Experimental investigation of developed solar still using vertical backside wick with circulation tactics

Abstract

The primary obstacle to the widespread use of solar stills is their low productivity; therefore, the primary goal of this study is to increase solar still productivity by utilizing fabric as an evaporation surface on the still's upright side. Two monoclinic solar stills were built and used in the appropriate meteorological circumstances (latitude 35º.25˝, longitude 43º.53˝). Four water levels of 1, 2, 3, and 4cm were utilized to study the impact of water level on the daily output and effectiveness of solar stills, but no improvements were observed. A cotton cloth was hung on the upright side of the still to increase the evaporation surface area. The empirical findings demonstrated that solar still yield and daily efficiency were highest at a depth of 1cm, where yield reached 5760mL/m2 and daily efficiency was 44%. The still's daily productivity increased with cloth, reaching around 6650mL/m2 and a daily efficiency of 55.3% at a water level of 1cm. By using cloth, the solar still's daily production increased by 40%. The traditional and modified solar stills cost 0.015 $ and 0.014 $, respectively, to produce one liter of distilled water.