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Desalination: T. Elango, K. Kalidasa Murugavel
Desalination: T. Elango, K. Kalidasa Murugavel
Desalination
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/desal
The effect of the water depth on the productivity for single and double
basin double slope glass solar stills
T. Elango a, K. Kalidasa Murugavel b,⁎
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Udaya School of Engineering, Vellamodi 629201, Tamil Nadu, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Engineering College, K. R. Nagar 628503, Tamil Nadu, India
H I G H L I G H T S
• Single and double basin double slope glass solar stills are fabricated and tested.
• Both stills are with same basin area and tested.
• Performance study conducted for different depths with and without insulation
• Insulated double basin still is more efficient.
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This paper presents a new approach to enhance the productivity of the solar still by introducing glass as the basin
Received 9 September 2014 material. Single and double basin double slope solar stills of same basin area were fabricated using glass. The ex-
Received in revised form 6 December 2014 periments were carried out by varying the water depths from 1 to 5 cm under both insulated and un-insulated
Accepted 23 December 2014
conditions. The production of single basin is more than the double basin during the heating period and double
Available online 31 December 2014
basin is more during the cooling period. The performance of the double basin double slope solar still was higher
Keywords:
than the single basin double slope solar still under insulated and un-insulated conditions. The productivity of the
Solar still stills was more at the lowest water depth of 1 cm. Of the two sets of experiments which were conducted under
Glass still insulated and un-insulated conditions, insulated stills gave more production. At 1 cm water depth, double basin
Double slope insulated and un-insulated stills gave 17.38% and 8.12% higher production than the single basin still.
Double basin © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Specific production
Total average radiation
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.036
0011-9164/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
T. Elango, K. Kalidasa Murugavel / Desalination 359 (2015) 82–91 83
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a single basin double slope glass based solar still.
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of a double basin double slope glass based solar still.
Fig. 3. Experimental view of double and single basin double slope glass based solar stills.
In this work, single and double basin double slope solar stills were The inner bottom of the lower basins of both single and double basin
entirely fabricated with cheaply available window glass. The experi- stills was black coated to improve the radiation absorption. However, in
ments were conducted to study the effect of water depth on the produc- the double basin double slope still, the upper basin was left uncoated in
tivity of the stills under insulated and un-insulated conditions. The order to maintain the transparency of the still. Equally spaced seven ver-
productivity of the single basin glass still was compared with the pro- tical glass strips of 0.05 m height and 0.003 m thickness were provided
ductivity of the double basin glass solar stills. at both slopes of the upper basin for the stagnancy of the water. The top
window covers and the upper basin can easily be assembled and
2. Experimental setup reassembled, which aids cleaning and black coating an easier one. In
order to avoid the higher thermal energy loss at the bottom of the
Two double slope, single and double basin glass based solar stills were basin, heavily thickened thermocol of 0.127 m was used for insulation.
fabricated using a 0.008 m thick window glass. The size of the stills The sides of the basins were insulated well with 0.0508 m thickness
was 0.9 m × 0.9 m × 0.01 m. The thermal conductivity, density and spe- thermocol. V-shaped collecting troughs were provided below both the
cific heat of the window glass are 0.96 W/m °C, 2700 kg/m3 and transparent cover to collect the condensate. Distillate outlets were pro-
0.84 kJ/kg °C. The glasses were pasted using silica gel as a bonding mate- vided to drain and store the condensate in the jars. Provisions to supply
rial. The top basin made with 0.004 m glass was temporarily kept on the saline water and to drain the basin water were made. Thermocouple
supporting strips permanently fixed with the side walls. Window glass of insertions were also made to read the temperatures. The total experi-
0.004 m was used as the transparent cover with 30° inclination at the top mental setup was arranged in a way to face the south direction to re-
of the still. The schematic diagrams of the single and double basin double ceive the maximum solar radiation. A silicon rubber sealant was used
slope glass based solar stills are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. to seal the glass covers with the body of the still, to prevent leakage of
the evaporated vapor. The basins of the stills were cleansed fre- are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Statistical analysis was performed to study
quently to avoid the deposition of salts and foreign particles. The the insignificant differences in the climatic condition.
stills were tested for productivity under both insulated and un-
insulated conditions at varied water depths of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cm.
Fig. 3 shows the experimental setup of the double and single basin 3. Results and discussion
double slope glass based solar stills.
Experiments were conducted at Energy Park, National Engineering Figs. 4 and 5 show the variation in solar radiation, atmospheric tem-
College, Kovilpatti (9° 11′ N, 77° 52′ E) Tamil Nadu, India during the perature and wind velocity on the maximum sunshine days of the exper-
month of March–April 2014. The output was measured at 1 h interval imental period. Statistical analysis of the solar radiation, atmospheric
from morning 6 AM to the next day 6 AM. temperature and wind velocity values on the different experimental
PV type sun meter, digital anemometer and mercury thermometer days was performed. It clearly shows the insignificant differences in the
were used to measure the global radiation, wind velocity and ambient climatic conditions as the values lie within X 2σ limits.
temperature respectively. K-type thermocouples were used to measure Fig. 6 shows the production rate of an insulated (I) and un-insulated
the basin, basin water, lower and upper glass cover and condensate (U-I) single basin double slope solar still. At 1 cm water depth, the maxi-
temperatures. The calibrations and error limits for various measuring mum production of insulated single basin still was 590 ml at 2 PM and un-
instruments are given in Table 1. All the experiments were conducted insulated still was 555 ml at 1 PM. For both the insulated and un-insulated
thrice. The solar radiation, atmospheric temperature and wind velocity stills, more production was occurred at a minimum water level of 1 cm.
observed on the maximum sunshine days of the experimental period The best output was obtained from 11 AM to 8 PM for single basin still.
Fig. 8. Cumulative production rate of single and double basin double slope solar stills.
Fig. 7 shows the production rate of a double basin double slope solar 5 cm water depth. This proves that, double basin still is the best distillate
still. The maximum production of 525 and 405 ml at 1 cm was occurred producer than the single basin.
at 2 PM and 1 PM for insulated and un-insulated double basin stills. For Fig. 9 shows the variation of temperature distribution for a single
both the insulated and un-insulated stills, more production was oc- basin insulated and un-insulated still at 1 cm water depth. During
curred at a minimum water level of 1 cm. The best output was obtained the heating period, all the temperatures of the un-insulated still reached
from 12 PM to 11 PM for the double basin still. maximum at 1 PM due to solar radiation and transparency of the glass.
Fig. 8 shows the cumulative production rate of the single and double But with non-transparency due to insulation, the temperatures of the
basin double slope solar stills. At 1 cm water depth, double basin insulated insulated still reached maximum at 2 PM only. During the cooling
and un-insulated still gave 17.38% and 8.12% higher production than the period, the un-insulated still released more amount of heat and the
single basin still. Single basin insulated still at 1 cm water depth gave production was continued till 11 PM. Due to insulation, the heat loss
30.86% higher production than the single basin un-insulated still at was lesser and the output continued till 1 AM. After 6 PM, the conden-
5 cm water depth. Double basin insulated still at 1 cm water depth gave sation glass temperature reduced than the other temperatures due to
41.14% higher production than the double basin un-insulated still at the unavailability of solar radiation.
Fig. 10. Variation of temperature distribution for an insulated double basin still.
Fig. 10 shows the variation of temperature distribution for an insu- shows that, insulation and the reused latent heat energy improve the ef-
lated double basin still. The basin temperature for both top and bottom fect of productivity of the solar still.
basins reached maximum at 2 PM. During the heating period from 8 AM Fig. 12 shows the overall productivity of the single and double basin
to 11 AM, the temperature of the top basin was more than the bottom solar stills. The overall productivity of the double basin still was higher
one. The bottom basin temperature was more during the cooling period. than the single basin. The single basin and double basin insulated stills
The output for the top basin was best from 8 AM to 1 AM whereas for gave more production than the un-insulated one. The productivity
the bottom basin, it was from 10 AM to 2 AM. Due to the release of was decreased as the depth of the water increased. This proves that,
absorbed latent heat by the bottom basin during evening hours, the lower water depth and insulation have a good effect on the productivity
top basin remains heated for a long period. As a result, the production of the still.
continued for a long time. Fig. 13 shows the production difference in the single and double
Fig. 11 shows the production rate of a double basin still at 1 cm water basin solar stills. The production difference for the insulated single
depth. A maximum of 300 and 180 ml was obtained at 1 and 3 PM by the basin still was 140 ml at 1 PM for 5 cm water depth. For the un-
top and bottom basins of the un-insulated still. However, in the case of insulated condition, the maximum single basin yield difference of
insulated still, the maximum output of 370 and 230 ml was obtained at 150 ml was reached at 1 PM for 1 cm water depth. At both insulated
2 and 1 PM respectively. A total output of 405 and 525 ml was obtained and un-insulated conditions, the production of the single basin was
by the insulated and un-insulated stills at 1 and 2 PM. The curve clearly best between 8 AM and 3 PM. The production difference for the
insulated and un-insulated double basin stills was 190 ml and 180 ml at Fig. 14 shows the day and night productivity of an insulated and un-
7 PM for 1 cm water depth. The best production was achieved between insulated single and double basin solar still at 1 and 2 cm water depth.
3 PM and 12 PM for the insulated double basin still. The production con- As depth of the water increases, productivity was also increased during
tinued up to 2 AM for 1 cm water depth and up to 5 AM for 5 cm water night time due to the availability of the absorbed thermal energy. The
depth. But, for the un-insulated condition, the production continued up insulated double basin still gave more production during day and
to 12 AM for 1 cm water depth and up to 2 AM for 5 cm water depth. The night time. But, the un-insulated single basin still gave more production
curves clearly show that, the production difference of the single basin is during the day time than the un-insulated double basin still because of
more than the double basin during the heating period and the double the quick absorption of radiation due to transparency. The reason for the
basin is more during the cooling period. best production at the lowest of 1 cm water depth may be due to the
Fig. 13. Production difference in single and double basin solar stills.
T. Elango, K. Kalidasa Murugavel / Desalination 359 (2015) 82–91 89
Fig. 14. Day and night productivity of single and double basin solar stills.
minimum volume of the basin water. Because, basin water temperature slope solar stills were calculated. The values were mentioned in
depends on volumetric heat capacity of basin. Appearance of dry spot at Tables 2 and 3.
the very minimum water level may decline the production whereas;
higher water level decreases the production. The optimum water depth 4. Conclusions
for more production was found to be 1 cm.
Fig. 15 shows the variation of specific production of the single and ➢ Single and double basin double slope glass stills have been fabricat-
double basin solar stills. Specific production depends upon the total pro- ed. The stills were studied under insulated and un-insulated condi-
duction and total average solar radiation. Specific production of the dou- tions for their production at various water depths of 1, 2, 3, 4 and
ble basin is higher than the single basin still for both insulated and un- 5 cm.
insulated conditions. Water depth also plays a major role in specific pro- ➢ Although fabrication of the double basin increased the manufactur-
duction. The production was higher at 1 cm water depth followed by the ing cost a little, high yield of the distillate made it a better one.
others. ➢ The output was high at the lower water depth of 1 cm for both single
The experiments were conducted under insulated and un- and double basin double slope solar stills.
insulated conditions at different water depths on different experi- ➢ A maximum of 4.315 l/0.81 m2 day (5327/m2 day) was obtained at
mental days. The values were recorded at 1 h interval from morning 1 cm water depth by the insulated double basin double slope glass
6 AM to the next day 6 AM. Total output, total average radiation, and still. But, the insulated single basin double slope still gave only
specific production values for the single and double basin double 3.565 l/0.81 m2 day (4.401 l/m2 day).
Fig. 15. Variation of specific production of single and double basin solar stills.
90 T. Elango, K. Kalidasa Murugavel / Desalination 359 (2015) 82–91
Table 2
Variation in operating parameters under insulated condition.
Operating condition (insulation) Average Is Output Average Is Output Average Is Output Average Is Output Average Is Output
S. B. D. B. S.B. D. B. S. B. D. B. S. B. D. B. S. B. D. B.
Table 3
Variation in operating parameters under un-insulated condition.
Operating condition (un-insulation) Average Is Output Average Is Output Average Is Output Average Is Output Average Is Output
S. B. D. B. S. B. D. B. S. B. D. B. S.B. D. B. S. B. D. B.
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➢ The performance of the double basin double slope solar still was unit, Desalination 107 (1996) 223–233.
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Desalination 220 (2008) 687–693.
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