Design and Development of A Hemisphere Flat Base Solar Thermal Water Distillation System

Abstract

The clean water crisis around the world is mainly caused by the pollution and depletion of freshwater. There is only less than 1% of the water on Earth is in a pure and consumable state. Many people around the world actually die every single day due to the lack of access to clean, potable water and to proper sanitation which resulted in many waterborne diseases. Hence, water purification plays an extremely important role as access to clean water is fundamental to basic human rights. The objective of this paper is to develop a solar-thermal water distillation system with solar energy as its main power source to distilled water for safe consumption, hence achieving clean water purification through clean energy. The proposed hemisphere flat-based solar thermal distiller works well with the absorption of sun radiation from almost every angle with its spherical surface. The prototype works best under full sunlight conditions and is capable to purify water from various water sources to safe and ideal pH value for consumption. Solar radiation, being a clean energy and available in abundance at no cost, makes this design feasible for many and easy to scale up whenever the need arises. The simple working principle and fabrication at low cost also makes it an ideal solution in helping communities that have difficulty or no access to clean water supply.