Comparative Study and Yield Productivity

of Nano-paint and Nano-fluid Used

in a Passive-Type Single Basin Solar Still

Amrit Kumar Thakur, Deepak Agarwal, Prashant Khandelwal

and Saty Dev

Abstract Water is necessary for all living beings. It is particular the most important
factor for the sustenance of mankind. More than 66% of the earth is covered with
water in which 97% of available water from various sources stands brackish which
includes some harmful microbes, and 2% water is frozen in the form of icy masses
and freezing tops. Solar still (SS) is a device used to convert brackish water into
distilled water, but it has very limited productivity which is the major concern. To
improve the yield of simple solar still (SS) in this work, black paint is mixed with
Al2O3 + water to make it nano-paint and it is coated outside the glass cover of solar
still. Al2O3 can be placed inside water sink to increase the vaporization rate, and due
to this, yield productivity increases. Experiments were conducted from 25 June to 27
June for common depth of 0.01 m for simple solar still and nano-fluid in water basin
of solar still and nano-paint with nano-fluid both combined for SS in climatic
conditions of Jaipur, India. The theoretical performance of the passive solar still and
nano-paint and nano-fluid in solar still is compared with effectiveness and yield
productivity. Simple solar still gives the water output of 4.47 L for 0.01 m water

A.K. Thakur (&)

Department of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering, Arya College of Engineering
and IT, SP 42, Riico Industrial Area, Kukas, Jaipur 302028, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: amritt1@gmail.com
D. Agarwal
Mechanical Engineering Department, Apex Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: deepak_agarwal7@rediffmail.com
P. Khandelwal
S. Dev
Mechanical Engineering Department, Arya College of Engineering and IT,
Jaipur, India
e-mail: Prashant.khandelwal605@gmail.com
S. Dev
e-mail: satyadevyadav08@gmail.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 709

S. SenGupta et al. (eds.), Advances in Smart Grid and Renewable Energy,
Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 435, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4286-7_70
710 A.K. Thakur et al.

depth whereas simple SS with Nano fluid give output of give output of 5.25 L and
SS with Nano fluid in water basin and Nano paint on glass cover of SS give yield of
5.56 L for all three cases for same water depth.

Keywords Nano-paint
Nano-fluid
Solar still
Evaporation
Effectiveness

1 Introduction

Water is necessary for all living beings. It is particular the most important factor
essential constituent for the sustenance of mankind. More than 66% of the earth is
covered with water in which 97% available water from various sources stands
brackish which includes some harmful microbes, and 2% is solidified in icy masses
and glacial freezing tops. Subsequently, just 1% from the total available water is
used for consumption and household [1, 2]. Underground water in many regions is
not generally used as drinking water just because of excessive amount of dissolved
solid and mineral in water. The majority of the human illnesses are because of
contaminated or non-filtered water. For improving eminence of drinking water,
several approaches are used by people but these approaches use energy via them-
selves such as reverse osmosis and boiling through electrical energy. Among the
various available methods, solar energy will be a good source especially in western
and northern parts of India where temperature reaches above 40 °C in summer. The
yearly sun-powered vitality that achieves the world’s surface is roughly
3,400,000 EJ [3]. Desalination is the process which is used to improve water
quality by removing excess salt and mineral from water to make it suitable for
domestic use and other purposes. The world’s aggregate renewable energy sources
utilized for desalination is just around 0.02% of the total vitality available [4]. Solar
still (SS) is a device used to convert brackish water into distilled water, but it has
very limited productivity which is the major concern. Various methods and designs
have been studied from research papers [5–14] and implemented for this experi-
mental work to achieve optimum results.

2 Methodology

In this work, an impassive-type solitary sink solar still has been studied. Fabrication
and Research work has been carried out at Jaipur, Rajasthan, under the Indian
climatic conditions for month of June, 2016. In this work, glass cover of solar still
has been black painted, then Al2O3 + water which is mixed with black paint and
Comparative Study and Yield Productivity of Nano-paint … 711

this mixture has been painted on glass cover to increase its absorptivity of still.
Al2O3 + water is placed inside water sink to increase the vaporization rate, and it
increases effectiveness and yield of SS.

3 Explanation of Experimental Setup and Observations

The complete layout of experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1 in which glass is

black painted and thermocouple is fixed on to it for measuring temperature. The
experimental setup is installed at Jaipur, India (26.9124°N latitude, 75.7873°E
longitude). Solar stills are south fronting to collect the maximum solar radiation.
The SS having sink area of 1 m2 is made up by using an aluminum sheet of 1.8 mm
thickness. Boundaries of solar still is protected by a 2.5 cm thicken plywood and
thermocol to protect side heat losses to surrounding. To increase the absorption of
solar radiation, basin liner is blackened on its upper and lower surfaces and it also
mixed with Al2O3 (nano-fluid) + water to form nano-paint. The glass cover of the
still is of 4 mm thick and inclined at the angle 26° as from past work angle should
be equal to latitude of experimental site to achieve maximum productivity of still.
Experimentations are conceded in interval period of 7:00 a.m.–7:00 a.m. for 24 h
on typical days in June 2016 but temperature reading of different thermocouples has
been used from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., as in night its reading is almost negligible, only
complete night yield productivity in liter from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. has been considered.
The temperatures are recorded by using three J-type thermocouples. The ambient
temperature is recorded by using temperature meter (J-type). Pyranometer with
accuracy of ±25 W/m2 and range of 0–1750 W/m2 has been used to monitor the
solar radiation. The comparative performance of simple SS&SS with nano-fluid and
SS with nano-fluid and nano-paint has been analyzed at the water depths of 0.01 m.

Fig. 1 Experimental setup picture

712 A.K. Thakur et al.

4 Mechanism

Solar emanation is conveyed over single slant SS shield, and then, temperatures of
water in basin of still rise. Black paint done on glass cover of still increases its
absorptivity and rate of convection increases. Nano-fluid Al2O3 has been used in
water basin to increase the rate of evaporation. Nano-fluid has the ability to absorb
heat, it is very helpful when value of solar radiation decreases, then stored heat of
nano-fluid gives a better yield, and it also increases the night productivity. In this
work, nano-paint has been formed with the help of black paint mixed with Al2O3 +
water which is coated on to outer surface of glass cover of SS which increases the
heat absorbing capacity of SS as compared to both cases. The location of various
thermocouples is shown in table below.

Thermocouple Position
T1 Upper glass surface
T2 Ambient air temperature
T3 Absorber plate temperature

5 Results and Discussion

Thermal effectiveness: Generally, thermal effectiveness of arrangement under

dynamic method of action is considered as

Mse
l  3600
g¼
ðAsa Þ
IrðtÞ

where Ir(t) = solar energy on glass shield of SS, l = latent heat of

evaporation = 2270000.00 J/kg, Mse = full day yield, Asa = basin area = 1 m2.
Figures 2, 3, and 4 show the temperature distribution of solar still at various
locations which is measured by thermocouple. From graph, it was observed that for
depth of 0.01 m when simple SS is used, absorber plate has highest temperature
value of 73 °C at 1 p.m. and ambient temperature has lowest value. When Al2O3 is
used in basin of SS, temperature of absorber plate reaches a value of 76 °C at 12
noon for depth of 0.01, and when nano-paint is used in glass of SS with nano-fluid
in water basin, then 79 °C highest temperature was achieved by lower glass surface
which is 81 °C at 12 noon.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 show the global radiation and production of distilled water.
Wind velocity plays a very important role in productivity of SS. For simple SS with
water depth of 0.01 m, radiation reaches a value of 3.37 MJ/m2 at 12 noon and it
gives a yield of 0.42 L at 1 p.m. When nano-fluid is used in water basin then at
depth of 0.01 m, radiation attains a value of 3.61 MJ/m2 at 1 p.m. to give yield of
Comparative Study and Yield Productivity of Nano-paint … 713

100

90

80

70
Temperature ( in C)

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
7:00 AM 9:24 AM 11:48 AM 2:12 PM 4:36 PM 7:00 PM
Local Time (h)
T1(Glass Upper) T2 (Ambient Air) T3 (Absorber plate Temp)

Fig. 2 Temperature of simple SS on June 25, 2016, for 0.01 m depth

100
90
80
Temperature ( in C)

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
7:00 AM 9:24 AM 11:48 AM 2:12 PM 4:36 PM 7:00 PM
Local Time (h)
T1(Glass Upper) T2 (Ambient Air) T3 (Absorber Temp)

Fig. 3 Temperature of simple SS with nano-fluid on June 26, 2016, for 0.01 m depth

0.49 L. For nano–paint, radiation has maximum value of 3.62 MJ/m2 at 1 p.m. and
production is highest at 12 noon of 0.50 L (Fig. 8).

Full day production Full day efficiency

Depth 0.01 (simple SS) 4.47 L 39.03%
Depth 0.01 (nano-fluid) 5.25 L 44.14%
Depth 0.01 (nano-paint) 5.56 L 46.75%
714 A.K. Thakur et al.

100
90
80
Temperature ( in C)

70
60
50
40

30
20
10
0
7:00 AM 9:24 AM 11:48 AM 2:12 PM 4:36 PM 7:00 PM
Local Time (h)
T2 (Ambient Air) T3 (Absorber Temp) T1 (Glass Upper)

Fig. 4 Temperature of SS with nano-paint and nano-fluid on June 27, 2016 for 0.01 m depth

4 1
0.9
Global Radiation (MJ/m2)

3.5
0.8
3
0.7
2.5

Yield (l/h)
0.6
2 0.5
1.5 0.4
0.3
1
0.2
0.5 0.1
0 0
0.292 0.392 0.492 0.592 0.692 0.792
Local Time (h)
Solar RadiaƟon(MJ/m2) Yield ProducƟon (l)

Fig. 5 Solar radiation and yield production of simple SS for 0.01 m depth

4 1

3.5 0.9
Global Radia on (MJ/m2)

0.8
3
0.7
Yield (l/h)

2.5 0.6
2 0.5

1.5 0.4
0.3
1
0.2
0.5 0.1
0 0
0.292 0.392 0.492 0.592 0.692 0.792
Local Time (h)
Solar RadiaƟon(MJ/m2) Yield ProducƟon (l)

Fig. 6 Radiation and yield production of simple SS with nano-fluid for 0.01 m depth
Comparative Study and Yield Productivity of Nano-paint … 715

4.00 1.00
0.90
GLOBAL RADIATION MJ/M2
3.50
0.80
3.00
0.70

YIELD (L/H)
2.50 0.60
2.00 0.50
1.50 0.40
0.30
1.00
0.20
0.50 0.10
0.00 0.00
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
TIME (HR)
Yield Produc on (l) Solar Radia on(MJ/m2)

Fig. 7 Radiation and yield production of SS with nano-paint and nano-fluid for 0.01 m depth

6.00 50
45
Full Day Yield Produc on (l)

5.00 40
35
4.00

Efficiency
30
3.00 25
20
2.00 15
10
1.00
5
0.00 0
1 2 3

Full Day Produc on Full Day Efficiency

Fig. 8 Full day production and efficiency for (1) simple SS (2) SS with nano-fluid (3) SS with
saint

6 Conclusion

When nano-fluid is mixed with black paint and coated on to glass surface, it gives
highest yield and thermal efficiency. In this research objective, nano-fluid and
nano-paint have been combined in an experiment to determine a better yield of solar
still. Following conclusions have been observed from the experimental results:
• Nano-fluid has energy-absorbing properties due to which night productivity in
both the cases of SS increased due to the fact that at the time of high radiation, it
absorbs energy and when it is needed, supplied back it to the system.
• Wind velocity has huge impact on condensation and evaporation rate and
directly helps to achieve better yield.
• Absorber plate is made up of Al sheet which has better thermal conductivity as
compared to G.I sheet and gives improved yield productivity.
716 A.K. Thakur et al.

7 Future Recommendations

• Various designed Concentrator can be used with Nano painted SS and other
good yield designed still for achieving better results.
• Forced circulation can be used to improve rate of reaction and productivity of
SS.

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