Influence of initial water depth of extended stepped tray on the productivity while working beyond sunshine hours

Abstract

Increasing fresh water productivity with minimal environmental impact still remains an ardours milestone for researchers. Solar energy desalination is a widely accepted technology due to renewable energy availability in abundance and hassle free operation. Research studies were focussed on improving the distillate output modifying the operating and controllable parameters of passive stepped stills. In this paper the water depth in the trays is varied to ascertain its prominence on the productivity of the stepped still with extended trays. The effect of initial depth of water on nocturnal yield has been studied using the extended trays. The stepped still was operated beyond the sunshine hours into the night until the productivity ceases. Results indicate that, when nocturnal yield is accounted in the daily yield, the productivity improved as the depth of water increased. The stepped still with extended tray width of 120 mm produced a maximum daily yield of 5540 ml/m2/day.