Optimizing a Single-Slope Solar Still for Fresh-Water Production in the Deserts of Arid Regions: An Experimental and Numerical Approach

Ibrahim M. Al-Helal (), Abdullah Alsadon, Samy Marey, Abdullah Ibrahim and Mohamed R. Shady
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Ibrahim M. Al-Helal: Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Alsadon: Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Samy Marey: Sciences, Technology and Innovation Unit, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Ibrahim: Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mohamed R. Shady: Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-18

Abstract: Solar desalination is a promising sustainable solution to overcome the scarcity of fresh water in the deserts of arid regions. The productivity of a solar still depends mainly on its design parameters and the meteorological conditions of its location (longitude and latitude angles). Therefore, this study aimed to optimize the main design parameters of a single-slope solar still for freshwater production in the arid climate of the central region of Saudi Arabia (24°4′ N, 32.89° E). Experiments were conducted on four identical solar stills, with the same basin surface area and air gap distances ( d ) of 14, 16, 18, and 20 cm, respectively. The stills operated using three basin water depths ( h ) of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 cm on clear sunny days. The performance and productivity of the four stills were evaluated. The results showed that reducing the air gap distance ( d ) and water depth ( h ) significantly enhanced the distillate freshwater yield, and the optimum ratio of the length/width is 2 and of the back/front wall height is 3.65. Specifically, at a low water depth ( h ) of 0.5 cm, the daily distillate yield of the solar still increased by about 11% when the air gap distance ( d ) decreased from 20 to 14 cm. For the lowest air gap distance ( d ) of 14 cm, the distillate yield increased by about 23% when h decreased from 1.5 to 0.5 cm. Using the measured parameters, several numerical correlations have been developed to estimate the desalination rate ( m c ) as a function of the solar irradiance ( I s ) and ambient temperature ( T am ). The developed correlations can be used successfully to estimate the values of m c instead of the prohibitive experimental measurements. The stills showed excellent performance in the arid climate and reduced water salinity from 31,250 to 495 ppm. This should encourage decision-makers to expand investment in solar desalination to sustainably develop the deserts of arid regions.

Keywords: solar desalination; still; water depth; gap distance; arid climate; single slope (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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