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A comparative energy and exergy efficiency study of hemispherical and single-slope solar stills

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Abstract

In this experimental work, a comparative energy and exergy efficiency study of hemispherical solar still and a single-slope solar still has been carried out. The experiments were conducted in southeast Algeria on 25-5-2020 and 3-6-2020 in the natural climatic environment, and daily accumulation of distilled water produced for both distilleries was measured. The maximum obtained cumulative yield of distilled products is equal to 5.38 kg/m2/day for the hemispherical solar still, and 3.64 kg/m2/day for the single-slope solar still. The overall daily productivity was improved by 47.96% for the hemispherical solar still compared to the single-slope solar still. The maximum daily energy efficiency of the single-slope solar still is 25.81%, and hemispherical solar still is 38.61%. Similarly, the maximum daily exergy efficiency of single-slope solar still is 1.8%, and hemispherical solar still is 3.1%. The main conclusion from the study is the hemispherical distillery greatly enhances productivity as compared to the single-slope distillate and gives more efficiency. Thus, the hemispherical solar still is recommended to be used to provide safe drinking water from salty water.

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Abbreviations

EHTC:

evaporative heat transfer coefficient

HSS:

hemispherical solar still

SSSS:

single-slope solar still

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of El Oued, 3900, El Oued, Algeria

    Mohammed El Hadi Attia

  2. Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Abd Elnaby Kabeel

  3. Faculty of Engineering, Delta University for Science and Technology, Gamasa, Egypt

    Abd Elnaby Kabeel

  4. LABTHOP Laboratory, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of El Oued, 3900, El Oued, Algeria

    Abdelkader Bellila

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 048, India

    Athikesavan Muthu Manokar

  6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Arasur, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    Ravishankar Sathyamurthy

  7. Laboratory of Electromechanical Systems, National School of Engineers of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Zied Driss

  8. Department of Electronic and Communication Engineering, College Perundurai, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India

    Suresh Muthusamy

Authors
  1. Mohammed El Hadi Attia
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  2. Abd Elnaby Kabeel
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  3. Abdelkader Bellila
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  4. Athikesavan Muthu Manokar
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  5. Ravishankar Sathyamurthy
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  6. Zied Driss
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  7. Suresh Muthusamy
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Contributions

Mohammed El Hadi Attia: conceptualization, project administration, experimental work

Abd Elnaby Kabeel: supervision, methodology

Abdelkader Bellila: software, formal analysis

Athikesavan Muthu Manokar: writing, validation

Ravishankar Sathyamurthy: writing—reviewing, software

Zied Driss, Suresh Muthusamy: reviewing, editing

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammed El Hadi Attia.

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Appendix

Appendix

The EHTC from Tb.w, to Tc.c is calculated by (Manokar et al. 2018a),

$$ {h}_{e,w-g}=16.273X{10}^{-3}\times {h}_{c,w-g}\left[\frac{P_w-{P}_{gi}}{T_{b,w}-{T}_{gi}}\right] $$

Convective heat transfer coefficient from the Tb.w to Tc.c is calculated by (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {h}_{c,w-g}=0.884{\left[\left({T}_w-{T}_g\right)+\frac{\left({T}_w+273.15\right)\left({p}_w-{p}_g\right)}{\left(268900-{p}_w\right)}\right]}^{1/3} $$

Partial vapor pressure at the Tb.w is calculated by (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {P}_w=\mathit{\exp}\left(25.317-\left(\frac{5144}{273+{T}_{b,w}}\right)\right) $$

Partial vapor pressure at the Tc.c is calculated by (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {P}_{gi}=\mathit{\exp}\left(25.317-\left(\frac{5144}{273+{T}_{gi}}\right)\right) $$

The energy efficiency of the SSSS and HSS is estimated as (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {\eta}_{passive}=\frac{\sum {\dot{m}}_{ew}L}{\sum I(t){A}_s\times 3600}\times 100 $$

The exergy efficiency of the SSSS and HSS is given by (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {\eta}_{overall, exe}=\frac{\sum {Ex}_{output}}{\sum {Ex}_{input}} $$

The hourly exergy output is calculated by (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {Ex}_{output}=\frac{m_{ew}{L}_{fg}}{3600}\times \left[1-\frac{T_a}{T_w}\right] $$

The hourly exergy input is calculated by (Manokar et al. 2018a)

$$ {Ex}_{input}={A}_w{I}^{\hbox{'}}(t)\times \left[1-\frac{4}{3}\left(\frac{T_a}{T_s}\right)+\frac{1}{3}{\left(\frac{T_a}{T_s}\right)}^4\right] $$

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Attia, M.E.H., Kabeel, A.E., Bellila, A. et al. A comparative energy and exergy efficiency study of hemispherical and single-slope solar stills. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 35649–35659 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13161-9

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