Experimental investigation of single slope solar still using different wick materials: a comparative study

Abstract

Solar still play an important role in mitigating potable water scarcity mainly in developing countries because of its low-cost and easy design. One major concern regarding solar still is the low productivity. Using a wick in still basin decreases active water depth and increases the evaporation rate of basin water. In the present work, a comparative study of single slope solar still using different wick materials is performed. Bamboo cotton, jute, wool, and cotton are used as wick materials. To carry out experiments, two single slope solar stills of similar dimensions are designed and constructed. Wick is placed over the rectangular shaped fins installed in the still basin. The experiments are conducted for 25 days and data collected on the clearest sunshine days are presented in this work. Water depth is kept constant at 1 cm throughout the experiments. Experimental results showed that maximum still productivity and efficiency is obtained using bamboo cotton wick as 3.03 l/m2day and 34.5% respectively. This is 16.9%, 20.7%, 37.8% and 51.9% higher than jute, cotton and wool wick and conventional still. It is evident from the experimental results that bamboo cotton is the most suitable wick material in comparison to others.