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Theoretical study of a double-slope solar still with solar air heater condenser

Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia

Received: 25 Apr 2023; Revised: 14 Aug 2023; Accepted: 5 Sep 2023; Available online: 14 Sep 2023; Published: 1 Nov 2023.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Despite their limited water production and efficiency, double-slope solar stills are an appropriate solution for water scarcity in hot arid regions. Numerous studies have focused on enhancing the effectiveness of double-slope solar stills. In this context, this study introduces a double-slope solar with a solar air heater condenser (DSSS-SAHC). The back cover of a conventional double-slope solar still was replaced by a glass air heater in order to recover the still’s thermal losses in heating air. The transient performance of the DSSS-SAHC was investigated numerically under real weather conditions and compared to the performance of a conventional double-slope solar still (CDSSS) with the same aspects. The impact of various weather and operation factors on the DSSS-SAHC performance was investigated at air flows of 0.01 and 0.1 kg/s to account for both natural and forced air circulation, respectively. The results revealed an increase of about 15% and 6% in the thermal efficiency of the DSSS-SAHC over that of the CDSSS, respectively, at air flows of 0.1 and 0.01 kg/s despite the DSSS-SAHC distillate was insignificantly greater than that of the CDSSS at both air flows. In addition, the water distillate of the DSSS-SAHC increased as the solar irradiance increased, the ambient wind and ambient temperature had contrary effects on the efficiency, and the initial saline water level had a negligible impact on the overall performance

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Keywords: Double-slope; Solar still; Solar air heater; Thermal performance
Funding: Jouf University

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Last update: 2024-11-13 12:58:26

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