Productivity augmentation of a solar distiller utilizing a wire mesh absorber with a pulsed flow regime

This work introduces an experimental study on the possibility of using the metal wire mesh as a packed absorber (SS-WM) with pulsed water flow to enhance the performance of the solar distiller experimentally. The utilization of a wire mesh increases the absorptive surface area over the traditional absorber. The experimental model was designed, manufactured, and tested under actual climatic conditions. Numerous system performance variables, including sprayer feed water flow rate (FWFR), pulsed water flow operation frequency, and packed absorber parameters (size and number of wire mesh layers), were evaluated based on thermodynamic, economic, and water production assessments. Results show that the packed absorber in SS-WM enhances thermal energy ab-sorption and storage. The water yield is enhanced by about 102 % by using the small size of wire mesh and 30 % and 41 % for medium and large sizes, respectively. The best performance enhancement of SS-WM is reached by using two layers with enhancement in the water yield, average thermal efficiency, and cost by about 102 %, 102 %, and 44 %, respectively, compared to traditional design. The water yield, average thermal efficiency, and freshwater cost are about 3.007 l/d, 45 %, and 0.008 USD/l respectively.

Automated summary

This study experimentally explored the potential of using metal wire mesh as a packed absorber to enhance the performance of solar distillers. The results demonstrated that the wire mesh increased thermal energy absorption and storage, leading to a significant improvement in water yield.