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Experimental investigation of a low cost inclined wick solar still with forced continuous flow
Publish Date
12/1/2021 12:00:00 AM
86
Authors
Mohamed M.Z. Ahmed, Fuhaid Alshammari, A.S. Abdullah, Mohamed Elashmawy
Description
Water scarcity is a big challenge in many countries including Saudi Arabia, for which solar water desalination is a strategic goal due to the high solar intensities and the long sunshine duration. The main objective of this study is to develop a low cost and high efficiency solar water desalination device for small communities and remote areas in Saudi Arabia. The study is conducted in December 7th, 2020 (winter season) under the climatic conditions of Ha'il city (27.66 oN, 41.72 oE), Saudi Arabia. An inclined solar still was designed with a black cotton wick and a continuous saline water circulation flow via a small pump. Results showed high device performance with low freshwater production cost. The device is able to produce 3.21 L/m2day with 50.55% thermal efficiency and $0.0118/L cost of freshwater yield. Also, the device productivity is expected to be higher in the summer season. The proposed device has a significant low cost of $76.5/m2 which can be very attractive in the solar desalination market. The developed device increases the efficiency and productivity by 139.12% and 21.13%, respectively, and lowered the freshwater production cost by 57.86% compared with the device without the wick.
URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148121010648?via%3Dihub
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.07.059
Brief
• Low cost high efficient wicked inclined solar still and forced flow was developed. • The developed device enhanced the efficiency and yield by 139.12% and 21.13%. • The developed device reduced water production cost by 57.86% reaching $0.0118/L.
KeyWords
Solar energy Inclined solar still Wick Low cost Desalination Freshwater