TITLE:
Heat and Mass Transfer and Thermo Physical Analysis of Water Distillation Using Passive Solar Still
AUTHORS:
M. Koilraj Gnanadason, P. Senthil Kumar, Vincent H. Wilson
KEYWORDS:
Solar Still, Ambient, Convection, Evaporation, Still Performance, Solar Energy
JOURNAL NAME:
Smart Grid and Renewable Energy,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
30,
2020
ABSTRACT: The demand of fresh water is becoming an
increasingly important issue across the
world. To alleviate this problem, a single slope single basin solar still was
designed and tested. Top glass cover 9° slope
ensures a very good transmission of solar radiation inside the still. In
this paper a review of factors that improve the performance of the still is
presented. Energy balances are made for each
element of the still; solar time, direction of beam of radiation, clear
sky radiation, optical properties of the
cover, convection outside the still, convection and evaporation inside
are accounted. Theoretical analysis of the heat and mass transfer mechanisms
inside the solar still has been developed to find out heat transfer
coefficients such as internal and external heat transfer modes and thermo
physical properties such as dynamic viscosity, density, thermal conductivity,
latent heat of evaporation and saturated vapor pressure for passive solar
distillation system. Heat transfer coefficients were estimated for the present
system since the still efficiency depends on heat transfer modes. It is also suggested that the water temperature plays a
vital role in the distillate output since it increases significantly
with the rise of basin water temperature. It is also found that the rise in
water temperature increases the evaporative heat transfer coefficient value
significantly.