Performance analysis on single slope solar still with absorber coated using iron oxide nanoparticles at different water thickness

The quantity of drinkable water that is easily accessible is dwindling at an extremely quick pace. An extra degree of complication has been added to the problem as a consequence of the depletion of freshwater resources brought on by human activities. The primary objective of the present study is to enhance the rate of fresh water generation through the low-cost solar desalination unit using iron oxide as coating material using different thickness of water placed in the absorber plate. The experimental results revealed that the influence of metal oxide nanoparticle as absorber coating material improved the rate of fresh water generation by 36.08 % than the conventional solar still at a minimum thickness of water as 1 cm in the absorber. The palatable fresh water generated from the SS without any absorber coating for the thickness of water as 10, 20 and 30 mm is found to be 3.85, 3.09 and 2.90 kg/m² respectively. However, with effective coating of the absorber plate using Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle, the cumulative daily palatable water generated from the solar still for different thickness of water as 10, 20 and 30 mm is enhanced to about 6.03, 5.36 and 4.72 kg/m² respectively. There is a significant enhancement of about 38.47 to 60.15 % and 1.96 to 4.53 % in the daily energy, and exergy efficiencies of the solar still using coated absorber plate in the SS respectively while compared to the SS using uncoated absorber at the lowest thickness of water in the absorber of basin. Similarly, the CPL of fresh water produced from the SS using coated absorber is lowered by 29.96 % than the SS using uncoated absorber.