Enhancing the Performance of Wick-Basin type Solar Still using Shallow Solar Pond – An Experimental Study

Abstract

Solar desalination is a prominent technology for converting saline water into fresh water by using clean energy only but the low productivity of solar stills is a big problem associated with it. In order to increase the distillate output of solar still, an experimental study was carried out at Patiala (30.35°N, 76.37°E). In this study, a solar still has been modified by using floating wick in the basin and coupling it with a shallow solar pond for improving its daily performance. The performance of modified solar still was compared with a conventional single basin type solar still of same dimensions by running both the stills in the same operating conditions. The float wicks reduce the thermal inertia of the basin leading to an early response which results in enhanced distillate output of the modified still during daytime as compared to the conventional still. Additional heat is supplied to the basin of the still from the shallow solar pond for the period of 12 hours. The increase in the daily productivity of still coupled with the shallow solar pond having 50%, 75% and 100% of basin area covered with floating wicks are 6.14%, 38.09%, and 28.47% respectively. The gain in the daily distillate output of the still by covering 75% area of the basin by wicks alone is 7.18%. Additional heat supply to the still from the shallow solar pond for the period of 12 hours improves the output of the still by 14.49%.