International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

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International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt

A review on evaporation improvement of solar still desalination using

porous material
Shahin Shoeibi a, *, Mohammad Saemian a, Hadi Kargarsharifabad a, *, Siamak Hosseinzade b, *,
Nader Rahbar a, *, Mehdi Khiadani c, Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi d, e, *
a
Energy and Sustainable Development Research Center, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran
b
Department of Planning, Design, Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
c
School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia
d
Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, Sichuan, PR China
e
Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Recently, many studies have focused on desalination systems using solar energy sources due to low energy costs,
Porous media the feasibility of usage in most weathers and no use of fossil fuels. Different materials have been proposed to
Desalination system enhance the temperature gradient and to gain better water productivity of the system such as porous materials,
Solar systems
nanoparticles and phase change materials. Due to the uneven and porous surface, the porous materials raise the
Evaporation enhancement
Water production
solar intensity absorption and the water temperature. This present review article assists to study the imple­
mentation of porous materials in evaporation enhancement of solar water desalination systems. All previous
studies have demonstrated that the use of porous materials has a significant influence on the evaporation rate in
solar desalination systems. Eventually, a summary of comparison in previous publications was presented and
discussed in detail to assist researchers and engineers with a better design of solar still desalination systems. The
achieved outcomes indicated that the energy efficiency of the solar desalination using activated carbon as a
porous media was enhanced by 94.14%. Moreover, the productivity of the solar still desalination by aluminium
fins and black steel wool fiber as a porous material was increased by about 42.3% and 20.9%, respectively.

1. Introduction
In recent decades, renewable energy has been widely used in
developing countries [1]. Sufficient drinking water is an important issue
for people in different regions around the world. Safe freshwater is one
of the most fundamental requirements for human beings to mitigate
agriculture, domestic, household and industrial demands [2–5]. Solar
stills are considered sustainable and inexpensive techniques to clean
brackish and saline water in remote areas where there is limited access
to clean and healthy water [6–9]. With the increase in the population,
producing fresh water using fossil fuels is not only expensive but leads to
global warming and Co2 emissions [10]. Solar energy is the cheapest,
environmentally friendly, and freely available source of energy to drive
different desalination systems [11], however, the main drawback of
solar stills is their productivity [12]. Working conditions of solar still
desalination systems are related to the evaporation and condensation
rates and many methods have been studied experimentally and
numerically to enhance the water production of solar still desalination
[13–17]. One of the highly important parameters in solar still desali­
nation is the temperature difference between the water and condensa­
tion area, hence to enhance the temperature gradient [18] some
effective materials have been utilized in the solar still system, including
porous material [19], phase change material [20], nano-particles [21],
wicks [22], and other materials [23].
Nanotechnology methods, including nano-PCM, nanofluid and nano-
coated have a high impact on enhancing the water productivity of solar
stills. The nanoparticles in nanofluids chang the thermo-physical char­
acteristic of the base fluid and thus increase the convective heat transfer
coefficient between the absorber media and the nanofluids [24,25].
Mahian et al. [26] evaluated various nanofluids in a heat exchanger to
investigate the impact of nanofluids on the evaporation rate of solar still
desalination. They reported that the solar desalination using nanofluids

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: shsh238@yahoo.com (S. Shoeibi), h.kargar@semnaniau.ac.ir, hadikargarsharif@gmail.com (H. Kargarsharifabad), siamak.hosseinzadeh@
uniroma1.it (S. Hosseinzade), rahbar@semnaniau.ac.ir, nrahbar@gmail.com (N. Rahbar), mm_rashidi@yahoo.com (M.M. Rashidi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2022.106387

Available online 20 September 2022

0735-1933/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Shoeibi et al.
and heat exchanger at a lower temperature of 60 ◦ C is not suitable, and
the freshwater output of the solar still by nanofluids and heat exchanger
increased by about 10% at above temperature of 70 ◦ C. Additionally, the
thermal performance of silica oxide-water nanofluids was more than
copper-water nanofluids. Muraleedharan et al. [27] designed a solar still
system by the Fresnel lens and Al2O3–Therminol-55 nanofluids. Their
experimental results revealed that the hourly productivity of system
with a concentration of 1% Al2O3–Therminol-55 nanofluids was about
250% higher than conventional ones. Additionally, the daily water
output of modified and traditional systems was 12.190 L/m2 and 3.48 L/
m2, respectively.
Dispersing the nanoparticles in PCM changes the thermal charac­
teristic and increases the thermal conductivity of PCM [28]. Nano/PCM
preserves the heat energy and releases it to the saline water in the basin
when solar radiation is low and increases the production of distilled
water [29]. Kumar et al. [30] investigated and compared the produc­
tivity of solar stills by PCM and nano-PCM. They designed three con­
figurations of solar stills, including a solar still without PCM, a solar still
with PCM (paraffin wax) and a solar still with nano-PCM (0.5% mass of
silica nanoparticles added to paraffin). The results of their experiments
demonstrated that the water productivity of solar stills by PCM and
nano/PCM was raised by 51.22% and 67.07%, respectively. Kabeel et al.
[31] assessed the effect of graphene/paraffin on water output of tubular
solar still. They reported that the water vapor rate and thermal effi­
ciency of tubular solar still with nano-PCM were raised by about 41.3%
and 116.5%, respectively. Abdullah et al. [32] improved the freshwater
yield of solar stills by using corrugated absorbers and nano-PCM. The
performance of flat trays, corrugated trays and conventional solar stills
were compared. They found that the total productivity in solar stills
using CuO/PCM and corrugated absorber was increased by 180%.
Dawood et al. [33] improved the water productivity of solar still desa­
lination integrated with parabolic trough collectors and PCM for
different depths of saline water in the basin. The CuO nanoparticles
added to the oil were considered as operating fluid in the heat exchanger
between the solar collector and solar still. Their outcomes indicated that
the efficiency of the solar still with solar collector was improved. Al-
Harahsheh et al. [34] raised the efficiency of the solar still using an
external solar collector and PCM tubes added to the system. They re­
ported that the external solar collector enhanced the productivity of
solar still, and the maximum productivity of the system was 4.3 L/day.
m2. To raise the performance of solar still, Elmaadawy et al. [35] raised
the efficiency of double slope solar still integrated by film cooling and
nano-PCM. The result of their work showed that using cover cooling as
an approach and carbon-black water as a nano-PCM led to condensation
and evaporation enhancement compared to traditional solar still and as
a result, the distilled water of modified solar desalination raised about
68%.
Nano-coated is another nanotechnology technique to improve the
performance of the solar still system. The nanocoated dispersed in black
is a method for applying a surface layer, which spraying on the absorber
plate to raise intensity absorption and thermal conductivity. Thus, the
natural convection heat transfer coefficient between the water and
absorber plat increases. One of the major problems with using nano­
technology in water output of solar still is its high cost [36]. To raise the
efficiency of solar stills with that of nanocoated, Zanganeh et al. [37]
reported this method on a solar still. In their work, the condensation
area was covered by silicone nanopowders to change the condensation
process with dip-coating procedure. For the accuracy and check of the
results, a similar design was constructed and according to the experi­
mental tests, dropwise condensation enhanced the production rate of
solar stills by 34% at the condensing glass tilt angle of 45◦ . In another
study by Zanganeh et al. [38], the influence of nanocoated material on
the productivity of solar stills was reported. Two condensation mecha­
nisms including film-wise and dropwise using two different materials
and diverse wetting properties coated with TiO2 and Si nano-particles
were conducted at a condensation area with an inclination of 25◦ . The
2
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
outcomes showed that the system by nanocoated was enhanced by about
20%. The effect of silicon nanocoated on the efficiency of solar still was
assessed by Thakur et al. [39]. Results indicated that the thermal effi­
ciency of the solar still using nanocoated was increased by 15.6%.
The wick is the other material that was considered to enhance the
water productivity of solar still desalination [40]. The impact of wick
materials on water generation of solar still desalination was reported by
Modi and Modi [41]. The small pile of wick material was used in single-
slope and double-slope solar still. The single-slope and double-slope
solar stills in the same area were developed with two wick materials
namely jute cloth and black cotton cloth in water heights of 1 cm and 2
cm. They reported that the system by jute cloth and black cotton cloth
was approximately 910 mL/m2 and 771 mL/m2 at the water height of 1
cm, which was equal to 828.7 mL/m2 and 682.3 mL/m2 at a water
height of 0.02 m, respectively. In the other study in connection with
increasing the performance of the solar still by wick material, Kabeel
et al. [42] mathematically and experimentally evaluated the impact of
V-corrugated absorber and wick materials on the performance of tubular
solar still. They used the absorber plate in a V-corrugated form and used
black jute clothes in V-corrugated form then corrugated black jute
clothes floated in the water and the rest of the clothes were saturated
with water using the capillary property. They reported that the distilled
water generation of tubular solar still was equal 6010 mL/m2, and
productivity of the modified system was increased by 44.82% compared
with traditional ones. Kalidasa Murugavel and Srithar [43] evaluated
the solar still using wick materials. The various wick media such as light
cotton cloth, sponge sheet, coir mate and waste cotton pieces and water
depth of 0.5 cm were used. They revealed that the performance of light
black cotton cloth was the high effective wick. The other wick materials
that have been used in solar stills to raise the evaporation rate due to
capillary action are polyester, terry cotton and woollen fabric [44]. The
sponge was another material to increase the efficiency and freshwater
generation of solar still. Sellami et al. [23] raised the freshwater yield of
a solar still desalination by blackened sponge at various thicknesses (5
mm, 10 mm and 15 mm). They reported that the productivity of the
system with a sponge with the thickness of 5 mm and 10 mm was
improved by 58% and 23.03%, respectively, while the freshwater yield
of the desalination system using a sponge with a thickness of 15 mm was
decreased by 30%. Table 1 depicts a summary of various solar still
desalination systems using different materials to enhance water
productivity.
The use of different materials can raise the evaporation rate in the
solar still desalination system [45]. Some of these materials lead to
increasing the solar radiation of sunlight in the absorber plate of solar
stills such as wick and porous media and some other materials lead to the
store the thermal energy of the solar radiation such as nano-PCM and
PCM. The use of porous materials as an absorber media has a direct
impact on the productivity of solar still desalination due to raising the
thermal conductivity and absorbing the solar intensity. Recently, many
reviews have been performed on the application of nanotechnology [11]
and wick type [46,47] in solar still systems. To the authors’ knowledge,
the literature is lacking a review on the application of porous media in
the solar still desalination systems. As such, this review paper is mainly
goaded to present the application of these materials in solar still systems
for enhancing their water productivity.
2. Application of porous media in solar stills
The solar still desalination operation is related to evaporation and
condensation techniques. The absorber material absorbs the solar in­
tensity and increases the saline water temperature by convection heat
transfer between water and absorber material. By increasing the saline
water temperature, the water vapor increases inside the solar still cover
and distilled freshwater formed after collision with the inner surface of
the glass [48]. One of the most important goals to design solar still
desalination is to raise the efficiency and freshwater generation of the
S. Shoeibi et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

Table 1 2.1. Porous media in passive solar stills

Comparison of results of different types of solar still.
References Type of Study parameters Results The use of porous material to increase the efficiency of pyramid solar
solar still still was assessed by Saravanavel et al. [56]. The experiments were
[26] Single SiO2 nanofluid The water productivity→10%↑ performed at different hours of the day using clay pot pieces and chalk
slope and solar pieces as porous media with a constant saline water height of 0.01 m.
collector The side walls of the solar still were insulted with glass wool to decrease
[27] Single Evacuated tube The water productivity (Modified the heat losses to the surrounding. Two modified and conventional solar
slope receiver and system) → 12.19 L/m2
Fresnel lens The productivity (Conventional
stills were compared having the same climate conditions. Their out­
nanofluid system) → 3.48 L/m2 comes revealed that the efficiency of the solar still using porous material
Highest efficiency → 53.55% was improved by 36% compared to traditional ones. Srivastava and
[30] Single PCM and nano- The water productivity (With Agrawal [57] performed an improvement of solar still by porous fins.
slope PCM PCM) → 51.22%↑
The tests were performed on single slope solar still with blackened old
The water productivity (With
nano-PCM) → 67.07%↑ cotton rags as a porous fin, which was located on the basin, as illustrated
[31] Tubular PCM and nano- The water productivity in Fig. 1. The slope of the glass cover was 24◦ , which was similar to the
PCM (Conventional) → 2.59 L/m2 latitude angle. The results showed that porous fins received most of the
The productivity (With PCM) → solar radiation and increased the evaporation rate. Besides, they found
3.35 L/m2
The productivity (With nano-
that with a decrease in the water depth of solar still, the distillate water
PCM) → 5.62 L/m2 output was increased. The highest daily freshwater production of their
[32] Single Corrugated The water productivity→180%↑ system using porous fins in the month of May was about 7.5 kg/m2.
slope absorber, nano- In this study, the distillate water output was also modeled. The total
PCM and heater
distillate water output was considered to be the sum of the productivity
[33] Single Evacuated tube The water productivity→11.14
slope solar collector L/m2 from the basin water and the porous fins which can be obtained as,
and PCM and
mTotal = mWater basin + mPorous fin (1)
nano-oil
[34] Single Solar collector The water productivity→4.3 L/
slope and PCM m2 where
[35] Double Wick material The water productivity→68%↑ qewg
slope and glass cover Average energy mWater basin = (2)
cooling efficiency→50.6%↑
hfg
Average exergy
efficiency→146.3%↑ and
[37] Single Nano-coated on The water productivity (Film
qefg
slope glass cover condensation) → 4.828 L/m2 mPorous fin = (3)
The water productivity hfg
(Dropwise condensation) →
5.807 L/m2 where qewg, qefg, and hfg is the evaporation heat transfer between water
[38] Single Nano-coated on The water and glass, evaporation heat transfer between porous fin and glass and
slope glass cover productivity→10–35%↑
water latent heat, respectively. Dunkle’s model [58] was used for
[39] Single Nano-coated on The water productivity→15.6%↑
slope glass cover calculating the coefficient of convective and evaporative heat transfer
[41] Single Wick material The water productivity (Jute between the porous fins and the glass cover and between the water basin
slope cloth) → (black cotton cloth) and the glass cover based on their temperatures. The evaporation heat
double 18.03%↑
transfer between the porous fins and the glass cover was obtained by
basin
[42] Tubular V-corrugated The water
( )
qefg = hefg Tf − Tg (4)
absorber with productivity→44.82%↑
wick material Energy efficiency→46.86%↑
[43] Double Wick material The numerical productivity by where
slope the proposed model were close to
the experimental results.
[44] Pyramid Vertical wick The water productivity (Jute) →
material 9.4%↑
The water productivity (Terry
cotton) → 20.9%↑
The water productivity
(Polyester) → 33.1%↑
[23] Single Sponge layer The water productivity (Jute) →
slope 58%↑

system. Porous media such as coal, coconut coir, wooden chips, and sand
have been used in solar stills to raise the evaporation rate by increasing
the thermal conductivity and convective heat transfers [49–51]. Solar
still desalination is classified as a passive and active case [52]. In passive
ones, water vapor is formed without any axillaries source of energy
connected to the solar stills, and in active cases, saline water is evapo­
rated by solar intensity using other sources of thermal energy such as
solar collectors, photovoltaic, parabolic concentrated [53–55].

Fig. 1. The schematic of the modified still using porous absorber [57].

3
S. Shoeibi et al.
Pf − p g
hefg = 0.016273 × hcfg ×
Tf − Tg
hcfg is the convective heat transfer between the porous fins and glass
and it is obtained as,
[ ( )( ) ]1/3
( ) Pf − pg Tf
hcfg = 0.884 × Tf − Tg +
268.9 × 103 − Pf
A similar parameter for water basin was calculated by replacing Tf
with Tw. The comparison of the model and the experimental results of
the cumulative productivity for the modified solar still for winter and
summer had a good agreement.
The effect of using porous media on the productivity of the solar still
system was evaluated by Mohamed et al. [59]. Natural stones (black
basalt) were used as the porous absorbers with different grain sizes (1
cm, 1.5 cm and 2 cm). The tests were performed in the climatic condi­
tions of Mansoura, Egypt. The solar still was made of fiberglass with an
area of 1 m2 and a water depth of 30 mm. All walls were sprayed with
black paint to enhance the absorber The outcomes illustrated that the
daily energy efficiency of system using porous media with the grain sizes
of 1 cm, 1.5 cm and 2 cm was increased by 19.09%, 26.84%, and 32.07%
respectively. Fig. 2 shows a photograph of porous media and a schematic
of the solar still used in this study.
An experimental investigation of the film layer of saline water in the
solar desalination was performed by Murugavel et al. [60]. In this work,
passive solar still with an area of 1.75 m2 was implemented. The space
between the inner and outside of the basin was packed with rice husk as
insulation material. The experiments were performed under laboratory
conditions with having the same saline water depth as the conventional
system. Wick media such as light cotton cloth, light jute cloth and
sponge plate with 0.002 m thickness, and porous media such as washed
natural rock with an average size of 1 cm × 0.65 cm and quartzite rock
with an average size of 0.65 cm, were used as illustrated in Fig. 3. The
solar radiation was simulated using a 2000 W heater attached under the
inner basin to increase the productivity. Their results showed that water
generation had a direct influence on the temperature gradient between
glass and water in solar still.
In another study, Mohamed et al. [61] evaluated the productivity of
solar still with porous material as shown in Fig. 4. The traditional and
modified solar stills had the same surface area of 1 m2. The layer of
basalt stones as porous media consists of three different sizes of 10 mm,
15 mm and 20 mm. The outcomes showed that the black stone particles
led to an enhance in the convective, evaporative and radiative heat
transfer coefficient in the solar still. The exergy efficiency of the solar
still by stone sizes of 1 cm, 1.5 cm and 2 cm were enhanced by 65%,
104.4%, and 123%. Dunkle’s model [58] was considered to calculate the
coefficient of convective and evaporative heat transfer between the
water and the glass. The proposed model was tested under actual out­
door weather conditions with the different particle sizes of the natural
fine black stones. The calculated empirical correlations for Nusselt and
Fig. 2. Photograph of black basalt stones and schematic view of experimental tests to use basalt stones [59].
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
Sherwood numbers indicated good agreement with experimental data as
(5)
shown in Table 2. Nusselt and Sherwood numbers were calculated from:
hcw (t)L
Nu = (7)
K
hm (t)L
(6) Sh = (8)
D
where hcw, K, hm, and D indicate convective heat transfer coefficient, the
thermal conductivity of vapor, mass transfer coefficient and mass
diffusion coefficient of vapor in the air, respectively.
Ra, δ, and δw denote Rayleigh number, the particle size of fine stone
and depth of water in the solar still, respectively.
Abdelaziz et al. [62] assessed the impact of porous material on the
productivity of solar stills. The activated carbon tubes were considered
as a porous media (RACT) to increase the productivity of the system. The
performance of the system based on energy, exergy, economic, and CO2
mitigation parameters was evaluated. A copper plate with a thickness of
0.08 cm and surface area of 0.4 m2 and a depth of 75 mm was used. The
activated carbon tube had an outer dimeter of 0.063 m, inner diameter
0.033 m, and length of 0.235 m. The results of designed solar still
demonstrated that the freshwater output was about 5850 mL/m2, and
the energy and exergy efficiencies were raised by 94.14% and 164.29%,
respectively. Fig. 5 depicts the sketch of the used solar still desalination
with activated carbon tubes.
The water output improvement of solar still by reticular porous
media was evaluated by Rashidi et al. [19]. The modified and traditional
solar stills were tested under the same climatic conditions of Semnan,
Iran, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The porous materials in this study were
made of black sponge rubber which was placed in saline water. A layer
of sponge rubber in the basin enhanced the temperature difference be­
tween the water and cover at 12.00. Their outcomes indicated that the
highest hourly water generation of the modified system occurred at
13.00 and improved by 33.7%. In addition, the highest daily freshwater
output of desalination systems with porous material was raised by about
17.35%.
The use of porous absorbers to enhance the productivity of solar still
was evaluated by Arunkumar et al. [63]. They used carbon impregnated
foam (CIF) with 0.015 m thickness, as a floating absorber with bubble-
wrap (BW) insulation in the basin and thermal storage to raise the
evaporation rate. To realize the performance of the used materials, three
solar stills with a porous material to increase evaporation surface area
and insulation to avoid heating loss were designed and investigated
using computational fluid dynamics. The results showed that the pro­
ductivity of solar still without bubble-wrap insulation, solar still by
bubble-wrap (BW) insulation, and solar still by CIF and BW insulation
were 1900 mL/m2.day, 2300 mL/m2.day, 3100 mL/m2.day, respec­
tively. Fig. 7 illustrates the various configurations of the solar stills using
porous media. The results of simulated temperature distribution showed
a good agreement with the experimental data.
4
S. Shoeibi et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

Fig. 3. Photo of quartzite rock and washed natural rock [60].

Fig. 4. Photograph of experimental tests of solar still using porous media [61].

Table 2
Empirical correlations for Nusselt and Sherwood numbers [61].
Empirical correlations Ra range Rmax

Conventional solar Nu = 0.53 × Ra0.458 For laminar flow range ±6.33%

still
Sh = 1.54 × 5.5 × 103 ≤ Ra ≤ 8.0 × ±7.36%
10− 5(Ra)1.353 104
Solar still with fine Nu = 0.51 × Ra0.45 × For laminar flow range
±8.59%
black stone ( δ )0.11
δw
Sh = 2.155 × 7.7 × 104 ≤ Ra ≤ 2.5 ×
±8.18%
δ
10− 6 (Ra)1.42 × 105 and 0 ≤ ≤ 2/3
δw
( δ )0.12 Fig. 5. Sketch of a) modified solar still and b) activated carbon tubes [62].
δw

2.2. Porous media in active solar stills

Panchal and Sathyamurthi [64] experimentally investigated a solar
still with porous fins as an absorber material. They used 20 porous fins
with an absorber area of 1 m2 in the climatic conditions of Gujarat,
India. The porous fin was made of aluminium with 10 holes of 30 mm
diameters with a height of 110 mm. The results revealed that the pro­
ductivity of modified and conventional solar still using porous fins was
about 3.8 L/day and 2.67 L/day, respectively which indicated 42.3% in
water productivity in comparison with traditional ones.
Table 3 demonstrates the comparative performance of the solar stills
with porous materials. The outcomes indicate that the productivity of
the solar still with aluminium fins porous material was increased by
about 42.3% compared with traditional ones. Also, the water height of
the system using black basalt porous absorbers has a direct effect on
exergy efficiency and freshwater productivity of the system. Moreover,
the energy efficiency of the system using activated carbon porous media
was enhanced by 94.14%.
The impact of porous absorber media, nano-coated and nano/PCM
on productivity of solar still desalination was evaluated by Shoeibi et al.
[65]. The copper oxide and aluminium oxide nanoparticles with con­
centrations of 0.1% and 0.3% were poured into paraffin as a nano-
enhanced PCM. The twelve copper tubes were used to keep the Nano/
PCM and the anthracite bed was used as an absorber surface to raise the
evaporation rate of solar still desalination. They found that the fresh­
water productivity of solar still using anthracite bed as a porous media
increased by 13.58%. Also, they showed that the energy efficiency of the
solar still desalination has a positive effect on the volume fraction of
Nano/PCM. Fig. 8 indicates the solar still and anthracite bed porous
absorber.
Shoeibi et al. [13] investigated the effects of using Nano/PCM and
porous media in solar water desalination. The anthracite porous
absorber materials with a grain size of 1.3 mm and CuO/PCM were
considered to raise the evaporation rate of the system. The water height
of 15 mm was considered and the outcomes revealed that the solar still

5
S. Shoeibi et al.
Fig. 6. Photo of solar stills using black sponge rubber [19].
Fig. 7. The schematic of [A] solar still without insulation, [B] solar still with BW insulation, [C] solar still -CIF with BW insulation, and [D] Conventional solar
still [63].
with modification improved the water output by 41.94% as in com­
parison with traditional solar still. Fig. 9 shows different configurations
of solar still with porous absorbers used in this study.
Shirsath et al. [66] evaluated (experimentally and mathematically)
the performance of solar still using a membrane porous media. The air
gap membrane distillation was used for mathematical investigation. The
developed mathematical model was the first order nonlinear ordinary
differential equation considering time-dependent solar fluxes, air ve­
locity, and ambient temperature. The use of permeable hydrophobic
(polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) porous membrane in solar still was
compared with the solar still without porous media, as shown in Fig. 10.
The outcomes of their work showed that the water generation of solar
still with hydrophobic of the porous membrane was increased in the
range of 40% to 70% compared with solar still without porous media.
Elbar and Hassan [67] performed a solar still integrated by a
photovoltaic panel and porous material. In their design, the preheated
water was added to the system using photovoltaic/thermal module to
raise the temperature between the cover and saline water. The black
steel wool fibers were considered to absorb the highest solar intensity.
The experiments were conducted in a different configuration to find the
best productivity of the solar still desalination system, as illustrated in
Fig. 11. The basin was constructed from aluminium plates with an area
of 1m2 and thickness of 4 mm. It was filled with 10 L of water at the start
of the experiments. The outcomes indicated that the freshwater output
and energy efficiency of the solar still using black steel wool fibers and
preheating 60% of the saline water with the photovoltaic panel were
6
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
enhanced by 20.9% and 20%, repectively.
Hassan et al. [68] were able to improve the water output of solar still
with cover cooling and porous media. They considered six types of
system such as conventional solar still (CSS), modified solar still (MSS)
integrated with a finned condenser, MSS by an umbrella (MSS + U), MSS
with air flow (MSS + FA), MSS with water flow (MSS + FW); and finally,
MSS by water flow containing sand in the basin (MSS + FW + SD). They
found that the maximum and minimum water price is for MSS + U and
MSS + FW + SD, respectively. Also, the highest water output belongs to
MSS + FW + SD, which were about 5370 g/m2 and 2740 g/m2 in
summer and winter, respectively. The impact of floating porous ab­
sorbers on the productivity of solar still was evaluated by Srivastava and
Agrawal [69] experimentally and theoretically. The porous absorber
was made from ordinary blackened jute cloth and its surface was always
wet due to capillary action as illustrated in Fig. 12. Both the modified
and conventional systems were fabricated from wood with an area of
0.52 m2 and the absorber plate had an area of 0.79 m × 0.07 × 0.025 m.
Besides, a twin reflector booster with two mirrors was constructed
mutually perpendicular to each other. The experimental results indi­
cated that productivity of modified system in a day with 68% clear sky
(35% cloudy) was increased. In addition, the productivity of the modi­
fied solar still using a twin reflector booster was enhanced by 79% over
the modified still without a booster. The authors developed a thermal
model based on energy balance for the still, the glass cover, the floating
absorber, and basin water. The heat transfer coefficients of Dunkle’s
model [58] were used for both the conventional and modified solar still
S. Shoeibi et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

Table 3
Comparison of performance of porous material in passive solar stills.
References Climatic Max. solar radiation Porous material Type of Study parameter Result
condition (W/m2) solar still

[56] – – Clay pot and chalk Pyramid Conventional Thermal efficiency of solar still → 36% ↑
[57] Rewa, India ≈ 900 Cotton rags Single slope Porous fins, Conventional Water productivity of solar still →7.5 kg/
m2
[59] Mansoura, 534 Black basalt (Natural Single slope Conventional Water productivity of solar still (1 cm) →
Egypt fine stone) 0.901 L/m2
Water productivity of solar still (1.5 cm) →
1.005 L/m2
Water productivity of solar still (2 cm) →
1.075 L/m2
[60] Kovilpatti, 775 (Simulated solar Washed natural rock Double Wick material (Sponge, cotton The porous material increased the
India radiation) slope cloth and light jute) temperature of water.
[61] Mansoura, ≈ 600 Black basalt (Natural Single slope Conventional Exergy efficiency of solar still (1 cm) →
Egypt fine stone) 65%↑
Exergy efficiency of solar still (1.5 cm) →
104.4% ↑
Exergy efficiency of solar still (2 cm) →
123%↑
[62] Horeen village, ≈ 1000 Activated carbon tube Single slope Conventional Exergy efficiency of solar still →164.29% ↑
Egypt Energy efficiency of solar still →94.14%↑
[19] Semnan, Iran ≈ 950 Black sponge rubber Single slope Conventional The highest daily freshwater generation of
solar still → 17.35% ↑
The highest hourly freshwater generation
of solar still (13:00 PM) → 33.7% ↑
[63] Chennai, India 857 Carbon impregnated Single slope bubble-wrap (BW) insulation Water productivity of solar still (by porous
foam media and BW) → 3.1 L/m2
Freshwater output of solar still (by BW) →
1.9 L/m2
[64] Gujarat, India ≈ 900 Aluminium fins with Single slope Wick material Water productivity of solar still → 42.3% ↑
holes

Fig. 8. Photo of a) double-slope solar still and b) porous absorber surface and energy storage block [65].

desalination. There was a good agreement between the thermal model
experimental values. The impact of wind transfer coefficient, based on
heat loss coefficient and floating insulation heat transfer coefficient
were also analyzed theoretically.
Table 4 indicates the comparative performance of the active solar
still using porous material. The obtained outcomes indicate that the
productivity of the solar still by sponge, black jute cloth, pebble pieces
and floating carbonaceous porous media was improved in the range of
40–70% compared with conventional ones. Also, the freshwater output
rate of black steel wool fibbers porous media using photovoltaic/ther­
mal system was improved by about 20.9% in comparison with the
traditional ones.
3. Porous media for increasing evaporation rate of solar still
desalination
The effect of solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of a Janus evapo­
rator using porous material was evaluated by Hu et al. [70]. The porous
floats were made of SiO2/cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and carbon nano­
tube (CNT) hybrid network with a low bend. CNF and CNT were
dispersed into a low-tortuosity aerogel structure through a directional
freeze-drying process, and then a layer of hexamethyldisilazane (HDMS)
was sprayed over it and the surface of the aerogel was treated with sil­
icone oxide. The enclosure basin was floated in nitrogen to create the
temperature gradient of ice crystals. The results showed that the effi­
ciency of the system (100h) with the Janus evaporator was >80% in
volume fraction of 3.5% sodium chloride. Zhang et al. [71] designed a
solar still based on the porous material and photo-thermal layer. The
materials used in their solar still system consist of reduced graphene

7
S. Shoeibi et al.
Fig. 9. Sketch of solar still with a) Traditional, b) Porous media, c) PCM and porous media and d) Nano/PCM and porous media [13].
Fig. 10. Sketch of a solar still desalination a) without and b) With membrane [66].
Fig. 11. Photo of solar still using porous media and photovoltaic module [67].
oxide (RGO) and vertically oriented porous polyacrylonitrile foam
(VOPPF) as a porous material. The result revealed that the productivity
of the system by RGO and VOPPF was about 4 L/m2 under one sun
illumination.
8
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
Al-Nimr and Dahdolan [72] analytically investigated the perfor­
mance of the desalination system using a porous evaporator and PV/T.
To describe the system performance, a simple steady-state mathematical
model was created and simulated using Microsoft Excel’s “Goal-Seek”
data tool to find the evaporator temperature. After removing the
photovoltaic cell from the simulation and adjusting the cell parameters
to act like conventional solar distillation systems, analyzes of the sam­
ples were performed and compared with the existing experimental re­
sults to validate their model. Effects of wind speed, ambient
temperature, solar radiation and condenser temperature were studied.
The thermal energy produced by the photovoltaic system was used to
increase the distilled water. The dark painted sponge or hay was
considered a porous evaporator, and also the parabolic concentrator was
used to concentrate the heat energy of the solar radiation. The internal
condenser was filled with cooling water, as demonstrated in Fig. 13.
They found that the thermal efficiency of the system has a direct effect
on the gradient difference between the condenser and porous
evaporator.
Zeiny and Wen [73] evaluated the performance of solar evaporators
S. Shoeibi et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

Fig. 12. Sketch view of solar still using twin reflector booster and porous media [69].

Table 4
Comparison of performance of porous material in active solar stills.
References Climatic Max. solar Porous material Type of Study parameter Result
condition radiation (W/m2) solar still

[65] Tehran, Iran ≈ 800 Anthracite bed Double PCM/Nano-PCM and Freshwater productivity of solar still
slope (Anthracite bed) → 13.58% ↑
[13] Tehran, Iran 869 Anthracite bed Double CuO/ Nano-PCM Freshwater productivity of solar still
slope (Anthracite bed) → 41.94% ↑
[66] India ≈ 900 Sponge, black jute cloth, pebble Single slope Vertically flowing Water productivity of solar still →
pieces and floating carbonaceous stream 40–70% ↑
[67] Alexandria, ≈ 800 Black steel wool fibers Single slope Preheating with PV Water productivity of solar still →
Egypt module 20.9% ↑
Energy efficiency of solar still → 20%
↑
Exergy efficiency of solar still
→60.64% ↑
[68] Sohag, Egypt ≈ 1000 Coated black Single slope Air glass cooling and Highest exergy efficiency (MSS + FW
finned condenser + SD) → 33%↑
Highest energy efficiency (MSS + FW
+ SD) → 39%↑
[69] Rewa, India ≈ 750 Ordinary blackened jute Single slope Plane mirror Freshwater output of solar still (Sunny
days) → 68% ↑
Water productivity of solar still
(Cloudy days) → 35% ↑
Water productivity of solar still
(Mirrors) → 79% ↑

Fig. 13. Photo of solar still desalination with (A) glass layer, (B) PV module, (C) Porous evaporator, (D) space filled with air vapor mixture, (E) condenser [72].

using nanofluid and porous material. The gold nanoparticles were used
as a nanofluid and micro-sized thin black carbon-based gas diffusion
layer (GDL) was used as porous material. Their experimental results
showed that gold-water nanofluid is not suitable in solar still desalina­
tion due to its low absorbance and high cost compared to porous ma­
terial like GDL with cost effective, environmentally friendly, non-toxic.
Three solar intensities of 820 W, 5000 W and 10,000 W were chosen to
investigate their effect on the evaporation process. In addition, they
reported that polystyrene insulation board (PIB) is a good material to
avoid loss of the thermal energy of water. It was recommended that
plane wick tissue can improve the evaporation rate by 65 kg/h.m2. The
use of novel photo-thermal material as a solar absorber in solar still
desalination was evaluated by Wang et al. [74]. They found that porous
ionic polymers (PIPs) based materials and spray of carbon-ink on the
ionic polymer, light absorption and energy conversion efficiency under
one sun illumination enhances by about 90% and 81% respectively
which lead to enhancing desalination. The novel photo-thermal mate­
rials with low conductivity 0.038 W/m.K in comparison with other salt-
resistant photo-thermal material was used as a new method to take the
advantage of the intrinsically ionic feature of porous ionic polymers
without using any artificial process.
The performance of solar still desalination with photo-thermal pro­
duction of salt-resistant monolithic bilayer membranes was reported by
Kim et al. [75]. In their study, they outlined a new method to increase

9
S. Shoeibi et al.
the performance of monolithic bilayer sheets (MBS) that contained
porous graphitic carbon (HPGC) and polymer foam for use as a self-
floating solar steam generator. The result showed that self-floating
MBS enhanced solar still desalination efficiency by about 84% and
salt-rejection ratio of 99.9%. Liu et al. [76] evaluated the solar still
desalination performance by porous materials. A new method was
proposed by high-value utilization of recycled plastics so that hierar­
chical porous carbons (HPC) derived from halogen-containing polymers
with low cost. The HPC exhibited promising for producing freshwater
with high absorption of solar energy that led to photo-thermal conver­
sion efficiency. Their outcomes demonstrated that the energy conver­
sion efficiency and evaporation rate under the solar intensity of 5 sun (5
kW/m2) were improved by 95.8% and 7.87 kg/m2.h, respectively. Zhou
et al. [77] demonstrated plasmon-enhanced solar still equipment with
the self–assembly of aluminium nanoparticle into a three-dimensional
porous membrane. The simulated seawater samples were tested before
and after desalination using a porous plasmonic absorber floating on the
water surface. The obtained outcomes indicated that the solar absorp­
tion efficiency, energy transfer efficiency and steam generation effi­
ciency of structure of the system by porous material were enhanced by
about 96%, 90% and 88.4%, respectively, under four sun simulation.
Qiu et al. [78] designed a novel porous three-dimensional carbon foams
prepared via alkali activated method for solar steam generation. The
material with rougher surface, good for harsh conditions and cost-
effective, reduced the diffuse reflectance and improved the solar ab­
sorption. The outcomes showed that the highest steam generation effi­
ciency of the carbon foams with one sun radiation was e 80.1%. Utilizing
and comparing porous material (Bi5O7X) to solar evaporation system
was evaluated by Liu et al. [79]. The bismuth oxyhalide (Bi5O7X) with 5
nm in size was used to evaluate the behavior of absorption with different
halogens in crystals when X = Cl, X = Br, X = I. Their results showed that
the performance of the desalination system using Bi5O7L was much
better than the solar still by Bi5O7Br and Bi5O7I.
The effect of using porous media as an absorbers material in solar
still desalination was mathematically investigated by Al-Nimr and
Dandolan [80]. The energy balance equations and Dunkle’s model [58]
were used in their simulation. The design consisted of concentration,
thermosiphon circulation, internal condensation and porous evapora­
tion. The simulation was carried out on a new design of a desalination
system that depended on different parameters such as ambient tem­
perature, condenser temperature, wind velocity and solar radiation.
Results of their work showed that by decreasing the wind velocity and
condenser temperature and increasing solar radiation and ambient
temperature, the solar still desalination efficiency and distilled rate were
improved, as illustrated in Fig. 14. Their obtained outcomes indicated
that the thermal efficiency and water output of solar still system were in
the range of 17 to 21% and 1.51 to 1.89 kg/day, respectively.
Fig. 14. Diagram of solar still desalination a) Distilled water productivity and b) Thermal efficiency [80].
10
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
Han et al. [81] assessed the impact of polymer-stabilized porous
composite membrane on the performance of the water evaporation in
solar still desalination. They designed an evaporator with double-layer
structure by compounding a hydrophilic polymer with porous carbon
nanotube beads on a glass microfiber membrane (PCPG). Their outcome
of tests under one sun illumination exhibited that the hourly evaporation
rate and energy conversion efficiency of the system was about 1.62 L/m2
and 87%, respectively.
In another study, Liu et al. [82] reported antifouling porous sponge
internal microchannels to absorb the solar energy and water pumpers for
solar still desalination. The porous media was used as a layer to prevent
salt accumulation. They reported that the hourly evaporation rate and
energy conversion efficiency was about 1420 g/m2 and 89.9% under one
sun illumination, respectively. Liang et al. [83] raised the performance
of solar evaporator by porous media. The floating porous media based
on electro spun nanofiber mat with carbon nanotube as a photo-thermal
material was used. The results showed that the floating porous on saline
water worked even in the high salinity brine (20 wt% NaCl) and
improved the evaporation rate and conversion efficiency by about 1372
g/m2.h and 86.1% under one sun illumination, respectively. Wang et al.
[84] evaluated the impact of photo-thermal material based on porous
ionic polymers for desalination namely PIPs-AB. Photo-thermal material
based on porous ionic polymers coated with acetylene black with low
thermal conductivity (0.1 W/m.K) and excellent light absorption of 90%
improved the solar conversion efficiency 85.4% under one sun illumi­
nation. Zhang et al. [85] used porous carbon-based materials for solar
still and thermoelectric power generation. They presented a sustainable
way of repurposing food waste (FW) like banana peels, potato, rice,
pasta and lotus root to mitigate the carbon emission using food waste as
highly porous carbon-based for solar still. They achieved up to 84.1%
solar efficiency and thermoelectric power 0.4 W/m2. Xu et al. [86]
raised the efficiency of solar still by a salt resistant absorbers that were
fabricated by sequential electrospinning. A membrane opposing chem­
istry properties includes hydrophobic carbon black nanoparticles
coating polymethylmethacrylate utilized for solar absorption. Their re­
sults demonstrated that the absorber with high efficiency 72% provides
hourly water output 1300 g/m2 under one sun. A solar still system using
carbon composite porous foam as an absorber was conducted by Jang
et al. [87]. They used microporous graphite foam coated with carbon
nanoparticle and superhydrophobic materials as a light absorber to heat
up the water and the results demonstrated vapor production improved
6.6 kg/m2.h under 3 sun. The use of an optimized porous structure to
achieve high efficient solar evaporator and avoid salt accumulation on
the surface of the solar still was done by Huang et al. [88]. They pre­
pared a slat rejecting solar evaporator with carbon blacks deposited on
the super hydrophilic polystyrene and lignocellulose skeleton. They
reported that the evaporator with optimized porous could be salt-
S. Shoeibi et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

rejecting in high-salinity environment (15%NaCl) with an efficiency of
85.5% under 1.5 sun irradiation. In another work, Wang et al. [89]
assessed the impact of porous media in solar water desalination. The
nickel-embedded porous aluminium based on simple electrochemical
techniques such as anodization and electroplating was used as an
absorber (Ni/AAO) with high absorptance and a low thermal emittance
to improve the efficiency of the system and then compared to a broad­
band absorber such as graphite. Their results showed that Ni/AAO
achieved an overall efficiency of 73% using a solar flux of one sun. The
radiative loss from the Ni/AAO was less than broadband absorbers in the
scalable approach, besides, enhancement in the evaporation rate
increased by 10% compared to graphite. Wilson et al. [90] raised the
efficiency of the solar still desalination system with biomass-derived
porous (BPS) as a porous material in low intensity solar steam genera­
tion and desalination. They designed a solar steam generator by porous
carbon based on food waste and incorporated it into a polyvinyl alcohol
sponge with low price and green material to improve the efficiency of
solar steam generation. According to the results, the performance of
their design was well due to the indirect water pathway. Their solar
steam generator 1380 g/m2 of steam and photo-thermal efficiency was
91.17% under one sun simulation.
Zhu et al. [91] enhanced solar vapor generation and desalination
using ions activated hierarchically porous polygon complex hydrogels.
The solar vapor generator is manufactured by a hierarchically porous
polyion complex (PIC) hydrogel-based with interpenetrated polyaniline
as efficient light absorbers. The results showed that the hydration

Table 5
Comparison of performance of porous material in increasing of evaporation rate of solar still desalination.
References Porous material Max. solar radiation (W/ Other material study Result
m2)

[70] Janus evaporator (SiO2/cellulose) ≈ 1000 (Simulated solar Nanofiber/carbon nanotube with a The efficiency of the system → 80% ↑
radiation) low tortuosity pore structure
[71] Vertically oriented porous polyacrylonitrile ≈ 1000 (Simulated solar Hydrophilicity of the cotton Fabric Water productivity of the system → 4 L/m2
foam radiation) and reduced graphene oxide
[72] Dark painted sponge or hay 500 Photovoltaic/Thermal The porous media increase the performance of
the system
[73] Carbon-based gas diffusion 10,000 (Simulated solar Gold nanofluid (Au) The evaporation increased by using porous
radiation with a Fresnel media
lens)
[74] Ionic polymers – Carbon-ink, salt and alkenyl Absorption of the radiation → 90% ↑
benzene material The efficiency of the system → 81% ↑
[75] Graphitic carbon and polymer foam bismuth 1000 (Simulated solar Monolithic bilayer sheets The efficiency of the system → 84% ↑
oxyhalide radiation) halogens The salt rejection of the system → 99%
[76] Hierarchical porous carbons 5000 (Simulated solar Halogen-containing polymers The Energy conversion efficiency of the system
radiation) → 95% ↑
The evaporation rate of the system → 7.87 kg/
m2
[77] Porous plasmonic absorber 1000 (Simulated solar Aluminium nanoparticles, anodic The efficiency of the system → 90% ↑
radiation) oxidation
[78] Carbon foams 1000 (Simulated solar Hydrophilic interconnected The highest steam generation efficiency of the
radiation) carbonization system (1 kW/m2) → 80.1%
[79] Bismuth oxyhalide – Different halogens in crystals The performance of the system using Bi5O7L is
more better the solar system with Bi5O7Br and
Bi5O7I.
[80] Dark painted sponge or hay 500 Condenser with water cooling The range of efficiency is 17–21%
The water productivity range is 1.51–1.89 kg/
day
[81] hydrophilic polymer with carbon nanotube 1000 (Simulated solar Double-layer structure, glass The efficiency of the system → 87%
radiation) microfiber membrane The evaporation rate of the system→1.62 kg/
m2.h
[82] Loofahs Sponge 5000 (Simulated solar Antifouling The efficiency of the system → 89.9%
radiation) The evaporation rate of the system→1.42 kg/
m2.h
[83] Electro spun nanofiber mat with carbon 1000 (Simulated solar High salinitz brine, photothermal The evaporation rate of the system →1.372 kg/
nanotube radiation) material m2
The solar conversion efficiency of the system →
86.1%↑
[84] Ionic polymers coated with acetylene black 1000 (Simulated solar Photothermal material, thermal The efficiency of the system → 85.4%↑
radiation) conductivity
[85] Carbon 1000 (Simulated solar Thermo-electric power generation, The efficiency of the system → 84.1%↑
radiation) food waste
[86] Hydrophobic carbon black nanoparticles 1000 (Simulated solar Sequential electrospinning High efficiency of the system → 72%
which coating polymethylmethacrylate radiation) The water productivity of the system → 1.3 L/
m2hr
[87] Graphite foam coated with carbon 3000 (Simulated solar Superhydrophobic materials The water productivity of the system → 6.6 kg/
radiation) m2hr
[88] Carbon blacks 1500 (Simulated solar Super hydrophilic polystyrene and The efficiency of the system → 85.5%
radiation) lignocellulose skeleton
[89] Nickel-embedded 1000 (Simulated solar Anodization and electroplating, The efficiency of the system → 73%↑
radiation) graphite, solar flux
[90] Carbon 1000 (Simulated solar Food waste, polyvinyl alcohol The photothermal efficiency of the system →
radiation) sponge 91.17%
[91] Polygon complex hydrogels 1000 (Simulated solar Hydrogel-based with Highest efficiency and evaporation rate were
radiation) interpenetrated polyaniline improved of 67% and 2.79 kg/m2 per hour.
[92] Natural corn stalk 1000 (Simulated solar Multi-walled carbon nanotubes and High efficiency of the system → 68.2% ↑
radiation) titanium dioxide The evaporation rate of the system → 2.48 kg/
m2hr↑

11
S. Shoeibi et al.
characteristic of PIC, improved in various brines, generating high water
and decreasing energy consumption of water evaporation. Besides, the
synergy of light absorption and tailoring of polymer-ions interaction led
to a highly efficient and salt-resistant solar vapor generator by a 67%
higher evaporation rate of 2790 g/m2 per hour. In another study, Sun
et al. [92] achieved a high efficiency solar still evaporator composed of
natural corn stalks. The solar steam evaporator by the traditional photo-
thermal coating with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and titanium di­
oxide (Mcnt-TiO2), the layer was ultra-fast capillary water moisture
transportation and porous bio-tissue multi-layer filtration with low
thermal conductivity (0.28 W/m.K) at dry state. The hourly evaporation
rate and efficiency improved by 2480 kg/m2 and 68.2% respectively,
and the average daily water were between 4.3 kg/m2 and 5800 kg/m2
on sunny days and between 3000 kg/m2 and 3900 kg/m2 on cloudy
days. Table 5 illustrates the comparison increase of the evaporation rate
using porous media. The obtained results revealed that the performance
of the desalination system using a dark painted sponge or hay porous
media was enhanced compared with conventional solar still desalina­
tion. Also, the salt water rejection of the desalination system using
graphitic carbon and polymer foam bismuth oxyhalide porous media
was about 99%. Moreover, the evaporation rate of the desalination
system with hierarchical porous carbons was about 7.87 kg/m2.
4. Salt scaling and fouling in porous materials used in solar
desalination
The review of past research in the previous sections shows that the
use of porous materials in solar still desalination improves the evapo­
ration rate of the system. By increasing the evaporation of water, the
concentration of salt in the desalinated water increases and leads to the
formation of sediment and the filling of the pores of the porous material,
which can be considered as a weakness for the use of porous materials in
the solar desalination system. Some studies have investigated the effects
of salt scaling and provided solutions on performance of the system to
prevent the formation of deposits and to eliminate them. Srivastava and
Agrawal [57] observed some deterioration in the cotton cloth capillarity
due to salt deposition but the performance of modified solar still with
porous fins was not significantly affected and also the performance was
always better than conventional system. The old cotton cloth or rags
were used in this study, which can be replaced easily and economically.
The effect of salt concentration on the performance of an air gap
membrane distillation setup and water production were mathematically
evaluated by Shirsath et al. [66]. Results showed that the salt concen­
tration in the feed water has an inverse impact on vapor pressure and
elevation of boiling point, and caused the reduction of productivity. The
effect of salt concentration on lowering of the vapor pressure is given by
Raoult’s Law [93]. Deterioration of absorber porous material and
deposition of salts on its surface were predicted by Hassan et al. [68] but
since it was a very cheap and readily available material, replacing the
absorber were convenient and economical, unlike the expensive
replacement of membranes and filters in modern reverse osmosis
machines.
Most interfacial solar evaporators that have been evaluated and
studied, localized heating and rapid generation of interfacial vapor can
cause salt accumulation on the surface of the evaporator and block the
vapor evaporation channels, resulting in a decrease in the vapor gen­
eration rate as the time passes [70,71,83]. Wang et al. [74] increased the
performance of the solar still evaporators with washing porous ionic
polymers in several times. In another study, salts accumulated only in
the below layer of the porous hydrophilic polyimide and were rapidly
dissolved by the continuous flow of water through the interconnected
microporous structures of the bottom layer of PI foam. The hydropho­
bicity of PI foam allows the influx of salt water, while the hydrophobic
property of hierarchical porous graphite carbon prevents this from
happening [75]. In addition, continuous pumping of water was
considered to desolate the salt in the hydrophilic layer of
12
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
polyacrylonitrile [86].
Removal of salts by traditional physical cleaning methods including
simple water soaking and sonication causes structural damage and loss
of photothermal components. Thus, salinity accumulation remains an
important and poorly studied challenge for solar steam generators.
However, these vapors generally have to be diluted to avoid salt depo­
sition at the hydrophobic/hydrophilic interface, which leads to inade­
quate thermal insulation and unsatisfactory thermal localization
[70,71]. The porous structure and superhydrophilic surface provide
important water transport channels and thus prevent salt deposition,
even in high-salinity brine (20 wt% NaCl) [83]. In this regard, a new
self-desalting system composed of hydrophilic reduced graphene oxide
(RGO)/cotton fabric on vertically oriented polyacrylonitrile foam
(VOPPF) was proposed in [71] which illustrated that the surface of
RGO/cotton fabric did not contain salt in simulated seawater (3.5 wt%
NaCl) for 12 h of desalination. Liu et al. [82] used the high water ab­
sorption property of the Loofah sponge for the salt expansion and
introduced antifouling porous Loofah sponge. Also, the food waste
structure makes itself self-regenerating, thus resulting to no salt
blockage during intensive evaporation process [85]. Improved designs
that can overcome the salt excretion while maintaining local heating for
efficient solar steam generation are key to next-generation solar evap­
orator designs [70].
5. Economic analysis of solar still desalination using porous
material
Economic analysis is one of the key factors in various solar energy
systems. To determine the cost of productivity, the manufacturing value
and the value of the water output for solar desalination are calculated.
The use of different methods to increase system capacity can have a
significant impact on the cost per liter (CPL) of produced water. The use
of porous materials with different types of solar desalination enhanced
the productivity and cost of the installation. Table 6 compares the
economics of solar desalination using porous material. The results
indicate that the lowest CPL was obtained to single slope solar desali­
nation with bubble-wrap, which was 0.0051 $/L.
6. Conclusion
Solar still desalination systems are the most effective techniques of
desalination systems that are well studied and environmentally friendly
devices that are utilized for generating distilled water from saline water
owing to the low price of freshwater productivity, the feasibility of use in
most weather and remote areas, and lower CO2 emission. Different
materials increase the evaporation rate of the solar still desalination
systems. The porous material such as coal, black steel wool fibers and
cotton wick dark painted sponges are the promising techniques to in­
crease evaporation surface by enhancing radiative and convective heat
transfers. This review paper investigated different types of porous ma­
terial with applications in solar stills. The outcomes of this review paper
can be summarised as follows:
• The salt water rejection of the desalination system using graphitic
carbon and polymer foam bismuth oxyhalide porous media was
about 99%.
• In all types including passive and active solar stills, porous materials
enhance the temperature of the water which causes the temperature
gradient between the cover and water increase and increase the
productivity of the system.
• The evaporation rate of the solar still desalination system with hi­
erarchical porous carbons was about 7.87 kg/m2.
• The performance of the desalination system using dark painted
sponges or hay porous media increases in comparison with conven­
tional solar still.
S. Shoeibi et al.
Table 6
Comparison of economic parameters on different solar desalination using porous
material.
References Type of solar Study parameter Results
desalination
[59] Single slope Conventional CPL of modified solar
desalination utilizing 2 cm
stone size and conventional
solar desalination were
0.017$/L/m2 and 0.02$/L/
m2, respectively.
The cost of water production
with porous fine black stone
absorber reduced from about
8.2% to 17.53% compared to
conventional type.
[62] Single slope Conventional CPL of solar still in types of
conventional, horizontal full
capacity, horizontal inline
half capacity, horizontal
staggered half capacity, and
vertical full capacity are
0.01782, 0.01409, 0.01376,
0.01090, and 0.01306 $/l/
m2, respectively.
The horizontal staggered half
capacity solar still causes the
highest reduction in the
freshwater cost by about
38.82%, compared to
conventional solar still.
[19] Single slope Conventional CPL of the distilled water
production, the costs per
liter, for the modified solar
desalination with a porous
sponge rubber and
conventional stills were
0.0095 and 0.0108 $/L/m2,
respectively.
[63] Single slope bubble-wrap (BW) CPL of the single slope solar
insulation still in types of without
insulation, with bubble-wrap
insulation, with carbon
impregnated foam and
bubble-wrap and with
sawdust insulation were
0.0060, 0.0051, 0.0064, and
0.0086 $/L, respectively
[65] Double slope PCM/Nano-PCM The CPL of the solar still with
and anthracite, nano-coated, and
0.3 wt% CuO nano-enhanced
PCM and traditional solar
desalination were 0.1 and
0.113 $/L, respectively.
[13] Double slope CuO/ Nano-PCM The CPL of conventional
solar still, porous surface
absorber solar still, PCM-
porous surface absorber solar
still, and nano enhanced
PCM-porous surface
absorber solar still were
0.121, 0.107, 0.106, and
0.098 $/L, respectively.
[67] Single slope Preheating with System with black steel wool
PV module fibers and 60% preheated
had minimum freshwater
production cost (0.0266 $/L)
and system without
preheating (0%) had the
highest (0.0328 $/L).
[68] Single slope Air glass cooling The maximum and minimum
and finned cost of freshwater was
condenser achieved in the cases of
modified solar still having an
umbrella (0.02579 $/L) and
modified solar still with heat
sink condenser with forced-
13
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387
Table 6 (continued )
References Type of solar Study parameter Results
desalination
water cooling and contains
sand in the basin (0.0224
$/L), respectively
• Water depth is directly associated with the porous material and ef­
ficiency of solar stills.
• Hydrophobic membrane, graphene oxide and cotton fabric, carbon
and Loofahs Sponge were cost-effective materials and affected the
efficiency of evaporation rate.
• The water output of the solar still using the sponge, black jute cloth,
pebble pieces and floating carbonaceous porous media was enhanced
by 40–70%.
• The productivity of the desalination system of black steel wool fibber
porous media using the photovoltaic thermal system was increased
by about 20.9%.
• The water output of the desalination system using aluminium fins
porous media was increased by about 42.3%.
• The water height of solar still desalination using black basalt porous
absorber has a positive effect on the exergy efficiency and water
output of the system.
• The energy efficiency of the solar still by activated carbon porous
media was enhanced by 94.14%
• The CPL of the single slope solar desalination with bubble-wrap
insulation, was 0.0051 $/L.
7. Future work
• The use of various nanoparticles covered on porous absorbers could
also have a large effect on increasing the thermal conductivity and
absorption of solar radiation on solar stills which require more
investigation.
• The economic, environmental and CO2 mitigation study of different
porous materials in solar still needs to be investigated.
• The combination of different porous media in the basin and ther­
moelectric generators under the basin to enhance the thermal and
electrical efficiencies of the system have not been well understood.
• It is recommended to study the use of low-price media, sponges or
other media that would decrease the cost per liter of the solar still
desalination system.
• In all previous studies, natural convection has been performed be­
tween the porous absorber and saline water, while the force con­
vection using a pump can have a high impact on the evaporation rate
of the solar still desalination system and it is subject to further
studies.
• An improved design that can overcome salt excretion while main­
taining local heating is recommended for efficient solar steam
production.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Shahin Shoeibi: Software, Conceptualization, Formal analysis,
Visualization, Supervision, Validation, Project administration, Writing –
review & editing. Mohammad Saemian: Software, Conceptualization,
Formal analysis, Visualization, Supervision, Validation. Hadi Kargar­
sharifabad: Methodology, Software, Conceptualization, Formal anal­
ysis, Writing – review & editing. Siamak Hosseinzade:
Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Nader
Rahbar: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – review & edit­
ing. Mehdi Khiadani: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing –
review & editing. Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi: Methodology, Software,
Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing.
S. Shoeibi et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 138 (2022) 106387

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