Phase change materials (PCMs) in solar still: - a review of use to improve productivity of still

Abstract

This study examines the utilization of phase change materials as latent heat storage devices to boost the output of solar stills. These results show that compared to a solar still without phase change material, a passive solar still equipped with phase change material can boost its yield up to 120%. An active solar system equipped with phase change material can enhance productivity by as much as 700%. These findings show that productivity rises with PCM mass and declines with salty water bulk. Additionally, it is discovered that the PCM performs worse during the day than at night. The most often used PCMs in productivity improvement studies were likewise found to be organic PCMs (like paraffin), with inorganic and eutectic PCMs garnering very little attention. From the present study it is clear that most of researchers used paraffin as a PCM. Also mixing of nano particles (such as silicon oil and Cu nano particles) in the PCM gives better result. Paraffin wax with nAl2O3 enhanced the production by 60.53%.