Influence of wick pile of jute cloth on distillate yield of double-basin single-slope solar still: Theoretical and experimental study

Abstract

Two similar double-basin single-slope solar stills were constructed, one with the wick pile of jute cloth and the other without wick pile. The experiment was organized with the brackish water depths of 10 mm in lower basin and 2700 ml brackish water quantity in upper basin and executed at location (20.61°N, 72.91°E), India for consecutive three days in season of summer. The theoretical model was evolved for double-basin single-slope solar still with the wick pile of jute cloth and without. The dedicated theoretical model to study transient analysis for still with wick pile of jute cloth was evolved, which includes influence of wick pile of jute cloth using fundamentals of heat transfer and effect of porosity. The developed model was solved using analytical method and outcomes were compared with experimental outcomes. Compared to the still without wick pile, 1.93%, 21.12% and 23.71% higher yield was achieved for still with wick pile of jute cloth on 6th, 7th and 8th April respectively. Whereas compared to still without wick pile, 8.89%, 28.90% and 29.37% higher efficiency was obtained for still with wick pile on respective days.