Accepted Manuscript

Experimental Work on the Effect of Saline Water Medium on the Performance of

Solar Still with Tracked Parabolic Trough Collector (TPTC)

Hamdy Hassan, M.Salem Ahmed, Mohamed Fathy

PII: S0960-1481(18)31431-9

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.112

Reference: RENE 10875

To appear in: Renewable Energy

Received Date: 29 May 2018

Accepted Date: 30 November 2018

Please cite this article as: Hamdy Hassan, M.Salem Ahmed, Mohamed Fathy, Experimental Work
on the Effect of Saline Water Medium on the Performance of Solar Still with Tracked Parabolic
Trough Collector (TPTC), Renewable Energy (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.112

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

1 Experimental Work on the Effect of Saline Water Medium on the Performance of

2 Solar Still with Tracked Parabolic Trough Collector (TPTC)
3
4 Hamdy Hassan1, 2, M. Salem Ahmed3*, Mohamed Fathy4
5 1 Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Alexandria, Egypt
6 2 Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
7 3 Mechanical Department, Faculty of Industrial Education, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt
8 4Teacher at Technical Industrial Institute, Sohag, Egypt
9
10 Corresponding author: M. Salem Ahmed
11 Email address: mahmoudsalem.ahmed@yahoo.com
12 Abstract
13 An experimental work is presented to study the effect of the saline water medium on the
14 performance of double acting solar still combined with tracked parabolic trough collector
15 (TPTC). Three saline water mediums are considered in the basin: pure saline water, steel
16 wire mesh, and sand saturated with saline water. The effect of these mediums on the
17 freshwater productivity of modified solar still (solar still with TPTC) and the conventional
18 solar still was studied. The study was carried out during cold climate (winter) and hot
19 climate (summer) times. Additionally, a comparison of the performance of the desalination
20 system at different saline water mediums between winter and summer was conducted.
21 Moreover, a cost analysis of the system was presented. The findings reveal that using wire
22 mesh and sand raises the daily yield freshwater by about 3.1% and 13.7% respectively in
23 winter and about 3.4% and 14.1% respectively in summer for the modified system.
24 Furthermore, using wire mesh and sand with saline water of the modified system enhance
25 the system efficiency by 3.3% and 15.3% respectively in summer and 3.9% and 13.8%
26 respectively in winter. The cost of the accumulated liter of freshwater is reduced by using
27 sand and wire mesh.
28 Key words: Solar Still; Tracked Parabolic Trough Collector (TPTC); Freshwater
29 Productivity; Wire Mesh; Sand
30 Nomenclature
31 AOMC annual operating and maintenance cost, $
32 ASV annual salvage value
33 Cp specific heat, J/kg. K
34 CRF capital recovery factor
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35 D diameter, m
36 FAC fixed annual cost, $
37 i interest per year
38 I incident solar radiation, W/m2
39 k thermal conductivity, W/m.K
40 L latent heat of evaporation, J/kg
41 Mp daily productivity, kg/s
42 n number of life years of the system
43 P capital cost, $
44 𝑄𝑐 useful energy, W

45 T temperature, oC
46 TAC total annual cost, $
47 TPTC tracked parabolic trough collector
48 S salvage value
49 SFF sinking fund factor
50 Greek symbols
51  density, kg/m3
52  efficiency
53  viscosity, Pa.s
54 Subscripts
55 a ambient
56 g glass
57 in inlet
58 out outlet
59 v vapor
60 w water
61
62 1. Introduction
63
64 Water and energy are the most vital demands in the world and they face the greatest
65 challenge to find alternative resources. Nowadays, demand on energy and water have been
66 increased steadily due to growing populations and high progress of several fields such as

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67 hydropower, transports sectors, industries fields, buildings sectors, irrigation activities, air
68 conditioning resulted from climate change, etc. Freshwater scarcity represents a big
69 problem especially for people who live in regions of saline water and arid regions [1-4].
70 There are many people living in cities bordering the shores of the seas and arid zones and
71 they suffer from lack of fresh water for drinking and other uses. However, water covers
72 71% of earth surface but 97% of the earth's water is presented as salty water in oceans and
73 seas, while 2% is reserved in Polar Regions as ice and only 1% is available as freshwater
74 in the form of lakes, rivers, and groundwater [5-7]. Additionally, 3.575 million people die
75 each year because of the diseases due to water problems such as clean and fresh water
76 shortage, and water pollution due to delivering used untreated water into the environment,
77 polluting rivers, lakes, and oceans, etc. [8]. So, it is important to search for alternative
78 sources to supply these people with their need for water especially in arid regions and
79 remote area of non-water sources. Distillation is the old method to obtain fresh water from
80 brackish water, but it does not meet the needs of the population of freshwater. This pushed
81 the researchers to find alternative methods to improve the desalination systems to obtain
82 the required fresh water. Desalination process represents one type of usages energy which
83 is operated by high energy resource, but it is not worth using fossil energy as an energy
84 source as its exhausts cause environmental pollution and thereby contaminate the water.
85 Solar energy is a promising energy resource available everywhere and those regions are
86 owned by high intensity of solar energy. So, solar energy is the solution to compensate
87 the need of higher energy because it is renewable, free, and clean energy and friendly to
88 the environment [9].
89 Several types of desalination techniques were investigated and designed by researchers
90 and one common of desalination type is known as solar still. In solar still, the saline water
91 inside the still basin is evaporated by using solar energy and the condensation on the still
92 walls is collected and exits as freshwater. The advantages of solar stills are cheap, simple,
93 require low maintenance, work on low energy rate, don’t require fossil fuels and are
94 environment-friendly technology [6,8,10], but they suffer from low productivity [11-14].
95 This low yield could be compensated by coupling the still with other energy providers like
96 solar collectors or using porous medium inside the still basin. Solar still could be divided
97 into two types according to its work; passive and active solar still [15]. Passive solar still
98 is the conventional solar still but active solar still is incorporated with other systems such
99 as collector [16-18], pump [19], or system of sun tracking [20] to supply more energy [3,
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100 22-22] and to increase the still productivity. Moreover, solar still is classified according
101 to its configuration to single slope and double slope solar stills. Many studies were
102 conducted experimentally and theoretically on the solar still to increase its performance
103 and productivity.
104 The parameters and design conditions that influence the performance of the still were
105 investigated by researchers to enhance the solar still productivity [23-28]. Aburideh et al.
106 [29] conducted an experimental work on double slope solar still to test its productivity
107 under different parameters. They found that freshwater yield is increased when the
108 temperature difference between water vapor and glass walls increases. Also, the variation
109 of wind and climate conditions influence on the solar still production. Al-Nimr and
110 Dahdolan [30] presented a theoretical study on the effect of solar still parameters on its
111 performance. Their results revealed that decreasing condenser and ambient temperature
112 and rising wind speed increase the efficiency of the still and desalinated freshwater.
113 Moreover, they found that the increase of the solar intensity increases the distillation rate,
114 but the efficiency is not increased for the entire intensity range. Srivastava et al. [30]
115 modified basin solar still with multiple low thermal inertia porous absorbers floated on
116 the bottom of basin water. They conducted their study experimentally and theoretically.
117 This modified solar still gave higher saline water temperature and freshwater productivity.
118 Matrawy et al. [32] studied the performance of a corrugated basin type solar still used
119 black cloth, immersed in the saline water, as a wicking material. It was reported that the
120 modified still achieved about a 34% increase in the freshwater productivity compared the
121 conventional still. Patela et al. [33] introduced an experimental study on the modified
122 passive solar still using three different models of the same basin area. The first solar still
123 is sensible heat storage material of thermic fluids, the second still is of an increased frontal
124 height and the third is the conventional still. They used three different depths of saline
125 water; 2cm, 3cm and 4cm. They found that at 2 cm saline water depth, the productivity is
126 greater for first still, at 3 cm water depth, the yield is greater for the second still and at 4
127 cm water depth, the productivity is greater for the third still.
128 Some works concentrated on increasing the saline water evaporation by increasing the
129 heat transfer process in the basin by using conductive materials. Shukla et al. [34]
130 performed an experimental work on the performance of passive solar still using vertical
131 and horizontal meshes in the basin. The findings revealed that compared to conventional
132 solar still, the vertical and horizontal meshes increase the efficiency by about 13% and
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133 6%, respectively and the production for the vertical and horizontal meshes is 0.4 L/day
134 and 1 L/day, respectively. Also, an experimental work on the single slope solar still was
135 carried out by Samuel et al. [35]. They added different low-cost energy storage materials
136 such as spherical ball salt storage and sponge. They found that the freshwater yield for
137 the still with spherical ball salt storage, still with storage material and conventional still is
138 3.7 kg/m2, 2.7 kg/m2, and 2.2 kg/m2, respectively. Other researchers added nanoparticles
139 to the saline water in the basin to increase the heat transfer process and they studied the
140 effect of using them on the yields [36-39]. The effect of adding alumina oxide
141 nanoparticles on the saline water in the basin on the performance of passive double slope
142 solar still is investigated theoretically by Sahota and Tiwari [40]. This study was
143 performed for three mass nanoparticles concentrations (0.04%, 0.08%, and 0.12%) and
144 two values of water mass in the basin (35 and 80 kg). Their results revealed that for 0.12%
145 concentration of nanoparticles, the productivity was increased by about 12.2% and 8.4%
146 for studied water masses of 35 and 80 kg, respectively. Alaian et al. [41] presented an
147 experimental work on the performance of a solar still with wicked pin fins in the solar still
148 basin. The findings showed that the still yield is enhanced by 23% when the wicked pin
149 fins are applied in the basin. Sharshir et al. [42] studied experimentally the effect of
150 graphite and copper oxide micro-flakes with concentrations between 0.125% and 2% on
151 the productivity of solar stills where its glass cover was cooled by flowing water. The
152 working fluid depth in the basin was changed from 0.25 to 5 cm, and the mass flow rate
153 of cooling water flowing on the glass cover changed from 1 and 12 kg/h. The findings of
154 this work stated that using water flow over the glass cover and graphite particles enhanced
155 the productivity of freshwater by about 57.6 % while copper oxide particles raised the
156 yield of freshwater by 47.8%. The effect of the condenser type and basin water medium
157 on the performance of single acting solar still was presented by Hassan and Abo-Elfadl
158 [6]. They found that the solar still productivity is augmented by about 31% by using pin-
159 finned heat sink as a condenser compared to conventional solar still. Their work stated
160 that the conventional still, conventional still with sand, conventional with a mixture of
161 sand and steel fibers, and conventional still with steel fibers have the freshwater
162 productivity of 2.715, 2.975, 3.236, and 3.678 kg/m2.day, respectively.
163 Different couplings techniques of the solar still with other systems were studied in the
164 active solar stills. Moreover, the impact of the modified solar still systems on its
165 performance and productivity was studied. Arunkumar et al. [43] designed and
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166 constructed seven different designed solar stills including; spherical, pyramidal,
167 hemispherical, double basin, compound parabolic collector (CPC) tubular, CPC coupled
168 with pyramid solar still. The results showed that tubular solar still coupled with pyramid
169 solar still revealed the maximum productivity because of the concentrator effect. Also,
170 they proved that the yield of the solar still entirely depends on the climatic parameters.
171 Additionally, using concentrator collector increased the water temperature to 95oC for hot
172 climate conditions which is greater than the other types of designs. A modification on the
173 solar still by incorporating a rotating drum which provides a thin water film is performed
174 by Malaeb et al. [44]. They evaluated a theoretical model to study the effects of important
175 variables such as wind speed, solar radiation, brine water level and rotating drum speed.
176 They found an increase in the freshwater productivity with respect to conventional still.
177 Babuk et al. [45] constructed flat plate collector to heat 20 cm saline water depth of double
178 slope solar still before entering to the solar still. They studied the performance of this
179 modified solar still theoretically and experimentally. The results showed that the modified
180 still yield is 77% higher than the conventional still. Moreover, they found that the
181 theoretical yield for the modified still is about 4.76 kg/m2 but the experimental yield is
182 3.55kg/m2. A solar still coupled with heat pump at different operational parameters was
183 examined by Khaoula and Slimane [46]. The studied parameters involved; with and
184 without heat pump, with or without orientation, simple or double glass cover, and
185 temperature differences between the still cover and water. Also, a comparison of the
186 results obtained with conventional solar distiller was presented. They revealed an increase
187 in the productivity by about 75% of the modified still than the conventional one. The
188 effectiveness of coupling photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) system with solar still on its performance
189 was presented by Manokar et al. [47]. They found that the passive solar still can produce 2-5
190 kg/m2 of freshwater but in case of solar still integrated with PV/T collector, it can give daily
191 production of 6-12 kg/m2 of freshwater. Sathyamurthy et al. [48] presented a review paper on
192 the performance of coupling different solar collectors with the solar still. They found that
193 the use of concentrating collectors improved the efficiency by 137% by using phase change
194 material (PCM) balls and a cover cooling technique. Additionally, solar still with internal
195 and external fixed reflectors appears to be the best technique in improving the yield at low
196 cost compared to other expensive techniques. Moreover, the integration of solar collectors
197 with solar stills increases the yield of freshwater by 36%. The effect of using a wind
198 turbine and a fan on the performance of conventional still was studied by Omara et al.

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199 [49]. The wind turbine is used to move the water fan in the still basin through a mechanical
200 system (gearboxes, bearings, shafts, brake control). They found that the still productivity
201 was raised by about 17% at 3 cm water depth and 30 rpm of fan speed.
202 Despite the large number of works on the solar still, a few numbers on the modified solar
203 still using other additions have been conducted which have a potential on increasing the
204 productivity with low cost and simple design. In this work, the effect of saline water
205 medium on the performance and productivity of double acting solar still coupled with
206 TPTC is performed for the first time to the authors best knowledge. Moreover, it is noticed
207 that most previous studies concentrated on the summer period because it produces much
208 freshwater despite the low ambient temperature in winter which increases the
209 condensation of evaporated freshwater. So, the modified system performance in winter
210 and summer are compared at different saline water mediums to well understand this
211 system performance at different climates conditions. Also, a comparison between the
212 performance and cost of the modified system and the conventional solar still is presented.
213 Three saline water mediums are considered: pure saline water, steel wire mesh in the basin
214 and sand saturated with saline water. Moreover, the effect of these mediums on the cost
215 of liter freshwater for the compound system (still with TPTC) and conventional still is
216 considered.
217
218 2. Experimental work
219 2.1 Description of the experimental set-up
220 The experimental setup used in the present study was installed at the roof of the faculty of
221 industrial education, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt (Longitude 31.41E and Latitude
222 26.33N). The experimental setup as shown in Figs. 1a and 1b is composed of double slope
223 solar still combined with parabolic trough collector tracking the sun manually (TPTC).
224 The solar still consists of saline water basin of cross-sectional area (1m × 1.5 m) and height
225 0.1 m. The basin walls are fabricated from galvanized steel sheet of thickness 1.5 mm. It
226 is fitted inside a wooden frame of 0.03 m thick and 0.20 m height and external dimensions
227 1.70 m ×1.20 m. The space between the wooden frame and the basin is filled by an
228 insulating foam layer to decrease the heat loss from the basin to the ambient. All inside
229 surfaces of the basin are painted with black material to increase their absorptivity of solar
230 radiation. In addition, the bottom surface of the basin is insulated with fiberglass of 0.1
231 m thickness having low thermal conductivity to diminish the heat loss from the basin to
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232 the ambient. The solar still is enclosed by 4 mm thick glass sheet making an angle of 26.5o
233 with the horizontal (latitude angle of setup location; Sohag, Egypt). The solar still is
234 adjusted to the south-north direction for more gathering of incident solar radiation to the
235 solar still. Bonding silicon material is used to prevent any leakage between the basin box
236 and the glass cover. At each side of the still, there is a desalinated channel to collect the
237 condensed water vapor. Moreover, a channel made of reinforced plastic (Aquatherm) of
238 4.0 mm thickness is fitted inside the still at the base of the still glass walls to collect the
239 condensed freshwater. This channel is tilted with enough slope at each side of the glass
240 walls to efficiently collect the condensed freshwater. A cylindrical tank filled with saline
241 water is placed 1 m above the water surface in the basin to compensate the condensed
242 freshwater by saline water in the basin.
243 TPTC consists of cylindrical parabolic concentrator used as a reflector to concentrate the
244 solar radiation on the receiver tube as shown in Fig.1a. The cylindrical parabolic
245 concentrator is manufactured from reflective stainless-steel sheet of 0.4 mm thickness, 1.2
246 m wide and 2.5 m long with an effective aperture area 3 m2 and geometrical concentration
247 ratio 28.6. The back of the TPTC cylinder was insulated with low thermal conductivity
248 foam material to decrease its heat loss. The receiver tube of the TPTC consists of an
249 absorber copper tube of 2.54 cm diameter and 2.5 m long and it is covered by glass
250 evacuated tube of 4.2 cm diameter and 2.5 m long. The evacuated space between the
251 copper tube and the glass tube is used to diminish the convective heat losses and increase
252 the absorbed incident solar radiation by the receiver tube. The absorbed solar radiation by
253 the copper absorber tube is transmitted to the oil flowing inside this tube where the heated
254 oil is flowing across the still basin through the pipe to heat the saline water and then
255 follows a return cycle to the TPTC. The properties of the used oil are listed in Table 1.
256 Plastic tubes are used to transmit the heated oil from the receiver copper tube to the inlet
257 of the solar still and vice versa as shown in Fig.1a. The plastic tubes are made of plastic
258 with low thermal conductivity and are insulated at their outside surface with insulated
259 material to decrease the heat loss from the oil. The heat carried by the oil at the inlet to the
260 still transmits its heat to the saline water in the basin by using oil heat exchanger (oil
261 Finned-serpentine loop). The pipes of the heat exchanger are fabricated from a copper
262 tube of 0.8 cm diameter and 20 m length and it is installed in the bottom of the basin as
263 shown in Fig.2a. The hot oil flows through the heat exchanger during four passes as shown
264 in Fig.2a. Oil inters these passes during four inlet ports and returns in another four ports
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265 to give a uniform temperature distribution through the basin. To increase the heat transfer
266 between the hot oil in the heat exchanger tubes and the saline water in the basin,
267 rectangular copper fins are installed at the heat exchanger tubes with 1.6 cm height as
268 shown in Fig. 2a. These fins also enhance the heat transfer through the saline water in the
269 basin. All the heat exchanger tubes and the fins are painted with black material to increase
270 their absorptivity to solar radiation. A small pump is used to pump the hot oil through the
271 tubes of the system at a flow rate of 3 L/min (solar still and TPTC). The experimental
272 work is carried out at three cases: (i) the basin of the solar still is filled with only pure
273 saline water as shown in Fig 1b, (ii) the fins of the oil pipes are covered by steel wires
274 mesh submerged in the saline water as shown in Fig. 2b to increase the heat transfer rate
275 between fins and inside the basin and (iii) sand saturated with saline water as shown in
276 Fig.2b.
277
278
279
Supply saline
280 water
Oil pipes
281
Solar Still
282 TPTC
283
284
Oil pump
285 Oil tank
286
Freshwater flask
287
288
289
290 Fig.1a. Experimental setup
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
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298
299
Water vapor
300 (humid air region)
301
302
303
304
305
306 Fig.1b. Details of solar still
307
308
309
310
311 Table 1: Properties of used thermal oil at 20ºC
312
Properties Value
Density ρ (Kg/m3) 850
Viscosity μ (Pa.s) 0.0686
Thermal Conductivity K (W/m. K) 0.14
Specific heat capacity Cp (J/kg ºC) 1966
Boiling temperature (ºC) 267
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323

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324
325 Basin Fins
326 Wood frame
Oil pipes
327
328
4
329 1 2 3
Hot oil from PTC
330
331 Steel support Cooled oil to PTC
332
333
334
335
336
337
338 Fig.2a. Image of still basin with oil heat exchanger
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349 Steel mesh wire Sand
350
351 Fig. 2b: Mediums used in the basin
352
353 2.2 Experimental measurements
354 The measurements were performed from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at August 2017 and
355 January 2017. Different temperatures were measured instantaneously during the
356 experiments: ambient (Ta), inside glass cover (Tg,in), outside glass cover (Tg,out), saline
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357 water (Tw), water vapor (Tv), and inlet oil temperature to the still (Toil,in). The measured
358 glass temperature was taken on the glass wall facing the south because it has the
359 maximum area and the great effect on the solar still performance with respect to other
360 glass walls. The temperature inside the basin was measured at a distance 1cm from its
361 bottom surface. Thermocouples of K-type were used to measure these temperatures and
362 the outputs of these thermocouples were recorded on a digital temperature
363 programmable device of the model (G4LCUEA). Digital Pyranometer of the model (sp
364 lite2 silicon) was used to measure the intensity of incident solar radiation (I). Flow vane
365 anemometer of the model (MEITAV.M4000) was used to measure the wind speed and
366 a calibrated flask was used to collect the desalinated freshwater. During all experiments
367 measurements, the oil flow rate was reserved constant at 3 L/min and the water depth in
368 the basin was kept constant at 20 mm. All the temperatures, solar intensity, wind speed,
369 and collected desalinated water were measured and recorded at the same time each one
370 hour. A calibration was carried out for all the measured data during the experiments and
371 the presented results in this work take into consideration the calibration data.
372
373 2.3 Uncertainty and Error analysis
374 The uncertainty and error analysis of the measured experimental data were considered
375 in this study. During the experimental setup preparation and measurements, all
376 necessary precautions were taken to diminish these errors. Also, a calibration of all used
377 thermocouples and instruments in this work was performed and considered in our
378 results. The uncertainty analysis is carried out in agreement with the error analysis
379 provided by Taylor [49]. The experimental uncertainty of the measured parameters is
380 classified into two types [6]. Type I is an uncertainty resulted from manufacturer’s
381 specifications, calibration of instruments, calibration certificates, and available in the
382 reference books. Type II is an uncertainty resulted from statistical analysis of repeated
383 observations. Type I uncertainties of the measured parameters of the different measuring
384 instruments in our experiments are shown in Table 2. Some values of these data are
385 provided from instruments data sheet and other values are supplied by the instrument’s
386 suppliers. Type II uncertainty is base on the root sum square of the fixed error of the
387 instrumentation and the random error observed through different measurements [50].
388 The uncertainty  of value f such as still efficiency calculated from the experimental
389 results is computed based on the equation [49].
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2 2
390 𝛿= (∂𝑓∂𝑥) 𝛿2𝑥 + (∂𝑦∂𝑓) 2
𝛿𝑦 (1)

391 Where x and y are the uncertainty of measured values x and y, respectively. Based on
392 the uncertainty equation, the maximum error of the calculated daily productivity and
393 efficiency are ±0.11% and ±0.6% respectively based on a repeated experiment.
394
395 Table 2: Uncertainties and errors for various experimental devices [51]
396
Device Uncertainty Range Error
EZ-view flowmeter ±0.05 L/min 2 - 15 L/min 0.83%
Pyranometer ±1 W/m2 0 - 5000 W/m2 0.15%
Vane anemometer ±0.1 m/s 0 -15 m/s 3.5%
Thermocouples ±0.5 ºC -200: 1370 ºC 1.8%
Calibrated flask ±5 ml 0 – 2000 ml 0.87%
397
398 3 Results and Discussions
399 The results of the experimental work in this paper are carried out for 20 mm saline water
400 depth in the basin for the modified system (Solar still with TPTC) and conventional solar
401 still. The results presented conducted on 03/08/2017 to 20/08/2017 during summer and
402 for days from 01/01/2017 to 28/01/2017 in winter. Then, the measurements for the
403 summer days are carried out during August of the high solar radiation as indicated in table
404 3. Moreover, this month represents a stable climate conditions with no clouds at this region
405 (Sohag-Egypt) and the change of the wind speed, temperature and solar intensity is not
406 high to affect the results conclusions. The same conditions for January of low solar
407 irradiance at this region as shown in table 3. Also, one of the measurements at summer
408 and winter are repeated in another day and it is found that there is not a high influence of
409 changing the time on the results. The results are presented for three cases of the saline
410 water medium: only pure saline water in the basin, steel wire mesh submerged in the basin
411 as shown in Fig.2b and sand saturated with saline water. The advantages of using these
412 mediums are available and cheap with the benefits of limiting running cost. The results
413 are presented for the effect of saline water medium on the temperatures of different zones
414 of the system, hourly productivity and total daily productivity of the freshwater, efficiency

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415 of the system, and cost per liter of yield freshwater. The calibration results are considered
416 in the presented results.
417
418 Table 3: Monthly solar irradiance [52, 53]
Month Jan. Feb. Mar. Avr. May Jun. July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
kWh/m2/day 3.65 4.98 6.08 6.80 7.34 8.09 7.88 7.46 6.64 5.47 4.11 3.49

419
420 3.1 Temperatures Results
421 Knowing the temperature at different zones of the system (solar still and TPTC) gives a
422 good indication of the performance of the system. So, the temperatures of vapor region
423 (Tv), saline water (Tw), outside glass surface (Tg,out), inside glass surface (Tg,in), TPTC
424 absorber plate (Tb) oil inlet to still (Toil), and ambient air (Ta) are measured and analyzed.
425 3.1.1 Summer results
426 Figures 3 to 5 show the evolution of the solar still temperatures; vapor region, saline water,
427 outside glass surface, inside glass surface, inlet oil to solar still and ambient air; with time
428 in summer. Figures 3, 4 and 5 are shown for conventional solar still and modified system
429 (solar still with TPTC) at only pure saline water in the basin, saline water with steel wire
430 mesh and sand saturated with saline water mediums respectively. These figures indicate
431 that the solar intensity is increased from the morning until about 12 PM and then it is
432 decreased with time until the end of reading time. Also, all measured solar still
433 temperatures (Tv, Tw, Tg,out, Tg,in, Toil) have the same solar intensity trend where their
434 maximum values locate at about 1 PM. Moreover, for all cases, glass inlet temperature is
435 greater than glass outlet temperature and the water temperature is greater than the vapor
436 temperature which accords with the heat transfer process and the physics of the
437 evaporation process. The findings indicate that, for all studied cases in summer, the saline
438 water temperature and vapor temperature of the solar still in case of TPTC is greater than
439 conventional solar still because of the heat added from the TPTC by the heated oil. The
440 increase of the maximum water temperature due to using TPTC with respect to
441 conventional solar still is about 22.3 oC, 21.9 oC and 21.7 oC for pure saline water, wire
442 mesh and sand respectively as shown in Figs. 3 to 5. Also, the maximum difference
443 between the saline water and inlet oil temperature is about 20 oC for all studied cases.
444 Moreover, it is noticed that for conventional solar still and solar still with TPTC, the water
445 and vapor temperatures are greater in case of the sand medium than other mediums and in
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446 case of only pure saline water in the basin, these temperatures are the smallest compared
447 to other mediums. Because wire mesh and sand in the basin increase the transferred heat
448 from the solar radiation and oil paths to the saline water and hence they increase the
449 evaporation rate. Besides, sand decreases the reflected radiation from the basin to the
450 humid air and glass walls. Figs. 3b, 4b, and 5b show that using wire mesh and sand
451 increase the maximum saline water temperature by 1.1 oC and 2.6 oC respectively for the
452 modified system.

Tg,in Tg,out Tv
70 1100

65 03/08/2017 1000

60 900

Solar Intensity, W/m2

800
55
Temperature, oC

700
50
600
45
500
40 400
35 300
30 200
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

453 Time

454 (a) Conventional solar still

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Tg,in Tg,out Toil Tv Tw Ta I

110 1100
09/08/2017 1000
100
900

Solar Intensity, W/m2

90
800
80
Temperature, oC
700
70
600
60
500
50 400
40 300
30 200
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:0012:0013:0013:5915:0016:0016:59
455 Time
456 (b) Solar still with TPTC

457 Fig.3. Evolution of temperatures and solar intensity with time for pure saline water in
458 summer (a) Conventional solar still and (b) Solar still with TPTC

Tg,in Tg,out Tv Tw Ta I
70 1100
65 13/08/2017 1000

60 900

Solar Intensity, W/m2

800
55
700
Temperature, oC

50
600
45
500
40 400
35 300
30 200
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

459 Time
460 (a) Conventional solar still

16
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Tg,in Tg,out Toil Tv Tw Ta I

110 1100
17/08/2017 1000
100
900
90

Solar Intensity, W/m2

800
Temperature, oC 80
700
70
600
60
500
50
400
40 300

30 200
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:0012:0013:0013:5915:0016:0016:59

461 Time

462 (b) Solar still with TPTC

463 Fig.4. Evolution of temperatures and solar intensity with time for wire mesh medium in
464 summer (a) Conventional solar still and (b) Solar still with TPTC

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Tg,in Tg,out Tv Tw Ta I
70 1100

65 20/08/2017 1000

60 900

Solar Intensity, W/m2

800
55
700
Temperature, oC

50
600
45
500
40 400
35 300
30 200
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

465 Time

466 (a) Conventional solar still

Tg,in Tg,out Toil Tv

Tw Ta I
110 1100

100 09/08/2017 1000

90 900

Solar Intensity, W/m2

800
80
Temperature, oC

700
70
600
60
500
50 400
40 300
30 200
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

467 Time
468 (b) Solar still with TPTC

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469 Fig. 5. Evolution of temperatures and solar intensity with time for sand medium water
470 in summer (a) Conventional solar still and (b) Solar still with TPTC

471
472 3.1.2 Winter results
473 As stated previous, it is important to study the performance of using TPTC with solar
474 still in winter despite the lower solar intensity in winter than in summer because winter
475 represents a considerable period of the year. Additionally, the low ambient temperature
476 during the winter increases the condensation of the evaporated freshwater. Then, using
477 TPTC will be also effective in winter because it increases the evaporation process due
478 to the increase of the water temperature as stated previously. The evolution of the solar
479 still temperatures (Tv, Tw, Tg,out, Tg,in, Toil, Ta) with time for pure saline water medium,
480 wire mesh and sand are shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 respectively. Figs. 6a, 7a, and 8a are
481 shown for conventional solar still and Figs. 6b, 7b, and 8b are indicated for TPTC with
482 solar still. Figures 6 to 8 illustrate that the trends of the solar intensity and solar still
483 temperature during winter are the same during summer where the solar intensity and
484 temperature are increased with time from the mooring until about 12 PM and 1 PM
485 respectively and then they are reduced with time. Also, the water temperature is greater
486 than vapor temperature and glass temperature and the temperature of the outlet glass
487 surface is smaller than the inlet glass and the oil inlet temperature is the highest
488 temperature of the system. Additionally, the solar still temperatures of the TPTC with
489 solar still are greater than conventional solar still for all studied cases. The results show
490 that using TPTC with solar still increases the maximum water temperature by about 13.5
491 oC, 14.4 oC and 14.6 oC with respect to conventional solar still for pure saline water,
492 wire mesh and sand medium respectively. Also, using wire mesh and sand with TPTC
493 and solar still increase water temperature 1.8 oC and 2.0 oC respectively comparing to
494 pure saline water medium where. From these results and previous results, if we compare
495 the temperatures of the system in winter and summer, it is found that all the systems
496 temperatures in summer are greater than the corresponding temperatures in winter. This
497 is due the incident solar radiation in summer is greater than in winter. It is also noted
498 that using sand increases water temperature in winter than summer. The productivity of
499 the solar still depends on the saline water temperature (evaporation) and the temperature
500 difference between vapor and glass (condensation) [6, 52]. Table.4. tabulates a
501 comparison of the saline water temperature, vapor minus glass temperature, and solar
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502 intensity for conventional and modified solar still in winter and summer. Table 4 shows
503 that the solar intensity and water temperature change from summer to winter is the same
504 for all studied cases and it is about 22.1% and 30.2 % respectively. It also illustrates
505 that for all solar still systems, the water temperature and the difference between the
506 vapor and glass temperature are increased with using the porous medium which signifies
507 that porous medium increasing evaporation and condensation of the process.

Tg,in Tg,out Tv Tw Ta I
50 900

45
01/01/2017 800

Solar Intensity, W/m2

40 700
600
35
Temperature, oC

500
30
400
25
300
20 200
15 100
10 0
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00
AM AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM
Time
508

509 (a) Conventional solar still

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Tg,in Tg,out Toil Tv

Tw Ta I
80 900
07/01/2017 800
70
700

Solar Intensity, W/m2

60
600
Temperature, oC

50 500

40 400
300
30
200
20
100
10 0
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00
AM AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM
Time
510
511 (b) Solar still with TPTC
512 Fig. 6. Evolution of temperatures and solar intensity with time for pure saline water in
513 winter (a) Conventional solar still and (b) Solar still +TPTC

Tg,in Tg,out Tv Tw Ta I
50 900

45 10/01/2017 800

700

Solar Intensity, W/m2

40
600
35
500
Temperature, oC

30
400
25
300
20
200
15 100

10 0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

Time
514

21
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515 (a) Conventional solar still

Tg,in Tg,out Toil Tv Tw Ta I

80 900
17/01/2017 800
70
700
60

Solar Intensity, W/m2

600
50
Temperature, oC

500
40
400
30
300
20
200
10 100

0 0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

516 Time
517 (b) Solar still with TPTC

518 Fig. 7. Evolution of temperatures and solar intensity with time for wire mesh in winter
519 (a) Conventional solar still and (b) Solar still + TPTC

520

22
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Tg,in Tg,out Tv
Tw Ta I
50 900

45 21/01/2017 800

Solar Intensity, W/m2

40 700
600
Temperature, oC

35
500
30
400
25
300
20 200
15 100
10 0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

521 Time

522 (a) Conventional solar still

Tg,in Tg,out Toil Tv

Tw Ta I
70 900
28/01/2017 800
60
700

50 600
Temperature, oC

Solar Intensity,

500
40
400
W/m2

30 300

200
20
100

10 0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:0012:0013:0013:5915:0016:0016:59

Time
523

524 (b) Solar still with TPTC

23
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525 Fig. 8. Evolution of temperatures and solar intensity with time for sand medium in
526 winter (a) Conventional solar still and (b) Solar still + TPTC

527

528 Table.4. Comparison of the maximum solar still temperatures and solar
529 intensity in summer and winter

530
Case Parameter Winter Summer % decrease
531
in Winter
532 Solar still with Solar intensity, 839 1091
533 pure saline W/m2 23
water TW, oC 47.6 66.4 28
534
Tv-Tg,in, oC 10.8 9.9 9
535 Solar still with Solar intensity, 821 1054
536 wire mesh W/m2 22
537 TW, oC 48.5 67.9 28
Tv-Tg,in, oC 10.6 10.3 6
538
Solar still with Solar intensity, 844 1083
539 sand W/m2 22
540 TW, oC 44.7 68.0 34
Tv-Tg,in, oC 11.4 11.4 0
541
TPTC+ solar Solar intensity, 830 1059
542 still with pure W/m2 21
543 saline water TW, oC 61.1 88.7 31
544 Tv-Tg,in, oC 19.9 26.8 25
solar still Solar intensity, 825 1101
545
+TPTC with W/m2 25
546 wire Mesh TW, oC 62.9 89.8 29
547 Tv-Tg,in, oC 21.1 26.8 21
548 solar still Solar intensity, 822 1057
+TPTC + with W/m2 22
549
wire Mesh TW, oC 63.1 91.1 30
550 Tv-Tg,in, oC 19.9 28 28
551
552 3.2 Productivity Results
553 Fig. 9 show the evolution of the hourly productivity of freshwater per meter square
554 of the solar still area at different saline water mediums for conventional and modified
555 solar still. Figs.9a and 9b are shown at summer and winter respectively. Fig. 9 shows
556 that the hourly productivity is increased with time from the start of the reading until
557 about 2 PM and then it is decreased with time until the end of measurements time. This
24
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558 is the same trend of the solar intensity and solar still temperature. It also shows that the
559 summer productivity is greater than winter productivity because the solar still
560 temperatures and solar intensity in summer are greater than in winter as indicated
561 previously. Also, the productivity of TPTC with solar still is greater than the
562 productivity of conventional solar still for the same saline water medium because using
563 TPTC raises the solar still temperature as stated before (see Figs. 3 to 8). Furthermore,
564 using sand wire mesh increases the hourly productivity with respect to pure saline water
565 and this effect is increased with time and the maximum increase occurs around
566 maximum water temperature time (12 PM to 2 PM). These results will be clear if we
567 compare the results of the hourly accumulated desalinated freshwater with time for
568 different solar still systems as shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 10 shows that for all studied cases,
569 the total daily yield freshwater per square meter of the solar still area at the end of
570 reading time in summer is about twice its value in winter. It also shows that the
571 accumulated yield freshwater for all studied cases is increased with time. By analyzing
572 the results of Fig. 10 for the accumulated freshwater, it is found that the comparison
573 between the different studied cases in Fig. 9 is achieved in Fig. 10 for all measuring time
574 where wire mesh and sand increase the accumulated freshwater and the accumulated
575 freshwater in summer is greater than winter for the same cases. Fig. 10 shows that using
576 wire mesh and sand increase the total daily accumulated freshwater by 8.4% (0.38 L/m2)
577 and 17.0% (0.77 L/m2) in winter respectively and 3.5% (0.38 L/m2) and 14.7% (1.54
578 L/m2) in summer, respectively for modified solar still. The same results for conventional
579 solar still are 6.9% (0.16 L/m2) and 15.1% (0.35) in winter respectively and 3.1% (0.38
580 L/m2) and 13.7 % (0.77 L/m2) in summer respectively. It is noted from the previous
581 results that the effect of sand and wire mesh on the productivity in winter is greater than
582 summer. From the previous results, it is noted that sand has more productivity than wire
583 mesh because sand decreases losses radiation due to reflection as stated previously but
584 wire mesh is easier in use. A comparison of the total daily fresh water productivity for
585 all studied cases in winter and summer is shown in Fig. 11. According to Fig. 11, if we
586 arrange the difference systems according to their productivity in descending order they
587 will be: Conventional solar still with only pure saline water (4.5 L/m2, 2.3 L/m2),
588 conventional solar still with wire mesh(4.9 L/m2, 2.47 L/m2), conventional solar still
589 with sand (5.3 L/m2, 2.66L/m2), modified solar still with only pure saline water (10.93
590 L/m2, 5.1 L/m2), modified solar still with wire mesh (11.3 L/m2, 5.3 L/m2), and modified
25
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591 solar still with sand (12.47 L/m2, 5.2 L/m2). The Using TPTC with the same area of the
592 solar still increases the conventional solar still productivity more than 100% in summer
593 and about 90% in winter in case of only saline water in the basin.
594

Conventional+Pure saline water TPTC+Pure saline water

Covnentional Wire mesh TPTC+Wire mesh
Conventional +Sand TPTC+Sand
2
1.8
Desalinated water, L/hr.m2

1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

Time
595
596 (a) Summer

597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608

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Conventional +Pure saline water TPTC+Pure saline water

Conventional +Wire mesh TPTC +Wire mesh
Conventional +Sand TPTC +Sand
1
0.9

Dissalinated water, L/hr/m2

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

Time
609

610 (b) Winter

611 Fig.9. Hourly productivity of the desalinated water for different solar still systems
612 and mediums in (a) summer and (b) winter

613

614

615

616

617

618

619

620

621

622

623

27
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

624

Conventional+Pure saline water TPTC+Pure saline water

Conventiona+Wire mesh TPTC+Wire mesh
Conventional+Sand TPTC+Sand
6

Hourly accumulated water, L/m2 5

0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

Time
625

626 (a) Summer

28
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Conventional+Pure saline water TPTC+Pure saline water

Conventional+Wire mesh TPTCl+Wire mesh
Conventional+Sand TPTC+Sand
14

12

Hourly accumulated water, L/m2

10

0
8:00 9:00 9:59 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:59 15:00 16:00 16:59

627 Time
628 (b) Winter

629 Fig.10. Hourly accumulated productivity of the desalinated water for different
630 solar still systems and medium in (a) summer and (b) winter

631

29
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

14
12.47
12 11.31

Total daily accumulated water, L/m2

10.93

10

5.81
6 5.28 5.11 5.27
4.89
4.51
4
2.47 2.66
2.31
2

0
Conventional+Wire

Conventional+San

Conventional+Wire
TPTC+Sa

Conventional+S
TPTC+Pure
Conventional+Pure

TPTC+Wire

TPTC+Sa
Conventional+Pure

TPTC+Wire
TPTC+Pure
Water

nd
mesh

nd
mesh
Water
mesh

and
mesh
d
Water

Water

Summer Winter
632

633 Fig.11. Total daily accumulated productivity of the desalinated water for different
634 systems and mediums

635 3.3 System efficiency

636
637 From the previous results, it is found that coupling TPTC with the solar still raises solar
638 still productivity of freshwater. So, it is important to study the efficiency of using TPTC
639 with the solar still compared with conventional solar still and the efficiency of using
30
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

640 saline water mediums. For TPTC with the solar still, the efficiency is calculated based
641 on the total projected area (projected area of solar still plus the projected area of TPTC).
642 The efficiency of the solar still system is calculated by [54-55]:
Qu
643  (1)
I Aa

644 Where Qu is the daily useful energy in W, I is the daily total incident solar radiation on

645 the system in W/m2, and A is the projected area of the still system in m2. The useful energy
646 of the solar still system is the energy used to produce the daily yield freshwater in W and
647 it is computed by [54-55]:
648 Qu  M p  Lw (2)

649 Where Mp is the daily desalinated freshwater in kg/s and Lw is the latent heat of
650 evaporation of water and it is taken 2335 kJ/kg [55].
651 Table 5 illustrates the daily efficiency of the studied systems at different saline water
652 mediums. Table 5 shows that in summer, the efficiency of the TPTC with solar still is
653 greater than the efficiency of the conventional solar still and in winter the two efficiencies
654 are about the same. It also reveals that using saline water medium in the basin raises the
655 efficiency of the studied system in winter and summer. Using wire mesh and sand with
656 saline water of the modified solar still increases the system efficiency by 3.3% and 15.28%
657 in summer respectively and in winter 3.9% and 13.8% respectively.
658
659 Table 5: Daily efficiency of the studied systems
Efficiency Efficiency
System Period System Period
% %
Solar still Summer 27.3 Solar still + Summer 30.1
with pure Winter TPTC with pure Winter 20.3
20.3
saline water saline water
Solar still Summer 29.1 Solar still + Summer 31.1
with wire Winter TPTC with wire Winter
22.0 21.1
mesh mesh
Solar still Summer 32.2 Solar still + Summer 34.7
with sand Winter 23.1 TPTC with sand Winter 22.9
660
661

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

662
663 3.4 Economic analysis
664
665 It also is important to compare the cost of the freshwater productivity of the different
666 studied systems. So, an economic analysis of conventional and modified solar still and solar
667 still at the studied saline water mediums is presented in this section. This cost calculation
668 is based on the assumption of Kabeel and Abdelgaied [50] for Egypt, where solar still
669 operates 340 days in the year and corresponding to Egypt climate, 66% of the working days
670 are assumed summer and the rest are assumed winter. The output of the economic analysis
671 estimates the annual cost per liter of distilled water in dollars per liter ($/L), the total annual
672 cost is defined as:
673 TAC / L = TAC / M (3)
674 Total annual cost (TAC) is calculated by [56]:
675 TAC = FAC + AOMC -ASV (4)
676 Where FAC is the fixed annual cost, AOMC is the annual operating and maintenance cost
677 and ASV is the annual salvage value. FAC is calculated by:
678 FAC = P × CRF (5)
679 Where P is the capital cost.
680 The capital recovery factor (CRF) is expressed as [51, 56]:
i  (1  i ) n
681 CRF  (6)
(1  i ) n  1
682 The interest per year (i) and the number of life years of the system (n) are assumed as 12%
683 and 10 years and AOMC is taken as 30% of FAC [51, 56]:
684 ASV is determined by:
685 ASV = S × SFF (7)
686 Here the salvage value (S) of the system is taken as 20% of the capital cost (P) of the
687 system.
688 The sinking fund factor (SFF) can be expressed as:
i
689 SEF  (8)
(1  i ) n  1
690 The details of the cost analysis of one liter of yield freshwater are shown in Table5. Table
691 6 shows that using sand or wire mesh in the basin decrease the cost of yield freshwater. It
692 also illustrates that the estimated cost of one liter of yield freshwater reaches is about

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693 0.0251, 0.0239, 0.0237, 0.0260, 0.0257, 0.0240 $/L for solar still with pure saline water,
694 solar still with wire mesh, solar still with sand, modified solar still with pure saline water,
695 modified solar still with wire mesh, and modified solar still with sand respectively. Where
696 1$ = 8.88 LE on 2/6/2016 according to the Central Bank of Egypt.
697
698 Table 6. Cost analysis of the present work
699
Solar Solar still
Solar still Solar
still with Solar still with pure
Solar still + TPTC still with
pure with wire saline
with sand with wire sand+
saline mesh water+
mesh TPTC
water TPTC
Life, n 10 10 10 10 10 10
Interest per year
12 12 12 12 12 12
i, %
Capital cost P, 3400
1100 1400 1500 3450 3550
LE
Salvage value S, 680
250 280 300 690 710
LE
Capital
recovery factor 0.177 0.177 0.177 0.177 0.177 0.177
CRF
Sinking fund
0.057 0.057 0.057 0.057 0.057 0.057
factor, SFF
Fixed annual 601.8
221.25 247.8 265.5 610.65 628.35
cost FAC, LE
Annual salvage 38.76
14.25 15.96 17.1 39.33 40.47
value ASV, LE
Annual
operating and 180.54
66.38 74.34 79.65 183.19 188.5
maintenance
cost, LE
Total annual 743.58
273.38 306.18 328.05 754.51 776.38
cost TAC, LE
Annual
freshwater 1224 1441 1557 3219 3301 3638
productivity, L
Annual cost per 0.2309
0.2233 0.2124 0.2106 0.2285 0.2134
one liter of LE/L
LE/L LE/L LE/L LE/L LE/L
distilled water

33
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

water 0.0260 $/L

0.0251 0.0239 0.0237 0.0257 0.0240
productivity
$/L $/L $/L $/L $/L
cost, AC/L
700
701
702 4 Conclusions
703
704 The effect of saline water medium on the performance of solar still coupled with TPTC is
705 performed experimentally. Three mediums in the basin are considered; only pure saline
706 water, saline water with steel wire mesh, and sand saturated with saline water. A
707 comparison between the modified and the conventional solar still is carried out. The
708 results of the study have the following conclusions:
709  Coupling TPTC with solar still raises its temperatures of solar still where the
710 maximum water temperature is increased by about 26 oC in summer and 16 oC in winter.
711  Using sand and wire mesh raise the temperatures and productivity of the
712 conventional and modified solar still.
713  In summer, the daily yield freshwater of the conventional solar still, solar still with
714 sand, modified solar still, modified solar still with wire mesh, and modified solar still with
715 sand a is 4.51, 5.28, 10.93, 11.31, and 12.47 L/ m2 respectively and in winter is 2.31, 2.66,
716 5.11, 5.27, and 5.81 L/ m2 respectively.
717  The efficiency of the solar still system in summer is greater than in winter for all
718 studied cases and the efficiency of the TPTC with solar still in summer is greater than
719 conventional solar still by about 2.5 % for sand medium.
720  Using sand and mesh wire in the basin of the solar still decrease the cost of the yield
721 of freshwater for conventional and modified solar still.
722  From the previous results, it is recommended to use TCTC with solar still because it
723 increases efficiently the still yield and it is simple, cheap, and depending on the free solar
724 energy.
725
726
727 5 References
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762 [15]M.Fathy, H.Hassan, M.S.Ahmed, Experimental study on the effect of coupling

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 Effect of saline water mediums on the performance of conventional and modified solar
still was experimentally studied.

 Modified solar still represents tracked parabolic trough collector (TPTC) coupled with
solar still

 Using wire mesh and sand in the basin, increases the yield by about 3.4% and 14% for
modified solar still.

 The efficiency of conventional and modified solar still increases by using sand and
wire mesh in the basin.

 The cost of yield freshwater is decreased by using wire mesh and sand in the basin.