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Performance comparison of solar still with inbuilt condenser and agitator over conventional solar still with energy and exergy analysis

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Abstract

Demand for fresh water increases day by day. Solar desalination is one of the promising technologies to meet this demand in an economical fashion which uses solar still. For the current study, single-basin single-slope conventional solar still and a modified single-basin single-slope solar still with inbuilt condenser and agitator were designed and fabricated. Both the stills were tested under the same ambient conditions to compare the performance. Through experimental results, it was found that modified still with inbuilt condenser and agitator had 98.69% more productivity than conventional solar still. Modified still productivity was recorded as 4.856 L/m2/day and that of conventional still was 2.44 L/m2/day. The agitation effect caused by the agitator in the modified still led to an increase in the rate of evaporation. The increase in condensing area for the same evaporation area of the modified still improved the condensation rate. These two synergized effects resulted in an overall performance improvement of the modified still over the conventional still. An energy analysis revealed that modified still is 24.42% more efficient than its counterpart. The energy efficiency of modified and conventional stills was calculated as 4.82% and 2.04% respectively.

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Abbreviations

m w :

Hourly distillate yield (kg)

τg :

Transmittance of the glass cover

τw :

Transmittance of the saline water

αb :

Absorptivity of the basin

αw :

Absorptivity of saline water

αg :

Absorptivity of glass cover

Ta :

Ambient Temperature (K)

Ts :

Temperature of Sun (K)

Tb :

Basin Temperature (K)

Tg :

Glass Cover Temperature (K)

It :

Solar Intensity (W/m2)

hw :

Convective heat transfer coefficient between basin and saline water (W/m2 K)

hb :

Convective heat transfer coefficient between basin and atmosphere (W/m2 K)

he,w-g :

Evaporative heat transfer coefficient between water and inner glass cover (W/m2 K)

hc,w-g :

Convective heat transfer coefficient between water and inner glass cover (W/m2 K)

hr,w-g :

Radiative heat transfer coefficient between water and inner glass cover (W/m2 K)

hc,g-a :

Convective heat transfer coefficient between glass cover and atmosphere (W/m2 K)

hr,g-a :

Radiative heat transfer coefficient between glass cover and atmosphere (W/m2 K)

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Not applicable. The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ramco Institute of Technology, Rajapalayam, India

    Arun Kumar Rajasekaran

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Engineering College, Kovilpatti, India

    Kalidasa Murugavel Kulandaivelu

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  1. Arun Kumar Rajasekaran
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  2. Kalidasa Murugavel Kulandaivelu
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Contributions

Arun Kumar carried out the experimentation for evaluating the performance of the system and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. Kalidasa Murugavel contributed to the designing of system and experimentation and reviewed and prepared the final draft of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kalidasa Murugavel Kulandaivelu.

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Rajasekaran, A.K., Murugavel Kulandaivelu, K. Performance comparison of solar still with inbuilt condenser and agitator over conventional solar still with energy and exergy analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 83378–83388 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21466-6

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