Performance assessment of a solar still using blackened surface and thermocol insulation

Fluoride contaminated drinking water is a severe problem in many parts of the world because of fluoride-related health hazards, which are considered to be a major environmental problem today. The present work is aimed at utilizing solar energy for removal of fluoride from drinking water by using a solar still. Also tests have been conducted with the solar still to find out hourly output rate and still efficiencies with various test matrixes. It is observed that the distillate from solar still showed a fluoride reduction of 92-96%. Further, the efficiency of solar still got increased by 11 % when capacity of water in the solar basin was raised from 10 to 20 L. Upon suitable modification of the solar basin with appropriate base liner and insulation, this efficiency of the solar still is found to be further increased by 6% with a 20 L basin capacity. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.