Performance Augmentation of Basin type Solar Still using Mini Solar Pond & Shallow Solar Pond

Abstract

A large number of world populations do not obtain clean drinking water. According to some Resources, by 2020 it’s estimated that out of 7.5 billion human beings on earth, more than 2 billion human beings will face clean drinking water shortage. In recent days, Desalination is one of the most suitable methods for water distillation. This needed sufficient amount of energy in form of solar radiation as heat source to evaporate water thus segregating water vapour from contaminants present in it. In present study, the conventional basin type solar still has been modified to increase its productivity. Shallow solar pond and mini solar pond was used to supply additional heat to the basin of modified solar still in closed cycle mode using heat exchanger. Shallow solar pond was connected during sunshine hours in continuous and closed cycle mode of heat extraction, while mini solar pond was connected during night in batch and closed cycle mode of heat extraction. The performance of modified solar still coupled with shallow solar pond, by varying basin water depth (5cm to 7cm) has been compared with conventional basin type solar still. The performance of modified solar still coupled with shallow solar pond and mini solar pond has been investigated experimentally. Experiments have been performed during summer season of 2018. The maximum increase in productivity of modified solar still was 20.85 % at basin water depth of 6 cm. The increase in daily productivity of modified solar still coupled with shallow solar pond and mini solar pond was found to be 45.75 % over conventional basin type solar still.