Combined enhancement of evaporation and condensation rates in the solar still for augmenting the freshwater productivity using energy storage and natural fibres

Abstract

The freshwater production in a conventional solar still (CSS) is very less and it can be enhanced by either enhancing evaporation or condensation rates or both in the solar still. Therefore, the current investigation focused on enhancing both the evaporation rate in the absorber basin and the condensation rate over the top glass simultaneously. In this regard, the evaporation rate is enhanced by using a hollow-finned absorber basin with energy storage and novel pond fibres in the absorber basin. Likewise, the sisal fibre with a water dripping arrangement is utilized for enhancing the condensation over the top glass. The investigations on the CSS and the modified solar still (MSS) with hollow fins and energy storage, pond fibres, and sisal fibres are conducted to analyze the effect of energy storage and natural fibres on the distillate production. It is observed that the water temperatures of the MSS are increased by 12% and the glass temperatures of the MSS are reduced by 30% relative to the CSS. The outcomes reported that the productivity of the MSS is enhanced by 126%. Furthermore, the cost per litre (CPL) and the payback period (PP) of the MSS are 38.5 and 49.3% lesser than the CPL and the PP of the CSS, respectively.