Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of a Modified Single-Slope Solar Still with an External Solar Water Heater

Naseer T. Alwan, Sergey E. Shcheklein, Obed Majeed Ali, Milia H. Majeed and Ephraim Bonah Agyekum
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Naseer T. Alwan: Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy, Ural Federal University Named after the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Sergey E. Shcheklein: Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy, Ural Federal University Named after the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Obed Majeed Ali: Renewable Energy Research Unit, Northern Technical University, Kirkuk 36001, Iraq
Milia H. Majeed: Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy, Ural Federal University Named after the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Ephraim Bonah Agyekum: Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy, Ural Federal University Named after the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-25

Abstract: One of the key impediments to the wide utilization of solar water desalination systems is limited production. Hence, this study aims at increasing the thermal performance of a single-slope solar still by increasing the surface area of evaporation and absorption exposed to sunlight. A hollow rotating cylinder was installed inside the still structure; this modified system was then joined with an outside solar water heater for productivity improvement. The obtained results show that a 0.5 rpm rotational speed ensured that the cylinder’s surface was kept wet. A mathematical model has been formulated using the finite difference method and the Fortran 90 programming language to assess the thermal performance productivity of two solar stills (conventional solar still (CSS) and modified solar still (MSS)) modelled under different conditions. The experimental and theoretical results are well agreed, with an error of 6.14%. The obtained results show that the maximum productivity recorded in July 2019 was about 11.1 L / m 2 from the MSS and 2.8 L / m 2 from the CSS, with an improvement rate ranging between 286% and 300% during June, July, August, and September 2019. The production cost per liter of distilled water from the modified and conventional solar stills was 0.0302 USD / L and 0.0312 USD / L , respectively, which indicates a noticeable reduction in the cost of distillate water production.

Keywords: distillate water; single-slope solar still; solar water heater; hollow cylinder; water distillation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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