Productivity enhancement of hemispherical solar distillers with the use of nanoparticle-coated recycled metal cans arranged in a honeycomb pattern and magnetic fins

Abstract

Scarcity of clean water is the most acute problem faced by many countries worldwide. Although solar distillation units have represented a simple inexpensive method of producing clean water in many remote areas, their efficiency has been rather limited. Therefore, this work presents an efficient and economical design to enhance the performance of these systems. This study presents the first use of recycled metal cans, combined with nanoparticles and magnetic fins, in water basins to improve the performance of distillation systems. These cans are made of aluminum and are widely available, making them efficient and economical thermal storage materials. The cans were coated with nanoparticles and placed inside water basins in a honeycomb pattern, and then magnetic fins were placed inside them to enhance evaporation rates and reduce production costs. Three tested configurations were tested: a conventional hemispherical distiller (THSD), a modified distiller containing metal cans arranged in honeycomb cells and coated with nanoparticles (MSD-NC_RABC), and a modified distiller with the same structure as the MSD-NC_RABC, but with the addition of magnetic fins (MSD-NC_RABC&CMF). The findings revealed that MSD-NC_RABC achieved a 33.74% increase in throughput while MSD-NC_RABC&CMF achieved a 66.87% increase compared to the baseline THSD. The incorporation of magnetic fins further enhanced the yield by 24.77% over MSD-NC_RABC system. Additionally, the MSD-NC_RABC&CMF achieved shorter payback times than THSD and MSD-NC_RABC by about 41.67% and 59.44%, respectively. In addition, the modifications in MSD-NC_RABC and MSD-NC_RABC&CMF significantly lowered yield costs by 30.20% and 52.19% and shortened the payback periods by 30.20% and 52.19%, respectively.