Experimental studies of solar still with tar-coated blue metal stones: Energy and exergy study

In the present manuscript, performance studies of Solar Still (SS) were studied for the climatic conditions of Erode, India. Three different experiments were conducted: Conventional SS (CSS), CSS incorporated with blue metal stones, and CSS incorporated with tar-coated blue metal stones. Furthermore, the energy and exergy efficiency of the CSS is evaluated. The daily-distilled yield by incorporating the tar-coated blue metal stones in CSS is 3.21 Kg and blue metal stones in CSS is 2.89 Kg with augmentation of 34.4% and 27%, respectively than the CSS. The distilled water production during daytime (8 a.m.-6 p.m.) from the CSS, CSS incorporated with blue metal stones, and CSS incorporated with tar-coated blue metal stones is 2.02, 2.59, and 2.83 kg, respectively. Similarly distilled water production during nighttime (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.) is 0.08, 0.29, and 0.39 kg, respectively. The distilled water production during daytime and nighttime from the CSS incorporated with tar-coated blue metal stones and CSS incorporated with blue metal stones are 28.3%, 22%, 78.6%, and 71.7% higher than the day-time and night-time yield from the CSS. Also, the energy and exergy efficiency of the CSS incorporated with tar-coated blue metal stones and CSS incorporated with blue metal stones is 21.6% and 1.63%, and 20% and 1.4%, respectively.

Automated summary

In this study, the performance of a Solar Still (SS) was investigated for the climatic conditions of Erode, India. Three different experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the SS. The results showed that incorporating tar-coated blue metal stones and blue metal stones significantly increased the distilled water production.