Desalination 172 (2005) 227234

A solar still augmented with a flat-plate collector

Ali A. Badran*, Ahmad A. Al-Hallaq, Imad A. Eyal Salman, Mohammad Z. Odat
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Jordan,
Amman, Jordan 11942
Tel. +962 (6) 533-7944; Fax: +962 (6) 535-5888 ; email: badran@ju.edu.jo
Received 20 January 2004; accepted 24 June 2004

Abstract
A single-stage, basin-type solar still and a conventional flat-plate collector were connected together in order to study
the effect of augmentation on the still under local conditions. The still inlet was connected to a locally made, fin-tube
collector such that its outlet was fed to the still basin instead of the common storage tank. Measurements of various
temperatures, solar intensities and distilled water productions were taken for several days at various operating
conditions. Several modes of operation were studied: still connected to collector for a 24-h period; still connected only
during sunlight hours from 8 am to 5 pm, and still operating alone for a 24-h period. These tests were performed using
tap water and saline water as a feed. It was found that the mass of distilled water production using augmentation was
increased by 231% in the case of tap water as a feed and by 52% in the case of salt water as a feed.
Keywords: Solar distillation; Augmentation; Flat-plate collectors

1. Introduction
Several types of solar stills exist, the simplest
of which is the single-basin type. But the yield of
this still is in the range of 24 L/d per m2 of still
area [1], which is very limited. There are, however, several methods to augment this yield,
which generally fall into two categories: concentrators and flat-plate collectors. This system, also
called the active system [1], is probably appealing for countries such as Jordan where flat-plate
*Corresponding author.

collectors are already being installed in increasing

numbers. All that is needed is to add-on a solar
still to an already existing collector and obtain an
extra amount of distilled water at no extra cost to
the still.
In this work, the effect of adding a conventional-type solar collector to a single-stage basintype solar still was investigated. The results of
this augmentation on the performance, productivity and efficiency of the still under the climatic
conditions of Jordan are shown. The efficiency of
a single-basin still was compared with the effi-

0011-9164/05/$ See front matter 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

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ciency of the collector-still system, and a similar

comparison was made in each case between the
produced quantities of distilled water.
The concept of still augmentation by flat-plate
solar collectors was first introduced by Zaki et al.
[2] in 1983. They studied an active system of
single-slope-type stills integrated with a flat-plate
collector under the thermosyphon mode of operation. They found that the maximum increase in
the yield was up to 33% when the water in the
still was preheated in the collector.
Al Baharna et al. [3] analyzed the performance
of a triple-basin still integrated with a solar
collector. They found that the daily distillate was
more than double compared with that of the still
alone.
Although it has been shown that the overall
efficiency of a passive solar still is higher than
that of an active one due to the lower range of
operating temperatures [46], the concept is still
appealing in situations where the collectors are
already available. Recent works [7,8] indicate
that research is still active in the area, with more
emphasis on multi-effect desalination connected
to solar collectors. Another recent work [9] reports that a productivity of 25 L/m2.d was reached
using such a system.
There are, however, recent works [1012] that
investigated similar systems that were integrated
with storage tanks. It was found that coupling a
solar still to a hot water tank generally doubles
the distilled water output within a 24-h period
[10].

2. Experimental
The experimental set-up is one kind of a socalled active distillation system [1] where a conventional solar still is assisted by another heat
source. In this case the source is a flat-plate
collector. A photograph of the still-collector
system is shown in Fig. 1, and a sketch of the

Fig. 1. Photograph of the still-collector system.

device is shown in Fig. 2. The set-up was

assembled from existing, locally made components: a basin-type still with a double-slope glass
roof, a conventional fin-tube flat-plate collector,
a constant head tank and a feeding tank.
The still was made of a square basin, 960
960 mm, and a 20-mm water depth. The basin
was insulated with 30 mm of rock wool of
0.0346 W/mC thermal conductivity. The glass
roof was a pyramid-like shape of 4-mm thickness.
The sides were sloped at 45.
The collector was made of seven parallel tubes
with a 12 mm inside diameter with 100-mm
spacing. The tubes were fixed to 0.7-mm thick,
steel-plate coated by ordinary black matte paint.
The area of the collector was 1.34 m2. It was
fixed at an angle of 45 with the horizontal facing
due south.
A constant head tank, 500500300 mm was
used to control the level of water inside the still
by a float installed at the tanks inlet. A feeding
tank 400400600 mm was used to compensate

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229

Fig. 2. Experimental set-up.

the still water on a daily basis. All components

were installed on one frame. Solar radiation was
measured by a pyranometer (Kipp and Zonen
CM5), which was fixed in a horizontal position
on the top of the frame. Radiation was recorded
by a solar integrator (Kipp and Zonen CC11).
Temperatures at various locations within the still
and the collector were measured by means of
copper-constantan (Type-T) thermocouples.
Temperature read-outs were taken by a multichannel microprocessor. Wind speed was measured by a digital anemometer installed in a
horizontal position near the still cover.

4. Results and discussion

Results of testing with fresh tap water as a
feed are reported and discussed first. Fig. 3 shows
results of the first mode of operation. The daily
condensate production was obtained and is given
in Table 1.
The daily efficiency, 0d, was obtained by
summing up the hourly condensate production M,
multiplied by the latent heat of vaporization hfg,
and divided by the daily solar radiation I over the
whole area A of the device:

3. Procedure
Testing was performed on a batch basis with
five modes of operation: (1) still operating alone
for a 24-h period, (2) still connected to the
collector for a 24-h period (all day), and (3) still
connected to the collector during daylight hours
9 am to 5 pm only. These tests were performed
with fresh tap water as feed in order to avoid
corrosive effects on the still and collector material. The remaining two modes were: (4) saline
water feed, 35,000 ppm, with the still operating
alone for a 24-h period, and (5) saline water feed
of the same salinity, with the still connected to
the collector for 24 h.

The efficiency is shown in the last column of

Table 1, which also includes a summary for the
results of all the figures that follow.
Fig. 4 shows the results of the second mode. It
shows a considerable increase in condensate
production (about 231%) over that of the still
alone. The daily efficiency, listed in Table 1,
shows a slight decrease (about 2.5%) below that
of the still alone.
Fig. 5 shows the results of the third mode. It
shows a slight increase in condensate production
(about 2%) over that of the still connected to the
collector for 24 h. Conversely, the efficiency

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Fig. 3. Ambient, condensate temperature, solar intensity and distillate production vs. time for the still alone, fresh water
feed.
Table 1
Operation mode, weather conditions, production, and daily efficiency
Operation mode and date

Weather conditions

Daily production, ml

Daily efficiency, %

Fresh water mode:

Still alone (26/4)
Still with collector, 24 h (30/3)
Still with collector (85) (31/3)

Cloudy and hazy

Clear sky and hazy
Hazy

1980
4590
4687

27.03
24.57
25.8

Saline water feed:

Still alone (7/5)
Still with collector, 24 h (6/5)

Clear sky
Clear sky

3038
4606

28.56
22.26

increased by about 1.25%. This suggests that the

second mode is probably the most practical one
since it does not require every day adjustment
without sacrificing productivity. Figs. 6 and 7
show the results of the fourth and the fifth modes
of operation, respectively. The daily production
and efficiency are listed in Table 1. These two
modes are different from the previous ones in that
the feed is saline water.

Comparing the daily productions of the last

two modes, it is clear that there is a considerable
increase (about 52%) in productivity of the still
connected with the collector over that of the still
alone. Predictably, the efficiency decreased by
about 6%. The reason why the efficiency decreases is that the average temperature of the still
and collector combined is higher than that of the
still alone. Because of a higher operating temp-

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231

Fig. 4. Various parameters and production vs. time for the still connected with the collector for 24-hour period, fresh water
feed.

Fig. 5. Various parameters and production vs. time for the still connected with the collector during daylight hours (85),
fresh water feed.

erature range in the active solar distillation system due to additional thermal energy available
from the collector, thermal energy loss increases.

Hence, despite the higher yield, the efficiency of

the active solar distillation decreases [1].
Comparing the daily productions for the

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Fig. 6. Various parameters and production vs. time for the still alone, saline water feed.

Fig. 7. Various parameters and production vs. time for the still connected to the collector for 24-h period, saline water feed.

modes of fresh water vs. saline water feed (mode

1 vs. mode 4 and 2 vs. 5), the apparent increase in
production is explained by the fact that solar

radiation in the last modes (4 and 5) was larger

(clear sky), in contrast with the cloudy and hazy
sky conditions of the other modes.

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233

Fig. 8. Distillate production vs. time for various modes of operation.

Fig. 8 shows daily production vs. time for all

five modes for easy comparison. The highest
production obtained was that of the still connected to the collector during daylight hours
(85). The next is that of the still connected for
24 h. The reason is that the collector cools down
during the night and that reduces production. In
all modes, night production occurs in the afternoon, and that is due to the effect of heat storage.
In all modes there is a direct link between
production and condensate temperature (Tcond)
that also obtains maximum values in the afternoon hours. Conversely, the ambient temperature
(Tamb) seems to follow more closely the pattern of
solar intensity I, which peaks at noon.
5. Conclusions
Experimental investigation of the solar still
collector system has shown that the productivity
of the system was substantially increased in com-

parison with that of the still alone. Meanwhile,

efficiency was reduced by a few percentage
points. The results of testing are grouped into five
modes of operation. The first three are for fresh
tap water as feed and the last two are for saline
water feed, as follows:
1. The daily production of the still alone was
about 2 L/m2.d, and its daily efficiency was about
27%.
2. When the still was operated with the collector for 24 h, its production was increased by
231% but efficiency was decreased by about
2.5% compared to that of the still alone.
3. A slight increase in condensate production
(about 2%) over that of the previous mode
occurred when the still was connected to the collector during daylight hours only (8 am5 pm).
4. In operating the system with 35,000 of
saline water, an increase in production of 52%
was noticed when the still was connected with the
collector over that of the still alone.

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5. The most practical operating mode, regardless of the salinity of the feed, is that of the still
connected to the collector for 24 h.

[5]
[6]

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