Glass cover inclination angle effect on the radiation shape factor within conventional solar still

Abstract

In the present work, a new theoretical study of the effect of considered shape factor between hot saline water and glass cover in a conventional solar still is investigated. The radiation shape factor is calculated. Solar still productivity when taking the radiation shape factor into consideration is obtained and then compared with when it is not considered. The effects of glass cover inclination angle and solar insolation on solar still productivity when taking shape factor into account is obtained and correlated. It is found that taking radiation shape factor into account gives more accurate results than ignoring it. The deviation between the two results is highly depended on the inclination angle and solar insolation. At low solar insolation of 200 W/m2 and glass cover inclination angle of 70°, the percentage of the increase in still productivity when taking radiation shape factor into account is arrived to 22.3%. Finally, a good agreement between the present theoretical work and previous experimental result has been obtained.