Abstract
Solar stills play a crucial role in addressing the scarcity of potable water, particularly in remote areas. However, traditional solar still designs are often inefficient, with limited productivity and high energy consumption. One approach to enhancing the efficiency of solar stills is to use finned absorber plates, which can increase the heat transfer area and improve heat transfer rates, thereby enhancing evaporation and overall productivity. This study investigates the impact of different configurations of angled fins on the energy and exergy efficiencies of solar stills, focusing on Pyramid Solar Still (PSS) and Double Slope Solar Still (DSSS) designs. Energy efficiency was calculated over several days to determine the effect of the number of angled fins ((3 × 3), (3 × 5), and (3 × 7) fins) on the performance of both solar stills and to compare the two configurations. The most favorable results were obtained using an absorber plate featuring (7 × 3) angled fins in PSS. The desalination systems equipped with finned absorber plates with (7 × 3) angled fins achieved approximately 43.22 % and 46.25 % greater productivity for the PSS and DSSS, respectively, compared to absorber plates without fins. In this configuration with (7 × 3) angled fins, the PSS system recorded an energy efficiency of 37.84 %, while the DSSS system achieved a rate of 31.93 %. The PSS desalination system with an absorber plate without angled fins achieved an energy efficiency of 26.18 %, while the similarly equipped DSSS system attained an energy efficiency of 22.39 %. Regarding exergy efficiency, the PSS showed an average daily exergy efficiency without angled fins of 1.94 %, but using (7 × 3) angled fins boosted this to 2.66 %, the highest value observed. Likewise, the DSSS’s exergy efficiency started at 1.54 % without fins but reached 2.15 % with (7 × 3) fins. Overall, though, the PSS consistently outperformed the DSSS in terms of both energy and exergy efficiency across the various absorber plate configurations. These findings underscore the effectiveness of using finned absorber plates to enhance the evaporation rate and improve the overall efficiency of solar stills.
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