Computer-Aided Design, Modeling and Simulation of a New Solar Still Design

The clean and pure drinking water is important in today's life but current water sources are usually brackish with bacteria that cannot be used for drinking. About 78% of water available in the sea is salty, 21% of water is brackish, and only 1% of water is fresh. Distillation is one of the feasible processes applied to water purification, and it requires the energy inputs, such as solar radiation. Water is evaporated in this distillation process and water vapor can be separated and condensed to pure water. Now, with the change from conventional fuels to renewable and environment friendly fuels sources, the modern technology allows to use the abundant energy from the sun. It is better to use solar energy to process the water desalination since it is more economical than the use of conventional energies. The main focus of this paper is applying computer-aided modeling and simulation to design a less complex solar water distillation system. The prototype of this solar still system is also built to verify its feasibility, functionality, and reliability. The computational simulation and prototype testing show the reliability and proper functionality of this solar water distillation system.

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Productivity Enhancement of Solar Water Desalination Unit Using a Solar Electric Water Heater

Engineering Proceedings ◽

10.3390/engproc2021012053 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 53

Author(s):

Kamran Mahboob ◽

Qasim Awais ◽

Muhammad Yahya ◽

Muhammad Mehtab ◽

Awais Khan

Keyword(s):

Solar Energy ◽

Pure Water ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Maintenance Cost ◽

Water Yield ◽

Solar Still ◽

Water Heater ◽

Average Output ◽

Solar Water ◽

Drinkable Water

The biggest problem faced by the world these days is pure drinkable water, and in a few years pure drinkable water will not be easily available, as it is becoming brackish and saline due to pollution. By using solar energy, a solar still can produce pure water which can be used for drinking, cooking, and also for industrial purposes. In this research, a solar still based on clean technology using solar energy to drive the system is used. It can be operated easily and with an approximately negligible maintenance cost. A pyramid solar water desalination unit with modification of the solar electric water heater (used to increase water temperature) is developed to increase the water yield per day. A theoretical model of the solar still unit with and without an electric water heater is developed and performance is compared. Based on this theoretical design, fabrication is carried out and experiments are performed to predict the overall output. It is observed that the output distilled water has a TDS (total dissolved salts) value much lower than the TDS of groundwater. Additionally, the average output of a solar water desalination unit with an electric water heater is found to be enhanced compared with the unit without an electric water heater.

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Using TRNSYS Simulation to Optimize the Design of a Solar Water Distillation System

Energy Procedia ◽

10.1016/j.egypro.2014.10.253 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 57 ◽

pp. 2441-2450 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Armando Juarez-Trujillo ◽

Ignacio R. Martín-Domínguez ◽

M. Teresa Alarcón-Herrera

Keyword(s):

Water Distillation ◽

Solar Water ◽

Distillation System

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AUGMENTATION OF SOLAR WATER DISTILLER PERFORMANCE WITH PV/T

Water Conservation and Management ◽

10.26480/wcm.01.2021.46.52 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 46-52

Author(s):

Nguyen Viet Linh Le ◽

Tri Hieu Le ◽

Thi Minh Hao Dong ◽

Van Vang Le ◽

Dinh Tung

Keyword(s):

Solar Collector ◽

Solar Photovoltaic ◽

Solar Still ◽

Photovoltaic Panel ◽

Water Distillation ◽

Solar Water ◽

Photovoltaic Modules ◽

Solar Distillation ◽

Distillate Yield ◽

Flat Plate Collector

Recently, due to global warming and urbanization, there are many major cities that may face the challenge of day zero next decades. Obviously, water is an indispensable component for maintaining life on the earth. Although portable water is required of the hour, the quantity of available freshwater is impacted significantly by sea-level rise and pollution from industrialization. As a consequence of the global water crisis, different methods for clean water production from brackish water have been studied and developed in practice, however, the solar distillation of water is the most economical and desirable approach due to this method utilize solar energy that is the environmentally friendly and economical resource. Over the last 15 years, the impressive price drop of the photovoltaic solar collector (PV/T) makes them popular and easy to access. As a result, the employment of PV/T in solar stills is emerging as a potential device for water distillation. Therefore, in this paper, an active solar distiller combined with a photovoltaic panel has been reviewed for improvement of the distillate yield and effectiveness of solar photovoltaic. This review work presents a variety of studies on various types of solar still (for example conventional solar still (CSS), double slope solar still (DSSS), stepped solar distiller, and cascade solar still) couples with different solar water collectors (such as flat plate collector (FPC) and evacuated tubes collector (ETC)) and solar photovoltaic modules. It is obtained that the hybrid PV/T active solar still improves the distillate yield, energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency as compared to passive mode. The cooling method enhances the performance of the photovoltaic solar collector as well as the productivity of solar still. Moreover, the environmental economic estimation reveals that the solar still coupled with the PV/T mitigated considerably the amount of CO2. It can be stated that it is suitable to commercialize the hybrid PV/T active solar still for supplying not only electricity but drinking water also. Finally, this review paper also suggests the scope for the research in the future.

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