An experimental investigation on a passive solar still with myristic acid as
phase change material (PCM) is carried out to examine the effect of both the
mass of PCM and basin water on the daily distillate output and efficiency of
the system under indoor simulated condition. Basic energy balance equations
are written to predict the water and glass temperatures, daily distillate
output and instantaneous efficiency of the single slope solar distillation
system with PCM. It is found that the higher mass of PCM with lower mass of
water in the solar still basin significantly increases the daily yield and
efficiency, but when the amount of PCM exceeds 20 kg productivity reduces.
Therefore, a novel and simple of solar stills with PCM is proposed to enhance
the overall productivity of the distillation system. The new solar still has
increased the distillate output by 35-40%. The use of inner glass cover
temperature for productivity prediction has also been investigated, and the
prediction shows relatively better agreement with the experimental data.
Modelling of solar distillation system with phase change material (PCM) storage medium
