Abstract
In this study, the performance of the wick-type solar still was investigated using phase change material (PCM) with titanium dioxide nanoparticles as a storage material. Therefore, two solar stills were fabricated one of which was operated with pure PCM and the other one was operated with PCM incorporated with Tio2 nanoparticles. The use of the nanoparticles was to enhance the thermal conductivity of the PCM and hence improve the productivity and the efficiency of the studied solar still. The proposed design was investigated with jute and cotton as wick materials. The results revealed that the addition of the nanoparticles increased the thermal conductivity of the PCM by 9.6%. Moreover, the daily productivity was found to be 1058 and 1226 ml/m2 day for cotton and jute, respectively in case of the presence of the PCM-nanocomposite.
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The data presented in this study are available in the article.
Change history
04 December 2022
Figure 1 image minor correction.
Abbreviations
- a:
-
Accuracy of the measuring instruments (depends on the variable)
- AMC:
-
Annual maintenance cost
- A p :
-
Surface area of the absorber plate (m2)
- ASV:
-
First annual salvage value
- CPL:
-
Cost of 1 l of water production
- CRF :
-
Capital recovery factor
- FAC :
-
First annual cost
- h c wg :
-
Convective heat transfer coefficient from the still water to the glass cover (W/m2 K)
- h e wg :
-
Evaporative heat transfer coefficient from the still water to the glass cover (W/m2 K)
- I :
-
Solar radiation (W/m2)
- L w :
-
Latent heat of vaporization (J/kg)
- M:
-
Annual water production
- n:
-
Number of life years
- P:
-
Capital cost of the system
- P acc. :
-
Accumulate productivity (ml/m2)
- PCM:
-
Phase change material
- P d :
-
Daily productivity (ml/m2 day)
- P g :
-
Partial vapor pressure at the temperature of the glass cover (N/m2)
- Pw :
-
Partial vapor pressure at the temperature of the basin water (N/m2)
- NPCM:
-
Phase change material with nanoparticles
- S:
-
Salvage value (S = 0.2P)
- SFF:
-
Sinking fund factor
- T a :
-
Ambient air temperature (°C)
- T g :
-
Temperature of the glass cover (°C)
- T pcm :
-
Temperature of the storage material (°C)
- T w :
-
Temperature of the still water (°C)
- u:
-
The standard uncertainty (depends on the variable)
- UAC:
-
Uniform annual cost
- Δt :
-
Time interval (s)
- η d :
-
Daily efficiency (%)
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Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of this work by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), Egypt, under grant no. (6532). The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks the ASRT for technical and financial support.
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Ali Ibrahim, Ahmed El-Sebaii, and Saad Aboul-Enein: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, validation, formal analysis, investigation, writing — original draft, writing — review and editing, supervision, resources, and funding acquisition. Ahmed El-Sebaii, Abd El-Monem Khallaf, Mohammed Hegazy, and Assem Fleafl: methodology, validation, writing — original draft, writing, investigation, resources, and funding acquisition.
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Ibrahim, A., El-Sebaii, A., Aboul-Enein, S. et al. Thermal performance enhancement of the wick-type solar still using titanium dioxide nanoparticles embedded in paraffin wax as a phase change material. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 106812–106821 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24374-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24374-x