Abstract
The single-basin solar still is one of the effective ways of desalinating the seawater at an affordable price. But, the productivity of solar still is low and many kinds of research are under progress to enhance the yield. In this regard, a single-basin solar still with a solid staggered pin finned absorber inserted into a paraffin wax bed is developed to investigate the yield enhancement. This investigation is carried out by varying the seawater depths of the absorber basin from 2 to 4 cm in the developed solar still. The obtained results are compared with conventional solar still without fins and PCM bed. It is observed that the yield obtained in the developed solar still with 2-cm depth is having greater productivity when compared to other cases of seawater depths (3 cm and 4 cm). The yield of modified solar still and conventional solar still at 2-cm water depth is 3750 mL/m2 and 3017 mL/m2 respectively. It is also observed that thermal efficiency of the developed single-basin solar still is increased by 12.23%, 22.66% and 24.26% respectively compared to the conventional solar still for the seawater depths of 4 cm, 3 cm and 2 cm. In addition to that, it is observed from the economic analysis, the cost per litre potable water produced from modified solar still and conventional solar still is ₹ 2.1 and ₹ 2.25 respectively. Also, the environmental analysis is carried out to analyse the carbon credit from the developed single-basin solar still and found that the carbon credit gained from modified still and conventional solar still is $ 172.8 and $ 137.9 respectively. Based on this investigation, it is observed that the developed single-basin solar still with solid staggered pin finned absorber inserted into paraffin wax bed can be effectively used for the drinking water production to overcome the water scarcity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdullah AS, Essa FA, Ben BH, Omara ZM (2020) Improving the trays solar still performance using reflectors and phase change material with nanoparticles. J Energy Storage 31:101744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.101744
Ali C, Rabhi K, Nciri R, Nasri F, Attyaoui S (2015) Theoretical and experimental analysis of pin fins absorber solar still. Desalin Water Treat 56:1705–1711. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2014.956344
Appadurai M, Velmurugan V (2015) Performance analysis of fin type solar still integrated with fin type mini solar pond. Sustain Energy Technol Assess 9:30–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2014.11.001
Arunkumar T, Denkenberger D, Ahsan A, Jayaprakash R (2013) The augmentation of distillate yield by using concentrator coupled solar still with phase change material. Desalination 314:189–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2013.01.018
Arunkumar T, Raj K, Chaturvedi M, Thenmozhi A, Denkenberger D, Tingting G (2019) A review on distillate water quality parameter analysis in solar still. Int J Ambient Energy 0:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2019.1587722
Balachandran GB, David PW, Rajendran G, Ali MNA, Radhakrishnan V, Balamurugan R, Athikesavan MM, Sathyamurthy R (2020) Investigation of performance enhancement of solar still incorporated with Gallus gallus domesticus cascara as sensible heat storage material. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10470-3
Bell S (2004) Measurement good practice guide No 11
Bhargva M, Yadav A (2020) Effect of shading and evaporative cooling of glass cover on the performance of evacuated tube-augmented solar still. Environ Dev Sustain 22:4125–4143
Cuce E, Cuce PM, Saxena A, Guclu T, Besir AB (2020) Performance analysis of a novel solar desalination system – part 1: the unit with sensible energy storage and booster reflector without thermal insulation and cooling system. Sustain Energy Technol Assess 37:100566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2019.100566
Deshmukh HS, Thombre SB (2017) Solar distillation with single basin solar still using sensible heat storage materials. Desalination 410:91–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2017.01.030
Dumka P, Mishra DR (2020) Comparative experimental evaluation of conventional solar still (CSS) and CSS augmented with wax filled metallic finned-cups. FME Trans 48:482–495. https://doi.org/10.5937/FME2002482D
Dwivedi VK, Tiwari GN (2010) Thermal modeling and carbon credit earned of a double slope passive solar still. Desalin Water Treat 13:400–410. https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2010.856
El-Dessouky HT, Hisham M. Ettouney (2002) Fundamentals of Salt Water Desalination
El-Sebaii AA, El-Naggar M (2017) Year round performance and cost analysis of a finned single basin solar still. Appl Therm Eng 110:787–794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.08.215
El-Sebaii AA, Ramadan MRI, Aboul-Enein S, El-Naggar M (2015) Effect of fin configuration parameters on single basin solar still performance. Desalination 365:15–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2015.02.002
Esfahani JA, Rahbar N, Lavvaf M (2011) Utilization of thermoelectric cooling in a portable active solar still - an experimental study on winter days. Desalination 269:198–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2010.10.062
Essa FA, Omara ZM, Abdullah AS, Shanmugan S, Panchal H, Kabeel AE, Sathyamurthy R, Alawee WH, Manokar AM, Elsheikh AH (2020) Wall-suspended trays inside stepped distiller with Al2O3/paraffin wax mixture and vapor suction: experimental implementation. J Energy Storage 32:102008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.102008
Gugulothu R, Somanchi NS, Devendar G, Deepika PKN (2017) Solar water distillation using different phase change materials. Mater Today: Proc 4:314–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2017.01.027
Haji-Sheikh A, Eftekhar J, Lou DYS (1983) Some thermophysical properties of paraffin wax as a thermal storage medium. Prog Astronaut Aeronaut 86:241–253
Hassan H, Yousef MS, Ahmed MS, Fathy M (2020) Energy, exergy, environmental, and economic analysis of natural and forced cooling of solar still with porous media. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:38221–38240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09995-4
Hilarydoss S, Delhiraja K, Reddy KS, et al., (2020) Thermal modeling, characterization, and enviro-economic investigations on inclined felt sheet solar distiller for seawater desalination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10831-y
Jani HK, Modi KV (2019) Experimental performance evaluation of single basin dual slope solar still with circular and square cross-sectional hollow fins. Sol Energy 179:186–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.12.054
Kabeel AE, Abdelgaied M (2016) Improving the performance of solar still by using PCM as a thermal storage medium under Egyptian conditions. Desalination. 383:22–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2016.01.006
Kabeel AE, Abdelgaied M (2017) Observational study of modified solar still coupled with oil serpentine loop from cylindrical parabolic concentrator and phase changing material under basin. Sol Energy 144:71–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.01.007
Kabeel AE, Abdelgaied M, Mahgoub M (2016) The performance of a modified solar still using hot air injection and PCM. Desalination 379:102–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2015.11.007
Kabeel AE, Arunkumar T, Denkenberger DC, Sathyamurthy R (2017) Performance enhancement of solar still through efficient heat exchange mechanism – a review. Appl Therm Eng 114:815–836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.12.044
Kabeel AE, El-Agouz ES, Athikesavan MM et al (2020a) Comparative analysis on freshwater yield from conventional basin-type single slope solar still with cement-coated red bricks: an experimental approach. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:32218–32228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07288-z
Kabeel AE, El-Maghlany WM, Abdelgaied M, Abdel-Aziz MM (2020b) Performance enhancement of pyramid-shaped solar stills using hollow circular fins and phase change materials. J Energy Storage 31:101610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.101610
Kabeel AE, El-Samadony YAF, El-Maghlany WM (2018) Comparative study on the solar still performance utilizing different PCM. Desalination 432:89–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2018.01.016
Kabeel AE, Hamed AM, El-Agouz SA (2010) Cost analysis of different solar still configurations. Energy 35:2901–2908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2010.03.021
Kabeel AE, Sathyamurthy R, Manokar AM, Sharshir SW, Essa FA, Elshiekh AH (2020c) Experimental study on tubular solar still using graphene oxide nano particles in phase change material (NPCM’s) for fresh water production. J Energy Storage 28:101204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2020.101204
Khanmohammadi S, Khanmohammadi S (2019) Energy, exergy and exergo-environment analyses, and tri-objective optimization of a solar still desalination with different insulations. Energy 187:115988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.115988
Lalitha Narayana R, Ramachandra Raju V (2019) Experimental investigation of a passive solar still with and without tetrahedral sponge in basin. Int J Ambient Energy 40:285–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2017.1392349
Li C, Goswami Y, Stefanakos E (2013) Solar assisted sea water desalination: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 19:136–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.04.059
Modi KV, Modi JG (2019) Performance of single-slope double-basin solar stills with small pile of wick materials. Appl Therm Eng 149:723–730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.12.071
Mohamed AF, Hegazi AA, Sultan GI, El-Said EMS (2019) Augmented heat and mass transfer effect on performance of a solar still using porous absorber: experimental investigation and exergetic analysis. Appl Therm Eng 150:1206–1215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.01.070
Mukherjee K, Tiwari GN (1986) Economic analyses of various designs of conventional solar stills. Energy Convers Manag 26:155–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/0196-8904(86)90049-X
Murugan M, Saravanan A, Murali G, Kumar P, Nagi Reddy VS (2020) Enhancing productivity of V-trough solar water heater incorporated flat plate Wick type solar water distillation system. J Heat Transf. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4048947
Nayi KH, Modi KV (2020) Effect of cost-free energy storage material and saline water depth on the performance of square pyramid solar still: a mathematical and experimental study. J Therm Anal Calorim. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09598-8
Omara ZM, Hamed MH, Kabeel AE (2011) Performance of finned and corrugated absorbers solar stills under Egyptian conditions. Desalination 277:281–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2011.04.042
Panchal H, Mevada D, Sathyamurthy R (2018) The requirement of various methods to improve distillate output of solar still: a review. Int J Ambient Energy 0:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2018.1542630
Panchal H, Patel N, Thakkar H (2017) Various techniques for improvement in distillate output from active solar still: a review. Int J Ambient Energy 38:209–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2015.1076518
Panchal H, Sadasivuni KK, Essa FA, Shanmugan S, Sathyamurthy R, (2020) Enhancement of the yield of solar still with the use of solar pond: a review. Heat Transfer 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/htj.21935
Patel M, Patel C, Panchal H (2019) Past, present and future of the active solar distillation system: a comprehensive review. Int J Ambient Energy 0:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2019.1684996
Phadatare MK, Verma SK (2007) Influence of water depth on internal heat and mass transfer in a plastic solar still. Desalination 217:267–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2007.03.006
Qiblawey HM, Banat F (2008) Solar thermal desalination technologies. Desalination 220:633–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2007.01.059
Rashidi S, Rahbar N, Valipour MS, Esfahani JA (2018) Enhancement of solar still by reticular porous media: experimental investigation with exergy and economic analysis. Appl Therm Eng 130:1341–1348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.11.089
Sathish Kumar TR, Jegadheeswaran S, Chandramohan P (2019) Performance investigation on fin type solar still with paraffin wax as energy storage media. J Therm Anal Calorim 136:101–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7882-7
Sathyamurthy R, Kabeel AE, El-Agouz ES et al (2019) Experimental investigation on the effect of MgO and TiO2 nanoparticles in stepped solar still. Int J Energy Res 43:3295–3305. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.4460
Shalaby SM, El-Bialy E, El-Sebaii AA (2016) An experimental investigation of a v-corrugated absorber single-basin solar still using PCM. Desalination 398:247–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2016.07.042
Sharma A, Tyagi VV, Chen CR, Buddhi D (2009) Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications. Renew Sust Energ Rev 13:318–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2007.10.005
Sharon H, Reddy KS (2015) A review of solar energy driven desalination technologies. Renew Sust Energ Rev 41:1080–1118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.09.002
Sharshir SW, Ellakany YM, Eltawil MA (2020) Exergoeconomic and environmental analysis of seawater desalination system augmented with nanoparticles and cotton hung pad. J Clean Prod 248:119180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119180
Sharshir SW, Yang N, Peng G, Kabeel AE (2016) Factors affecting solar stills productivity and improvement techniques: a detailed review. Appl Therm Eng 100:267–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.11.041
Shatat M, Worall M, Riffat S (2013) Opportunities for solar water desalination worldwide: review. Sustain Cities Soc 9:67–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2013.03.004
Shinde M, Navthar R, Shinde SM (2020) Review on the types of solar stills. Int J Ambient Energy 0:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2019.1707114
Singh HN, Tiwari GN (2004) Monthly performance of passive and active solar stills for different Indian climatic conditions. Desalination 168:145–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2004.06.180
Srivastava PK, Agrawal SK (2013) Winter and summer performance of single sloped basin type solar still integrated with extended porous fins. Desalination 319:73–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2013.03.030
Suraparaju SK, Natarajan SK (2020) Performance analysis of single slope solar desalination setup with natural fibre. Desalin Water Treat 193:64–71. https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2020.25679
Tabrizi FF, Sharak AZ (2010) Experimental study of an integrated basin solar still with a sandy heat reservoir. Desalination 253:195–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2009.10.003
Thalib MM, Manokar AM, Essa FA, Vasimalai N, Sathyamurthy R, Garcia Marquez FP (2020) Comparative study of tubular solar stills with phase change material and nano-enhanced phase change material. Energies:13, 3989. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13153989
Tiwari AK, Tiwari GN (2006) Effect of water depth on heat and mass transfer in a solar still: in summer climate condition. Desalination 217:267–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2004.08.03
Tiwari GN, Sahota L (2017) Review on the energy and economic efficiencies of passive and active solar distillation systems. Desalination 401:151–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2016.08.023
UNESCO (2019) The United Nations World Water Development Report 2019: leaving no one behind
Velmurugan V, Deenadayalan CK, Vinod H, Srithar K (2008a) Desalination of effluent using fin type solar still. Energy 33:1719–1727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2008.07.001
Velmurugan V, Gopalakrishnan M, Raghu R, Srithar K (2008b) Single basin solar still with fin for enhancing productivity. Energy Convers Manag 49:2602–2608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2008.05.010
Winfred Rufuss DD, Iniyan S, Suganthi L, Pa D (2017) Nanoparticles enhanced phase change material (NPCM) as heat storage in solar still application for productivity enhancement. Energy Procedia 141:45–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.11.009
Yousef MS, Hassan H (2019) Energetic and exergetic performance assessment of the inclusion of phase change materials (PCM) in a solar distillation system. Energy Convers Manag 179:349–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.078
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the National Institute of Technology Puducherry, Karaikal, and submitted for filing an Indian Patent entitled “Single Slope Solar Desalination Still Using Staggered Fins Inserted in Paraffin Wax PCM Bed,” patent application number: 202041011253, on 16th March 2020.
Authors’ contributions—CRediT author statement
Subbarama Kousik Suraparaju: Conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original Draft. Sendhil Kumar Natarajan: Conceptualization, validation, resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration.
Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Highlights
1. This research investigated the performance of solar still with solid staggered fins and PCM.
2. The optimum water depth is observed as 2 cm.
3. The efficiency of modified still is increased by 24.26% at 2-cm water depth.
4. The effect of fins and PCM in the desalination systems is explained.
5. Cost analysis showed that solar still with fins and PCM is viable.
Supplementary information
ESM 1
(XLSX 17 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Suraparaju, S.K., Natarajan, S.K. Experimental investigation of single-basin solar still using solid staggered fins inserted in paraffin wax PCM bed for enhancing productivity. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 20330–20343 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11980-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11980-w