Energy and exergy analysis of truncated and parabolic finned double slope solar stills

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present work, the performance comparison between energy and exergy of two double slope SS (solar stills) assisted with truncated conic fins and parabolic fins is carried out at various depths. The experimental study was conducted in the geographical conditions of Hyderabad (17.38500N, 78.48670E), Telangana, India. The experimental data revealed that truncated conic finned still (TCFS) energy efficiency values are 58.57%, 51.42% and 46.49% and parabolic finned still (PFS) values are 52.80%, 48.34% and 43.82% at the 1 cm, 2 cm and 3 cm depths of water. The truncated conic finned still exergy efficiency values are improved by 7.81%, 6.70%, 5.10% at the 1 cm, 2 cm and 3 cm depths brackish water in comparison to parabolic finned solar still. In addition, an economic evaluation was carried out. The annual distillation cost and overall cost of one litre of water are found to be 61.35 and 0.030 USD. Experiments revealed that truncated fin-based stills are better in energy efficiency in contrast to parabolic fin-based solar still.