Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of shading and evaporative cooling of glass cover on the performance of evacuated tube-augmented solar still

  • Published:
Environment, Development and Sustainability Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Solar still is a promising device used worldwide for water distillation due to its simple design, easy construction and low cost. However, the freshwater output from a solar still is moderate. Several active techniques have been emerged over the years to solve this problem. In this paper, an experimental study is carried out on a single-slope solar still augmented with an evacuated tube collector (ETC) and a heat exchanger working on thermosyphon. The effects of shading and evaporative cooling of glass cover on the active solar still performance were explored and analyzed on separate days under the meteorological conditions of Kurukshetra, India. The experiments were conducted at a constant water depth of 4 cm. The main aim of this study is to enhance the productivity and efficiency of ETC-coupled solar still by increasing the condensation rate. The experimental results showed remarkable increment in freshwater productivity of the still with a maximum of 2114 ml/day achieved for the case of ½ shading and cooling of glass cover. An increase of 16.4% and 3.8% in freshwater productivity and overall efficiency was achieved with ½ shading and cooling of glass cover in comparison with solar still without glass cover shading and cooling. The solar still performance was decreased when the shading and cooling are done on more than half the area of glass cover.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19
Fig. 20

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abderachid, T., & Abdenacer, K. (2015). The effect of cover tilt angle of a double slope solar still on the productivity in summer and winter seasons. Desalination and Water Treatment,56(10), 2584–2592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, C., Rabhi, K., et al. (2015). Theoretical and experimental analysis of pin fins absorber solar still. Desalination and Water Treatment,56(7), 1705–1711.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arjunan, T., Aybar, H., et al. (2011). Effect of sponge liner on the internal heat transfer coefficients in a simple solar still. Desalination and Water Treatment,29(1–3), 271–284.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bacha, H. B., & Zhani, K. (2013). Contributing to the improvement of the production of solar still. Desalination and Water Treatment,51(4–6), 1310–1318.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bani-Hani, E., Qassem, H., et al. (2017). Experimental analysis of an improved solar still system with cooling fan and preheating oil. Energy Engineering,114(5), 55–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandrashekara, M., & Yadav, A. (2017). Water desalination system using solar heat: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,67, 1308–1330.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elango, T., & Murugavel, K. K. (2015). The effect of the water depth on the productivity for single and double basin double slope glass solar stills. Desalination,359, 82–91.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Naggar, M., El-Sebaii, A., et al. (2016). Experimental and theoretical performance of finned-single effect solar still. Desalination and Water Treatment,57(37), 17151–17166.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gnanaraj, S. J. P., Ramachandran, S., et al. (2018). Enhancing the productivity of double-slope single-basin solar still with internal and external modifications. International Journal of Ambient Energy,39(8), 777–782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haddad, Z., Chaker, A., et al. (2017). Improving the basin type solar still performances using a vertical rotating wick. Desalination,418, 71–78.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, R. S., Narayanan, C. S., et al. (2015). Performance analysis on inclined solar still with different new wick materials and wire mesh. Desalination,358, 1–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holman, J. P., & Gajda, W. J. (2001). Experimental methods for engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosseini, A., Banakar, A., et al. (2018). Development and performance evaluation of an active solar distillation system integrated with a vacuum-type heat exchanger. Desalination,435, 45–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Issa, R. J., & Chang, B. (2017). Performance study on evacuated tubular collector coupled solar still in West Texas climate. International Journal of Green Energy,14(10), 793–800.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karthick Munisamy, T., Mohan, A., et al. (2017). Experimental investigation of tilted wick solar still using fabrics. Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 13(2), 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehla, N., & Yadav, A. (2017). Experimental analysis of thermal performance of evacuated tube solar air collector with phase change material for sunshine and off-sunshine hours. International Journal of Ambient Energy,38(2), 130–145.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morad, M., El-Maghawry, H. A., et al. (2015). Improving the double slope solar still performance by using flat-plate solar collector and cooling glass cover. Desalination,373, 1–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagarajan, P., El-Agouz, S., et al. (2017). Effect of forced cover cooling technique on a triangular pyramid solar still. International Journal of Ambient Energy,38(6), 597–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omara, Z., & Eltawil, M. A. (2013). Hybrid of solar dish concentrator, new boiler and simple solar collector for brackish water desalination. Desalination,326, 62–68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharshir, S., Peng, G., et al. (2017). Enhancing the solar still performance using nanofluids and glass cover cooling: Experimental study. Applied Thermal Engineering,113, 684–693.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Srithar, K. (2003). Studies on solar augmented evaporation systems for tannery effluent (Soak liquor). Ph.D. thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

  • Suneesh, P., Jayaprakash, R., et al. (2014). Effect of air flow on “V” type solar still with cotton gauze cooling. Desalination,337, 1–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winston, D. P., Pounraj, P., et al. (2018). Experimental investigation on hybrid PV/T active solar still with effective heating and cover cooling method. Desalination,435, 140–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yadav, A., & Bajpai, V. (2012). Thermal performance of one-ended evacuated tube solar air collector at different flow rates: Experimental investigation. International Journal of Ambient Energy,33(1), 35–50.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, Kurukshetra, 136119, India

    Mohit Bhargva & Avadhesh Yadav

Authors
  1. Mohit Bhargva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Avadhesh Yadav
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohit Bhargva.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bhargva, M., Yadav, A. Effect of shading and evaporative cooling of glass cover on the performance of evacuated tube-augmented solar still. Environ Dev Sustain 22, 4125–4143 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00375-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00375-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation