Cascade type solar distiller with the use of photothermic materials applied in the treatment of surface water

Abstract

The biggest challenge in solar energy distillation is the increase the production of treated water, so several research have been done to increase the daily yield of solar distillers, increasing the evaporation of saline water and consequently the condensation of steam. The objective of this work was to analyze the simultaneous performance of three cascade solar distillers with a wave-shaped heat absorber plate and the use of photothermal materials. The experiments were divided into three stages A, B and C. In step A, heat absorption tests of the photothermal materials (gravel, marbles, granite and ceramic tile) were performed. In stage B, the initial productivity of the three distillers (D1, D2 and D3) was measured, and in step C the productivity of the distillers was made with the introduction of photothermal materials in the less productive distillers. It was found that the introduction of photothermal materials (gravel and marbles) in distillers (D2 and D3) resulted in an increase in water production of 8 and 18% respectively.