Optimisation of geometry and surface wettability for enhanced efficiency of the solar still-based desalination unit

Abstract

Evaporative solar desalination systems offer an economical method to produce pure water from brine solutions. In the present study, the effects of geometry (top surface inclination) and the surface wettability of the condensation plate on the performance of the basin-type solar desalination unit was investigated through the route of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. It was observed that inclination angle and surface patterning influence the overall rate of condensation. With the 26^o top surface inclination, the rate of water production was 33.33% more than that of the 15^o and 35^o top surface inclinations. Surface wettability influences the production rate of pure water. A novel patterned condensation surface has been proposed, which can enhance the rate of condensation by 12.8% to produce more purified water. The patterned surface was obtained by placing alternate patches of hydrophilic and hydrophobic layers.

KEYWORDS:

• Solar still
• solar desalination
• CFD
• surface wettability

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST, Govt. of India) under SERD 2019 grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by DST (GoI): [Grant Number DST/TMD/CERI/RES/2020/44].