Enhancing solar still efficiency in southeastern Algeria: An experimental case with palm stems

Abstract

Solar desalination is a cost-effective and eco-friendly technique that uses solar energy to turn impure water into clean drinking water. In a study conducted in southeastern Algeria, four similar solar stills were used to examine how palm stems affect the distillation process. The first still served as a control (SSR), the second had 9 stems (MSS1), the third had 6 stems (MSS2), and the fourth had 3 stems (MSS3). Results showed significant improvements in pure water production, with MSS1 yielding 5080 ml, MSS2 producing 4060 ml, and MSS3 generating 3680 ml, compared to the CSS still's output of 3320 ml. This means notable improvement rates of 53.01%, 22.90%, and 10.84% for MSS1, MSS2, and MSS3, respectively. In terms of thermal efficiency, MSS1, MSS2, MSS3, and CSS achieved efficiency levels of 57.90%, 51.57%, 48.39%, and 45.30%, respectively. The time required to recover the manufacturing costs of the devices varied between 32 and 48 days, respectively. These results highlight the positive impact of integrating palm stems on solar distillation performance, thanks to what? Is it thanks to the low thermal conductivity of the stem? Of course not, it is thanks to the stem-water zone which promotes the evaporation of water under the action of capillarity.