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ABSTRACT
In the present study, the influence of water thickness for the active solar still (solar still integrated to solar pond as an external source of heat addition) has been studied for an attempt to obtain the appropriate water depth. The accumulated and hourly distillate of solar still with float wicks in different proportions of covered area of 50%, 75%, and 100% and integrated to shallow solar pond have been investigated. With the use of float wicks alone, a reduction in basin water temperature of solar still has been noticed during daytime because of the restriction of solar radiation to reach the basin absorber. Therefore, to overcome this problem, an additional thermal energy from solar pond has been supplied to solar still through heat exchanger in continuous mode from 8 am to 8 pm. The maximum distillate output was obtained with 5 cm depth, which were 13.6%, 20.69%, and 29.87% greater over water depth of 4, 6, & 7 cm, respectively. An enhancement of 7.2%, 9.2%, 38.13%, and 23.33% have been obtained for the solar still with float wicks alone, solar still assisted with solar pond and having float wicks in proportion of 50%, 75%, and 100%, respectively, over conventional still.
Nomenclature
| a | = | Accuracy of instruments |
| AG | = | Glass cover area (m2) |
| c | = | Specific heat (J/kg - K) |
| Cf | = | Fabrication cost of solar still (INR) |
| CM | = | Annual maintenance cost of solar still (INR) |
| CT | = | Total cost of solar still (INR) |
| CU | = | Unit cost of distillate (INR/kg) |
| IG | = | Solar radiation on glass cover (W/m2) |
| L | = | Anticipated life of solar still (Years) |
| = | Mass flow rate through heat exchanger (kg/s) | |
| mdist | = | Total distillate output (kg) |
| p | = | Total distillate output throughout still life (kg) |
| Pp | = | Pump rating (W) |
| Q | = | Heat transfer rate (kJ) |
| t | = | Operational period of pump (sec) |
| T | = | Temperature (°C) |
| u | = | Uncertainty |
| Wp | = | Work done by pump (J) |
| Y | = | Annual usage of solar still (Years) |
| Abbreviations | = | |
| CSS | = | Conventional solar still |
| MSS | = | Modified solar still |
| SSP | = | Shallow solar pond |
| Greek symbols | = | |
| η | = | Efficiency |
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sudhir Kumar Singh
Sudhir Kumar Singh is a research scholar in the Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, India. He received his master’s degree from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, India. His research interest includes solar desalination, solar pond and pool boiling heat transfer.
Shubham Jain
Shubham Jain is a research scholar in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India. He received his master’s degree from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, India. His research interest includes solar desalination, thermal energy storage and phase change materials.
Madhup Kumar Mittal
Dr. Madhup Kumar Mittal is working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, India. He received his Ph.D. in 2010 from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. His research interest includes solar energy and its application in solar desalination, solar air/water heating systems, solar ponds and evacuated tube collectors.
Deepak Sharma
Dr. Deepak Sharma is working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, India. He received his Ph.D. in 2018 from National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Assam, India. His research interest includes Renewable Energy, Thermal Hydraulics in Nuclear Reactor, Nanofluid Heat Transfer, pool Boiling Heat Transfer, microchannel and Heat Exchangers.