Progresses in Solar Still Technology with Phase Change Material

Abstract

The demand of fresh water is continuously increasing due to frequent rainfalls, shortage of ground water and pollution of natural resources via industrialization. Therefore, solar desalination of available saline and brackish water using solar still is gaining importance among the scientific community for domestic, irrigation and drinking purposes owing to be an economical and sustainable approach of producing fresh water with a simple working principle. Currently, continuous efforts have been made to improve the productivity of solar still by various techniques and configurations. A critical review of solar stills with phase change material (PCM) is presented. This paper highlights the impacts of design specifications along with an economic analysis and the type of PCM material used in recent past. Furthermore, a detailed discussion has been provided on future scope with recommendations to improve the productivity of fresh water for sustainability.