Economic and exergy analysis of passive solar still incorporated with an additional condensing surface material beneath the top glazing to enhance the productivity

The main bottleneck haunting the wide dissemination of solar still is its poor yield per unit area. This study aims to overcome the above bottleneck by augmenting the yield of SS by increasing the surface area available for condensation by incorporating an acrylic chamber filled with water beneath the top glass surface. The solar still incorporated with acrylic basin (ACSS) was operated in two different methodologies and its performance was ascertained and compared with the conventional passive solar still (CPSS). The surface area available for condensation in CPSS and ACSS operating in two different modes were 0.52 m(2) and 0.87 m(2), respectively. The efficiency of the CPSS and ACSS operated in mode I was 24.28% and 28.94% respectively. On the other hand, the efficiency of the CPSS and ACSS operated in mode II was 26.61% and 31.29% respectively. The rate of evaporation of water from the basin of ACSS operated in mode II is enhanced by 42.74% when compared to the CPSS. The increment in evaporation rate can be attributed not only due to the increment in surface area available for condensation but also due to the supply of hot water present in the acrylic chamber to the basin of the ACSS operated in mode II depending on its yield for every half an hour. Meanwhile, replenishment of water in the acrylic chamber every 30 min by water at 30 degrees C, abets in reducing the lower surface temperature of acrylic chamber which aid in increasing the temperature difference between water in the basin and lower surface of acrylic chamber. Thus, the productivity of ACSS operated in mode II is higher than that of CPSS by 17.59%.

Automated summary

The low yield of solar still is the main obstacle to its wide dissemination. This study aims to overcome this issue by increasing the condensation surface area using an acrylic chamber filled with water. The efficiency and evaporation rate of the solar still incorporated with the acrylic basin were compared to a conventional passive solar still. The results showed that the efficiency and evaporation rate of the solar still with acrylic basin were higher, demonstrating its potential for improved productivity.