Experimental evaluation of solar still coupled with parabolic trough collector

Abstract

Availability of potable water is of great concern owing to increasing population and contamination of water sources. Solar distillation is an important strategy used for obtaining potable water from contaminated water. The solar distillation technique uses solar energy for distillation of water in a container called solar still. It evaporates contaminated or brackish water and condensate is collected as a pure form of water. Nonetheless, the condensate yield from typical 1 m2 solar still is very less and even not sufficient to fulfil the needs of an individual. In the present work the solar still of 1 m2 is coupled with a parabolic solar trough collector to evaluate the improvement in the condensate yield. The parabolic solar trough collector concentrates solar energy on a helical copper tube. Inlet water temperature of coupled solar still increased up to 15 °C as compared to uncoupled solar still. The increase in temperature enhances the condensate yield of coupled solar still.