A study of different gap spaces and polycarbonate condenser cover on a novel trapezoidal solar still performance

In response to the global freshwater shortage, the energy science community has introduced water desalination as a solution. Nevertheless, most desalination methods are high energy and cost intensive. Solar desalination-based solar still is based on the principle of evaporation using solar energy and then condensation. It has been used as a simple, low-energy method in the past, but it suffers from low reliability and indigent overall performance. Hence, in this work, to enhance the performance of solar distillers, the high capillarity of a jute wick has been used as the foundation for a unique type of solar still. This style of solar still has a blackened trapezoidal pyramidal base and polycarbonate cover that is still trapezoidal. A jute cloth was placed on an adjustable foundation that could be adjusted levelwise with the intention of understanding the impact of the distance between the jute and the polycarbonate cover. This study examined several gaps to identify the ideal gap for the highest level of production. Additionally, each experiment was compared with a conventional solar still. The study's findings revealed that the gap spaces have a significant impact on productivity. The measured yields at different gaps between the absorber and condensation cover (H1 = 15 cm, H2 = 10 cm, and H3 = 5 cm) are 3800, 4600, and 5625 mL, respectively. Additionally, floating-wick solar stills produce more energy than conventional basin-type stills and need less operation and maintenance with higher energy and exergy hourly efficiency. For the production cost, the cost of the proposed still was lowered by 4.1, 20.5, and 34.2%, respectively, at each depth H1, H2, and H3. Moreover, the nighttime production was investigated in this work for the modified cases, achieving 1878, 1770, and 1600 mL m⁻² for PTrPSS-H3, PTrPSS-H2, and PTrPSS-H1, respectively.

Graphical abstract