A Review of Desalination by Solar Still

Hikmet S. Aybar
Department of Mechanical Engineering Eastern Mediterranean University G.Magosa, KKTC, Mersin 10 Turkey

23-25 February 2006

NATO ARW Hammamet. Tunisia

Introduction
Distillation is one of many processes available for obtaining fresh water from salty, brackish or contaminated water; and sunlight is one of several forms of heat energy that can be used to power that process. The aim of this study is to present basic principle of distillation by solar still, type of solar still systems, and the recent developments on the solar still systems.
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Distillation by Solar Still

Solar still is a device to distillate impure water like brackish or saline water. It is a simple device to get potable/fresh distilled water from impure water, using solar energy as fuel.

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Principle of Solar Still

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Water Quality
In principle, the water from a solar still should be quite pure. The slow distillation process allows only pure water to evaporate from the pan and collect on the cover, leaving all particulate contaminants behind.

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Types of Solar Still

The solar distillation systems are classified into two groups in term of energy supply: Passive Solar Stills: The passive solar still systems are conventional solar still systems which use solar energy as solely source of thermal energy. Active Solar Stills: In the active solar stills, an extra thermal energy is given to the passive solar still for faster evaporation.
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Types of Solar Still

In terms of structure of the conventional solar still, different types of the basin-type solar still systems can be found in the literature: Single-slope double-basin solar still (Al-Karaghouli and Alnaser, 2004), Single-slop triple-basin solar still (El-Sebaii, 2005), Pyramid-shaped solar still (Fath et al. 2003b), Double-slope single-basin solar still (Al-Hayek and Badran, 2004).

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Types of Solar Still

There are some other interesting solar still designs: Vertical Solar Still (Boukar and Harmin, 2005) which has vertical single-wick (holding the feed water) and vertical condensing surface. Vertical Solar Still with multiple vertical-wick and single vertical condensing surface with flat-plate reflector (Tanaka and Nakatake, 2005).
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Types of Solar Still

Inclined Solar Distillation System (Aybar et al. 2005) in which water flows down on the inclined absorber plate (bare plate or covered with black wick) and evaporated water condenses on the inclined glass cover. Capillary Film Solar Still system (Bouchekima et al., 2001). Basin-type Solar Still (El-Bahi and Inan, 1999) which is coupled with a condenser to increase the condensation rate.
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Modeling of Solar Still

Any type of solar still systems can be modeled using energy balance and mass balance equations for the system. Since the main energy source is solar intensity which depends on the time during the day, the basic energy and mass balance equations must be time dependent.

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Modeling of Solar Still

In the modeling of the solar still, the most important parameters are: Convection heat transfer coefficient to estimate heat transfer from the glass, Convection heat transfer coefficient to estimate heat losses from the bottom and sides of the cavity, Evaporation rate (or evaporation coefficient), and Condensation rate (or condensation coefficient).

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Performance of Solar Still

The thermal instantaneous efficiency of a solar still is defined (Tiwari, 2002) as The production rate performance (PRP) of absorber plate as (kg of distilled water per m2/ kJ solar energy per m2)

& q ew hew (Tw Tg ) i = = I (t ) I (t )

& m t PRP = I t
i

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Conclusion
Solar still is most simple device to get potable/fresh distilled water from impure water using solar energy as fuel. Researchers have modified the conventional solar still system for better performance, such as multi-basin, multislop solar still systems, and coupled with solar collector to increase the water temperature. Especially, solar stills look like best choice to obtain fresh drinkable water in the remote areas for domestic usage. However, still the rate of distilled water production of the solar stills is low which is about 4-7 liters/day per meter square.

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An Application:
Inclined Solar Water Distillation System Experimental and mathematical modeling studies have been performed on Inclined Solar Water Distillation System. Inclined Solar Water Distillation System generates fresh water and hot water at the same time.

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System Description

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Experimental Study
In the experimental study, three cases of the absorber plate have been tested: Bare absorber plate, Black-cloth wick, Black-fleece wick.

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Results of Experimental Study

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Results of Experimental Study

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Description of Thermal Processes

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Simulation Parameters
Parameter Mass of absorber plate Specific heat of absorber plate Absorptivity of absorber plate Emissivity of absorber plate Mass of glass Specific heat of glass Transmissivity of glass Emissivity of glass Density of water Specific heat of water Mass of air Latent heat of vaporization Convection heat transfer coefficient Convection heat transfer coefficient Symbol Mp (kg/m2) Cp (J/kg K) p Mg (kg/m2) Cg (J/kg K) g w (kg/m )
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Value 7.9 477 0.96 0.08 2.7 800 0.88 0.98 989 4184 0.24 2400103 40 40

Cw (J/kg K) Ma (kg) hfg (J/kg) hc,p-w (W/m2 C) hc,g-a (W/m2 C)

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Changing of plate, water exit, and glass temperatures within time with constant solar intensity and constant air temperature.
65
T Plate T Water T Glass

55

T (C)

45

35

25 0 1000 2000 Tim e (s ) 3000 4000

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Changing of evaporation and condensation rates, and relative humidity within time with constant solar intensity and constant air temperature.

0.00018 0.00016 0.00014 Mass Flow Rate (kg/s)

0.70

0.60

0.50

0.00010 0.00008 0.00006

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.00004
0.10

0.00002 0.00000 0 1000 2000 Tim e (s)

Evaporation Condensation RH

0.00

3000

4000

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Relative Humidity

0.00012

Changing of plate, water exit, and glass temperatures within time with variable solar intensity and air temperature.
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Solar Int T Air T Plate T Water T Glass

900 800 700 600

80

70 Temperature (C)

60
500

50

400 300 200

40

30
100

20 0 1 2 3 4

12:00 Noon

5:00 PM

10

11

12

13

Tim e (hours )

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Solar Intensity (W/m2)