian city, Khemis Miliana using the model of Capderou. The equations are modeled by the finite difference method, the Gauss–Seidel iterative method was used to solve the resulting algebraic equation. The highest productivity of the year was 6.7 Kg/m2 during the typical day of august with 60% higher productivity than the still without cooling. It was observed that the productivity of the solar still was sensitive to the flow mass of cooling water. Both the condenser chamber volume and the area from the opening of the evaporator to the condenser chamber have a significant effect on distillate production of the system. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13146, 2019

Thermal performance analysis of a novel direct absorption solar collector augmented solar still using silver nanofluids

“…3,5,6 The yield of a conventional solar still normally lies between 2 and 5 L m À2 per day. 3,4,7 To overcome this bottleneck, researchers conducted numerous studies on different design parameters of solar still, like, the effect of tilt of still, 8,9 depth of saline water, 10 different geometric modifications, [11][12][13] shading, 14 and evaporative fans 15 for its productivity enhancement.…”

“…Evaporation heat transfer occurs between water mass and the inner glass surface. Evaporation heat transfer can be calculated using Equation (12).…”

“…The yield of a conventional solar still normally lies between 2 and 5 L m −2 per day 3,4,7 . To overcome this bottleneck, researchers conducted numerous studies on different design parameters of solar still, like, the effect of tilt of still, 8,9 depth of saline water, 10 different geometric modifications, 11–13 shading, 14 and evaporative fans 15 for its productivity enhancement. Later, these passive solar stills were combined with external heat supply sources such as flat plate collector (FPC), 16 photovoltaic panels based hybrid system, 17 evacuated tube collector (ETC), 18 heat pipe, 19 and solar pond, 20 to improve the daily distillate productivity and thus make a new class of stills known as active solar still.…”

Desalination using solar stills: A review

“…The rate of condensation can be enhanced by reducing temperature of the condensing cover. Kerfah et al 126 reported enhancement in the water productivity with the addition of an internal condensation chamber. Hassan and Elfadl 127 experimentally tested four types of condensing elements namely, an aluminum plate, a heat sink of aluminum with pin fins, glass, and a plate of aluminum covered with an umbrella.…”

An experimental study of the effect of thermoelectric and water cooling on the performance of a basin solar still with an integrated condenser

“…His results indicated that using this technique increases the distillate yield of the still to 43%. It is also agreed that the cooling water flow rate can produce opposite effects, which is studied by the newly developed model 18 that evaluates the performance of the system throughout the year. It was concluded that the cumulative yield of the still was sensitive to the flow mass of cooling water, which changes annually according to meteorological conditions.…”