Abstract
Abstract Food, water, and energy are essential for life on earth. Among these, water plays a vital role. Although it occupies a major portion (70 %) of the earth, good drinking water is always in short supply. Of this quantity, 98 % of water is salty and only around 2 % is fresh water. Desalination using a solar still is one economic method used to purify salt water. This article studies a single-slope solar still with three modifications: (i) sensible heat storage medium (SHM), (ii) heat recovery system (HRS), and (iii) reflective material on the interior surface. Modification by SHM and HRS enabled heat input and water output to be maintained during the night. Theoretical models were developed for the modified still. The productivity of the conventional still and modified still was measured experimentally in Tamil Nadu, India. The daily productivity increased by 21 %, from 3.4 kg m−2 in the conventional still to 4.1 kg m−2 in the modified still. The experimental results validated the theoretical results. Economic analysis of the solar still revealed that the approximate cost of distilled water per liter from a modified still was 4.7 % less than that from a conventional still. Hence, the modified still with SHM, HRS, and reflective material is technically and economically viable.
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