Accepted Manuscript

Effects of tray shape of a multi-stage solar still coupled to a parabolic

concentrating solar collector in Algeria

Amina Abdessemed, Cherif Bougriou, Djemaa Guerraiche, Rabah Abachi

PII: S0960-1481(18)31024-3

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.08.074

Reference: RENE 10501

To appear in: Renewable Energy

Received Date: 03 February 2018

Accepted Date: 22 August 2018

Please cite this article as: Amina Abdessemed, Cherif Bougriou, Djemaa Guerraiche, Rabah
Abachi, Effects of tray shape of a multi-stage solar still coupled to a parabolic concentrating solar
collector in Algeria, Renewable Energy (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.08.074

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to
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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

1 Effects of tray shape of a multi-stage solar still coupled to a parabolic concentrating

2 solar collector in Algeria

3 Amina Abdessemeda, Cherif Bougrioub, Djemaa Guerraicheb, Rabah Abachib

4 (a)Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Hadj Lakhdar University, Batna 1, Algeria

5 (b)Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Technology, Mostafa Benboulaid University, Batna 2, Algeria

7 Abstract

8 In our article we realized a solar distiller with four floors. The distiller tested is poly-energy, it
9 can operate by three different energy sources: electrical resistance (power grid or photovoltaic
10 panel), photo thermal solar collector or vegetable and animal waste. A cylindro-parabolic
11 solar collector used to collect the heat necessary for the distillation is coupled to the four-stage
12 still. The tested trays of the still have two different forms: "V" and "Ʌ". The water
13 desalination is done by many technologies such as the multi-stage still which is tested
14 experimentally in this work under the weather conditions of the city of Batna, Algeria (35°
15 45'North, 6° 19' East). "V" shaped trays are the most efficient at producing distilled water
16 because it is cheaper and more cost effective than the "Λ" floor that requires two collectors.
17 The electricity consumption of the distiller depends on the amount of heat lost by the distiller,
18 and the cost of electricity consumed by the distiller depends on the type of trays. The water
19 produced by the trays of the form Λcosts more than the trays of form V.

20 Key words: distiller, stages, tray form, water, solar, cylindro-parabolic collector.

21 1. Introduction

22 Three-quarters of our planet's surface is covered with water, but it is unfortunately salt.
23 The lack of clean water and the scarcity of natural resources, caused both by overpopulation,
24 drought and over-exploitation of groundwater, are becoming a major problem that threatens
25 the lives of people in many parts of the world.

26 In fact, desalinating the seawater so as to make it consumable, it is possible. The most

27 commonly used processes are Multi Flash, Multiple Effect, Vapor Compression, Reverse
28 Osmosis and Electrodialysis. Most of these processes are large-scale, they require a lot of

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29 energy. It is therefore interesting to produce of fresh water on a smaller scale using renewable
30 energy.

31 Solar distillation can be considered not only as a cost-effective solution for the
32 environment, but also as a question of finding a mode of operation allowing the distiller to
33 obtain the best yield, when the thermal energy is several times recovered. In this context, we
34 will cite some previous numerical and experimental works which are very numerous and
35 varied, as a result it is impossible to cite them all.

36 Dutt et al. [1] tested the transient behaviour of a double-basin solar still with a dye
37 present in the basin water. They observed that the performance of the system is better when
38 the dye is added to the water. The addition of dye increases the daily productivity of the
39 double basin by almost 2 kg/m² per day, which increases the system efficiency of about 10%.

40 Le Goff et al. [2] realised a still that is a stack of six rectangular cells forming a thermal
41 series. In each cell of 4 cm thickness there is a thin film of salt water which partially
42 evaporates when it flows on a heated vertical wall. The unit produces more than 20 litters of
43 distilled water per m², on a standard day.

44 A five-stage solar still for agricultural use has been studied to protect plants against
45 strong radiation and to self-supply water needed for irrigation by Hassan et al. [3]. This
46 distiller produces 8 times the distillate required for the consumption of the initial crops.

47 A new design of a passive distiller is proposed by Franco et al. [4]. The metal surfaces of
48 the distiller inclined and covered with a cotton fabric are placed one on top of the other in a
49 box. The distiller produces 5 litters of distilled water per hour and per square meter for a
50 temperature difference of 60 °C between the tray and the cold-water tank.

51 Fernandez [5] built a solar still based on the principle of a group of stacked trays for
52 parallel distillation and heat recovery. He gave a simple and calibrated mathematical model
53 with field data to adapt it adequately using experimental results collected over some 14
54 months of continuous operation.
55 A transient model was developed by Reddy et al. [6] for a multi-stage solar still coupled
56 with a flat plate solar collector to determine optimal system design performance. They found
57 that the distillate decreases with increasing salinity of the water. It due to an increase in ion
58 activity and the reduction of the thermodynamically spontaneous modification of the liquid to
59 vapor.

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60 A technical-economic analysis of a multistage solar still (stacked trays) coupled to a solar

61 collector through a heat exchanger was developed by Adhikari et al. [7]. They discussed the
62 sensitivity of the cost of distilled water with reference to the life of the distiller, the cost of the
63 solar collector and other associated parameters.
64 Schwarzer et al. [8] tested a system of two components: a desalination tower with
65 multiple stages and one or more solar collectors.The drinking water production of this system
66 is approximately 15 to 18 l/day/m² compared to the single-stage solar distiller (3 to 6
67 l/day/m²).
68 Feilizadeh et al. [9] studied the effects of the amount of distilled water and the input
69 energy mode on the performance of a multi-stage solar still. The used a PLC to control the
70 input energy.
71 Bait et al. [10] simulated a multi-stage still to verify the feasibility of this device in their
72 semi-arid region (city of Batna), to promote an academic prototype. They have realized a
73 mathematical model adapted to the dimension (0D) based on mass and energetic balance as
74 first step, then a three-dimensional studies (3D) using CFD ANSYS-FLUENT. They have
75 also developed a computer program in FORTRAN language to treat the effect of thermal
76 radiation on the temperature and productivity of distilled water.
77 Elashmawy [11] coupled a tubular solar distiller to a cylindro-parabolic solar
78 concentrator of the city of Hail in Saudi Arabia. Their system produced for a tubular distiller
79 surface of 0.059 m² (4.71 and 3.6 l/m²/day) for the two experiments having a daily efficiency
80 of 36.5%, 30.5% respectively.

81 The purpose of this work is based on the study and design of a four-stage solar still with
82 heat recovery to obtain distilled water that will alleviate the need for drinking water in
83 everyday life. In this work, the effect of the shape of the trays has been studied
84 experimentally. The effect of the energy cost of the distillate water has also been studied.

85 2. Experimental setup

86 The distillation system presented in this work consists of two different units: the heat
87 source (cylindro-parabolic solar collector) and the distillation unit. The still consists of four
88 floors whose trays have two different shapes "V" and "Λ", Figures 1-4.

89

90

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91

92 Cover

Stages « V »
93

94 Thermocouples

95
Distillate collectors

96

97
Plexiglass

98

99

100

101 Figure 1: "V" shape four-stage still and its components

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109 Figure 2-1: "V" shape four-stage still coupled to a cylindro-parabolic collector

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110

111 Figure 2-2:"V" shape distiller

112

113

114
Distillate
115 recovers

116

117

118

119

120

121 Figure3: "Λ" shape four-stage still

122

123 Figure 4-1: "Λ" shape water distiller

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124

125

126 Figure 4-2: Four-stage still of "Λ" shape coupled to a cylindro-parabolic solar
127 collector

128 The basin contains a tubular water-water heat exchanger and also an electrical resistance
129 that operates on a normal electricity grid or photovoltaic solar panel. Trays of "V" or "Λ"
130 forms are the most important elements for the still, they form a dam for water vapor to
131 condense in contact with their cold water-cooled wall contained in each stage. The floors are
132 in galvanized iron.

133 In the distillation unit, each V-shaped tray was fitted with a drainage mechanism mounted
134 longitudinally and inclined at a certain angle to allow the flow of distilled water to the
135 depressions. Each stage of the form 'Λ' recovers the heat of condensation from the steam
136 produced in the stage directly below, in this case we have two recuperators for each plate.

137 3. Experimental procedure

138 The climate of Batna is semi-arid, with four distinct seasons. Average temperatures range
139 from 4°C in January to 36° C in July. In winter, the temperature drops below zero at night,
140 with frequent frosts, the snow only appears for a few days. In summer, the temperature can
141 reach 45°C in the shade. The total annual precipitation is 210 mm, the average rate of
142 humidity is 45%. The various tests were carried out in the basement of the new block of the
143 Faculty of Technology of the University Batna 2 (Department of Mechanics). The tests were
144 carried out on trays of "V" shape and "Λ" shape.

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145 The experiments were performed with tap water. The volume of water in the tank is 17l
146 and the amount of water carried by each floor is 6l. The first series of tests is performed on
147 the "V" shaped trays and the second series on the "Λ" shaped trays. The distiller is closed with
148 a Plexiglas plate and then placed on the latter a layer of polystyrene as thermal insulation to
149 prevent heat loss. After the distillation unit is coupled to a parabolic solar collector by an
150 insulated tube to reduce heat loss. Finally, we note the temperature variations in a table for
151 every 15 minutes. The different temperatures are measured using by thermocouples of type K.
152 The amount of distilled water is measured by a graduated cylinder.

153 The physical phenomenon concerns the condensation of the water vapor produced in the
154 tank in contact with the lower surface of the stage which has a temperature lower than the dew
155 point temperature of the water vapor. The latent heat released by condensing water vapor is
156 used to heat and evaporate the water in each tray. The condensation of the steam is generally
157 in the form of water droplets.

158 4. Results and discussions

159 The solar irradiation for the given location was provided. The data shown in the figure 5
160 have been calculated for June 15, 2017.

1000

800
solar irradiation (W/m )
2

600

400

200

0
8h00 11h00 14h00 17h00
Time (h)

161
162 Figure 5:The solar irradiation vs the time

163
164 After commissioning the still, the temperature of the first stage gradually increases until
165 reaching 53.7 °C corresponding to the steady state, Figure 6-1. The maximum water
166 temperatures of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th stages reach in steady state 53.7 °C, 50.9 °C, 45.3 °C
167 and 43 °C respectively. The maximum temperature difference between two successive stages

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168 is 2.8 °C, 5.6 °C and 2.3 °C, respectively, during the distillation operation. The temperature of
169 the other stages is lower than the first stage’s temperature because the heat was transferred
170 from one stage to another by evaporation, condensation, conduction, convection and radiation
171 decreases progressively because of the heat losses by conduction, convection and by thermal
172 radiation through the walls and leaks of water vapor.
173 Khedim et al. [12-13], studied a multi-stage solar distiller with heat recovery. They
174 showed that the system offers a good performance when the lower stage reaches a
175 temperature varying between 96 and 98 °C and the difference in temperature varies between 6
176 and 10 K, but in our system the temperature gives a good yield reaches 53,7°C, and better the
177 work of Mahmoud et al. [14] which experimentally studied the performance of a multi-stage
178 still coupled to a vacuum tube solar collector. Their test results show that the system produces
179 about 9 kg of fresh water a day with a solar collector efficiency of about 68%.
180 The production of the distilled water produced by each stage of the solar still is shown in
181 Figure 6-2. The first stage initially produces the greatest amount of distilled water because of
182 its high temperature. Gradually, the accumulated amount of water leaving the second floor
183 becomes considerably larger. The third floor produces most of the distilled water and finally,
184 the fourth floor produces the least amount of water during the day because of its low
185 temperature. According to the same figure, the quantity of condensate produced from the first
186 stage is 310 ml/day that of the second stage is 235 ml/day, this quantity drops to 145 ml/day
187 for the third stage and to 110ml/day for the top stage. It can therefore be concluded that the
188 increase or decrease of the temperature of each stage has an influence on the yield of the
189 distillation of the latter.

55

50

45
Temperature (°C)

40

35
Te1 tray 'V'
30 Te2 tray 'V'
Te3 tray 'V'
25 Te4 tray 'V'

20
12:15 13:00 13:45 14:30 15:15 16:00 16:45 17:30
Time (mn)

190

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191 Figure 6-1: Variation of the temperature of trays "V" vs the time

350

300 V1 tray 'V'

V2 tray 'V'

Volume of distilled water (ml)

V3 tray 'V'
250
V4 tray 'V'

200

150

100

50

0
12:15 13:00 13:45 14:30 15:15 16:00 16:45 17:30
Time (mn)

192

193 Figure 6-2: Production of distilled water from the "V" stages

194 The temperature of the water contained in the trays increases gradually from the first
195 stage until reaching the steady state at 50.2 °C, Figure 7-1. The temperature of the stages
196 decreases from the first to the fourth stage because the heat comes from the lower basin. This
197 is also due to the thermal losses by conduction in the walls of the still and the convection and
198 thermal radiation between the walls of the still and the external environment.

199 Estahbanati et al, [15] experimentally studied the effect of the number of "Λ" shaped
200 stages on the productivity of an active multi-effect solar distiller. They showed that the system
201 of four trays offers a good performance when the lower stage reaches a temperature of about
202 98 °C in continuous and non-continuous mode. In our system the temperature which gives a
203 good performance in the case of "Λ" shape distiller reaches 50.2 °C.

204 Mansoor Feilizadeh et al. [16] improved the Estahbanati et al. [12] system by continuous
205 coupling with one, two or three flat plate solar collectors. They found that by adding several
206 collectors the distillate production is rising. The volume of distilled water produced by each
207 stage as a function of time is given in Figure 7-2. It is noted that the quantity of distilled water
208 of the first stage is higher than the above stages.

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55

Te1 hat Tray

50
Te2 hat Tray
Te3 hat Tray
45 Te4 hat Tray

Temperature (°C)
40

35

30

25

20
12:00 12:45 13:30 14:15 15:00 15:45 16:30 17:15
Time (mn)

209

210 Figure 7-1: Variation of the temperature of stages "Λ" vs the time

250

V1 hat tray
200 V2 hat tray
Volume of distilled water (ml)

V3 hat tray
V4 hat tray
150

100

50

0
12:00 12:45 13:30 14:15 15:00 15:45 16:30 17:15
Time (mn)

211

212 Figure 7-2: Distilled water production of "Λ" trays vs time

213 Figure 8 represents the difference between the first and the second form of the trays. It is
214 clearly observed that the "V" shaped stages are more efficient than the "Λ" shaped trays. The
215 collected quantity of water is almost double: about 800 ml and 400 ml respectively. This
216 difference is mainly due to the geometry of the stages:

217 - The water contained in the "Λ" shaped trays is adjacent to the surfaces of the outer
218 wall of the still, which causes a temperature drop due to the heat conduction
219 phenomenon through the wall thickness of the distiller. In addition, each tray is

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220 equipped with two collectors of distilled water which increases the losses of
221 condensed water droplets, which demonstrates the low amount of distilled water
222 - The water of the "V" shaped trays is concentrated in the middle of the still, where
223 the temperature is maximum, then the heat coming from the lower stage is
224 absorbed directly by the stage above which reduces the loss of heat and condenses
225 the steam on the lower surface of each stage which shows the considerable amount
226 of distillate in this type of trays. In this case, there is only one collector, that mean,
227 there is less loss of droplets returning to the tank.

900

800
Hat tray
700 "V" tray
Volume of distilled water (ml)

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
12:00 12:45 13:30 14:15 15:00 15:45 16:30 17:15
Time (min)

228

229 Figure 8: Distilled water accumulated by the two forms of trays vs time

230 5. Techno-economic analysis

231 The payback period of device realized depends on the overall cost of manufacture,
232 maintenance, operating costs, distilled water cost and the cost of feed water. In our case, the
233 multi-stage solar still realized is poly-energy because it operates by three different energies:
234 the electrical resistance, the photo thermal solar collector and the vegetable or animal waste.
235 In the case where the energy used for the distillation of the water is of vegetal origin or
236 animal waste, their cost is almost negligible, the costs of the distiller and distilled water are
237 about 250 € and 0.1 €/l respectively. By neglecting the costs of maintenance, labor, interest
238 rates, discounting of prices, etc., the payback period of the investment is given by the
239 following relationship, Figure 8:
240 -250= -0,1 x dwp (1)

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241 Therefore, the amount of distilled water production required for the payback period of the
242 investment is:
243 dwp=250/0,1 = 2500 liters (2)

244 In the case where the distiller produces 0.4 l/h, the payback period is:

245 t= 2500/(0,4 x 24 x 365) =0,7 years (3)

246 If the distiller works by solar energy, the cost of the cylindro-parabolic solar collector is 250€,
247 whose operates on average 12h/day payback period of the installation is:

248 -500=-0,1 x dwp (4)

249 Therefore, the amount of distilled water productivity required for the payback period of the
250 setup is:
251 dwp= 5000 liters (5)

252 so,the damping time is (Figure 8):

253 t=5000/(0,4 x 12 x 365) =2.85 years (6)

254 It notes in this case that the payback period of the investment is 4 times higher, it is
255 concluded that the use of solar energy in Algeria is not very interesting from an economic
256 point of view. Figures 9 and 10 show the variation in the amount of distilled water as a
257 function of grid electricity consumption in the case of "V" and "Λ" trays respectively. The
258 amount of distilled water productivity is above 1370 ml for the shape "V" trays for electricity
259 consumption of about 3.1 kWh. In Algeria the average cost of grid electricity is 0,025 €/kWh
260 so the cost of produced water is 0,057€/l.

261 In these tests, one liter of distilled water is produced for about 3.65 hours. In the case
262 where the cost of distiller is 250 € and neglecting the other expenses: maintenance, labour,
263 interest rate, discounting prices, etc., the payback period corresponds to 2.4 years.

264 Concerning the "Λ" tray form, the amount of distilled water productivity is 1020 ml, the
265 electricity consumption is about 3.4 kWh which implies the cost of produced water which is
266 0.083€/l. In this case, one liter of distilled water is produced for about 5.64 hours, so we
267 need9.7 years to depreciate it.

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3000
2500
2000

Cost (€)
1500
1000
500 Distiller + Solar Panel
0 Distiller + Animal Waste
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000
-500
-1000
Liters

268

269 Figure 9: Payback period of the distiller

1400
The volume of total distilled water (ml)

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0
electricity consumption (kWh)

270

271 Figure 10: Volume of distilled water vs electricity consumption

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1200

The volume of total distilled water (ml)

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5
electricity consumption (kWh)

272
273 Figure 11: Volume of distilled water vs electricity consumption "Λ" form
274
275 In the case where the distiller works by solar energy, the cost of the cylindro-parabolic
276 solar collector is 250 €, the damping time of the installation of the form "V" is 2 years. For the
277 "Λ" form, the depreciation time of the installation is approximately 2.39 years.
278
279 5. Conclusion
280 In this study it was possible to realize a four-stage solar still and a cylindro-parabolic
281 solar collector, so we can say that we could make a transfer of technology very useful for our
282 country with derisory means. The active solar distiller works well because distilled water was
283 produced using solar energy captured by the CPC. In this experimental study, we tested for
284 the first time and in active mode two types of stages of shapes "V" and "Λ".
285 It is concluded that:
286  "V" shaped trays are the most efficient at producing distilled water.
287  A "V" shaped trays are cheaper and more cost effective than the "Λ" floor that requires two
288 collectors.
289  The temperature and water production decreases from the bottom to the top of the distiller,
290 i.e. away from the energy source.
291  The electricity consumption of the distiller depends on the amount of heat lost by the
292 distiller, and the cost of electricity consumed by the distiller depends on the type of trays. The
293 water produced by the trays of form Λ costs more than the trays of form V.

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294  Thus, according to the results obtained, V-shaped trays must be used and solar energy must
295 not be used because the current solar collectors are very expensive and the necessary
296 amortization time is very long compared to the power grid.
297
298 References

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319 [8] K. Schwarzer, E. Vieira da Silva, B. Hoffschmidt, T. Schwarzer, A new solar desalination

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347

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Highlights

 The effect of the trays shaped has a great influence on the production of distilled.

 The “V” tray shaped is the most efficiency.

 The first stage produced the greatest amount of distilled water.

 The use of solar collectors in Algeria to heat water is economically uneconomic.

 The increase or decrease of the temperature of stage influences the distillation.