A review on solar stills for brine desalination

This paper attempts to categorize solar stills into six sorts based on the design guidelines used in each device. The properties of these design guidelines are detailed and evaluated from the angle of enhancing the productivity of solar stills. Preferred design guidelines are recommended for various climate conditions. Fundamental heat and mass transfer process analyses are presented to provide a comprehensive understanding of design principles and to serve as a theoretical guide for structure modification. Most of popular heat and mass transfer correlations in literatures are summarized and evaluated here. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.