Abstract
A new and sustainable modification has been introduced into the conventional solar still, considerably increasing its productivity. This enhancement in the solar still productivity is achieved without forsaking the basic features of the still such as low cost, ease of handling, sustainability, water quality, material availability, low maintenance and space conservation. The introduced modification is in the form of a slowly rotating hollow drum within the still cavity that allows the formation of thin water films, which evaporate rapidly. Several environmental and operational parameters attribute to the optimization of the new still design. Environmental factors refer primarily to weather conditions such as solar intensity, relative humidity, ambient temperature and wind speed and direction. Operational variables include drum speed, brine depth in the basin, cover cooling and other related parameters such as the materials used and the still configuration. The influence of these parameters is discussed and their impact on productivity is investigated in detailed order to identify existing correlations and optimize design and operation of the new system. An error analysis was conducted for all experimental data obtained from this study. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 472-484 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Solar Energy |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue number | PC |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2013 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research and the Middle East Desalination Research Center, Oman for financially supporting this work. The Environmental Engineering Research Center at AUB is acknowledged for providing its facilities to conduct the experimental work.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
