Experimental Investigation of the Combined Effect of Fin, Phase Change Material and External Condenser on the Yield of Solar Still

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering

© 2019 by SSRG - IJME Journal

Volume 6 Issue 8

Year of Publication : 2019

Authors : S. S. Tuly, M. R. I. Sarker, Suman Saha

10.14445/23488360/IJME-V6I8P101

How to Cite?

S. S. Tuly, M. R. I. Sarker, Suman Saha, "Experimental Investigation of the Combined Effect of Fin, Phase Change Material and External Condenser on the Yield of Solar Still," SSRG International Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 6,  no. 8, pp. 1-5, 2019. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488360/IJME-V6I8P101

Abstract:

The present work focuses on improving the still solar productivity by integrating fin, phase change material (PCM), and an external condenser. Two double slope solar stills (modified and finned solar stills) have been designed and constructed, and their thermal performances have been analyzed. Modified solar still consists of solid rectangular fins, paraffin wax as latent heat storage material, and an external condenser with an extra condensation surface of 1824.15 cm². Paraffin wax stores heat energy and continue the distillation process during the off-sunshine period. Each absorber plate (2 in number) used in the modified solar still contains thee fins, whereas finned solar still consists of six fins attached to the basin plate. Fins provide greater surface area and facilitate the evaporation rate, thus provides higher productivity. Experimental results revealed that the accumulated freshwater yields for the modified and finned solar stills are 2100 ml/m2 and 1620 ml/m2, respectively, for the experimental day. The modified solar still produces 22.8 % higher accumulated distillate output throughout the day than finned solar.

Keywords:

Double slope solar still, fin, Phase change material, external condenser, accumulated distillate

References:

[1] Velmurugan, V., et al., "Desalination of effluent using fin-type solar still. Energy", 2008. 33(11): p. 1719-1727.
[2] Srivastava, P.K. and S. Agrawal, "Winter and summer performance of single sloped basin type solar still integrated with extended porous fins." Desalination, 2013. 319: p. 73-78.
[3] Velmurugan, V. and K. Srithar, "Performance analysis of solar stills based on various factors affecting the productivity—a review." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2011. 15(2): p. 1294-1304.
[4] Panchal, H., et al., "A comparative analysis of single slope solar still coupled with flat plate collector and passive solar still." International Journal of Research and Reviews in Applied Sciences, 2011. 7(2): p. 111-116.
[5] Khalifa, A.J.N. and A.M. Hamood, "On the verification of the effect of water depth on the performance of basin type solar stills." Solar Energy, 2009. 83(8): p. 1312-1321.
[6] Zurigat, Y.H. and M.K. Abu-Arabi, "Modelling and performance analysis of a regenerative solar desalination unit. Applied thermal engineering", 2004. 24(7): p. 1061-1072.
[7] Ghoneyem, A. and A. Ileri, "Software to analyze solar stills and an experimental study on the effects of the cover." Desalination, 1997. 114(1): p. 37-44.
[8] Reddy, R.M. and K. Reddy, "Upward heat flow analysis in basin type solar still." Journal of Mining and Metallurgy B: Metallurgy, 2009. 45(1): p. 121-126.
[9] Alaian, W., E. Elnegiry, and A.M. Hamed, "Experimental investigation on solar performance still augmented with a pin-finned wick." Desalination, 2016. 379: p. 10-15.
[10] Jani, H.K., and K.V. Modi, "Experimental performance evaluation of single basin dual-slope solar still with circular and square cross-sectional hollow fins." Solar Energy, 2019. 179: p. 186-194.
[11] Panchal, H., et al., "Performance analysis of evacuated tubes coupled solar still with double basin solar still and solid fins." International Journal of Ambient Energy, 2018: p. 1-7.
[12] Ayuthaya, RPN, P. Namprakai, and W. Ampun, "The thermal performance of an ethanol solar still with fin plate to increase productivity." Renewable Energy, 2013. 54: p. 227-234.
[13] Omara, Z., M.H. Hamed, and A. Kabeel, Performance of finned and corrugated absorbers solar stills under Egyptian conditions. Desalination," 2011. 277(1-3): p. 281-287.
[14] Arunkumar, T., et al., "The augmentation of distillate yield by using concentrator coupled solar still with phase change material. Desalination", 2013. 314: p. 189-192.
[15] Kantesh, D., "Design of solar still using Phase changing material as a storage medium." International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 2012. 3(12): p. 1-6.
[16] El-Sebaii, A., et al., "Thermal performance of a single basin solar still with PCM as a storage medium." Applied Energy, 2009. 86(7-8): p. 1187-1195.
[17] Yusuf Bilgiç, Cengiz Yıldız"The Effect of Extended Surfaces on the Heat and Mass Transfer in the Solar Distillation Systems," International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT), V22(3),129-137 April 2015. ISSN:2231-5381
[18] El-Samadony, Y., A. Abdullah, and Z. Omara, "Experimental study of stepped solar still integrated with reflectors and external condenser." Experimental Heat Transfer, 2015. 28(4): p. 392-404.
[19] Kabeel, A., Z. Omara, and F. Essa, "Enhancement of modified solar still integrated with external condenser using nanofluids: An experimental approach." Energy conversion and management, 2014. 78: p. 493-498.
[20] Omara, Z., A. Kabeel, and F. Essa, "Effect of using nanofluids and providing vacuum on the yield of corrugated wick solar still." Energy conversion and management, 2015. 103: p. 965-972.
[21] El-Bahi, A. and D. Inan, "A solar still with minimum inclination, coupled to an outside condenser." Desalination, 1999. 123(1): p. 79-83.
[22] Al-Hamadani, A.A. and S. Shukla, "Performance of single slope solar still with the solar protected condenser." Distributed Generation & Alternative Energy Journal, 2013. 28(2): p. 6-28.
[23] Xiong, J., G. Xie, and H. Zheng, "Experimental and numerical study on a new multi-effect solar still with enhanced condensation surface." Energy conversion and management, 2013. 73: p. 176-185.
[24] Tiwari, G., A. Kupfermann, and S. Aggarwal, "A new design for a double-condensing chamber solar still. Desalination", 1997. 114(2): p. 153-164.
[25] Kabeel, A., M. Abdelgaied, and M. Mahgoub, "The performance of a modified solar still using hot air injection and PCM." Desalination, 2016. 379: p. 102-107.
[26] Selvaraj, K. and A. Natarajan, "Factors influencing the performance and productivity of solar stills-A review." Desalination, 2018. 435: p. 181-187.
[27] Kabeel, A., et al., "Solar still with a condenser–a detailed review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews", 2016. 59(C): p. 839-857.